Butter Cream Frosting (aka Deliciousness Personified)

I LOVE butter cream. Well, technically it's Vitalite cream, if you want to be pedantic about it, but butter cream sounds better! It's delicious creaminess adds that extra indulgence to any cake or bun. And it is so damn versatile. I haven't found an ingredient I couldn't make work yet.

Chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, lemon, ginger, coconut, cherry, sherbet, lime, mint, the list goes on. Here is the basic recipe for butter cream. It will ice around 12 cupcakes, roughly. It all depends on how decadently you slap the stuff on!

Ingredients

8oz/250g / 1 & 1/2 cups Sifted Icing Sugar

3oz/80g / 1/2 cup Vitalite

2 tbsp Soya Milk

1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract

1] Using an electric hand whisk beat the Vitalite for 2-3 minutes until pale and fluffy. Sift in half of the icing sugar and stir in with a spatula until roughly combined. Do this rather than jump straight in with the whisk or you'll have an icing sugar cloud floating in your kitchen!*

2] Sift in the remainder of the icing sugar and roughly combine. Add the milk and the extract then whisk for 4-5 minutes. The general idea is to make the frosting as light as possible, hence the compulsive whisking.**

3] Get a spoon and have a taste! Most of my frostings need a bit of tinkering here and there. A little more icing sugar if it's too lemony; a bit more mint extract if it's not minty enough. Always try it as everybody's taste is different. Once you are happy with it grab your pallet knife and schmear on that frosting like there is no tomorrow.

*Flavourings such as cocoa powder, natural extracts, sherbets are best added at this stage

**It is worth noting that any 'lumpy' flavourings (IE lemon zest or coconut) are best stirred in at the last minute with a pallet knife or metal spoon, as they tend to just attach themselves to the whisk blades.

Enjoy

xo

Rocky Road

Rocky Road is a dessert with its roots in American history. Originally made as an ice cream during the Great Depression in the 1920s & 30s, its appeal has lasted nearly a century. In this post I'm going to walk you through making the Rocky Road Slab.

This is one of the easiest, yet most decadent recipes you will ever come across. I can clear off a tray of it on my own, although I wouldn't recommend it (unless you want to start haemorrhaging sugar).

The good thing about rocky road is how versatile it is. All the 'rocks' are completely interchangeable. For vegans, marshmallows can be substituted for jelly tots, glacé or dried fruits, more nuts or coconut, to name but a few. Crystallized ginger is a good one to add if you want a bit of a kick to it, and the fieriness cuts right through the sickly sweet of the chocolate.

So here is the recipe I work from:

400g /14oz /2 & 1/2 cups Plain or Dark Chocolate

175g /6oz / 3/4 cup Vitalite (or alternative)

4 tbsp Golden Syrup

200g /7oz /1 & 3/4 cups Broken Digestive Biscuits

150g /5oz / 1 cup Broken Brazil or Walnuts

100g /4oz / 1/2 cup Roughly Chopped Glacé Cherries

100g /4oz / 2 cups Marshmallows

You will also need some freezer/strong food bags, rolling pin, BIG pan, wooden spoon & roasting tray.

1] First, lightly grease your roasting tin as this is where your Rocky Road is going to set.

2] Now for the fun part. Weigh out your biscuits and place them in a freezer bag, tie the bag up and then get a firm grip on your rolling pin. Right, now go to town on the bags. Work out any anger issues you have by beating the biscuits into a fine mess of crumbs and chunks. Don't go too wild though, if you need to beat stuff to within an inch of its biscuity life then I suggest you see a professional. Now repeat this process with your nuts of choice.

3] Once you've done that, roughly chop the glacé cherries and weigh out the mallows so they are ready to use when you need them.

4] Add the chocolate, Vitalite & golden syrup to the pan and melt together over a low heat. The trick, keep stirring, nobody wants burnt chocolate. Once you have a beautiful, syrupy, chocolate goo the fun can begin. Stir in the broken biscuits and nuts first. Once they are thoroughly mixed, add the cherries, then the marshmallows last. When you are satisfied that all the rocks are sufficiently drenched scoop it into your roasting tray.

5] Once cooled, put in the fridge and chill for around 12 hours. When it has set, slice it up and get your nom on.

Enjoy

xo

Lovely Bakewells

One of the most popular things to come out of my kitchen are bakewells. My nearest and dearest go wild for them. Moist almondy cake sits in a case of sweet pastry, with raspberry jam hidden between the two. In short, delicious.

Best served slightly warm with a cup of tea, here is how you do it:

Ingredients

For the Pastry:

8oz /225g /2 cup Plain Flour

6oz /175g / 3/4 cup Vitalite (or alternative)

3 tbsp Caster Sugar*

Splash of milk

For the Filling:

4oz /100g / 1/2 cup Vitalite (or alternative)

4oz /100g / 1/2 cup Caster Sugar

2oz /50g / 1/2 cup Ground Almonds

2oz /50g / 1/2 cup Self Raising Flour

2 Medium Eggs

1tsp Almond Essence**

Seedless Raspberry Jam

*I usually do the sugar by sight, but 3 tbsp is about the amount I use

**always use essence/extracts rather than flavourings. They only cost about 50p more and you can definitely taste the difference!

Method.

First, prep your bun trays. you will need to grease them with a little fat. This recipe will make you between 18 and 24 bakewells.

1] Now some bakers will gasp in horror with what I am about to say, but it always works for me...

To make the pastry add the sugar, flour & fat to a large mixing bowl. Using an electric whisk beat together until breadcrumbs form. (alternatively you can go for the traditional rubbing with fingers technique).

2] Once breadcrumbs formed, add a splash of milk (only a little at a time) and go at the pastry with a wooden spoon until a dough has formed. If you have been a bit over zealous with the milk, add a little bit more flour to even the dough out. Once happy, wrap in clingfilm and chuck it in the fridge to chill for at least 30 minutes.

Now, sit down and have a brew.

3] OK, now once the 30+ minutes is up start preheating your oven to 180oC/Gas Mark 4.

4] On a clean, dry work surface sift an even layer of plain flour. Using half of your dough roll out until around 5mm thick. Using an appropriate cutter, cut out your pastry and line the bun trays. Repeat until all pastry has been used. A word to the wise, I wouldn't re-roll pastry more than 3 times. Add 1/2 teaspoon on jam to each pastry case.

5] Now for the cake mix. Have your electric whisk at the ready. Cream together the fat & sugar until light and fluffy. Add one egg and half of the almonds and continue to whisk until combined. Repeat with the second egg and remaining almonds. Once thoroughly combined sift in the flour and add the almond essence. Whisk some more until beautifully fluffy.

6] Add approximately 1 (heaped) teaspoon of cake mix into the pastry cases. Make sure the jam is completely covered. Depending on how generous you are with the mix you may find it doesn't stretch to make 24 bakewells, but never fear, just throw a bit more jam in the extra cases and you've got yourself a few sneaky jam tarts! Place in preheated oven for 15-20 minutes, they should be golden in colour and springy to touch.

Now you can either leave them plain, or go a bit Kipling and add icing and glace cherries. I will eat them either way so it is up to you.

Enjoy

xo