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 Originally made as an ice cream during the Great Depression in the 1920s & 30s, its appeal has lasted nearly a century.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