my cakes are in a cafe

This morning I delivered a batch of 'I Love Bristol' cupcakes to The Daily Meal on Gloucester Road. It opened just over a week ago and the quirky decor and delicious food on offer caught my eye. I popped in with some samples and the result is a batch of my cakes sitting prettily for sale atop their counter. Fingers crossed they go down well with The Daily Meal customers.

dedicated to mini eggs

It's Easter and for me, that's a good enough excuse to bake. In fact, out of all of the holiday seasons, Easter lends itself nicely to such an activity. I considered what to make. Simnel cake, chocolate nests, hot cross buns... and settled on the less traditional Mini Egg cookie. As a life-long fan of the Cadburys Mini Egg, a post dedication is long overdue. And what better time of year to put them in a cookie and write about it. I'd go as far as to say that when surrounded by freshly baked cookie dough, the Mini Egg really does come into its own.

So here they are. And yes, that is a burnt one you see in the background. I made these in my parents' kitchen and, not being used to the oven, I set the temperature to 220C instead of 170C. Luckily I redeemed myself with a second batch.

mini egg cookies

225g butter

350g soft light brown sugar

2 eggs

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

400g plain flour

1/2 tsp salt

2 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

150g Cadburys Mini Eggs

Preheat the oven to 170C

1. Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

2. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well with an electric hand mixer.

3. Add the flour, salt and bicarbonate of soda and mix well.

4. Mix in the Mini Eggs until evenly dispersed.

5. Arrange the mixture on a well-greased baking tray in small round balls, spaced apart to allow for spreading.

6. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes or until golden brown.

And while we're on the Easter theme, here is a picture of the best Easter eggs I have seen. Marks and Spencer's eggs, Eggward and Eggna.

i bought a teapot

I found it in a charity shop in Ludlow. I filled it with flowers. I think it will look pretty on my stall.

mocha delight

I made a mocha cake at the weekend. I've never made a cake with coffee in it. Probably because I'm not a big fan of anything that is coffee flavoured yet sweet at the same time. I like my coffee sugar-free. Keep the two things separate I say. So for this reason, I was probably a little light-handed when adding the strong espresso to the mixture. The result was a cake that tasted predominently of chocolate with just a hint of coffee. Never a bad thing but only just worthy of being labelled a mocha. Note to self for next time. Special shout-out here goes to the mascarpone icing. I could eat it by the spoonful.

mocha cake with mascarpone icing
for the cake 
250g butter
225g caster sugar
225g self-raising flour
2 tsp baking powder
30g cocoa
4 eggs
80ml milk
3 tbsp strong espresso coffee
for the icing
250g mascarpone
200ml double cream
1 tsp strong instant coffee
3-4 tbsp icing sugar

Preheat the oven at 170C
1. Beat the butter and caster sugar together until light and fluffy.
2. In a separate bowl, sieve together the flour, baking powder and cocoa.
3. Lightly beat together the milk and the eggs.
4. Slowly add the flour mixture and the egg mixture to the butter and caster sugar and continue to beat the whole time until you have a smooth mixture.
5. Divide the mixture between 2 round 20cm cake tins and bake in the oven for 35-40 mins until risen.
6. Turn the cakes onto a wire rack and leave to cool completely.
7. Meanwhile, make the icing by whisking together all of the ingredients together until thick and creamy. Spread the icing on the top of one of the cakes and sandwich the two cakes together. Spread the rest of the icing over the top and around the sides of the cake. Smooth over with a palette knife and decorate with grated chocolate.

flying around

I've been playing about with the design for my new flyer and I think this may be the one I settle on (new website coming soon, hence the different address).

Front.....

 and back...

i've been spending

This may turn out to be my most boring post to date. Here goes. Today I've been shopping for Secret Garden Party essentials. Mugs were my main aim for the day and having done my mug research I settled on Ikea as the cheapest mug around. So there it was that I headed to buy a load of them. As I arrived, the big Tesco next door drew me in and low and behold, there were mugs in abundance for a whole penny cheaper. Every Little Helps and all that. And - bonus - they looked nicer too. Straight up and down, nothing fancy about them, the kind of mug I like to drink my tea from.

I cleared them out of their stock of mugs and went on my way. Today's purchases also included napkins, tin foil and (the one I am most excited about), some big cookie jars that, once filled, will look ever so pretty on the stall.

Ok, most boring post ever, but for the sake of a very exciting event. I wrote mug 6 times in this post. 7 times. Here are some of the world's most boring photos to match....

fit for a billionaire

In honour of my friend's birthday, this weekend our flat hosted a party. Guests brought tapas dishes until we could fit no more in the kitchen. We ate, we played loud music and we danced. And at some point amongst the preparation I found time to make a birthday 'cake' - my replication of the aforementioned Starbucks 'salty caramel square'. I took it one layer at a time and the result was a much richer, more decadent version of the classic Millionaire's Shortbread (a Billionaire's Biscuit perhaps?) With a golden syrup, biscuit and butter combo of a base, a creamy caramel layer with biscuit and pecans, all underneath a topping of milk chocolate and more pecans, this makes for a treat suited to those who prefer them sticky and sickly. 

I would also like to take this opportunity to celebrate my new baking tool. A hand held blender is without a doubt the most used gadget in my kitchen and so it was inevitable that the life of my £5 Tesco Value one would eventually come to an end. Its replacement comes in the form of this rather more attractive Dualit version, complete with retractable power cord, 5 speeds and dough hooks. It's sad, but I'm excited.