Carrot Cake with Lime Mascarpone Icing - Jamie Oliver

ingredients

• 250g unsalted butter, softened
• 250g light brown soft sugar
• 5 large eggs, preferably free-range or organic, separated
• zest and juice of 1 orange
• 170g self-raising flour, sifted
• 1 slightly heaped teaspoon baking powder
• 100g ground almonds
• 100g shelled walnuts, chopped, plus a handful for serving
• 1 heaped teaspoon ground cinnamon
• a pinch of ground cloves
• a pinch of ground nutmeg
• ½ teaspoon ground ginger
• 250g carrots, peeled and coarsely grated
sea salt

for the lime mascarpone icing:
• 100g mascarpone cheese
• 200g full-fat cream cheese
• 85g icing sugar, sifted
• zest and juice of 2 limes

method

This carrot cake is an exceedingly good cake made all the more pleasing by the twist of lime mascarpone icing. It’s delicious, it works and it’s better than any other carrot cake I’ve tried. I would normally bake this in a square or round cake tin, but for the picture I used a lovely old loaf tin and it came out looking gorgeous.


Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF/gas 4. Grease and line a 22cm-square cake tin or a round equivalent with greaseproof paper. Beat the butter and sugar together by hand or in a food processor until pale and fluffy. Beat in the egg yolks one by one, and add the orange zest and juice. Stir in the sifted flour and baking powder, and add the ground almonds, walnuts, spices and grated carrot and mix together well.

In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites with a pinch of salt until stiff, then gently fold them into the cake mix. Scoop the mixture into the prepared cake tin and cook in the preheated oven for about 50 minutes until golden and risen. You can check to see if the cake is cooked by poking a cocktail stick into it. Remove it after 5 seconds and if it comes out clean the cake is cooked; if slightly sticky, it needs a bit longer, so put it back in the oven. Leave the cake to cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then turn it out on to a rack and rest for at least an hour.

Mix all the icing ingredients together and spread generously over the top of the cake. Finish off with a sprinkling of chopped walnuts.

Honey Chocolate Cake - Nigella Lawson

INGREDIENTS

FOR THE CAKE: 

• 100g dark chocolate, broken into pieces
• 275g light muscovado sugar
• 225g soft butter
• 125ml runny honey
• 2 eggs
• 200g plain flour
• 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• 1 tablespoon cocoa
• 250ml boiling water

FOR THE STICKY HONEY GLAZE

• 60ml water
• 125ml runny honey
• 175g dark chocolate
• 75g icing sugar

FOR THE BEES

• 25g yellow marzipan
• 12 flaked almond

  
  

  METHOD

  Serves: Makes about 10 slices
  1. Take whatever you need out of the fridge so that all the ingredients can come to room temperature. While that's happening, melt the chocolate from the cake part of the ingredients list in a good-sized bowl, either in the microwave or suspended over a pan of simmering water. Set aside to cool slightly.
  2. Preheat the oven to gas mark 4/180°C, and butter and line a 23cm springform cake tin.
  3. Beat together the sugar and soft butter until airy and creamy, and then add the honey. Add one of the eggs, beating it in with a tablespoon of the flour, and then the other egg with another tablespoon of flour. Fold in the melted chocolate, and then the rest of the flour and the bicarbonate of soda. Add the cocoa pushed through a tea strainer to ensure you have no lumps, and last of all, beat in the boiling water. (I don't suppose there's anything to stop you doing this all-in-one in the processor, blitzing everything except the boiling water, and then scraping down the batter and pouring the water down the funnel with the motor running.) Mix everything well to make a smooth batter and pour into the prepared tin. Cook for up to an hour and a half, though check the cake after 45 minutes and if it is catching cover the top lightly with foil and check every 15 minutes.
  4. Let the cake cool completely in the tin on a rack.
  5. To make the glaze, bring the water and honey to a boil in a smallish, though not tiny, saucepan, then turn off the heat and add the finely chopped chocolate (I use my mezzaluna or 70 per cent cocoa solids buttons), swirling it around to melt in the hot liquid. Leave it for a few minutes then whisk together. Sieve in the icing sugar and whisk again until smooth.
  6. Choose your plate or stand and cut out four strips of baking paper and form a square outline on the plate. This is so that when you sit the cake on and ice it, the icing will not run out all over the plate. Unclip the tin and sit the thoroughly cooled cake on the prepared plate. Pour the icing over the cold honey chocolate cake and smooth it down the sides. I should warn you that the glaze stays tacky for ages (this is what gives it its lovely melting gooeyness) so ice in time for the glaze to harden a little, say at least an hour before you want to serve it. You can then very gently slide out the strips of baking paper to reveal a clean plate. Keep the pan of icing, and don't wash it up, as you will need it to make the stripes on the bees.
  7. Divide the marzipan into six even pieces and shape them into fat, sausage-like bees' bodies, slightly tapered at the ends.
  8. Using a wooden skewer, paint stripes with the sticky honey glaze left in the pan. About three stripes look best, in my not enormously considered opinion, and then very carefully attach the flaked almonds at an angle to make the bees’ wings, two on each one (unsurprisingly). They might snap as you dig them into the marzipan bodies, so have some spare. I have to admit that, I also like to give them eyes by dipping the point of the skewer in the glaze and thence on the bees: they look more loveable with an expression, but this is where the Disney effect comes in. If a more imperial dignity is required, forgo the dotting of the eyes and present this as your Napoleonic Chocolate Cake.

Chocolate Chip Cookies - Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieqeYrqgQn0&feature=player_embedded

Traditional Blackberry Muffins

About this recipe

Healthiness : (22 votes) 

Difficulty:  
Preparation Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 20 minutes
Number of servings: 18
This is a vegetarian recipe

Ingredients

• 250g (10oz) butter
• 200g (8oz) sugar
• 5 eggs
• 250g (10oz) plain flour
• 10g/3 level tsp baking powder
• 75g (3oz) blackberries

Equipment

• Weighing Scales
• Mixing Bowl
• Bun Tin
• Muffin Cases
• Sieve
• Metal Spoon
• Wire Rack
• Airtight Container

Making and cooking it

 Always wash your hands before preparing food.

1. Preheat the oven to 200ºC/400ºf/Gas Mark 6, put muffin cases into the holes in a bun tin
2. Cream together the butter and sugar in a large bowl using an electric whisk or wooden spoon 
3. Beat the eggs and gradually add to the butter mixture. (If the mixure starts to curdle add a spoonful of the flour)
4. Sift the flour and baking powder into the bowl  
5. Using a metal spoon, gently fold into the mixture 
6. Divide the mixture into muffin cases, filling each case no more than two-thirds full 
7. Push a blackberry into the middle of the mixture in each case 
8. Put the bun tin in the oven
9. Bake each batch for 15-20 minutes until risen and golden 
10. Remove from oven and place individual muffins on a wire rack to cool 
11. Store in an airtight container

Gingerbread House Video

To watch Rachel Allen bake a simple, delicious Gingerbread House with People, click on this link : http://uktv.co.uk/food/recipe/aid/610040/displayVideo/Hi

Rachel Allen - American Frosting

 This delicious soft icing is a little tricky to make, so follow the instructions exactly. Quick and accurate decisions are necessary in judging when the icing is ready and then it must be applied to the cake immediately. If the icing is not cooked enough, it will still taste good, but will not dry out properly on the outside. If cooked too much, it will be difficult to spread over the cake.

ingredients

 

·         2 egg whites

·         425g (15oz) caster or granulated sugar

·         100ml (3 1/2 fl oz) water

1.  Ensure your cake is ready before you start, as this icing begins to set very quickly. Bring to the boil a saucepan of water large enough to hold a heatproof bowl. Place the egg whites in the bowl and whisk with a hand-held electric beater until very stiff.

2.  In a separate saucepan over a medium-high heat, dissolve the sugar in the water and boil for 5-10 minutes until the liquid is thick and syrupy and has reached the 'thread' stage - when the last few drops that fall from a metal spoon dipped into the syrup come off in one long, quite thick and syrupy thread.

3.  Pour the boiling syrup over the stiffly beaten egg whites, whisking all the time with the hand-held beater. Place the bowl in the saucepan of simmering water. Continue to whisk over the water for 10-15 minutes until the icing is snow white, very thick and meringue-like.

4.  Spread quickly over the cake with a palette knife, regularly dipping the knife into a jug of boiling water. The icing sets very quickly at this stage, so speed is essential.

Homemade Scones Video

Wanna make Homemade Scones - Check this out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8a4k0V_ViUI&feature=relmfu

Traditional Fruit Cake

It can be satisfying to put in all the effort and involvement of making a serious cake for a special occasion, but there are times when its just easier to churn out a quick cake. This recipe makes quite a moist cake, which is not as heavy as a traditional fruitcake.

To Make the Cake

To bake this cake, you will need a 7" (18cm) square or 8" (20cm) round cake tin (the type with the push out bottom is easiest to use).

Ingredients

• 120g/4oz Margarine
• 170g/6oz Sugar
• 340g/14oz Dried fruit - this can be a mixture of raisins, sultanas, cherries, peel... whatever you fancy!
• 225ml/8floz Water
• 1tsp Bicarbonate of soda
• 1 half tsp Mixed spice
• 2 Beaten Eggs
• 120g/4oz Plain flour
• 120g/4oz Self-raising Flour
• Pinch of Salt

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C/Gas Mark 4 (the middle bottom right hand oven of a 4-door Aga, if you're that lucky).
2. Prepare the tin by applying a thin layer of margarine and lining with two layers of greaseproof paper.
3. Put the margarine, sugar, fruit, water, bicarbonate of soda and mixed spice in a saucepan over a moderate heat. Bring to boil and simmer for 1 minute.
4. Pour into a mixing bowl and allow to cool¹.
5. Add eggs, flour and salt to cooled mixture. Mix well and pour into prepared tin.
6. Bake for about one and a quarter hours. You may need to put brown paper over the top if cake starts to singe before it is cooked throughout.
7. Cake is ready when an inserted skewer comes out clean - leave to cool on a wire rack.
8. Eat!

This is a very forgiving recipe; you don't even have to be very precise with the measuring out.

The cake should keep for a couple of months wrapped in tin foil in a tin, and can be 'spiked' with brandy or whatever you fancy before being covered in marzipan and icing for Christmas. Unlike more traditional fruit cake recipes, you can eat it straight away if you want to, without even waiting for it to cool completely.

New York Cheesecake Video

Check this Video out to find out how to make a scrumptious New York Cheesecake
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vq3r1M0eZBg&feature=player_embedded

CHILDREN'S 10 PIECE BAKING SET

Contains apron, mixing bowl, paper cups, wooden rolling pin, mixing spoon, 5 & 6 point star cutters, circle cutter, flower cutter, quality 6 cup tart / muffin pan.

OUR PRICE: £12.49 (free delivery in the UK).
10+ in stock now. Despatched within 24 hours of receiving payment.
Seven day money back guarantee if returned in original box unused, with all contents and in saleable condition.

Our contact details can be found by clicking here.

CHILDREN'S 10 PIECE BAKING SET

Contains apron, mixing bowl, paper cups, wooden rolling pin, mixing spoon, 5 & 6 point star cutters, circle cutter, flower cutter, quality 6 cup tart / muffin pan.

OUR PRICE: £12.49 (free delivery in the UK).
10+ in stock now. Despatched within 24 hours of receiving payment.
Seven day money back guarantee if returned in original box unused, with all contents and in saleable condition.

Our contact details can be found by clicking here.

Angel Food Cake

Ingredients:

• 2 slices fresh angel food cake*
• 1 1/2 cups frozen sweetened raspberries
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 tablespoons orange juice or raspberry liqueur
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch mixed with...
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1/4 cup chocolate chips

Preparation:

Place slices of cake on plates.

Heat the raspberries with the vanilla and orange juice or liqueur and bring to a full boil. As soon as boiling point is reached, add the cornstarch-water mixture, bring again to a full boil, reduce heat and simmer, stirring constantly, for about 2 minutes or until thickened.

Serve hot sauce over cake and immediately sprinkle with chocolate chips, so they soften and melt into the sauce.

When measuring flour, fluff it in the bag then spoon into the measuring cup; level off with a knife. 

To "lighten" a hard wheat flour, spoon 2 to 4 tablespoons of cornstarch into a 1-cup dry measure, then sprinkle the flour in until full and scrape off the excess with the back side of a knife.

For better texture, try substituting buttermilk for regular milk in your cake recipe. For each cup of buttermilk used, add 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda to the dry ingredients. 

Beat butter and sugar for as long as the recipe directs.

To make a lighter cake, separate the eggs first. Add the yolks to the butter mixture, beat the egg whites then fold into the batter.

In general, use 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder for every cup of flour in cake batters.

To speed up the softening of cold butter, grate or thinly slice it and let stand for about 10 minutes over a bowl of warm water.

Toss nuts, raisins and chopped fruits in flour first. This will help keep them suspended in batters.

To split layer cakes loop a long strand of unflavored dental floss around the center of the cake horizontally. Cross the ends and slowly and firmly pull on each end to cut cleanly through the cake.

Cool the cake thoroughly before frosting.

To moisten confectioners' sugar frostings, use other liquids in place of milk. Melted jelly, fruit juices, coffee, peanut butter (with a little milk), honey, or maple syrup are just a few alternatives.

Make chocolate whipped cream by combining 2 tablespoons each unsweetened cocoa powder and confectioners' sugar in a mixing bowl. Gradually stir in 1 cup whipping cream, then refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before beating.

KIDS MAKE GINGERBREAD MEN!!!!

INGREDIENTS350g / 12oz plain flour 175g / 6oz light soft brown sugar 100g / 4oz butter 1 medium egg 4 tablespoons of golden syrup 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda 1½ teaspoon of ground ginger

NOTE: You will need a rolling pin and a man shaped pastry cutter (if you want gingerbread man shapes)

COOKING METHOD

YOUR CHILD		THE ADULT
		You will need to measure out theingredients or at least help your child to do so. The pastry will be easier to mix if the butter has been removed from the fridge half an hour before starting mixing.

YOUR CHILD - Put the flour, butter, ground ginger and bicarbonate of soda in a mixing bowl. Mix it all together with fingertips until crumbly. Add sugar, syrup and egg and mix until it forms a firm pastry mix.

You - Pre-heat the oven to 180°C / 350°F / Gas Mark 4

YOUR CHILD - Using the rolling pin, roll out the pastry to about 5mm thick. Make sure the surface and the rolling pin are well dusted with flour. Cut out the shapes with a knife and/or pastry cutter

YOUR CHILD - Place the cut out pastry on a greased or non-stick baking tray. YOU - put the baking trays in the pre-heated oven. Remove after 15 minutes (check after 10 minutes).

YOUR CHILD -Find a selection of anything you like to decorate the gingerbread men and house. We used cake icing with raisins, chocolate chips and edible silver balls.

 

YOUR CHILD - Put a blob of icing on the gingerbread men where you want a decoration to stick.

Gingerbread men are easy to make,
and they're tasty to eat, make no mistake!

FRESH FRUIT TARTS

15 oz. pkg. Pillsbury all-ready pie crusts 1 tsp. flour FILLING: 5 c. assorted fresh fruit 16 oz. jar strawberry glaze 1/2 c. whipped topping 1. Allow both crust pouches to stand at room temperature 15-20 minutes. Heat oven to 450 degrees. Remove crusts from pouches; unfold and remove plastic sheets. Sprinkle flour over crusts. Using fluted round cookie cutter, cut five 4 inch circles from each crust. Fit circles, floured side down, over backs of ungreased muffin cups. Pinch 5 equally spaced pleats around side of each cup. Prick each crust generously with fork. Bake at 450 degrees for 9-13 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely; remove from muffin cups.2. In large bowl, combine fruit and strawberry glaze. Refrigerate until thoroughly chilled. Before serving, spoon 1/2 cup fruit mixture into each cooled crust; top with whipped topping. Makes 10 tarts.

Apple Bars Recipe

Ingredients

1. 2 cups whole wheat flour
2. 1 teaspoon salt
3. 1 teaspoon baking soda
4. 1 cup packed brown sugar
5. 1 cup rolled oats, such as Quaker Oats
6. 1 cup low fat margarine
7. 4 tablespoons low fat margarine
8. 6 cups thinly sliced apples

Directions

1. Mix flour, salt and baking soda. Add brown sugar and oatmeal, mix well. Cut in 1 cup margarine
2. Spread half of the crumb mixture in a buttered 9 x 13 pan.
3. Put apples on top of bottom layer. Cover with remaining crumb mixture and dot with 4 tablespoons margarine.
4. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 40 to 45 minutes. It is great served with ice cream!

*Tip* After slicing the apples, sprinkle the slices with drops of lemon juice. The lemon juice will keep the apples from browning.

Toffee Brownies

INGREDIENTS

200g dark chocolate

150g white chocolate

250g salted butter, cut into pieces

3 large eggs

250g dark muscovado sugar

85g plain flour

1tsp baking powder

METHOD

1. Pop the oven onto Gas 3 and line a tray you're going to pop your brownies in. I like my brownies large and flatish so go for a large tray, but for normal size brownies maybe a 9 inch tray would be better.
2. Very easy to make these. Melt the butter and sugar in a saucepan then set aside to cool. This bit's important as you don't want to end up with scrambled eggs. 
3. In the meantime whisk the eggs until pale and then add the sugar until it looks all glossy and lovely. 
4. Fold choc mix into the eggy sugary mix then sift the flour and baking powder onto the top and fold in gently. 
5. Bake for 30ish minutes until a skewer comes out with a few bits of cakey mix still on it. Then cool on a wire rack for 2 hours before you attempt to cut it. As I like my brownies really squidgy I tend to put in the fridge before cutting just to be on the safe side. 

Serves: 20 brownies