All posts tagged: Baking

Merry Christmas From My Kitchen to Yours…Boozy Christmas Cake

Published by

Deck the halls  with boughs of holly Fa La La La La, La La La La Tis the season to be Jolly Fa La La La La, La La La La Oh yes,it’s that time of the year again! It’s Christmas time.Lets get this festive season started with some baking. Christmas baking over the years meant lots of sugar cookies,gingerbread men,puddings,mince pies and Christmas cake of of course. The key to a good Christmas cake starts perhaps days,months or even a year in advance.It’s all about pre soaking the mixture of Raisins,Sultanas,Cranberries and the mixed Peel in some alcohol which lends a wonderful and delicious moistness to this fruit cake.Now if you are pressed for time like I was whilst baking this cake,ensure that the mixture is soaked at least 24 hours before baking the cake. A good Dark rum works great or perhaps even some Brandy,Sherry or some Orange liqueuer.I landed up using some Cuban spiced rum in my pre soak and gosh the house smells boozy! Well here it is my recipe for …

Cherry Tomato & Oregano Foccacia

Published by

  “Good bread is the most fundamentally satisfying of all foods; and good bread with fresh butter, the greatest of feasts.” – James Beard This wonderful Cherry Tomato Focaccia was a  bake from the wonderful book that I received when I bought my Kitchenaid Artisan Standup Mixer in Dubai many years ago. I have been baking bread for several years now and now teach bread making, which is amongst one of the popular classes. The Kitchen Aid recipe book has an assortment of various recipes,ranging from  sauces, pasta dough recipes, breads of all kinds,pastries and pies and lots more. This Focaccia is an easy recipe to follow recipe and does not require much skill at all.I’ve used cherry tomatoes and some Oregano and flavoured it with Olive oil and sea salt.Nothing beats the taste and smell of warm and fresh bread out of the oven. So worth the effort! Some Tips While Baking This Focaccia: You may like to use a mixture of whole wheat and all purpose flour in equal proportions and make this …

When Life Gives You Oranges….Make an Orange Cake

Published by

    Well as the popular saying goes “When Life gives you lemons make Lemonade”.And  if it gives you Oranges then go ahead and bake up this delicious Orange cake and add in some marmalade for that extra citrusy Zing. Now I’ve been contemplating baking an Orange for a while now.There have been days when all the ingredients were all out,yet the cake just didn’t get baked.Just one of those phases you go through when you’ve been baking a lot. This afternoon I had three lone Oranges giving me a nod of approval.Almost to say C’mon and bake that cake will you! The dear son vouched that he will not even have a bit…too much sugar he said and went about doing his thing.I was quite excited to bake this afternoon and so out came all the ingredients again. Now I had been browsing some recipes that called for the oranges being stewed and then placed top of the cake when done. Where as I came across a Jamie Oliver Orange Cake recipe that I …

Challah Bread with Vanilla & Chia seeds

Published by

    Mother’s hold their children’s hands for a short while, but their hearts forever… Happy Mother’s Day lovelies!     It’s but natural I write this quote as it felt like just yesterday that my son was  really little and only five. How time has flow by and that little one is now eighteen and quite an  independent adult. He is down from university for the summer and yes it’s baking mania in my kitchen! He’s away at a friends and I’ve been baking up a storm tonight. Started off with a batch of double fudge brownies and then was just aching to try this Challah recipe that keeps wanting to be made. I’ve adapted this one from my lovely Kitchenaid cookbook that I received, when I bought my food processor last year. Now the recipe calls for using the dough attachment for kneading ,all though I’ve just used the hand technique. The recipe called for vanilla pods which I’ve substituted with regular vanilla extract and have used chia seeds instead of poppy seeds. You may …

Brandy Snap Baskets for Mothers Day & a Contest

Published by

Mother’s hold their children’s hands for a short while, but their heart’s forever… Mother’s Day is being celebrated on May 10th  and that’s coming up soon.This year I plan to bake up a little surprise for my mum. It’s great that I’ve now moved to Mumbai,where she lives as well and what’s more really quite close to her. Well then nothing is more special than baking up a little something  to say “I love you Mom and thank you for being a wonderful Mother”. I’m planning to make  up these delightful and cute Brandy Snap Baskets for her. These are quite dainty and delicate and may need a bit of practice before you get them quite right. But oh so worth trying them out. I will be filling these up with some fresh strawberries and whipped cream and dusting them with some Cocoa. You could just about try anything else as an alternative. Perhaps some fruits and custard or even whipped Mascarpone cheese and fruits. Happy Mother’s day Mom and wishing all my readers a wonderful one …