Italian Treats ♥

I love baking things and then giving them to my family; watching them eating something I've created gives me great pleasure- that is if they enjoy it! But unfortunately that's not always possible for me because my mum is intolerant to gluten :( Since she was diagnosed I've been trying to find recipes that she can enjoy that don't taste powdery, fake or just downright awful- which is quite often the case with the 'wheat free cakes' you can find in supermarkets. The substitute flour that is often used results in a dry and sawdust-like texture which quite frankly is very unpleasant and has put my mum right off the idea. As a general rule of thumb, I would say you can afford to substitute wheat flour for gluten free flour if the recipe contains less than 100g of wheat flour. Chocolate fondants work particularly well, I might even go as far as saying that they are improved by gluten free flour! However for maximum tastiness, look for recipes that don't originally contain wheat flour, then you know they were intended to be made without it and you don't need the unnecessary experimentation to decide whether you can substitute ingredients and what you should use.

You wouldn't believe some of the awful stuff me and mum have tasted over the years. Unfortunately we've had enough MDF bread and structurally challenged cake to put us off trying any more! The closest to actually acceptable cake I've tried is Crimbles Ginger Cake- unfortunately it turns out that this isn't actually suitable for coeliacs, despite being wheat free. As for bread, well it could certainly be better. 'Genius' breads are tolerable, if you toast them. Straight out of the packet it's just bready cardboard. Sandwich anyone? 

So as a treat to my mum I did a bit of searching, rummaging through recipe books and the Internet, and came to a decision; Italian biscuits! Ricciarelli to be precise! It was a no-brainer; they are often made without that troublesome wheaty ingredient, meaning no experimentation needed. And they have a distinctly almondy flavour which my mum is quite partial to! I also chucked in some Florentines for good measure, both of which go very well with a cup of strong black coffee- ooh sophisticated! ;)

Not long into the process of making these I realised that letting my brother help was a big mistake... lets just say that hands were burned and pans were ruined. I never thought it was possible to burn your hands on Florentines. Apparently I was wrong. Nevertheless we (somehow) managed to make a plate of tasty nibbles and my mum liked them! It makes me happy to see my mum eating sweet things because she does like them, but she seldom gets the opportunity to eat anything cakey- she isn't the sort to make a point of saying she cant eat certain things, she just goes without. To me its a shame really.

Expect more gluten-free goodies in future!

-Hannah xxx

Marbled Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownies ♥

 Yesterday me and Jessica decided to do a spot of baking! After a lot of messing around and faffing with ingredients we finally produced some red velvet cheesecake brownies. We used Sally's recipe, her brownies look amazing, I would strongly suggest checking out her blog if you haven't already!

here's Jess ♥

These were surprisingly easy to make, and tasted really really good! They had quite a cakey texture, rather than heavy brownies which was pleasant, which made them nice and light and definitely not stodgy. I think they would have been nice on their own but the cheesecake swirly bit really added another dimension to it; the sweet vanilla flavour really complimented the brownie taste. They weren't overly chocolatey either, so not too sickly or sweet.

On the other hand, they are very easily overdone; we looked away for a minute and they slightly overcooked on the top- but not so much that they looked horrible, they just browned a little. Compared to the cupcakes I made last time, these needed a lot less red food colouring, I think that may have been due to my over-enthusiasm whilst making the cupcakes; I was just thinking "red red red red!" so added all the food colouring I could find which unfortunately made the colour a bit too intense... But I've learned from my mistakes and now you can learn from them; don't go overboard with the colouring! (Also don't eat too much raw cake mixture when you've added excessive red colouring, my stomach really didn't like it much.)

oops ♥

But despite the slight over-browned appearance, once we had cut them up and stacked them up they looked very appetising! The cheesecake really gave them a bit of 'pizazz' and really gives them a more unique appearance.

So inconclusion, here is another recipe I would recommend you try out! Especially if you are a rubbish baker like me; if I can make them, so can you! I'm really looking forward to trying out more red velvet recipes, the red really makes them look a lot sexier than your regular piece of cake!

I'll leave you now with a picture of Jessica and a spoonful of cream cheese ;)
-Hannah xxx

Red Velvet Valentine's Cupcakes ♥

It's Valentine's day! Well it was yesterday, as I'm sure you know! I decided to make my boyfriend some cupcakes. I've never really been particularly fussed about valentine's day, but this year I miraculously have a boyfriend (hard to  believe, I know ♥ ) and thus I wanted to do something cute. ♥ 

I was so stressed out about what to get him, I didn't want to try too hard but I didn't want to give him an awful present. Red velvet cupcakes seemed to be a good idea, along with a few other bits and bobs :) But I've never made these before, so it was a bit risky making these for him for the first time the day before Valentine's day... but they turned out fabulously!

♥ don't judge me for eating one, I couldn't resist! ;) ♥

I've noticed a red velvet trend in the baking world recently and naturally I thought I'd give it a go. But I couldn't find a recipe in any of my cookbooks, so I did a bit of Internet research- by that I mean google- and found a recipe inspired by the Magnolia Bakery's red velvet cupcakes. If you would like the un-tweaked recipe, click here. I had one of these when I went to New York last year and my goodness it was utter perfection.

magnolia bakery cupcake, sorry for the low quality photo, I took it on my phone in NYC

 I did tweak this recipe a little though, and unfortunately added a little too much red colouring; they turned out more like burgundy velvet cupcakes but hey ho! If you're going to try out the recipe I found, I would suggest using slightly less food colouring, but its up to you how deep you want the colour to be. I piped on some cream cheese frosting, sprinkled on a few heart shapes and hey presto! Valentine's day- sorted! I experimented a little with the presentation and used a little mini cupcake tin to make some little cupcakes and tried out some tiered cupcakes- ooh fancy! I think they looked a little dodgy but still quite cute, I will surely try making tiered cupcakes again! All in all I think they were a success; the leftover cakes certainly went down well with my brothers! I hope you all had a wonderful valentine's day ♥

If you try baking some of these beauties I hope you enjoy them as much as I have!

-Hannah xxx

Chocolate brownies ♥

 My mum's 'secret recipe' chocolate brownies always go down well, so last night we had a speedy brownie making production line going, making many many batches of tasty chocolatey loveliness. The house still smells of chocolate, not that I'm complaining! 

Don't worry, we're not going crazy, there was a reason for this brownie extravaganza; my brother's rugby club had a bake sale and these seemed like the easiest option. They are so quick to make, usually I would only bake them for 10  minutes so they're more gooey than cakey, but for presentation's sake we baked them for 20 minutes.  Even so, we had 24 individually wrapped parcels of chocolate heaven ready to go before midnight! These are so easy to make, and so quick! Personally I love these, I'm not a big chocolate cake fan- I like all cake but chocolate cake is my least favourite- but brownies are a different story! I ate all the offcuts as soon as they had been cut, and no brownie feast is complete without a glass of cold milk! They are particularly good if you get a big hot gooey piece, put it in a big bowl and enjoy with a scoop of Haagen Dazs vanilla ice cream!

I hope you've all had a good weekend!

Hannah xxx

The Liebster Award! ♥

Hello! I know this is extremely overdue, but a few weeks ago, Joanna nominated me for the Liebster award, which is basically a super cute little award given to blogs with under 200 followers to help them become better known! Check out Jo's amazing blog here!

So the rules are:

❈ If you recieve the award, link back to the blogger who awarded you

❈ Write 11 facts about yourself and answer the 11 questions you have been set

❈ Make up 11 questions and nominate 11 bloggers with under 200 followers!

11 Random Facts About Me:

1. I'm left handed.

2. I have two younger brothers called Timothy and Alexander.

3. I play the piano and the cello.

4. My weakness is biscuits; once I've had one I cant stop!

5. I have never had any pets.

6. I'm a libra.

7. I find it very hard to make little decisions.

8. I am obsessed with Merlin! When the series ended I cried for three days...

9. One of my favourite films is The Avengers, but I cant decide on what my favourite film is.

10. I love Colin Morgan's ears.

11. In 2012 I went to London, New York, Paris and Milan!

Here are the questions that Jo asked:

❈ If I was to walk in while you were watching telly, what would you be watching?

Most likely The Big Bang Theory or Qi! Stephen Fry is amazing! But if I had answered this before Merlin ended, I would have said Merlin! Although I have been religiously rewatching series 1.

❈What shop do you most regularly shop in?

I haven't really been shopping recently, but I think most of the clothes I wear regularly are from H&M or Topshop. A lot of my stuff is from all manner of places, and I dont really have much of a preference as long as I find something I like!

❈ What is your pet peeve?

Probably when people say 'genuinely' instead of 'generally', when people say literally when they dont mean it or when people on facebook use the wrong kind of 'you're'. (I'm one of those annoying people that will correct your spelling in texts or on the internet...)

❈ Snow or Sun?

Ooh, thats a tough one; recently we have had snow just sitting around for so long that I'm starting to get a bit sick of it, but I love looking out of the window in the evening and watching snow falling, the sun just makes you all sweaty and yucky! 

❈ Your favourite thing about blogging?

I love how blogging gives people the opportunity to express what they are really passionate about in ways they woudn't normally be able to in everyday life.

❈ What do you think of charity shop shopping, or thrifting?

I think thrifting is a fantastic idea! I dont have much second-hand stuff but I love rummaging through charity shops looking for a bargain! When I went to New York last year I was really looking forward to doing some serious thrifting, but unfortunately I was there during hurricane Sandy! Excellent timing! So I didn't actually manage to get any shopping done, as you can probably imagine!

❈ Eastenders, Coronation Street, Emmerdale or Hollyoaks?

I don't really care much for soaps, but if I had to watch one, I think I'd pick Coronation Street because my dad is addicted to it and the story seems more interesting than what happens in Eastenders, and I think Hollyoaks is just awful.

❈Natural nails or Falsies?

If you're lucky enough to have nice long natural nails then thats fab, but I think that if you wear them right, false nails are quite handy, especially for those foil effect nails; I've tried the foil wraps and they just didn't work for me at all.

❈ If I was to give you an aeroplane ticket and a choice of any destination, where would you be flying to?

I would love to go to New York again, as I said before, the hurricane kind of ruined my experience! I'd love to go back maybe in the summer and do some serious shopping!

❈ Designer or High Street?

High street, definitely! Unless you're swimming in cash, then spending all your money on a pair of trousers with some fancy person's name on them is a bit silly- you can get something equally as nice on the high street for a fraction of the price.

❈ Who is your role model?

I can't really think of anyone who stands out in particular, I guess I could say my mum because she does so much for me and my brothers.

Here's who I Nominated!

Confessions of a Cookbook Queen

Passionate about Baking

Shugary Sweets

Katieboo85

Sally's baking addiction

apt2bbaking

Whipped Baking 

So here are my questions:

❈Do you prefer sweet or savoury?

❈Why did you start blogging?

❈Favourite season?

❈If you could go anywhere in the world, where would it be?

❈How many books do you read in a year?

❈Best thing you got for Christmas?

❈Are you a morning or an evening person?

❈When you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up?

❈If you could only eat one thing for the rest of your life, what would it be?

❈How long have you been blogging for?

❈Which food really reminds you of your childhood? 

I'm looking forward to reading your answers!

Hannah xxx

  

 

Macarons ♥

This time last year I made macarons for the very first time and brought them to a party, and since then I have been addicted to making them. They are just so charming and delicate, I know I wont stop making them until I have found the perfect recipe. I've been through countless different methods and still I haven't found one that truly works for me. I don't even want to imagine the amount of failed macarons I've consumed over this past month, but this time it seems to have worked; these are the best macarons I have made yet!

These seemingly innocent little things are ridiculously temperamental. If you make just one mistake then that's it- no macarons for you. That's probably down to the meringue, a key part of the mixture. Over beat it and you have a gloopy mess, under beat it and you end  up with bubbly disks (this happened to me a lot).

 It seems the trick to macarons is the skin; you can do what you like and faff around with Italian meringue and sugar syrups but in the end, if you don't let the shell form then they will be a bit rubbish. This took me a while to master, I have used so many bags of ground almonds recently making macarons which were unfortunately destined for the bin.

Folding the mixture is also crucial. If you get too carried away rhythmically folding almonds into the meringue you will inevitably end up beating all the air out of it, destroying the structure and ruining the whole batch. Equally, if you are too scared to over-beat it, under beating can be just as disastrous. Nobody wants a fluffy macaron with no body or structure, its just silly. I would show you pictures of the failed ones, but they are just too awful to show... I will let you imagine the sticky almond mess that almost pushed me to tears. When my dad came in to look at them he laughed for a good minute at the awful mess I had made.

 This year, ebay has been my best friend. I bought a big box full of macaron boxes, and they have done the job perfectly. They fit 8 to a box, which is a nice size for gifts. I have been into homemade things recently, I bought some lovely teacups on ebay and filled them with candle wax to make pretty teacup candles for some of my friends which was surprisingly a lot easier than I had expected! I'm planning on making a few more of those carrot cakes that I made last week too, I have heard good things about that particular cake! (If you have no clue what I am on about then click here.)

 Experimenting with fillings was a bit of a palaver too; I made a chocolate ganache which kept melting all over the place, vanilla cream which wouldn't stay firm, and used mincemeat, jam and candy cane pieces in the rest of them because I was getting too stressed out! I had a lot of fun smashing up candy canes though, definitely took out a lot of built up frustration on the poor things.

 Finally, to put the proverbial icing on the cake, as I was transporting the un-lidded boxes from one room to another, I misjudged the amount of free table space and dropped a whole box onto the floor. The macarons went everywhere and smashed like a christmas bauble on the tiles (trust me we have had a lot of that over the years, courtesy of my brother). I felt like I was going to cry, all my work in pieces in a matter of secons. It felt like everything was in slow motion as I watched them tumble away from my hands towards their impending doom. Fortunately I had some spares, so I re-jiggled the rest of the macarons and hopefully nobody will notice!

 And so, after all that effort and minor catastrophe, I finally have my macaron jenga tower. I just hope everyone likes them!

-Hannah

xxx

It's snowing...gingerbread! ♥

 

I bought some super cute cookie cutters recently and I've been itching to use them! They are the sort that have a button on the top that pushes whatever you have cut out of the cutter (I could have explained that a lot better). I cant remember how much they were but they were pretty inexpensive. I bought them thinking I could cut out icing or something of the sort, but then it hit me, gingerbread! Everyone loves gingerbread so why not make a massive batch of them? They took barely any time at all, once you have made the dough- which is easy peasy anyway- its just a case of cutting shapes out and sticking them in the oven for about 5 minutes! Et voila! They are super easy but look like a lot of effort has gone into them! Although the dough was a pain in the bum to get off the cutters afterwards... I got my brother to help me to make the job a little quicker, and so in under 15 minutes we had made a mini gingerbread mountain and had left to spare! Obviously they didn't last long, you cant expect me to bake and then not sample any of it! The end result was so cute, I wanted to eat all of them, but I didn't. Unfortunately for me they were for a friend, but she seemed to enjoy them! If you're stuck for last minute Christmas presents then this is ideal! Quick, simple AND pretty!

I need to make some of these again- for myself of course ;)

-Hannah

xxx