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Bake : National Chocolate Week

I’m a complete and utterly self-confessed chocaholic! This week is National Chocolate Week 2012 and it excites me. Although don’t you just wish there was free chocolate sent to everyone just because of it? Me too.

Anyhow, I thought I’d share with you some of the yummies I’ve been enjoying lately, what I’ve been drooling at and dreaming of, and a recipe for one of the delicious treats I have been snacking on.

First of all, what I’ve been enjoying:

rice krispie brownies

Rice Crispy Brownies…. so delish, seriously, and the recipe for you to make them is further on in this post!

Cadbury’s new Dairy Milk bars: Toffee Popcorn and Golden Biscuit Crunch. I preferred the Golden Biscuit Crunch one, it was so delish. I’m kind of addicted and am ignoring those cravings right now! They are currently on 2 for £3 in Sainsburys right now, which is where I picked them up from.

Cadbury’s Mint Bubbly Bar: Basically the Bubbly bar (similar-ish to an Aero) but with a layer of creamy mint, yum!

Things I am lusting after:

squirrels stash chocolate

Hotel Chocolat’s ‘Squirrels Stash‘ which are pralines filled with crunchy nuts, yum!

montezuma shake and shiver

Montezuma’s Monkey Bar in ‘Shake and Shiver’, a dark chocolate bar with added cocoa nibs and mint.

And for my face, Raw Gaia’s Raw Chocolate face pack. Now I love Lush’s cupcake face mask, and this also sounds as delish… not sure if I could stop myself from attempting to taste it though!

A recipe

Now as mentioned before I said I had a recipe for you, for the Rice Krispie Brownies! The recipe is by Nigella Lawson:

Ingredients

7 tablespoons unsalted butter
5 tablespoons golden syrup (such as Lyle
6 ounces good-quality milk chocolate, chopped (or 3/4 cup chips)
2 ounces good-quality bittersweet chocolate, chopped (or 1/4 cup chips)
5 1/2 cups Rice Krispies
3/4 cup milk chocolate morsels or chips (or use half dark and half white chocolate chips)
1 x 8-inch square cake pan or 1 rectangular aluminum foil pan approximately 13 x 9 x 2 inches

Preparation

Line your cake pan with aluminum foil or get out one of your trusty foil pans. Put butter, golden syrup, and chopped chocolates (not the morsels) in a heavy-based and fairly wide saucepan and melt over a low heat. Stir to mix the glossy goo, take it off the heat, then quickly pour and stir in the Rice Krispies. Still off the heat, quickly stir in the chocolate morsels, and spoon and scrape the mixture into your pan of choice. I find it easier, once the gunk is in the tin, to smooth the top with hands covered in a pair of disposable vinyl gloves. Put in the refrigerator to set for about 4 hours before cutting.

Make ahead: The brownies can be made up to 2 days ahead. Wrap pan tightly with plastic wrap and store in a cool place. In warm or humid weather, store in the refrigerator. Cut into squares before serving. Keeps for 3-4 days.

Cake: Panda Cupcakes

Last week was National Cupcake Week and I thought that I would make some cupcakes to mark the occasion – well, why not?! So it was debated which animal I should do next, after my pig cupcakes, and it was decided on pandas.

I used the last of the packet mixes I’d acquired from the USA, a Duncan Hines Red Velvet mix. From now on I shall make my cakes from scratch (unless someone sends me some more USA mixes, haha). I filled the cupcakes with cherry pie filling, and then baked them as per instruction. Once they had cooled I topped them with a buttercream frosting with added Marshmallow Fluff. Then it was time to get creative!

As you can see, I’m not the most skilled decorator, but I gave it my best shot and used the amazing coal dust crystals c/o The Gobstopper for the fur around the eyes, and the nose, mouth, eyes and ears are all slices of Panda licorice (see what I did there?!).

The cakes tasted delicious and that’s not just me saying that! The buttercream tasted great and the cherry pie filling really complimented the red velvet cake. I’m so glad that I added the sherbert. It tasted so good on the cakes, and alone (with a spoon, hiding…. joking, only just!!). The sherbert is called ‘coal dust’ and I must admit I’d not seen stuff like it before. The lovely people from The Gobstopper sent some to me with a bag of delicious lemon sherbert too. I loved how well-wrapped the sherbert was and luckily for me it also turned up on my birthday, so it was a nice surprise.

Now I’m trying to figure out which animal I’m going to make cupcakes of next…. any ideas?!

PS sign ups for the penpal swap end this Sunday…. get on it right now!!

Autumn Days When The Grass Is Jewelled….

autumn days wishlist

OK, so maybe Autumn (or as our friends in the USA call it, Fall) isn’t upon us yet, but with children going back to school this week many of us are starting to look towards the cooler seasons.
I thought I’d share with you some of my favourite Autumnal themed things that I’ve seen around on the internet lately.

Continue reading “Autumn Days When The Grass Is Jewelled….”

Bake Time – Pig Cupcakes!

I love a good cupcake, but haven’t had the opportunity to bake for a while. However, just recently I invested in some new baking bits, and thought that it was worth giving them a try out!

I usually don’t like using mixes, but I picked up a couple in the US last year as the baking stuff over there is so different! A strawberry cake mix, and a red velvet one. They were heading towards their use by date, so I thought I’d use the strawberry one first after I bought a bag of Marks and Spencer Percy Pig Rosy Noses and had a brain wave! I know – I’ll make piggy cupcakes!

I’m not the most artistic baker, but my cakes usually turn out pretty tasty. I started coming up with the idea of what else I’d do to it…. what I’d use for the eyes, ears, and filling them with jam. The ingredients were gathered, and I started to assemble my piggy plan…..

The whole process

They were very delicious and although they haven’t all been eaten yet, it won’t be long until they will! Some might say that these look a bit immature or childish, but I am very proud of them.

Now, which animal shall I do next?!