Saturday Sweet-Tooth: Oreo Bark

I'm really lucky to work somewhere where the atmosphere is really laid back and relaxed. Some times I stay behind late for numerous reasons and wish I could do some baking to kill time before I leave (after I've finished work, obviously) but we have no oven. Then the other day I was browsing through my bloglovin' feed and stumbled across this recipe and decided I'd get my baking hat on in my lunch break.

It is so super simple to make, and tastes super scrummy that I just had to share it with you. It certainly went down well with my colleagues and I can't wait to make it again for family and friends.

The recipe is pretty simple; you just need to grab a couple of bars of chocolate and melt it. Ideally I would've like to do it in a bowl over water, but I used the microwave instead. I found that checking it every 10 seconds and giving it a stir helped to prevent the chocolate getting that gritty texture.

Once the chocolate had melted I poured it onto a tray I'd lined with cling film. Once it was all spread out (the thickness is entirely up to you) I crushed up some Oreos and squished them on top. Covered with another layer of cling film and put it in the fridge. 

Once it had cooled and gone hard (around 30-40 mins) I took it out and broke it into pieces, and voila!

Perfect afternoon snack right? (Plus fruit makes it healthy....)

What do you think? Will you be trying this?

Laura

Just to clarify, not my recipe, it came from Brown Eyed Baker, I simply wanted to share it :)

Saturday Sweet Tooth: Attempting Red Velvet Cupcakes

Over the bank holiday weekend I was in the mood to do some baking, but rather than buying a kit I wanted to make some myself. So, in the middle of Asda, I did a quick Google of Red Velvet Cupcakes (thank you 3G) and picked up the ingredients.

I got the recipe from here (not trying to plagiarise) so you can get the full list and instructions you can go there; but here's what we did!

Cream together your butter and sugar until smooth and creamy.

You then need to add the buttermilk. Buttermilk can be found in the milk section FYI. I thought it'd be with the condensed milk and stuff.

Then you need to add the eggs and stir!

Then it's time to add the red food dye. My tip, add the whole bottle!!! (You'll see why.)

Next up vinegar (which the boyfriend had to do, I HATE VINEGAR)

Then it's time for flour, cocoa powder and stir!

Transfer to baking cases and bake in the oven.

This is why you need to add more food dye...

Then get icing and decorating. 

Whilst these tasted delicious, they were definitely velvety, they weren't exactly red. Next time, on recommendation from my good friend Rachel, I'll be using food paste or the whole darn bottle.

Lesson learned.

What do you think?

Laura xoxo

Saturday Sweet Tooth: Rock Buns

When I was younger, on the weekends I was at my dad's and he wanted some peace and quiet to watch the football (snooze) he had to think of things I could do get me out of the way. Baking was one of those things; something that benefited both of our stomachs. 

Rock buns were something that we both enjoyed, and his then girlfriend's mom used to make them too and gave me the recipie. To this day it is one of the few recipes I remember off by heart, and still love making and today I'm sharing it with you.

You will need:

- 8oz Self Raising Flour

- 4oz Butter

- 2oz Sugar

- 1 Egg

- Sultanas/Raisins

- Splash of milk

In a bowl add all of the dry ingredients (minus the sultanas.) Use your fingers to mush it all up to create fine breadcrumbs.

It should look a little something like this.

Then add your egg and sultanas and stir until a dough is formed. If it still looks a little dry, add a splash of milk until it's all combined.

Take your dough and make little balls. The size can be however big or small you like. (Massive ones are amazing, FYI!) Place them on a greased baking tray and pop them in the oven.

Pop them in the oven, I put mine at 180oc for 12mins. Temp will vary depending on oven type, and time will depend on the size of your balls (oo-er!)

Once they're looking golden and delectable get them out of the oven and leave them to cool. Whilst it is tempting (and blooming well hard) you must leave them to cool down, otherwise they'll just be buns and not rock buns.

Here's the finished article. You can totally experiment with the recipie. I find that a teaspoon of mixed spice and some glace cherries go really well. We did try to make chocolate ones once but the didn't really work out.

What are your childhood baking stories? I'd love to know.

Laura xoxo

Recipe: Christmas Cookies

This post is all about how to make these cute little Christmas cookies, which I was inspired by Pinterest to make.

Before you start, you need to dress festive:

My little brother for you!

The recipe is from Little Cook's Big Cookery Book, but you can make any gingerbread recipe you wish!

Add all the dry ingredients to the bowl and then add the butter.

Then proceed to make breadcrumbs.

Beat the egg in the a mug.

Warm a tablespoon so the golden syrup doesn't stick,

then add the two to the mixture.

Mix until you have a dough shape.

Add to a floured surface and begin to roll.

It's then time to cut the shapes, I used circles.

Then add to two greased baking trays.

Whilst they're cooking and cooling reward yourself with a little drink!

Then it's time to decorate.

This is where you should separate the red smarties, however THERE WERE NONE IN MY TUBE! I then had to resort to tootie fruties.

Mix some icing together, and decorate!

Will you be festive baking?

Laura xoxo