Woo hoo my first book “Baking at its best: Advice for home bakers and would be entrepreneurs’ ” is available as an e-book from Amazon for 99 pence right now. For one week only. Having this book on a promotion with Amazon has spurred me on to crack on with my fourth book which is going to based around Halloween and autumnal recipes. I know it is terrible to be thinking about Halloween when we haven’t even reached the summer holidays yet but I am trying to stay ahead of myself.
Back to the baking front today. I am going to make a Pavlova topped with lashings of cream and stacks with fresh berries. These berries are really fresh as they are straight from my friend’s garden. When my daughter was picking them I think more went in her mouth than in the bowl so they must be good. There are logan berries, strawberries, raspberries and blackberries which I want to use for baking with before the children eat them all. I haven’t told the children what I am making even though they asked me this morning as I wanted to keep it a surprise for them. I am going to make them some cookies/ flapjack for packed lunches this week so that tomorrow I can start on cleaning the kitchen out ready for a coat of paint.
Over the weekend, I made a Chocolate Brownie Cake to celebrate “World Chocolate Day”. My daughter who decorated it for me decide she didn’t like the [amazon_textlink asin=’B00DGL2GC0′ text=’M&Ms’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’wwwlovetobake-21′ marketplace=’UK’ link_id=’d3b1feec-6556-11e7-8ed6-531de02bb177′] so only half the cake had the sweets on it. It looks odd in the photo but you have to keep the children happy. This cake was made with my brownie recipe which I have shared before in my previous blog posts. The recipe can be found on my recipe page and on Yummly and Pinterest. I will share this recipe if anyone wants me too but it is fairly easy to follow. I used a ring mould as I love baking with this glass dish. My daughter decorated the cake, like I said, with some melted milk chocolate and a scattering of M&Ms.
Also, at the weekend, I made some Bread Rolls with the children. I made the dough on Friday evening and left it to prove all night. I used a baguette recipe which I have used before but I shared the dough out with the children on Saturday morning. The children went wild and created all sorts of shapes and sizes. My eldest daughter added herbs and cheese to her dough before shaping them into rolls. Needless to say, the bread rolls were a great hit and were eaten for lunch and breakfast on Sunday. The recipe I used was from a book which I own called “500 Fabulous Cakes and Bakes” . I use this book quite a lot for inspiration and information when I am baking. I have altered this recipe slightly i.e., added to it to make these bread rolls.
[lt_recipe name=”Bread Rolls” servings=”12″ prep_time=”3H30M” cook_time=”35M” total_time=”4H5M” difficulty=”Intermediate” summary=”This recipe can be used to make 2 baguettes with/ without the addition of all the flavourings. You can change the flavourings to whatever you like.Nutritionally, one bread roll contains 252 calories, 0.8g total fat (1% daily total fat), 52.7g total carbohydrate (19% daily total carbohydrate), 2.3g fibre (8% daily fibre) (based on a 2000 calorie diet).” print=”yes” image=”https://www.love-to-bake.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/breadrolls.jpeg” ingredients=”1tbsp dried yeast;475ml warm water;1tbsp salt;800g plain flour;25g chives (chopped);25g cheddar cheese (grated);2 sundried tomatoes (chopped);25g basil (chopped);black pepper;” ]In a bowl, mix the yeast with the water and leave for 15 minutes to ferment.;Add the flour and salt to the yeast mixture and mix together to form a dough.;Knead for 5 minutes and place in a greased bowl.;Cover the top and leave to prove in a warm place for 2 – 4 hours / overnight.;Remove from the bowl and split up the dough into 4 pieces.;To one piece add the chopped sundried tomatoes and shape the dough into 3 rolls.;To another quarter of the dough add the chopped basil and shape the dough into 3 rolls.;To another quarter add the grated cheese and chopped chives before shaping into 3 rolls.;To the last quarter add the black pepper and shape into 3 rolls. ;Place the rolls onto two baking trays.;Brush them with water.;Place in the oven before placing a high sided baking tray containing boiled water at the bottom of the oven.;Switch the oven on to Gas 6.;Bake the rolls for 30 – 35 minutes until golden brown and the base is coloured too. [/lt_recipe]
This month on the foodie calendar is “Icecream Month” so I am going to try and make some Icecream without the use of an icecream maker (as I don’t own one yet) and my family love icecream. This week there is “Blueberry Muffin Day” and “Gummy Worm Day” – I think these two days are from the USA foodie calendar and I picked them from the very long list for USA food days as they seemed quite cool days to celebrate, my children are on the final stretch at school and this type of food would make them happy. Not sure what I am going to make with the gummy worms but watch this space.