Recipe Post No.6- Chocolate Orange Cookies( it's time to get festive)

 Hello festive bakers!

Seeing as it's only a couple of days till December , I thought I should begin giving BakingBoutique's recipes a... FESTIVE theme. And I thought the perfect way  to start that theme would be with cookies. But not ANY ordinary cookies... the CHOCOLATEY- ORANGE type ! I love this recipe probably because it has a lot of festivity AND because it's generally scrumptious as well as easy!

In order to make these delish, festive cookies, you'll need the following:

125g of dark chocolate (I used plain dark chocolate)

150g of plain flour (please do NOT use self-raising flour instead for this recipe)

30g of cocoa powder (preferably ones suitable for baking)

1 tsp of bicarbonate soda 

1/2 tsp salt

125g of butter, softened to room temp.

75g light brown sugar

50g caster sugar

Finely grated zest of one large orange

1 egg, cold

200g of white chocolate ( I didn't add white chocolate to my biscuits only because I HATE white chocolate but it might be different for you)

Equipment needed:
Heat-proof bowl (for placing and melting the dark chocolate)
Small pan/ microwave for melting the chocolate
 Medium- sized mixing bowl
Cooling rack
Large baking sheet
Wooden spoon
Ordinary spoon for stirring the melted chocolate.


Method to making these sweet treats:

Firstly, as always, pre-heat the oven  to 170 degrees/ gas mark 3. Line the baking tray with a  large baking sheet.

Once that's done, melt the dark chocolate in a microwave in 30 seconds blasts. An alternative

would be melting the chocolate over a pan of barely simmering water until melted completely. After that, remove from heat and leave to cool.

While the chocolate is cooling, place the flour, cocoa powder, bicarbonate soda and salt into the mixing bowl and leave aside. 

From there, cream the butter and sugar together in a bowl until light and fluffy. Tip: Don't over- mix- try and cream for roughly three minutes. 

Add the cooled melted chocolate and beat combine.

Beat in the orange zest and egg, followed by the flour mixture. Combined together, stir in the white chocolate chunks( this is optional unless you LOVE white chocolate).

Roll the dough into small or large balls- it depends on the size you want your biscuits to be

and place onto the baking tray. Bake for about 15-18 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean in the middle of the biscuit.

Finally after waiting for 15 minutes, remove biscuits from the oven and leave to cool on the tray for 5 minutes before transporting them to a wire rack. 

(optional) Just to make the biscuits look ESPECIALLY tasty and well...sweet, I added whipped chocolate butter-cream icing and sprinkles- yum!

And that's the recipe for making festive, ADDICTIVE chocolate-orange cookies!

Please do let me know how you got in making these cookies by e-mailing me to: chocolatecupcakes08@gmail.com or by commenting below.

I hope you've enjoyed this week's recipe. Until now...


Keep baking!

#sweetreats 

BakingPost no.5- Icing Techniques

 It has already been a week since my last post, BBQ Parkin, on BakingBoutique. For this week's recipe....it's a little different. I thought I should teach you a couple of icing techniques so you grow as a baker both professionally and deliciously.

So without further ado, here are some of the basics in icing:

Basics

Correct bag position (right handers)

When holding an icing bag , you need to make sure that you're holding the bag at a certain angle. The two most basic angles of holding an icing bag is 90 degrees or straight up. This angle normally is used for icing  flat petal flowers or stars. 

The second method is icing from a 45 degrees angle or halfway vertical and horizontal. By icing at THIS angle, it's used for writing and borders.

Direction for icing right-handed:

The easiest way to learn the direction of an icing bag is when you think the back of the piping bag as the hour hand of the clock- you can sweep out a circle with the back end of the icing bag. Imagine the circle you pictured in the air is a clock face. The hours on the clock face correspond to the direction the point the end of the bag.

Note: Right-handers should always decorate from left to right.

Correct bag position( left handers)

The two basic positions for icing with your right hand is the same for your left hand.

Directions for icing left- handed:

Again, the directions for right hands is exactly the same for left-handers- imagine the back of the icing bag as a hour hand on a clock. 

Note: Left-handers should decorate from right to left. One exception is writing and printing; everyone writes and prints from left to right.

Try practising these bag positions-you WILL get better. It took me some time to get these positions right but after a while I FINALLY picked up the position.  

I know it is quite boring learning about the basics and not actually learning how to prettily ice a cupcake or a biscuit but to ice prettily you MUST know the basics. Like how to fill a icing bag correctly.

In order to perfect this, holding the actual bag correctly is one of the most important steps- make sure when you're holding the bag with one hand, you fold down the top with the other hand to create a generous cuff over your hand as shown below. 

 The second most important step is filling the bag accurately. With an angled spatula/ wooden spoon, fill the bag with roughly half a cup of icing.

(tip) It's essential not to OVERFILL the bag otherwise, excess icing may squeeze out the wrong end.

The next step in filling an icing bag is to CAREFULLY remove the spatula/wooden spoon from the piping bag.

Begin with removing the icing from the spatula by squeezing the bag with your thumb and fingers against the spatula and afterwards pulling it out.

 Finally, to close the icing bag correctly, unfold the cuff and twisting the bag closed- by doing this technique,it forces the icing down into the bag.

Icing consistency is very important when icing with a piping bag and also is important for the type of sweet treat that you ARE icing.

There are three types of icing for three different decorating purposes:

Type 1: Stiff Icing- used for sculpturing shapes and decorations for treats such as cakes and biscuits.

Type 2:Medium icing- used for decorations such as stars, borders and flowers with flat petals. 

(tip) Add water or preferably milk for the right consistency.

Type 3: Thin icing- used for writing, borders and decorations such as leaves, vines 

And those are some of the most important basics when it comes to icing.

At last,I'm going to explain to you how to cupcake icing tip,

steps:

Step 1: Star

Hold bag at a 90° angle 

about 1/4 inch above 

cupcake surface. Squeeze 

letting the icing build up to 

make the star shape. Stop 

squeezing then lift the tip 

away.

Step 2: Twisted Star

Turn your wrist in toward 

you before piping. Hold 

bag 

at a 90° angle. You will turn 

wrist a full twist, slowly 

turning your hand as icing 

pipes out of the decorating 

bag. Stop squeezing and 

lift 

the tip away.

Step 3: Swirl/Rosette

Keeping the tip slightly 

above the surface, squeeze 

out icing to form a star. 

Without releasing the 

pressure on the bag, move 

the tip in a tight complete 

rotation, starting at 9:00, 

moving to 12:00, then to 

3:00 and 6:00, ending back 

at 9:00. Stop pressure and 

lift tip away. Swirls can be 

sprayed with Color Mist 

color, dusted with Pearl 

Dust or Color Dust, or left 

plain.

And that's it for now on Icing Techniques (though I WILL post another  on icing techniques in the nearby future).

But for now, keep on practising and please DO comment on this week's post or e-mail me to: chocolatecupcakes08@gmail.com.

Keep ICING!

#sweetreats

Recipe Post- BBQ Parkin

Recipe no.4- BBQ Parkin (Bonfire Night Special edition)

Hiya passionate bakers!

As I mentioned on my Google+ account on Thursday, I thought that for  this week's post it should have a Bonfire theme. And what other recipe would be perfect for this other than BBQ Parkin(if you do know a recipe BETTER or just as good as this week's recipe, tell me below in the comments or e-mail me). 

BBQ Parkin is a sticky, sweet and spicy (hey, alliteration) cake that has been traditionally eaten on Bonfire Night for centuries. Recently, I've actually tried this recipe on the BBQ too!  It's suitable for vegetarians and is a sweet treat worth baking. To making  this sweet and spicy traditional cake, you'll need:

200g of butter (unsalted or salted)

100g of  dark brown sugar( a.k.a demerara sugar

)

50g of treacle (I used black treacle because that was the type of treacle left on the shelves but any type of treacle you come across would be fine)

200g of golden syrup (when I'd tasted GOLDEN syrup for the first time...it reminded me of a strong-tasting cough medicine-I'd expected golden syrup to be as sweet as honey)!

1tsp of baking powder

200g of self-raising flour

100 of oatmeal (I used Scottish porridge oats)

1tbsp of ground ginger, to give the cake a spicy kick!

2tbsp of nutmeg

1tsp of mixed spice

2 eggs, beaten (not literally smashed into pieces but...you know...)

2tbsp of milk (maybe a little more depending of the consistency of the mixture)

Marshmallows, firework-coloured sprinkles,etc (optional, for decoration)

Equipment:

A heatproof bowl for melting

A medium-sized/large mixing bowl

                               Wooden Spoon

                                Greased, foil-covered trays

Method to making BBQ Parkin on the BBQ or inside your home:

The first step for this recipe is SLIGHTLY different only because to bake this specific cake, you use the BBQ rather than the oven. But in case you want to use the oven, pre-heat it 180c/160c fan/gas mark 4.

To begin BAKING this Bonfire Night special you start by melting the butter, sugar,treacle and golden syrup over a low heat, stirring from time to time until combined together.

In the meantime, sift the flour and baking powder into the mixing bowl.Stir in the oatmeal, ginger, nutmeg and mixed spice.

Gradually, beat in the eggs and milk into the thick mixture. Once you've stirred for a couple of minutes, add in the melted mixture until combined.Throw in the mini marshmallows and mix in until  merged together. Pour the sticky, spicy mixture onto lined trays. 

If you ARE planning to use a BBQ for this recipe, place the trays of mixture on top of the empty, UPturned foil trays of the BBQ, to diffuse the heat. 

Cook the mixture with the barbecue lid closed for around 20 to 30 minutes unless you're using the oven then bake for half an hour or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.

After your 20/30 minutes of the cake baking, take it from the heat and leave to cool for five minutes before dividing the cake down in lines and rows, just like you'd cut brownies. Sprinkle chosen decorations( I sprinkled marshmallows onto my slices and drizzled them with leftover golden syrup but you can decorate them with whatever you like) and there you have it- the traditional, sweet and delicious BBQ Parkin- a great sweet treat to have on Bonfire Night out in your garden or at a firework display elsewhere.

Please  do comment on this recipe below and tell me whether you like it or not or whether you know a better recipe-TELL ME! The recipe you suggested might have a possibility of being featured in on of BakingBoutique's future posts! If you DO have any recipes that you'd like me to feature in the next post, also e-mail them to me at: chocolatecupcakes08@gmail.com

But for now, have a magical and special Bonfire Night. 

See ya soon!

#sweetreats

 

Recipe post- Blacberry Crumble

Recipe No.2- Blackberry Crumble

Hiya fellow bakers!

 I still can't believe that it's been a week ALREADY since I lasted published a post. 

It's getting near that time of the year when it begins to get darker and also colder now that summer days are long gone. That  is why I decided that for TODAY's post I'm going to post a recipe on how to make blackberry crumble. I make this every year in the month of October and  I wanted to share this recipe because I thought it'd be nice to bring it back to life for this year and share it with all my readers.

To make this this delish crumble you'll need:

• 120g plain flour (it DOES matter whether you use self-raising flour or not)
• 60g caster sugar
• 60g unsalted butter at room temperature, cut into pieces

As for the fruit filling you'll need the following:

• 30g unsalted butter
• 30g demerara sugar
• 115g blackberries
• ¼ tsp ground cinnamon (for that extra festive feel

Equipment: 

Large bowl that's suitable for baking

Medium-sized saucepan for caramelizing the demerara sugar

Method

Before you begin baking ANYTHING, preheat the oven to 190C /170C fan/ gas  mark 5. 

To begin making the crumble, pour the flour and sugar into your bowl. 

From there, add the butter, then rub the butter into the flour using your fingertips to make a LIGHT breadcrumb texture (do NOT overwork the mixture otherwise the the crumble will be too heavy). 

Sprinkle (like fairy dust:) the mixture evenly over a baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes ( it's not that long at all , so I don't watch a movie or read a book or do anything  that hooks your attention within the crumble's 15 minutes of baking time).

For the blackberry fruit FILLING, also know as the compote,  put the butter and sugar in a small/medium-sized suacepan and melt together over a medium heat. Cook for three minutes until the butter and sugar is combined together makes a LIGHT caramel ( it SMELLS sweet and sticky).

Add the blackberries and cinnamon  to the light caramel and cook for three minutes, every now and then, stirring the blackberries . Once your three minutes are done, cover the fruit filling and remove from heat, allowing the compote to continue cooking in the heat (I'll like to  wrap my saucepan in a kitchen towel than take it off the hob completely- the towel protects the kitchen surface from the damage of heat).

To serve your creation, spoon the warm fruit into a ovenproof/ gratin dish, top with the crumble mixture then reheat it to 5-10 minutes. Therefore, your crumble will be nice and warm and sweet and comforting and PERFECT for either eating as a dessert outside on a chilly October day OR if your really cold and you need something SWEET to warm you up.

This is my take on making the crumble. 

I hope that you've enjoyed making this week's recipe. Please e-mail me and let me know how you got on and do comment on this recipe but for now....

Happy October!         

#sweetreats