Saturday 17 November 2018

Vanilla Cupcakes and a EXPLANATION

Hey.

As I always say, it feels like forever since I've properly connected with this blog. And when I say this, I truly mean it. 

Today's introduction to my recipe is different to my normal opening as I believe I owe all of you an explanation for my lack of consistency, effort and most importantly...my lack of baking!!!


Over the last few months, life has been extremely tough, tremendous, hectic and so much more. Unfortunately, a close family friend of mine had passed away from brain cancer, I've fallen behind in pretty much every subject at school and my mentality WAS rapidly dropping into a fairly relentless and morose state of mind. Being in a rough patch, mentally, certainly isn't the easiest thing to conquer, and is much harder when you have an weekly audience to please, and work to complete, and exams to participate in and family dramas occurring. So as you imagine, a couple months ago, there was near enough no way I was even feeling motivated to upload entertaining and satisfying content, and even bake. Although I was extremely unmotivated to blog, I thought if I don't, I'll be letting you all down. But what I didn't realise was how much I was letting myself down. 

I was posting incomplete, half-done content, in the expectation I'll find time in the week to log back online and complete my post. Only I didn't. And so this pattern of uploading insufficient content would continue at first for two weeks and then slowly progress to a month and before I knew it, my blog anniversary had arrived and I still hadn't had one complete blog post since August.  At that point of reaching my third blogging anniversary, I felt too embarrassed and shamed to even come back on here and put things right, and so more time passed and nothing was posted on here. 

However...
I'm happy to say that despite finding life hard before, it's better now. I think it's safe to say I've overcome my dark patch in my head, I'm gradually climbing back to where I need to be academically and lastly...I'm baking again! This leads me to say, here's my recipe on how to make very simple, beginner vanilla cupcakes with buttercream.

For the cupcakes, you'll require:

110g of butter or margarine, softened and at room temperature

110g of caster sugar

2 free-range eggs, lightly beaten(however I only used one extra-large egg)

1 tsp of vanilla extract

110g of self-raising flour

1-2 tbsp of milk

As for the buttercream, you'll need:

140g of softened butter

280g of icing sugar

1-2 tbsp of milk

a few drops of vanilla extract

How-to-bake:

Firstly, pre-heat the oven to 180℃/160℃ fan/350⚬F/Gas Mark 4. Line a 12-hole muffin tin with paper cases(I used orange ones).

Next, cream together the butter and sugar together into a bowl until pale and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, a little at a time before eventually stirring in the vanilla extract.

After that, fold in the flour,using a large metal spoon adding a small quantity of milk up until the mixture is of dropping consistency. 

Spoon the cupcake mix into the paper cases until they're half full.

Bake these in the oven for 10-15 minutes(it took me 18 minutes, to ensure the cupcakes were of a perfect golden colour but still stick to the guidelines of the recommended baking time). 

Set the cupcakes aside to cool for 10 minutes before removing from the tin, to a wire rack.

In the meantime, for the buttercream, beat the butter in a large bowl until really pale and soft. Add in around half of the icing sugar, beating this until smooth.

Then add in the remaining icing sugar, along with one tablespoon of milk, until the mix is smooth and creamy.

Finally, MY FAVOURITE PART, spoon the icing into a piping bag with a star or round nozzle and pipe the icing using a spiraling motion in a large swirl. 

Here are the photos of all the steps, for those who are stuck:














  






Although I usually do a "before-you-go" at the end, I'm going to leave this post at this or else this will be take too long to read over
 Goodbye for now and hopefully I'll post again next Saturday.



















#sweetreats xx 

Monday 5 November 2018

Recipe Post 2018 N0.28- Brownies on Bonfire Night

I sit at my writing desk, a stack of decadent, gooey warm brownies toppled on one lap and my whopping big laptop on the other, helping myself to one delectable treat with a glass of water nearby(to balance out the richness). As I bite into the
fudge-like,oozy centre of the brownie bake, my mind drifts away to what I was doing in the kitchen in order to make this. "Whisk together the sugar and eggs..." " Add in the flour, cocoa powder and baking powder..." "Stir in the melted chocolate..." Simultaneously my mind is
intruded with a bang of fireworks, blazing up into the sky like rockets, erupting its jolly excitement for my baking posts on BakingBoutique. With this, I smile to myself, perch myself up the door ledge, outside and gaze up at the wondrous fireworks with a brownie and glass of water at hand....



Happy Bonfire Night luvs














#sweetreats xxx


Wednesday 31 October 2018

Baking Post N0.27- Happy Third Anniversary, y'all!!

Hello boys and girls and welcome back to another post!!

As mentioned in the title, today's post is in honour of the three year anniversary BakingBoutique has sustained on Blogger.

How did it all began?

BakingBoutique was initiated through the works of Blogger and a passion for baking I wanted to share. At first, I wasn't expecting the amount of attenion I receive today which, for your information  I am very much grateful for and now when I post, I feel honoured to bring you all another recipe because you all really apperciate it too!

How is the third year different to the other two?

When I hit one year of blogging, it felt surreal, as if time had never passed. By one year, I felt like I had grown and evolved so much but knew there was more to come. Once BakingBoutique reached two years 1. I realised just exactly how bad I was at baking and taking photos 2. That I reached a milestone and despite my downfalls and slight infrequency of posts, I made it in the ed. But now that I've reached a third year, I feel like I'm on cloud nine but also feel very nervous. I'm really happy that now my journey through baking has been documented and evolved over the course of three years. I like to think I've done more than I imagined I could. But at the same time, I'm quite apprehensive on what's to come, on whether I'll be able to carry on with my journey through cooking and my journey through blogging. Will I lose some of you on this continuous journey and how much more of you will join. There's also a lot of doubts and worries in my mind(perhaps it's due to me being in a weird mindset over the past month). 

What can we expect next?

Well obviously Christmas is very much on it's way and I also have other posts planned, hopefully I'll be able to produce them before 2018 comes to an end.

Are you still planning any collaborations?

At this very minute, no. But yes, definitely for the future. I definitely would like to feature someone else's writing and baking on this blog sometime soon, while I still have any bit of time left.

Without further ado, below is a compilation of all the 

Saturday 27 October 2018

Recipe Post N0.26- Fig and Raspberry Crumble Cake

Hello my lovely boys and girls!

Today I'm back with yet another baking post after almost a month long break. I think it's safe to say I am more settled into the intense workload. As far as you need to know, I have another post prepared for you, during THE WEEK, in honour of BakingBoutique's up and coming third birthday which I honestly can't wait for. πŸ˜πŸ˜„


To concoct this very Autumn-y cake, you'll need:


100g of butter, softened


150g of golden caster sugar


2 large eggs, lightly beaten


125g of plain flour


75g of ground almonds


1 tsp of baking powder


100g of natural yoghurt 


7 large figs

175g of raspberries

30g of flaked almonds

For the crumble topping:

50g of flour

25g of cold butter, cut into cubes

35g of soft,light brown sugar


Method;


First and foremost, pre-heat the oven to 180℃/160
 fan/ Gas Mark 4. With this, grease and line the base for a 20cm springy cake tin.

To make the crumble topping, rub the flour and butter together with your fingertips until the mixture is crumbly. Stir in the sugar.


As for the cake, cream together the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Next add in the egg, a little at a time, beating well after each addition.


Subsequently, beat in the vanilla extract. Sift in the flour and incorporate the almonds and baking powder.


Fold in 1 large tbsp of the flour into the mixture,prior to adding the rest, and alternate this with the yoghurt.


After this, snip off the fig stalks and halve four of them, chopping the rest. Stir in the chopped figs and approximately 1/3 of the raspberries into the batter.


Then, scrape this into the prepared tin. Lay the halved figs on top and sprinkle with the remaining of the raspberries. Scatter the crumble on top,following the rest of the raspberries,then the flaked almonds.


Bake this in the oven for 1hr and 15 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean. 


Leave the cake in the tin for around 15 minutes and then run a palette knife around the outside of the cake.


Slide the cake onto a serving plate and volia!


Snapshots:


Before you go...


10 easy lunch recipes
Here is a recipe post I made last year that is in relation to today's post: Berry Crumble Cake 

You can tell just how bad I was at baking then🀦🏾‍♀️

YouTuber of the month: Roxsaurrus

Song of the month: Post Malone- Better Now

Quote of the month:














Meghan Markle's pregant!!!!πŸ˜πŸ˜ƒπŸ’ž










Click the social icons to follow me on all my social platforms:



This is seriously needed in my life...πŸ˜“ Guide to ace every single exam, effortlessly
That's not all from me, I'm afraid to say, don't forget to tune back in during the week for my exclusive three year anniversary post.

See you there!

  


#sweetreats xx 


Saturday 29 September 2018

Recipe Post No.25- Chocolate Chip Cookies πŸͺ🍫 + photos of Raspberry Cupcakes

Hola a todos!

Firstly, thanks to those who viewed my last post. πŸ˜˜πŸ’‹

For a change, I'm not going to start this week's post with an apologize for not uploading my photos. Long story short, I haven't managed to get into the swing of the new school term. Needless to say,  but I will do,eventually.

This week's recipe is one of the most typical sweet treats to bake at this time of year- yes, it's your classic-chocolate chip cookieπŸ˜ŠπŸ˜‹(better than the ones you buy in the supermarket
bakery). Alongside sharing this week 's recipe and photos,I'll also be uploading photos of my cupcakes. Without further ado, let's jump right into the recipe✌:

In order to concoct this healthier version of chocolate chip cookies,you'll require the following:


  • 100g of caster sugar
  • 220g of dark,soft brown sugar 
  • 1½ tsps of vanilla extract
  • 2 egg whites
  • 220g of plain flour
  •  1 tsp of bicarbonate of soda
  •  ½ tsp of salt
  • 40g of porridge oats
  • 70g of plain chocolate,chopped(I like to use plain dark chocolate but whatever you prefer would be best)  
 Method:

As always, pre-heat your ovens to 180℃/160℃/ Gas Mark 4.

In a rather sizable bowl, cream together the margarine,water, caster sugar and dark soft brown sugar until smooth. 

Withal, beat in the egg whites and the vanilla. 

Subsequent to this, combine the flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt and stir this into the creamed mixture.

Blend in the oats and chopped chocolate. Drop the dough in half-teaspoonfuls onto lined baking trays. 

Bake this in the oven for approximately 7-9 minutes until the edges begin to brown. 

Eventually, once the cookies baking time is complete, remove the cookies from the baking trays to cool on the wire rack.

Cool for at least 10 minutes before eating with preferably milk,or maple syrup, if you're feeling really Autumn-y.

Snapshots of the Raspberry Cupcakes from last post:

Photos of those delectable cookiesπŸ˜‹
 

 
 

Before you go...

You can find my last post here(in case you wanted to piece together the pictures with the instructions) 

In a short time, I'm planning a Q&A over on here(maybe in collaboration with someone,I'm not so sure). Therefore, please ask me questions about generally anything in the comments below(doesn't have to necessarily be food-related).

Shoutout of the month*new* :
This section is basically to give some credit and acknowledge to bloggers which I feel are really killing it:

Marina Rose












Charity of the month: The Ben Kinsella Trust
*this charity in parituclar strives to out an end to knife crime in legacy to Ben Kinsella who unfortunately was an victim to knife crime and was murdered from it. It's a very touching story and I urge you to support this charity.😊

Follow me on Pinterest     Follow and tag me on Snapchat
 Chocolatelover
For sneak peeks on recipes and more
















YouTuber of the month: Luhhsetty













 Song of the month: Daniel Caesar Best Part (feat H.E.R)



@Girls' Life:  Glam up your desk with these chic organizational tips

@GirlsLife: 5 YOLO things to do right now!!

Quote of the month:











Starting the Christmas Countdown now: The 25th of  December is in 86 days


Don't forget to leave your questions down in the comments below and I'll see you in the next one!

#sweetreats xx