Oreos and milk; how American can you get?
Of course as a maker and baker of a lot of kid’s cakes I do love Oreos for their ability to immitate soil once whizzed up in a food processor.
Homemade Oreos
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Oreos and milk; how American can you get?
Of course as a maker and baker of a lot of kid’s cakes I do love Oreos for their ability to immitate soil once whizzed up in a food processor.
I’ve long hankered after making one of those impressive ombre cakes, but if I’m honest the thought of making there different coloured icings and then piping them onto a cake made me feel all tired and in need of a sit down. I’m not a ‘fancy’ baker. I like to think this is a choice, that I could make these amazing creations worthy of patisserie school, but frankly, I’m kidding myself. It’s not my style. I like rustic (aka a bit messy) so this cake is a departure for me. It’s about as un-messy as I get. I hope you like it. I especially hope you like the nifty ruler trick for smoothing the icing.
So Lawrence could barely sit unaided until recently and now all of a sudden it’s action stations. Yesterday I rescued 2 remote controls, a Lego helicopter, a calculator, two mobile phones, a box of tissues, a nappy (unused), another baby, 3 plastic Octonaut toys, a laptop, a Hot Wheels track, a whisk, a rolling pin, 2 wooden spoons and some post from Lawrence. He’s one of ‘those’ babies. He’s wonderfully exhausting.
So what with all this racing about, I need Jaffa Cakes. Homemade ones. With a LOT of dark chocolate. Here we go…
Failure can be a good thing. Take London for example. The first time I took a solo trip to London it was a disaster.
In 1999 I was a fresher at Liverpool University, studying for a degree in English Language & Literature. One day I bought a copy of Vogue. Now given I was a chunky size 14 this was ill advised. However this copy did feature a writing competition. Which I of course, being full of arrogant youthfulness, entered.
Months later I received a very proper looking embossed letter telling me I hadn’t won, but I was a runner up. How exciting! Imagine! A girl from Leicester, via Liverpool, being invited to London! All the L’s and all the exclamations. At this point I should have been happy in my triumph, left it there and declined. But I didn’t.
I bought a pashmina. Because that’s what I imagined women in London who were invited to Vogue House might wear. It was beige. I also bought a pair of pedal pushers in a kind of gold colour. They fit badly and made my already reasonable sized backside look gargantuan. I also wore a white loose fitting peasant style T shirt. And heels. A pair of heels that barely fit, were again beige, and hurt considerably. Oh and a beige handbag that didn’t fit much in. Not an umbrella for instance.
But wait! The horror wasn’t complete! I decided, the night before I caught the train to London, from my teenage bedroom in Leicester, to fake tan my whole body.
Reader, I don’t think I need to tell you how bad I looked. A beige monstrosity, streaked in orange. It rained in London, as it often does, and I, being a girl from up North, had no idea that carrying an umbrella in the heat of the capital’s summer might be a good idea. I arrived; wet, streaked, stressed and beige.
I managed to sit through the lunch, in a panelled board room, with Alexandra Shulman (Editor), Miranda Sawyer (Journo) and Nick Hornby (Author), the latter whose work I bought days before to swot up on.
Shulman and I didn’t speak. I imagine she was concerned the beige horror might be a contagious disease. Sawyer chatted kindly, though clearly not engaged in anything a 19 year old student might have to say. (I don’t blame her). Nick was lovely. So interested in everyone. A real gent.
I took the Midland Mainline back to Leicester on the to pick up my Fiat Panda, feeling London was so very unattainable to me. I had embarrassed myself and done a disservice to every girl from the Midlands trying desperately to reinvent herself.
Just 3 years later I moved to London, again, solo. And it was anything but a disaster. I loved it. And I never wore a beige pashmina again. Or gold pedal pushers. (The same can’t be said for my love affair with ‘Holiday Skin’ fake tan).
I made a lovely video with the Scoff folks to show how to make these very easy white chocolate mousse eggs. You can see the vid on my YouTube channel and also the Scoff one. You can watch it below too.
Lots of great recipes like this in my book, Recipes from a Normal Mum, out now… on Amazon, The Works, at Waterstones, WHSmith, The Book Depository and many smaller outlets.
One year ago: Florentine quiche and Flourless chocolate cake and Cadbury Creme Mini Egg chocolate flapjackand School fair rocky road
Two year ago: White chocolate & cranberry hot cross buns and Cadbury creme egg mess and Banoffee pecan mini pavs
Three years ago: Easter Apostles scone loaf and Carrot cake in a cup for Mother’s Day and Cranberry oaty biscuits
Four years ago: Mini chocolate birds nests and Puff pastry and Walnut bread
White chocolate mousse eggs with lemon curd yolks
Makes about 9 though depends on the size of your chocolate eggs
Ingredients:
For the curd:
For the mousse:
To finish:
NB: These hollow eggs must be kept in the fridge until serving. It is advised not to serve raw eggs to young children, pregnant women or the elderly.
These are not easy to make.
They involve a lot of stages.
They require you to boil sugar.
They ask you to hunt out a sugar thermometer.
They get through almost a kilogram of chocolate.
You also need a stand mixer.
So really, all in all, I’m trying to manage your expectations. It’s not that I don’t want you to make them. I do. These are good. Oh my, they are GOOD. You could make yourself sick eating the whole lot and still want to go back for more. However, they’re a bit of a pain in the backside.
But like my good friend Kitty says about women – all the best ones are a bit of a pain in the backside. In my opinion, the same applies to chocolate-peanut snacks.
P.S. Please, please, please don’t sub the dry roasted peanuts for salted peanuts, or, heaven forbid, unsalted peanuts. They need to be dry roasted. I know it seems wrong, but just trust me on this one.
I made a lovely video with the Scoff folks to show how to make these homemade Snickers. You can see the vid on my YouTube channel and also the Scoff one. You can watch it below too.
Lots of great recipes like this in my book, Recipes from a Normal Mum, out now… on Amazon, The Works, at Waterstones, WHSmith, The Book Depository and many smaller outlets.
One year ago: Florentine quiche and Flourless chocolate cake and Cadbury Creme Mini Egg chocolate flapjackand School fair rocky road
Two year ago: White chocolate & cranberry hot cross buns and Cadbury creme egg mess and Banoffee pecan mini pavs
Three years ago: Easter Apostles scone loaf and Carrot cake in a cup for Mother’s Day and Cranberry oaty biscuits
Four years ago: Mini chocolate birds nests and Puff pastry and Walnut bread
Homemade Snickers
Ingredients:
For the chocolate layers:
For the nougat:
For the caramel
Oil a tray size 30 x 40cm (ish) with a little olive oil and cut a piece of non-stick baking parchment to fit the bottom. Melt half the milk chocolate with 1 tbsp olive oil in the microwave until molten. Tip into the tray and level out by tapping the tin on the work surface. Leave to set in the fridge.
Once the chocolate has set, make the nougat by placing the granulated sugar, honey, liquid glucose and 230mls cold water into a saucepan over a low heat until the sugar dissolves. Turn up the heat and boil until it reaches 150°C (use a sugar thermometer).
Whisk the egg whites in a stand mixer with the whisk attachment until you achieve soft peaks, then when the sugar thermometer is at 160°C slowly pour the boiling sugar into the egg white mixture with the whisk rotating at a medium speed. Try and aim the sugar at the egg whites rather than at the edge of the bowl.
Let the mixer whisk for about 3 – 4 minutes at a high speed until the mixture is very thick, starts to pull away from the side of the bowl and the stand mixer feels like it might be struggling. Stop the mixer then add the peanut butter and stir with a spatula or spoon then tip onto the chocolate layer. Straight away, tip the dry roasted peanuts over the top evenly and then press down with a piece of oiled non-stick baking parchment. Leave to set.
Make the caramel by heating the cream in a pan until boiling point. At the same time heat the golden syrup and the granulated sugar in a large pan until 155°C (use a jam thermometer), then remove from the heat and stir in the just boiled cream with a wooden spoon. Be careful as it can spit. Leave off the heat for 5 minutes. Then put back on the hob and heat until 127°C. Once this temperature is achieved remove from the heat and stir in the butter – be careful as it bubbles up a fair amount. Leave to cool in the pan for 20 minutes.
When cool but still spreadable, pour over the peanut layer of the snickers bar and allow to set in the fridge. Use a knife to eek it over the peanut layer if you need to. When the caramel has set (give it at least an hour) melt the other half of the chocolate with 1 tbsp oil (as before) and pour over the caramel layer. Leave to set.
Once completely set use a knife to cut into squares/bars. You can dip the knife into hot water before cutting to achieve cleaner cuts.
Mother’s Day looms. I already have my gifts; a little cardboard pot coloured in with felt tips and a card shaped like a tea pot with some letters written backwards. These are my riches and I’ll keep them until they wheel me into a rest home. If you’ve already got the card and have run out of cardboard boxes to colour in then may I suggest this little afternoon tea for your Ma?
I made a lovely video with the Scoff folks to show off how to make this afternoon tea. You can see the vid on my YouTube channel and also the Scoff one. You can watch it below too.
Lots of great recipes like this in my book, Recipes from a Normal Mum, out now… on Amazon, The Works, at Waterstones, WHSmith, The Book Depository and many smaller outlets.
One year ago: Florentine quiche and Flourless chocolate cake and Cadbury Creme Mini Egg chocolate flapjackand School fair rocky road
Two year ago: White chocolate & cranberry hot cross buns and Cadbury creme egg mess and Banoffee pecan mini pavs
Three years ago: Easter Apostles scone loaf and Carrot cake in a cup for Mother’s Day and Cranberry oaty biscuits
Four years ago: Mini chocolate birds nests and Puff pastry and Walnut bread
Chocolate orange mini scones
Ingredients:
Makes 12 mini chocolate orange scones
Mother’s Day is looming. This recipe isn’t a Mother’s Day suggestion. Not that these cookies aren’t delicious and a wonderful gift to bestow on any well behaved mother, but well, they’re not quite formal enough for my liking. I think Mother’s Day needs something a little more old fashioned and restrained.
So, Mother’s Day gifts. I have been contemplating buying some frames, filling them with prints of the children and wrapping them in pretty tissue paper for the family matriarchs. But then it occurred to me that this could well be the worst kind of self absorption. Obviously I would never frame a picture of myself and bestow it to a family member. That would make me seem rather in love with my own reflection, a little bit of a horror frankly. But giving photos of my offspring seems okay, thoughtful even. But is it?
They’re my greatest life’s work, my biggest, most important project. They’re the thing I point at as an excuse for my under eye wrinkles, sagging belly and constant yawning. So to frame photos of them as a gift, is it really a right and proper gift for Mother’s Day? Or is it akin to an ex boyfriend of mine who prided himself on buying his girlfriend’s massage courses for their birthdays. As in ‘how to massage’ courses; not a course of massages. Perhaps these photos are a similar indulgence. A projection of being obsessed with oneself and ones achievements. A silent scream of “Look what I made! Aren’t they just wonderful?”
Or maybe I’m over thinking it.
Lots of great recipes like this in my book, Recipes from a Normal Mum, out now… on Amazon, The Works, at Waterstones, WHSmith, The Book Depository and many smaller outlets.
One year ago: Florentine quiche and Flourless chocolate cake and Cadbury Creme Mini Egg chocolate flapjackand School fair rocky road
Two year ago: White chocolate & cranberry hot cross buns and Cadbury creme egg mess and Banoffee pecan mini pavs
Three years ago: Easter Apostles scone loaf and Carrot cake in a cup for Mother’s Day and Cranberry oaty biscuits
Four years ago: Mini chocolate birds nests and Puff pastry and Walnut bread
Chocolate chip cookies
Ingredients:
Makes about 15
Preheat the oven to 190°C/gas mark 5 and line 2 baking trays with greaseproof paper. Melt the butter and syrup in a saucepan over a low heat until dissolved. Remove from the heat and add the flour, sugar, and bicarbonate of soda and give it a good mix with a wooden spoon. Leave the mixture to cool for a few minutes before stirring in the chocolate chips.
Using your hands, form handfuls of the warm mixture into balls about 4cm across, you should make about 15. Place them on the lined trays, making sure that there’s plenty of space for them to spread in the oven. I leave a 5cm gap between each. Bake in the oven for 12–15 minutes until the dough has spread into cracked looking biscuits.
If you like your biscuits with a bit of ‘chew’ (more cookie like) then take them out when only the sides are brown. If you like them crunchy then let the whole biscuit get a suntan. Let them cool on the baking tray for a few minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
I’ve been to LA. I’ve been to New York. I’ve been to Miami, albeit briefly. I have been to San Francisco many, many times. If I were to visit an American pal for Thanksgiving this is what I would take. Though I doubt it’d stay frozen what with the long transatlantic flight.
More recipes like this in my book, Recipes from a Normal Mum, out now… on Amazon, at Waterstones, WHSmith, The Book Depository and many smaller outlets.
I made a lovely video with the Scoff folks to show off how to make this pie. You can see the vid on my YouTube channel and also the Scoff one. You can watch it below too.
One year ago: Chocolate hazelnut truffles and a Delicious microwave Christmas pud
Two years ago: Mini Yorkshire pudding canapes and Christmas pudding fizz and Brandy butter icing and Lemon drizzle secrets
Three years ago: Lime meringue pie with chocolate pastry and Christmas scones and Ginger cake with gingerbread Christmas cottage and Bonfire night treacle toffee and My festive take on cheesecake
Four years ago: Moonuts (forget cronuts… these are fab and much easier), Cheese biscuits and Parsnip soup and a Steamed cherry and pecan pudding
Ingredients:
Preheat the oven to 180C/gas mark 4. Blitz the Oeros in a food processor until they resemble fine breadcrumbs. Add the butter and blitz again. Press into a 28cm wide pie dish or tin and bake for 5 minutes.
Whisk the double cream to stiff peaks then in a separate bowl mix the cream cheese, peanut butter, sugar and vanilla seeds until really smooth and well combined. Fold in the shipped cream using a large metal spoon and a cutting motion. Pour into the pie crust and freeze for 1 hour. Just before serving dribble with melted chocolate and a couple of Oreo biscuits crumbled over the top.
P.S. To sign up for my free monthly newsletter just click here. It has a baking SOS, recommendations on bits of kit I can’t live without, my kitchen catastrophe of the month, a sneak preview of a recipe coming up on this blog and a letter from me telling you what I’ve been up to. Remember to check your inbox for a confirmation email and also to add my email recipesfromanormalmum@gmail.com to your contacts. Otherwise I could go to spam.
So as you all know by now, I make a lot of treats and baked goods. Of course I don’t eat ALL of it. I wish I were one of those people who could eat whatever they like and remain whippet like. I haven’t resembled a whippet since 1995. However, every so often I make something that really gets under my skin. I then tend to give it teenage music treatment – you know, where you play a record to death upon buying it? These are one of those bakes that I can’t stop making. They are good… I can only apologise.
More recipes like this in my book, Recipes from a Normal Mum, out now… on Amazon, at Waterstones, WHSmith, The Book Depository and many smaller outlets.
I made a lovely video with the Scoff folks to show off how to make this traybake. You can see the vid on my YouTube channel and also the Scoff one. You can watch it below too.
One year ago: Chocolate hazelnut truffles and a Delicious microwave Christmas pud
Two years ago: Mini Yorkshire pudding canapes and Christmas pudding fizz and Brandy butter icing and Lemon drizzle secrets
Three years ago: Lime meringue pie with chocolate pastry and Christmas scones and Ginger cake with gingerbread Christmas cottage and Bonfire night treacle toffee and My festive take on cheesecake
Four years ago: Moonuts (forget cronuts… these are fab and much easier), Cheese biscuits and Parsnip soup and a Steamed cherry and pecan pudding
Makes a minimum of 12 squares
Ingredients:
For the caramel:
Grease and line a 30cm x 20cm tray with non-stick parchment that reaches up the sides. Beat together the butter and sugar until light and creamy. Add the flour and cocoa and beat again. Press into the prepared tin using clingfilm on the top and a tin to get an even base, then chill for 1 hour. Whilst the shortbread is chilling, toast the pecans in a frying pan over a low heat until lightly browned. Pour onto a plate to cool.
Next make the caramel… first, choose a method.
Microwave method: Make the caramel mix the butter, sugar and salt in a microwave proof bowl and microwave on high until the butter has melted – about 30 seconds to 1 minute. Add the condensed milk, stir and microwave for a further 3 minutes. Stop half way through to stir well. Add the double cream, stir well and microwave for 30 seconds. Leave to cool a little.
Hob method: Melt the butter in a saucepan over a low heat. Add the salt and sugar and stir. Add the condensed milk, stir well and turn the heat up until the mixture bubbles. Keep stirring on a medium heat like this for 3 minutes. Add the cream, stir well and return to the heat for 1 minute, stirring all the time. Remove from the heat.
Scatter the pecans over the shortbread along with the chopped chocolate, then pour over about 600g of the caramel sauce – enough to cover the nuts completely and bake in a preheated oven at 180C/gas mark 4 for 25 – 30 minutes. The top of the caramel will bubble up and crisp, the caramel underneath will remain soft. (Keep the remaining caramel in a jar in the fridge and pour over ice cream or crumble).
Allow to cool and then chill the traybake in the fridge for 4 hours before cutting.
P.S. To sign up for my free monthly newsletter just click here. It has a baking SOS, recommendations on bits of kit I can’t live without, my kitchen catastrophe of the month, a sneak preview of a recipe coming up on this blog and a letter from me telling you what I’ve been up to. Remember to check your inbox for a confirmation email and also to add my email recipesfromanormalmum@gmail.com to your contacts. Otherwise I could go to spam.
How ready for Christmas are you? I am feeling pretty smug to be honest. I don’t want to rub your faces in it, but really I’m almost done. I’ve ordered everything I need to online. I haven’t written the cards yet, but that’s not allowed until I crack open the mulled wine, which is only acceptable in the month of December.
I have completed a middle class Christmas check list that may be of use to some of you, just to get you in the mood. See if you’re keeping up with the Jones (or rather the Billington- Illingworths) and tick off if you have:
Enough of all this frippery. Onto the recipe. It’s an easy peasy ginger cake this week. All you have to do is mix it all up and bung it in the oven. Well, it’s a tiny bit more complicated than that. In short though, this is child’s play. I even made a video of it just to show how easy it is. You can see the vid on my YouTube channel and also the Scoff one. You can watch it below.
Lots more recipes like the one below in my book, Recipes from a Normal Mum, out now… on Amazon, at Waterstones, WHSmith, The Book Depository and many smaller outlets.
One year ago: Chocolate hazelnut truffles and a Delicious microwave Christmas pud
Two years ago: Mini Yorkshire pudding canapes and Christmas pudding fizz and Brandy butter icing and Lemon drizzle secrets
Three years ago: Lime meringue pie with chocolate pastry and Christmas scones and Ginger cake with gingerbread Christmas cottage and Bonfire night treacle toffee and My festive take on cheesecake
Four years ago: Moonuts (forget cronuts… these are fab and much easier), Cheese biscuits and Parsnip soup and a Steamed cherry and pecan pudding
Ingredients:
Grease and line an 8 inch tin. Pre-heat the oven to 170°C/Gas 3. Put the butter, sugar, syrup and treacle into a saucepan and heat until melted.
Mix the eggs and milk together. Sift the dry ingredients together. Add the dry mixture to the saucepan of melted ingredients, then add the egg mixture and beat until you have a smooth batter. (I used a wooden spoon for this.) Lastly add the stem ginger and beat well.
Pour into tin and cook for 45 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. Cool in the tin for 10 mins then pop onto a wire rack. When completely cool, sift icing sugar over the top.
P.S. To sign up for my free monthly newsletter just click here. It has a baking SOS, recommendations on bits of kit I can’t live without, my kitchen catastrophe of the month, a sneak preview of a recipe coming up on this blog and a letter from me telling you what I’ve been up to. Remember to check your inbox for a confirmation email and also to add my email recipesfromanormalmum@gmail.com to your contacts. Otherwise I could go to spam.
Holly Bell 