Bit of baking

Christmas time is definitely time for lots of sweets :) All these biscuits and cakes we love since childhood. Or for trying new recipes :)

Few days before Christmas Day we had some fun with Dom making chocolate biscuits.

Recipe I found on Pinterest, but modified it for our taste :) If you are interested in original recipe, go: http://nurturestore.co.uk/easy-christmas-biscuit-recipe.

For our cookie dough I melted: 85g unsalted butter, 2 tbsp of honey and 60g cane sugar. Then added 200g plain flour, 2tsp cinnamon and 2 tsp cocoa plus 1 tsp baking soda mix with 1 tbsp water. Then rolled it

Dom helped with cutting it and then placed on baking sheets and baked in preheated to 190 C oven for max 10 minutes.

After little cooling we checked them and Dom approved them :)

Yesterday I decided to try recipe for Sour Cream Coffeecake I have from instagram - made some research before, cause recipe is American and as a European I'm not familiar with measuring system used in it.

Original recipe from mixandmeasure (65 years in family):

cream 1 stick margarine and 1 cup sugar, add 2 eggs, sift 2 cups flour, 1/4 tsp salt, 1tsp baking powder, 1 tsp baking soda plus 1/2 pint sour cream and  tsp vanilla. Mix well, put in large angel food greased pan. sprinkle top with mix of sugar and cinnamon. Bake 50 minutes in 350 F.

My version: 

cream together 1/2 cup butter and 1 cup sugar (I used only 3/4 cup of sugar), add 2 eggs, 2 cups flour, 1/4 tsp salt, 1 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp vanilla and 1 cup sour cream. Mix well. pour half of batter into greased angel pan, then sprinkle with 2/3 of mix of 1/3 cup brown sugar, 1/3 cup or more chopped nuts (pecans, walnuts) and 1 tsp cinnamon, add rest of cake batter and sprinkle with rest of cinnamon mix. Bake 50 minutes in 180 C. Cool down and decorate with glaze of your choice (mine: icing sugar mixed with lemon juice).

Choose your version, bake it and enjoy!!!

Sewing and baking

Today I decided it's time to try again sew stuffed toy for Dom. My first attempt few years ago was complete disaster :) I tried a sock rabbit - I'm happy nobody saw it :)

How do you think, what I tried to sew today?

Oh yes! Dinosaur! T-Rex :) Result -pitiful in my opinion :) Great - in my partner's opinion plus Dom likes it, so... look:

Template ready :)

Before stuffing

Done :)

Dom and his new T-Rex :)

Good as a food :)

What do you think about my doggie?

And this was my morning :) Afternoon I thought 'Maybe I bake some cake' and I did :)

You need:

2 cups of flour, 3/4 cup of sugar, 1 cup of milk, 1/2 cup of oil, 3 eggs, 1 tbsp of bicarbonate soda, 2/3 tsp of mixed spice or only cinnamon, 1 tbsp of cocoa (or more), 100-150 g fruits - fresh, dried or frozen (or which is easier a half of jar of blackcurrant jam).

Mix all, spoon onto baking tin (can be spring tin, square tin, any kind you have) and bake in 200 C for 35-45 minutes (wooden screw comes out clean). You can bake it as muffins too - baking time around 25 minutes.

before placing in the oven

Cooling down after baking :)

Decorated with chocolate and coconut shreds :)

You can decorate your cake in your way :) Enjoy!

Chinese dragons and new cake :)

Yesterday Dom was celebrating Chinese New Year at nursery. They had really busy day there :) He back home stuffed with nice food and with paper dragon he made himself :)

We made another one at home, cause we didn't want the first one be lonely :)

They are scary, aren't they ;)

When Dom was away I was checking low-fat cake recipe I found in one of the cooking books I have :) It is called Spiced Apple Cake.

It wasn't me if I don't play with recipe a bit :) You need 8 inches/20 cm deep cake tin - I don't have one like this so used squarish one :)

Ingredients you need:

225 g self-raising wholemeal flour ( I used normal wholemeal flour)

1 tsp baking powder ( I used 2 tsp)

2 tsp ground cinnamon

175 g chopped dates ( in my version: mix of dates and apricots)

75 g light muscovado sugar ( I used demerara sugar)

1 tbsp pear and apple spread ( brumble jam in my version)

120 ml apple juice

2 eggs

6 tbsp sunflower oil

2 eating apples, cored and grated

1 tbsp chopped walnuts ( hazelnuts in my version)

Just mix all together, put in prepared tin and place in preheated to 180 C oven for about 1 hour ( timing from book) or until a skewer inserted into the centre of cake comes out clean. 

My cake spent in oven just 35 minutes, but my baking tin was bigger :)

I splashed it with mixture of milk and icing sugar :)

Cake tastes really nice, is naturally sweet thanks to fruits.

End of January

Last day of January... My 40% off coupon code didn't work... Ehhh, happens.

My little boy was invited for birthday party of twin girls from his nursery group - I'll be making wrapping bracelets for them - no pink and no girlish stuff on :) Football, dinosaurs etc - are more in their taste :)

Yesterday I catched baking frenzy :) Honestly :) Opened Hairy Bikers book and made rye bread and apple cake :) I have to say that during the week with help of my little one I made nice rolls from recipe from the same book :)

Here is my bread

when was improving

after taking out from oven :)

And here my apple cake, when cooling down a bit before eating :)

Nothing left from both :)

Few days ago I was cooking sauerkraut stew, my partner loves it. This stew is the best when cooked at least 3 days - my Mum's words and I believe in it.

From crafty side I made just one more pair of earrings - one of friends called them 'little globes'

And now I'm just chilling out before new week and new month :) Fingers crossed I'll be writing more ;)