Baking Bo

My sister came to visit this weekend for her birthday. She was very sad to have missed out on my biscotti earlier in the week SO we made more!  We decided to try some new flavours...  So! We made almond and dried cranberry AND dark chocolate, hazelnut and raisin and they were great! We used the same recipe as last time (blog post found here:  http://bakingbo.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/sultana-almond-and-white-chocolate.html ) We made two batches as my sister took some back to Oxford with her! Hope you enjoy! X Bo

My girls and I had a movie night. Our lovely host, Gail, planned a delicious Italian pasta dish for dinner so I made and took some biscotti for pudding! I've never made them before, so it was so much fun!  Ingredients 115g unsalted buter, soft 125g caster sugar 1 tsp vanilla extract 2 large eggs 275g plain flour good pinch of salt 1/2 tsp baking powder 100g sultanas 100g almonds, roughly chopped 100g white chocolate, roughly chopped Method 1. Preheat the oven to 160. Line two baking trays with greaseproof paper.  2. Put the butter, sugar and vanilla in a bowl and cream with a wooden spoon. Gradually beat in the eggs. 3. Add the flour, salt and baking powder and mix to make a rough dough. Add the sultanas, almonds and chocolate and work in until even combined. 4. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide into two equal pieces. Transfer the pieces to the baking trays. Shape into rectangles about 8x25cm. 5. Bake for 25 minutes until just firm to ...

This pudding is delicious. Please take my word for it and go and make this right now. Go.  Ingredients for the cake 280g caster sugar 220g plain flour 1 tsp baking powder 1 tsp salt 90g cocoa powder 2 eggs  1 cup of milk 1/2 cup of vegetable oil 1 cup of boiling water For the coulis 250g fresh strawberries (or raspberries work just as well) 40g caster sugar juice of half a lemon Method 1. Preheat the oven to 180. Grease a tin.  2. Mix together the sugar, cake, baking powder, salt and cocoa powder. Then add the eggs, milk, vegetable oil and water. Combine together to make a very wet mix. 3. Pour into the tin and bake for 30 minutes and a knife comes out clean.  4. While the cake is baking, put all the ingredients for the coulis in a pan. Mash the fruit to a pulp and leave to simmer on a low heat until it reduces to a thick, glossy sauce.  5. Pour the sauce through a fine sieve and leave to cool. 6. To serve, drizzle the coulis over the cake....

Recently I bought the latest edition of the Be-Ro cook book and made their peanut butter cookies. I've made two batches in the last week (they are THAT good) and I added chocolate chips to one batch!  Ingredients 125g soft unsalted butter 75g caster sugar 75g golden caster sugar 150g peanut butter 1 egg 175g self raising flour 150g chocolate chips (optional) Method 1. Line two baking trays with baking paper. Preheat the oven to 160.  2. Cream together the butter and sugars. Add the peanut butter and egg. 3. Add the flour (and chocolate chips, if using) to make a dough. 4. Use tea spoons to divide up the mixture into 18.  5. Flatten the cookies with a spoon or fork to make a pattern. 6. Bake for 12/15 minutes until golden brown. Here are photos of my batches of cookies, with and without chocolate chips! X Bo

Just a little note to say thank you! My blog has now had over 3000 views! That is incredible!  I promise I will try to post more entries soon! I promise I haven't forgotten! X Bo

Firstly, my sincere apologies for not posting anything new in so long! Everything I've been baking recently has been a repeat and I didn't think it was worth posting them again! My lovely manager at work gave me lots of recipe cards this week so I thought I'd use my day off to try one! Thanks Debbie! Dinky Ginger Snaps Ingredients  350g plain flour 1 1/2 tsp ground ginger 1 tsp baking powder 1 1/2 ground cinnamon a pinch of salt 75g butter 225g granulated sugar 2 large eggs 50g black treacle (or dark molasses) Method 1. Preheat the oven 160. Line two baking trays with baking paper. 2. Combine the flour, ginger, baking powder, cinnamon and salt in a large bowl and mix well. 3. Beat the butter and sugar in a large bowl until light and fluffy. 4. Add the eggs to the butter mixture. Add the treacle and stir until well combined. 5. Gradually stir in the flour. Mix until it forms a stiff dough. Shape into balls with your hands. Place the dough on the prepared ...

I've always played it fairly safe when I've made bagels before. But today I decided to experiment with the flavour. I made some plain and some cinnamon and sultana. They look and smell delicious! I didn't weigh the amount of cinnamon and sultana that I added, if I had to guess I'd say roughly 3 teaspoons and a small hand full. X Bo