Basically, I have decided to move all of my blog stuff/ keep it on one blog because I am really struggling to keep up with both. Tonight I am going to move all of the posts from here over onto my other blog. This means that the other one will be mostly beauty, fashion and hauls but every so often I will do a baking post for you.


Sorry I haven't done a proper post in a few weeks.



Love Lauren x

First of all I just wanna say I am soo sorry for not doing a proper post this week but it has just been so busy. I promise there will be a new one next week.

I have decided that my upload day is going to be Sunday around about 5-6 in the evening. Every other week I will do a post on this blog and on the alternate week I will do a post on my other blog that I announced last week which is www.shoppingnmakeup.blogspot.com . The reason I am changing the time from 9 (which it used to be) to about 6 in the evening is because unless I had a post scheduled to go up I wasn't able to get one done in time. By changing the time will give me alll day to write a post.



Sorry Again ,,

Love Lauren x

P.S. there is a new post up on my other blog if you wanted to got check it out. I did a haul from when I went away over half term.

Quick Update

So this is only gonna be a quick one today but I thought I would update you all on a few things.

Basically I have started a new blog to go along side this one because I wanted to keep this one as just baking stuff. The new one is www.shoppingnmakeup.blogspot.org and will be things like hauls and collection posts.

Also I am gonna work on a schedule which should be up withing the next week.


Sorry about the short post but there will be a proper one next week.

Love Lauren xx

Baking Collection ~ Part One

Hi guys,

Today I have a bit of a different post for you today. I am going to be do a series (I think it will be 3 or 4 parts) showing you all of my baking collection. This post is gonna be showing you the top left section of my baking cupboard. I store all my baking stuff in a cupboard in the kitchen.

 So the first thing is this set of cookie cutters from the Jane Asher range at Poundland. I have got them in the pastel purple colour. They are such a bargain because 1. they are only £1  2. you get six in a pack  3. they are double sided so it is basically 12 cutters. Circle cutters are one of the necessities in a baking kit because you can use them for so many things.

The next things are couplers. Couplers are what you use to attach the piping bag filling with you icing and the icing nozzle. These came in an icing kit that came with a set I got off Groupon.

 The next thing is cupcake cases. Of course these are important to have if you are making cupcakes. You can get these in so many shops, they range in colour/pattern and quality. Although you can get ones that are not much money but still quite good quality. Below I have some from Tesco's, Home Bargains, my local chemist and 'The Cake And Bake Show'.

Next is sprinkles. These are one of my favorite things to have in my collection. You can buy the in so many different colours/shape/flavor/sizes. They can really change you bakes by adding an extra bit of something to them. The pink pearls below are from home bargains for around 70p and the other 2 are I got at the cake and bake show when I went in November for £1 each.

 Next I have a cake smoother which I got from the baking shop in my village for £1. A cake smoother is a really good thing to have in your kit, especially if you do a lot of fondant covered large cakes.

 I got this Mickey Mouse cutter from the Disney cake and sweets magazine.

 Piping Bags! I have some of the reusable fabric piping bags that came with different sets that I have purchased overtime but I must say I think the disposable ones are so much better. The reason for this is because on the first time you use them they are really nice but after that they never wash very well. You can buy decent disposable ones that are so cheap. My favorite ones are ones that I picked up from my local chemist for £1, each pack came with 20. They have a really glossy texture although I wish they did a bigger size in them as well.

 This is one of most used icing nozzle, 'the closed star tip'. I think this is an excellent one to get as you could use it to do so many things for example you could use it to do a classic swirl but by using this tip it makes it a bit more detailed/decorative.

I got my blowtorch for Christmas from my Nan and Grandad but I haven't had chance to use yet as I need to buy some of the gas that you need to get the flame. You can use this to either brown your meringues once they have cooked, or even to toast marshmallows (I'm not sure about that last one so maybe don't try it).

This a kitchen timer in the shape of a stand mixer. OMG! I got this for Christmas as well and when I opened it I just fell in love with it. I have it in the mint green colour. I'm not sure where my mum picked this up from but it is by a brand called Lilybell Bakery. It looks so cute on the side when I'm baking.

The next thing is this cookie cutter set that I picked up from the Warehouse shop in Hunstanton for £3.99. It comes with 3 cookie cutters with plungers and a bag of plastic letters (shown in the picture below). You slide the letters into the slots on the cutter and then when you push the plunger down onto your cookie/biscuit dough it leaves an indentation of the letter on you biscuits. These would be perfect to do for party favors because you could stamp the names of the guests into them. The set is by the brand called Neat Ideas. Here is a link to one on Amazon for £7

Next I have to little tubs of pink glitter. The lighter one on the right is quite fine and the darker one on the right are more like glitter shards. I think sprinkling a bit of these onto the top of a frosted cupcake makes them look really nice and also quite professional. Poundland have recently brought out a line of cake decorations and I have spotted some glitters like this in there. They have about 6/8 different and colours and are a bargain for £1 each.

I picked up this silcone icing pen for £1 and I think I am going to use it for piping words onto cupcakes but haven't had chance to use it yet.

This cupcake topper with cocktail sticks provide a really quick and easy decoration idea for if you don't much time to decorate your cupcakes. You can get pack of these from not much money, although most of the time they come in sets with cupcake cases as well, which would make a nice gift for someone.

This little tool set which was also £1 is super handy for giving a more decorative edge to pastry or fondant. You could also use it to make a quilted effect over a cake.

This set of 8 cake tools was around £2-£3, which is really good value as they are double ended. These are really good to use to help you when making fondant cake toppers. I have seen these in so many place but be careful because they can range in price a lot. You can get them quite cheap from places like ebay and amazon.

Chocolate Silicone mould are really handy for make shaped chocolates to put on top of cakes. You get get these in Poundland, but the ones in the picture are from a set that I picked up from Sainsbury's reduced down to a pound. It came with 12 moulds, a chocolate spoon and a recipe book.

These gel food coloring's by Dr Oetker are so handy. They give a really strong colour and are aviable from most supermarkets for about a pound each.They sell most of the popular colours but you can always mix through 2 gels to get your desired colour.

I picked this drawer tower up in Poundland when I went to some storage to help organise my cupboard. I use this to store my paper cake toppers, my silicone icing pen, my chocolate mould, my fondant tall and my gel food colorings in. They are so handy and you could store so many things in them so definitely try and pick some up when you next go in there.

So that is everything in my baking collection (well part 1 anyway). Sorry that this has been such a long post but I haven't baked anything since my last post so I thought every now and then when I have been baking that week I can do some posts like this.  Hope you enjoyed this post and I will speak to you all next week.
Also Happy Valentines day everyone!!
Love Lauren xx
Twitter- @suggleterino

p.s. I apologise o using the word next so often in this post.

Tanya Burr's Triple Chocolate Cookies

Hello everyone,

First things first I am so sorry for not uploading for a few weeks, I have just had really busy weekends so haven't had time to sit down at my laptop to write a post (because they take about an hour to write at the minute). Also these last few weeks have just flown by, I really don't know where they have gone. 

Last weekend, when I popped into Tesco's I saw Tanya's book 'Love Tanya'. I wasn't planning on getting it as I am trying to save my money to make sure I have some for when I go away  later this month. I was so excited to see it I couldn't not buy it. I am so glad I did as it is basically a most of my favorite things in one book. I definitely recommend it. Here are some links to where you can get it: Waterstones   WH Smith    Tesco     Amazon 

If you hadn't guessed already I am going to be sharing with you a recipe from her book. The recipe I am sharing with is her famous chocolate cookies. I made these yesterday and they are so yummy. I had to make one change to the ingredients because the shop I went to doesn't see Daim bars so instead I got some Reese's peanut butter cups. I love how they give the cookies a bit of a peanut flavor, which made them even nicer.

Here are the ingredients you will need: -200g butter       -300g caster sugar      -1 large egg     275g self-raising flour        -75g cocoa powder    -a large bar each of milk, white and dark chocolate (I only used milk and white)    -3 Daim bars or 4 Reese's peanut butter cups       -a little dash of milk (you will only need this if your dough is a bit dry once you have mixed it together.

    

Method

1. Preheat your oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Line 2 baking trays with baking paper.

2. Beat together your butter and sugar until it has a smooth consistency.

3. Crack in your egg, then add your dry ingredients and mix until they have all combined together. (At this point if your mixture is a bit dry add a dash of milk)

4. Break up all of your chocolate and then mix until it is evenly spread throughout your dough.

5.Using your hands separate your mixture into evenly sized blobs (the book says it makes 10 cookies but I managed to get 12 good sized cookies out of the mix) and place them on the trays.

6. Place the trays in the preheated oven for 11 minutes. When you take them out they will look a bit under cooked but don't put them back in because this will make them go hard.

7. Leave for 30 minutes and then you can eat them.

I hope you enjoy making this recipe and make sure you get your hands on a copy of Tanya's book. Here are Tanya's social media links: Twitter      Facebook       Youtube      Blog

My twitter: @suggleterino

Hope you all enjoy this recipe! Please leave a comment telling me what recipes/ blog posts you would like me to do.

Love Lauren xx

My cookies

A close up of the cookies

Raspberry missisppi mud pie

 Hi guys,
So I am back! This week I have got a recipe for you from The Hummingbird bakery cookbook. I got this book for Christmas but it is one that I have been wanting to get for ages. There are so many recipes in this book that I want to try, so look out for more of them in the future. There is a few other recipes books by The Hummingbird Bakery available on amazon, all for around £5.  Link to get it ---> http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hummingbird-Bakery-Cookbook-Tarek-Malouf/dp/1845978307/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1421609889&sr=8-1&keywords=hummingbird+bakery+cookbook

So here is the recipe I used (I added raspberries for a recipe that is a bit further down below!)
Pastry:
Ingredients:
-260g plain flour
-1/2 tsp salt
-110g unsalted butter
-cold water
Method:
1. Place the flour, salt and water into a mixer with the paddle attachment. Mix together until you get a sandy consistency.
2. Gradually, adding a tablespoon of water at a time, mix until it has become a smooth dough. (tip- it is better to beat on higher speed between each one to ensure that you don't add to much water.
3. Wrap in clingfilm and leave in the fridge for about 30mins.
4. Roll out on a floured surface until big enough to fit into your tin (I used a 22inch one), then place into your tin. (Another tip: don't cut away the excess until after you have blind-baked the pastry as it does shrink down a bit.)
5. Place a piece of baking paper into the pastry case and fill with baking beans.
6. Bake for 10 minutes in an oven preheated to 170 degrees Celsius.

Filling and Construction:
Ingredients:
-150g dark chocolate
-50g unsalted butter
-30ml/2tbsp golden syrup
-6 eggs
-300g soft light brown sugar
-1tsp vanilla extract
-350ml whipping cream (it works well with double cream as well)

Method:
1. Put the chocolate, butter and golden syrup into a hea proof bowl, over a pan of simmering water (Tip: it is important to make sure the bottom of the bowl doesn't touch the water otherwise the chocolate will burn)
2. Leave until melted and smooth, then remove from the heat and set aside to cool slightly.
3. While the chocolate mixture is cooling, place the eggs, sugar and vanilla extract in a freestanding mixer with a paddle attachment and beat until well combined.
4. Once the chocolate is cooled, gradually add into the egg mixture beating between each time.
5. Pour the chocolate mixture into the blind-baked pastry case then bake for 35-40mins.
6. Whip the cream with an electric whisk. Then pipe on to the cooled case however you like.
7. To decorate, I topped the cream with some fresh raspberries and a chopped up penguin bar but you can do whatever you like.

I have made this recipe twice now and both times we had people over for dinner. It was a real hit! The first time I made it, I didn't use the raspberries but I think they complemented it really nicely.

The reason for making this yesterday was because I need the pictures to complete an application for a competition that I came across at school. It is the 'Young Chef Of The Year' competition at Oaklands College. There is not much chance of me getting in but I will keep you guys posted if I hear anything.

Bye Guys,
Love Lauren xx

The Finished Recipe

A close up shot

Rocky road cupcakes

Today I am going to be sharing with you all some rocky road cupcakes that I made. I actually made these a few months ago but they were so yummy so felt the need to share them with you guys. They have a chocolate base with chocolate frosting and sprinkled with chocolate, cookies/walnuts and marshmallows. They were from the recipe book called '1001 Cupcakes, Cookies and other tempting treats'. Here is a link if you where you can get it; also it is only £1.49 at the minute. http://www.theworks.co.uk/p/cookery/1001-cupcakes-cookies-tempting-treats---love-food/9781445444154  

Here is the recipe I used:

Ingredients:                           Topping:

-140g soft butter                                -225g butter

-140g caster sugar                             -1tbsp milk

-1tsp vanilla extract                          -300g icing sugar

-3 eggs (lightly beaten)                     -55g cocoa powder

-150g self-raising flour                    -85g mini marshmallows

-55g cocoa powder                           -40g roughly chopped walnuts (I changed these for cookies) 

                                                           -55g milk chocolate (melted)

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 180 c/350 f/Gas Mark 4. Line a muffin tin with paper cases.

2. Place the butter and sugar into a bowl and beat until light and fluffy, then mix in the vanilla extract. Gradually beat in the eggs.

3. Sift in the cocoa powder and flour and fold into the mixture. (I did steps 2 and 3 in my mixer). 

4. Spoon into your paper cases.

5. Bake for 20-25 minutes in your oven.

6. For your topping, mix together your cocoa powder, icing sugar and butter in a bowl. If the consistency is a bit thick use your milk to make it softer.

7. To decorate I just piped a swirl of the chocolate butter cream onto the top of each cupcake. Then sprinkled the marshmallows and cookies over the top. Then place my melted chocolate into a small piping bag and drizzled it over the tops of the cupcakes.

A close up of one of my cupcakes

This was all of the ones I made

I took some of these cupcakes into school with me to share with my form and they went done a treat. I hope you guys enjoy this recipe. Also if there are any recipes you would like me to do in the future leave me a comment. 

Bye guys, 

Love Lauren xx