KUMPULAN MASTER BLOG

Cranberry Yoghurt Bundt Cake- a light sponge cake dotted with fresh cranberries and decorated with glace icing. An easy alternative to Christmas cake. This cranberry cake uses fresh cranberries, not dried. It came about because I bought a bag of fresh cranberries and was keen to find something (other than cranberry sauce) to make with them. I searched and searched and found virtually no cake recipes with fresh cranberries. So, I adapted a yoghurt cake recipe of mine to create this cake. Cranberries are tart in their fresh state. They are usually dried with sugar, but, when fresh, they are packed full of anti-oxidents and Vitamins A, C and K. This cake is light and only slightly sweet in taste, helped by the tart cranberries. I decided to cook the fresh cranberries into a quick jam, just to take the edge off the cranberries sharp taste and to make it easier to spread the cranberries through the cake. I then topped it off with a little plain glace icing and the result was delicious! Cran...

Mince Pie Duffins- a mince pie twist on the classic duffin. Doughnut muffins spiced with cinnamon and filled with traditional mincemeat. A delicious Christmas treat. Doughnut Muffin plus cinnamon, plus mince pie filling is the gist of this Christmas baked treat. If you've ever fancied mince pie in cake form, this is your recipe! The classic duffin is soft, moist and filled with jam usually. For this recipe, I have used the same batter but I have added a good whack of cinnamon and changed the filling to spiced mincemeat. Add some cinnamon sugar on top and your done. Quick and easy if you're looking for a new Christmas baking idea. Taking just 40 minutes to prepare and bake, they are quick to get ready when you have guests over the festive season. Serve them warm or keep in a tin for a few days. You can heat them up with some custard too, for a dessert. Mince Pie fans- hope you enjoy!

Prepare yourselves for the wonder that is puff pastry mince pies with whipped cream. They are something special and I am really excited to share the recipe with you. It's so simple- anyone can make them! It's now officially mince pie season. I know they've been in the shops since late September, but for me, all things Christmas really begin on December 1st. There's such an array of mince pies these days, that trying to choose which ones to buy can be a bit of a challenge. I thought that my husband, top mince pie-lover that he is, had tried every different type available. Then m y mother-in-law bought him a kind of mince pie that I have never seen before- puff pastry mince pies with whipped cream inside. They were an absolute revelation and we spent the next couple of weeks trying to find them again! (Morrisons in case you don't fancy making them yourself). Home-made mince pies will always top anything you can buy and until I made these puff pastry ones filled with ...

Choc-Chip Panettone Bread and Butter Pudding- the best way to use up leftover over Panettone is to make this twist on the traditional British dessert. Use Panettone instead of bread and add chocolate chips for a creamy, comforting winter dessert. Did you get a Panettone as a gift this year? It's a pretty popular gift these days at Christmas, but until a couple of years ago, I had never really come across one, never mind eaten one. This sweet, enriched bread, full of dried fruit, has been made in Italy since the middle ages and has grown in popularity throughout Europe in recent years. Did you know that Panettone are hung upside down when baked, so that their dome shape doesn't get cracked and spoilt? No- me either! To enjoy Panettone traditionally, you slice it like a cake and serve with butter and/or jam to spread on top and have with coffee. Alternatively, you can tilt it sideways and slice circles from the end so that they will fit in the toaster. Apparently, it's amazin...

It was my Dad's birthday last week and a great excuse to give my Christmas present, a NordicWare Bundt tin, a trial run, by making him a cake. I decided to make a Satsuma and Yoghurt Cake, given all the satsumas that were available post-Christmas. I know many people will find this an unsual idea, but satsuma juice is absolutely delicious and makes as good a citrus cake as any other citrus fruit. It's a great way to use up any spare satsumas that you have to hand. The tricky part about using satsumas is the zesting. Satsumas don't have really firm skin like lemons, limes and full-size oranges. But, if you're careful, you can zest it. The first thing is to choose satsumas that aren't loose in their skin. You want the ones that would be annoying to peel, because they won't come away in nice big pieces. Then use your zester gently to grate the zest from the skin. You can't go at it hard, like you would with a lemon, so restrain yourself! Using a really good zest...

Real Hot Chocolate- very simple to make with double cream, milk and real chocolate. A creamy and delicious winter treat, much nicer than packet mixes. When I think of cosy winters, sitting snuggled under a blanket on the sofa watching Christmas films, I also think of hot chocolate. There's just no other drink that adds to the cosiness like hot chocolate. Don't get me wrong, I live for tea, especially on a work day. I do believe it solves most problems and I power through the day on 3-4 cups. But, because I drink it most of the time, it just doesn't have that cosy factor. It's just not indulgent enough. Only hot chocolate fits the bill! You can get some pretty decent hot chocolate in some of the coffee shops these days and you can buy the packet mixes for home, but nothing beats real hot chocolate. It has a much deeper, creamier flavour (probably due to all the chocolate and the cream...) Making your own hot chocolate is very easy and totally worth the small amount of ef...

Today's post is a dessert recipe for Warm Chocolate Orange Brownie Dessert. I don't often make dessert when we have guests, mainly because I don't feel that inspired about what to make. Don't get me wrong, I love a dessert. It's just that I would always choose a starter over a dessert given the option! If I am having dessert, I often choose some kind of molten chocolate thing, or a chocolate brownie concoction. All that squidgy, delicious chocolatey goodness, topped off with some ice-cream, is right up my street! So, today, I thought I would give this idea a try with chocolate orange flavours. The essence of a good warm brownie dessert is in the previously mentioned squidginess. To get that, you need lots of moisture- melted butter, melted chocolate and eggs are usually the combo that will get you there. Add orange curd to that and you got chocolate orange yumminess! Timing is pretty important with this Warm Brownie Dessert; you want it to be just a little runny at ...

The Ultimate Mince Pies- mince pies in shortcrust pastry, topped with frangipane and lemon icing. The ultimate Christmas treat. Most people fall into one of two categories when it comes to mince pies. You're either beside yourself with excitement when you see the first packet in the shops and you have to buy some straight away, or you can easily wait until Christmas day and you wouldn't be that bothered if you didn't end up having one that year. If you're in the first camp, then it's that special time of year- Mince pies are everywhere you look! There seem to be a dizzying array of options on the mince pie front these days: standard mince pies, puff pastry mince pies, luxury mince pies, iced mince pies, mini mince pies and so on.You could probably buy a different type every week from now until Christmas! Shop-bought mince pies are really good, but home-made ones always taste that little bit better. If you want the easy version, try making my Cheat's Mince Pies T...