7.27.2014

Almond & Black Cherry Slices

 
 
 

So I kind of love Black Cherry jam, I put it on everything.......so I decided to put in a cake. Natural progression  right? I also love  Almonds, anything Almond flavoured.....do you see where I am going with this?! The only thing left to do was to bring these two lovelies together in some cake.

Recipe
6oz Flour
5oz Butter
5oz Sugar
2 Eggs
1 tsp Almond Extract
1tsp Baking Powder
Black Cherry jam

Method: I used an all in one method. Put everthing in the bowl with a splash of milk and mix till everything is incorporated. When pouring the mixture in to the tin dollop some Cherry jam in and round.
Bake for about 40 mins or until your skewer comes out clean. Once cooled slice up and drizzle with an Almond flavoured icing.

This was totally yummy! It was light and fluffy with a delicious Almond flavour. I only wish I had put way more Cherry jam, as there wasn't enough of it in my lovely slices! Almond + Cherry jaminess how could it go wrong?.........it can't........it was beautiful!

Next Post ......something cold+yummy for the heat wave!!  x

7.01.2014

Inspired by: the perfectionist- Chocolate Hazelnut filled Cookies





Gooey, Chocolate Hazelnut Cookies anyone?! 

So ages ago I started this Inspired by posts, to quote my self from last time  "I lose a lot of time drooling over lovely delicious blogs, and a lot of these I'll just admire or comment on.....but sometimes I see some bakes that I think....I'm so making me some of that! So I thought I would start a  Inspired by segments where I make those things that have caught my fancy from fellow baking blogs using their recipe or adapting slightly"
So I was perusing my bloglovin the other day and came across The Perfectionist's nutella-filled-chocolate-chip-cookies which she had seen on Butter baking blog. Oh my these just took my breath away especially that melted pic! swoon :) I thought about them for a bit and came to the quick conclusion that i needed those cookies in my life! So at the next available opportunity I got baking.

Unfortunately I didn't have the exact ingredients for Natasha's recipe...this was spur of the moment baking ...i hadn't planned to fall for these cookies but fall for them I did. So I had to bake with what I had in my cupboard...which wasn't too shabby. I used  a variation of this recipe from Bells Bakery which is one that I use a lot actually. 
 
Recipe
170g Butter
150g sugar
250g Plain Flour
1 Egg
1 tsp of  Bicarb of soda
2tsp of Cornflour
Half a bag of Milk choc chips  ( I was lucky to have at least this!)
Chocolate Hazelnut Spread cold

Method
  1. Cream the butter and sugar together till well combined.
  2. Then beat in the 1 egg till well Incorporated
  3. Then mix in the Flour, Bicarb + Cornflour along with the choc chips
  4. I have read alot about cookies and the thing to do is refrigerate them as it stops them melting and spreading too much. i chilled mine for about 20 mins...this was as long i  could wait
  5. This is where it got quite messy for me, getting the choc hazelnut spread in the cookies Natasha says to flatten a ball of cookie dough in you palm, place the cold Choc hazelnut in the middle and fold the edges of the cookie dough up around the Nutella, pinching together to seal it in, and then roll it gently between the palms of your hands to form dough balls. 
  6. Bake till golden and little bit soft...i have learnt my lesson of over baking them....they firm up as they cool. Mine took about 18mins on gas mark 4.
 Boy oh boy were they GOOD i had them warm and melty it was Divine. Bite in to these babies and you first get the nice crispy edges, then comes the soft chewy centre lastly you hit your final desitination....which is warm/melted choc Chip and the beautiful taste of choc & hazelnut.  Oh I miss them already!
 
Thanks you Natasha for the delicious inspiration!  I would love to know if any yummy posts has captured your heart & taste buds.