Baking Haul:Decorating Stuff

Hey guys I have a baking haul for you today as I went to a cake decorating store/warehouse with some friends of mine today. The place was called the Sugar Shack and what looks like random looking warehouse place is really a cake decorating wonderland. Holding all sorts of equipment and accessories to make your cakes the bells of the ball.

Before entering I had made a promise that I would only buy things that wouldn't be able to get locally and things that I would get lots of use out. To ensure that I didn't go into a cake decorating buying frenzy.  

 

Here are the fruits of my shopping labour. A Wilton truffles mould which I wanted to make my truffles look professional and uniform instead of the different shape balls I currently make. (£ 2.99)

100 Foil cupcake cases which come with 4 different colours red, silver,gold and purple £3.99.

Small truffles silver foil cases.

                                 

 A Wilton Pink Icing Colour concentrated paste Rosa £2.25.  A Edible Decorations pearlized Blush Sugar Pearls £3.49 theses are pretty pearly colour. Lastly a Wilton 1M open star nozzle this was actually from Hobby Craft for £1.99.    

   
             This pic is so u can see the back of the Truffles moulds if u were wondering.

REVIEW
The shop was really nice and fully stocked with everything one might need, however some items are a bit pricey and could be found much cheaper on-line or else where. Which is what plan to do with plunger cutters and some beautifully embossed glass rolling pins which I have had my eye for a while now. I hated leaving without them in my possession but they were £15 which isn't extortionate but as I still do all this for a hobby couldn't really justify it to my self.

With regards to edible decorations I would remind you just check the ingredients if you have a food issues/allergies. I'm Muslim and I was about to buy some pretty orange flowers before the lady informed me they had gelatin in them which is something we don't eat. I always make sure my purchases are suitable for vegetarians but she had to inform me because these particular decorations didn't have any labelling on them most other things were labelled though. Just to add to that, like many others stores they had flavourings which contain alcohol which again is something I don't purchase. They also had a range of some non- alcholic flavourings though.

Overall it was a good shop which has loads of tools, accessories and decorations, you will need a Sat Nav to get there though!  X
                               

Dark chocolate and hazelnut Truffles

Hiya guys, today I have some truffles for you.....truffles of the hazelnut variety. I'm lover of all things chocolate and hazelnut, which is why I decided to make some hazelnut truffles. when I thought of this idea I was dreaming of making some yummy Ferrero Rocher style truffles....... unfortunately I bought dark chocolate completely forgetting that Ferrero Rochers are milk chocolate. (duh)

So my Ferrero Rochers plans didn't come to fruition, however I did end up with some yummy, dark and nutty truffles.....sigh of relief!   

My recipe has the same base as my choc+orange ones, I just changed up the flavours.

 Recipe 

150 ml of Double Cream 

200g of Dark Chocolate 

3 tbsp of hazelnut oil (this was from sainsburys I was a bit disappointed with this, not as strong in flavour as i thought it would be)
2 big tbsp of  hazelnut/choc  spread
Small bag of hazelnuts (I could only find blanched ones)

The methods which is really simple can be seen here .dark-chocolate-orange-truffles.Instead of flavouring it with orange I poured in the hazelnut oil and hazelnut spread. Also instead of  rolling in cocoa powder I rolled in chopped hazelnuts which I roasted first.

The truffles were smooth, chocolatey and nutty. They were nice bite size  treats of dark chocolatey nuttiness.

Chocolate Brownies

Hiya, so I have been baking brownies.... chocolatey yummy brownies. I love brownies...they used to sell some AMAZING ones at my uni, but when I left uni I sadly left those brownies behind sniff sniff.  Though I love brownies I don't make them much because I stress about getting uncooked brownie middle while striving for the delicious squidgy brownieness we all know and love.
The recipe I used was from Fold in the flour a blog I'm currently crushing on, they were straight forward to make and seriously delicious .
 Fold in the Flour ultimate brownies

     

 The only changes I made was I took them out earlier because I was using a smaller tin, I managed to get soft squidgy middle.I took the sugar down to 200g.... couldn't quite bring my self to put in the 275g when it had all that chocolate in it.

Next time I make these I plan on packing them with white chocolate!