With Valentine’s Day tomorrow, I couldn’t miss the opportunity to try and improve my decorating skills by making a batch of heart shaped cookies. I do enjoy a theme and I am especially fond of Valentines Day. So to spread my love and cheer. I made these for my lovely coworkers.

Ingredients

Sugar Cookies

200g of all pupose flour

1/4 of a teaspoon of salt

1/2 teaspoon of baking powder

1 stick of butter (128g)

100g of white sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon of vanilla essence

Royal icing

1 egg white

1 teaspoon of lemon juice

200g of icing sugar

Directions

In a bowl whisk together the flour, salt, and baking soda. In a second bowl,  beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy (about 3 minutes). Add the eggs and vanilla extract and beat until combined. Add the flour mixture and beat until you have a smooth dough. Divide the dough in half and wrap each half in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for about one hour or until firm enough to roll.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C) and place rack in centre of oven. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or just butter them up.

Remove one half of the chilled dough from the refrigerator and, on a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to a thickness of 1/4 inch (1 cm). (Keep turning the dough as you roll, making sure the dough does not stick to the counter.)  Cut out desired shapes using a lightly floured cookie cutter and transfer cookies to baking sheet. Place the baking sheets with the unbaked cookies in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes to chill the dough which prevents the cookies from spreading and losing their shape while baking. Note: If you are not going to frost the baked cookies, you can sprinkle the unbaked cookies with sparkling sugar.

Bake cookies for about 8-10 minutes (depending on size) or until the edges are just starting to brown. Remove from oven and let cookies cool on baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling. Frost with royal icing, if desired. Be sure to let the royal icing dry completely before storing. (This may take several hours or overnight.)

To make the royal icing, beat the egg white with the lemon juice until they have quadrupled in volume. Add the sifted sugar and beat on low speed until smooth. If necessary, to get the right consistency, add more sugar or water. Add food coloring, if desired. You will need to split your icing into several different contains and add all the different colors you are planning to use. The icing needs to be used immediately or put in an airtight container as it hardens when exposed to air.

Pipe a line of icing around the outside of your cookie and allow it to set. Thin the icing a little while you are waiting for it to dry then apply a second coating in the middle of your cookie. This should be runnier and hence why it is called flood icing. If you are wanting to make cookies like me then you need to let each different color set before moving on to the next one. I saved the heart with the decorations for last. If you are stuck for ideas about how to decorate your cookies then try looking on Pinterest for inspiration. It’s amazing what some people can do with an icing bag.

I love cake! Baking it and eating it. However with my tiny toaster oven, baking one myself seemed impossible when someone’s birthday rolled around.  I’m lucky enough to possess a reasonably sized oven now, but back in my Suwon and Cheongju days I had to be more inventive. When scouring the internet one day I came across a recipe for a cake that’s cooked in a rice cooker. I tried it and it came out really well, so soft and moist. I haven’t made one for quite some time now but I  thought it was about time I shared my recipe with all you oven-less bakers out there. I actually made two cakes this week to give you a bit of variety. First up is my rice-cooker coffee cake!

Ingredients

200g of butter

2o0g of white sugar

200g of all purpose flour (I use the buksul one for noodles and dumplings)

3 eggs

1 teaspoon of baking powder

2 tablespoons cocoa powder

1 shot of espresso (you could use instant too)

Buttercream frosting

260g of butter (2 slicks)

400g of icing sugar (sugar powder)

1-2 tablespoons of espresso coffee

Directions

Cream together the sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs. Then stir in the coffee and mix well. In a separate bowl sift the flour, baking powder and cocoa powder. Fold into the coffee mixture. Take your rice cooker pan and line it with a piece of parchment paper. Then put the cake mixture inside. Press the cook setting and then continue to keep checking it every time it pops up. You may have to go though several cycles depending on the make and model of your rice cooker. However you will get there in the end so hang in there. You can tell when it’s done when the top is spongy to the touch. Remove the cake from the pan and leave to cool for a couple of hours.

To make the frosting let the butter get to room temperature then mix together with the icing sugar. Add the coffee a spoonful at a time. If it’s too thick add more coffee.

When the cake has cooked. Slice through the middle to make your two layers. Put half the frosting in the middle and half on top.

Decorate with a dusting of cocoa powder. Voilà a very easy cake made in the rice cooker.

After the Christmas celebrations I was left with a large amount of cranberries, so I decided I would do a spot of baking. I thought oats would work well and I would try and make some cookies. However although the cookies tasted great before they were cooked they weren’t so great after. Still having plenty left I decided I would have another go but try making muffins this time. I also had a lot of old bananas that I had been saving up in my freezer that needed using too. This is a great idea is you don’t like eating them once they are less than perfect just bung them in the freezer and just defrost when you next do a spot of baking. The muffins were far more successful and really very tasty. With the oats, banana, and cranberry they could even be eaten as a healthy-ish breakfast treat, better than chocolate cereal anyway!

Ingredients

160g of all-purpose flour (I use the one for dumplingsings and noodles)
85g of  oats
135g of white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons  of baking powder
1 teaspoon  of baking soda
1/2  a teaspoon salt
1 egg
4-6 mashed ripe bananas
75g of melted butter
130g of dried cranberries

Directions

Combine the first six ingredients in a mixing bowl. Mix well. Beat together egg, bananas and melted butter or margarine until smooth. Add this mix to the dry ingredients and blend. Stir in cranberries until combined. Spoon the batter into cupcake or muffin cases, filling almost to the top. Bake at 180 degrees celcius for about  15 to 25 minutes or until the top springs back when lightly touched. Serve as a delicious breakfast snack or teatime treat.

It’s Christmas Eve and I though there’s just about enough time to squeeze in one more little post before I take  my Christmas break (to be fair I need to get something out of being at work today!) Yes, whilst everyone and their dog is at home enjoying Christmas merriment I’m at work, although it is the Christmas party today so it could be worse. I’m not actually a lover of gingerbread, but I thought I would make a gingerbread house for my students anyway. It wasn’t actually too hard and it really got me in the Christmas spirit. My decorating could certainly be improved upon but overall I’m quite happy with it. Niall actually made all the templates for the house but there are plenty of templates online that you can just print out if you don’t have handy and helpful boyfriend.

Ingredients

Gingerbread

800g of all-purpose  flour (I used the one for noodles and dumplings)

275g of dark brown sugar

200g of molasses

128g of butter

1 tablespoon of cinnamon

1 tablespoon of ginger (I used the powder that you can buy in packets everywhere)

1/2 teaspoon of salt

280ml of milk

1 tablespoon of baking powder

Royal Icing Using Egg Whites

2 large (60 grams) egg whites

2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

3 cups (330 grams) confectioners (powdered or icing) sugar, sifted

Directions

Combine brown sugar, molasses, butter, spices, and salt in a saucepan over low heat, stirring with a wooden spoon, until sugar is dissolved. This will take about 10 minutes. Stir in the milk and remove the mixture from the heat. In a large bowl mix the flour and baking powder then pour in the sugar mixture and combine to make the dough. Split the dough in to four pieces then wrap in clingfilm and leave in the fridge overnight.

Take the pieces out of the refrigerator and roll out on a floured surface, this will be quite hard to start with but it gets easier, just keep turning them as you work. Once your you dough is about 1/4 of an inch thick you can put your template on top and cut out the pieces. bake in an oven at 170 degrees Celcius for about 15-20 minutes or until they are browned and thoroughly cooked through.

When all of the pieces have been cooked they are ready to be assembled. I decided to use royal icing to stick mine together and this worked well, but you may wish to use sugar caramel instead. Make sure the royal icing is really thick, then apply liberally all down the edges and stick the pieces together. I made the main frame first then let it dry before adding the roof.

To make the royal icing, beat the egg whites with the lemon juice until they have quadrupled in volume. Add the sifted sugar and beat on low speed until smooth. If necessary, to get the right consistency, add more sugar or water. Add food coloring, if desired. You will need to split your icing into several different containers and add all the different colors you are planning to use. The icing needs to be used immediately or put in an airtight container as it hardens when exposed to air.

Decorate with more royal icing and as much candy as you like. Allow to dry thoroughly before diving in. Merry Christmas one and all.

Advent is upon us and it’s time to get that holiday cheer. I am a huge fan of all things Christmassy and to get myself in the mood I decided to make some Christmas cookies. I was really excited about all the festive things I would be able to make. I ventured off to the baking mart in Dongdaemun to stock up on all the things I would need to create my wonderful winter snacks. There were cutters and decorations galore. I bought plenty of food colouring to make my iced treats and watched a few tutorials about how to make royal icing and flood icing to decorate them.

Since my baking experiments had been going so well lately, I think I overestimated my talents. Although I think my cooking usually tastes pretty damn good, my fall down is always my presentation. In my head I imagined creating something beautiful like these.

Sadly mine came out more like this. 

My basic icing layer was fine but my decorating was poor at best. I really should have put them in the fridge and left them till the next day when I would have had more energy to decorate them rather than half assing it. It’s about now that I really wish I had some children so I could palm off my poor skills on them. Mine look as though they were made by a 5  year old. In the end they still tasted really nice, better than I thought actually. I’m not usually a fan of plain biscuits, but these were great.  And I still have half the dough left over in the freezer so I shall have another go and see if I can do any better. The recipe for the cookies and the icing comes from the Joy of Baking. So I can’t actually claim any kind of creative talent on these whatsoever. 

Ingredients 

Sugar Cookies

3 cups (390 grams) all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup (227 grams) butter

1 cup (200 grams) white sugar

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Royal Icing Using Egg Whites

2 large (60 grams) egg whites

2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

3 cups (330 grams) confectioners (powdered or icing) sugar, sifted

Directions

 In a bowl whisk together the flour, salt, and baking soda. In a second bowl,  beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy (about 3 minutes). Add the eggs and vanilla extract and beat until combined. Add the flour mixture and beat until you have a smooth dough. Divide the dough in half and wrap each half in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for about one hour or until firm enough to roll.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C) and place rack in centre of oven. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or just butter them up. 

Remove one half of the chilled dough from the refrigerator and, on a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to a thickness of 1/4 inch (1 cm). (Keep turning the dough as you roll, making sure the dough does not stick to the counter.)  Cut out desired shapes using a lightly floured cookie cutter and transfer cookies to baking sheet. Place the baking sheets with the unbaked cookies in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes to chill the dough which prevents the cookies from spreading and losing their shape while baking. Note: If you are not going to frost the baked cookies, you can sprinkle the unbaked cookies with sparkling sugar. 

Bake cookies for about 8-10 minutes (depending on size) or until the edges are just starting to brown. Remove from oven and let cookies cool on baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling. Frost with royal icing, if desired. Be sure to let the royal icing dry completely before storing. (This may take several hours or overnight.)

To make the royal icing, beat the egg whites with the lemon juice until they have quadrupled in volume. Add the sifted sugar and beat on low speed until smooth. If necessary, to get the right consistency, add more sugar or water. Add food coloring, if desired. You will need to split your icing into several different contains and add all the different colors you are planning to use. The icing needs to be used immediately or put in an airtight container as it hardens when exposed to air.

Pipe a line of icing around the outside of your cookie and allow it to set. Thin the icing a little while you are waiting for it to dry then apply a second coating in the middle of your cookie. This should be runnier and hence why it is called flood icing. If you are wanting to make cookies like me then you can just throw on the decorations at this point and allow them to set. If you are looking to make a more professional batch then allow them to set once again before decorating them with different colours of piped royal icing.

There are plenty of sites out there, for those of you more creatively abled than I. But hopefully I have given you some ideas and got you into the Christmas spirit a little. Merry Christmas!

My bestest friend in the whole wide world turned 30 last week. To celebrate this momentous occasion I made a sinfully decadent dessert in her honor.  Sadly for her and my waist line we are living on different continents so she will not actually get to eat any of the trifle but I know she appreciates the thought. This is no ordinary trifle you would have on a Sunday afternoon, this a celebration trifle. So I made it in gigantic proportions, Rachel would have wanted it that way. So there’s nothing left for me to do but man up and plow my way through several pints of this sinful sweet. I’m just that good of a friend. You could also make smaller portions of it like I showcased above if your friends have smaller appetites than mine. Happy Birthday Rachel, this one is for you!

Ingredients

Brownie Base

1 box of brownie mix

100g white chocolate chips

100g milk chocolate chips

2 tablespoons of peanut butter (optional)

Chocolate custard

6 egg yolks

1 egg

75g white sugar

25g of flour

4 teaspoons of corn flour / cornstarch (I got mine at the bakery mart)

500ml of milk

1 tablespoon of Vanilla syrup

A few drops of vanilla extract (you can use the extract, the syrup or a vanilla pod)

150g of milk chocolate

Topping

1 pint of whipping cream

Grated chocolate for decorating

Directions 

To make the brownie I just used a regular box which I pimped up a bit, full directions are in my Brownie post. If you want an even easier option you could just use some muffins or regular chocolate sponge, however I think the brownie makes it extra special and indulgent. Make the brownie mix according to the directions, (On the Tous le jour box you just add water and mix in a bowl). Mix in the chocolate chips along with the peanut butter if you’re using it. Stir to combine everything then transfer to a cake tin or if you don’t have one a disposable foil dish you can buy anywhere. Cook in the over for 15 – 30 minutes depending on how you prefer it (gooey or cakey). If you do not have an oven this brownie can also be cooked in the microwave for 3-4 minutes.

To make the chocolate custard I followed Raymond Blancs recipe for creme patissiere and just made a few small changes. Whisk your egg yolks and egg with the sugar until it has become a very pale yellow. Whisk in the flour and corn flour until it has combined then set aside. Heat the milk and vanilla on a low heat until it has just started to boil then take it off the heat and whisk for 30 seconds. Slowly mix the hot milk into the yolk and flour mixture until it has combined then pour it into a saucepan. Put the custard on a very low heat and whisk it continuously until it begins to thicken. This will happen all at once so make sure you keep an eye on it or it will curdle. Once its thickened into custard you can remove from the heat and stir in the chocolate until you have lovely chocolate custard. Sprinkle icing sugar on the top to stop a skin forming as you wait for it to cool.

Pour the custard on top of the brownie mixture and allow to set. Whip the cream until it has thickened and put it on top of the custard once it has been refrigerated. Top with chocolate sprinkles. You can make one giant trifle or lots of mini ones, its up to you. However only the large one will satisfy my friends lust for desserts. Voilá my celebration chocolate trifle, best dessert ever!

Ever since I was a child I’ve loved a good bit of toffee. Sadly its scarcely found around these parts. Whilst I was at home I indulged myself in several bags of Thorntons finest. I was having a chat with my nan during one of these indulgences when she informed that toffee is actually very easy to make.  Never one to ignore my nan’s advice I decided to get around to giving it a go and was surprised at how quick and easy it is.

Ingredients

225g of butter

200g of white sugar

3 tablespoons of water

75g of chopped mixed nuts (optional)

1 bar of dove chocolate (optional)

Directions

Cut the butter into smallish chunks and put into a saucepan. Add the sugar and water then turn on the heat. As the butter melts and everything combines try not to stir the mixture however tempting it may be as this can cause sugar crystals. You may tip the pan but try to leave it alone.

Once it starts to get going it will become a lovely pale yellow foam, this will continue to get darker and darker until it starts to get golden brown. When it becomes an amber color you can now start to stir it gently with a wooden spoon. The mixture will be flecked with little brown streaks and have reduced and become less foamy by the time its done. This will take about 8-10 minutes.Do make sure it’s a good toffee color before taking it off the heat.

Pour the toffee into a non stick pan over the nuts if using them. If you’re topping with chocolate add the chunks to the top of the toffee. It should melt reasonably quickly, then you can make a nice swirly pattern on top. Leave to cool then smash into pieces once it’s set. Voila lovely scrummy English toffee.

Last week was a birthday bonanza with two of my friends having birthdays on the same day.I was quite chuffed as it gave me a good excuse to improve my baking skills. I’ve recently bought an electric mixer and I relish any opportunity to use it, especially if that opportunity comes covered in butter cream.  I am rather partial to coffee cake as you may have noticed from my previous recipe for cappuccino cake (here). This one is a more traditional and although it was a little heavy the sponge was  lovely and moist and tres magnific (I have since altered the recipe to make the sponge lighter). So birthday or not, try out this yummy coffee cake, the perfect recipe to cheer up a dreary afternoon.

Ingredients

Coffee Cake

220g of butter

220g of white sugar

220g of flour

3 eggs

1 teaspoon of baking powder

50ml of strong black coffee

Buttercream Frosting

250g of icing sugar

4 tablespoons of butter

2-4 tablespoons of black coffee

3 drops of vanilla essence (optional)

Walnuts (optional)

Directions

Cream together the butter and sugar, add in the eggs and mix thoroughly   Stir the coffee into this mix until it has combined. Mix together the flour  baking powder and salt  and add it gradually into the wet mix. When the batter is done, pour into a greased cake tin and bake at 200 degrees Celsius for 20-40 minutes until its is golden brown and springy to the touch (cooking times will vary) . You can also put a knife in the middle if it comes out clean its fine.

To make the buttercream, mix the softened butter with the icing sugar. This will be stiff at first so add the coffee in a tablespoon at a time until you reach the desired consistency. When the cake has cooled completely top with the butter cream and decorate with nuts. Voila the perfect coffee cake.

I think we can all agree that baking in Korea can often be quite a challenge. So its been quite sometime since I last knocked up a cake. Seduced by my mums shiny new oven, I donned her Cath Kidston apron and whipped up this delicious baked treat.

This is actually the cake that turned me into a cakeaholic, it’s the perfect combination of chocolate and coffee and I think we all know how hard it is to say no to a bit of butter cream.

Ingredients

Cake

250g of butter

225g sugar

3 eggs

150g flour

3 table spoons of coco powder

1 shot of espresso (use a few teaspoons of instant if you don’t have as coffee maker)

Butter cream

250g of icing sugar

3 tablespoons of butter

100g white chocolate

2-3 tablespoons of milk

Directions

Cream the butter and sugar in a bowl until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and espresso and mix thoroughly. Sieve in the flour and coco powder and stir gently. When the mixture is ready pour it into a greased cake tin and put it into a preheated oven at 180 degrees centigrade. Cook for 30-45 minutes or until a knife comes out clean. Turn the cake out on a rack to cool while you make the buttercream.

To make the buttercream mix the butter and icing sugar together until its mixed thoroughly. If it’s too dry that’s fine as you will add the milk at the end. Melt the white chocolate and stir into the mixture. Add the milk a spoonful at a time until you have a butter cream consistency. When the cake has cooled completely top the cake with the buttercream and add grated chocolate to decorate. Voilà a delicious chocolate coffee cakey treat.

As a child pavlova was my absolute favorite dessert. My mum would always buy one if we had a guest for sunday lunch. My love of meringue has never wained as I have grown over the years. Meringue has always been famed as rather tricky to make (although I think it has a rather misguided reputation). As long as you follow the basic principles then they should turn out fine and dandy.

I’ve shied away from making a pavlova in Korea  for several reasons. The main ones being my lack of electric beater and my toaster oven being too small. However if your oven is of a decent size, I highly recommend you try making this delicious dessert.

Ingredients

120z of caster sugar

6 egg whites

1 table-spoon of cornflour

1 teaspoon of white wine vinegar

Topping

400ml of Whipped cream

A selection of fresh berries

Directions

Separate your eggs (whites only) and whisk them to stiff peaks in a clean mixing bowl. I would recommend an electric whisk unless you are very strong. Although my friend matt, seems to make them even better by hand than I can using the beater. So I guess it’s all in the wrist action (I assume he gets a lot of practice). You need the egg whites to be as stiff as possible as they will only get softer as you beat in the sugar. An old trick , is to beat them stiff enough so they are able to stay in the bowl when held upside down. Beat in the caster sugar a bit at time until it has been incorporated into the egg whites so the form soft peaks. Stir in the cornflour and vinegar to help them hold their shape and give them some extra gloss, although this step is not essential.

Line a baking tray with a piece of greaseproof paper. Draw a circle on the greaseproof paper and fill it in with a layer of the meringue. Then build up the edges by spooning or piping blobs around the outside until it forms the pavlova shape. Bake in an oven set to 150 degrees centigrade  for about an hour until the meringue has set. Turn off the oven and leave the meringue inside to dry out for a few hours, ideally overnight.

Pavlovas should be assembled at the last moment, so wait until you are ready to serve before adding the cream. Whisk the cream (add a little icing sugar and vanilla extract if you have a sweet tooth) and fill the pavlova then top with mixed berries. You can top your pavlova with anything you like, although I always think chocolate and nuts  goes down well.

If your pavlova cracks and breaks when your putting it on to your serving dish don’t worry, just cover it with cream and no one will be any wiser. .. If your meringue turns out too flat for a pavlova you can always break it into pieces and use it to make Eton mess, another british classic.