Tag: simple recipes

Iced party biscuits

Iced party biscuits

I am just in love with these iced party biscuits. If you’re anything like me, a burst of colour always puts me in a good mood, and these fellas are bright, bold and unapologetically beautiful. Everything you need to pop a smile on your face 

Chocolate Banana bread muffins

Chocolate Banana bread muffins

I don’t know about you but bowl and spoon bakes are honestly the most liberating and delicious things you can make.  No fancy gadgets required. Let’s face it, with everything else going on in life, if we can cancel out a bit of stress, let’s 

Chocolate truffle no churn ice cream

Chocolate truffle no churn ice cream

I don’t know about you, but despite how many flavours I try and love, chocolate ice cream is always my favourite. Rich, creamy and an intense cocoa hit is what I’m after and this chocolate truffle no churn ice cream delivers this and so much more.  Filled with chocolate chunks and hints of coffee this is a chocolate lover’s dream. 

Something I learnt from one of my biggest kitchen inspirations, The Barefoot Contessa, is to always add coffee to chocolate and there is plenty of it in this recipe. Makes all the difference.

No churn ice cream is such a great kitchen hack; no ice cream maker required. Just whisk all the ingredients together, box up and freeze and you’re ready to go. Honestly, I do have an ice cream maker and I still end up making no churn more often than not because they are just so quick and easy. 

Give this recipe a go, you’ll be so pleased you did.

Chocolate truffle no churn ice cream 

Recipe 

300ml double cream 

½ tin condensed milk (of a 397g tin)

¼ tsp salt

5 tbsp cocoa powder

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 tbsp coffee liqueur 

½ tsp coffee powder

50 dark chocolate (chopped into small chunks)

Method

Chop the dark chocolate pieces into fine shards ready to sprinkle onto the ice cream before it goes in the freezer. Leave to one side for later.

Add the double cream, condensed milk, salt, vanilla and coffee liqueur to a food mixer. Sift in the cocoa powder and coffee into the bowl. Begin to whisk.

When the cream is whipped enough that it holds a soft peak its ready to put in your air-tight container. This happens very quickly, a few minutes on fast speed so keep an eye on it or you’ll come back to butter. Not what you want.

Add in about a third of your chocolate shards to the bottom of the container. 

Add in a third of the ice cream mixture on top of the chocolate. Repeat twice more. Once you have added all of the mixture and toppings put the lid on and then put the container into a sealable bag. This will help prevent ice crystals forming in your ice cream while it is in the freezer. 

Leave to freeze for at least 6 hours, preferably overnight. 

Once frozen this will last about 2 months in the freezer to have whenever you fancy. 

Tips

Two ways to help your no churn ice cream have a lovely soft scoop set is either to include alcohol or liquid glucose. If you would prefer, you can substitute the liqueur for 1 tbsp of liquid glucose and increase the coffee powder to 1tsp.

Finding ice crystals in your ice cream when you take it out of the freezer is the last thing you want. I have had this problem more than once. Ways that I have found that avoid this are to use a really good air-tight container, like the ones that seal onto the sides when you seal them. Cover the top of the ice cream with cling film or put the whole container into a plastic sealable sandwich bag and then into the freezer.

Looking for more chocolate ideas? Try my Chocolate nutella muffins – with a crunchie topping or Double Chocolate Baked Doughnuts or for something

Easter Egg millionaires shortbread

Easter Egg millionaires shortbread

Easter Egg millionaires shortbread Growing up, millionaires shortbread was my FAVOURITE party food and my Mum would make it for special occasions. What is not to like about this; crumbly and rich shortbread, unctuously thick dulce de leche and chocolate. AMAZING. I was mooching around 

Get up and go granola – homemade breakfast ideas

Get up and go granola – homemade breakfast ideas

Breakfast is my favourite meal by far, I think that’s got something to do with my impatience to get eating again from the night before. I admit, I don’t always have the time or headspace to make breakfast from scratch but whenever I do make 

Blueberry and lime scones

Blueberry and lime scones

Everyone has their favourites, even if they don’t always admit it, and scones are definitely some of mine. Comforting carby hugs, truly versatile little things, great for breakfast, dress them up for company for a fancy afternoon tea or make them savoury and have for lunch, alongside a warming bowl of soup. These blueberry and lime scones are much loved by me. The blueberries make these really juicy and full of flavour, not to mention help delude me into thinking that they’ve been transformed into a superfood scone and the zesty lime makes them a really tasty treat. 

Have a go with this or any of your own flavour combos and bake yourself happy. 

Blueberry and lime scones

Ingredients

450g self-rising flour

100g cold butter

1 ½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

220-250ml cold milk 

250g blueberries

Zest 3 limes (if you don’t like limes you could substitute for zest of 2 lemons)

50g caster sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

Blueberry jam

Double cream

Makes between 10-12 scones. 

Method

Preheat the oven to 200°C, gas mark 6. 

Sieve the self-rising flour, baking powder and salt together in a bowl. 

Add chopped fridge cold butter to the mixture and rub together with the tips of your thumb and fingers in a fluttery motion until it looks like bread-crumbs or an oat mixture. It’s okay if some of the butter hasn’t fully combined, as that will help make lighter scones when they bake. 

Stir in the caster sugar and add in the lime zest and blueberries to the dry scone mixture. 

Add in the milk mixture by hand (this is messier but will help you get the right texture. You’re looking for a dough that holds together and isn’t sticky, otherwise you’ll need to add more flour which will alter the texture of the scones). Different types of flour absorb liquid differently, so add the milk gradually and judge whether you need the last of the milk.)

Once the scone dough has come together, turn out onto a lightly floured board, cut it in half and roll out, or pat the dough into a circle about an inch or so deep  and cut the scones using a 7cm cutter. (I liked the size of these but make smaller ones if you prefer). As there are fresh blueberries in these scones, cutting the dough in half before you roll helps the blueberries keep more of their shape, otherwise they will burst more when you re-roll to make the remaining scones.

Add the scones to a greased baking tray and brush each scone with some milk (taking care that it doesn’t drip down the sides, as this can effect how the scones rise). 

Cook for 10 minutes, turning the baking tray half way through to ensure even baking. 

Once cooked, transfer to a wire rack to cool. 

Whip the double cream until it forms soft pillowy peaks and then add to the scones. I like to ripple in some blueberry jam. 

Serve with a cup of tea, put your feet up and enjoy. 

Tips

Before cutting out the scones, I dip the cutter in flour, which will help the scone come out easily. Dip, cut, repeat. 

As you cut out each scone, no matter how instinctive or tempting, avoid twisting the cutter, this will make the scones rise unevenly. (They will still taste just as lovely though). 

Want more scone recipes? Try my Lavender, Earl Grey and lemon scones or Maple chai scones. For cosy autumn days or maybe even Cheddar Red Leicester cheese scone recipe – they’re all great crowd pleasers.

Looking for postal afternoon tea kits to have at home? M&S offer a lovely one.

Mince pie cookies

Mince pie cookies

Mince pie cookies, a playful take on the classics. Mince pies are undoubtedly a Christmas staple; the taste, the aroma and the ritual all make for one of the most traditional seasonal bakes that has truly stood the test of time. There are 12 days 

Reindeer Christmas chocolates

Reindeer Christmas chocolates

Reindeer Christmas chocolates Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. Reindeer Christmas chocolates ARE Christmas to me. Little bites of festive joy. Really, it seems a little meanspirited to eat them but goodness, 

Chocolate nutella muffins – with a crunchie topping

Chocolate nutella muffins – with a crunchie topping

Sometimes only chocolate will do and when you’re in that mood, more is definitely more, so what you really want is chocolate…on chocolate on more chocolate.  Bring on my chocolate nutella muffins. 

This recipe is a chocolate lover’s dream and something kiddies and adults will go crazy for. Gorgeous soft chocolate muffins, covered in a crunchy cinnamon sugar and topped with a gooey layer of nutella and your favourite sweets, in this case crunchies for me. I just love the honeycomb here, and that with the chocolate and cinnamon is brilliant. Something to make and enjoy with friends and family. Simple to make too.  Invite a crowd and they’ll be gone in seconds. 

Ingredients for Chocolate nutella muffins

225g self-rising flour 

50g cocoa powder

1 tsp baking powder

1 ½ tsp instant coffee powder

100g melted butter

¼ tsp salt

2 large eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

60g caster sugar

225ml milk

For the topping – granulated sugar, 80g melted butter, ground cinnamon and 1 nutella and crushed Crunchie bars on each muffin.

Makes 12 muffins  

Method

Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C/Gas Mark 6.

Either line a muffin pan with cake cases or using additional butter than listed in the recipe, brush melted butter and dust with flour to ensure that your muffins come out easily. 

Weigh out all the ingredients. 

Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl until just combined. The lovely thing about making muffins is that a lumpy batter makes the lightest muffins, so mix until the mix comes together.

Using a medium ice cream scoop, portion out the muffin batter and bake in the middle of the oven for 20-25 minutes. The muffins will be lightly browned, springy to the touch and coming away from the edges when they are done. 

Leave to cool for 5 minutes in the tin before taking the muffins out. 

Dip each of the muffins into the melted butter and roll them in a mixture of granulated sugar and cinnamon and leave them to cool completely on a wire rack. 

Once cooled, top each muffin with approx. teaspoon of nutella and crushed crunchies or your chocolate sweet of choice.

Tips

Do not over mix your muffin batter, once the ingredients are combined, you’re done. Don’t worry about lumps either, a lumpy batter often makes the lightest muffins, what a baking paradox. 

Make sure to dip your muffins into the butter and sugar when they are still warm, the sugar will stick better that way. 

Using an ice cream scoop ensures that the muffins are an even size but of course you can scoop out the batter with spoons.

The muffins are best eaten on the day that they are made, but if you are going to make them the day before, bake and cover the muffins with the cinnamon sugar.  Then just before you want to eat them, spoon on the nutella and crushed sweets. If you add the Crunchie too soon, the honeycomb will start to melt and become soggy on the muffin, not what you want. 

Love chocolate? Why not check out my Chocolate gift ideas – EmmaBakes selection box for some ideas.

Want more chocolate recipes? Try my Quality Street chocolate cupcakes or have a go with my Double Chocolate Baked Doughnuts. They’re both a chocoholics dream.

Mince pie muffins

Mince pie muffins

Mince pie muffins. Tradition is such a comforting thing around this time of year; the nostalgia and memories of our holiday routines but sometimes it’s fun to mix things up and this is where this festive mashup comes into its own.  Our family always made