Posts by The Pink Whisk:
Pumpkin Cake Pops
October 11th, 2011
For cake pops you need a little bit of patience, they’re not tricky but they do have a fair few steps to them. For me that means they need to be made for a special occasion! Halloween in our house comes a close to Christmas in the fun stakes – costumes, face painting, scary house decorating and generally having fun it what it’s all about for me (nevermind the boys!) If you’re having a party or want to do something different for your trick or treaters then these are just the thing.
Cake pops are a whole lot easier with these buttons that you can now get in the supermarket – no more hunting down Wilton Candy Melts or having to colour your own chocolate – perfect pumpkin colour! Read the rest of this entry “
Toffee Apple Tart
October 6th, 2011
So to kick off The Pink Whisk October Challenge here’s my apple recipe for Toffee Apple Tart.
Ingredients:
Pastry
150g plain flour
65g butter, cold
25g caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
enough water to combine (2 -3 tablespoons)
Filling
70g fresh breadcrumbs (about 2 slices of fresh bread, blitzed)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2-3 large apples
(unpeeled my apples weigh about 550g, you will need enough apple that when peeled, cored and diced will cover the top of your tart case. They are also tart cooking apples but this can also easily be made with firm sweet eating apples)
200g demerara sugar
50ml water
10g butter
1tsp vinegar
1 tbsps golden syrup
Makes 1 x 8″ tart. A deep tin is best – this is the one I use – Amazon Masterclass Tart Tin
At this time of year a lot of the apples used in our baking are those straight from the tree from either yours or a neighbours garden. They come in all shapes and sizes so have a couple of extra on stand by if yours are on the small side. Read the rest of this entry “
The Pink Whisk Challenge – October
October 5th, 2011
October sees the start of a new monthly Pink Whisk baking challenge – there’s so many lovely recipes and lots of great baking out there I thought it was time you shared it with me (you could win yourself a great prize too – but more on that in a minute!)
At the start of each month I will set a baking challenge based around a seasonal ingredient, and also reserve the right to throw in something random occasionally too (probably glitter!)
October’s challenge is Apples – still bountiful at this time of year and I’m always looking for great recipes to use them up.
Chocolate Biscuits – Breast Cancer Awareness Month
September 29th, 2011
If you bake then I’m sure at some point you’ll have baked for a good cause! Whatever the charity, baking is a great way to raise some well needed funds – and we all love a bake sale or coffee morning.
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month – there are lots of products you can buy to support the cause but I came across this set from Avon.
A ribbon and a heart cutter and 6 pink silicone cupcake cases – £5.00 with £1.25 from each sale going directly to Breakthrough Breast Cancer – not to mention the amount you can add to that by baking and selling these biscuits. Available from your local independent Avon Representative or online at www.avonshop.co.uk . For more info about hosting your own bake sale see avonpinkpamper.org.uk
If you don’t fancy baking but do want to help out you could always donate to Breakthrough Breast Cancer here.
So let’s make some chocolate biscuits – this is the sister recipe to Sugar Cookies here – they taste great and bake well without losing their shape – a perfect recipe to have in your repertoire! Read the rest of this entry “
How to make a Rainbow Cake
September 23rd, 2011
This is a really simple surprise to rustle up for a birthday cake – I made this one for Dylan’s (one of my boys) birthday recently. Having seen, and tasted, a great deal of things the boys are now quite difficult to amaze. So, I made this cake in secret – think of me as you read the instructions – trying to hide cake mix, cooked cakes and decorate the blooming thing without anyone seeing! And yes it was definitely worth it to see the look on his face x
Boozy Fruit for your Christmas Cake
September 20th, 2011
Those of you that were already with me this time last year will know that now is the time to start on your Christmas Cake (yes, really!). Soaking the fruit for a good six weeks before we even bake the cake. If you’re Christmas crazy like I am you won’t mind one bit starting early.
Cake in a Mug – Just for Fun!
September 16th, 2011
Baking doesn’t always have to be serious – sometimes it’s good to have a bit of a lark – you can certainly get that with a cake in a mug! It’s tongue in cheek baking – a quick whip up in the office kitchen or something just to amuse the kids with.
Your own personal cake in a mug from start to finish in just over three minutes.
I came across this thanks to the Just Milk Team (one of the partners for National Baking Week) – they had been baking cakes in mugs with little success and wondered if I could do any better? Heck, yes! The recipe that is all over the net is yuck, if you use it you’ll end up with a cross between a cake and scrambled egg and that’s so not a good taste.
Here it is in all its yucky glory – it looks like a bath sponge! Read the rest of this entry “
Black Forest Fruits Puff Pies
September 7th, 2011
Buttery, Puffety Pastry mini fruit pies (yes I know that’s not a real word….)
Eat them warm, eat them cold, pour with cream, with custard, just don’t eat them all yourself!
Makes 12.
Ingredients:
1 x Block of Puff Pastry (recipe here)
450g Black Forest Berries, frozen
100g caster sugar
A little milk and caster sugar for glazing.
Start by making the pie filling. I’m using frozen berries but you could use fresh, a tin of pie filling (skip straight to the assembly stage) and in whatever variety you choose. Read the rest of this entry “
Palmiers – using up Puff Pastry Trimmings
September 7th, 2011
Palmiers – the cooks treat, perfect for using up Puff Pastry Trimmings!
Traditionally you shouldn’t re-roll puff pastry trimmings. It disturbs the buttery layers within the pastry which you’ve worked so hard to create. However, you can. In these times throwing away pastry trimmings is wasteful and I just can’t do it. Gather together the trimmings and gently squeeze them back together as a ball. Chill this wonky ball of pastry for half an hour or so until firm again.
How to make Puff Pastry
August 21st, 2011
It’s not complicated but it does take a bit of organising in advance. I do use shop-bought puff pastry and generally have some in the freezer. Making your own is quicker than the time it takes to defrost some
(and it’s not difficult either)
This version of puff pastry is referred to as rough puff pastry, the idea being that you only get 75% of the rise that you would get with traditional puff pastry – getting technical there! However, when you see the rise you get with this its far above and beyond shop bought.
Puff Pastry takes a couple of days to do and also means you have to wrestle with a full pat of butter – hmmmm, I can be organised but not that organised!
Ingredients:
250g strong plain white flour
pinch of salt
250g butter, cold
juice of 1/2 lemon
5-6 tbsps cold water to combine
To make the rough puff pastry add the flour and salt to the bowl of a food processor and give it a quick pulse to mix.
Cut the cold butter into 1/2cm slices and add to the food processor bowl.
