My Jubilee Coffee and Walnut Cake

Hello all!

I havent blogged in a while- i'm sorry but i've had exams to revise for(:

So this year is Jubilee year. I am not a particularly patriotic person, but any excuse for a tea-party and i'm there! This coffee cake was a special request from my brother and so I thought what can I give this to make it special and stand out? The Union Jack of course! Unfortunately I am away in Germany for the celebrations for my German exchange, and so thought I may as well make my present to the British Tiny-Baker-Blog-Readers now.

To be honest it was a bit of a disaster at first! My baking bestie- my electric whisk- broke, much to my despair, and so I attempted to battle on by hand, a very brave challenge if I may say so myself. After a few tears to my ever loving mum, we soon defeated the carroty coffeey mess, and it began to look a bit like a light, airy and delicious batter (I was stressed out because of revision- and so stupidly decided I was going to try and do a more difficult and time consuming cake than necessary. I blame my brother!) Oh well- I do like to challenge myself!

Once rising in the oven, I cracked onto the icing. I made one portion of butter icing (I increased the ingredients by a 1/3 each, as I was going to split them into 4 different piles.) Once fluffed and smooth, a bit of a muscle builder, although unfortunately only in my right arm, I put a scoopful of icing into 4 different bowls, adding a few drops of blue into one red into the other, and a tiny bit of coffee essence into the other. One is left plain to be the white on the U.J.  I prayed for my artistic skills to come to light and began the hefty task of making my cake look vaguely like a proud national representative of the best of  British- cake.

There- My gift to the country(:

Petals really are the best cake decorations- Please do get some!

Hope you enjoy- don't forget to comment if you like!

Love

The Tiny Baker :)

xox

Sunken Apricot and Almond cakes and Tommy P's Millionaires Shortbread!

Hello all! So today is my older brothers birthday, he's 22, and so I couldn't just get him any old present. I asked him what he'd like me to make for him- and he chose these two. Although this naughty pair are now perfectly formed, they were a lot of stress, hard work, and took 1 fabulous mum, 2 meltdowns and a lot of mess to become as gorgeous as they are. Both from Harry's book, so please check them out because they are probably two of my favourites!

Lets begin with the extra naughty one- the millionaires shortbread. This one caused quite a few heartbreaks, the first being when I poured the condensed milk out of the tin when I was meant to leave it in; the second being when I turned the heat off and so the condensed milk didn't set causing a few waterworks on my behalf:P after my mum saving the day, I carried on happily the rest of the recipe going surprisingly according to plan! I must admit it was very delicious- especially the crunchy biscuit with the gooey sweet caramel, plus the salt gave it a very special touch.

They're gluten free too!

My next little protégés  were the Sunken Apricot and Almond Cakes. These have always been one of my favourites, as when you eat one, one doesn't feel quite as bad, because of the little piece of fruit that sits on the top of course making it therefore healthy. My mum had the pleasure of hacking at the butternut squash, and so the rest was rather a doddle for me! A quick whisk here and there, a lot of mess making, and a lot of washing up later they were done. Goldeny orangey, springy, aromatic and delightful. Quite amazing how a butternut squash could create such a marvellous little morsel. C'etait tres bon! 

Honest and brave,  these stunners take the world in their stride. 

Oh the joys of food!

See you next time

Much Love

The Tiny Baker (: xoxo

My day with the Vintage Patisserie

Hello all! Sorry for the late post about this- I had D of E this weekend (summed up it was cold,wet yet fun and exciting!) And so have only had time now(:

So last Wednesday was supposed to be my "Take your daughter to work day" but as my dad was away snowmobiling in Finland, I asked Angel if I could come to her (as you know if you read my previous posts she runs a business called the Vintage Patisserie)

My day started with an early wake up of 6, and then a train journey with my wonderful mum, of which we laughed most of the way! Once at Waterloo we had a quick cuppa and then set off trying to work our way around the London Underground. After many tiring runs,  getting off at the wrong stop, and getting lost in the estate Angel lives in, we finally arrived.

Her home is wonderful- I have never seen such a beautifully arranged home in my life. It's stunning with all her crockery on display, and many other darling little vintage pieces. And I even got to see her partner Dick- The father out of the Hungry Sailors! It was honestly very exciting for me and my mum- as we are both huge fans of the show.  After I had met the rest of the VP (vintage patisserie) gang, I saw my mum off, as she began a tiring journey of her own through London. Immediately I was sat down in front of a stunning little dressing table with gorgeous rectangular mirrors on and was done up by Lauren- one of the fab vp women- And soon after having a private step-by-step tutorial my hair looked stunning. With my Tiny Baker apron in one hand, and my excitement contained in my pocket, I moved onto the next thrilling chapter of the day.

I first went up to the kitchen with Lauren, and was told of my checklist for the day. First we were going to make three different lots of personalised chocolates. After printing out the different designs onto edible ink we began to temper the chocolate and clean the moulds. I was allowed to make a batch for myself- and guess what I had printed onto them? The tiny baker:D About an hour later the chocolate was ready so  we poured it into the moulds carefully then voila! They were done and were put into the fridge to set.
Then we began the chocolate cake toppings. We melted chocolate in a pan and then smeared it onto the edible ink pictures, covered with a template, and then popped them in the fridge too. Next was probably one of my favourite bits- when we made the rose chocolate truffles. They were YUM. Whilst making them into little truffly balls I realised I had made a few too small -and so of course I couldn't waste them and tucked in happily!

my personal chocolates! 

Next was lunch, where I was taken to the cutest little restaurant by the river- called the Pavilion. One sausage sandwich later and a good gossip, and I was ready to work! Once back I cracked on with the chocolates and the cake toppings of which looked amazing. Then, to my delight, Angel let me help with writing a few intro's for a few of the recipes in her next book! Then to top it all Angel gave me and mum a lift to the train station in her old red cab!

Basically it was the best day ever, and the train journey back I couldn't stop smiling:D

Me, Angel and Dick(:

First I'd like to say thank you to Angel- for having me! Please check out the vintage patisserie website

And then to my wonderful mum- for taking me there and then having to be on her own for most of the day wandering about London. Love you ma!

Much Love

The Tiny Baker(: xoxo

Salted Dark Chocolate and Caramelised Almond Snaps

Hello Readers!

As you already know, My family and I are great friends with chocolate. And so what better to cheer up a grey and gloomy day than this heavenly ingredient itself? This is a bit of a made up recipe, with inspiration from a tele chef I think,  and really can be customised  by anyone.

It's very basic- All you need is a good quality bar of chocolate (dark or milk- whichever you prefer- although dark works best!), salt, flaked almonds, rose petals, a bit of sugar and for decoration some edible gold glitter (optional) If you wanted you could even do a marbled one with milk and dark.

Pre-heat the oven to about 180 degrees Celsius (on fan). Get all your ingredients out to start- you need to be quick to get them onto the chocolate once melted. Line a tray with baking paper.  Pop the flaked almond into a tray and sprinkle with sugar. Place into the oven till golden brown, then remove and leave to cool. Melt the chocolate over a pan of boiling water and then smudge it into circular thin shapes onto the pre-lined tray (doesn't matter in they're not perfect!) and then immediately sprinkle with salt, rose petals and the almonds. Put in the fridge for at least 1/2 hour, and then smudge the gold onto them. Serve immediately once they have been taken out of the fridge as they melt super quickly!

This was a marbled batch- Yum!

warning- very sticky fingers guaranteed!

These were a particular hit with my dad- hope you like them too!

Much Love
The Tiny Baker(: xoxo

Chocolate Pistachio Cake

So a while ago it was my dads birthday, and I wanted to make him a yummy, mouth-watering, eye catching mountain of deliciousness. What better to fill those demanding shoes than a chocolate cake? Me and my Nan...well we have a special connection with chocolate...we...LOVE IT! Every time I go to spend the night at my Nans there is always some sort of heavenly chocolate in the fridge. Now, i've shared enough secretes, onto the cake!

As always I spent 15 minutes just on measuring the baking parchment for the tins, I am a bit of a perfectionist (just a bit!) and instead of using oil to line the parchment I used butter, I don't know why but I find it easier to grease with. A blitz of the food processor and a whisking of eggs later this yummy mix is ready to battle the great oven.

30 minutes later and we have these two springy and moist chocolatey cushions, possibly fallen from heaven.

Yum.

I love decorating cakes- it's the best bit for me. To be honest more of the silky butter icing went in my mouth than on the cake! It is so scrumptious though, so I'm allowed I think.

The pistachios look like little emeralds!

yum.

Enjoy!

With love
The Tiny Baker(: xoxo

I'm back!

Dear whoever is still reading my blog

I first would like to apologise. I have disgracefully not blogged for months, and as bad as it is i'm going to try and explain why. For a while I have been feeling un-inspired, and so I felt just couldn't write unless I was going to put my heart into it. So therefore took a break for a while. But this week I had the most wonderful experience, and met the fabulous Angel Adoree. She has written a book called The Vintage Tea Party Book. It's honestly amazing, and well worth it. I have already made quite a few things from it, and have been throughly impressed and feel invigorated. On monday she took me and 4 other girls out shopping for vintage clothes, and on wednesday we did a photoshoot, as we were going to model for her next book. Her utter love of vintage and food has made me reflect on what I want to get out of this blog. I want to inspire others, and get across my joy of cooking across for everyone else to smile and laugh at.

Some of the food being photographed

Me and my friends hair after b ring done up!

So there, please comment if you can, just so I feel i'm doing something right!

Please please check out the Vintage Patisserie website, Angel and her company do tea parties and all sorts so have a look! 

Much love

The Tiny Baker xoxo

Banana and Toffee sticky cake!

Readers

I have finally gone back to Harry's book and, after many delicious detours,  have decided to make this little beauty. The banana and toffee sticky cake- I just couldn't resist! Bananas are one of my favourite fruits, I mean, of course excluding blueberries, strawberries, passion fruits, mangos, kiwis, oranges...okay so I like a lot of fruits, but bananas are pretty special don't you think? Just like chameleons they blend into their surroundings, into smoothies and milkshakes, cakes and breads, even as a raw material they're yum. And they don't overpower a thing. Genius.

After a good 10 minutes whisking of the eggs and the sugar (I know she says whisk for 5- but the fluffier the better i think!) and a fierce hacking at the butternut squash (bravely done by my ma) we ended up with a light-cappuccino-coloured-with-orange-speckles mixture ready for the oven. I substituted the brazil nuts for hazelnuts as I didn't have anything else- I'm just hoping for the best here- but i'm sure it doesn't reaaaaally matter what you use, you know; dare to be different and all!
 

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I will admit- not one of my favourites, plus because of my braces I couldn't even eat the darn toffee glaze! Oh well, I think Dad liked it at least:P

But i suppose there'll always be unsuccessful attempts right?

Much love
The Tiny Baker xoxo