Cakes, bread and all things baking Archives

Clementine Drizzle Cake

October 20, 2014 · by munchiesandmunchkins · 1 Comment

I’ve started planning my Christmas menu early this year and this recipe came about by the desire to not have a traditional Christmas fruitcake but also fancying an alternative to the chocolate cake I’m planning to bake 🙂

Clementines always remind me of Christmas. The smell, the juiciness and the vibrant colour and I wanted to capture that in a cake. Lemon drizzle cake is one of my favourite bakes so it didn’t really require a massive amount of effort to think this one up.

I’m going to be sharing a few recipes using clementines so if you end up with a big box leftover this winter you can be sure to find ways to use them up.

Clementine Drizzle Cake

You will need:

For the cake:

225g margarine or butter ( I used Flora baking block)
225g caster sugar
275g self-raising flour
4 medium free range eggs
60ml of whole milk
Zest of 3 clementines and 1 lemon
2 tsp baking powder

Drizzle topping:

175g sugar (granulated)
juice of 3 clementines and 1 lemon

Preheat your oven to gas mark 4 and grease a 23cm round cake tin ( I use cake release spray which is so easy and effective)
Combine all of your cake ingredients and blend in a food mixer for 3 minutes until smooth or beat well with a wooden spoon.

Bake for 25 -30 minutes or until golden and will spring back when pressed lightly.

Turn onto a wire rack to cool slightly. Mix your drizzle topping together. When still warm to the touch but not hot slowly spoon your topping over the cake being sure to get an even cover. Leave to cool completely until you have a crunchy sugary top.

I also added some candied clementine peel to my cake to decorate. I will be posting the recipe for candied peel later this week.

Now try not to eat it all at once. This would be lovely on a Christmas Day in the afternoon with ~~mulled wine~~ a cuppa tea.

It’s beginning to smell a lot like Christmas…

December 5, 2013 · by munchiesandmunchkins · Leave a Comment

I don’t know about you but I LOVE the smell of Christmas, my Christmas that is. I guess everyone’s Christmas can smell a little different. No I’m not going mad. What does Christmas smell like to you?

My Christmas smells of…

Shortbread baking in the oven..

Christmas candles or my festive scentsy wax gently filling my house with warm cosy gingerbread or cranberry…

Orange and clove pomanders..

A beautiful ham being carved in the kitchen at my mums on Christmas Eve…

Clementines..

Chocolate ..

Bubble bath.. I seem to have longer, hotter, bubblier baths at Christmas time with special products which smells divine..

Real Christmas trees..

Elizabeth Arden 8hr cream..for those chapped lips and cheeks…

Waffles and Bucks Fizz …

There are probably more I could list but for me the above smells embody my Christmas.

What does your Christmas smell like?

Cooking with mother.. Be-ro style

October 14, 2012 · by munchiesandmunchkins · 4 Comments

Someone recently asked me when my love for the kitchen began. It made me think back on a million different cooking/baking memories and my very first ones all involve a certain recipe book:

Myself and my mum would use this book at least once a week to make treats for the rest of the family and I loved it. I tried to get her to part with the book when I moved out but it wasn’t going to happen .. I didn’t think for one minute that the book was still being printed until I spotted one on a random shopping trip a few months ago. I was so excited! I think this book definitely helped to develop a love for baking.

I mentioned this on twitter and on the Britmums forum and it seems a lot of us grew up with Be-Ro and it was interesting to read peoples memories of the book and also the favourite recipes of the people who like me are now using it on a regular basis:

Heather on twitter uses it most weeks to make scones or for basic recipes such as cheese sauce.
Mummy Zen a Britmums member has fond memories of cooking with her mum with her personal fave being the Australian crunchie!
Lisa Burns also from Britmums (40s chic) remembers a battered, torn Be ro book and cooking from it each week with her mum. Like me she recently bought an updated version and uses it a lot.

Since I rediscovered my book I have made:

Quiche Lorraine – a really easy to follow recipe for a beautiful quiche.

It didn’t last long in our house!

Cheese straws – beautiful cheesy flakey pastry. I made these for Izzys 1st birthday party and they went down so well that I have no pics. Sorry!

Victoria sandwich and milk chocolate icing – I used the basic recipes for these items in the book before adapting to make a layered chocolate orange cake for a local MacMillan coffee morning. It was delicious.

There are four layers of cake so it was pretty huge!

I’ve also made rich biscuits and chocolate eclairs amongst other things and am looking forward to working my way through the book.

Next on my list is the Australian Crunchie as its one of the only things I don’t remember trying when I was younger. I’ll let you know how it goes.

I’m excited to teach Izzy how to cook using this book as she gets older and who knows maybe she will pass it onto her children. 🙂

What are your memories of this book? Any special recommendations?

I’d love to hear from you xxx

This week last year in photos.

September 4, 2012 · by munchiesandmunchkins · Leave a Comment

As today is my last day of maternity leave ( big sad face) I have spent the morning reminiscing over this amazing year and on trawling through a thousand pics on my iPhone I found these few pics from the week before Izzy as born last September.

Firstly there is a pic of our good friends wedding, I felt and looked like a whale but I was glad we could attend:

I also seemed to do a LOT of baking that week starting with butterfly cakes:

Then cheese and potato pie:

Ending with a pineapple upside down cake:

I took pics of little shoes:

And the cot all ready for a precious bundle:

On the day my waters broke Andrew trying on a funny mask at a local charity shop:

And finally three weeks early our beautiful baby girl :

Foodie Penpals Reveal July 2012

July 31, 2012 · by munchiesandmunchkins · Leave a Comment

This is a short blog post as I have a very long blog post to write and it’s driving me nuts completing it.

I know it’s probably a bit naughty to say this but this month I received my favourite foodie penpal parcel so far. Here is a pic of my goodies:

It included:

* Maldon smoked sea salt
* Sichuan peppercorns
* Goji berries
* peppermint tea
* Dried curry leaves
* Blue poppy seeds
* 2 x caramel shortbreads
* Dark chocolate sesame snaps

Lots of amazing goodies from the very lovely Jenny author of the blog : Bake

Myself and my OH have already munched the shortbreads and sesame snaps whilst the Smoked salt and Sichuan peppercorns have totally reformed our mealtimes including some gorgeous dishes I made whilst camping at Camp Bestival. I am excited to try the poppy seeds and curry leaves and have had a nibble on some Goji berries this eve. All in all I was thrilled.

Thanks Jenny!

Cakes and bakes 2012 part 1

April 12, 2012 · by munchiesandmunchkins · Leave a Comment

This year I have started to enjoy baking a lot more than I used to, perhaps it’s because I feel like I’m starting to get the hang of it or maybe its just the excitement I get when I pull a cake out of the oven and it’s turned out just how I wanted it to ( it’s possible I need to get out more) At the moment it seems as though nothing is guaranteed to be perfect ..work, going to sleep at night, eating an uninterrupted meal to name but a few and to make a perfect cake makes me feel good.

Here are some of the cakes I’ve made so far this year:

There is : Divine chocolate birthday cake, farmhouse orange Victoria sandwich and apple and almond cake which are all from Mary Berrys 100 cakes&bakes book which I made as part of the @weeklybakeoff on twitter

Also a basic Victoria sponge made from a family recipe which I will try to add later today and peanut & banana muffins from a new recipe by Rachel Allen which I found online:
http://uktv.co.uk/food/recipe/aid/573813

And finally a lemon cake with fondant icing which should look like a surfboard (slightly more like a rugby ball in my opinion but it tasted good) which I made for my OH’s birthday.

Hope you enjoy reading, let me know what you think.

Clementine Drizzle Cake

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It’s beginning to smell a lot like Christmas…

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Cooking with mother.. Be-ro style

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This week last year in photos.

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Foodie Penpals Reveal July 2012

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Cakes and bakes 2012 part 1

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