Easter chocolate biscuit squares

The quickest, most delicious chocolate treats that you will want to make them time and time again.

Top with mini eggs or these cute flower decorations (from Sainsbury's) for Easter/Spring!

This is a recipe I've posted before - I named them Chocolate Smartie Squares because I usually top them with smarties: find here!

Makes 16 squares

- 50g margarine

- 150g dark cooking chocolate, broken into pieces

- 2 tbsp runny honey

- 250g digestive biscuits, crushed

- 16 mini eggs or edible flower decorations

- edible glitter (optional)

1. Line a square tin (7 inch) with grease proof paper, and grease with margarine. (make sure the paper sticks up out the sides of the tin as you will need to use this to grip when removing the squares from the tin)

2. Melt the margarine, chocolate and honey in a saucepan over a low heat, stirring occasionally.

3. Remove from the heat and add the biscuit crumbs, mixing thoroughly until coated.

4. Spoon into the tin and push down, smoothing the top. Mark into 16 squares with a sharp knife, and place a mini egg or edible flower decoration in the centre of each, and sprinkle with edible glitter (if using).

5. Leave to set in the fridge for a couple of hours, then break into the squares and serve.

Enjoy :)

Extremely chocolatey, chocolate finger cake

 I made this cake for my friend Mia's birthday (hence why the below pictures say Mia on the cake). I altered a chocolate cake recipe from Lorraine Pascale's Baking Made Easy book (will link at the bottom of the post), and it has worked out really well. It didn't rise as much as I had hoped but once you spread on all the chocolatey buttercream it increases the size, and I love the towering effect that the chocolate fingers have, like a crown on the cake. I used the double chocolate cadbury's fingers to make this cake even more rich and indulgent - a perfect treat for chocolate lovers. The sponge was moist and dense like a brownie, and perfectly complimented by the rich chocolate frosting and crunchy fingers - absolutely delicious! It is also really versatile as you can use whatever you want to decorate the cake. Piling on fruit such as strawberries or raspberries, in the middle would look very classic and add lots of bright colour. You could also top it with marshmallows, or more chocolate such as malteasers, or just decorate it with sprinkles or tons of candles!

Serves 10-12
- vegetable oil
- 125g butter, softened
- 75g margarine
- 150g caster sugar
- 50g golden caster sugar
- 4 eggs, beaten
- 140g self-raising flour
- pink of salt
- 1 tsp baking powder
- dash of milk
- 2 packs of cadburys double chocolate fingers
Buttercream
- 150g butter, softened
- 400g icing sugar
- dash of milk
- 75g dark chocolate, melted and cooled slightly


1. Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees/gas mark 4. Line an 8 inch cake tin with baking paper, and brush with the oil.
2. Cream together the butter and sugar, add half of the eggs and half the flour and beat well. Add the rest of the eggs, four, cocoa powder , salt and baking powder. Beat for a few minutes until smooth and combined. I always add a dash of milk at this stage to make the mixture more smooth and creamy.
3. Dollop the sponge mixture into the prepared baking tin and bake in the oven for 30-50 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean after being inserted into the centre of the cake. Leave to cool in the tin.
4. Meanwhile, to make the buttercream, cream together the butter and icing sugar until smooth, add some milk (optional), and the melted chocolate and stir well until combined and smooth.
5. Once the cake is completely cool, remove from the tin and spread the buttercream generously on top and on the sides of the cake.
6. Gently push the chocolate fingers vertically into the sides of the cake. The decorations are now completely up to you - have fun with it!

Enjoy :)


Happy Birthday!

I modified the recipe for the 'I can't believe you made that' cake in Lorraine Pascale's above cookbook! I changed some ingredients and quantities, and used different decorations. I would recommend this book as even if the recipe isn't exactly to your taste, it provides lots of ideas and inspiration. And it isn't just a book about cakes and other sweet treats, it also has recipes on savoury baking - bread, pies, roasts etc.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Baking-Made-Easy-Lorraine-Pascale/dp/0007275943/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1334145605&sr=8-1

Cupcake inspiration and frosting recipes

I LOVE baking cupcakes and decorating them. I am going to invest in some new piping bags and nozels so I can pipe my butter-cream properly though, because it never turns out as good as I want! This post will provide you with some inspiration through my pictures (above), and some ideas and top tips of what to decorate your cupcakes with.

1. Firstly, use some cute cupcakes cases - I have so many different designs (not many actually shown in the pictures above, sorry) that I love to use. Plain white always looks good and simple as well though (see first 2 pictures). You can also use cupcake moulds for a more interesting shape, for example I have heart and star moulds, which is perfect for occasions such as valentines day or birthdays.

2. Colour schemes - one of the best things about cupcakes aside from the taste is that they look good. I like to decorate half a batch with plain vanilla butter-cream, and the other half with chocolate butter-cream, it makes them look really luxurious; well, I think so anyway haha...

3. What icing shall I use?

I nearly always use butter-cream (butter, icing sugar, milk, flavourings) because it is fairly simple and tastes divine! I will post my butter-cream recipe at the bottom of this post.

4. What other types of icing are there?

- I also quite like just melted chocolate drizzled on to the cupcake which then solidifies; this makes a nice change in texture as it will be crunchy, but the chocolate can crack so be careful.

- Glacé icing is also simple (icing sugar and water) and usually has a nice sheen to it. I used this in the last picture - the christmas pudding cupcake.

- Cream cheese frosting - this is, hence the name, a much creamier frosting.

- Chocolate fudge icing - mmmm, the dark chocolate and egg makes this frosting really rich and glossy!

(I will put recipes for each of these at the bottom)

5. What can I add to icing to make it more interesting?

Food colourings, melted chocolate or cocoa powder, flavourings like vanilla, strawberry, peppermint or lemon, coffee, orange or lemon zest, chopped nuts, dried fruit, cinnamon, jam etc.

6. How do I put the frosting on the cupcake?

- Use a piping bag and nozel. Experiment with the different nozels and decide which you like best. Most commonly is just piping in swirls (see the first 2 pictures) but you can also make flower patterns (see the 3rd picture) - this is perfect for mother's day!

- Spread it on using a palette knife (see the vanilla butter-cream in picture 4). This is a better technique for runnier icing like chocolate fudge icing.

- Glace icing and melted chocolate can simply just be drizzled on with a spoon - it should spread the surface of the cupcake on its own.

7. What can I top the frosting with?

- Grated chocolate (see chocolate mousse cupcake recipe - check sidebar)

- Pre-bought cupcake decorations from the supermarket - chocolate balls, white chocolate stars, silver balls, sugar flowers, chocolate letters, sprinkles or anything like that.

- Any sweets like jelly tots or chocolate buttons

- Royal icing (see christmas pudding cupcake picture above) - you can make all sorts of shapes with this icing, which you can buy in the shops.

- Crystalised flowers or leaves. This is what I did on the other christmas pudding cupcake. It looks really delicate and shimmery - so pretty.

- Dried fruit, chopped nuts etc.

- Chocolate lattice - see mocha cupcake recipe - check sidebar

- Dust with icing sugar or coca powder depending on the colour of the icing

- Inedible decorations like plastic/tin/cardboard hearts or stars or balloons on cocktail sticks. You can hand-make things like this or buy them in specialised cake shops - see picture at the bottom of this post!

- I have this edible shimmer spray in a clear/silver colour which gives icing a beautiful, but subtle, sheen. See picture of star cupcake at the bottom of this post.

Ta-daaaaaa! You now have some beautiful cupcakes :)

Hope you enjoy - read on for the frosting recipes that I use...

Vanilla butter-cream:

- 150g unsalted butter

- 225g icing sugar

- 2 tbsp hot milk

- 1 tsp vanilla extract

- flavourings & colourings of your choice

Beat the butter until light and fluffy, beat in the icing sugar, milk and vanilla.

Chocolate fudge icing:

- 125g dark chocolate

- 50g unsalted butter

- 1 medium egg, beaten

- 175g icing sugar

- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Melt the butter and chocolate, whisk in the egg with the icing sugar and vanilla until smooth and glossy - leave to cool and thicken before spreading.

Cream cheese frosting:

- 50g unsalted butter

- 300g icing sugar

- 125g full-fat cream cheese

- flavourings & colourings of your choice

Beat the butter and icing sugar until light and fluffy, add the flavourings/colourings if necessary, whisk in the cream cheese.

Glacé icing:

- 225g icing sugar

- 2-3 tbsp boiling water

- flavourings & colourings of your choice

Sift the icing sugar and gradually stir in the water until the right consistency. 

Valentine's Day table setting

Cooking a meal for someone special on Valentine's Day?

Then you better start planning your table setting!

Mine is nothing too special, and as I live at home with my mum it is not my choice of furniture etc.

First of all, choose a colour scheme (mine is black, white and pink). Try not to use more than 3 colours, and one or two of those should be neutral shades so it doesn't look too complex or messy. As it is Valentine's day try to incorporate a pink, red or deep purple colour.

Things you should definitely use: tablecloth, centrepiece decoration, candles

I have used a linen feel tablecloth in white from Tesco, a sheet of wrapping paper from Paperchase as the centrepiece/colour/main decoration, and various candles. 

The white, engraved heart candle holder is only £1 from Tesco, an absolute bargain and must have for Valentine's Day celebrations! The black, vase-like candle holder is from Ikea (they have an amazing range of modern, chic decor). The middle candle holder is from a local gift shop that my mum manages; Temptation gifts. All the actual candles are simple tea-lights that you can get pretty much anywhere for a good price (supermarkets, garden centre, gift shops etc.)

I have had this wrapping paper for a couple of years now because I love the patterns and colour scheme and have decorated my room accordingly! Wrapping paper is great for centrepieces (I have stuck the corners down with some blu tac) and I might even consider cutting it up soon to use for various things; put in picture frames to decorate my room, use as decoration on home-made cards, or laminate and use as place mats.

The table obviously looks a little bare because I am not cooking this Valentine's meal until Wednesday ( the day after V day), so it has not yet been properly set. I don't actually have any place mats that match, what I need really is some plain black, square leather place mats that would perfect this modern look. A vase of pink roses would have also worked perfectly as a centrepiece instead of the 3-part candle holder. But I absolutely love candles so once they are all lit it will look amazing! The twig tree in the corner with the fairy lights will add to the romantic tone; I adore that decor!

Happy Valentine's day everyone :)
Check back in a couple of days time to see the 3 course meal I cooked my boyfriend.

(all pictures taken by me)