Cheddar, bacon and golden syrup muffins

'A savoury muffin!? Life is full of enough disappointments...' - a quote from Miranda which I totally disagree with. I have had a few savoury muffins in my time (cheese, pesto etc.) and all have been delicious. These muffins are sort of American pancake style since it's sweet and savoury from the bacon and syrup, a combination which I think is amazing. They are soft and moist out the oven and are smoky from the bacon with that sweet tang from the syrup - to die for! They are perfect for a brunch. I would say, however, that they tend to dry out quickly and are not so good the next day, so I recommend eating them straight from the oven, or on that same day. I froze a few of these and defrosted them in the microwave so they were warm when I ate them - not quite as good as fresh but still delicious and a good way to preserve them if you've made too many to eat at one time! I got this recipe from my lovely sister who made these for me before.

Oh, and sorry that they look burnt in the picture - my oven at uni is very strong and although they look burnt, luckily they didn't taste it!

Makes 8

- 4 rashers smoked bacon, chopped

- 175g self-raising flour

- 1 tsp baking powder

- pinch of salt

- 50g mature cheddar cheese, grated

- 75ml sunflower oil

- 1 egg

- 4 tbsp golden syrup

- 150ml milk

1. Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees and line a muffin tin with muffin cases.

2. Fry the bacon until crisp.

3. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt in a mixing bowl, then stir in the grated cheese and cooked bacon.

4. Pour the oil into a jug and mix in the egg, milk and half the golden syrup until just combined.

5. Spoon the mixture into the muffin cases and bake for 15 minutes until risen and golden brown. (A knife inserted in the middle of the muffin should come out clean)

6. Serve warm, with the remaining golden syrup drizzled on top.

Enjoy :)

Festive baking

This is a very late Christmas baking post but I really wanted to show you what I made over the festive period. Since Christmas has been and gone, I won't actually provide the recipes like usual but if you do want to know more information then feel free to leave a comment or contact me via the links above and I will happily give you the recipes and method etc. Hope you had a lovely Christmas and New Year and that you enjoy the pictures!

Yule Log

I made this for Christmas day but because the Christmas period is so hectic I opted for the shop-bought chocolate swiss roll which I then cut up and positioned in the below shape (my mum's influence!) and  made the chocolate buttercream to spread on top. It looks and tastes better than the finished shop-bought ones but takes almost no time at all and is really simple. It would not have been Christmas without this!

Mince Pies

Again, you are going to think I'm really lazy, but I 'made' these gorgeous mince pies with ready-made shortcrust pastry and a jar of mincemeat! And I'm actually not ashamed to admit this since they were so yummy and although one day I would love to make them entirely from scratch, this way means you can whip them up in under an hour and they still look really impressive. It is never too late for a mince pie so I definitely recommend making these while the weather is still cold - warm from the oven mm mm.

Cinnamon and chocolate biscuits

Half of these were chocolate and cinnamon, and the other half just mixed spice and to be honest, I couldn't really tell the difference but they were so warming and delicious all the same. The stars and holly leaves I just used cutters and then decorated with writing icing, and the snowmen I used royal icing, food colouring, writing icing and silver balls. I loved making the snowmen, I think they look so cute. These biscuits are basically just the same as any recipe but just add the spices and they're even more delicious! 

Apple and plum crumble

Firstly, sorry for the bad photo quality - if you read my welcome back post it explains why and I will put more effort into making them more appealing! This was a delicious dessert, perfect for a winter evening. I'm not a huge crumble fan but I do love it every once in a while and it's a lot of fun to make.

Serves 2-3
- 400g apples, peeled, cored and slices
- 400g plums, stones removed and quartered
- 100g demerara/brown sugar
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 2 tbsp water (add more if needed)

- 75g butter
- 150g self raising flour
- 100g brown sugar

1. To make the filling, add the apples, plums, sugar, cinnamon and water to a pan and cook over a low heat, stirring occasionally, for 20-30 minutes, are until stewed. Spoon into a baking dish.

2. Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees.
3. To make the crumble topping, simply rub together the butter and flour with your fingertips until it resembles breadcrumbs, then mix in the sugar.
4. Press down the crumble topping onto the fruit until compact. Bake in the oven for around 20 minutes, or until hot in the middle and golden brown - serve warm with cream!

Enjoy :) 

Classic victoria sponge cake

This is always a winner and looks so classic and cute, perfect for any birthday or other party celebration, particularly in the summer seasons. I made this for my boyfriend's birthday last summer as he loves a good old victoria sponge! I always use raspberry jam for the filling because I just prefer it, it isn't as sickly as strawberry... for some reason I decided to top it with a strawberry though haha.

For the sponges:

- 225g margarine

- 225g caster sugar

- 4 eggs

- dash of vanilla essence

- 225g self-raising flour

- dash of milk (I always add milk when making sponge because it gives it a smooth and silky texture)

For the filling:

It's up to you what you fill it with, I think the classic is just strawberry jam, or jam and whipped double cream, but I like to use raspberry jam with vanilla butter-cream! You can also chop up strawberries for the filling.

For the topping:

It is tradition just to top it with a dusting of icing sugar and a cut up strawberry, but you can use whipped cream or buttercream or anything you want! I again, have used vanilla butter-cream. Flavoured butter-cream would also be good, like chocolate or raspberry/strawberry.

So... for the butter-cream:

- 150g unsalted butter

- 225g icing sugar, sifted

- 2 tbsp hot milk

- 1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Cream together the butter and the sugar (for the sponge) until light and fluffy.

2. Beat in the eggs, adding the odd bit of flour to prevent curdling.

3. Add the vanilla essence, fold in the flour and stir in the milk.

4. Fill two 7 inch baking tins (which should be greased and lined with baking paper)

5. Bake for 20-25 minutes on 180C/Gas 4, or until golden brown and a skewer comes out clean when poked in the middle. Place on a cooling rack.

6. For the butter-cream, cream together the butter and sugar and milk, and add the vanilla extract.

7. Once the sponges are cooled, spread one with jam and the other with the butter-cream and sandwich together. Top with the remaining butter-cream, add a strawberry and ta-da!

Hope you enjoy :)