Tuesday 30 October 2012

Butterscotch marshmallow bars

Page 182 - Butterscotch marshmallow bars
I should have learnt to use real butter in caramel type recipes as opposed to Stork which I usually use to save pennies... The caramel filling tasted good but oozed out of the sides and didn't set when at room temperature but real butter should fix that.

These were way too sweet - sugar, golden syrup, peanut butter and marshmallows are all sweet on their own - let alone all in one recipe!The best bit about this recipe was the pastry really, definitely wouldn't make them again.

Chocolate chunk pecan pie


Page 181 - Chocolate chunk pecan pie
Finally - a recipe I've been looking forward to making that hasn't been a disappointment! And so easy to make :-)

So tasty, lots of yummy pecans and chocolate chips with a toffee type filling. The only downside is the fact that pecans are expensive to buy - otherwise I'd make this all the time!

Wednesday 24 October 2012

Red velvet cupcakes

Page 178 - Red velvet cupcakes
I'm glad I made these to see what all the fuss is about as its the Hummingbird signature cake... I had one in London when I visited the Hummingbird Bakery in Soho.

They were nice although I prefer a good old vanilla cupcake. I was surprised when reading the recipe as it contained buttermilk and white wine vinegar which I wouldn't have associated with a dessert. I did have to ask "where to find white wine vinegar in the supermarket" and it was in the vinegar aisle rather than with the wine...

 

The frosting is the amazing cream cheese recipe which is the best in my opinion! I guess the red sponge is what makes these 'red velvet', there was a whole bottle in the batch! My fingers went red when eating the sponge...! But I wouldn't have used so much if I was to adapt the recipe. And I couldn't taste the cocoa especially either...

Thursday 18 October 2012

Chocolate and chestnut biscuit bars

Page 170 - Chocolate and chestnut biscuit bars
After searching high and low for chestnuts, I was hoping these would be amazing! Half of them were tasty but the other half fell apart, perhaps because I didn't break the biscuits up enough although I even used proper butter in these...

They were ok but certainly nothing to write home about!

Tuesday 16 October 2012

Butterscotch pecan cheesecake


Page 174 - Butterscotch pecan cheesecake
I love Hummingbird cheesecake recipes! This didn't have an awful lot of pecan flavour, only a hint, but the lovely vanilla cheesecake is always tasty. The glaze was nice, although went a little watery in the fridge and I'm not 100% sure why...
 
I used real butter in the base rather than Stork which I usually use and it was so much better - much more solid and less crumbly so will definitely have to do that for any future cheesecake bases!

Thursday 11 October 2012

Black and white chocolate cheesecake bars


Page 167 - Black and white chocolate cheesecake bars
A relatively simple recipe, although needed a little bit of time for cooling the base in the fridge, baking, cooling and baking plus chilling before cutting... but worth the wait!

I thought the base would be dry or overcooked as it gets baked twice, but it was more like a brownie base which was a good surprise :-) The cheesecake topping definitely balanced the richness of the base too - yum!

Sunday 7 October 2012

Apple Crumble Cupcakes

Page 168 - Apple crumble cupcakes
I think the fact that the recipe was two pages originally put me off of making these - anyone that reads this blog will know that I hate recipes that are a faff! However, as I've previously made the sponge and also the custard I was mentally prepared and it wasn't so hard after all.

I love the cooked apple in these as it's flavoured with cinnamon - yum! Combined with the moist sponge and the yummy custard topping they were fab. The crumble topping was also a nice touch, although I think I should have rubbed the ingredients together more so it was a bit finer before cooking.