A New Change

Hello Lovelies!

Sorry it's been too long! I've been busy finishing uni, moving house and getting a full time job...Yep I am now a fully fledged "grown up" (Ha)

I'm going to try and be much better and this blog stuff, and I've got lots of recipes I hope to share, as well as re-vamping some that are already posted on here, but my blog address for all of this will be changing.

You can now find me at-

www.abbisbakingdays.wordpress.com

Come and have a peek! :)

Happy Baking- Cinnamon Roll Recipe

Well winter is here, and with it comes the excitement of Christmas, market stalls, cinnamon lattes, Christmas baking and sitting in front of the fire on those particularly chilly nights.

This cinnamon roll recipe is a lovely bake, filling your kitchen with the scent of freshly baked bread and cinnamon, but unlike your cinnamon latte from Costa you can have these all year round.

These little rolls are based around a recipe we did at uni last year and are a sweet dough with a wonderful cinnamon filling. Because I've adapted the recipe and used dried fast action yeast there is no need for any knocking back or a second prove which means these can easily be put together on a rainy afternoon. (Or when ever you might fancy- I won't tell if you won't) 

Makes 10-12 rolls

Ingredients-

Dough-

350g White bread flour
50g Caster sugar
50g Unsalted butter
7g Fast action yeast ( or 1 sachet) 
5g Salt
1 Egg- beaten 
200ml Water- lukewarm 

Filling-

60g Unsalted butter
30g Caster sugar
30g Dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons Cinnamon

Method-

1) Add the flour, sugar, butter, salt and yeast into a bowl and mix the ingredients together, rubbing in the butter at the same time.

2) Add the egg and mix through, then add ONLY 150ml of the water and slowly mix it in. The mixture should start coming together at this stage to form the dough. If your mixture is still too dry, and you have unincorporated flour left at the bottom of your bowl add some of the left over water and continue mixing. (Your dough should be soft and squidgy to the touch, without being too sticky)

3) Kneed the dough for 10 minutes and then put it back into your mixing bowl and cover it with clingfilm so it can rest.- Leave it to rest for 10-15 minutes.

4) Meanwhile you can mix the cinnamon filling- put all of the filling ingredients into another bowl and mix together until it's soft and spreadable.

5) Get your dough from the bowl and roll out into a rectangle approximately 16inches long and between 1/2 and 3/4 of a centimeter thick. It doesn't matter how wide the dough is, the wider the better really because you will be able to get a better spiral pattern, then spread on the cinnamon filling, making sure you  cover all the dough!

6) Roll the dough up length ways, so you are left with a sausage about 16 inches long, then cut off the ends and cut into even slices just over an inch in thickness- you should get between 10 and 12 slices out of it.

7) Grease a tin approximately 8x8 inches, or equivalent with butter and place the rolls into it with the spiral facing upwards. - I like to put mine fairly close together so when they prove and bake them touch each other and make a lovely tear and share style loaf.

8) Cover with cling film and leave on a warm place for 60-90 minutes or until  doubled in size.

9) Preheat your oven to 200C and bake for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes check the rolls and if they need longer- if you tap the bottom of a roll it should should hollow, if it doesn't cover the top with foil and bake for longer.

10) Remove from the oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool enough to eat! 

Happy Baking- Trick or Treat Brownies

I think the title of this bake might be slightly misleading- I can assure you there are only treats in these brownies!

This is a brownie like tray bake laced with chocolate chunks and marshmallows...Amazing! (Ignore my last piece about healthy eating, it's all gone wrong with this bake!) It's really gooey and super chocolatey- Everything I love in a brownie.

This is a lovely bake to do for parties as they can be cut to your desired size and piled high on the plate! I also think they're perfect for the coming Halloween, cut them up, dish them out, and watch the smiles...You won't regret it!

Makes 9 + Brownies- Depending on the size of your slice! :)

Ingredients-
150g Dark Chocolate
50g Milk Chocolate
200g Unsalted Butter
175g Caster Sugar
75g Dark Brown Sugar
3 Eggs
1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
80g Plain Flour
1/2 Teaspoon Baking Powder
100g White Chocolate- Chopped
100g Marshmallows- Chopped into thirds

Method-
1) Preheat your oven to 180C and line a tin approximately 8inches x 12inches with baking parchment.
2) Place the dark chocolate, milk chocolate and the butter into a pan and heat gently until melted.
3) Poor the melted chocolate and butter over both sugars and mix until the sugars have dissolved.
4) Sieve the flour and baking powder into the chocolate mixture and fold it through
5) Add the eggs and vanilla extract into the above mixture and mix through.
6) Lastly add the chopped white chocolate and marshmallows and mix until everything is incorporated.
7) Tip into the baking tin and smooth the top of the mixture down, then bake in an oven for 40-50 minutes. Or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out with a few crumbs (You want it to stay slightly gooey! :) ) **Because of the marshmallows in this recipe the top will brown quickly, so after 20 minutes loosly cover the top with foil.
8) Let it cool in the tin, then cut and eat!!

Confession

Confession time...My first week of operation lose tire has been terrible! It's been filled with AMAZING brownies (Recipe to come soon!) sea salted caramel chocolates we made at uni (Would any one be interested in this recipe?) and no exercise BUT I have a plan!...

I've decided to start insanity again, it's 9 weeks in total so if I start on the 28th October (I cant start next week because I'm going to be in Cornwall for a few days) then I will finish the week of Christmas...Sounds like a good plan huh!? 

It worked quite well last time, and I didn't really change anything in my diet, but then I stopped, did no exercise, ate all the chocolate in sight and now I've got to do it all over again. So I'm determined to give it a better go this time- A better diet, and not just stopping everything when the 9 weeks is over :) 

Is anyone else planning on giving this a go from Christmas? 

CHANGING BLOG ADDRESS!

I feel like a bit of a change so I'm changing the address of this blog to- www.abbisbakingdays.blogspot.com

Spread the word lovely people :)

Operation lose tire!

You might have read my posts about doing insanity over the summer. I managed to lose a bit of weight, and tone up a little in the process, but since I stopped I’m been a couch potato…Cake, chocolate and crisps have taken over from apples, nuts and yoghurt so I’m entering the winter with a rather large tyre that I want to get rid of. Sure it’s going to be useful when the weather gets even colder, but I would rather stick on an extra jumper if I need to.

Yesterday was the first day of a healthier me (I’ll believe it when I see it- Until they open a cake rehab I’m not sure I stand much chance!). I’m trying not to use the word diet as I tend to never stick to them. Instead I’m going for a healthy approach (With the occasional treat so I don't go mad!)- Definitely easier said than done! Especially as this week is both chocolate and baking week!...But I’ll make it! I’ve stocked up on some healthy food to get me through this first week, and plan on making lunch to take to uni with me so I won’t be tempted by a cheese loaded Panini at the café. I’m also signing up for some exercise classes at the Uni gym because the membership is so cheap- under £50.00 for a 3 month membership! I’m going to start with 2 classes a week, total body conditioning and zumba, and I’m hoping to take my bike out at least once a week to start with as well! The poor little thing has been in the garage since I got it…So much for “I need to buy a bike right now, I’ll use it all the time. It’ll be a really good investment.” What I should of said was “I’ll look at it every time I go into the garage and use the washing machine and feel insanely guilty about not riding it yet!” Oops! …I WILL use it now though!

Just because I’m trying to be a bit healthier doesn’t mean I’ll stop with the recipes. I’ll still upload my favourite full fat versions, but I’m also going to try and do some “Skinny” versions so like me you can have a treat, and not feel like you need to spend a solid week on the treadmill- Let’s face it, we’ve all got better things to do!

So I’ll keep you updated on my progress, and feel free to update me on yours If you’re also on a pre-winter/Christmas health kick! 

Happy Baking- Chocolate Banana Marbled Tray Bake

The later half of last week was filled with tissues, throat sweets, a runny nose, a headache and an afternoon nap...yep I got a cold.

I spent my time feeling very sorry for myself and needing lots of cuddles and sympathy (Sam did an excellent job at this-maybe I should have a cold more often?) 

On Sunday I was feeling a lot better, and after finding some overripe bananas hiding under the apples I thought it was only right I did some baking (All to aid my recovery of course!) so I surfed the Internet for a banana bread recipe...Only problem, I don't have a loaf tin here (And I call myself a baker...terrible) so I made quite a few changes to the recipe and decided to make a yummy marbled Banana tray cake to aid my snotty nose recovery.

This recipe has minimal effort involved, and results in a lovely moist sponge perfect on these colder nights with a cup of tea.

Serves 8-10

Ingredients-
150g Unsalted Butter- Softened
100g Caster Sugar
75g Dark Brown Sugar
2 Eggs
4 Bananas- Very ripe
225g Plain Flour
2 Teaspoons Baking Powder
25g Cocoa Powder
Milk

Method- 
1) Preheat your oven to 180C and line a tin approximately 8inches x 12inches with baking parchment,or grease with butter.
2) Cream the butter and both sugars together until they are light and creamy.
3) Add the eggs to the creamed mixture one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
4) Mash up the bananas until they are smooth and they add this to the above mixture and mix through.
5) Add the flour and baking powder to the mixture and carefully mix it in.
6) Put half of this mixture into into a separate bowl and add the cocoa powder to one of these bowls before mixing it through. 
7) Add a small amount of milk into the chocolate banana mixture and mix it through- keep adding small amounts until the mixture is the same consistency as the plain banana mixture. 
8) Spoon the mixture into the tin, alternating between the plain banana mixture and the chocolate bananas mixture and then swirl the two together using the end of a spoon- make sure that the mixture goes right into the corners of the tin and that it is as flat at possible. 
9) Bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes, or until the mixture comes away from the side of the tin and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. 
10) Remove from the oven and let it cool in the tin for about 15 minutes before removing and transferring it to a wire rack.