Happy Baking- Chocolate Marshmallow Cupcakes

It's cupcake time! I haven't baked cupcakes in ages, I've been decorating them at work but haven't got around to baking any so I thought it was about time to change that! These little beauties are a chocolate sponge with a swirl of marshmallow fluff running through them...just lovely!

The chocolate sponge is loosely based on the chocolate cupcake recipe from the Hummingbird Bakery cookbook, but it needed to be a firmer mixture so the marshmallow wouldn't sink!

Marshmallow fluff is a soft spreadable marshmallow that originates from America and has luckily made its way over here too. I buy mine fromWaitrose however per supermarkets also sell it and you can buy it online too.

If you can open a jar without mixing it with Nutella and slathering the whole lot on toast then I strongly recommend you give these a go :)

I like to use these cases from lakeland which are slightly bigger than most cupcake cases so I would recommend that this recipe will make about 9 cupcakes using these cases or 9-12 using your normal cupcake cases.

Makes approximately 9 large cupcakes

Ingredients-

Cupcakes-

150g Soft Brown Sugar
100g Unsalted Butter
2 Eggs
110g Plain Flour
30g Cocoa Powder
1.5 Teaspoons Baking Powder
Pinch of Salt
50ml Milk
Marshmallow Fluff

Icing-
200g Icing Sugar
80g Marshmallow Fluff
50g Unsalted Butter
1 Tablespoon Milk

Method-
1) Preheat your oven to 180C and line a muffin tin with 9 paper cases.
2) Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy- this can take a few minutes.
3) Add the eggs one at a time- beating the mixture well after each one.
4) Sieve the dry ingredients over the creamed mixture and mix through.
5) Add the milk to the mixture and mix carefully in- This will loosen the mixture.
6) Put a tablespoon of the cake mixture into each paper case.
7) On top of the cake mixture put a heaped teaspoon of the marshmallow fluff, then top with more cake mixture (your case should be about 3/4 full now- if not add a little more of the cake mixture)
8) Take a skewer or something thin and swirl the cake mixture and marshmallow fluff together.
9) Bake in the oven for approximately 20-25 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean of cake crumbs, and any marshmallow exposed on the top is turning golden. Remove from the tin and let cool on a wire rack.
10) While the cupcakes are cooling you can prepare the icing- place all of the ingredients into a bowl and start mixing together slowly and carefully. When all of the icing sugar is incorporated beat for a few minutes until it looks nice and fluffy- using an electric hand mixer if you have one as it will save your arm!
11) When the cupcakes are fully cooled transfer the icing to a piping bag with a nozzle and pipe a swirl onto the top of the cupcake. Alternatively you can spoon the icing on and smooth it down.

What's new?

I would love to delight you all with entertaining stories of my recent goings on, be able to boast about my super cool and hip life right now, but actually it would be a lie!

I've had the last 3 days off work and rather than doing super cool things I've spent the majority of the time in my pj's watching crap TV and Harry Potter films...That's the life hey! Yesterday I really pushed the boat out by walking to Tesco! Although my time could of possibly be better spent, I've enjoyed lounging around and not feeling guilty about it!

Then last week I had to go to Shoreditch for an afternoon of coffee training, this area is definitely too cool for me! I wondered around in a circle for a while, getting more lost and confused, all the while walking past students who look like they just stepped out of some glossy magazine wearing the latest fashion and drinking cappuccinos on tables outside. Meanwhile I was still lost, getting sweaty because the weather was so hot and dreading the coffee training in case they made us drink it and I HATE coffee...I eventually managed to find the place, managed to be 15 minutes early (Purely because I arrived in Shoreditch 45 minutes early) and you guessed it, we had to try the coffee...YUK!

On Friday I've been asked if I can help out in the kitchens in my new job and do some baking :) EEP...It's my first shift, and the first time I've baked in a commercial environment like that and I'm really nervous, but also really excited, it's going to be my first time baking in a commercial kitchen away from uni! Luckily I don't have to start till 8:00...I was dreading hearing my start time, I thought it might be 3:00 or some silly time like that...I really should of thought about these ridiculously early mornings when I decided I wanted to be a baker...Never mind. Maybe I'll be the next Mary Berry and I'll call all the shots...Then again, maybe not!

Insanity Workout Review- Week Seven

What a terrible week this has been! I haven't done a workout since Tuesday!! So not really much to review!

On Wednesday I hit a wall as big ad the Great Wall of china and just couldn't bring myself to do a workout. It's now Sunday and I'm not sure where to go from here- do I continue and add an extra 4 days onto the end of the plan? Or should I just start again? I was starting to struggle a bit with the workouts anyway, and some of the exercises I had to modify quite a bit because I couldn't do them. 

Has this happened to anyone else? Where did you go from here?

I've started seeing some results, but I can only really notice when I look at a picture like this (these were taken at the beginning on the week) I definitely don't feel like I've got ANY smaller!

Happy Baking- White Chocolate Chunk Cookies

I don't think you need a reason to have a cookie, apart from wanting one! So here's a little recipe for White Chocolate Chunk Cookies to fill that cookie shaped hole in your life!

Makes 12 cookies

Ingredients-
125g Unsalted Butter- Softened to room temperature
100g Soft Brown Sugar
2 Tablespoons Vegetable Oil
200g Plain Flour
1/2 Teaspoon Baking Powder
Pinch of Salt
130g White Chocolate- Cut into chunks (You could use milk, dark, or a mixture of all if you would rather)
1/4 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

Method-
1) Preheat your oven to 180C and line a baking tray with baking parchment.
2) Cream the Butter and sugar together until light and creamy.
3) Add the oil (And vanilla extract if you're using it) and mix in the creamed mixture.
4) Add the flour, baking powder and salt and mix together well- The mixture will start to get quite stiff at this point.
5) Add the chocolate chunks and mix through so they are spread out evenly in the mixture.
6) Table a tablespoon of the cookie dough and shape it into a ball using your hands, place on the baking tray leaving a gap between each one and flatten slightly with the palm of your hand.
7) Bake for 12-15 minutes- Until the are just starting to get a bit of colour on the edges.
8) Let them cool on the tray for about 5-10 minutes, and then transfer to a wire rack to cool properly.

What a busy month

In a week it'll be August, and not one to do things by halves it's going to be a pretty busy month! Not that I'm complaining, I've got some pretty exciting things to look forward to! 

The first pretty major thing I've got happening is I'll be starting my new job! I'm so excited to start as I'm going to be working in a bakery! Eep! It's opening in the first week of August so I'm going to be there from the beginning to see how everything works and ill be splitting my time between the kitchen and front of house :)

Then comes the 8th of August and Sam and I are going to Brussels for a long weekend, I don't actually know anything about Brussels so I don't know what we're going to do yet, I keep on meaning to download an app...but even so I can't wait to get away! 

We get back from Brussels on Monday and then on Friday I'm off again...this time to V festival with a friend from uni. The only other festival I've been to was bordmasters in Newquay, I went with Sam, his sister and cousin, it rained (standard) and we ended up sitting on a shower curtain in our taxi home, and then shimmying through the house on it so we didn't get the carpet muddy. I'm still trying to decide if I can justify buying a pair of hunter wellies to just wear them for the weekend. Unless I turn a bit farmer and decide to wear them on a daily basis, I could even tuck my chefs trousers into them?! Hmm maybe not...

V festival over and I've got to wait till the end of August for my next adventure. This time the big feastival. Food, music, camping = perfect! I'm dragging Sam along to this one, and we've bought one of those pop up tents that can not just fit Sam and his lanky legs in!

Onto September and my Parents are visiting London so there will no doubt be a large amount of Chinese, shopping and drinks going on! Then back to uni again!

Bring. It. On. 

Picnic Recipes- Raspberry and Almond Loaf Cake

The suns out, and it looks like it's staying for a while, which brings with it a good excuse to go for a picnic and eat some lovely cake. (Not that I need any extra reasons to eat cake!)

I love picnics, and they're even more fun with my beautiful picnic basket! (Thanks Sam!) This recipe I've written is a perfect picnic cake as it's easy to wrap up and because it isn't covered in icing won't end up as a gooey mess by the afternoon!...Enjoy :)

Makes 1 loaf cake (The size of the one I use is 21cm x 8cm and is 6cm deep)

Ingredients-

175g Soft brown Sugar

175g Unsalted Butter- Softened

3 Eggs- Beaten

1 Tablespoon of Milk

100g Plain Flour

75g Ground Almonds

2.5 teaspoons Baking Powder

150g Raspberries (I personally don't like it overloaded with fruit, however you can add more if you want a fruitier cake, I would suggest an extra 50g-100g)

30g Flaked Almonds

Method-
1) Preheat your oven to 170C and grease a loaf tin with butter- Or line with greaseproof paper.
2) Cream the sugar and butter together until creamy and lighter in colour- This will take a few minutes.
3) Beat the eggs together in a bowl and add gradually to the sugar and butter mixture and making sure you mix thoroughly after each addition.
4) Add the milk and mix again.
5) Sift the flour, ground almonds and baking powder over the egg mixture and carefully mix in- Be careful not to over mix, when all the dry ingredients are incorporated stop.
6) Add the raspberries and fold into the mixture carefully.
7) Spoon the mixture into the tin and smooth down, so it's the same thickness throughout.
8) Scatter the flaked almonds over the top and bake for 50-60 minutes. Or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean and the top is a golden brown. (Depending on your oven you might need to cover the top of the cake with foil half way through baking to make sure that the top doesn't burn.- Make sure you don't open the oven door until at least 30 minutes into the baking time.)

It's lovely post picnic too- Serve with some nice yoghurt and some more raspberry's :)

Insanity Workout Review- Week Six

OUCH!

This week was definitely a tough one! They definitely don't ease you into the "max" sessions easily. The first day was both the fit test and Max Interval Circuit. I really pushed myself during the fit test, and managed to improve my score on every exercise (my scores are at the bottom of this post). This left me feeling knackered by the time I came to start the Circuit workout, and the warm up nearly killed me! But I finished it all and managed to burn 700 calories! Woo Hoo... Then Tuesday morning came with a whole host of achy muscles and joints which made Tuesdays workout equally tough!

These DVDs are definitely a step up from the first 4 weeks, and I can completely see why they don't have you doing it from the start- The exercises themselves are much harder, with the plyo DVD fast becoming my worst enemy due to the number of push up based moves...I can hardly do normal push ups so I definitely found it hard. The intervals have also got longer, moving from 30 seconds to 45 or 1 minute each. As well as the intervals being longer the overall workout length has also increased. Now the running time is 50-60 minutes, compared to about 40 for the first four weeks- Those extra 10 minutes make ALL the difference in turning you into a shaking, sweating mess...Sounds delightful hey!

I've decided to change my rest day to Friday as I get it off work so it means that I do have a full day off- Rather than working all day and then not having to do a workout- It doesn't really feel like a break!

Diet wise I have eaten much better this week. I did have a couple of treats, but also filled up on plenty of veg, fruit, protein and healthy grains like quinoa and I can really feel a difference. I've ran out of my Skinni Minni protein powder now, and I decided to do this week without it and then think about getting some more. I definitely think it helps though, I know the workouts are now harder but I definitely felt less achy when I was having it post workout.

Overall I'm feeling good after this last week, I feel like I'm finally starting to see a difference and my tummy is starting to feel flatter.

Only 3 weeks left now then it's holiday time! I'm actually going away before the programme ends, so I'll end up missing 3 workouts. I haven't decided if I'm going to risk being one of those fitness freaks I hate and take the DVDs with me or if I should just finish it when I get back?!

Here are my fit test results-

Move	Day One	Day 15	Day 36
Switch Kicks	50	57	63
Power Jacks	46	56	67
Power Knees	82	116	126
Power Jumps	22	29	35
Globe Jumps	9	13	14
Suicide Jumps	7	10	12
Push-Up Jacks	12	17	20
Low Plank Oblique	46	50	61