Week 18 - Pumped up Chocolate Muffins

Quote from website: So here is my recipe for huge chocolate muffins with a surprise chocolate sauce filling

– you know the kind you can buy in coffee shops and bakery chains up and down the country. !?

Faff Factor = 8

Bake = 9

Keeping Up Appearances = 9

Total score = 26/30

With the weather being so lovely this weekend the last thing I wanted was to be inside faffing with baking a cake.  I wanted something quick and easy and fool prooof.  I know I've baked these little goodies quite a few times but really wanted them to be in my challenge (ha ha, do you think I'm taking a cheats way out this week?). 

So if you have an hour to spare and want the best chocolate muffins you've ever tasted use this recipe..HERE.  If  you are not familiar with The Pink Whisk this is Ruth who came second on The Great British Bake last year.  I loved Ruth, at the time some people said she reminds them of me because of her organised way of baking, and I must admit yes I could see some similarities.

This is a great bake and could quite easiliy scored 29 (no-one or nothing is perfect, always room for improvement don't you think?), I've knocked down the faff factor to 8 as you need to pump up the muffins with ganache so need to faff a little there but other than that they are the near to a perfect bake as I can get.  My only other recomendation is buy the best chocolate ingredients you can possibly afford and go and bake a batch then let me know what you think.

Happy Monday's

Lynetta Xx

Renovate & Re-new

When you wake up to a beautiful morning like this the last thing you want to do is to be indoors baking.  So after all my chores for the day I decided to get on with a project I've had in mind for simply ages. 

 

I've had this lurking in my garage for over a year now and decided today was the day it came out to play.  I practiced a little on some pots (which I'll show you in another post) but it was this little baby that I wanted to have a go at renovating:

You see my friend Sarah recently underwent some major renovating in her house and needed to slim down all the tat she had liying around. I've always admired this hurricane lamp when visiting and was really surprised to see it in her skip one day.  Excuse me Mrs Maybury, never throw anything away that can be given to a good home, and home it came with me.

I've always loved to renovate or change things to give them a new lease of life and was really really pleased with how this project turned out.  Want to see?..........

beautiful don't you think?  She was a little fiddly to take apart so I could spray her but then that gave me the opportunity to give her glass and candle a good clean (yes I even recycled the candle).  So I am now the proud owner of a lovely hurricane lamp and it will be proudly hanging in my garden.

Make do and Mend, that's what I say.

Lynetta Xx

Week 17 - Flapjack's

Quote from book: There was a little girl that when she was good, she was very, very good,

and when she was bad, she made a batch of flapjacks and devoured the whole lot herself!?

Faff Factor = 9

Bake = 9

Keeping Up Appearances = 9

Total score = 27/30

Whilst out shopping with my friend Sarah on Saturday we went into M&S (as you do!) and at the entrance to the food hall a lady was giving away little nibbles of their little nibbles, one being the flapjack, so in tribute to the humble flapjack I thought I would give them a go as my challenge this week.  You see, I only started to bake 2 years ago and I'm sure some of you may be thinking this is a really easy challenge but I have been rightly informed that even flapjack's can go wrong being too thick, dry and crumbly. 

After searching out a recipe in my many books I decided this week I will bake from Lorraine Pascale's Baking Made Easy book.  Looking at different recipes it also became clear that different chef's have different favoured ingredient with Lorraines being lemon zest.  For some reason I remembered Sarah saying that she cannot find a recipe for chewy flapjacks - Sarah, this is the one!.  I must admit I may have added a little bit extra on the syrup front - not too much just a little- and can honestly say these are near as damn it the same as M&S, hence the high score (thank you Lorraine)

They didn't last long though (all of one day) and need to make another batch pretty soon as lunchbox treats for Jack and for picnic days ahead if this weather decides to cheer itself up and begin to behave like Spring - please!

Have a fun weekend.  I have a request for a syrup cake from another new book by the WI!

TTFN

Lynetta Xx

Idle hands

If you are anything like me your hands will be in constant use throughout the day.  At work they are permantly typing, writing or wiping away the tears and at home they are either baking, making or washing up!  I really cannot just sit down without doing something with my hands so this evening I thought I would make a little something for the upcoming Jubilee and Olympic Celebrations.

Off I went to my computer and found an image of a vintage Union Jack to print out, gathered some old string and 2 wooden skewers, cut the Union Jacks out, folded in half and placed the string inbetween (can you guess what it is yet?)

not forgetting to evenly space the flags, then glued down to secure

I then tied to the skewers et voila, some pretty little bunting. How easy and effective does this look?  I have high hopes and big plans for this little project and I even have another little something in my mind to keep my idle hands happy.

Love to all

Lynetta Xx

My Recipe Book

Since starting my baking adventure not only have I an unhealthy obsession with collecting baking books but I also collect alot of recipes from the internet, magazines and friends.  These scrappy bits of paper have been really bugging me and I have been thinking of making a scrapbook of my favourite and successful recipes.  I've been seearching high and low for something to make said scrapbook and whilst in Paperchase the other month came across this wonderful binder.  Not only are the colours and patterns 'me' I can manipulate what I want to go inside as it has folders and plastic inserts.  Oooh I was very excited with this little find.

First of all I wanted the front page to be about me, so I printed a photo of me baking, mounted it on cardstock with a little message.  The other picture, which I stumbled upon on the internet, is of a picture of a housewife back in the 50's,  when I looked closely at it I thought it looks so much like me (or is that wishful thinking) printed a copy which I have labelled  'Me - probably in a previous life'

I've collated a few bits and pieces to compliment the colours in the book including some doillies and created this page to introduce my book. (Fab photo don't you think?)

and of course taken photo's of all my cakes that I have baked which I have included beside the hand written recipe.  I feel it's important that it is handwritten as I want it to be a more personal recipe book to my grandkids.  I may even leave them little notes to find along the way.

To date I'm only 4 pages in, but I am enjoying putting this together as and when I feel like doing a little bit of scrapping and think it's great that I am combining my love of baking and scrapbooking as the same time as leaving a family heirloom of me.

As it's a Bank Holiday weekend I may even get a few more pages completed considering the weather forecast is not looking good.

TTFN

Lynetta Xx



Week 16 - Shortbread Cream and Jam Biscuits

Quote from book:These buttery cookies are an absolute classic and make a perfect treat for afternoon tea. 

Faff Factor =8

Bake = 9

Keeping Up Appearances = 9

Total score = 26/30

 I realised I am a week behind with my challenge and so quickly whipped up these little goodies to make up for the lost week. Quick and easy shortbread biscuits sandwiched with fresh butter cream and a generous dollop of strawberry jam, mmmm mmmmm mmmm.  I think I may invest in a food processor soon as I need to rub the butter and flour together to resemble breadcrumbs and boy did it hurt my hands after a while. (I've got the start of arthritus in my hands and suffer with tennis elbow so fine motor movements really hurt my arms - stop whinging women I hear you say).

These biscuits did not stay in the tin for very long, they are really buttery and scrummy and would urge anyone who wants to impress the mother-in-law (so to speak) to have a bash at making them.  I even cooked off the little hearts for an extra nibble and wouldn't they look so fine and dandy with cupcakes and sandwiches on a three tier cake stand - Oh yes I hear you say?

So my lesson learned this week - I cut the heart inserts out as directed however when they were cooking the bisucits spread a little so once cooked and cooled a little I slowly inserted the cookie cutter again to tidy up the heart to get a professional finish which worked really well. 

So what you waiting for, get the cookie cutters out and give them a go.

Thanks for looking.

Lynetta Xx

 

 

The 1st Day!

Today is the 1st day on a very hard journey to give up the dreaded weed.  It may come as a little surprise to some of you that I smoked and I'm not going to give any excuses in saying 'Oh I got in with the wrong crowd as a teenager, or I enjoy it or even it's my body and I can do what I want with it' but I have been seriously thinking long and hard for a couple of months now to finally make the plunge and give it my best shot of giving up. 

With a more positive frame of mind I'm more determined than ever to win.  It's going to be hard, hence why I've enrolled in a no smoking clinic at my doctors in hope that the patches will give me that first step of breaking the habit, because thinking about it it is a habit that takes you over.

So I'm being a big brave girl now and going to break that habit, I can win, I can do it, I'm going to succeed! Thinking positive all the way and wouldn't it be great to link this post in a years time as my 1 year anniversary of being smoke free :-)

Wish me luck

Lynetta Xx