Snicker Bites

I am using a photo of my rum balls because these look quite similar on the outside. This is another recipe for some quick and yummy no bake desserts.

What you will need to make Snickers bites:
- 200 g unsalted ground peanuts
- 100 g cornflakes 
- 100 g milk toffee, or soft chewy caramels 
- 200 ml heavy cream 
- 250 g of dark chocolate 
- 50 g of honey

How to make Snickers bites:
- Crumble the cornflakes, you can do this by putting them in a plastic bag and squishing with your hands or taking a hammer to them. 
- Mix the cornflakes and the ground up peanuts.
- Chop up the caramels into small pieces, pour the heavy cream in with them and melt on a low heat until you get a nice smooth cream.
- Pour the cream over the dry mixture and mix thoroughly.
- Leave the whole thing for about 15 to 20 minutes in the fridge to cool.
- After cooling form into balls, or if you want you can do a different shape and roll them into ground peanuts or sugar or sprinkles.

Photo Credits: My photo.

Chocolate Cake in a mug

If you ever have cake craving, but there is no way in hell that you are baking a whole cake, you can always make a cake in the mug. I know my one is not the most beautiful thing out there but it tastes lovely and it takes under 5 minutes to make with minimal clean up.
Note: the cake in my pictures was one of my more goopy ones, just how I was feeling that day :)

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...............What you will need to make a chocolate cake in a mug...............
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- A large mug
- 3 tbsp flour
- 3 tbsp sugar
- 2 tbsp cocoa, or 2-3 tbsp hot chocolate
- 1 egg
- 3 tbsp milk
- 3 tbsp oil
- Optional: Some chocolate chips, or break up regular chocolate and a splash of vanilla

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..................How to make a chocolate cake in a mug..................
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- Add all of the dry ingredients into a mug and mix well. I find that fork works the best for this.
- Add in the egg and mix it in real good, if you leave some egg that isn't mixed in you will get something that results in a chocolate cake marbled with cooked egg white. Not nice. So just make sure it is all mixed together thoroughly.
- Add in the milk and oil and again mix it up.
- Optional: Now you can add in the vanilla and the chocolate chips/pieces. I wouldn't mix the chocolate chips in too much because you want them distributed nicely and not sinking to the bottom. I usually leave mines towards the top and it all melts nicely.
- Microwave for 3 minutes on high.

Tip: You can make your first cake in a mug following these exact steps but after you can tweak it. Sometimes I put in less oil and more milk. Sometimes less sugar and sometimes if I want it more gooey I nuke it for 2 minutes. It is worth playing around a bit to get the result that you like the best.
Also there are a TON of other flavor cakes that can be made in a mug out there so get exploring!

Photo Credits: My photos.

White Fudge Chunks

Fudge is a much adored sweet no matter what the time of the year is. Usually it is associated with small specialty shops and being sold in cubes or pricey slabs, and a wide variety of flavors. Well this holiday season why not try your hand at making these incredibly sweet treats your self? Give them out as gifts and make the lucky recipient very happy! They will be done in no time ( just add the time it takes for them to chill) and will make a perfect gift or a treat for your guests. If you happen to have children, not only can they help you out, but they can make the whole thing all by themselves. This will show how to make Holiday Fudge Stars, however, please feel free to substitute any shapes, flavors and colors to fit your needs and liking.

What you will need to make your Holiday Fudge Stars:

- A large flat bottom pan. Square or round will do.

- Some foil to line the pan.

- One teaspoon of butter

- One can (16oz) of frosting, flavor of your choice. Here I will use vanilla.

- Two cups of chocolate chips, again white chocolate, semi sweet milk, etc. up to you. I use white chocolate chips.

- Half of a cup of chopped up jelly candy, flavors and colors of choice. I like red or green.

- A star shaped cookie cutter. Once again, please feel free to substitute for a different shape.

- A microwave safe bowl and a spatula.

How to make your Holiday Fudge Stars:

- First you should get your pan ready, line it with the foil on lightly grease the foil with the butter.

- If you haven’t chopped up the candy yet do so now, just so you have it ready to go when needed.

- Pour the whole can of frosting into the microwave safe bowl, add the two cups of chocolate chips and stir it up.

- Melt the mass in the microwave at 10- 15 minute increments until it is all even and liquid. Depending on the microwave the times will vary so don’t walk away and leave the chocolate and frosting unattended.

- Stir the mass to make sure there is no lumps and that it is smooth.

- Let cool for a couple of minutes then stir in your chopped jelly candy. Make sure it gets in everywhere. You don’t want a large sum of it on one side and nothing elsewhere.

- Once the candy has been added pour out the mixture onto the foil lined pan. Spread it out nice and even.

- Cover the pan with foil and refrigerate until the fudge is firm.

- Once the fudge is firm use the foil to lift it out of the pan.

- Cut out the star shapes with the cookie cutter. If wanted you can add sprinkles or sugar on top to decorate it.

Tips:

- For storage use an airtight container and refrigerate.

Photo Credits: A) My photo. B) Sorry I Know it is not a star I just did them in chunks last time C) Sorry it's a really crappy picture I was having trouble with flash and whatnot.

Coffee and Walnut Cake

This is for all of us who have a tough time in the morning ;)

What you will need to make the coffee & walnut cake:
- 175g/6oz unsalted butter, a bit extra for greasing up
- 175g/6oz light muscovado sugar (I used regular brown sugar before)
- 3 large eggs, beaten
- 3 tbsp strong black coffee
- 175g/6oz
- 1.5 tsp baking powder
- 115g/4oz walnut pieces
- Optional: some walnut halves for decorating
- 115g/4oz unsalted butter
- 200g/7oz icing sugar
- 1 tbsp strong black coffee
- .5 tsp vanilla essence

How to make the coffee & walnut cake:
- Preheat the oven to 180*c/350*f/Gas Mark 4. Get your cake pans ready by greasing and lining two 20cm/8in cake pans.
- Cream together the muscovado sugar and the butter until it is all pale and fluffy. Slowly add the eggs, beating well after each addition and finally beat in the coffee.
- Mix the flour and the baking powder into the butter and muscovado sugar mixture, then fold in lightly and evenly with a metal spoon. Mix in the walnut pieces.
- Split the mixture between the two prepared cake tins and smooth the tops so they are level.
- Bake in the preheated oven for about 20 to 25 minutes or until it is golden brown.
- To make the frosting beat together butter and icing sugar, coffee and vanilla until it is all smooth and creamy.
- Use half of the frosting between the two sponge cakes and the rest on top or along the sides if you wish.
- Now if you opted for walnut halves you can decorate the top with them.

Photo Credit: http://www.reallynicerecipes.com/

Christmas Cake Recipe

Yes, it is still August and yes, I am writing a recipe for a Christmas Cake. There are many recipes out there and although they all call for the cake to be made in advance the times vary greatly, from a couple of weeks to a couple of years before serving.
Crazy right?! No cake could go untouched for that long in my house!

If you don't fancy baking one yourself visit http://www.englishchristmascake.com and they will do it for you!

Makes a 20cm / 8in Christmas Cake

• 150g/5oz raisins
• 125g/4.5oz dried dates, stoned and chopped
• 125g/4.5oz sultanas
• 100g/3.5oz candied cherries, rinsed
• 150ml/5 fl oz brandy
• 225g/8oz butter, plus extra for greasing
• 200g/7oz caster sugar
• 4 eggs
• grated rind of 1 orange
• grated rind of 1 lemon
• 1tbsp black treacle
• 225g/8oz plain flour 
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp mixed spice
• 25g/1oz toasted almonds, chopped
• 25g/1oz toasted hazelnuts, chopped
• 750g/1lb 10oz marzipan
• 3 tbsp apricot jam, warmed
• 3 egg whites
• 650g/1lb 7oz icing sugar
• Edible decorations of your choice

The recipe which I use states to make this Christmas Cake AT LEAST 3 weeks prior. I will be making it in September this year.

1. Put all the fruit in a bowl and pour over the brandy. Cover and leave to soak overnight.
2.  Preheat the oven to 110C/225F/Gas Mark 1/4. Grease a 20cm/8in cake tin with butter and line it with grease proof paper. Cream the remaining butter and the caster sugar in a bowl until fluffy. Gradually beat in the eggs. Stir in the citrus rind and treacle. Sift the flour, salt, baking powder and mixed spice into a separate bowl, then fold into the egg mixture. Fold in the soaked fruit and brandy and the nuts, then spoon the mixture into the prepared cake tin.
3. Bake in the preheated oven for at least 3 hours. If it browns too quickly cover with foil. The cake is cooked when a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Remove from the oven and leave to cool on a wire rack. Store in an airtight container until required.
4. Roll out the marzipan and cut to shape to cover the top and sides of the cake. Brush the cake with the jam and press the marzipan on to the surface. Make the icing by placing the egg whites in a bowl and adding the icing sugar a little at a time, beating well until the icing is a very thick and will stand up in peaks. Spread over the covered cake, using a fork to give texture. Decorate your Christmas Cake as you wish with the edible decorations of your choice.

Ornament Cake Balls

Christmas, along with being a time of joy and giving is also a time when we try and out do one another (whether we like to admit it or not) in the sweets we bake and the crafts we make. And combining the two with the seasonal touch will make for a perfect gift, centerpiece or even a tree decoration. This very special treat is an adaptation of super popular cake balls. We will be using the same principles only we will tweak the shapes a little!

Photo by: http://www.cakecentral.com

While this project is not completely suitable for children to make they can definitely help out quite a bit as long as there is an adult around to help out and supervise. Cake balls are very, very versatile so you will have a lot of options to choose from as far as flavors go!

Photo by: http://cupcakestakethecake.blogspot.com

What you will need to create your treats:
- One package of cake mix along with the ingredients to make it (any flavor, or you can make it from scratch).
- One can of frosting, again any flavor you wish.
- A bag of white chocolate chips.
- Edible coloring pens.
- Food coloring.
- Decorating gel, as many tubes as you want in any colors.
- A pack of lolly-pop sticks.
- Wax paper.
- An assortment of sprinkles.

Photo by: http://www.cakecentral.com

How to make the treats:
- Bake the cake according to the instructions on the cake mix box.
- Once the cake has baked, let it cool off enough so you can handle it. Take a big plastic bowl and crumble your cake into it, then add the icing. Mix it all in good until you get a smushy weird mass.
- You should let the cake and icing mix chill for at least two hours before shaping the balls.
- Once your mixture has chilled shape the small bite size balls. A melon scoop helps if you want perfect shapes but is not necessary. You should freeze the balls at least six hours before dipping them, just make sure that they aren't frozen solid!
Alright now comes the decor part. You will want to work in small batches and quick.
What we will be creating is Christmas Ornaments.
- In a small bowl melt enough white chocolate chips for your batch of Christmas Ornament cake balls, add a couple of drops of your preferred food coloring until you get a color you are happy with. You might want to figure out your color scheme beforehand, this will be the base color of the ornaments.
- Using a toothpick or a fork dip the cake balls into the chocolate and then lay them down on wax paper covered plate. Repeat until all of them are finished.
- Let the balls sit so the chocolate can solidify. After the chocolate has set you can use the edible markers, the decorating gel, fondant and sprinkles to draw designs and decorate the ornaments.

Photo by: http://inspired-by-chocolate-and-cakes.com

Another thing you can do is melt the white chocolate chips once again and color them, then using a narrow tip squeeze bottle you can decorate the ornaments by drawing on them. If you wish you can also stick lolly-pop sticks into the cake balls.