Witches Fingers

I hope that you agree that these witches fingers biscuits look quite repulsive but they do taste very good. The melted chocolate under the nails give the impression of dirt.  

I made these at Christmas time but added some green food colouring to the dough turning them into Grinch's fingers. 

Witches Fingers

Ingredients:

100g Butter

100g Caster Sugar

200g Plain Flour

Few drops Vanilla Essence

Whole Blanched Almonds (one per biscuit)

Milk Chocolate

Directions:

1. Preheat over to 180C,
2. Mix together the butter, sugar, vanilla essence and flour into a firm dough.
3. Shape into 'fingers' marking with fine lines across the middle to look like knuckles, and flatten slightly at the top end to look like a finger nail. Press in a blanched almond into each finger.
4. Bake for 10-12 minutes until golden then remove from the oven and allow to cool on a wire rack.
5. Melt the chocolate, remove the almond from the finger and paint over the fingernail area with the melted chocolate and immediately replace the almond nail.

Cupcake Cookies

I have a major cupcake obsession and will buy almost anything with a cupcake design on it. My obsession is that bad that I even have a cupcake tattoo on my wrist. So you can imagine my delight when I opened up a recent copy of  Cake Decorating Magazine to find a cupcake cookie cutter.

As my Jane Asher cake book was still lying about from making the Ice Cream & Jelly Cake I decided to use her Vanilla Cookie Dough recipe. 

Ingredients:

280g Plain Flour

200g Firm Butter

100g Icing Sugar

2 Egg Yolks

1 tsp Vanilla Extract / Essence

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 200C / Gas mark 6. Gease two baking trays or line with baking parchment. 
2. Put the flour in a bowl. Cut the butter into small pieces and add to the flour. Rub the butter into the flour with your fingertips until the mix looks like breadcrumbs.
3. Add the sugar, egg yolks and vanilla extract / essences and mix to a dough.
4. Put in a plastic bag and chill for at least 30 minutes.
5. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface and cut out as required. 
6. Bake for about 8-10 minutes or until golden brown around the edges. Leave to coll and harden on a wire rack.

Jubilee Themed Baking

It is not long now until the Queen’s Jubilee which has inspired me to make some British themed goodies.

I had a look on the internet to get the creative juices flowing and stumbled across BakingMad. They had a special section on Union Jack cakes which got me thinking about making some Union Jack biscuits.

I used the recipe for Mini Me’s birthday party last year and they were a resounding success. They were devoured within minutes which resulted in complaints from my mum as she wasn’t quick enough to grab one.

Thinking about the best of British Cakes, I thought I would make some vanilla cupcakes using my basic sponge mix (omitting the baking powder) and topped a mascarpone frosting with strawberries and blueberries to keep with the British colours. I was pleasantly surprised to see a recipe for a low calorie Victoria Sponge cake which would be great for those who still want to celebrate but watch their weight at the same time.

Double Biscuits

Ingredients:

125g Butter

75g Caster Sugar

1 Egg Yolk, beaten

200g Plain Flour, sifted

Pinch of Salt

450g Royal Icing Sugar

Food Colouring – your own preference

Smooth Jam – any flavour that you fancy

Directions:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180C / 160 Fan Assisted Oven / Gas Mark 4. Line two baking trays with baking paper. Put the butter and caster sugar in a bowl and mix with a wooden spoon until evenly blended.
2. Stir in the beaten egg yolk. Add the sifted flour and salt, and then mix with a round-bladed knife until the mixture forms clumps. Gather the dough together with your hands.
3. Lay on a sheet of clingfilm on a work surface. Cover with another sheet of clingfilm and roll out to the thickness of a £1 coin. Remove the top sheet of clingfilm and cut the dough using your choice of cutter.
4. Put the biscuits on the baking trays, leaving a gap between each one then bake for 12-13 minutes until golden brown. Leave on the trays for 5 minutes or until hard, then move to a wire rack to cool completely.
5. Put 75ml cold water in a bowl and add the royal icing and a couple of drops of food colouring. Beat with a spoon for 5 minutes or until smooth.
6. Spread over only half of the biscuits using a spoon and leave to set.
7. On the remaining biscuits, spread a small amount of jam then place the iced biscuit on top.

Home Made Jammie Dodgers

I recently saw an advertisement in the Metro for Strawberry Tea. This is an annual fund raising event for Breast Cancer Care. Like many people, breast cancer has affected someone in my family.

I managed to talk my work into having a Bake Sale in honour of this wonderful charity. So on Wednesday 7^th September, a few of us put on our pinnies and rolled up our sleeves and baked our hearts out.

By the end of the day we had raised £178.50.

49,000 people are affected by breast cancer every year.

The money we raised will make a huge difference to people living with breast cancer. Breast Cancer Care offers expert information, practical support and a friendly ear to anyone dealing with the confusion and fear of this life-threatening illness. It's online, over the phone and face-to-face support is free, thanks to the generosity of supporters.

October is Breast Cancer awareness month so please support the many charities out there doing there bit for this cause.

http://www.breastcancercare.org.uk/events

One of the yummy recipes featured on the Breast Cancer Care website is homemade Jammie Dodgers. I went with a heart shaped cookie cutter rather than around one and I thought they turned out really cute.

I also made Jammie Dodger Cupcakes, Raspberry and Lime Loaf and Cosmopolitan Cupcakes to keep within the pink theme.

Homemade Jammie Dodgers

(Makes 12-16 biscuits)

Ingredients:

250g Unsalted Butter, softened

350g Plain Flour

125g Icing Sugar, plus extra for sprinkling

Pinch of Salt

200g Strawberry or Raspberry Jam

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
2. Beat the butter until it is light and fluffy. Add the flour, icing sugar and salt. Combine all the ingredients until you have a nice dough. Wrap the dough ball in cling film and chill in the fridge for 1 hour.
3. After chilling, roll out the dough and cut into rounds with a circular-shaped cookie cutter. Place half of the biscuits on a baking tray lined with parchment paper.
4. For the other half of the biscuits, cut out a heart shape in the middle and place on a second lined baking tray.
5. Bake both sets of biscuits in the oven for 6–8 minutes. Leave to cool.
6. Spread half of the biscuits with jam and cover with the heart-shape biscuits.
7. Sprinkle icing sugar on top.