Tag: #gbbo

Easy Pac Man Biscuit Favours
Alliyah Dawud
August 9, 2019

These biscuits were easy to make and ice. I used a short cut and iced these biscuits with ready made fondant. But of course you could ice them with Royal Icing if you felt inclined to do so.

We placed these yummy biscuits into cellophane bags and used gold twisty ties to finish them off.

These guys were so yummy we have no leftovers.

We used a Pac Man cookie cutter which makes these so easy to do. We used the cutter on the icing too! Result.

I made a huge batch as I gave them to the adults too. Feel free to halve the recipe if you need to.

To make 48 Pac Mans you will need:

410 grams Butter (softened)
410 grams Castor Sugar
1 TBSP Vanilla or Salted Caramel flavouring
2 egg yolks
820 grams Plain Flour-sifted plus extra to roll out

To decorate:

2 x bags of yellow fondant
Black writing icing OR a pack of black fondant (you will have loads left over)
Water-to help fondant stick
Icing sugar-to help rolling

1) Cream together the butter and sugar. This can be done in a Mixer or by hand.
2) And the egg and vanilla/caramel and beat the mixture. Do this slowly.
3) Now add scoops of flour and keep mixing to encorporate all ingredients.
4) Scoop the mixture into a ball and cling film it. Place in the fridge for 2 hours (or overnight really. I prefer overnight).

NOTE: To bake the cookies you will need flat baking sheets that have been lined with greaseproof paper.

Pre-heat the oven to 160 (oven), 325F, Gas Mark 3 or 170C (non fan).

5) Remove the dough from the Fridge. Place any dough you are not using back in the Fridge. On a lightly floured surface roll out the dough to a £1.00 coin thickness.
6) Using the cookie cutter punch out your Pac Mans. Carefully place the Pac Mans onto the baking sheets and give the biscuits space to expand. Mine didn’t expand too much so yours should either.

6) Place the biscuits in the oven and bake for 10-15 minutes until lightly golden colour. Remove from the oven and place on a cooling rack. Cool completely before icing.

To ice the Pac Mans:

1) Sprinkle a bit of icing sugar on a clean surface (I used my glass pastry board) and roll out the yellow fondant to the thickness of a £1.00 coin. Using your Pac Man cutter cut out Pac Mans and place onto the cooled cookies. I used my finger as a paintbrush and applied a bit of water to the fondant before applying it to the biscuit and it worked. The fondant stuck to the biscuit like magic.
2) Now either draw on the eye with the icing or take a small piece of black icing roll it up and apply that to the biscuit. Hey presto! You have a Pac Man iced Biscuit favour.
3) We allowed the biscuits to set and then placed them in the cellophane bags and then secured them with twisty foil fasteners.

Job done.

Notes: you can make up the biscuits up to 72 hours in advance and keep them in an airtight container.
You can also bake the biscuits in advance and keep them in an airtight container prior to icing them if you wish too.

Old Skool Lemon Cupcakes
Alliyah Dawud
August 3, 2019

There are two extremes in my home; there’s the die hard chocolate cake addicts and the zesty lemon party. There is no in between. Well maybe when it comes to a plain sponge covered in lashings of buttercream or layers of fondant.

So when I make cupcakes for Birthdays I know instantly that one of the two fierce women in the house (that would be my daughters for new readers) is going to be disappointed and scream life isn’t fair.

I’m a huge fan of citrus. From lemon cakes to lemon dressings to sitting eating half a dozen satsumas. I love it.

Nothing in my opinion beats an old fashioned lemon drizzle however I went for a lemon cupcake with a lemon icing for these beauties.

To make 18 cupcakes (I used muffin sized) you will need:

300 grams castor sugar
300 grams butter (softened-I zap it in the microwave)
300 grams self raising flour (sifted)
6 eggs; beaten (I used medium sized)
1 TBSP (level) baking powder
Zest and juice of 4 large-ish lemons.
I note bloggers say use unwaxed lemons. If those are a bit pricey you buy cheaper ones that maybe waxed, placed them in hot water and carefully give the lemons are a rub. The wax should come off.

For the icing you will need:

500 grams icing sugar
200-250 grams butter. I use 200 grams as I like a stiffer icing.
Lemon flavouring (I don’t use lemon juice because the icing becomes runny. I also so not use the lemon zest as it clogs up my nozzles).

As my cupcakes were 80s themed I dyed the icing. I used neon yellow and neon pink.
I dyed half the icing pink and the other half yellow. I then added scoops to the icing bag and it created a lovely swirly affect icing.

Nozzle of your choice & icing bag.
Pre-heat your oven to 170C/325F/Gas Mark 3.
Place 18 muffin cases in your muffin tins. I have a few baking tins so I manage to do this in one go. If you have bake in batches just remember the oven will be warm when you place the second lot in so keep an eye on them so they don’t burn.

1) Beat the sugar and butter together. You can do this by hand or in a mixer. I find both work well. Stop beating when you have a creamy consistency.
2) Add a bit of the egg mixture in and beat it. Keep adding and beating until you run out of eggs. Don’t worry if it looks a bit runny. It will work out after you add the flour.
3) Add scoops of the flour and stir in. Add the baking powder and stir through.
4) Now add the lemon juice and zest. Give it a good stir.
5) Now distribute your mixture into the cupcake/muffin cases in the tin. I generally leave a ‘gap’ at the top of the case as these babies rise. I then trim them to make them even. Yes it’s true; my cakes are not perfect.
6) Bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes. When they are ‘done’ they should be springy to touch. I do the classic ‘toothpick check’. If you insert it into the centre and it comes out clean congratulations your cupcakes are done!
7) Now allow the cupcakes to cool completely before you ice them. If you can leave them in the tin to cool down that’s good. But if you can’t tranfer them to a wire cooling rack. Don’t apply the icing whilst they are still warm. It just doesn’t work.
8) Once the cupcakes are cool give them a quick trim to even them out. This really is key to getting uniform-ish iced cupcakes (sorry not sorry).

To make the buttercream:
You can use the mixer for this or do it by hand.

1) sift the icing sugar into a LARGE bowl. Trust me the BIGGER the better. Size matters.
2) Add the butter. Now beat the ingredients together.
3) Once you have what looks like a creamy mixture (it maybe a bit rough or stiff don’t worry it’s normal) add the lemon flavouring. Stir in.
4) If the mixture is too stiff or isn’t coming together like icing add 1 tablespoon of milk and beat in. Repeat if needed. Just do it in stages as too much milk may make the mixture runny.
5) Once you are happy with the texture you can add dye if you wish to. I use gel again it helps with the texture. I find the liquid dyes make things runny and the colour isn’t as strong either (I use ClassicKool-Link here).
6) Put the icing in the bag and ice away. Get creative if you wish. Add sprinkles, glitter whatever you wish. We added themed toppers.
7) Your cupcakes are done. Don’t they look awesome? Like 80s awesome…cos everything in the 80s was awesome….

Enjoy!

Notes: You can make the cupcakes and freeze them up to a month in advance if it helps with your party prep.

You can buy ready made icing which does an amazing job too.

Orange drizzle and Chocolate Loaf
Alliyah Dawud
July 27, 2019

We’ve all heard of how amazing Lemon Drizzle is but have you tried Orange drizzle loaf? Like the real good home made stuff. It’s pretty amazing and today I’ll share the recipe with you.

For the ‘icing’ I’ve basically melted down good old chocolate with a bit of orange juice and drizzled it over.

Let’s get down to business shall we….

To make a standard sized loaf you will need.

Ingredients for the LOAF:
3 large eggs beaten
180 grams self raising flour (sifted)
1 TSP Baking Powder
180 grams butter (softened-I zapped it in the microwave)
180 grams castor sugar
Zest and juice of 2 large oranges

The drizzle:
Juice two more oranges (put the zest in the cake batter for a extra orange punch).
60 grams castor sugar

The chocolate drizzle:
200 grams plain chocolate (we used the cheap chocolate from Aldi and it worked).
Juice of 1 orange
1) Pre-heat the oven to 170/325/Gas Mark 3. Grease or line a standard loaf tin.
2) Place all the loaf ingredients in the bowl (I used a mixer but this can be done by hand). Beat together until you get a lovely smooth batter. I always ‘scrap’ the bottom of the bowl to ensure there’s no dry ingredients that got missed from the batter process.
3) Pour the batter into the tin. Give it a gentle ‘tap’ to let out any air bubbles. Smooth the top over with a butter knife (or a palette knife).
4) Bake for 35 minutes. Whilst the loaf is baking whisk together the castor sugar and orange juice. The sugar should dissolve into the orange juice creating a slightly thick syrup.
5) Take the loaf out of the oven and insert a tooth pick into the middle of the loaf. If it’s clear the loaf is baked. If its not clear you will need to place it back in the oven for 3-5 minutes and repeat the test.
6) Remove the loaf from the tin and allow to cool slightly. Pierce all over with a skewer. Pour over the syrup. Now allow to cool completely.
7) Once the loaf is completely cooled you can drizzle it with the chocolate. I melt the chocolate in the microwave and then add the orange juice. You can so it the old skool way over a bowl of simmering water. I however look for shortcuts. If you find the mixture is too grainy or dry add a tbsp of milk or yogurt. Stir well and drizzle over.
8) Your loaf is ready and tastes bloody amazing with a cup of Mint Tea (or standard British Tea).

Leftovers?
Wrap individual slices in greaseproof paper and then place in an airtight container or ziploc bag.
Leftover cake would be amazing in a Trifle….

Pineapple Upside Down Cake
Alliyah Dawud
February 1, 2019

This impressive cake is actually really simple to knock up.

It makes a nice impressive teatime treat. If you are serving this cake in Autumn or Winter don’t forget lashings of custard drools.

I’ve seen many recipes call for coconut but in all honesty I love this version so much I didn’t notice the lack of it….

Ingredients:
1 tbsp butter (for the caramelised pineapple)
1/2 pineapple peeled and sliced (or cubed)
50 grams soft dark brown sugar
2 tbsp double cream

For the sponge:
125 grams butter
200 grams castor sugar
3 eggs beaten
90 grams self raising flour
75 grams plain flour
60 ml milk (OR 4 tablespoons)

1) Preheat the oven to 160c. Line a 20 cm round cake tin
2) Take a large pan and place it on medium heat. Add the 1 tbsp butter and allow to melt. All the pineapple and cook for 2 minutes or until the pineapple becomes a light brown colour.
3) Add the dark brown sugar. Stir and allow to dissolve (keep stirring). Add the double cream and stir in. Bring to a light boil then turn it off.
4) Carefully pour the pineapple mix into the cake tin. Be very careful as hot sugar can burn. I speak from experience.
5) Now we need to make sponge. Beat the sugar and 125 grams butter together. Add the egg mixture in three lots beating in every time. Don’t worry if it looks a bit curdled this will change when the flour goes in.
6) Add the flours and stir in. Add the milk and stir to combine.
7) Pour the smoothe batter mix over the pineapple mixture.
8) Bake the cake on the central shelf for 45 minutes. Insert a skewer/cake tester at the centre of the cake. If the cake is done the skewer will be clear. You need to poke the sponge not the pineapple.
9) Leave the cake to cool for 15 minutes before turning onto a wire rack to cool further. Or alternatively allow to cool for 15 minutes and then transfer to serving plate.
10) Serve with lashings of cream, a scoop of ice-cream, or custard. Or just as is. A great classic.