Oreo cupcake recipe

So Nadiya took home the baking crown- well done girl! She was so inspiring, I even got a bit emotional watching it! If you fancy a spot of baking over the weekend, give these fellas a try. Oreos are my all time favourite biscuits, even if it does mean picking black bits out of my teeth for hours after! 

(20-24 cupcakes) You will need:

200g salted butter

200g caster sugar

4 medium eggs

200g self raising flour

2 tablespoons vanilla extract (Madagascan) 

One pack of Oreos

(I use a Kenwood mixer for this recipe.)  

For the icing

250g unsalted butter 

250g icing sugar

1/2 tub of cream cheese

1 teaspoon of vanilla essence

For the chocolate icing, just add cocoa powder to taste.

Depending on how many cakes you make, have half an Oreo for each cake. (so grab another packet and then you have a few to munch on whilst baking... ) 

How to make:

Pre heat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.  

Mix the butter, sugar and vanilla in an electric mixer and cream until pale and fluffy. 

Put the Oreos into a plastic zip lock bag and whack it with a rolling pin (excellent stress relief). You don't want to be left with crumbs, so don't go too mad. Mixed size chunks will do just fine. 

Add the eggs one at a time whilst mixing at a medium speed. 

If the mixture starts splitting or curdling, add a dash of flour. 

Mix in the flour at a low speed. Then add the Oreos and mix with a spoon.

Spoon the mixture into cupcake cases (or muffin cases). They should be 2 thirds full. 

Bake in the oven between 12-15 minutes. Use a knife to test, if it comes out clean you are good to go! 

Let the cakes cool on a wire rack. 

For the icing:

Make sure your cakes are cold before you ice them! 

Melt the butter to make it easier to whisk. Mix at a high speed until very pale. Add in the icing sugar gradually and whisk. 

Put the cream cheese in with the mix, just trust me on this one, it gives the icing extra va va voom! 

Remember, the paler the icing, the better. 

In another bowl, make the same mixture but use slightly less icing and use cocoa powder. Chocolate icing should be chocolatey, right? So don't be frugal. You want a deep chocolate colour.

Then using a piping bag, hold the nozzle end and roll the piping bag down over your fist(it just makes it easier to spoon the icing in without getting it everywhere). In one half of the bag, spoon in the vanilla icing and in the other half spoon in the chocolate, roll back up and get ready to pipe. 

Starting at the edge of your cake, spiral the icing so you end up in the middle. 

Cut the Oreos in half with a sharp knife and place on top.

And there we have it! You can use other biscuits, I have used jammy dodgers before which were deeeelicious! 

Have a great day and remember... it's Friday tomorrow!

Love Hana xx

   

Upcycling photo frames

Call me sentimental and possibly sad but when I saw my writing in print for the first time it was a really special moment. So I decided to frame it! I had a hunt around the house for a spare frame but no luck. So I thought a spot of upcycling was required. 

I dug out an old frame from Wilko and covered it in wrapping paper. The paper I used is from Paperchase (the best shop in the world). I mounted my clipping onto a scrap of wallpaper and stuck that into the frame. All you need is a bit of PVA to stick it down and you've made a pretty little photo frame for those special memories. 

H xxx

Rolo Sandwich Cookies- with handmade caramel!

Hello! Hope you all had a lovely weekend! So I thought I would hold this post back a bit but I've been asked by lots of people at my work to share the recipe after they tried these scrummy cookies on Friday. You can make pretty much whatever filling you fancy to go into these little stacks of deliciousness, I chose chocolate and caramel- both fillings handmade! 

So this recipe is the same as the Millie's Cookie's recipe I posted last week, but the cookies are shaped slightly differently and of course, the all important filling. 

You will need: 

125g salted butter

100g light brown soft sugar

125g caster sugar

1 egg

2 tbsp vanilla extract- extract is always better than essence. The vanilla I always use is Madagascan Vanilla Extract.

225g self-raising flour

1/2 tsp salt

For the chocolate filling:

125g icing sugar

100g Cocoa powder

100g salted butter 

For the caramel:

200g granulated sugar

90g salted butter

120ml double cream 

and if you want salted caramel, add a teaspoon of salt. If you are running short on time, you can also used Nestle Carnation caramel (which I could easily just eat with a spoon) 

How to make: 

• Always remember to pre heat your oven! Whack it up to 180 degrees Celsius.
• Put the butter in the microwave or over a low heat to melt slightly, if in the microwave, no longer than 30 seconds, you don't want to totally melt it, it's just to make it easier when mixing.
• Cream the butter, then add sugar (both brown and caster). Once it's all mixed, add in the egg and the vanilla. I tend to stir the egg in rather than use an electric whisk.   
• Add the flour and salt.
• Use a spoon for this as it will get quite, well, doughy. 
• If the mix is a little warm from the butter or it's a bit soft, put it in the fridge for a bit. 
• For a little tip, run your hands under cold water for when you roll the dough- stops sticky hands! 

• Roll the dough into thin sausages- just over 1 inch in thickness. 
• Using a knife, slice the sausages so you they are an inch and a half tall. 

• Shape them with your hands, as you can see in the photos. 
• Pop them onto a tray, evenly spaced and bake for 7 minutes.
• They will sink in the oven into perfectly sized sandwich cookies. 

• Once they have cooled (use a cooling rack) make your chocolate filling. Mix the butter, cocoa powder and icing sugar to taste. 
• For the caramel heat the sugar in a medium saucepan over a medium heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. 
• The sugar will form clumps which will melt into a thick amber-coloured liquid. Be careful not to burn!
• Once the sugar has melted, stir in the butter. The caramel will bubble rapidly when the butter is added so step back! 
• Stir the butter into the caramel until it's totally melted- should take 2-3 minutes. 
• Very slowly, add the cream whilst stirring. The caramel will bubble again- just a pre warning!
• Allow the mixture to boil for a minute, it will rise in the pan as it boils. 
• Remove from the heat and allow to cool before adding to your cookies. 
• While the caramel is cooling, use a piping bag and pipe rings of chocolate onto the cookies- don't go too close to the edge!

• Pour in the caramel (yummmmmm) you won't need loads as it will over flow. Just enough to cover the cookie with a good coating. If you are using pre made caramel use a tea spoon to dollop inside the chocolate ring.
• Pop the lids on and your work is done! 

Give them a go, you will be surprised at how easy they are! 

H xx

Soon to be a sugar rush...

{I took a masterclass course at Fair Cake in London a year or so ago, I would highly recommend it to any budding cake makers!}

So I'm aware there is nothing much going on in my sugar category, but fear not, there will soon. I needed to re stock and things are taking their sweet time.

I used to make, decorate and design wedding cakes before becoming a journo so I will share a few tips, tricks and tutorials for anyone who fancies giving it a go! 

H xx 

Super simple banana and honey loaf

So not the best of Sundays today... I hit a curb whilst driving to pick some blackberries and blew out two tires. Stupid curb. So instead of an autumnal themed bake today, I am going to show you something just as good. I've had lots of requests for this recipe, so I can promise you it will go down a treat. This squidgy slice of banana and honey goodness is the bees knees (BEE PUN!),and the recipe is one I swear by. (Thank you Rachel for introducing me to it!)

{made friends with this little lady whilst waiting for someone to rescue me}

You will need:

125g butter

150g caster sugar

2 teaspoons of vanilla extract 

1 egg

2 very ripe bananas- A great little trick with banana bread is to use the blackest bananas you can use- they pack the most flavour. If I can see some are on the turn, I pop them into a zip lock bag and leave them on the window in the sun, speeds the process up! 

220g self raising flour

2 tablespoons of clear runny honey

60ml buttermilk or full fat milk 

How to make:  

Remember to pre heat the oven and line your tin (2lb). I used a silicone liner, partly laziness and partly because it looks cute.

Put the butter, sugar and vanilla into a saucepan and melt. Be careful not to burn! Keep at consistent temperature. 

Leave to cool slightly. Whilst that's chilling out, mash up your ripe bananas. Mine aren't as ripe as I would have liked, I normally use totally black ones. 

Add in the banana, don't mash it too smooth, it's quite nice to get little bits. Mix it in with a wooden spoon. Then add your honey.  

Then add the egg. Mix well with a spoon. It's important to make sure the mix is cool enough- you don't want scrambled eggs! 

Stir in the milk. Don't freak out, your mixture will look slightly more runny than usual cake recipes. But that is part of the magic.

Pop in the oven for 35-40 minutes, banana bread is a wet cake (eww) so when you test your cake with a skewer, it probably wont come out totally clean- that's a good thing!  

And that's that! I am going to put my feet up with a cuppa now. A note for people who appreciate tea as much as I do, try a chocolate tea. I know it sounds pretty grim, but you may be pleasantly surprised. 

Will be posting my Rolo Cookie Sandwiches tomorrow... 

Love Hana xxx

And that's the way the cookie crumbles... Millie's Cookies style!

This week has flown by at an alarming speed, I almost don’t feel ready for the weekend! Actually, ignore that, that’s a ridiculous comment. So, I thought I would let you in on a secret… I have found the perfect cookie recipe. You know when you eat a cookie, you want it to be soft on the inside and with a slight crunch around the edge? Yeah? NAILED IT.

I’m making this very dramatic, and I’m aware I’m building your expectations, but trust me, they are worth every crumb. 

You will need:

125g salted butter

100g light brown soft sugar

125g caster sugar

1 egg

2 tbsp vanilla extract- extract is always better than essence. The vanilla I always use is Madagascan Vanilla Extract.

225g self-raising flour

1/2 tsp salt

200g chocolate chips 

Little tip- I prefer to use a hand-held electric whisk for this recipe.

How to make:

• Always remember to pre heat your oven! Whack it up to 180 degrees Celsius.
• Put the butter in the microwave or over a low heat to melt slightly, if in the microwave, no longer than 30 seconds, you don't want to totally melt it, it's just to make it easier when mixing.
• Cream the butter, then add sugar (both brown and caster). Once it's all mixed, add in the egg and the vanilla. I tend to stir the egg in rather than use an electric whisk.   
• Add the flour, salt, then the chocolate chips.
• Use a spoon for this as it will get quite, well, doughy. 
• If the mix is a little warm from the butter or it's a bit soft, put it in the fridge for a bit. 
• For a little tip, run your hands under cold water for when you roll the cookie balls- stops your hands from getting too sticky!

• Mine are quite big, so I rolled mine into golf ball sizes, if you want a bit smaller, just roll smaller balls!
• Pop them onto a flat tin with greaseproof paper, make sure they are evenly spaced as they will spread. 
• If yours are my kind of size, bake for no longer than 9 mins, I know that's stupidly accurate, but every minute counts! If they are more of a walnut size ball, then 7 mins. 
• Don't worry if you think they don't look done when the timer goes off. They will set and carry on cooking for a few minutes once out of the oven. They will also be a bit soft to touch, but that's a good thing!  

Leave your cookies on a wire rack to cool and to avoid getting stuck to the tray! I’ve gone with the good old fashioned chocolate chip theme, but you really can throw in whatever you like with these fellas. Maybe cranberry and white chocolate? Or dark chocolate and macadamia nuts?

As I work in a newsroom, it’s a pretty big office, so I made a huge batch of these bad boys and took them into work today. I would have to say, the response was a huge success. I had emails pinging and people telling me how yummy they were whilst stuffing in the next mouthful before they had finished the first. 

Job well done I would say. 

Have a wonderful weekend, it’s meant to be a sunny one! 

H xx

Pinch, punch... how to make a silver beaded bracelet

Hello autumn! Every October I forget how beautiful this time of the year is. The freshness in the air, the orange against the blue sky and of course, the crafts and bakes that come with it! 

My tortoise, Marley, has been absolutely loving his time in the garden over the past few days, although he seems to be very confused by conkers. 

So today, as promised I am going to teach you how to make the most simple piece of jewellery EVER. This was one of the first things I made, they are so quick and with Christmas slowly creeping up, they make adorable little presents.  

You will need: 

Beads or crystal chips: I have used Aventurine beads from an old bracelet. 

Silver wire: as I’ve mentioned before, I would always advise to use real silver wire, rather than plated. It’s slightly more expensive, but it’s worth it! I bought a reel of silver from amazon for £10. That will make you lots of jewellery pieces!

Jewellery tools: I bought my set from Amazon (noticing a theme?!) for £15 which included 7 different tools.

A ruler- if you want to be super accurate!

Clasps: you can get these from most arts and craft shops. I got mine from John Lewis. And if in doubt... Amazon! 

How to make:

Make a loop with the silver wire. Then, judging the size of your bead or crystal chip, cut it away from the reel. You will need space for your bead to fit as well as another loop. Remember, always cut more than you think you will need!

Slide your bead onto the wire. Repeat and make a loop so the bead is secure.

Then cut another piece of wire, thread it through the first link’s loop and secure with a new loop. Repeat the process. 

Keep on going making links to the size you would like your bracelet to be. 

When you reach your desired length, cut about 2cm of wire, thread it through your last link and just make a circle. 

At the other end of the bracelet, thread a clasp through. 

And simple! It should take no longer than an hour, give one a go when you’ve got your feet up with a glass of wine, it’s strangely therapeutic! 

Speaking of wine, one of my friends has asked for a jewellery making evening this Friday, lets see how well we do..!

Have a lovely week!

H xx