Mince Pies

In my house Christmas Eve is traditionally the time where we make mince pies and this year was no exception. I took the opportunity to get a little guidance from my mum and also use her food processor to speed up the pastry making process.

Recipe

Ingredients

100g Unsalted Butter

225g Plain Flour

1 jar of shop bought mincemeat

Anything else for adding to the mincemeat (we used dried cranberries, grated apple and some fruity booze from the back of the drinks cabinet)

Milk for brushing

Icing sugar for dusting

Method

I used the food processor for making the pastry so it was super quick and easy to do. The butter and flour are blitzed together to make breadcrumbs. Then water is added bit by bit until, as if by magic, a clump of pastry appears. I then put that pastry in the fridge while we set to work on the mincemeat.

We usually put whatever we can find in the cupboards in order to beef up the shop bought mincemeat. As you can see from the ingredients above the ingredients above were less “traditional” maybe. But they worked.

In my house the mince pies are never totally closed but instead topped by a pastry Christmas shape. This year I rolled out the pastry to make trees and holly leaves to adorn the pies. I then brushed them with a little milk to make sure they went a nice golden brown. I made 15 pies in total and these went into the oven at 180°C for about 20 mins.

 

After cooling I dusted them with a little icing sugar so they looked like they had been left out in the snow.

Results

I was really pleased by the way these pies turned out. The pastry was nice and light and crumbly. Although it wasn’t the same thickness for all the pies; none were too thick or thin. And not a soggy bottom anywhere! They were enjoyed by my whole family. Although my dad pronounced that the mincemeat “could have more booze”. I tend to agree and I think this was due to using the fruity stuff rather than something like brandy.

Next time I make pastry, which will be in my food processor less house, I will have to make it by hand. I hope that it isn’t too difficult of a challenge!

Score: 8.5/10

Soundtrack: Carols from Kings (another tradition!) 

Ginger Bread House Kit

Another cheating “bake” as it doesn’t involve an oven or even mixing of ingredients at any stage. I received this ginger bread house kit as a present from my lovely housemates in Newcastle two Christmas’s ago. I thought it was finally time to give it a go and share the results.

Recipe

The kit contained everything you would need to make an awesome gingerbread house:

Panels of gingerbread: 2 x side walls, 1 front, 1 back, 2 x roof panels, 1 chimney

A gingerbread man, snowman and Christmas tree

Ready-made royal icing in a plastic bag

Jelly beans, gummy bears, sprinkles, boiled sweets

I also supplemented with decorations that I found in the kitchen cupboard

Results

The house was pretty straight forward to put up; especially with the tray provided. It had channels to put the icing and the pieces in so they didn’t fall over. After leaving the icing to set for 15 minutes it was then time to decorate. The hole I had cut in the end of the icing bag to do the piping had, by that point, got so large and the icing was so thick, that I used my hands to mould it into the right shape to stick the sweets. The gingerbread man and the chimney never made it onto the house…

Overall I am pretty proud of my little house. It’s not the neatest and in the end it was a cheat. But it is taking pride of place on the dining room table and is adding a bit of Christmas cheer. 

Score: No baking = no score

Soundtrack: It’s a family Christmas (Lots of crooners!)

Dr. Oetker Double Chocolate Brownies

So I admit that this one is a big old cheat. I had a box of Brownie Mix in my cupboard that was just crying out to be made up on a cold Sunday afternoon in December. Whenever I have tried to make brownies from scratch they have never ever turned out right so I have always used packet mixes as they usually end up, just about, better than any of my solo attempts. So I suppose you could call this a review rather than a straight up, skills improving, bake.

I followed the instructions on the back of the box (add water, egg & oil, mix, add chocolate chips) and added some of my own white chips for good measure. Then it’s into the silicon baking tray and into the oven. The mixture was very thick but there wasn’t much of it and it was only about 1 – 2 cm deep in the tin. I wanted quite a firm brownie so I left it in for the full 25 minutes. After it had totally cooled I added my last bit of ‘personalisation’. I had a lot of cake topping left from last week’s buns so I covered the top with that.

The brownies turned out pretty well; very thin and very chewy but also very chocolatey and very yummy. They might be a bit sickly sweet for some people’s taste but I think that just means a little bit goes a long way!

Score: No score this time as no real skill was involved!

Soundtrack: Talk That Talk, Rihanna

Orange Buns with Chocolate Topping

For my second attempt I haven’t changed much. I am sticking to the simple sponge recipe (as before) and trying to get the buns better. This time, because I am making them to celebrate the decorations going up in my office, they have a tiny bit of a Christmas twist. I added orange essence to the mixture and decorated with chocolate cake covering and festive sprinkles.

Results

I was a bit nervous about these as I was feeding them to other people and there weren’t enough for me to have a sneaky taste before. They came out of the oven looking a bit pale but the chocolate soon covered that up. I was really pleased with how the covering worked out. I used a jug to pour it out and it easily moved to totally cover the top of the cakes.

The cakes went down well in my office. Although they sparked debate as to what was a bun, a fairy cake or a cupcake. The sponge was very light; perhaps too much so. I think this was due to slightly undercooking. The chocolate topping was well liked and the sprinkles gave it an interesting crunch. The orange flavour was very subtle and no one commented on it. I think the orange essence wasn’t big enough to get through against everything else. I think it’s probably better to use juice/zest to get that flavour.

I’m glad that second time around this recipe went better; although I am not giving a high score as it is something quite simple.

Overall score: 5.5/10

Soundtrack: Christmas, Michael Bublé

Plain Buns with Lemon Icing

For my first bake I thought I’d start with the basics with a tried and tested recipe (passed down to me from my mum). I did attempt to mix it up a bit with some lemon flavour icing sugar that I spotted on my last trip to the supermarket and by having a go at piping.

Recipe

Plain Sponge

(Makes 12 buns)

4oz Self raising flour

4oz Caster sugar

4oz Butter

2 Eggs

1tsp Baking Powder

1tsp Vanilla essence

Lemon Icing

125g Lemon icing sugar

100g Butter

3tbsp Water

Results

The buns did not turn out as I had expected. My new ‘Great British Bake Off’ mixing bowl did not work its magic in this case. The sponge was quite dense and stodgy and very bland. The blandness is easy to explain – I simply forgot the vanilla essence. The consistency, I think, owes itself to the fact I used medium eggs not large so the batter was quite thick. The buns also ended up cooking with this strange bobble in the middle. But at least I know the oven in my new house seems to work well and I have been reminded that I need to buy cooling rack.

I followed the instructions on the back of the icing sugar packet to make the butter icing. There wasn’t enough by far to cover all 12 buns and it was quite thick and very buttery. However, I enjoyed piping the icing (but not cleaning out the bag after) and think I will continue to have a go with that.

Overall score: 4/10

Soundtrack: Ed Sheeran +, Ed Sheeran

Hello and Welcome

Hello and welcome to my new blog!

Why all the baking?

I am a Brownie leader who has set herself the daunting task of completing the Queen’s Guide Award; all in just over a year. (Before I turn 26 and am deemed too old for such a challenge.) The Queen’s Guide Award is “highest award members can work toward in guiding” and involves all sorts of different sections; including “personal skill development”. So, in order to complete this section, over the next 12 months at least 60 hours of my time will be filled baking and blogging.

And the baubles?

I also enjoy all kinds of crafty activities and so when I try something new or make something I am particularly proud of I will also post about the resulting “baubles”. I might even post things about the other sections of my Queen’s Guide Award…