Back to School Muffins

going back to school is so hard after you have had such a fun past few weeks of summer. That is why I decided to make some muffins so that after school I can just sit with these lovely treats before getting on with my work. The cakes turned out a delight and below is the recipe for my twist on Chocolate chip muffins.

Ingredients:(makes 12)

-250g of self raising flour

-a pinch of salt

-1 teaspoon of baking powder

-50g of butter

-75g of caster sugar (brown sugar also works)

-100g of butterscotch drops (can be bought from most big supermarkets)

-2 eggs

-2 teaspoons of vanilla essence

-250ml of milk

-12 muffin cases

Method:

1. Put a paper case into each hole of a cupcake tin

2. Sift the self raising flour, salt and baking powder into a large bowl

3. Turn the oven to 200'c (gas mark 6)

4.Cut the butter into chunks and ad it to the mixture (DON'T MELT THE BUTTER)

5. Rub the butter into the flour so it looks like breadcrumbs

6. Add the sugar and 3/4 of the butterscotch drops

7. Stir the mixture with a wooden spoon

8. Break the eggs into a SEPARATE bowl and stir them hard with a fork

9. Add the vanilla and milk and stir everything well

10. Pour the egg mixture into the flour

11. Mix everything together, ( the mixture may be a little lumpy)

12. Spoon the mixture into the paper cases to the top and sprinkle the rest of the butterscotch on top

13. Bake the muffins for 20 minutes until they have risen

14. Leave them to cool for about 5 minutes and then eat them fresh or put them in a tin for later. (they must be eaten within 3 days unless frozen)

If you have any recipes that put you in the back to school mood then don't hesitate to comment below.

Naked Dough- A new idea to society

One thing I love more than anything is a pop-up shop selling a new idea or a unique kind of food that I have rarely tried before. 

My experience today was just that. When I was a young child my favourite thing to do after helping my mum with the baking was to lick the bowl. However my mum always warned me that I would get an upset tummy if I ate too much cookie dough or cake batter. 

However, this new pop up shop in Old Street station makes raw cookie dough with no raw egg therefore, the dough is perfectly safe to eat as much as you want.This place, Naked Dough is simply raw dough served in a cup, cone or milkshake with a range of flavours that you would usually bake up and serve as a cookie.

The flavours include:

• Unicorn food- sprinkles and marshmallows
• Emoji poo- chocolate chips
• Mud baths- chocolate dough
• Hazel's nut- nutella and kinder bueno
• Ed Sheeran- salted caramel and honeycomb
• Nutting better- crunchy peanut butter

Although very filling this new idea is a great idea if you want a sweet snack whilst walking through the station. Not only did I have an enjoyable time sitting in their very lively restaurant but also loved the unique idea of serving cookie dough, like ice cream, in a cup of cone.

 This idea to serve cookie dough in a tub or cone, not just a bowl about to be washed up is any young child's dream and both me and my friend had an enjoyable time as well.

https://www.naked-dough.co.uk/

summer treats

Summer is one of the best times of year for baking. In all newspapers and magazines there is always a recipe or two for something summery like a smoothie or a fruity cake or some kind. Therefore I decide to write my own list of amazing recipe for the summer. Lottie’s top 3 treats for the sun.

3. Berry smoothies:

Throughout the summer there are many farms that offer you to pick your own fruit and vegetables from a selection they have grown over the previous year. Me and my dad have a joyous time will going to these farms and come back with peas, spinach and once even carrots. However, we always come back with boxes of two things. Strawberries and raspberries. In the UK both of these products are expensive so when we go to these farms, as there produce is cheaper, we make sure to pick as many as possible. However, both strawberries and raspberries go off quite quickly so we need a few recipes to use them up. My favourite is probable the easiest and here it is.

Ingredients: (serves 2)

·       ½ a cup of raspberries

·       ½ a cup of strawberries

·       ½ a banana

·       ¼ of a cup of plain/Greek yoghurt

·       ½ a cup of milk

·       ½ a tablespoon of sugar/honey

Method:

1.    Pour the milk and yoghurt into the blender.

2.    Cut up the strawberries and banana and put them in the blender along with the raspberries and sugar/honey.

3.    Blend until smooth

The recipe is a simple as that, not only is it tasty but it also contains calcium and is full of vitamin C so is healthy as well

2.Shortbread:

Another recipe I love during summer is biscuits and one thing I find particularly easy to make is shortbread. This recipe is from one of my favourite recipe books and is a fun and easy bake for families of all ages.

Ingredients: (20-30 biscuits)

·       200g unsalted butter

·       100g golden caster sugar

·       300g plain flour

·       Pinch of salt

Method:

1.    Preheat the oven to 180’c (gas mark 4)

2.    Cream together the butter and sugar in a big mixing bowl. Keep mixing until it is light, pale and fluffy

3.    Sift in the flour and salt beat the mixture until it is a dough, then bring together to form a ball.

4.    Put in the fridge for 45mins to an hour

5.    Dust the workshop with flour and roll out the dough

6.    Cut out your biscuits in any shape you wish and put them on a tray lined with no stick baking parchment

7.    Put them in the oven for 10-15 minutes

8.    Leave them to cool and then enjoy

This recipe was from the book let’s bake by Cathryn Dresser who was a former contestant on the Great British Bake off.

1   Chocolate bananas:

My favourite thing during summer is a barbecue. However although there are sausages, burgers and kebabs, there is also something else. Chocolate bananas. Here is a recipe for the simple but tasty, sweet but rich, delicious chocolate bananas.

Ingredients: (serves 4)

·       4 bananas

·       24 ounces of milk chocolate

·       100s and 1000s sprinkles

Method:

1.    Cut each banana lengthways no further than the bottom layer of skin.

2.    Place 6 squares of chocolate in the bottom of each banana

3.    Wrap in foil and cook over hot coals for ten minutes turning once.

4.    Remove the foil and sprinkle the bananas with whatever toppings you wish.

So there you have it. Lottie’s top 3 summer recipes. If you have any summer recipe ideas then I would love to hear them so please comment below

HAPPY BAKING!

Lottie X

Lottie's Cream Cheese and pesto twisters

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. I have been busy with exams and other things.

This weekend my brother had a homework assignment to create a solar system. He decided to use pastry to do it. However, he only used half the pastry. My mum said I could use the pastry in anyway I wanted. I decided I would make cheese twisters, like the ones they sell in farmers' markets. However, my idea was not just to make the obvious cheddar cheese ones. I wanted to make them less crumbly, more chewy kind of texture. That is why I did not use puff pastry, but, shortcrust pastry instead. I also decided that I would use the pesto ad cream cheese as the flavour. my idea worked just as I wanted it to and here is the recipe:

Lottie's Cream cheese and Pesto Twisters:(makes approximately 24)

ingredients:

• 100g of cream cheese
• 2tbsp's of fresh pesto
• 320g of puff pastry
• flour for dusting
• 1 egg beaten

Method:

1.  Heat the oven to 180-200 gas mark 6
2. Tip the cream cheese and pesto into a bowl and mix well
3. Roll out the pastry onto a lightly floured surface and roll into a rectangle shape. (if you can't do not worry, but when measuring later it will make life easier)
4. Cut your rolled out pastry in half
5. On one half spread the pesto and cream cheese mix as evenly as possible
6. Place the other half of the pastry on top like a sandwich
7. Cut this into strips about 1cm thick
8.twist the pastry's carefully as they rip if you pull them
9. place them on the tray and egg wash them with a beaten egg
10. cook them for 20-25 minutes until risen.

If you have any recipe idea made from leftover food then I would love to hear them so please comment below.
Lottie X

Newsflash

On the 8th of march in Telegraph magazine I have written an piece about a food course I experienced a few weeks ago. It was an enjoyable experience for me and I would love it if you read it

Thanks
Lottie X