Cookies With Love!

These cookies are amazing! They are FAIRLY simple to make and don't take much effort,but the result is fantastic! They would also be great party/wedding favours!
All you need is:
1 Quantity of best Ever Sugar Cookie Dough,cut into heart shapes and baked,then cooled for 30 minutes.
100g Blackcurrant Jam,sieved and placed in a piping bag
 and 150g Pink Strawberry Flavoured Glacé Icing(see below how to make).

Strawberry Flavoured Glacé Icing:
100g Icing(aka. Confectionery/Confectioners) Sugar.
4tsp water,mixed with 1tsp of strawberry flavouring and pink food colouring.

Mix the ingredients together until the mix is well combined,if the mix is still runny,add 10g of icing sugar,and keep doing so until the mix runs of the spoon,sets on top of the mix,and sinks in after 5 SECONDS.

To Assemble:

When the cookies are cooled,pipe all the way around the outline of the heart shapes cookies,about 1 cm away from the edge.
Fill the cookies with 1tbsp of the Glacé Icing and spread around using the back of a teaspoon.
Decorate with sprinkles and left over Blackcurrant Jam.

Here's what MINE looked like:

Thanks for reading my blog! ~Jake.

Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte (Black Forest Gâteaux)

Sorry i haven't posted in 4 days! It has been exams week at my school this week and I've been hectically studying like nobody's business!

This is a recipe share from one of my all-time favourite baking recipe books: THE HAIRY BIKERS' BIG BOOK OF BAKING! This book follows Si and Dave; The Hairy Bikers' as they travelled across Europe in their European Bakeation Show on BBC (As this book is the book with all the recipes they made along the way on their TV show!).

This is a well known cake but i bet you NEVER knew the original name from Germany; Which is where it originated from!
The name comes from "Schwarz-Wälder" Meaning Black Forest and "Kirschtorte" meaning Kirsch Cake     (As Kirsch is a cherry flavoured liquor,for those who don't drink!).

Here is a link to where you can buy the book in:
A) The US (PLEASE NOTE: IT IS ONLY AVAILABLE ON KINDLE ON AMAZON.COM)
  http://www.amazon.com/Hairy-Bikers-Book-Baking-ebook/dp/B007I4CAQ8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1360944403&sr=8-1&keywords=hairy+bikers+big+book+of+baking
B) The UK
 http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Hairy-Bikers-Book-Baking/dp/0297863266/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1360944496&sr=8-1

Here is the recipe:

• 225g/8oz butter, softened, plus extra for greasing
• 225g/8oz caster sugar
• 160g/5½oz self-raising flour
• 65g/2¼oz cocoa powder
• ½ tsp baking powder
• 4 medium eggs

Filling and decoration

• 340g/11¾oz jar of morello cherry jam
• 2 x 80g/2¾oz packs of sweetened dried sour cherries
• 2–3 tbsp Kirsch (Or water)
• 100ml/3½fl oz cherry brandy (ideally morello cherry brandy) (Optional)
• 500ml/18fl oz double cream
• 50g/2oz dark chocolate, coarsely grated
• fresh cherries, to decorate
  
  

  Preparation method

  1. Preheat the oven to 190°C/375F/Gas 5. Grease 2 x 20cm/8 in loose-based sandwich tins and line the bases with baking parchment.
  2. Put the butter, sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and eggs into a food processor and blend until smooth and thick. You may need push the mixture down from the sides a couple of times to make sure the mixture is well blended.
  3. Divide the batter between the prepared cake tins and spread it out evenly with a rubber spatula.
  4. Bake for 22–25 minutes or until the cakes are nicely risen and just beginning to shrink away from the sides of the tins. Remove them from the oven and cool for 5 minutes before turning out on to a wire rack. Take off the lining paper and leave the cakes to cool.
  5. When the cakes are cold, cut them in half, horizontally, with a long-bladed serrated knife. Take care to keep the knife parallel to the work surface, to get a good even cut. Place the cakes back on the wire rack or a board, cut sides up.
  6. For the filling, put the jam in a saucepan with the sour cherries and Kirsch and place over a low heat. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook for 6–8 minutes, stirring, until the jam has melted and the cherries are beginning to swell. Leave to cool for 15 minutes.
  7. Sprinkle the cherry brandy over the chocolate sponges, then spread three of them with the sour cherry mixture and leave to cool. Make sure that the sponge without the cherry topping is from the top half of a cake.
  8. Whip 300ml/10fl oz of the cream with an electric hand-whisk until soft peaks form.
  9. Transfer one of the sponges (with the cherry topping) very carefully to a cake stand or plate – slide a cake tin base under the sponge to help you. Using a couple of pudding spoons, dollop about a third of the whipped cream gently on top of the cherry mixture. There is no need to spread it out, but try to keep the spoonfuls evenly spaced over the cake. Sprinkle with a little of the grated chocolate.
  10. Top with another sponge and repeat the layers twice more. You should end up with three layers of sponge, cherries, cream and chocolate. Place the final sponge on top, with its top surface facing upwards.
  11. Whip the remaining 200ml/8fl oz of the cream with an electric hand-whisk until soft peaks form.
  12. Using the flat side of a palette knife, spread about three tablespoons of the cream over the top of the cake, taking it all the way to the edge. Spoon the remaining cream into a piping bag fitted with a large, plain nozzle and pipe rosettes around the edge of the cake. Tip almost all the remaining grated chocolate into the centre and sprinkle the rest over the rosettes.
  13. Decorate with fresh cherries if you have some. Keep the cake cool or chill until ready to serve.
  14. It’s best to eat it the same day as it is made – how could you resist? – but if you need to make the cake in advance, chill it in the fridge for up to 24 hours and allow to stand at room temperature for 30 minutes before serving.
      
      
      Here is what the book looks like:
      
      
      
      
      
      Thanks for reading my blog! ~Jake,
      
      
      
      

Nielsen-Massey Extracts (Product Review)

Nielsen Massey is an American extract company based in Illinois,USA with the main production factory in Netherlands.
I had never used this extract before last week,when i received some in the post,but i had seen in used on all the famous Youtube channel's like Cooking And Crafting and Yoyomax12 ect.
I was so happy when i received it in the post,because i know how expensive it is,but it is equally,if not more luxurious!
The extract i received was Madagascan Bourbon Pure Vanilla Extract which tastes DIVINE!
If you ever get the chance to buy some of this- i seriously RECOMMEND IT!

This was what it looks like!:

Thanks for reading my blog! ~Jake.

Desserts101 (Yet another Youtube Channel Review!)

Desserts101 is a Youtube channel,owned by a dear friend of mine-Joseph Khoury;who lives in Nazareth,Israel.
He is very good at making the step-by-step videos on how to make various baked goods,for his age,and i can see him going very far in life and a baking career!
He always tries to help you get the best result,from the best ingredients,from the best price and doesn't skip little steps-it's all in there!
He has been having a few problems with people writing nasty comments on his videos saying he should stop making them,but trust me,just watch one and you will HAVE to subscribe and watch them all!
Plus,he must be very skilled if he can speak his dominant language AND a second one, know how many Youtube Bakers can say they can do that?!
Go and check out his channel here,you won't regret it!:http://www.youtube.com/user/desserts101.

Here is Joseph in action and some of his makes:

(Pictures courtesy of Google,with the search "desserts101 youtube").

Thank-you for reading my blog! ~Jake.
PS: DON'T FORGET TO CHECK OUT HIS CHANNEL!

Cookies,Cupcakes and Cardio (Youtube Channel Review)

I <3 this channel!
Jen is the crafty baker who owns this YT channel and it's content and she is one SMART COOKIE!
She is very informative and i like how she always "gets straight to the point" unlike other channels,who dordle on for about half an hour.
The show is VERY WELL organised and i love that it's always a different thing like cupcakes,cakepops and cookies! I also like her quirky little quick tip and review videos!
Jen run's quite a few competitions throughout every year and currently has one running at the moment,but you'll have to watch this video to see what to do to enter!: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcUCmSzGMzU&feature=share&list=UUg-YSRB6TsIq-c5PUZ0F1Jg.
Jen is all over the internet and can be found here:http://www.youtube.com/user/CupcakesandCardio?feature=watch,here:http://www.facebook.com/jjscustomcakery,here:http://www.jjscustomcakery.com/ and here:http://cookiescupcakesandcardio.com/!
Here are my favourite videos for each topic:
Cupcake:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIyaXXMBytk&list=PL9AD4C02CC2A5B5B3 (Pumpkin pie is really tasty,well to me and i thought this is really innovative!)
Cookie:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3p9uefVhu5g&list=PL9E01E715FB6D60BF (i love poinsettias and it looks great!)
Cardio:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JUmrtAyxAk&list=PL17C45AB761990325 (canada is so pretty and im jelous and it looks so amazing!)

Thank you for reading my review blog post and don't forget to go and check Jen's channel out! ~Jake.

Chocolate Orange Gâteau (The weekly picture) :D

This is how to make the rather DELICIOUS chocolate orange gâteau that is featured in my blogs weekly photo box this week. This cake is extremely tasty and the the genoise sponge is AMAZINGLY moist!  This went down really well with my family and would look even better with chocolate orange segments on top to decorate!

Ingredients(For The Cake):

2 1/2 cups unsalted butter, at room temperature
2  cups granulated sugar, divided
4 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1/3 cup grated orange zest (6 oranges)
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice, divided
3/4 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Ingredients(Orange Whipped Cream):

2 Tbsp. freshly squeezed orange juice                                                                                                                                                      1 Tbsp. fresh orange zest, chopped                                                                                                                                                            ½ cup heavy whipping cream                                                                                                                                                                          1 Tbsp. icing sugar (aka. powdered/confectioners/confectionery sugar in the US and Canada. :D)

Ingredients:(Chocolate Fudge Frosting):

1/2 cup butter.

3 cubes of 1oz baking chocolate,

2 cups icing sugar

3/4 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract.

Method(Cake):

1.)Heat the oven to 175C(150 fan oven)/350F/Gas Mark 4. Grease and flour two 20cm (8 inch) round cake pans. Line the bottoms with parchment paper.2.)Cream the butter and 2 cups of the granulated sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer for about 5 minutes, or until pale and fluffy. With the mixer on medium speed, beat in the eggs, one at a time, and the orange zest.
3.)In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In another bowl, combine the orange juice, the buttermilk, and vanilla. Add the flour and buttermilk mixtures alternately to the batter, beginning and ending with the flour. Divide the batter evenly between the pans, smooth the tops, and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until a metal rod inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.
4.) Cool the cakes for 30 minutes whilst making the whipped cream and icing, then tip out onto a cooling rack and place in the freezer for 20 minutes (this is a new tip i came accross which helps out A LOT when you want to assemble cakes/Gateaux's).

Method(Whipped Cream):

1.)Whip cream until soft peaks form.                                                                                                                                                             2.)Stir in freshly squeezed  orange juice, fresh orange zest and powdered sugar.                                                               3.)Continue whipping until peaks are firm.                                                                                                                                      4.)Refrigerate until needed.                                                                                                                                                                                  5.) **OPTIONAL** Add a few drops of orange food colouring to the whipped cream at stage 2 to make the cake more aesthetically pleasing!

Method(Frosting):)

1.)Melt the chocolate and butter in the microwave, or in the top of a double boiler (bain marie). In a large bowl, combine the icing sugar, vanilla and 1/2 cup of the milk. Blend in the melted chocolate mixture. Add remaining milk, a little at a time, until desired consistency is achieved.                                                                                  2.)Let the frosting stand until it becomes spreadable (the frosting will thicken as it cools).

To assemble,on a cake board place one of the cakes,then spread with whipped cream and Cover with the other cake layer,frost the top and sides(if you wish,i didn't!) of the cake with the fudge frosting using an off-set palette knife et voila! a beautiful french cake! I decorated with icing sugar sprinkled through a sieve onto a pattern i cut out of grease-proof(parchment) paper. Enjoy! This is what it should look like:

Thanks for reading my blog! ~Jake :D 

Red Velvet (aka. Waldorf-Astoria) Cake!

Red Velvet is (well to me) the MOST FAMOUS CAKE IN THE WORLD! -Next to the Sachertorte!
It's origin is known to be from the USA but there is no exact place known to be the birthplace of this magnificent creation,that is why there is 2 names in the blog title Red Velvet AND Waldorf-Astoria cake,as there is still a dispute from the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City,New York that THEY invented it!
Find out more here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_velvet_cake.

Ingredients(For the Cake):

150g Butter or Margarine

150g Caster Sugar.

1 tsp Vanilla Extract.

3 Free Range Eggs.

50ml Buttermilk or Greek Yogurt.

2 tsp No Flavour Red Food Colouring (Such as Wilton or Americolor Brands).

150g Self-Raising Flour.

60g Cocoa Powder.

Ingredients(For the Cream Cheese Frosting):

100g Butter or Margarine.

200g Cream Cheese (I used Philidelphia)

500g Icing Sugar

1 tsp Vanilla Extract.

Method:

1.) Preheat the oven to 170C(150C Fan Oven)/ Gas Mark 3/325F.

2. Grease and Line a DEEP 15cm (6 Inch) round cake tin.

3.) Beat the butter,sugar and vanilla extract together in a large bowl until pale and fluffy.

4.) Add the eggs one at a time (If the mixture LOOKS curdled add a teaspoon of the measured flour.

5.) Mix the food colouring with the buttermilk or yogurt (whichever you are using), then beat this mixture into the butter mixture.

6.) Fold in the flour and cocoa powder,which has been sifted and mix until well combined.

7.) Pour into the prepared baking tin and bake for 30 minutes or until slightly golden on the edges and a metal skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.

8.) When fully cooled (for about 2 hours) slice the cake into 3 equal layers,leave to cool for a further 30 minutes.

9.) Whilst the 3 layers are cooling make the frosting by creaming the butter and cream cheese together and slowly beating in the icing sugar a little at a time,then add the vanilla extract (if the mixture looks a bit too thick,add a teaspoon of milk).

10.) To assemble the Red Velvet cake, place one of the layers on the cake board and spread 1/4 of the frosting ontop,followed by another layer of cake and another 1/4 of the frosting and the final layer. With the left over 1/2 of the frosting,ice the top and sides of the cake. Decorate in any way you wish,i sprinkled with some chocolate shreds. 

11.) serves 12-15 people or 6-8 VERY HUNGRY people!

Here is what the cake should look like:

(Picture courtesy of Jake Molineux)

Enjoy!

As you can probably guess,BUTTERMILK was today's ingredient!

Thanks for reading my blog! ~Jake