Review of Lakeland's Fairytale Village Mould

I already own the Lakeland Fairy Tale Cottage Mould, which I had great fun using and putting together this Christmas themed chocolate house...

 

 

...but this house is big- I used 1.6kg of chocolate and chocolate paste to make and decorate. So when I was sent the Fairy Tale Village Mould I was interested to see whether it would be as easy working with the chocolate house mould in miniature.

 

The mould has enough parts to make four teeny houses, either in chocolate or gingerbread (of course I chose chocolate, yes you know me well!) with mini people and also some trees.

 

Top tips for using this smaller mould would be to use a cocktail stick or similar to ease the chocolate into the tiny gaps for the people's arms and legs. And also, when you are pushing the chocolate out of the moulds, made sure you do it straight away when you take it out of the fridge. If you have hot hands, or the kitchen is warm, the chocolate can start to melt straight away on these smaller parts as you handle them. I made the mistake of leaving mine out for a while before I tried to remove it, and left some of the people's legs behind- hence them being stood in a mould of 'snow' in the picture.

 

I've decorated my house using sugarpaste in red and white because I love those Christmassy colours together, but the possibilities are endless. My two girls are looking forward to decorating the other houses with sweets at some point before Christmas.

 

So here's the house...

 

To give you some idea of size, it's sitting on a 7" square board.

 





I would recommend this mould. They would make a lovely centrepiece for a dessert table displayed altogether on one board, or would make great gifts individually like this one. You could even fill it with sweets before you seal the roof.

I also think this would be great for other times of year. They'd look great in white chocolate, decorated with pastels and made into an Easter Egg hunt theme, or even lined up like beach huts for a summer dessert table.

This is definitely a product I'll be using again.

You can buy it from Lakeland here: http://www.lakeland.co.uk/18207/Fairy-Tale-Village-Mould

I was not paid to write this review, but was sent the mould free of charge. All views are my own.


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Review of Lakeland's Silicone Chocolate Box Shapes

Another Lakeland toy to play with? And it involves chocolate? Definitely count me in!

I've had experience with making chocolates with a hard plastic chocolate mould before, but not with silicone, so it required a bit of thinking about how to go about it, as the methods I used for a rigid mould wouldn't work so well with a flexible one.

I decided to apply the melted chocolate with a paintbrush which helped get the chocolate in all the places required, especially with the more intricate designs. In hindsight, it may have been better to let this harden, and then apply a second coat, as a couple of the chocolates didn't come out without breaking, but that's something to try next time.

I made a caramel sauce, and poured it into the chocolate mould once they had been in the fridge for about an hour (I was busy doing other things at the time, I don't think it necessarily needs this long). I left a space at the top of each mould- I didn't fill it completely to the top.  And then popped the mould back into the fridge.

After about half an hour, I melted more chocolate and added this on top of the caramel, then it went back in the fridge again to set. I tried to pop them out after half an hour, but this perhaps wasn't quite long enough as a couple of them cracked on coming out, so I chilled them for a bit longer (this could have been down to having too thin a coat and not the chilling time- I will need to experiment with this).

Second time lucky, the rest popped out without a problem, by pushing the mould from underneath.

I'm really pleased with how they look!

 

Not perfect, but pretty fab for the first attempt I think!

 

I'd definitely use this mould again. The chocolates would be great for presents, not just at Christmas time, but for birthdays, Mother's Day, and I'd also think about using them on my dessert tables.

I'm looking forward to trying out different flavour combinations- I think salted caramel and a chocolate orange ganache will be two I'll be trying out soon!

If you fancy giving them a go, you can buy them from Lakeland here: http://www.lakeland.co.uk/16442/Silicone-Chocolate-Box-Shapes

I was not paid to write this review, but was sent the mould free of charge. All views are my own.

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Peppermint Bark Mould from Lakeland

I love making new things in the kitchen. I get terribly bored doing the same thing over and over again. So an opportunity to play with a new toy is a definite winner. Team that with chocolate, and the fact it's from Lakeland, a shop that regularly does serious damage to my bank balance, well it's got to be a win-win situation!!

The Peppermint Bark Mould is incredibly easy to use. It comes with two sections, so you can make two lots at the same time, but do be aware that the instructions on the packet are for one side, not both, so double up if you are making two.

Melt 200g of milk chocolate, and pour half in each side of the mould, making sure it spreads out to all corners. Pop it in the fridge and go and do something else for a bit. Then melt 200g white chocolate and pour on top of the milk chocolate, half on each side. Bash up 4 or 5 candy canes in a plastic bag, and sprinkle the broken pieces on top of the white chocolate. Push it gently into the chocolate and pop it back in the fridge. After an hour it'll be hard enough to pop out of the mould.

 

And there you have it! And they fit perfectly in a clear Lakeland presentation/gift bag.

Brilliant for gifts this holiday season!

 

If you'd like to give it a go yourself, you can buy it here: http://www.lakeland.co.uk/18503/Peppermint-Bark-Mould

 

I was not paid to write this review, but was sent the mould free of charge. All views are my own.

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How to make a stripy vanilla and chocolate bundt cake

 

I've seen a few stripy cakes around recently, and after treating myself to a bargain bundt tin this week (£1.99 from Home Bargains!!!) I decided I needed to use it, instead of putting it in the cupboard and not using it for months. Not that I EVER do that with new equipment. NEVER. *ahem*

 

So here's the recipe for the stripy vanilla and chocolate bundt cake!

 

What you need:

280g butter or baking margarine

280g caster sugar

5 eggs

280g self raising flour

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 tbsp. cocoa powder

100ml double cream

200g milk chocolate (I used Cadbury's Dairy Milk for this recipe)

 

What to do:

 

1. Cream the butter/baking margarine and sugar together.

 

2. Add the eggs one at a time beating thoroughly.

 

3. Add the vanilla extract and the self raising flour and beat again until thoroughly combined.

 

4. Take half the mixture and put it in another bowl.

 

5. Add the cocoa powder to the remaining half and beat until it has mixed fully.

 

6. Grease the bundt tin. I used Wilton Cake Release, and can't recommend it highly enough.

 

 

7. Add a dollop of the vanilla mixture to the tin.

 

8. On top of the vanilla mixture, add a dollop of chocolate mixture.

 

 

9. Next add another dollop of vanilla, on top of the mixture already in the tin. The mixture will start to spread.

 

 

10. And then another dollop of chocolate. Keep adding alternate dollops of mixture until you have used all the mixtures in both bowls. If it doesn't spread as well as you need it too, just shake the tin a bit and encourage the mixture to spread round to the other side of the tin.

 

 

11. This is what it will look like when you have finished adding the mixtures.

 

12. Bake for around 30 minutes at 160 degrees. Check around 25 minutes- your oven may bake differently to mine.

 

 

13. Leave it to cool for about 20 minutes in the tin, then turn it out onto a wire wrack to cool fully. (How fab does that look?!)

 

14. Once the cake is cool, chop the chocolate into small pieces and put it all in the bowl, and heat the cream until it just reaches boiling point, and pour the cream over the chocolate. Leave it for about 30 seconds to start to melt the chocolate, then beat it together until it has combined to make a smooth ganache. Pour the ganache over the top of the cake and leave to set.

 

15. Stick the kettle on, cut and slice, put your feet up and enjoy :)

 

I am definitely going to make this again, but try different flavour combinations too. Chocolate and orange, coffee and caramel, white chocolate and lemon, dark chocolate and mint......so many new ones to try!!

 

If you make it, I'd love to hear what you thought!

 

 

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How to make Chocolate and Morello Cherry Slices

I know these don't look too exciting, but the taste is awesome, and they'd be really good with custard or cream too. And with added cherries, but for this bake, I just wanted to try out the flavouring, but if you did want to add some, about 60g of chopped cherries would work well.

Here's the flavouring I used (which if you follow this blog, you'll have seen before!)

I have used the raspberry one previously in a milk chocolate fudge, and the coconut one in my coconut and cranberry slice recipe.

This recipe uses a very easy, foolproof method of baking. And it's really easy to follow. And you don't need to remember any measurements, because you weigh your eggs, and then use the same amount of butter (or baking margarine), sugar, and self raising flour.

 

For a 8" x 8" tray, I used 6 eggs, which is about 360g give or take, depending on the size and weight of your eggs. It doesn't matter if yours are over or under that weight, as long as you weigh the same amount of sugar, butter/baking margarine, and self raising flour it will still work.

 

So, for this recipe I used:

360g baking margarine

360g caster sugar

6 eggs

2 teaspoons of Morello cherry flavouring

360g self raising flour

3 tblspoons cocoa powder

 

 

What you need to do:

 

1. Beat together the baking margarine and the sugar.

2. Add the eggs one at a time and beat into the mixture.

3. Add 2 teaspoons of Morello cherry flavouring and beat.

4. Sieve in the flour and the cocoa powder and beat into the mixture again. At this stage if the mixture is not dropping consistency (it doesn't 'drop' easily off the spoon) add a splash of milk and beat that in until fully combined.

5. Pour it into the prepared 8" x 8" tin. For this recipe I used my silicone one, which doesn't need lining, but if you are using a tin, I'd line it with greaseproof paper before you add the mixture.

6. Bake at 160 degrees for about 30 minutes. Keep your eye on it, it might only need 25 minutes. If a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean, then it's ready.

8. Let it cool in the tin for about 15 minutes, and then take out to cool fully on a wire rack.

9. Enjoy with a cup of tea!

If you do have a go at baking this, do let me know how you get on :)

 

 

 

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How to make Brioche and Nutella Pudding

This is a twist on bread and butter pudding which came about due to the need to use up a packet of brioche.....

What you need:

25g butter

6 individual brioche rolls, sliced

350ml whole milk

50ml double cream

2 eggs

25g sugar

6 tbsps Nutella

25g chocolate chips

What to do:

1. Grease a 1 litre pie dish with butter.
2. Slice the brioche and spreas the nutella on each slice.
3. Arrange a layer of brioche (about half of the slices), chocolate side up, in the bottom of the dish, then sprinkle half on the chocolate chips over the top. Add another layer of the brioche.
4. Gently warm the milk and cream in a pan over a low heat to scalding point. Don't let it boil.
5. Crack the eggs into a bowl, add three quarters of the sugar and lightly whisk until pale.
6. Add the warm milk and cream mixture and stir well, then strain the custard into a bowl.
7. Pour the custard over the prepared bread layers and sprinkle with the other half of the chocolate chips and the remaining sugar and leave to stand for 30 minutes.
8. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.
9. Place the dish into the oven and bake for 30-40 minutes, or until the custard has set and the top is golden-brown.

 

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How to make Wholemeal Honey Rolls using your breadmachine

 

Sometimes, there is just nothing nicer than eating fresh, still warm, home baked bread rolls, and these ones in particular are fabulous. And if you have a breadmachine, all the hard work is done for you :)

 

What you need:

310ml water

30g chopped butter

1 tsp salt

3 tbsps honey



600g wholemeal flour

2 tsp dried yeast

 

What you need to do:

1. Add the ingredients in the order recommended for your machine (with mine, it's the wet ones first, then the dry on top).

2. Use the dough setting and set the machine going to work it's magic.

3. Once the dough is ready, divide it into 16 equal pieces. Lightly knead each one and shape into rounds.

4. Place onto a lightly greased tray and bake in a preheated oven at 200 degrees for about 12-15 minutes or until golden brown.

 

***If you would like extra fluffy bread, you can cover the rolls after placing them on the tray in cling film or plastic wrap, and leave in a warm place for about an hour, and they will double in size. Baking time is the same. But if you are impatient like me and my family, you can bake them as soon as the dough is made, and they are still super yummy.***

 

 

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How to make Coconut and Cranberry Slices

 

.

These are truly yummy, and VERY easy to make.

 

This recipe uses a very easy, foolproof method of baking. And it's really easy to follow. And you don't need to remember any measurements, because you weigh your eggs, and then use the same amount of butter (or baking margarine), sugar, and self raising flour.

 

For a 8" x 8" tray, I used 6 eggs, which is about 360g give or take, depending on the size and weight of your eggs. It doesn't matter if yours are over or under that weight, as long as you weigh the same amount of sugar, butter/baking margarine, and self raising flour it will still work.

 

So, for this recipe I used:

360g baking margarine

360g caster sugar

6 eggs

2 teaspoons of coconut flavouring

360g self raising flour

60 g dried cranberries

a sprinkling of sweetened coconut.

 

And before I go any further, let me introduce you to the flavouring. I know this is the second time I've recommended a product from Sweet Success, but I'm not on commission honestly!! I added some flavourings to one of my orders to give them a whirl and so far I'm impressed. So here they are:

 

I used the raspberry one in a milk chocolate fudge for Father's Day which went down very well, and the coconut one was used in this recipe. It just gives the flavours you are using an extra 'pop'.


So, back to the recipe.

1. Beat together the baking margarine and the sugar.

2. Add the eggs one at a time and beat into the mixture.

3. Add 2 teaspoons of coconut flavouring and beat.

4. Sieve in the flour and beat into the mixture again. At this stage if the mixture is not dropping consistency (it doesn't 'drop' easily off the spoon) add a splash of milk and beat that in until fully combined.

5. Add 60g cranberries and fold into the mixture.

6. Pour it into the prepared 8" x 8" tin. For this recipe I used my silicone one, which doesn't need lining, but if you are using a tin, I'd line it with greaseproof paper before you add the mixture.

7. Bake at 160 degrees for 20 minutes, then take out of the oven and quickly sprinkle the coconut over the top and return to the oven for a further 10 minutes. Keep your eye on it, it might only need 5 minutes.

8. Let it cool in the tin for about 15 minutes, and then take out to cool fully on a wire rack.

9. Enjoy with a cup of tea!

If you do have a go at baking this, do let me know how you get on :)

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How to make sticky toffee pudding

 

Ingredients you will need

 

For the toffee pudding:

200g dried dates, stoned and chopped.

250ml black tea (not too strong)

½ tsp bicarbonate of soda

85g unsalted butter, softened

175g self-raising flour

1 tsp mixed spice

175g golden caster sugar

2 eggs, beaten

 

For the toffee sauce:

100g light muscovado sugar

100g unsalted butter

142ml carton double cream

 

 

What to do:

 

1. Heat the oven to 180C/fan 160C Put the dates and tea in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Cook for 3–4 minutes to soften the dates. Stir in the bicarbonate of soda.

 

2. Beat the butter and caster sugar together until pale and creamy, then beat in the egg, flour and mixed spice. Fold in the date mixture and pour into a buttered ovenproof dish or brownie tin. Bake for 30–35 minutes or until the top is just firm to touch.

 

3. Meanwhile, make the sauce by putting the sugar, butter and cream in a pan over a low heat and simmer until the sugar has dissolved. Cook until the sauce is a toffee colour. Cut the pudding into squares and serve with the warm sauce.

 

 

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How to create a simple leaf effect on sugarpaste trees

 

A quick 'how to decorate today' rather than a recipe to share :)

 

I've used this technique on a few cakes, most recently on the sides of this Fireman Sam cake.

 

 

It's super simple, and quick to do, but adds a bit of texture and interest to your cake.

 

What to do:

 

 

1. Colour some sugarpaste green. It can be marbled, you don't need to colour it completely.

 

2. Roll out the paste to make it thinner, and pull off the desired size.

 

3. Tidy up the edges, and make into a 'cloud' shape.

 

4. Use a daisy cutter, or similar flower and press randomly into the paste (without cutting all the way through), over and over again to create a texture which gives the impression of lots of leaves.

 

5. Stick it on the top of your 'trunk', which can be made using a lump of brown sugarpaste, flattened slightly and score lines into it with a knife.

 

6. Add as many as you need to create the desired effect.

 

 

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How to make edible tortilla dessert bowls

These are the simplest thing to make, super yummy , and give you a different way of presenting a dessert. You can make them savoury by omitting the sugar.

You need about a tablespoon of butter, and a couple of teaspoons of sugar per tortilla. These are rough measurements, I didn't measure exactly when I has making them, the method was a little rough and ready if I'm being honest.

Preheat the oven to 160 degrees. Melt the butter in the microwave. Brush both sides of the tortilla with the melted butter, then sprinkle the sugar over the top. I used granulated sugar for some (for the children) and cinnamon sugar for the adults. If your tortillas are not very soft it may be an idea to soften them slightly in the microwave first as you need them to bend without ripping.

Then shape the tortilla inside an oven proof bowl, or over the back of a ramekin, or other suitable bowl. Bake for about 8 minutes, but keep an eye on them as you don't want them to burn. Take them out of the oven and let them cool as they are for about 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Then they are ready to use.

 

 

 

The kids had their bowls filled with mint choc chip ice cream.....

 

And we had our cinnamon sugar ones with strawberries and cream. Yum :)


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How to make chocolate brownie cookies

These little beauties are gorgeous!! They've come about because one of the lovely ladies who attends my classes is dairy free. I like to bake for the students at my classes, so was looking for a dairy free recipe. I found a recipe I liked, but tweaked it a bit and now I'm going to share it with you! Be prepared- the dough needs to chill for AT LEAST 4 hours, overnight is even better. So if you want to make these cookies you have to be patient!

Ingredients (makes 32-36 cookies)

85g cocoa powder

400g caster sugar

125ml vegetable oil

4 eggs         

250g plain flour            

2 teaspoons baking powder            

a pinch of salt

60g icing sugar

What to do:

1. In a bowl, mix together the cocoa, caster sugar and vegetable oil. Beat in eggs one at a time. Add the flour, baking powder and salt and mix until fully combined. Cover dough, and chill for at least 4 hours.

2. Preheat oven to 180 C / Gas mark 4. Line baking trays with parchment. Roll dough into 2.5cm balls. Coat each ball in icing sugar before placing onto prepared trays. (Easiest way to do this is put the icing sugar in a bowl and roll the dough around inside it). I used 3 baking trays with 12 per tray. I won't lie to you- this is a sticky job. You might have to wash your hands a few times whilst doing this step. But 'stick' with it, they're worth it.

3. Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes. Let stand on the baking tray for about 5 minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool.

4. Enjoy!!

At the time of writing I still have some from the first batch we made (we have made another batch since that went into school for the teachers!) and four days on they are still very yummy. 

Let me know if you make them and what you think.

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How to make Skinny Chunky Monkey Cookies

Ok, so the jury is still out on these. I have to be honest with you, I can't make my mind up whether I like them or not. The reason I chose to make them was to do with my quest to find yummy tasting treats that don't pile on the pounds. And this recipe boasted that these are under 50 calories each. Worth a try I thought. So I made them, and took them along to a class I was running, and my family and friends have tried them too. And I think it's fair to say we're split 50/50 into those that like them and those that don't. So you might just have to try them for yourself!  The original recipe I found was here.

Ingredients you will need:

3 ripe bananas mashes

20g oats

100g peanut butter (I used lower fat)

30g cocoa powder

100g unsweetened apple sauce

1 tsp vanilla extract

 

 

What you need to do:

1. Put all the ingredients in a bowl.

 

2. Mix them together until fully combined, then let it stand for 20 minutes.

 

3. Drop heaped teaspoons of the mixture onto ungreased baking paper on cookie trays.

 

4. Bake for 10-12 minutes at 170 degrees.

 

And this is what they'll look like when they're baked. Excuse the watery picture, it was very sunny in my kitchen when I took this picture!

And there you have it. Easy peasy to make, I'll leave the taste testing up to you and you can tell me what you think.

 

How to make goats cheese, strawberry and honey crostini

 

After spending a week on a French Cake Break with Rhu Strand from Pimp my Cake with Mama Rhu, and being treated to the most amazing cooking, I took inspiration from one of the local delicacies that we were treated to and added a bit of a twist. The results, I can assured you, are amazeballs!

 

Ingredients you will need:

(this is what I used, you might choose slightly different quantities)

 

1 part baked French baguette

1 block of Sainsbury's Taste the Difference, Kidderton Ash Goats' Cheese, thinly sliced

About 7/8 strawberries, depending on their size, thinly sliced

A drizzle of Sainsbury's runny honey

About 5 fresh basil leaves, torn

 

What to do:

1. Slice the baguette into around 15 slices.

2. Place them on a baking tray and bake at 180 degrees for 5 minutes.

3. Transfer to a grill, and place a thin slice of goats cheese on the toasted bread, followed by one or two slices of strawberries.

4. Place under the grill for a few minutes until the cheese starts to melt.

5. Transfer to a serving dish and while still warm, drizzle honey over the crostini.

6. Sprinkle the torn basil leaves over the top, and serve.

 

An easy peasy, whipped up in under ten minutes treat :)