BOOKMARKS

BANOFFIE CAKES - bbcgoodfood.com

Podcast onething

http://www.buzzsprout.com/admin/episodes/72278-one-thing-fern

BANANA FAIRY CAKES

                            

                                   BANANA FAIRY CAKES RECIPE  

Ingredients

140 g wholemeal flour

2 tsp baking power

50 g golden caster sugar

1 medium egg

50 g melted butter , cooled

125 ml semi-skimmed milk

2 small ripe banana , 1 mashed , 1 sliced

140 g white chocolate , roughly chopped

cinnamon , for sprinkling

Method

1. Heat oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5. Line a bun tin with 8 paper cases. In a large bowl, mix the flour, baking powder and sugar with a pinch of salt.
2. In a separate bowl, beat the egg, melted butter and milk for 20 secs; add the mashed banana and beat for a further 5 secs until everything is nicely mixed.
3. Pour the banana mix into the flour and fold everything together. Once it is almost combined, add 85g of the white chocolate - the mixture will still look a little lumpy. Spoon the cake mix into the paper cases and bake for 18-20 mins until golden and risen, and a skewer inserted comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.
4. Meanwhile, melt the remaining white chocolate over a pan of barely simmering water. Allow to cool a bit, then spread on top of the cakes. Add a couple of slices of banana and sprinkle with cinnamon.

GINGERBREAD HOUSE

                             
       
                             SIMPLE GINGERBREAD HOUSE RECIPE  

Ingredients

FOR THE GINGERBREAD
250 g unsalted butter
200 g dark muscovado sugar
7 tbsp golden syrup
600 g plain flour
2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
4 tsp ground ginger

TO DECORATE
200 g bag flaked almonds
2 egg whites
500 g icing sugar , plus extra to dust
125 g pack mini chocolate finger
generous selection sweet of your choice , choose your own color theme
1 mini chocolate roll or dipped chocolate flake
few edible silver balls

Method

1. Heat oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6. Melt the butter, sugar and syrup in a pan. Mix the flour, bicarbonate of soda and ground ginger into a large bowl, then stir in the butter mixture to make a stiff dough. If it won't quite come together, add a tiny splash of water.
2. Cut out the template (see below to download). Put a sheet of baking paper on your work surface and roll about one quarter of the dough to the thickness of two £1 coins. Cut out one of the sections, then slide the gingerbread, still on its baking paper, onto a baking sheet. Repeat with remaining dough, re-rolling the trimmings, until you have two side walls, a front and back wall and two roof panels. Any leftover dough can be cut into Christmas trees, if you like.
3. Pick out the most intact flaked almonds and gently poke them into the roof sections, pointy-end first, to look like roof tiles. Bake all the sections for 12 mins or until firm and just a little darker at the edges. Leave to cool for a few mins to firm up, then trim around the templates again to give clean, sharp edges. Leave to cool completely.
4. Put the egg whites in a large bowl, sift in the icing sugar, then stir to make a thick, smooth icing. Spoon into a piping bag with a medium nozzle. Pipe generous snakes of icing along the wall edges, one by one, to join the walls together. Use a small bowl to support the walls from the inside, then allow to dry, ideally for a few hours.
5. Once dry, remove the supports and fix the roof panels on. The angle is steep so you may need to hold these on firmly for a few mins until the icing starts to dry. Dry completely, ideally overnight. To decorate, pipe a little icing along the length of 20 mini chocolate fingers and stick these lengthways onto the side walls of the house. Use three, upright, for the door. Using the icing, stick sweets around the door and on the front of the house. To make the icicles, start with the nozzle at a 90-degree angle to the roof and squeeze out a pea-sized blob of icing. Keeping the pressure on, pull the nozzle down and then off - the icing will pull away, leaving a pointy trail. Repeat all around the front of the house. Cut the chocolate mini roll or dipped Flake on an angle, then fix with icing to make a chimney. Pipe a little icing around the top. If you've made gingerbread trees, decorate these now, too, topping each with a silver ball, if using. Dust the roof with icing sugar for a snowy effect. Lay a winding path of sweets, and fix gingerbread trees around and about using blobs of icing. Your gingerbread house will be edible for about a week but will last a lot longer.

VANILLA SHORTBREAD DOUGH

                                    
  
                          VANILLA SHORTBREAD DOUGH RECIPE  

Ingredients
325 g plain flour
200 g chilled salted butter
125 g golden caster sugar
2 tsp good quality vanilla extract
2 large free range egg yolks

Method

1. Tip the flour into a food processor. Cut the butter into small pieces and drop them into the bowl, then whiz until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs.
2. Add the sugar, vanilla and egg yolks and whiz to a small dough.

EASY-BAKE BREAD

                       

                                   EASY-BAKE BREAD RECIPE  

Ingredients
500 g strong bread flour
1 tsp salt
300 ml hand-hot water
7 g sachet fast-action dried yeast
2 tbsp sunflower oil
1 tbsp honey

Method

1. Tip the flour into a bowl and mix in the yeast with the salt. Stir in the water, oil and honey. Now bring together to make a soft dough - I use my hands, but a wooden spoon or knife from the cutlery drawer is fine. Tip onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 10 mins. It is worth putting in the time to do this as it will pay off later with lovely airy bread.
2. Don't keep adding flour, a wet dough is better than a dry one, which will bake to a tough texture, so if you don't like the dough sticking to your hands, lightly oil them. If you are adding flavourings, knead them in gently now.
3. Turn the dough into an oiled 1kg bread tin and cover with oiled cling film (or better still, a free unused shower cap from your last hotel stay!). Put in a warm place until the bread fills the tin, it should take between 1-2 hrs.
4. Uncover and bake your bread at 200C/180C fan/gas 6 for 30-35 mins until golden. Tip out of the tin and tap the base of the loaf. It should sound hollow when fully cooked. If not cooked, put loaf back in the oven out of the tin and test again after 10 mins. cool.

DIAMONDS

Intro
Shine Bright like a diamondShine Bright like a diamond
Verse 1
Find light in the the beautiful seaI choose to be happyYou and I, You and IWe’re like diamonds in the skyYou’re a shooting star i seeA vision of ecstasyWhen you hold me, i’m aliveWe’re like diamonds in the sky
PRE
I knew that we’d become one right awayOh right awayAt first sight I felt the energy of sun raysI saw the life inside your eyes
Hook
So shine bright, tonight, You and IWe’re beautiful like diamonds in the skyEye to eye, so aliveWe’re beautiful like diamonds in the sky
Shine Bright like a diamondShine Bright like a diamondShining Bright like a diamondWe’re beautiful like diamonds in the skyShine Bright like a diamondShine Bright like a diamondShining Bright like a diamondWe’re beautiful like diamonds in the sky
Verse 2
Palms rise to the universeAs we, moonshine and mollyFeel the warmth we’ll never dieWe’re like diamonds in the skyYou’re a shooting star i seeA vision of ecstasyWhen you hold me, i’m aliveWe’re like diamonds in the sky
PRE 2 (half ?)
At first sight I felt the energy of sun raysI saw the life inside your eyes
So shine bright,tonight,you and I,we're beautiful like diamonds in the sky,eye to eye,so alivewe're beatiful like diamonds in the sky
shine bright like a diamondshine bright like a diamondshining bright like a diamondwe're beautiful like diamonds in the sky
shine bright like a diamondshine bright like a diamondshining bright like a diamondwe're beautiful like diaminds in the skyshine bright like a diamondshine bright like a diamondshine bright like a diamond
so shine bright,tonigh,you and Iwe're beatiful like diamonds in the skyeye to eye,so alivewe're beautiful like diamonds in the sky
shine bright like a diamondshine bright like a diamondshine bright like a diamondohhh woooh ohshine bright like a diamondshine bright like a diamondshining bright like a diamond
shine bright like a diamondshine bright like a diamond