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Friday 16 May 2014

Who Will You Bake For This World Baking Day?



It's World Baking Day on Sunday 18th May.

I've mentioned before that I am lucky enough to work on the campaign. It's great fun to work on, how could you not love working on promoting a day which is to celebrate a love of cakes and baking. This year the campaign is focussed on sharing the love with someone special through the power of a homemade cake.

Giving someone a homemade cake is a brilliant way to let them know how much you care. We often forget to tell the people who matter most why they make our lives a little bit easier, a lot more fun or infinitely more interesting! This World Baking Day everyone is encouraged to pledge to bake for someone special at www.worldbakingday.com.

There is a great website (even if I do say so myself). It's definitely not your average recipe website (in a good way) but you will find 12 recipes on there to inspire your baking. A few months ago I promised I would make all of the recipes and true to my word, I did. Unfortunately I didn't get photos of them all but I really did make them all, I promise.










(with a hidden egg)










I would really struggle to choose a favourite, these are genuinely all great recipes. The chocolate chip cookie has become my new favourite cookie recipe, they're deliciously chewy. I loved the Mosaic cake which is a traditional cake from Turkey and very similar to the Italian cake called Chocolate Salame. But if I had to choose I would probably have to go for the Chocolate Guinness Cake - it's so dark and moist and yummmmmmy.





Thursday 15 May 2014

Chocolate Chip Cookies



This recipe for chocolate chip cookies originally came for the US (the official home of cookies as far as I am concerned). I am in love with these cookies, they are super easy to make and deliciously chewy.

Ingredients

350g (2 ½ cups) plain / all-purpose flour
¾ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda / baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
230g (1 cup) margarine
130g (⅔ cup) caster / granulated sugar
130g (⅔ cup) dark brown sugar
1 egg
1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup (170g/6oz) dark chocolate chips
1 cup (170g/6oz) white chocolate chips

Method
  1.  Preheat oven to 190°C / 375°F / Gas Mark 5. Grease several baking sheets and/or line them with baking paper.
  2. Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in medium bowl; set aside.
  3. In a separate bowl beat the margarine with the sugars with an electric mixer or wooden spoon until light and fluffy for about 5 minutes. Beat in egg and vanilla, scraping the sides occasionally. Gradually beat in flour mixture until blended. Stir in the dark and white chocolate chips.
  4. Spoon the dough onto the baking sheets using a tablespoon or an ice cream scoop. Leave at least 2 inches between each cookie so that they have room to spread.
  5. Bake for 10 minutes or until golden. Let stand 2 minutes on wire rack; remove from sheets and cool completely.


These cookies are really versatile and you can swap the chocolate for candy or dried fruit and nuts. I've already swapped the chocolate chips for 300g Peanut M&Ms and was VERY happy with the results.