Autumnal Spiced Biscuits

Doing a little autumnal bake is something that I have always wanted to do, but never got around to it. After all of the rainy day weekends, I thought it the perfect time to whip out the cookie cutters and make something that pairs gorgeously with a cup of tea. After a little Amazon search, we found >these< cute autumn themed cutters. I thought they were so sweet! Pumpkins, leaves, acorns, a hedgehog, an owl, and a fox amongst other things. These biscuits were lovely, but didn't last long enough.  I found the recipe >here<. 

What you will need:

140g butter

60g caster sugar

190g plain flour

1tsp cinnamon

1tsp mixed spice (we used a bit of ginger and nutmeg)

1. Mix the soft butter with caster sugar until you have a smooth paste. Preheat the oven to 190 degrees.

2. Sprinkle in the flour, cinnamon, and other spices. Stir until you have crumbs.

3. Next, work with your hands until you have a dough.

4. Roll out onto a floured service, about 1cm thick, and then cut with your cookie cutters.

5. Place on a baking tray and sprinkle with a little more sugar.

6. Bake for 15 minutes or until nice and golden.

7. Enjoy!

What a perfect rainy day treat and a super simple recipe to follow with minimal ingredients. Stick on a cosy film or tv series that you're enjoying. Light all the candles, and enjoy with a cup of tea or coffee.

What have you been baking recently? 

Amber X

The Biscoff Milkshake

After having seen a fair few videos floating around Facebook of the Biscoff milkshake now available at Five Guys, I had to make my own version of it. I always remember one of my friends back in school making the most incredible Nutella milkshakes, and I thought that I could put a spin on that great recipe and bring a Biscoff version to the table. It was delicious! I'm never really one for measuring ingredients out, simply add more or less of the ingredients to suit your tastes. 

To make the Biscoff milkshake, you will need:

Blender

Mug of choice

Milk  (I went with Oat)

Vanilla ice cream 

Biscoff spread (Smooth or crunchy)

Biscoff biscuits (we had these yummy ones in the cupboard. They're filled with chocolate! If you haven't tried them, they're a must)

Whipped cream

Add the desired amount of milk into the bottom of the blender - take into consideration how many people you're making the drink for. Add a heaped teaspoon of Biscoff spread to the blender next. Scoop 3 generous scoops of ice cream and place in with the milk and Biscoff spread. Crumble up the desired amount of Biscoff biscuits in with the other ingredients. Blend together. If it isn't thick enough for your liking, add more ice cream. Serve in a mug of your choice (how cute is this owl mug?!) and top with whipped cream and more crushed biscuits. 

You could 100% change this up and try different spreads and biscuits.. I bet there are so many good combinations. Kinder Bueno, Milky Bar, Crunchie, Malteser, the options are endless..

What's your favourite drink at the moment?

Amber X

Terry's Chocolate Orange Cheesecake

During lockdown and furlough, I have done nothing but bake my heart out. I don't think I have ever really done a cooking/baking blog post at all. I am awful when it comes to baking to be honest, especially cakes. Even when following the recipe, it never seems to turn out right. However, I love to cook. I love to try new recipes and find new, favourite meals to switch up what I eat. I decided to make Dad a birthday cheesecake, instead of a birthday cake.. It went down really well, so I thought to share the recipe with all of you. This recipe could be easily changed, to suit your chocolate needs or favs. 

>This< is the recipe that we used. Super simple to follow, although we did tweak it a little bit, to make the cheesecake with a bit more flavour and a little bit of a twist. The recipe was found on Pinterest, there were SO many other ones that looked insane, but the method for this one, just seemed the most simple. 

What you will need: 

75g of unsalted butter

150g of digestive biscuits

200ml of double cream

500g of cream cheese, at room temperature

100g of icing sugar

1 baking tin (we bought one from Morrisons that was £3 and had a bottom that you could push up to make it easier to get out once set)

We decided to add:

1 whole orange

1 Terrys Chocolate Orange

1 bag of Mini Terry's Chocolate Orange

1. Line the baking tin with grease proof paper.

2. Make the base - crush the biscuits into a crumb (we used to end of a rolling pin). Melt the butter and combine. Press this mixture firmly into the bottom of the baking tin, and then chill. 

3. We then melted over a pan of boiling water, a few segments of Terry's Chocolate orange, once melted. Leave to cool on the side. 

4. Add the cream cheese, icing sugar and double cream into a bowl, and whisk together until stiff. We then zested the orange and added the juice of 1 orange into the soft cheese mixture. 

5. Add this mixture into the baking tin, on top of the biscuit base. Drizzle the melted chocolate over the top in any way you wish. 

6. Chill for at least 6 hours. 

7. Once chilled and ready to eat, decorate as you wish with the remaining Terry's Chocolate Orange segments. 

It was heavenly. Couldn't quite believe that we had actually made something that was this nice! We made a white chocolate and raspberry cheesecake yesterday too and I can't wait to see if that one matches up to how good this one was. 

If you do recreate this recipe, I would love to see it!

Have you baked or cooked anything new recently?

Amber X

All The Mince Pies

What is Christmas without mince pies?! I don't know if I am right in saying that having mince pies at Christmas is a British thing, but it makes me really happy when Christmas time, because it means one thing - mince pies. Whether they are shop brought, home made, warm or cold, mince pies are one of the best things about Christmas. Here is how to make your own...

What you will need

1 jar of mincemeat 

375g of plain flour

260g of unsalted butter

125g of caster sugar

1 large egg, plus 1 beaten egg to brush over the pastries before they go in the oven

What you need to do

1. Place flour and butter into a bowl and use your fingers to combine to the two together to make a crumbly consistency.

2. Add the sugar and the egg and mix together. 

3. Place the pastry on a lightly floured surface and knead until the pastry comes together. 

Or 

Buy shop brought pastry and your life will be much easier. I'd recommend the Jus-Rol Shortcrust pastry that you can get from most supermarkets.

4. Preheat the oven to 220c. Roll out the pastry to your desired thickness and using a cutter, cut out 16 bases and place them in a cake tray.

5. Roll out the remaining pastry and using another cutter, or freehand, make 16 mince pie tops. 

6. Using a spoon, fill the pastry bottoms with a teaspoon of mincemeat. 

7. Place the pastry tops on the mince pie bottoms.

8. Glaze with the beaten egg, and place in the oven for 15-20 minutes until golden brown.

9. Leave to cool and if you fancy, dust with a bit of icing sugar or caster sugar. 

I altered this recipe from the BBC website, you can find the full recipe here. 

Have you ever made mince pies before? Do you like them? 

Amber X