Recipe: Gluten- Free Spider Web Cupcakes

A couple of weeks ago I wrote a blog post about some Halloween themed baking ideas I'd found on pinterest and last week I decided to bake some. I also changed the recipe for the cupcakes so that they'd be gluten-free so more people can eat them. I've never baked something with gluten-free flour before so I wasn't sure how they would turn out but they were great and don't taste too different to the real thing! The chocolate on top of the cupcakes also adds some more flavour as well as the vanilla extract in the cupcakes.

Ingredients
125g butter (melted)
125g caster sugar
125g gluten-free self-raising flour
2 eggs
3 tbsp milk
few drops of vanilla extract
For the topping
100g milk chocolate
100g white chocolate

How to
1. Heat the oven to 190c degrees (170c fan)
2. Add the melted butter, sugar, flour, eggs, milk and vanilla extract to a bowl and mix with an electric mixer.
3. Spoon the mixture into paper cupcake cases.
4. Bake cakes for 18-20 minutes and allow cakes to cool.
5. Melt the chocolate in two separate bowls.
6. Working on one cupcake at a time spread milk chocolate onto the top, then pipe four circles in white chocolate inside each other on top. Using a cocktail stick or skewer, from the centre drag the stick along to the edge of the cupcake to make a cobweb effect, I did this about eight times on each cupcake.
7. Repeat with the remaining cupcakes alternating the chocolate to white chocolate with a milk chocolate cobweb. 

I enjoyed making these and attempting the cobwebs on top (plus eating all the left over chocolate of course). Let me know if you decide to bake these too!

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RECIPE: Banana Loaf // Blogging Anniversary

Today marks the day that I've been blogging for 3 whole years! My blog has changed a lot since then from the name and web page to the design and what I like to blog about most. So today I thought I'd write one of my favourite kinds of posts - baking! It's also fallen on a Wednesday which, as most of you will know is Bake Off day! Last week as the first episode of the new series aired I posted a recipe on Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies, so Wednesday's on Abigail's World could become days for everything baking!

Today's recipe is Banana Loaf which I made a couple of weeks ago and it went down a treat! I originally found the recipe here on BBC Good Food and although I had to alter the cooking time, it was delicious, so if you're a banana lover the recipe is below.

Ingredients:

140g butter (softened)

140g caster sugar

2 eggs

140g self-raising flour

1tsp baking powder

2 bananas (mashed)

50g icing sugar

(optional) banana chips for decoration

Method:

1. Heat the oven to 180C and line a loaf tin with baking paper.

2. Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs slowly with some flour. Then fold in the rest of the flour with the baking powder and banana.

3. Pour the mixture into the baking tin and bake for about 30 mins, however mine took slightly longer and baked until a skewer came out clean.

4. Set aside to cool once cooked and make the icing. Mix the icing with 2-3 tsp of water and drizzle over the top of the banana loaf and add the banana chips to decorate.

I really enjoyed baking (and eating) this Banana Loaf, and I can't wait to bake it again soon!

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RECIPE: Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

If you love baking just as much as I do then you'll know that tonight is the start of a new series of one of my favourite shows.... The Great British Bake Off! To get in the mood of baking yesterday I decided to bake these oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. I've never made these before or any cookies with oats for that matter so I wasn't sure how they were going to turn out, but they taste so so good if I do say so myself!

I managed to make 12 (quite large) cookies with this recipe, although there's definitely not even half that many left now!

Ingredients:

150g plain flour

1tsp baking powder

175g unsalted butter

100g dark brown sugar

100g sugar

1 egg

2tsp vanilla extract

250g rolled oats

75g chocolate chips

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 190 degrees and line two baking trays with baking paper.

2. Stir together the flour and baking powder in a bowl.

3. In a separate bowl, mix together the butter and sugars with an electric mixer.

4. Add the egg and whisk again, followed by the vanilla.

5. Then gradually add the flour to this mixture and mix together with a wooden spoon until combined. Then add the oats and chocolate chips and mix again.

6. Using a tablespoon add the mixture to the baking trays (I managed to fit 6 onto each tray) and flatten slightly with the back of the spoon, but ensure that there's space between the cookie mixtures.

7. Bake for 12 - 15 minutes until golden.

I hope you enjoyed this recipe and let me know if you decide to make them too! They're definitely the best cookies I've ever made before, but would Mary and Paul approve? I hope so!

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Recipe: Tenderstem Broccoli & Brie Tagliatelle

Despite them not being very good for you most of the time, one of my favourite easy go-to meals to make have to be pasta dishes. Especially during these cold winter months here in the UK, warm lunches are the best and this is the perfect option. Adding a bit of veg to the dish the main part is the Tenderstem Broccoli which works well with the Brie and black pepper.

Serves: 1 (double ingredients for 2)

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cooking Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

75g Tagliatelle

50g Tenderstem Broccoli

50g Brie

2 - 3 tbsp Single Cream (depending how thick you like the cheese sauce)

Black Pepper (optional)

Method:

1. Wash the Tenderstem Broccoli and boil for approx 10 minutes.

2. In a separate pan, cook the tagliatelle according to the instructions on the packaging.

3. Drain the broccoli and the tagliatelle, leaving about 1 tbsp of water in the tagliatelle.

4. Add the Tenderstem broccoli to the pan of tagliatelle along with the brie and cream and slowly cook on a low heat until the brie starts to melt and stir occasionally.

5. Add black pepper if required and serve hot!

So there you have it, a nice warm winter meal, you could also always swap ingredients around such as using a different cheese that you prefer to Brie or a different pasta. I hope you enjoyed this recipe and let me know if you decide to recreate the recipe yourself. For more Tenderstem Broccoli recipes, take a look at their website here. 

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Chocolate Brownies Recipe

Mother's Day was quite a while ago now, which shows just how long I've been meaning to write this post for. For Mother's Day my brother and I decided to bake some chocolate brownies. I've attempted to bake brownies before but they've never gone quite right and turned out quite cakey, so as I thought these have gone the best so far I thought I'd share the recipe with you all.

I think where I may have gone wrong when making them previously from other recipe's is that I don't remember ever adding ingredients such as nuts and vanilla, which I think made a big difference, although these aren't necessary at all - especially if you're allergic to nuts!

Ingredients:

• 140g dark chocolate
• 140g butter
• 175g caster sugar
• 3 eggs
• 115g plain flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 55g walnuts
• Ice cream

They also tasted just as good with ice cream as they did without, but as our first tasting of them after our meal we had ice cream on top which went well especially as the brownie was still warm.

Method:

• Firstly, pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees (gas mark 4)
• Melt the chocolate and butter together in a bowl over the saucepan of water, then set aside.
• In a mixing bowl whisk together the eggs and sugar.
• Then in another bowl sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.
• Then fold the egg egg and sugar mixture into this and add the vanilla, chocolate and chopped nuts.
• Mix well together and then add to the tin and place in the pre-heated oven for 25-30 minutes (although I didn't need quite this long for mine, more of 15-20 minutes)
• When they're done set them aside to cool slightly and cut into squares and you're ready to go!

There you should have your perfect brownies - even if they don't look perfect I bet they taste it! Let me know if you decide to use this recipe as I'd love to see how they turn out or if you have a favourite chocolate brownie recipe, I wouldn't say no to making some more!

Abigail x