Valentines Cartoon Time

Have a Happy Valentines Day everyone! And a big big happy 8th birthday to my nephew Jamie!!

Strawberry Choc Chip Cookies

This is a bit a follow on from the cupcakes I made a couple of weeks back, using vanilla cake mix and a can of soda. That’s because these cookies are also made from a box of cake mix – who knew it could be so versatile?!

I saw these cookies over on another site, Sally's Baking Addiction, and remembered I had a box of strawberry cake mix in the cupboard – they looked perfect for Valentines and I set about making them. Only thing was, my Strawberry cake mix was not pink! So I cheated and added a few drops of pink food colouring paste. A bit more than I meant to, to be honest, but the colour certainly stands out!

A lot of websites have the instructions for cake mix cookies and the general rule of thumb seems to be a box of cake mix, 2 eggs and 125 ml of vegetable oil. Mix this all together (plus chips, flavours and colourings if you like) and you should get a mixture the consistency of cookie dough – if not, add some plain flour until it gets to the right stiffness. I added 100 grams of dark chocolate chips to mine.

Spoon large mounds (I got 10 cookies from my mix) onto a prepared cookie sheet and bake in an oven, preheated to 180^oC, for 12 to 15 minutes. Let them cool, then enjoy!

This should work with any boxed cake mix and is a great way to put it to use if you are in the mood for a batch of warm cookies.

The Cakeyboi Alphabet - F

F is for Fairy Cake

What is the definition of a fairy cake? What is the difference between a fairy cake and a cupcake? Well it depends on where you look on the internet. But the majority seem to agree that a fairy cake is the same as a cupcake, it's just the term which used to be used more commonly in the UK, but now not so much. And a cupcake of course is a cake in single serve version, decorated with frosting (or icing) and other such deliciousness.

Valentines Bark

It seems like I was taking down my Christmas decorations just the other day, but Valentines is nearly upon us. This is a sure sign of getting older, time just seems to fly by!

I couldn’t let this holiday pass without sharing my idea for a Valentines Bark. Bark, you know the stuff – or my version - white chocolate, krispies and whatever takes your fancy on top of all that. I have made various different types such as Christmas, Halloween, Great British. So why not for the ‘loved up’ holiday?

There are plenty of additions I could have added on top from the confectionery world (and not all for family viewing, surprisingly!) but I settled for Love Hearts. Known the world over (I think), they are fizzy little discs of candy, with a love heart and message stamped on top. I also went for cherry lips atop my bark. I had wanted to get jelly hearts, but then I came across little white candy hearts in my cupboard, and thought they’d be perfect. No baking required…

Ingredients:

450 grams white chocolate, chopped

60 grams rice krispies

Pink food colouring

1 roll of Love Hearts

1 bag of Cherry Lips

White Heart nonpareils

Method:

Line a cookie sheet with greaseproof paper and set aside.

Over a pan of simmering water, place a bowl filled with the white chocolate. Stir until melted and then add pink food colouring until you get a shade you are happy with. Stir in the rice krispies so they are all coated with the pink white chocolate.

Spread the krispie chocolate mix into the cookie sheet and spread out as thin as possible without it breaking up. Then randomly add your toppings. Once done, take another sheet of greaseproof paper, place this on top of the bark and with your hands gently smooth over it, to embed the add-ins into the molten chocolate.

Pop into the fridge until the chocolate has set, or preferably overnight. Remove from the fridge and break into chunks. Now you can give your valentines bark to the person of your dreams! Enjoy…

Cartoon Time - Mule the Muffin

Thanks to Katie T for this idea, based on an old TV show she is way too young to remember!

Choc Malt Swirl Cookies

I almost called these ‘Teaser Twirls – they combine the malt and chocolate elements of Maltesers (I think they’re called Whoppers in the US) in a cookie you see. I wanted to make quite a straightforward cookie and saw a recipe for swirl ones, where you make two doughs, then roll them up like a swiss roll, slicing them to expose the swirled dough.

I came across one recipe for chocolate and matcha (or green tea), but I had recently heard horror stories about green tea cookies, so left that well alone. I then thought why not make Malteser flavoured cookies. So I made chocolate dough and malted dough (using Horlicks). The result was a delicious cookie, that looked as good as it tasted.

Yield: 30 cookies approx.

Chocolate Dough Ingredients:

140 grams granulated sugar

40 grams cocoa powder

Pinch salt

115 grams unsalted butter, softened

1 small egg

75 grams plain flour

Malt Dough Ingredients:

55 grams granulated sugar

1 tablespoon icing sugar

Pinch of salt

1 small egg

115 grams unsalted butter, softened

75 grams plain flour

25 grams malted milk drink (such as Horlicks)

Chocolate Dough Method:

Sift together the flour, cocoa powder and salt, set aside. In the bowl of a food mixer, cream together the sugar and butter until light and creamy. Add the egg and beat until pale and slightly thickened. Add the flour mix and beat just until everything is combined and a dough has formed. Place the dough onto some cling film, wrap and place into the fridge to chill for 2 hours.

Malt Dough Method:

Similar to above, sift the four, malted milk powder and salt together. Beat the butter with the sugars, then add the egg. When combined, add the flour mix, beat until a dough has formed. Wrap the dough in clingfilm and cill for two hours.

Making the swirl:

Roll each of the doughs into two oblongs the same size – mines were 7inches by 12 inches. If the dough is too soft after rolling, place them back in the fridge to harden slightly. 

Next brush the chocolate dough with some water and place the malt dough on top , pressing down to stick them together, cut off any excess from the sides. Slowly roll the dough into a sausage shape, with the longest side facing you.. 

Wrap again in film and place back into fridge for half an hour. Preheat the oven to 160^oC and line a couple of cookie sheets with greaseproof paper. Remove the dough sausage from the fridge and with a sharp knife cut into slices about ¼ thick. Place onto the cookie sheet and bake the cookies for 12 to 15 minutes, until they have turned pale golden. Allow them to cool and you have delicious Malteser inspired swirl cookies to admire and devour. Enjoy!

The Cakeyboi Alphabet - E

E is for Electric...

If you can, invest in an electric food mixer, and preferably a stand-mixer. Although not an essential, they save huge amounts of time in the kitchen and do a lot of the work for you. In fact, some recipes can't be made without one (see my marshmallow recipe).