Freckled Kirsty

Hello friends, So over the long Easter weekend we decided to pack up the car and head North for a relaxing break in Scotland - we had a couple of nights in Edinburgh and then planned a day in Loch Ness before heading back South on Sunday. Well that was the plan. We inadvertently had to spend an extra night in Inverness, but I will explain more later! I have visited Edinburgh a few times before, but always with work - I have walked around the old city, but not really had the time to meander around and take all the sights in. Also, as we decided to drive it gave us the opportunity to stop off at Hadrian's Wall on the way, a landmark I have wanted to visit for a while. Our final destination Loch Ness was my other half's  idea - he wanted to go hunting monsters. The drive from home to Hadrian's wall was a long one - we got stuck in the normal bank holiday traffic, and it was a little cold when we got to the wall but it was worth the visit. We went to Housesteads Roman  Fo

I have been wanting to try out this recipe for ages - I bought an amazing American cookbook, which has everything from mac 'n' cheese to key lime pie, and lots in between. I have tried a few of the recipes so far, but this one is an absolute gem! This is the cookbook the recipe is from - I bought it from Amazon, and I would 100% recommend it, every recipe is worth a try:   I did tweak the recipe a tiny bit, because I don't like cinnamon very much: Ingredients: 115g melted butter 100g light muscovado sugar 100g caster sugar 4 eggs 1 tsp vanilla extract 10 rich tea biscuits 75g plain flour 1 tsp baking powder 300g mini marshmallows For the ganache: 175g plain chocolate 125ml double cream Method: Preheat the oven to 180C/ 170C fan assisted. Line a square 9 inch baking tin (this needs to be a deep tin, as you will construct the bars in it.) Mix the butter and sugars in a bowl using a hand whisk and then add in the eggs gradually (the mixtur

This weekend I am having my first house guests in my new home, so for me this means one thing - the perfect excuse to bake! Whilst watching some daytime TV on Friday, it came up that carrot cake was the nations favourite flavour, and knowing that these friends were fans I decided that would be the cake of the weekend. This makes a 3 layer cake, with a 10 cm diameter - to make one normal size cake double the ingredients. Ingredients: 110 g light muscovado sugar 110ml sunflower oil 150g self raising flour 2 large eggs 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon 1 tsp mixed spice 50g sultanas 110g grated carrot For the icing: 60g butter 60g soft cheese 250g icing powder Method: Preheat the oven to 180C/  170C fan assisted. Grease 3 small cake tins if you want the small cake as I made, or two larger tins for the bigger cake. Beat together the sugar, oil and eggs with a hand beater until they are well combined. Add in the flour, spices and sultanas and when these are incorporated in

Hello friends.  A few weeks ago my lovely friend Liz posted a link to me of a lady who had created an awesome giant Ferrero Rocher cake (this is her blog filled with fantastic bakes - http://www.sugarhero.com/) , and then the challenge was born. Liz and her husband Matt had their first child 6 months ago and today marked his Dedication day, so I thought this was the perfect opportunity to attempt the bake (and it had the up side of having lots of people there to eat the cake!).  This was really fun to make, but I did it slowly over a week or so and whilst it looks like a Rocher inside it doesn't have a giant hazelnut  and creamy filling, but instead layers of chocolate cake and hazelnut  mousse. The biggest tip I have for you, if you want to try this special bake, is make sure you have some form of cake release in your chocolate sphere moulds. The trickiest part of this creation I found was tempting the delicate shells away from the plastic mould I used - if I were doing it aga

Before I start this blog I have got to say, I think this is the best bread I have ever made! The red onions mixed with the salt on top of the focaccia are brilliant - when I make it again the only thing I may add is a little bit of cheese! The theory behind making this focaccia was as an accompaniment to my parsnip leek and garlic soup (coming in the next blog post) - I wanted an extra tasty side to go with my healthy dinner and the focaccia idea popped into my head.   It also with bakes like this that I wish I was a better photographer - I am learning slowly but the photos don't do this justice! Ingredients ( This makes one focaccia.) : 250g strong white flour  7g yeast Pinch of salt 200ml cold water 1 tbsp olive oil for the bread Olive oil for drizzling 1 red onion Sea salt flakes for sprinkling. Method: Put the flour, yeast, salt, olive oil and most of the water into a bowl (I used my KitchenAid for this), mix well and knead for around 5 minutes. Add the

In less than two months I am going to be attempting to complete a Tough Mudder, which for those who don't know is a 10-12 mile military obstacle course. I am a little scared by it, but as part of my training I decided to try some healthy recipes, and this is the first attempt! Banana bread for me has to be dense and moist, and this recipe ticks both of those boxes. There isn't a raising agent as part of this recipe, so it is a very dense cake so don't expect it to grow in the oven at all. I have replaced the butter and sugar in a traditional banana bread recipe with coconut oil and dates, which makes this healthier for you. Ingredients: 3 ripe bananas, mashed 100g ground almonds 100g flour 25g raisins or sultanas Pinch of salt 60g coconut oil, melted 1 tbsp cinnamon 1 tsp nutmeg 1sp vanilla 3 soft dates Method: Pre-heat your over to 180C/ 170C fan assisted. In a bowl mix together all of the dry ingredients so they are well combined. In a s

Shortbread. Caramel. Chocolate. On their own each component of this bake is delicious, and combined gives an opulent rich tea time treat. Again this is another of the family favourites, and my granddad used to bake these regularly so are one of the bakes from my childhood.  This bank holiday weekend I am packing my bags and going to a road trip, all the way to Loch Ness, so these will be providing the sugar highs when I am many hours and miles into the drive. Ingredients: For the shortbread: 125g softened butter 55g caster sugar 180g flour For the caramel: 150g butter 379g tin of condensed milk 100g golden syrup For the topping: 200g milk chocolate Method: Firstly we need to make our shortbread. Preheat the oven to 190C/ 170C fan assisted. I  have used a regular size loaf tin to make my shortbread, and this recipe creates some left overs. Line your tin and put to one side. In a bowl mix together the butter and sugar until they form a soft paste, then sift in