Freckled Kirsty

Another get together with friends has prompted some more baking (whilst the baby is sleeping) and the salted caramel cover recipe from a BBC Good Food issue from a while back caught my eye. I have been storing this recipe waiting for a good excuse to bake it, and I can say (after scoffing a few), these brownies do not disappoint and will be made again. Brownies are very easy to make, the one stumbling point I often find is the temperature of the oven and the time they are baked for - as ovens vary vastly this is quite hard to write into a recipe, but I have a fan assisted fairly new over which bakes quite hot. They key for baking the brownies is checking after the stated time, and they should still be a little liquid in the middle if you want moist squishy squares. Leaving them to cool completely in the tin is also an essential, as if they are cut too early they may still be too liquid. Time to make batter - around 15 minutes Baking time - 35 minutes depending on your oven I

Banoffee pie in my eyes is one of the best desserts to take along to a social gathering, so a casual drinks invite for the weekend prompted this tasty offering.It is very easy to make, (you can even cheat and use Dulce du Leche rather than making your own caramel) so you put in minimal effort for a stunning and delicious dish. Ingredients For the base: 200g of your choice of biscuit - I personally use Rich Tea's, but if you fancy a hint of spice a few ginger nuts thrown in are good, or you can add some extra chocolate in here through chocolate digestives - as long as the biscuit can soak up the butter that is all that we need. 100g melted butter to start, but add more if the biscuit base isn't binding. For the banoffee filling: 2 bananans, ripe but not mushy Either 1 can of dulce du leche, or,  150g soft brown sugar 150g butter 1 x 397g can of condensed milk For the topping: 150ml double cream Milk chocolate to grate over the cream Method Firs

This weekend sees us packing up and treking to Reading for a university reunion, and as we now have many little people a picnic seemed a good idea (crossing our fingers that the sun comes out to play). As a group we have decided that everyone should bring one savoury and one sweet, so my offering is some lovely chorizo sausage rolls. They Spanish sausage gives a lovely extra dept to this absolute picnic classic, and they are so easy to make and will be gobbled up very quickly I am sure. Ingredients: 1 pack of ready to roll puff pastry 400g sausage meat - I buy good quality pork sausages and take them meat out of the casing 100g chorizo, diced into small chunks 1 egg yolk Salt and pepper for seasoning If you are feeling a little fancy seasame or poppy seeds for sprinkling ontop Method Preheat the oven to 180 degrees adn line a baking tray with parchment. Combine the sausage meat, chorizo and seasoning in a bowl and refridgerate if making in advance. Unroll the puff