Beware The Eggs of March

My favourite thing about Spring is not the warming temperature nor the blossoming daffodils or even the fact that it's my birthday. No, dear reader(s) my favourite thing about Spring is that it means I can make and (over)indulge in one of my favourite seasonal Easter treats: Cadbury Crack. This is not your average annual Easter cookie or cupcake, this is the mother of all Easter treats and it combines pretzels, toffee, chocolate, coconut and mini eggs and it's so delicious you will eat it until you feel sick and then keep going. It's the mini eggs that make it Easter otherwise you could eat it all year round but then I'd probably have diabetes and weight about a thousand pounds.

Cadbury Crack

1 bag salted pretzels (if you can find the stick ones their easier to lay flat)
1 1/4 cup salted butter
1 1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
250 g baking chocolate
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1 family sized bag of mini eggs (300g)

-Preheat oven to 200ºC.
-Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and evenly spread the pretzels across the pan.
-In a medium sized pot melt the butter and sugar and bring to a boil. Let boil for 2-3 minutes until thickened. Add the vanilla and stir.
-Pour the mixture evenly over the pretzels and bake for approximately 6 minutes. Meanwhile, melt the chocolate.
-Remove the toffee and pretzels from the oven and allow to cool until no longer bubbling. Then pour the chocolate over the top. Sprinkle with coconut and crushed mini eggs and refrigerate for at least one hour before breaking into small pieces and binging.

Don't eat in bed if you're not willing to wash chocolate out of your sheets!

Hoppy Easter!

  -Holly

Based off of a recipe by HoneyBear lane available here

Toffee Mocha Torte, How Obscenely Decadent

Hello Dear Readers! ie. Mum (and Matt?)

    The past few months have been busy with school and moving and I've had next to no time to bake. Luckily, I'm home in Vancouver for a few weeks for the Christmas break so not only do I have spare time to pursue hobbies (such a strange feeling) but I also have all kinds of lovely tools to use!

    I've been invited to a friend's birthday celebration tonight as my one social engagement whilst I'm here and I offered to bring dessert so I'd have an excuse to use my beloved KitchenAid. Bonus, I picked a recipe also requiring coffee so I got to use my espresso machine too, it's so nice being with my loved ones. I'm making a cake I first made a few years ago for Thanksgiving, but that was pre blog so now I have the opportunity to share this delicious and incredibly simple cake with you!

It's about -4ºC outside right now so it's a perfect day to crank Adele, reflect on any deep unrequited love (childhood sweetheart, ex-lover, boss, those shoes you had to leave behind in Selfridges) and allow the warmth of the oven to thaw your cold, dead heart. No, just me?

Toffee Mocha Torte

(serves: a lot)

1 cup butter, softened

2 cups sugar

2 eggs

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

2 2/3 cups flour

3/4 cocoa powder

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/4 teaspoons salt

1 cup buttermilk

1 cup coffee

1 tbsp strong coffee (or 1 tbsp hot water and 1/2 tsp instant coffee)

2 cups heavy whipping cream

3 tbsp light brown sugar

250 g toffee pieces (in Canada I use Skor bits, I'm hunting for an alternative in the UK)

1. Cream butter and sugar until "fluffy"(when does it ever look fluffy?) Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each one. Beat in vanilla.Then, combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt and add it to the creamed mixture a little at a time alternating with buttermilk or else it will explode everywhere and you'll curse loudly. Beat well after each addition. Stir coffee into batter. 

2. Pour into three greased and floured 22 cm (9 inch) round baking pans. Bake at 180ºC (350ºF) for 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Mine took closer to 30 minutes but I think I used smaller pans and therefore they were thicker. You can see how precise I am about these things.

3. For the whipped cream topping, pour coffee into a large bowl; cool. Add the cream and brown sugar. Beat until stiff peaks form. Place whichever cake you decide should be the bottom layer on a serving plate; top with approximately 1/3 of topping and sprinkle liberally with toffee bits. Repeat until cake is fully formed. Store in the refrigerator. 

4. Transport to venue, put in candles, light, serve to handsome birthday boy and hopefully dazzle with your baking talents.

Happy Baking!

-Holly

Love is blonde, and lovers cannot see

I don't know what I just did, but it was delicious. I'm not entirely sure what I was expecting when I made this recipe but this wasn't it. I went into this with the intention of making Snickerdoodle Blondies. For those who don't know a Blondie is basically just a brownie without cocoa giving it more of a toffee flavour than chocolate.  Even though I wasn't baking for Count No-chocula he has made me more aware of recipes that contain chocolate so his presence lingers on long after the dust (flour? cocoa powder?) has settled. Also I just happened to have all the ingredients needed on hand so it's not like I'm thinking about him or anything..

   So these Snickerdoodle Blondies are a white, toffee-esque chewy square with cinnamon sugar sprinkled on the top. I had to cut the recipe into 2/3, because I'm a glutton for punishment and a mathematical challenge and also because that's approximately how much smaller our pan was than the one used in the original recipe. I used butter instead of the Crisco used in the original recipe (because Crisco makes me uncomfortable unless it's in pastry and even then I have to not think about it) and they ended up a little on the greasy side, but seriously as long as there was a serviette close by who cares, they tasted amazing. The bake time/temperature was also a bit off on my oven and so I ended up with gooey centres and crispy tops and sides which is the greatest thing ever and I'm not complaining.
 
Snickerdoodle Blondies

1 c butter, softened
1 1/2 c sugar
1/2 dark brown sugar, packed
2 eggs
1/2 tbsp vanilla
2 c flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
less than 1/2 tsp salt

Topping:
2 tbsp sugar
2 tsp cinnamon

Preheat your oven to 180º C (350º F, gas mark4) and line a 9x13 pan with parchment paper (purely for ease of cleanup, you can lightly grease the pan and just whack it right in if you don't mind doing the dishes)

Cream butter, both sugars, eggs and vanilla until smooth. Add in flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt and mix until well combined. Pour it into your prepared pan and spread evenly using a rubber spatula or your good ol' hands. Sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar mixture and bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown and the centre has set.

Clean up the flour that has managed to cover 2/3 of your kitchen.

That last one might just be for me.

Happy Baking!

-Holly

Toffee Sandies

          
      When I left for London last time I left my Dad with nine bags of cookies in the freezer to keep him going until I got back. I was trying to ease the withdrawal pains of not having me around. He loved these whole wheat Toffee Sandies so much that the label from one of the bags has been stuck to the backsplash in our kitchen since he finished the bag as a subtle reminder that he really likes them and would be really happy if I made them again. 

Not so subtle hint

   

    As I'm off to London again shortly for twice as long    I'm  restocking him to keep him going until Christmas.  Obviously I knew the first kind of cookie I was going to  have to make would be these ones and I understand  why; they are delicious. 

   Usually I'm a chewy cookie kind of girl. In my world the cookie doesn't crumble unless it was overbaked but these guys are the exception to my rule. They are the ultimate crumbly cookie but in a soft, silky way. Like eating a white sand beach if it were delicious and tasted like almonds. Hence the name "Sandies". 

They're also incredibly easy to make. 

Toffee Sandies

Makes 2 dozen

1/2 c butter, softened

1/2 c icing sugar

1/2 c granulated sugar

1/2 c canola oil

1 egg

1/2 tsp almond extract

1-3/4 c all purpose flour

1/2 c whole wheat flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp cream of tartar

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 c chopped toasted almonds

1/2 package toffee bits (aka Skor bits in Canada)

Preheat your oven to 350ºF (180ºC)

In a large bowl cream butter and both sugars until light and fluffy (or you know, just well mixed)

Add canola oil, egg and almond extract and mix until combined. 

In a separate bowl combine flours, baking soda, cream of tartar and salt. 

Gradually add the dry ingredients to the sugar and butter mixture and mix well. 

Stir in almonds and toffee pieces. 

Fill a small dish with a few tablespoons of granulated sugar.

Make 1 inch balls and roll in the sugar. 

Place on an ungreased cookie sheet and press down with a fork to flatten.

 Bake for about 15 minutes until the edges are lightly browned. 

Remove and allow to cool before stuffing your face. 

Happy eating!

  -Holly

Recipe adapted from Taste of Home

Take Thou Thy Pound of Cake

I can officially retire from baking, I have made the only cake I will ever need for the rest of my life. Okay obviously that's an exaggeration but this cake is still ridiculously good. Like have a second piece even though you're stuffed good. Put the rest in the freezer immediately before you eat it all good. Quick take a photo as you're walking to the table with it on your plate because it will be gone by the time you get there good. Seriously.

   It's another Pinterest score and the original recipe comes courtesy of Carl's Bad Cravings. I swear I don't spend all my time on Pinterest, I just happen to get lucky with good recipes.

   The cake is unbelievably easy to make, but it takes forever to bake so make sure you've got a good chunk of time carved out to do it. Or split it into smaller pans and that will decrease your bake time and make it easier to freeze leftovers. I wasn't kidding about needing to do that.

Toffee Pecan Pound Cake

1-1/2 cups unsalted butter, softened
2 cups light brown sugar, packed
1 cup granulated sugar
5 large eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
1 bag of toffee bits (200g or 8oz depending on where in the world you live)
1 cup pecans, chopped

*Note: If you are in a hurry to soften your butter you can pop it in a bowl and into the oven while it preheats. KEEP AN EYE ON IT though, this is not a good time for an impromptu dance party or monologue run or it will melt. I know. I did it. The nice thing about butter though is you pop that bowl in an ice bath and it's back to solid form in no time!

-Preheat your oven to 325ºF (160ºC) grease and flour a 12 cup bundt pan (the one with the hole in the middle)

-In a large bowl cream butter until smooth. Add in both sugars and mix until light and fluffy. 

- Add the eggs one at a time mixing just until each has been incorporated into the batter. 

- In a separate bowl combine the flour, baking powder and salt.

- Add one third of the flour mixture to the butter followed by a third of the milk. Repeat, alternating between flour and milk twice more and mix until just combined. 

- Stir in the toffee and pecans and pour into your prepared pan. 

- Bake for about 90 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. 

The original recipe called for a caramel sauce to be drizzled overtop. I elected not to do this and I'm glad I did as there is no way I would've been able to handle the sweetness of the added caramel. The woman who did that is officially a new hero of mine. This cake is just the perfect balance of brown sugar toffee goodness without being overly sweet. Good thing it's Valentine's Day next weekend because I am definitely in love!

On the way to eat my second slice

-Holly

Toffee or not Toffee

So this Paul Hollywood guy knows what's up. This is the second time in the last couple of weeks I've used one of his recipes and he has not let me down. The first was my Christmas Morning croissants which I will remake and blog about another time as I was too ill to take pictures (but not too ill to bake!)

  My parents were having a friend over for dinner as one of their five yearly social engagements and seeing as though I'm currently unemployed and bored out of my tree I volunteered to make dessert. It would both keep me entertained and allow me to check one of my "to make" items off my list. I picked a sticky toffee pudding as I've been wanting to try my hand at it for awhile and also if I can be in England, I can at least eat English food with my eyes closed and pretend. In which case I usually pretend I'm being fed by Prince Harry in my country estate wearing Jimmy Choos because, hey, dream big.

The recipe is pretty simple, I cut it in half as we've been on dessert overload since Christmas and didn't need any leftovers. I also took out a couple ingredients that were either difficult to find or not to people's tastes.

STICKY TOFFEE PUDDING

• PUDDING
• 175g/6oz dates, chopped
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 75g/2½oz unsalted butter, softened
• 150g/5½oz soft dark brown sugar
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 175g/6oz self-raising flour
• ½ tsp baking powder
• Preheat your oven to 180C/350F and butter a 24x26cm (9½x10½in) baking tin.
• Put the dates in a bowl, pour on 200ml/7fl oz of boiling water and stir in the baking soda.
• Cream the butter and the sugar together in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Add the egg, beating well. Fold in the flour and baking powder then stir in the dates and their water.
• Pour into prepared pan, spread evenly and bake for 20-30 minutes until firm.
• 
  
• 
• 
  
• SAUCE

• 100g/3½oz unsalted butter
• 150g/5½oz soft dark brown sugar
• 150ml/5fl oz whipping cream (double cream)
• Melt together the butter, sugar and cream in a saucepan over a low heat. Bring to the boil and let bubble for 3-4 minutes, or until the sauce has thickened slightly. Not too long though or it will get hard when it cools and you'll have real toffee!
• Preheat your grill (broiler) to high. Make holes all over the cooked pudding with a skewer. Pour some of the sauce over the pudding and place under the hot grill. Grill for 2-3 minutes, or until the sauce is bubbling. Keep an eye on it so it doesn't burn!
• Serve immediately with remaining sauce. 

Recipe adapted from here.

 I had some leftover sauce which I must say is delicious drizzled over freshly popped popcorn and paired with a nice Early Grey the next day.

-Holly