Vanilla Muffins

Ingredients:

• Oil or meled butter for greasing
• 280g plain white flour (up to 50% can be swapped out for plain wholemeal flour)
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• ½ bicarbonate of soda if using buttermilk or yoghurt
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 115g sugar (brown or white)
• 2 medium eggs
• 9 fl oz milk (can substitute buttermilk, yogurt, sour cream, cream, coconut milk, fruit juice or fruit puree)
• 6 tbsp sunflower oil or 85g butter, melted and cooled
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Method:

Preheat the  oven to 200oC or 400oF or Gas mark 6.

Grease 12 cup muffin pan or Muffin Pan and line with paper cases

Sift together flour, baking powder and salt into 4lt Stainless Mixing bowl.

Stir in  sugar.

In Classic Batter Bowls. beat together eggs, milk and oil.

Make well in dry ingredients and pour in liquid ingredients

Gently stir together until just combined using Silicone Scraper – it’s important not to overmix

Put a generous Large Scoop of batter into each well of the prepared muffin pan

Bake for 20 minutes until well risen, goldlen and firm to the touch

Leave to cool for 5 minutes and transfer to Stackable Cooling Rack

When muffins cold, split and spoon in some jam or icing if desired and dust with icing sugar.

(If icing required, put cream cheese and butter in a bowl and sift in icing sugar

Beat together until light and fluffy

Chill until ready to serve.)

Gregory's Bear Biscuit - decorated cookie

A big thank you to Miss Lamb at school for teaching Gregory to decorate his bear biscuit beautifully. He had so much fun! (It was yummy too.....)  Check out Miss Lamb's cake creations, she's very clever!

Cookies

Ingredients

• 250g/9oz unsalted butter, softened

• 250g/9oz golden caster sugar
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten

• ½ tsp vanilla extract
• 500g/1lb 2oz plain flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 200g/7oz ready-to-roll fondant icing
• 1 tbsp apricot jam, warmed with 1tsp water

Preparation method

1. Beat together the butter and sugar in a 4lt Stainless Mixing Bowl, until the mixture is light and fluffy.
2. Beat in the eggs and vanilla extract (measured with Adjustable Measuring Spoons). (If the mixture looks a little curdled, add a spoonful of the flour.) If you’re using food colouring, add a few drops to the mixture.
3. Sift together the flour and baking powder in a separate bowl. Stir the flour into the butter mixture and work into a dough using floured hands. Turn onto a floured work surface and knead into a ball (the dough will be quite wet). Divide the dough into two portions, wrap in cling film and leave to chill in the fridge for at least one hour.
4. Preheat the oven to 170C/325F/Gas 3..
5. Roll the dough out to a 0.5cm/¼in thickness on lightly floured work surface. (It’s best to roll out one portion of the dough at a time, leaving the remainder in the fridge.) Cut shapes out with the your favours shaped cutters.
6. Place the cookies onto a Rectangle Stone or Medium Sheet Pan, leaving a gap between them in case they spread a little.
7. Bake for 12-15 minutes, leave on the tray for 10 minutes and then move to a Stackable Cooling Rack to finish cooling.
8. Once cool, let your imagination go crazy!
9. Using the Bakers Roller, roll the fondant icing out to a 0.5cm/¼in thickness on a work surface dusted with icing sugar and cut out shapes using the same cutters as the cookies.
10. Using the Chefs Silicone Basting Brush, brush the cookies with the warmed apricot jam and stick the icing onto the cookies.

Carrot Cake Muffins

Ingredients:

• Basic Muffin mix
• 1 tsp ground mixed spice
• Use  dark brown sugar
• 200g grated carrot
• 50g coarsely chopped walnuts or pecans
• 50g dried mixed fruit
• 1 orange
• Zest or nuts for decoration

Method:

Preheat the oven to 200oC or 400oF or Gas mark 6.

Grease the Stoneware 12 cup muffin pan or line with paper cases

Sift together flour, baking powder, measure the mixed spice and salt using the Adjustable Measuring Spoons and add into 4lt Stainless Mixing bowl.

Using the Course Microplane Grater, grate carrot and stir in, along with sugar, walnuts and dried fruit.

In Classic Batter Bowl beat together eggs, milk, oil, orange rind and orange juice.

Make well in dry ingredients and pour in liquid ingredients

Gently stir together until just combined using the Small Mix n Scraper – it’s important not to overmix

Put a generous Large Scoop of batter into each well of the prepared muffin pan

Bake for 20 minutes until well risen, goldlen and firm to the touch

Leave to cool for 5 minutes and transfer to cooling rack

To make icing, put cream cheese and butter into the 2ltr Stainless Mixing bowl a bowl and sift in icing sugar

Beat together until light and fluffy using the Double Balloon Whisk

When muffins cold, pipe on icing using the Easy Accent Decorator and decorate with orange zest or chopped unts

Chill until ready to serve.