Golden Syrup and Ginger cake

Today I made a cake to take in to school from my new cookbook:




  They have a website and a group which meet in Cambridge .

I made the ginger syrup cake because it only needed 2 eggs and that was all I had. It did sink a little when it came out but it is covered with butter icing with ginger and golden syrup so it hid a lot of errors.

Not quite as pretty in the picture but hey ho onwards and outwards (or something).

Chick Cupcakes

Miss E wanted to make cakes ... so we followed this recipe to make cakes:

Ingredients

• 130 grams butter (softened)
• 130 grams caster sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• 130 grams self-raising flour
• 4 tablespoons milk

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 190C.
2. Cream together the butter and sugar until creamy and pale. In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs with the vanilla. Whisk into the butter and sugar mix.
3. Sift half the flour in, and fold. Then add the milk and mix in well. Fold in the other half of the sifted flour.
4. Spoon into the paper cases and put into the oven for about 25 - 30 mins until golden and crisp on top.

E then made some yellow butter icing (by mixing 140g softened butter with  280g icing sugar and some yellow colouring paste) and then decorated her cakes with it and some Jelly tots.

Marshmallow squares

• 45 grams butter
• 300 grams marshmallows
• 180 grams Rice krispies 
• 25 grams of cherries

1. Using scissors the marshmallows were cut in to halves. The butter and marshmallows were put in to a large, heavy-based saucepan over a low heat and melted gently.
2. The pan was taken off the heat and immediately the cereal and cherries were added, mixing lightly until well coated.
3. The mixture was pressed into a greased 32cm x 23cm tin;
4. The marshmallow crispy squares were left to cool in the fridge for an hour and then cut them into 24 squares.

Raspberry pastry swirls

We had some left over puff-pastry so we made these sweet swirls.

First we rolled out the pastry. Then raspberry jam was spread over the pastry leaving a thin border around the edge/ We then brushed water along the edge of one piece and the pastry was rolled from the opposite edge. The rolls were then cut into slices 1cm thick and put on a baking tray. We sprinkled sugar on half of the swirls and baked in the oven at 180oC for 10-12 minutes. They were taken out of the oven and left to cool. 

chocolate cookies from hugh FW

Today for the the girls snack, Grace made chocoate cookies from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's  family cookbook - so simple she doesn't need any help except with the hob and oven bit!

• 125g unsalted butter
• 100g caster sugar
• 75g soft light brown sugar
• 1 medium egg, lightly beaten
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 150g plain flour
• ½ tsp baking powder
• 100g  milk chocolate, chopped into smallish chunks

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 190°C/gas 5 and line 2 baking sheets with baking parchment.
2. Gently melt the butter in a small saucepan. Put both sugars into a mixing bowl, pour in the melted butter and beat well with a wooden spoon. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Sift the flour and baking powder into the bowl and stir them in, then add the chocolate. You should have a pretty sloppy sort of mixture.
3. Dot heaped dessertspoonfuls of the mixture on to the baking sheets, leaving a good 4cm between them as they really spread out. Bake for 8-10 minutes, until the cookies are turning pale golden brown.

4. Remove from the oven and leave on the baking sheets for a couple of minutes to firm up. Then carefully lift the baking parchment on to a wire rack and leave to cool completely.

Wandlebury

in the glorious February sunshine (which has been missing for most of half-term) we cycled to Wandlebury (http://cambridgeppf.org/wandlebury-country-park.shtml) for a walk round. The girls love climbing on fallen down trees, collecting sticks and running up and down the banks of the ring!

Twilight at the musuems 2013

                                                                                                                                                           


We went to Twilight at the museums (http://www.cam.ac.uk/museums/twilight/). This is where the museums are open after dark with special activities on. There are lots of children with torches and some of the museums have large queue to get in (the zoology museum!) so it is worth planning your evening carefully.

This year we visited the Botanical Gardens where we enjoyed story tellers (which was more suitable for the older 2) and then wondered round the hothouses before going for cake and hot chocolate at the cafe!

Then we popped to the Fitwilliam Museum where we watched the projections of art work in the outside of the building before popping in to look at their exhibition of calligraphy and their Ancient Egypt collection - by which point P had enough so we came home!