Clotted Cream and White Chocolate Fudge

So I decided I wanted to attempt to make some fudge this week, something I've never done before, as I always thought it was a difficult thing to do but it turns out it's really easy! So for those of you out there who have never been brave enough to try it, it really is easier than you think!

What you're going to need is:

227g Cornish Clotted Cream

275g Caster Sugar

100g Golden Syrup

1tsp Vanilla Extract

100g White chocolate and an extra 50g for decorating

A lined or greased baking tin

Firstly put the cream, caster sugar, golden syrup and vanilla into a sauce pan and heat slowly, stirring as it begins to melt together.

 Then cover the saucepan and bring to boil for 3 minutes. Either use a thermometer to check when it has reach 116°C or drop a small amount into a cup of cold water and it it form a ball then it is ready. 

 Take off the heat and stir constantly until it thickens and becomes matte in texture, adding the chocolate just before it thickens to much. The chocolate will melt in the mixture so there is no need to pre-melt it.

Pour the mixture into the baking tin ensuring it is spread out evenly.

 Melt the remaining chocolate and put into a disposable piping bag or a sandwich bag and cut a small hole in the corner.

Drizzle the chocolate over the top of the fudge.

Leave to cool down in a cool place, once it has cooled if the chocolate has still not set, place in the fridge for an hour or so.

Then cut up and enjoy your amazing tasting fudge!

Gooey Caramel Shortbread

So I made some Caramel Shortbread the other day and the caramel was so gooey and sweet it was amazing! so much that I wanted to share the recipe with you all, so you can make some and see how amazing it is for yourselves. 

I used a food processor, you don't have to you could mix the ingredients by hand but this saves time. 

Pr-heat your oven to 150 degrees

Add 1 cup of Plain flour to the food processor

Then add 1/4 cup caster sugar...

and a pinch of salt

Then add 125g Butter and a drizzle of vanilla Extract, wizz it all up in the food processor until it starts clumping together like this:

Take the mixture out and kneed it slightly in a bowl till it forms a nice dough.

Then flatten it out into your baking tray/dish. I didn't use any greaseproof paper which meant it was hard getting it out after so my advise would be to line your tray with some first!

Then place it in the oven for 40 minutes or until golden brown.

Then you'll need to make your Caramel sauce. 

In to a sauce pan place 1 cup caster sugar and then enough water to cover the sugar. 

On a low heat, slowly boil the sugar, DO NOT STIR! 

As it starts to boil it will look like this:

Don't take your eye off it because it will only take a matter of seconds to go from this to a light brown colour. So quick I didn't have time to take a picture! As soon as this happens take it off the heat as if it goes too dark then it will have burnt and not taste nice at all! (this happened to me the first time I did it and it was horrid) 

Then add 50g of butter and half a cup of cream to it and stir this in. You should get a nice gooey caramel that looks like this:

Although it's tempting make sure you let it cool a little before tasting as it will be really really hot!

Once it's cooled, spread it over the top of your shortbread

While this is setting slightly, melt 200g of Chocolate

Then spread this on top of the caramel:

Pop it in the fridge to set and then soon you'll have scrumptious gooey caramel shortbread ready to eat!

Vanilla Cupcake Recipe

Vanilla Cupcakes can be the basis of any amazing decoration or flavoured buttercream or icing. They are a fabulous starting point for any baker. So I wanted to share with you all my recipe for vanilla cupcakes which I swear by.

 This recipe makes 12 cupcakes.

What you'll need:

A whisk (electric or hand)

100g Margarine (room temperature)

100g Caster Sugar

100g Self Raising Flour (sieved)

2 eggs

2 tsps Vanilla Extract

A Baking Tray

12 Cupcake Cases

Pre-heat the oven to 190 degrees.

Whisk the margarine and sugar together till you get a light and fluffy mixture.

Add the eggs and vanilla extract and whisk again.

Fold in the flour to the mixture using a spoon. 

Divide the mixture between the cupcake cases and bake in the over for 15-20 minutes. When they are done you'll be able to tough the top and it will bounce back up. 

Leave to cool before decorating.

I'll soon be posting some of my favourite ways to decorate cupcakes, but in the mean time let me know what your favourite ways to decorate are in the comments. If you have any styles or flavours you want a recipe for then ask in the comments and I shall post a recipe!