Recent kitchen creations

Laucke scones

You’ve probably caught on to the fact that I do A LOT of baking. Like some people do crafts, watch a movie or potter in the garden to cure boredom, relax or just have fun, but me, I bake.

Not everything I bake is a new recipe though. Some recipes are just too good to only be made once and sometimes I make other blogger’s recipes with the sole purpose of enjoying them not setting them up for a photo shoot and post. That doesn’t mean I don’t take photos. I’ll be honest, a lot of what I eat ends up on Instagram because I’m a chronic food over-sharer and to carry on the theme, I’m going to share them again.

Last year I was given a Laucke mix for CWA scones. As much as I love scones, I hadn’t had the occasion to bake them until last weekend when mum and her friend popped round for tea (yes I’ve joined the Downton Abbey wagon). All I had to do was add water and let the dough hook do the work then roll them out, cut them out and bake.

I’m not usually a fan of packet mixes, but like the Laucke pizza mix, these were fantastic. They tasted every bit as good as scones made from scratch and were nice and fluffy. The smell was just wonderful. It’s a hard smell to describe, that of scones baking but if you’ve ever made them before I’m sure that right now you’re smelling that distinctive aroma.

You can get the mix at most supermarkets. What I didn’t realise until now is that you can use them as a base to make all sorts of other recipes (click the CWA link above).

Charlie’s easy chicken curry

When I saw Charlie’s quick chicken curry on Hotly Spiced last week I whipped it up for dinner that night. It was fabulous. If you love curry and want something that tastes authentic with a deep flavour but not much effort then try it out. I also liked how the sauce was nice and thick. When I make curry a lot of the time it’s too liquid.

Super hero cupcakes

My cousin’s twin boys turned five last week and needed cupcakes to take to school (only their second week). I was more than a little excited to make them for them.

The brief was chocolate cupcakes with chocolate icing and, in the words of my cousin, ‘superhero if you can but don’t go to too much trouble cause they’re kids and they’ll eat them in two seconds.’ I was still up for the challenge though adding colour to chocolate icing can be a bit tough.

I ended up making three superhero cupcakes for each of them and the others I decorated with a variety of edible goodies. Let’s be honest, it took me way too long to do six and my hands just couldn’t have done 48. I used this fool-proof cupcake recipe and added some cocoa then topped them with chocolate buttercream.

Choc-hazelnut raspberry brownies

We organised a last-minute picnic in the park the other weekend and what’s a picnic without brownies right? This recipe has become one of my favourites.

Raspberry yoghurt cake with floral icing

Mum asked me to make a cake for her friend’s Birthday. The brief for this one was something yoghurty, maybe with raspberries. I made my raspberry yoghurt cake and topped it with buttercream icing laced with a little yoghurt to cut the sweetness and tinted it pink.

I piped it on in rose shapes with a star tip after rolling the outside of the cake in icing sugar and was a little bit pleased with myself when I stood back to admire it.

I made the cake, 48 cupcakes and the brownies all in the one weekend. It never seems like much until I look back at it but I love baking and cake decorating so really it’s not all that much effort. Now…. what to bake today?

What about you? Do you have staple recipes that get a good run in your kitchen?

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