New Kit Kat

Hello

I just wanted to jump on here quickly to mention the new KitKat.

If you don't like KitKats we have a problem. They are definitely one of my top sweets especially the Chunky but this new one is the four finger, (don't be dirty).

This new KitKat is limited edition and is called the Toffee Treat.

It consists of the usual four fingers covered in a toffee flavoured white/milk chocolate blend.

It's good.

The toffee flavour is nice and sweet but not sickly just a good tasting creamy chocolate. It also makes the chocolate flavour stand out more.

The creamy chocolate added with the wafer on these is a better combination than the original in my opinion so its time to stockpile.

Try them now, they won't be here for long.

Weekend Baking

This weekend I got back to my baking and it will keep coming. I couldn't decide what to start with so I went for a mix.

First I decided on some Chocolate Brownie Cupcakes as it was the weekend so I was in need of chocolate.

These had such a soft fudgey sponge. They were slightly rich but with the portion size of a cupcake they were great. One of these would satisfy a real chocolate crazing, maybe two. I forgot to pick up extra plain chocolate so ended up using a mixture of plain, milk and white chocolate. I don't believe that this affected them but will make them again soon, with all plain chocolate, to make sure.

I also need to work on these again as the tops came out a little crisp. They still tasted fine but I'll need to watch my temperature more.

The next bake was something different for me. Melting Moments biscuits. I don't think I've made biscuits like this before. They are a lot like shortbread but softer. As the name suggests they should melt in the mouth.

This was a very easy mix. Basically chuck everything in a bowl and mix.  Then came the challenge. I am no good with a piping bag but I tried and I got better towards the end. Can you guess which ones they are?

As you can see once they came out of the oven the first attempts at piping came out darker than the rest, being much smaller.

When I piped the first few I thought it was really difficult to get the mixture out of the bag but it became much easier once the piping bag had less in it. So lesson here, don't over fill the piping bag! It will make it difficult to pipe and you'll have biscuit mix go everywhere. 

When they were baking they smelt like shortbread (the smell filled my flat) and they tasted like that too but without the bite. As the name states they melt. They are so soft you could eat these with no teeth.

I'm not a shortbread fan so these didn't appeal to me so I moved onto cookies.

I decided on a batch of white chocolate chip and again it was all in one bowl. Easy. Until the transferring to a tray. These were meant to be soft and chewy but I put too much on the tray and they were too high and didn't flatten out as much as they should have and then I overcooked them. They were alright as a crunchy cookie but it wasn't what I was going for.

So again baking didn't turn out too well but it was another try at something I enjoy. Let's see what happens next.

London Trip - Macaroons Edition

Last year, at the end of November/start of December I visited London. I was on a mission for macaroons.

The first stop was Ladurée. We visited the store in Harrods. It was busy but the queue for retail was quick. Ladurée is a very pretty location with attentive staff. It may be expensive overall but it would be a great treat to have. The food selections all looked superb. Lots of freshly made tasty, looking pastries. I only went for the macaroons but even then I was spoilt for choice.

Paul and Ladurée, package may have got a bit damaged but the macaroons were fine.

My selection was the vanilla, chocolate, pistachio, vanilla rum, and salted caramel. Each of these were tasty and had full flavour. I would have each of these again except the vanilla rum.
The vanilla rum was a good macaroon but wow is that all booze. I could only have a couple very small bites. Two full macaroons and I'm sure I would have felt a little tipsy. I do like rum but with a mixer. I'd recommend the vanilla rum to real rum lovers and the rest to everyone.

Paul's Giant Pistachio Macaroon and Ladurée Pistachio Macaroon

A recommendation from family was to try the giant macaroons from Paul's. I chose the pistachio and the vanilla, my friend chose the chocolate.
Each macaroon was nice however a surprise to me was that the vanilla was my favourite. I think due to the increased size of the macaroons the full on flavours just got a but much. The pistachio was good but chocolate was too much for me.

Paul's Giant Macaroon

Ladurée was my favourite. I would go back there regularly if I could. Thankfully for my bank balance I live no where near. Ladurée has apparently the best macaroons in Paris. I can't confirm this. They may have been the best macaroons I've had but the best in Paris is such a big claim it will have to be investigated.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

This blog took a bit of a break but it's back and I have a few posts over the next few days to get the year off to a good start.

Firstly, I would like to say everyone that I hope you had a great holiday recently and hope everyone had a good new year.

Last year, in regards to cooking and baking I wanted to do so much but didn't get around to doing very much. I read about things or watched how to do things  rather than actually trying it for myself. I guess it was a little bit of lacking faith in myself and thinking I could do anything but I want that to change.

There was one moment last year that I really thought it could change.

Last year there was one baking wish I really wanted to complete and I got the opportunity when my work place had a Bake-Off.

I entered the below cake:

Winter Theme Cake

For a while I had wanted to make a big cake but I had no reason to. When the bake-off came up, I agreed to do a simple cake but I got a bit carried away. I wanted to make a winter wonderland theme and I just went for it.

This is what we have to do. I had never made decorations for a cake before let alone something with such detail. I enjoyed every bit of making it though and the mistakes I made were good for learning.

Edible Pinecones

To make it better I won the bake-off and look forward to spending the voucher prize soon in the cook store.

Powdered Chocolate Truffles

If you want to do something give it a go. You'll never know what could happen until you try.

Bring on the New Year!