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!

Enhance (Water Flavouring) Drink

Water is good for us and but we generally don't drink enough of it. This could be due to the fact we are drinking something else such as sodas or tea/coffee or juice or because we just don't like drinking it. The main reason I fail at drinking enough water is that it can be boring.

How many times do you get a huge craving for a glass of water? Mmm water, I know I don't.

Enhance drink

We can always add diluting juice to our water but these are usually just kept at home, as they are big bottles and we stay away from water when out and about, as it can be expensive to buy.

Due to water being expensive, more of us are carrying our own bottles but this still doesn't get away from water being a unappetizing drink.

This last year I have noticed a rise in mini concentrated drinks. These little packs allow you to add a splash of flavoring to your water wherever you are.There are quite a few to choose from now.

The one I have tried is from Enhance, which I received in my last Degusta Box. It was the strawberry and kiwi flavour.

Enhance drink. Very light color and taste.

When you have a glass of water just add one squeeze of the bottle into your drink and then you have a flavoured drink. Enhance state that it is only 1 calorie per drink, so there is no need to worry about it affecting any calorie intakes.

Also Enhance are doing their bit for charity by partnering with Just a Drop water charity. Just a Drop work towards making sure people in poorer areas have clean drinking water. Enhance state that they make a donation from every bottle sold.

Overall thoughts are that the flavour is weak however it does add enough taste so you don't feel like you are just drinking water.

It's a good idea but it's not a fantastic product. I can't see me carrying one about. I have had more plain water than flavoured since I got it. It may be good if you really hate drinking just water.

Bread Meats Bread - not so sober version

Last weekend my friend and I went out for a catch up and at night ended up in Bread Meats Bread.

The food is definitely in the title. From burgers to sandwiches and melts they have you covered.

Bread Meats Bread. Chicken Burger

My friend highly recommends the place and she loved her chicken burger.

The Wolf Burger with Pastrami

I ordered The Wolf burger which is Double Bacon & Pulled Pork in BBQ sauce with tobacco onions and American cheese. Sadly, they had run out of the pulled pork, so I had it swapped for pastrami.
It was a very tasty burger. The burger was meaty yet tender and the pastrami just melted in your mouth and all together it was a great combination. Although, I will need to try The Wolf as it was intended.

The onion rings (friend's side) were good. Such big onions with a light and crisp batter.

Bread Meats Bread, Drinks and Sides

For my side, I ordered the caramelized fries, which is sweet potato fries with maple syrup and coconut and these are great. Soooo tasty. The fries had a slight crunch on the outside and were fluffy on the inside. The addition of the maple and coconut though different, worked and the sweetness cuts through the meaty burger. However if you don't have a sweet tooth they may get a bit too much for you.

Bread Meats Bread. It beat me.

The meal was great and I look forward to going again for another round, hopefully this time I'll be able to eat all my burger.

Fall Food - Pumpkin Baking

In October seeing so many pumpkins made me want to bake with them. I had never even cooked a pumpkin never mind baked with one but I had a very strong urge for some pumpkin baking and wanted to test both a pumpkin and a can of puree.

Pumpkin, fresh from the oven

Sadly, I think I had the pumpkin in the oven too long and it dried out. Thankfully I had enough puree for both baking batches.
 
I got the recipies for both of these from one of my favourite youtubers Laura Vitale from Laura in the Kitchen, check her out here; http://www.laurainthekitchen.com

The first of the baking was Pumpkin Bread.

Pumpkin Bread

This turned out well. Nice soft centre with a slight crust to the outside but overall it was tasty. I'm not a huge fan of cinnamon or ginger but this was lovely. It had a slight gingerbread taste, just in loaf form, but it was milder. I think the sweetness of the pumpkin mellowed out the strong spices. I would recommend this to anyone even people that say they don't like cinnamon just because the taste of the spices is reduced significantly.

The bread was good cold but is better warm. I would really recommend this as nice breakfast treat.

Making Cream-cheese Frosting

Pumpkin Cupcake mixture

Next was the Pumpkin Cupcakes. I loved these. They came out with such a soft light sponge and again the taste of the spices was mellowed with the pumpkin. I really enjoyed these and had to make sure other people got some or I would have eaten them all.

 Pumpkin Cupcakes

The cheese cream frosting on top may have been a bit much due to how much I added but they were treats.

Pumpkin Cupcake

Halloween may be over but Thanksgiving is still to come so there is plenty of time to still bake with pumpkin.

Frosted Pumpkin Cupcake

I wonder what I can do next?