Salted caramel sauce

Now if you've never tried salted caramel you have no idea what you are missing out on .. and if you don't like it .. how are we even really friends ?!

For me its the perfect balance of sheer sweet indulgence with an edge of savouriness from the addition of sea salt.. SO delicious i could just eat it with a spoon


To make a batch of my salted caramel you will need

300g caster sugar
80ml water
300ml double cream
1/2 - 1 tsp sea salt
60g unsalted butter at room temperature

• Place the sugar and water in a pan.

• Leave on a medium heat for the sugar to melt - DO NOT STIR as this will cause the sugar to crystallize

• Use a wet pastry brush to brush any sugar crystals around the side of the pan.

• Add the vanilla extract to the cream and set aside.

• When the sugar begins to turn a pale straw colour, this is when you need to carefully swirl your pan in smooth clockwise motions

• You need to look for the sugar to turn to a nice deep amber - the colour of golden syrup

• Remove from the heat immediately and carefully but quickly pour in the cream whisking at the same time. You might find some hardened caramel stuck to the bottom of your whisk but dont worry about that.

• Keep stirring until all the cream has been incorporated and you should have your caramel. Whisk in the butter, then sir in the salt. Pour the caramel into sterilised jars, leave to cool & refrigerate.. it will thicken as it sets in the fridge.

• Use as desired - within a month

Cinnamon churros

Churros are something I've steered well clear of due to the fact that they are made from choux pastry but thankfully not anymore as in my last post I shared my succesful recipe for choux in my last post, so I thought it was high time I gave them a go.

The beauty of churros is that you can experiment with different flavours or dipping sauces to go along side them as they are so simple in flavour themselves.

For my first attempt I decided to stick to the classical cinnamon sugar, but I discovered a jar of lotus roscoff spread lurking in my cupboard of baking stuff so I ended up using it as a dipping sauce and it went very well


You could just have them dusted with icing sugar and devour them on their own or drizzle with melted chocolate or for a bit of a cheekier treat - a good lashing of nutella.

For my cinnamon churros you will need

1 x batch of my choux pastry
Piping bag with a star nozzle attached
Caster sugar
Ground cinnamon
Sunflower/ vegetable oil for frying

• To start, make up the cinnamon sugar by mixing tog some caster sugar with some ground cinnamon in a large flat plate- I didn't measure the cinnamon or the sugar, I just did it by eye.  I then lined another flat plate with kitchen paper to drain the oil off the churros as they are deep fried.

• I then made up one batch of my Choux pastry, and transferred the dough to a piping bag fitted with a star nozzle.

•  Heat up your oil in either a deep fat fryer or a a deep heavy based pan. The oil needs to be at a temperature of 190/195c 

• Very carefully, hold the piping bag with the dough in over the oil, and pipe the batter straight into the oil. Use a knife or pair of scissors to cut the dough off to your desired length. I piped my churros roughly just a little longer than my index finger, and fried 5- 6 at a time.*

• The churros should take about 4-5 minutes to cook and turn golden brown in colour. Remove them from the oil with a slotted spoon, then straight onto the kitchen paper. 

• Quickly transfer the churros to the plate with the cinnamon sugar and toss gently until evenly coated. Serve them as they are, or for a bit more of a treat, I drizzled mine with melted biscoff spread 




* I ended up with a batch of  almost 30 churros with the amount of dough for this recipe 

The Easiest shortbread in the world

This really is the easiest shortbread in the world, super quick to make, light and buttery and is so good with a big mug of tea. This version is a chocolate chip one but I love swapping regular caster sugar for lavender or vanilla infused sugar to make it that little bit more extravagant. 

To make 9 chunky squares or 12 ( almost ) bitesize pieces you will need 

250g unsalted softened butter 
125g caster sugar
250g plain flour
125g cornflour
50-75g chocolate  chips

• Preheat your oven to 150c /300f and grease an 8 inch square tin
• In a bowl cream the butter and sugar till light and fluffy
• Add in the plain flour, corn flour and chocolate chips and mix together with a wooden spoon till it just starts to come together. Use your hands to lightly press it all together*
• Transfer the dough into the greased tin and gently press it out into the whole of the tin.
• Prick it all over with a fork, and place in the oven for 50 -55 minutes till it's lightly golden all over.
• Whilst its still a little warm (not hot) sprinkle a little caster sugar all over and once cooled, cut into 9 chunky pieces or 12 smaller almost bitesize pieces. 

* If you prefer you can wrap the dough in cling film, let it chill for about 10 minutes in the fridge, then on a lightly dusted surface, roll out to about an inch thick and transfer to the tin 

Nuts about jam sponge

For me school dinners were always about one thing and one thing only .. what's for pudding ??  My favourites were either cornflake tart or the classic jam & coconut sponge with a load of custard. Ive already blogged my recipe for cornflake tart here, so today it's the turn of my other favourite. It's one of the easiest and quickest desserts going and definite crowd pleaser 

To serve 6-8 people you will need :

6oz margarine (softened ) *

6 oz self raising flour

6 oz caster sugar

3 medium eggs*

for the sugar syrup

3 tablespoons sugar

3 tablespoons hot water ( preferably freshly boiled )

for the topping:

3-4 tablespoons  raspberry jam

desiccated coconut 

• Start by preheating your oven at 180c ( fan assisted ) and grease and line a 7 inch square tin
• Place all the ingredients for the cake in a bowl and with an electric hand whisk or in a freestanding mixer if you have one. Whisk the ingredients together at a slow speed till everything is well combined, speed up the whisk a little and whisk for a further 2-3 minutes. The mixture should be smooth and lighter in colour.
• Pour the mixture into the greased tin and bake for 40-45 minutes or until the cake springs back when lightly touched and the sides are slightly coming away from the tin or inserted skewer comes out clean.
• Put the cake to the side and leave to cool slightly 
• While the cake cools, make the sugar syrup by simply mixing the sugar and water together in a cup or small bowl. If you find that there are a few stubborn grains that just won't mix in, pop the mixture in the microwave for about 10-15 seconds- don't let it come to the boil as you don't want it to crystallise 
• When the cake is cool to the touch, remove the cake and place onto a suitable plate. With a pastry brush, brush the sugar syrup all over the top and sides. You won't need all the syrup, just use enough to give the cake an even coat.
• Finally warm the jam for a few seconds in a plate in the microwave, ( just to make it easier to spread) and spread all over the top of the cake with a knife. Finish off with a sprinkling of desiccated coconut & serve with lashings of custard 

* ensure that the eggs and margarine are at room temperature, as this helps in getting a lighter and fluffier cake batter and a better rise all over.

Greek yogurt & fresh fig pavlova with honey & rose water

Anyone that knows me well enough should know that I've got a real sweet tooth & that I can never resist a meringue based dessert.

Imagine how ecstatic I was when I came across the Meringue Girls, they have taken meringues to a whole new level with creations that you wouldn't have even thought possible.

This post shares one of their amazing recipes from their book which of course I obviously have... A pavlova topped with fresh figs, Greek yoghurt & a delicate addition of rose water .. It is absolutely amazing ! 

For the pavlova you will need:

5 medium whites

300g caster sugar

For the topping you will need :

100g green pistachios ( optional ).

1tbsp rosewater

8 fresh figs

300g greek yoghurt

4 tbsp runny honey

• The first thing is to make the meringue to form your pavlova. Start by lining a baking sheet with greaseproof paper.
• Preheat your oven to 200c/ Gas 6 line a small roasting tray with greaseproof paper, pour in the caster sugar and bake in the oven  for about 5 minutes till the edges are just begininng to melt a little.
• While your sugar is baking, pour your egg whites into a free standing mixer bowl or a plastic bowl if using a hand held electrical whisk. Whisk on a low speed so you get small little bubbles forming
• Turn up the speed a little once the bubbles have formed and whisk until stiff white peaks form - you should be able to tip the bowl over without the whites falling out.
• Next step is to add the sugar, with the whites still whisking remove the sugar from the oven - the sugar should feel hot when touched (& lower the oven temperature to 100c) and add it to the whites a spoonful at a time. 
• Once all the sugar has been incorporated carry on whisking the whites for another 5-7 minutes. Check a small amount of the mixture between your fingers, it should be smooth. If its a little grainy, whisk for another couple of minutes. 
• The mixture will be ready when a small amount of it forms a smooth stiff peak on the tip of your upturned finger
• Grind half of the pistachios and add them to the merge mix along with the rosewater. Fold it together as quick as you can but remember to be gentle- you don't want to knock out that air that will give your pavlova the volume
• Spoon the meringue mixture onto your earlier lined baking sheet and mould into a nest like circle, about 10 inches wide. Use the back of the spoon to make a slight dip in the centre.
• Sprinkle the rest of the ground pistachios on top of the nest and bake in the the oven for 2 hours
• The pavlova should come away from the paper easily & base will be firm. Leave to cool completely
• When you're ready to serve, cut your figs into quarters and roughly chop the remaining 100g of , pistachios.
• Place your pavlova onto a serving dish, spoon in the greek yoghurt into the middle of the pavlova, let it run down the sides and add the figs, sprinkle with the chopped pistachios, drizzle over the honey and serve 

For a little inspiration you can check out the girls YouTube account here , as well as their instagram account  and their official website  too .. You will not be dissapointed I promise  

Step by Step Gulab Jamun pictures

As promised below are pictures of how to make your Jamuns :

From the bottom frame working upwards:


• in a bowl I've put the semolina, milk powder and melted butter
• I've then added the milk and the dough has started to come together, the final picture in the first frame is the dough all combined. A good tip at this point is to leave it for about 10 minutes to firm up

•the first picture in the second frame is of the dough shaped into Jamuns .. Told you they look like baby new potatoes !
•next is them in the oil getting slightly golden
• the final picture is of them fried and ready to be soaked in the sugar syrup

• the final frame has the sugar syrup bubbling away first.. For about 10 minutes
• next it's the Jamuns added to the syrup and left to simmer for about 10 minutes
• and the final image is them in the syrup in a dish ready to be served hot or to cool and pop in the fridge to go cold

**From the last picture I hope you can see the syrup is golden in Colour and not clear ..this colour change means that the syrup is at the perfect consistency though you can boil for longer for a thicker syrup**