Oatmeal and Raisin Cookies

More delicious and delectable delights from the Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook you'll be pleased to hear!! After the Cheesecake and Blueberry Cake I thought I'd try something equally tempting but a little less artery-clogging next. So I flipped straight to the cookies section and settled fairly quickly on these treats. They went down a storm yesterday, I came in to work with a fairly hefty box full of them and my bag was considerably lighter on the way home...only a few crumbs left! Soft and chewy, they are the perfect mid-morning or afternoon snack, as my office colleagues will attest to!! One was converted to raisins after years of thinking she didn't like them, which I think is the highest achievement and greatest feeling of satisfaction possible when people try something you've made!!

Oatmeal and Raisin Cookies:

270g unsalted butter

160g caster sugar

160g soft dark brown sugar

2 eggs

380g plain flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

110g rolled oats

220g raisins

Cream together the butter and sugars, before adding the eggs one at a time.

Sift together the flour, cinnamon, bicarbonate of soda and salt, then mix in the oats.

Combine the dry ingredients with the butter, sugar and eggs, before mixing in the raisins.

Place balls of dough slightly smaller than a golf ball on to a baking tray, leaving plenty of space between each one to allow them to spread, and bake in the oven at 170 degreees for about 12 minutes.

As is usual with cookies, be brave and take them out when they are only just turning golden. They will still be very soft and need a delicate touch so that they don't fall apart when you transfer them on to a wire rack to cool. Leave for a few minutes until they are solid enough to pick up, then munch away!!



These cookies really are lovely. Raisins of course add to the sweetness and chewy-factor, and are hugged by soft cookie in which the cinnamon flavour is very delicate, just enough to give a warming flavour to the cookies, and the addition of brown sugar gives a slightly toffee-ish essence.

A doddle to make and perfect with a nice cup of tea, you can't go wrong!!

Hummingbrid Blueberry Cake

This week I decided a knock-your-socks of cake was in order. I've been on a rather more delicate trend with my baking exploits recently with Lemon cake, Snickerdoodles, and Bakewell Slices. Even the heavier desserts I’ve made like the Cheesecake and Chocolate Mousse Cake haven’t been sponge based, and I had a real hankering for a proper cakey cake if you know what I mean!! With tons of icing and everything!!

So I asked myself, which recipe book that I own is most likely to contain lots of delicious cakes? Clearly Hummingbird was the only answer!! Despite wanting a big old cake, with all this lovely hot weather I wasn’t quite in the mood for chocolate, and berries seemed the obvious choice of flavouring. This cake is baked in a ring shape in the Hummingbird book, however I don’t own one of those (yet!) so my reliable old round cake tin had to make do!!

It’s no ordinary cake recipe; the ratio of eggs, butter, sugar and flour is nothing like any other cake I’ve made – for starters there are SIX eggs!! … and then the very healthy addition of sour cream, which, you know, I have no problem with!!

Blueberry Cake:
350g unsalted butter
350g caster sugar
6 eggs
450g flour
2 tblsp and 2 tsp baking powder
280ml soured cream
250g fresh blueberries plus extra to decorate

Cream the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy, then add the eggs one at a time.
Beat in the sifted flour and baking powder until well mixed, then add the soured cream and mix well until liht and fluffy.
Gently stir in the blueberries and pour into a tin and bake at 170 degrees for 40 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.
Leave to cool on a wire rack. When completely cooled cover with the cream cheese frosting and sprinkle with blueberries.

Cream Cheese Frosting:
600g icing sugar
100g unsalted butter
250g cream cheese

Combine the icing sugar and butter until well mixed, before adding the cream cheese and beat until light and fluffy.

The blueberries all sank to the bottom of the mix while it was baking which was disappointing, but I was more grumpy with myself because I completely forgot that a good way to avoid this is to quickly toss the berries in flour before mixing them into the batter. A handy hint for if you decide to make it!! Anyway, all was not lost because I turned the cake upside down to ice it, which resulted in almost a layering of sponge, then a really moist and berry-heavy section before hitting the cream cheese frosting…deeeeee-licious!!!

I’m not completely convinced by this cake; I think there are better sponge recipes out there, however I did want a really dense cakey-cake and that’s exactly what I got! As for its aesthetics, the snowy white of the frosting looked beautiful speckled with deep navy blueberries, and I did like the way the colour from the layer of blueberries bled into the pale yellow sponge dappling it with a deep purple which faded in to a paler lilac colour.

This is definitely a heavy cake, in typical Hummingbird fashion – they don’t do anything by halves!! I would say it’s probably best as an afternoon tea type of thing rather than dessert – I just can’t imagine ever having enough room for this cake after a meal! Either way though, completely indulgent and berries add a summery touch, enjoy!!

Hummingbird Bakery Chocolate Cheesecake

Ok, so I'm back on the chocolate bandwagon in a big big way, I know. This is possibly one of the most chocolate heavy desserts you could make, but it was a celebratory dessert!!! Well that's my excuse anyway. The oven at Colehill Kitchen has always been a bit of a disaster zone; it doesn't seem to have temperature control, so once you turn it on it just keeps getting hotter and hotter and hotter until it's like a furnace in there. This is great for bread making when you want the oven ridiculously hot, but it makes baking large cakes a real challenge (think black cinders on the outside, raw batter on the inside) and anything that needs a cool oven an absolute no-no. But a few days ago we got a new oven, YAYYY!!!! And what's the yummiest thing that needs a cool oven? Umm, hello? Cheesecake!

As well as the other Hummingbird recipes I've made, I've made this cheesecake before, about a year ago, and it really is rather huge. But it went down a storm with everyone (no surprise there really!) so I knew there would be no problem getting rid of this beast, and I was not wrong!! Despite the almost unbearable heat over the weekend, a third of the cheesecake was swiftly demolished, and now there are but a few crumbs left to prove it was ever there!!

Chocolate Cheesecake
Base:
200g digestive biscuits, finely crushed
2 tbs cocoa powder
150g unsalted butter, melted

Filling:
900g cream cheese
190g caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 eggs
200g dark chocolate, roughly chopped

The base is your usual biscuit base. Melt the butter then mix it into the crushed biscuits and cocoa powder before pressing into a a 23cm round springform cake tin, greased and base-lined with greaseproof paper. Leave this to chill and harden in the fridge while you make the filling.

For the filling, melt the chocolate in a bowl over simmering water, then set aside to cool slightly.

Meanwhile beat the cream cheese and caster sugar until thick. Add the vanilla extract and the eggs one by one, beating until fluffy. Careful not to overdo the mixing though or the cheese may split.

Then spoon on blob of cheese mix into the melted chocolate and mix, then a couple more dollops to bring both mixes to similar temperatures, before finally combining the lot and mixing until it is all an even colour.

Pour onto the base and bake in the oven for 40-50 minutes. Check it after 40 minutes to keep an eye out for burning around the edges, and take it out while there is still a wobble in the middle. Be brave about this!! If you leave it in too long the filling will be dry and crumbly, this you do not want - smooth and creamy all the way!!

Leave to cool and ideally chill overnight...if you can hold off that long!!

This recipe from the Hummingbird Bakery cookbook is competely over the top, rich and dense but not ridiculously heavy. Perhaps not the ideal dessert for a tropically hot and humid weekend but hey, it was a special oven-related occasion!! We deserved cheesecake after all this time!!

Hummingbird Double Chocolate Cookies

All this snow has done nothing for my waistline. It inspires in me the desire to trudge about in my wellies (a Christmas gift which have become invaluable during the last few weeks, plus, you know, they're really pretty!!), making snow angels and snowmen, kidding myself that this is all 'exercise' then returning to the comfort and cosiness of home to whip a batch of treats, which obviously I deserve as a reward for all my hard work... and what better treat is there than a huge hit of warm, gooey, rich, soft cookies? And to make them even more irresistible, they are an absolute doddle to make. There is nothing, and I mean nothing, stopping you from making these...which brings me back to the old waistline issue. Hey ho, one has to prioritise, and I don't know about you but I prioritise chocolate.

I have searched high and low for the best double chocolate chip cookies. I've bought many recipe books dedicated to cookies, I've trawled the internet, I've asked friends and family...and now, I can put my hand on heart and tell you that I have found the best recipe, and it has been sitting in front of me for months! Once again, I turned to my relatively new friend, the Hummingbird Bakery cookbook. (I think I might be addicted to this book. It seems all I ever make are delicious morsels from it, Cupcakes, Brownies, Cakes... but I promise to find recipes elsewhere from now on, I'm going cold turkey.)


So, one particularly cold weekend after finding untouched snow in Fulham Palace Gardens and promptly making lots of footprints and smiley faces in it, I shook the snow of my wellies and made my way into the kitchen to prepare my reward for all that virtuous exercise. First, melt lots of dark chocolate and butter over a pan of simmering water (I know, it's a good start isn't it?!), and when it's cooled beat in a couple of eggs. Then add flour and baking powder and a pinch of salted if using unsalted butter, and mix until smooth and glossy and utterly irresistible. Then throw in some generously sized chunks of chocolate, any type you want, I used dark again. I'm a firm believer that if you're making chocolate chip cookies, they should really be chocolate chunk cookies, and the chunks should be big so that when you take a bite you get a big old mouthful of gooey chocolatey goodness! Then place in dollops on a greased baking tray.



Then lick the bowl clean (I guarantee you won't be able to resist) while the cookies bake for about 10-15 minutes until they begin to crack on the top. As usual with cookies, I took them out a little early because they continue to cook while they cool, and besides, I love it when they're still squidgy inside.



Then there really is nothing left to do but to devour greedily while warm with a cup of tea and watch the snow fall outside. Alternatively, if you are lacking the snow, just tuck in! These keep really well in an air tight container too, ours lasted a week until they were all gone - yes, a whole week! - and they were just as squidgy at the end of that week. So I thoroughly recommend these delicious cookies; they're easy and quick to make, completely irresistible, and as is tradition with most Hummingbird recipes, absolutely jam packed with chocolate!!

Perfect Pecan Pie.

I disappeared of the face of the earth again. I honestly don't know where the last month went, I could have sworn my last post was just the other day, but it turns out it was over a month ago!! Shocking.

Anyway, I'm back again with some delicious treats that I've cooked up in the last week or so, and first off is a Pecan Pie that will just make your New Year virtue melt away...it's one of the yummiest things I've ever made, and I didn't even know I liked Pecan Pie!! Once again, it's a recipe from the Hummingbird cookbook, a firm favourite with me and those around me!!

I was given some maple syrup brought all the way from Canada from my sister not long ago, and wanted to use it for something really special, so when I came across this recipe after a flick through my growing collection of recipe books, I knew this was the perfect time to open it. The recipe tells you to use golden syrup, but I think the maple syrup gave it a really lovely subtle taste, and probabaly a slightly lighter filling, which was mouth-wateringly moist, buttery and sweet. God bless those Canadians and their syrup!

I have to admit that I wasn't overly impressed by the pastry recipe from the Hummingbird book, it needed much more liquid than the recipe specified, and was rather hard to work with. Neverthless, it did the job and was tasty enough with the filling. It was a plain pastry recipe without any sugar, which I think was probably for the best - any more sugar on top of the maple syrup and sugar in the filling would have been overkill.

So on to the filling, let me just list the ingredients for you: maple syrup, sugar, butter, eggs, pecans...need I say more? When has a recipe consisting of those ingredients ever been something other than deliciously naughty, and completely irresistible?! Melt everything down, pour on to the eggs, beat, then add the crushed pecans, and pour the silky mixture into the pastry case. Then lay on top pecan halves to decorate, put in the oven, and try to distract yourself for 40 minutes untill the pie has browned on top, with a slight wobble in the middle.

The mixture rises while it cooks, creating some cracks on the top, but I personally love how it looks with the caramelised top giving away sneaky peaks of the golden centre, just begging me to cut a slice an tuck in! Eventually, as it cools, the pie sinks back to its original height, and the cracks disappear, keeping the secret inside until you dive in.

This is hardly a good start to the traditional January detox, but it's worth it. Perfect for those cold evenings, or with a cup of tea for a decadent afternoon snack, I can't think of a more satisfying sweet fix. This is definitely a recipe I'll be using again, surprisingly easy and completely hassle free, it ticks all the boxes, and of course, as seems to be tradition with the Hummingbird book, completely extravagant and wicked. Enjoy!

Rich Indulgent Chocolate Cake

Cake is the answer to all problems. There is nothing that cake can't make you feel better about (except maybe feeling sick from too much cake...but let's not focus on that). And when cake is on the cards, why do it half-heartedly? I baked the most rich, indulgent, and completely over the top chocolate cake this weekend. It was another Hummingbird recipe, like the cupcakes I made a few weeks ago. The sponge is so rich yet not heavy, and the frosting will completely blow you away!! It is creamy, buttery, chocolatey heaven, and teamed with the sponge it's a chocolate hit that really hits the spot!

When freshly baked the sponge was delicious on it's own, add a lashing of frosting which slowly melted with some seeping into the cake, and it was comfort food perfection! Obviously, my impatience got the better of me and I iced the cake slightly too early...but it led to the lovely warm icing bleeding into the sponge, which, whether or not it looks perfect, tastes divine. Obviously we demolished a wedge right away with a cup of tea, and after it had cooled later in the evening I couldn't resist another sneaky slice with a glass of wine - complete and utter heaven!!

This is definitely my absolute favourite sponge recipe. You whisk the dry ingredients and the butter until they resemble a sandy texture, then add the egg and milk to make a batter. So easy, yet so successful. So you go from this...

To this...!!

The cupcakes take about 12 minutes, and the large cake took about 25 minutes - however, my oven is pretty bizarre and I think is hotter than usual, so a normal oven at 180 degrees may take a little longer!

Considering how big the cake was, it was pretty impressive how quickly it disappeared!! Between very few of us, a considerable amount was devoured over the weekend, and I brought some back to Bath for my housemates which went down pretty well, leaving a satisfyingly small wedge at the end of the weekend. If ever there was proof of a delicious cake, it's a plate covered only in crumbs a mere 48 hours after baking!!

Brownie Semi-Success

I attempted a recipe from my Hummingbird Bakery cookbook the other day, one that I've been dying to try for months - basically since I got the book, and let's just say, it didn't go swimmingly.

It was brownie with a layer of cheesecake then whipped raspberry cream completing the three layers. You can see why I've been wanting to make it for so long! Well, the making the brownie mix went well, making the cheesecake mix was fine, then I put two trays of it in the oven and left it for 25 of the 40 minutes cooking time the recipe suggests. Mistake.

I had forgotten about the oven's uneven temperature and the one on the right side of the oven burnt to a cinder. The one on the left however, was still slightly overcooked but ok. After getting all grumpy and upset about my brownies, I turned them out, and left them to cool. Now, as much as it pains me to throw away food, I really did have to throw away the burnt one, it was practically inedible. When the brownies were cooled I topped them with the cream which was a gorgeous bubblegum pink flavour, and left them to set a little in the fridge.

They were lovely slightly warm ( I couldn't resist eating the trimmings straight away!!), but it has to be said they were better after an overnight stint in the fridge. The cookbook did say to leave them in the fridge overnight, but I'm just too impatient when it comes to food, but I do recommend following the rules it if you try this recipe!! (Well, after snaffling the trimmings immediately after cooking of course!!).

After the overnight stay in the fridge, they soon disappeared due to excessive yummy-ness and I think I'll end up making them again - but keeping a keen eye on them while they cook next time!!