Natalie's Baking & Craft Blog

Individual Christmas cakes

By Natalie on | 0 comments

I decided to make mini Christmas cakes for people at work and also as an extra little something to go in with the hampers for relatives. I used a normal fruit cake recipe but added cranberries and glace cherries too as I Just love those in my fruit cake! You can add alcohol too but i was giving some of mine to people that don't drink so i just omitted it from my mixture.

Mixed fruit

Mini cakes once baked

After icing and decorating

Decorated and put in festive bags! I bought these from an ebay store

Christmas Hampers...

By Natalie on | 0 comments

That lovely time of year again and the endless ideas I had of what home made gifts I was going to make for people this year. I really enjoyed making homemade gifts last xmas I thought I would do it again.

One gift that is definitely going to become a yearly tradition as I have now made it 2 years running is Nigella's Cranberry & Apple Chutney, it was very well received last year by relatives and I also loved it myself.

The recipe can be found earlier on in my blog you can see it here

I also made Nigella's Chilli Jam this year, and it was AMAZING!!

(Nigella Christmas Book)

Chilli Jam (Makes approx 1.5 litres)

150g long fresh red chillis, each deseeded and cut into about 4 pieces.
150g red pepper, cored deseeded and cut into rough chunks
1kg jam sugar
600ml cider vinegar
6x 250ml sealable jars with vinegar proof lid

Step 1: Sterilize your jars and leave to cool

Step 2: Put the cut up chilies into a food processor and pulse until they are finely chopped. . Add the chunks of red pepper and pulse again until you have a vibrantly red-flecked processor bowl.

Step 3: Dissolve the sugar in the vinegar in a wide medium sized pan over a low heat without stirring.

Step 4: Scrape the chilli pepper mixture out of the bowl and add to the pan. Bring the pan to the boil then leave it at a rollicking boil for 10 mins.

Step 5: Take the pan off the heat and allow it to cool. The liquid will become more syrupy, then from syrup to viscous and from viscous to jelly like as it cools.

Step 6: After about 40 mins or once the red flecks are more or less evenly dispersed in the jelly (as the liquid firms up, the bits of chilli and pepper start being suspended in it rather than floating on it), ladle into your jars. If you want to stir gently at this stage, it will do no harm. Then seal tightly.

MAKE AHEAD TIP

Make the jam up to 1 month before using or giving. Store in a cool, dark place for up to 1 year. Once opened store in the fridge and use within 1 month.

After a little make over my jars looked like this:

Halloween Cupcakes 2012....

By Natalie on | 0 comments

I think I managed to outdo myself this Halloween I spent ages on them, from decorating them the with fondant pumpkins, witches hats, ghosts, spiders etc to the cupcake wrappers which were from here

The guys were impressed at work and they were gone in a day!!

These were just your average vanilla cake with green icing!

Pumpkin Pie

By Natalie on | 0 comments

So yes, I haven't updated my blog for a while I've been a slacker!

I made this pumpkin pie around Halloween last year, and it was pretty good, i wasn't sure if it turned out anything like a proper American Pumpkin pie as I've never actually tasted one but it was nice!!

This was the recipe I used, though I can't remember where i stole it from - I will look it up and credit the blog i stole it from later!! :-))

1 unbaked pie shell
2 cups pumpkin
1 (15 oz) can sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated!)
1 egg

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp ginger

3/4 tsp cinnamon

Blend together and pour into pie shell. Bake at 190 c for 50 minutes. Cool. Refrigerate at least 1 hour.