Schoko-Nuss Muffins: Double Chocolate and Pecan Muffins (Wheat Free, with Dairy Free Option)

Today is the last day of (Irish) spring, and before the summer recipe collection starts, here is my final springtime offering: chocolate and pecan nut muffins!

Apologies for the poor photo quality: I'm due a phone upgrade, and as my phone ages (for the whole two or so years I've had it) the camera quality has slowly degraded. The levels and contrast are all over the place. Hopefully, with my new odd job doing homework tutoring, I can save up for a new one!

But anyway, back to the recipe.

It's been a while since I did a muffin recipe: the last one was nearly eighteen months ago back in the September of 2016, where I was introducing my companion to the wonderful world of baking. I don't think I've done many muffin recipes at all on this blog, because I'm not a big lover of muffins, truth be told.

However, I was moved to try a new muffin recipe with inspiration from the Whoopie pie recipe. When I was eating a whoopie pie, I thought they tasted very muffin-like, which made me wonder if the recipe could be adapted. I took the whoopie pie recipe, and simply added an extra medium egg, 4 ounces (115 grammes) of chocolate chips, and 2 ounces (55 grammes) of pecan nuts. I divided the mix among 12 large muffin liners, and baked at the same temperature for 20 to 25 minutes.

They worked really well! Although, next time I think I'll try adding a little extra sugar because they were a little more bready than cakey. They turned out well for an experiment!

THIS TIME IN 2015: Tiramisù Mini Cheesecakes (Wheat Free)
THIS TIME IN 2013: Dinosaur Kimberleys (Wheat Free)
There were no blogs on or around this day in 2014, 2016, nor 2017.

HUGE Exam Tomorrow! Wish Me Luck!

Hello all!

Tomorrow I have a mock exam for my black belt in Taekwondo. This is a hugely important exam, and if I pass, it will be the culmination of seven long years of martial arts study. If not, it will be back to the drawing board until next year. This is why I've been a little quiet over the past fortnight.

You cannot progress to the actual, for-real black belt exam without passing the mock exam (which makes the second "real" exam seem kinda superfluous to me, but oh well), so as you can well imagine I'm flipping the flip out over it!!!

So, tomorrow at 12:30PM, my worth as a martial artist will be measured, and hopefully not found wanting!

With me luck, everyone! I'll be back with a delicious recipe on Monday afternoon!

Sweetie xxx

First Attempt at Whoopie Pies (Wheat Free with a Dairy Free Option)

 There is now a new and improved post about Whoopie Pies here.

Today, I present to you a recipe several months in the making! Behold my own take on the American classic, Whoopie Pies!

About two or three years ago, I got a new cookery book for my birthday, which is a typical gift for me. This book, simply entitled Whoopie Pies introduced me properly to a confection that I had only heard of by name once or twice. I tried a recipe or two from the book, but wasn't a hundred percent happy with how they turned out and, as such, the book is still gathering dust on my bookshelf. 

Then a few months ago I was watching a programme on Food Network, and I saw the cook make some chocolate whoopie pies. It had been quite some time since I had last tried them and I thought Heck, why not give them another go? Seeing as the cook described them as a "mixture between a cupcake and a sandwich cookie", that's the kind of approach I took: I tried merging my basic sponge cake recipe and my chocolate chip cookie recipe together, but the results were disappointingly flat and crispy.

The real breakthrough came when I merged my basic sponge recipe with a basic scone recipe, and replacing the butter with oil: it made a very fluid mixture that puffed up nicely, but didn't spread out too much during baking. The result is a cake that has all the fluffiness and sweetness of a sponge cake, but the sturdiness of a biscuit. However, I'll probably work on this recipe in the future, because I generally am not a fan of the fact that this only uses brown sugar: I don't want my plain vanilla whoopie pies to be brown!

These lovely little sandwiches go slightly sticky on the crust the longer they stay in storage, which is ideal: I have it on good, American authority that a whoopie pie should somewhat stick to your fingers. 

~~ ^ _ ^ ~~

DIFFICULTY

Requires mixing and spooning out runny batter

TIME

About 2 hours

RECIPE RATING

Easy!

~~ ^ _ ^ ~~

INGREDIMENTS

For 12 to 14 sandwiches (24 to 28 total cakes)

8 ounces (225 grammes, 1.8 US cups) plain white spelt flour

2 teaspoons (10 millilitres) baking powder

¼ teaspoon (1 millilitre) salt

6 ounces (170 grammes, 1 US cup) brown sugar

4 fluid ounces (115 millilitres, ½ US cup) sunflower oil

1 medium (US large) egg

6 fluid ounces (170 millilitres, ¾ US cup) buttermilk, or plain soya yoghurt

1 teaspoon (5 millilitres) vanilla essence

About 1 pound (455 grammes) icing filling of your choice: butter cream, ganache, marshmallow fluff, etc.

METHOD

• Preheat the oven to 170°C (340°F, Gas Mk.3), and grease and flour two flat baking trays.
• In a large mixing bowl, sieve together the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Make a well in the centre.
• In a jug, beat together the buttermilk, egg, oil, and vanilla essence until smooth. Pour into the well in the dry ingredients then, using a balloon whisk or electric mixer, mix together until there are no streaks of flour and the mixture is smooth and consistent.
• Drop teaspoonfuls of the mixture on the baking trays, about an inch (2 centimetres) apart, using the tip of the spoon to smooth the dollops into rounds. Tap the trays sharply on the work surface to flatten out the pies. I got about 6 on each tray.
• Bake in the centre of the preheated oven for 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from the oven when the pies spring back when touched lightly with a finger.
• Allow to cool for about 5 minutes before transferring from the trays to wire cooling racks to cool completely. Repeat with the remaining mixture.
• Pair the cakes together according to size, then sandwich together with about two tablespoons of filling. Set in the fridge for about half an hour before serving.

NOTES

• For chocolate whoopie pies: Replace an eighth of the flour with cocoa powder, and sieve in with the other dry ingredients.

• For red velvet whoopie pies: Replace a tablespoon (30 millilitres) of the flour with cocoa powder and sieve with the dry ingredients, and add red food colouring to the wet ingredients to get the shade you want.

• For pumpkin spice whoopie pies: Add in 1 or 2 tablespoons (15 or 30 millilitres) to taste of your favourite pumpkin spice or mixed spice blend, and sieve in with the other dry ingredients.

• For coffee whoopie pies: Add 2 teaspoons (10 millilitres) of instant espresso powder, and sieve in with the other dry ingredients

THIS TIME IN 2017: Hot Cross Bunnies: a Cutesy Twist on a Traditional Favourite (Wheat Free)

THIS TIME IN 2016: Buttermilk Scones (Wheat Free)

THIS TIME IN 2015: April Afternoon Tea Party: Bollywood Part Two!

THIS TIME IN 2013: Black Forest Gâteau: a Retro Classic? (Wheat Free)

There was no blog on this day in 2014.

McVities Jaffa Cake Review Video

Today, I decided to dissect a Jaffa Cake on request to reveal its secrets.....

If you want to see more videos like this one, check out my YouTube page and like my Facebook page for notifications!

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/SweetiePieLMK
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/SweetiePieLMK

Mr Kipling Mini Battenberg Review Video

Today, I decided to dissect a mini Battenberg cake on request to reveal its secrets.....

If you want to see more videos like this one, check out my YouTube page and like my Facebook page for notifications!

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/SweetiePieLMK
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/SweetiePieLMK

Modern Simnel Cake 2.0: "Can any cake be a Simnel cake? Or must it be fruit cake?" (Wheat Free with Dairy Free Option)

Alleluia! Christ is risen!

Happy Easter all, and to celebrate here is a delicious carrot cake with super luscious cream cheese icing, decorated with cake truffles made from leftover cake and icing.

Last year, I did a raspberry and almond cake for Easter, taking inspiration from the original marzipan element of the traditional Simnel cake, but fashioning little marzipan icons for each Apostle. This year, however, the only thing Simnel-y about this cake is mixed spice in the carrot cake. And, of course, the decoration.

No-one can agree on the origin of the word Simnel, but what most people agree on is that it's made of a fruit cake with a marzipan filling and topping, and has 11 marzipan decorations on top to represent the Disciples of Christ, without Judas.

So, in reality, any kind of cake can be a Simnel cake as long as it has the 11 disciples on top: for example, this is a fairly run of the mill carrot cake with cream cheese icing, but because of its decoration, it has Easter significance.

This time, the Disciples are represented by cake truffles which I made out of crumbling the sliced-off dome of the carrot cake and some icing. Usually, the eleven decorations are just arranged on top as if it's normal, but seeing an uneven number arranged like it's nothing very irritating. So, this time I decided to make a point of the missing Disciple to give it some evenness, and also I feel it gives its greater weight and significance.

The icing I used in this recipe was a little bit of an experiment, and before I share it with you I want to do some fine tuning. When I demonstrate it in a video, I will share the updated recipe. For now, just use whatever cream cheese icing you like.

~~ ^ _ ^ ~~

DIFFICULTY

Requires mixing, cake slicing, and layering

TIME

About 2 hours

RECIPE RATING

Easy!

~~ ^ _ ^ ~~

INGREDIMENTS

For one deep 8 inch (21 centimetre) round cake

8 ounces (225 grammes) white spelt flour

2 teaspoons (10 millilitres) baking powder

2 tablespoons (30 millilitres) ground mixed spice
¼ teaspoon (2 millilitres) salt

8 ounces (225 grammes) finely grated carrots
Zest of half an orange

4 medium (US Large) eggs

6 ounces (170 grammes) light brown sugar

4 fluid ounces (120 millilitres) sunflower oil

1 teaspoon (5 millilitres) vanilla essence

Optional: 3 ounces (85 grammes) raisins
Optional: 3 ounces (85 grammes) chopped walnuts

To decorate
1 pound (455 grammes) cream cheese icing, of your choice (see below for my recipe)
Icing sugar
Ground mixed spice

~~ ^ _ ^ ~~

FREE FROM

Wheat, yeast, dairy

CONTAINS

Eggs, spelt, nuts (unless you omit them), refined sugar

~~ ^ _ ^ ~~

METHOD

• In a mixing bowl, sieve in the flour, baking powder, mixed spice, and salt. Stir in the carrots and orange zest, and the raisins and nuts if using, and toss through the flour.
• In a wide jug, beat the eggs with the brown sugar with an electric hand mixer for a full five minutes, until doubled in size and pale, and when you lift the beaters you can leave a trail of mixture on the surface.
• With the mixer running, gradually add in the sunflower oil and mix in well. Beat in the vanilla essence.
• Make a well in the centre of the flour and carrots mixture and pour in the whipped eggs and sugar mix. Gently fold the whole thing together with a metal spoon or rubber spatula.
• Pour the mixture into your prepared tin and bake in the centre of the preheated oven for 45 minutes to an hour, or until a cocktail stick stuck in the centre comes out completely clean.
• Allow the cake to cool completely before cutting off the dome and slicing in half horizontally.

To decorate

• Crumble the cake dome until very fine and mix with just enough icing to make a dough like texture. Roll the mixture into 11 balls, and chill for an hour until set.
• Fill and ice the cake with the remaining icing (my cake was only one layer because I made a smaller cake). Place the cake truffles on top, using the lid of a cola bottle to replace the twelfth ball.
• Dust the tops of the balls with icing sugar, and then mixed spice for visual contrast. Remove the cola bottle lid, and chill for an hour. Allow to temper to room temperature for half an hour before serving.

Mock "Cream Cheese" Icing

I made a cream cheese icing that doesn't actually have any cream cheese in, instead it had yoghurt. I find here in Ireland cream cheese varies so much in quality that it's unreliable: some days it whips up beautifully, and other days it turns to water.

To make this mock "cream cheese" icing, I melted together 4 ounces (115 grammes) each of Greek yoghurt and sugar and then simmered it for one minute (it will split slightly, but don't worry: you'll be whipping it later and won't notice it much). I removed it from the heat before adding in 8 ounces (225 grammes) of white chocolate and 4 ounces (115 grammes) of unsalted butter, in small pieces. I returned to pan to very low heat and cooked very gently, stirring all the time, until it was smooth and flowing. I then added a full quarter teaspoon of coarse salt and 1 tablespoon of lemon juice to give it that salty sourness associated with cream cheese icing.

I then allowed to cool and thicken, stirring every so often, until it reached a spreadable consistency. I lightly whipped mine with a hand mixer for a lighter texture, but this is optional. This icing is stable at room temperature.

THIS TIME IN 2017: College Classes are Over! Hoorah! (Chocolate Butter Cake with Simple Fudge Icing)
THIS TIME IN 2013: Different Sponge Cake Flavours (no April Fool, it's after 12pm)
There were no blogs on this day in 2014, 2015, or 2016

Hot Cross Buns, and Iced Buns: Almost No-Knead Bread (Wheat Free with Dairy Free Option)

Today is Good Friday, and as promised I present to you Hot Cross Buns and Easter Iced Buns!

These are brought to you because hot cross buns are traditional this weekend, of course, but also in response to a conversation that I find myself having fairly frequently with other hobby bakers:

"How do you make bread without kneading?"

You don't have to knead bread if it proves overnight in the fridge

"Hmm, I don't have that amount of time. How to I make bread in a few hours?"

Well, if you want it today you'll have to knead it really thoroughly

"Okay, so how do you make bread that doesn't need kneading that I can have in a few hours?"

These people who obviously want to have their bread and eat it too.

If there is one thing that I have come to learn about yeast-risen bread, it's that to make a nice bread you have to spend time, or spend effort. There is no such thing as a no-effort bread that's ready immediately, unless you're making soda bread. As such, the less effort you want to put in the more time you'll have to spend, and the less time you want to spend the more effort you'll have to put in.

Kneading and overnight proving are both used to develop gluten in bread dough: you can develop the gluten by hand through kneading vigorously, or you can let the yeast develop the gluten overnight slowly and steadily. Here are the pros and cons of each:

• Kneading is the faster solution as you can knead a dough well by hand and have bread ready for its first rise in half an hour. Sometimes, however, when you encounter a particularly sticky dough, people get frustrated and the temptation is to add a load more flour to make the kneading easier, thus making the dough dry and tough. Also, some very sticky doughs need a good 20 to 25 minutes of continuous kneading, which can be exhausting.
• When you prove dough overnight, the kneading step and the first rise step are combined in a zero effort solution, but if you want bread today you have to start yesterday, which means you really have to plan your bread needs in advance. Also, overnight rises can make a bread that is overproofed, which leads to dense, sour loaves that stale too quickly.

So what's a baker to do? Well, I have come to inform you that there is a halfway house: bread that takes a day to make and requires only moderate kneading effort, harnessing the gluten developing powers of both the yeast and your hands in turns.

In this recipe, I use this bread dough to make a delicious and pretty Easter treat: a tray of hot cross buns, and plain buns iced with little portraits of Bibbit's springtime friends.

Follow the recipe below, and watch the video for full instructions!

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DIFFICULTY

The steps are simple, but time consuming

TIME

Roughly 3½ to 4 hours

RECIPE RATING

Intermediate

~~ ^ _ ^ ~~

INGREDIMENTS

Makes 16 buns

1 pound (455 grammes) white spelt flour
2 ounces (55 grammes) unsalted butter, or margarine
1 rounded teaspoon (7 grammes) salt
2 ounces (55 grammes) caster sugar
2 medium (US large) eggs
6 fluid ounces (170 millilitres) milk at body temperature, or milk alternative
Up to 4 extra tablespoons (60 millilitres) milk or milk alternative, to adjust the texture
1 quarter-ounce (7 gramme) packet of dried active yeast

For spiced dough

1 or 2 tablespoons (7 to 15 grammes) ground mixed spice, to taste, moistened with half as much warm water
3 ounces (85 grammes) mixed dried fruit of your choice
Optional: 1 teaspoon (5 millilitres) orange zest
Optional: 1 teaspoon (5 millilitres) lemon zest

To make the crosses

½ ounce (15 grammes) white spelt flour
¾ teaspoon (3 grammes) butter
Water, to mix

To decorate

Runny honey, for brushing
Fresh orange juice, for brushing
12 ounces (340 grammes) icing sugar, sieved
2 ounces (55 grammes) unsalted butter, or margarine
Hot water, to mix
Food colouring: pink, yellow, orange, black, blue, and green.

~~ ^ _ ^ ~~

FREE FROM

Wheat, yeast, nuts

CONTAINS

Eggs, spelt, dairy (dairy free option in italics), refined sugar

~~ ^ _ ^ ~~

POINTS TO REMEMBER

• Try not to add too much milk, otherwise it will need more rises to develop the gluten. At the absolute most, add a total of 8 fluid ounces (225 millilitres) of milk, which is half as much flour.
• The first rise will take roughly an hour and a quarter, but it could take up to an hour and a half.
• Likewise, the second rise should only be 45 minutes, but could take up to an hour.
• One thing that I forget to mention in the video is that the raw rolls need to be flattened a little bit so they don't rise in a ball shape. 
• The third and final rise should to 30 to 40 minutes: the rolls should expand by about two thirds, not double. If you poke them on the side and they spring back, they need more rising: your finger should leave a little dent in the side, but not collapse the roll.
• Bake for 10 to 12 minutes at 200°C (400°F).

THIS TIME IN 2017: Recipe Revision: Baked Cheesecake, but a large one this time! (Gluten Free Option)

THIS TIME IN 2015: Experiment: Yeast and Wheat Free Hot Cross Buns

THIS TIME IN 2013: Coffee Sponge Slice with Raspberry Fondant Icing (Wheat Free)

There were no blogs on this day in 2014 for 2016

Question: "How much chocolate and cornflakes should I use to make Cornflake Cakes?", with Video

The humble cornflake cake: a staple of every Irish household all throughout the year.

These cakes are very simple to make, and are often done as a fun baking project for small children because they only need two ingredients: chocolate, and cornflakes (or sometimes rice crispies). Mix 'em up, pop 'em in cases, refrigerate until set, and Bob's your uncle!

However, the question I sometimes get is how much of each should I use? The simple answer is melt an amount of chocolate and then add cornflakes until it's "right", which is how pretty much every Irish Mammy has done it since the dawn of time. But, if you want to know exactly how much of each to use, so that you know if you have the right amount of ingredients before you get started, here is your answer:

It's a very simple weight ratio of 2 parts chocolate to 1 part cornflakes.

That's it: melt two parts in weight of chocolate, and mix in one part in weight of cornflakes until thoroughly coated. It couldn't be simpler. If you want a little extra richness, you can replace a sixth of the chocolate with unsalted butter, but this is purely optional.

To make a dozen small cakes, you will need half a pound, or 8 ounces (225 grammes) chocolate and quarter of a pound, or 4 ounces (115 grammes) cornflakes. Decorate however you like with mini eggs, or fluffy chick toys. You can of course make fewer huge cornflake cakes if you like, or multiply the amounts to make loads of cakes; it's completely up to you.

Check out the video below, where I demonstrate how to make them.

Birthday Cake to Me! Coconut Lime Mini Cake (Wheat Free)

Here is the written recipe for the recipe featured in the first episode of "Sweetie Pie Bakes Stuff" 2018 series.

~~ ^ _ ^ ~~

DIFFICULTY

Each step is simple, but there are a lot of steps

TIME

About 2 hours

RECIPE RATING

Intermediate

~~ ^ _ ^ ~~

INGREDIMENTS

For one 10 centimetre round cake

30 grammes (1 ounce) unsalted butter, soft
30 grammes (1 ounce) sunflower oil
85 grammes (3 ounces) caster sugar
1 medium egg
85 grammes (3 ounces) plain white spelt flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
30 grammes (1 ounces) desiccated coconut
60 millilitres (2 fluid ounces) light coconut milk

For the icing
115 grammes (4 ounces) white chocolate, in small pieces
40 grammes (1⅓ ounces) unsalted butter
55 grammes (2 ounces) caster sugar
Zest and juice of 1 lime, mixed with water to measure 60 millilitres (2 fluid ounces)

~~ ^ _ ^ ~~

FREE FROM

Wheat, yeast, nuts

CONTAINS

Eggs, spelt, dairy (dairy free option in italics), refined sugar

~~ ^ _ ^ ~~

Happy 5th Anniversary, Sweetie Pie! Half a Decade of Blogging

Happy 5th birthday to Sweetie Pie Bakes Stuff!!

Wow: half a decade of blogging. If this blog were a person, it'd be starting school this September. That's a long-o time to do anything on the internet!

A lot of things have happened in 5 years:

• I've moved house five times around 3 counties
• I finished a diploma, joined the world of work, and then returned to college and earned a masters degree 
• I represented my city to the Council of Europe
• I was in a band that released an EP, and one of our singles was played in the USA
• I was on national radio and television several times performing original music and church music
• Boyfriends came and went before I began dating my best friend to whom I'm now engaged
• I went from being a complete Taekwondo beginner to being nearly a black belt (pray for me: my black belt mock exam is in five weeks...)
• And last but not least: this blog grew to have over 300 individual posts, nearly 31,000 views, and over 250 likers on my Facebook page!

The difference between 22 year old me and 27 year old me is astonishing (but strangely enough quite a lot of that happened in the past 18 months), and difference between no-years old and 5 year old blog is huge as well!

Since my last anniversary, I wrote a butt tonne of blog posts: 2017 was the most prolific year of this blog since it was begun, having 50% more posts than any of the previous years. I had decided that I was going to make up for the fact that the previous year of 2016 was the least prolific year of the blog, have less than half the amount of posts of the previous year of 2015.

In 2017 I had more time to dedicate to baking because I wasn't doing any Taekwondo training throughout my masters. Sure, the masters was a lot of work, but for the first time in 4 years I had evenings completely to myself with no other demands on my time, and completely free weekends. This gave me so much more time to bake, and because my fiancé worked in a large company with lots of staff, I had people to give away my culinary experiments to so I could produce more than normal.

It was one of my most experimental and adventurous years in the kitchen, so much so that even by the time I took my (accidentally) 3 month break before Christmas — and had an unexpected break through August — I had written over 80 posts.

So: here are the Top 5 Posts of 2017:

1. Red Velvet Cake, with Traditional Cooked Milk Frosting (Wheat Free, with Dairy Free Option)
2. Happeee Birthdaeee, Mumeee!: Lemon Meringue Layer Cake
3. Something Savoury: Bacon and Onion Quiche (Wheat Free)
4. Simple Danish Pastries (Wheat- and Yeast Free)
5. I've Finally Got It! French Macarons, with the help of Kawaii Sweet World (Gluten- and Dairy Free)

And, here are the 10 Runners-Up:

1. Ice-Cream Month: Arctic Roll, a Retro Classic? (Wheat Free, with Dairy-Free Option)
2. Yeast Risen Cinnamon Rolls (Wheat Free)
3. Recipe Revision: Baked Cheesecake, but a large one this time! (Gluten Free Option)
4. Hot Cross Bunnies: a Cutesy Twist on a Traditional Favourite (Wheat Free)
5. Something Different: Doboš Torte (Wheat Free, with Dairy Free Option)
6. Easter Celebration: a Modern-Style Simnel Cake (Wheat Free)
7. Crumpets (Wheat- and Egg Free)
8. Southern States Caramel Cake
9. No Crack Swiss Roll Recipe (Wheat Free, with Dairy Free Option)
10. Ice-Cream Month: Chocolate and Pistachio Brownie Sundae

In retrospect, 2017 was a good year for ice-cream...

So, What's Happening in 2018?

2018 will be another jam-packed year for Sweetie Pie Bakes stuff: I have so much planned! I will admit, however, that this January and February were a difficult time for me as I was suffering from a bout of depression caused by my unemployment and I considered giving up the blog entirely for a few weeks. I was just lacking so much in motivation, and couldn't see how much great work that I'd done, that I nearly threw in the towel because "no-one cares about my blog". I now understand that that isn't true: a lot of people care and read my posts and enjoy my photos.

So, to finish this uber-long post, I want to thank every single person who has liked, read, shared, commented, eaten, and otherwise supported my blog over the past 5 years. It's been a absolute blast!

Here's to the future! xoxo

PREMIER PRO HAS DIED 😭: "Sweetie Pie Bakes Stuff" Series Postponed to MONDAY 19TH

Oh no. Oh very dear.

During my editing of today's video, my editing software decided to not work. As such, the premier of Sweetie Pie Bakes Stuff will happen on Monday the 19th instead of today.

I apologise deeply for this technical difficulty postponing the release of today's video. Join Sweetie on Monday instead for some cakey bakey goodness!

See the full sorry tale here: