Domestic goddessing

Since the beginning of time, I have tried to make this blog as authentically me as I can and so along with the stereotypical fashion and beauty, I also try to include all the other aspects of things I love too (like partying, eating out and reading). In case you hadn't realised by now, another of my favourite things is baking and since I've been doing quite a bit of it recently, I thought I'd share my recipes so that you can have a go at them yourself - happy making!

When I made mince pies at Christmas, I had loads of leftover pastry that I put in the freezer to use another time and that time was this weekend, when I defrosted it and used it to make a treacle tart for sunday lunch.

You will need
For the pastry:
375g plain flour
260g butter
125g caster sugar
1 large egg 
Splash of milk (for glazing)

For the filling:
85g fresh white breadcrumbs
375g golden syrup
1 tsp nutmeg

1. First you'll need to make the pastry. So in a large bowl, combine the butter and flour by rubbing the two together until the mixture looks like fine breadcrumbs (this is easier if you cube the butter first).

2. Then mix in the sugar and the egg until it's all combined into a ball of dough.

3. Make sure you flour the surface (unless you want your pastry to stick) and then turn your dough out and roll. It's worth noting as I said earlier that I only started with about half the pastry this recipe makes (although with it being a 1 egg recipe, it's hard to scale it down at all), and then I split what I had so I used about 2/3 for the base and the other 1/3 for decorating.

4. Roll out the pastry to the desired thickness (I went with about 2mm) before laying over your tart dish and pressing it into all the edges. My dish was about 10inch but I think it would've actually been better in an 8 or 9 inch one but this is all I had so had to go with it. 

5. Then set your remaining pastry to one side to work on the filling. It pretty much requires 3 years at culinary school to attempt this; you need to put all 3 ingredients in a bowl and mix them together. I mean, I know it's a pretty technical recipe but maybe after a few practices? (ps. you can either buy the breadcrumbs ready done or just stick a few slices of white bread in a food processor).

6. Tip the filling into the pastry case and make sure it's evenly spread and goes right up to the egdes. Then it's time for the fun part - the decorating! I went with a lattice with some plaited detail but you can do it however you like really. My favourite thing about shortcrust pastry is that it keeps its shape and doesn't rise so you can get quite creative.

7. Once you're happy with it, glaze it all over with milk and pop it in a pre-heated oven (200C or 400F) for 30 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown. If like mine, your tart starts to brown on the crust before the rest of it is baked properly, simply wrap some tinfoil around the edges to cover the crust, meaning it won't burn while the rest of the tart carries on cooking.

8. Then it's ready to serve - my topping of choice is ice cream!

Okay I suppose this one isn't really baking, it's just cooking but it's the first time I'd attempted to make it so I wanted to include it anyway (because I was pretty proud of myself for how it turned out).

You will need
2 eggs
1 english muffin
4 rashers of streaky bacon

For the hollandaise sauce:
2 large egg yolks
150g butter
1 large spoon white wine vinegar
Black pepper to taste

1. It's best to start with the sauce because it requires the most attention. Start by putting a small pan of half-filled water on the hob and bringing it to boil. Once it's bubbling, turn the heat right down to the lowest setting.

2. Melt the butter in the microwave until it's completely liquid. You can do this on the hob if you want but the microwave is much quicker and requires less washing up.

3. Once the water on the hob is simmering (rather than boiling), place a heatproof mixing bowl on top so that it sits above the water, rather than directly touching it.

4. To separate your eggs, crack them using a knife, split the shell in half and then pass the yolk from one piece of shell to the other until all the white is gone, and then place both egg yolks in the mixing bowl and start to whisk.

5. It's important that you don't let the egg yolks get too hot too quickly or your eggs will scramble (not the best topping to poached eggs) so add the spoon of vinegar and then whisk continuously.

6. Gradually add the melted butter a little bit at a time while continuing to whisk until the whole lot is combined and then season with black pepper (and salt if required). It's worth noting that this recipe probably made the perfect amount for two people so I had a fair bit leftover, but it's easy to half the recipe by using only one egg yolk instead.

7. The other 3 components can pretty much all be done at the same time. Place the bacon in a frying pan and cook on a high heat until crispy (if you don't eat your bacon crispy then get out of here right now) and place your muffin (halved) in the toaster.

8. To poach the eggs, first crack them into a bowl, add a spoonful of white wine vinegar to a pan of boiling water and swirl, then add your eggs.

9. The eggs will only need about 3 minutes for a perfect soft poach, at which point they can be added to the rest of the dish; first the toasted muffins, then the bacon, then add the eggs, then cover with hollandaise sauce and finish with more black pepper. Perfection!

And of course, I had to make my speciality - cupcakes for all occasions! After making cupcakes for halloween and for bonfire night, I told my team at work that the next time I'd be baking would be Christmas. Which, I never did and so they've been nagging me ever since. So I finally caved and made some Valentine's themed cupcakes, which is always a  great theme to make the prettiest cakes possible.

You will need
For the cakes:
200g butter
200g caster sugar
4 eggs
200g self raising flour
2 tsp vanilla extract
100g white chocolate chips

For the frosting:
300g butter
700g icing sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
Few drops of red food colouring

For the decoration:
100g white chocolate
100g milk chocolate
12 strawberries
12 mini jammie dodgers
Gold confetti sprinkles

1. I think it's good to be prepared and so I made the chocolate strawberries the day before. To do this, wash and dry the strawberries and then melt about half of each of the bars of chocolate in a small pot (easiest in the microwave but you can do it in a bowl over a pan of boiling water if you want to). Then dip each strawberry in turn into the chocolate, allow any excess to drip off and then place on a tray lined with greaseproof paper. 

2. Top tip: it's best if the strawberries are straight out the fridge, as the chocolate will set almost straight away and it will make the next bit easier. Pour the remaining of each melted chocolate into a freezer bag, snip the corners off and then drizzle white chocolate over the milk chocolate strawberries and vice versa. You could always do this freehand if you can't be bothered with the make-shift piping bag but you might get in more of a mess!

3. Once the strawberries are in the fridge to set, you can start on the cakes. Place the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl and whisk until the mixture is light and creamy.

4. Then add in the eggs, one at a time. Tip: add a spoon of flour with each egg to stop the mixture from separating. Once all the eggs are in and the mixture has been whisked, add the flour and fold through with a wooden spoon (don't use the whisk again or it will beat the air back out of it). Then add the vanilla and chocolate chips and combine.

5. Line a couple of muffin tins with cupcake cases (this mix makes 24 cupcakes because the people on my floor at work are greedy but you could easily half it or quarter it to make less) and then fill each one about 2/3 full. 

6. Bake the cakes in the oven at 180C for about 20-25 minutes or until they're golden and springy to the touch.

7. While your cakes cool (and after you've washed the first lot of pots), you can get going with the frosting. Start by softening the butter in the microwave (only a little though - make sure it doesn't actually melt) and then whisk it until smooth. Add the icing sugar, in batches of 100-200g (if you try adding it all in one go, you will end up surrounded by a giant icing sugar cloud) and mix until it's all combined. Add the vanilla extract and the food colouring (only a few drops - you don't want it to look radioactive) and then mix.

8. Once your cakes have cooled, transfer the frosting to a piping bag with a star nozzle and pipe each cupcake, starting at the edge and icing in a circle until you reach the centre. Then you can decorate with gold confetti sprinkled around the edges and one half finished with chocolate strawberries and the other half finished with a square of chocolate and a mini jammie dodger. Then enjoy - Bella certainly looked like she wanted one!