Category Archives: baking

Matcha May with Teapigs

23rd May 2015
As I’ve got older I’ve moved away from my habit of chain drinking cups of coffee and gravitate towards tea most of the time (although pre-8am during the week I’ll be three coffees in and bouncing off the walls). My favourite tea is good old English Breakfast but I do enjoy herbal teas more exotic blends from time to time, one of my favourites of which is green tea, particularly with Jasmine or Ginger.

Teapigs got in touch back in April to tell me about their “Matcha May”, bascially an excuse to shout about all the wonderful benefits that Matcha green tea boasts. Ever looking to find a new brew and to improve my health and wellbeing I was keen to know more!

Essentially Matcha is a green powdered tea that packs a powerful punch. Chock-full of antioxidants, great for boosting the metabolism and to beat sluggish feelings as well as working wonders for hair, skin and nails this was one product I couldn’t wait to meet.

I’m going to be honest, straight up Matcha isn’t ever going to become my brew of choice, not straight up anyway. A splash of almond milk goes a long way to improve the taste, removing the undertones of plant that put me off slightly. I couldn’t face it straight up as a shot, but whisked in to warm milk or served quite simply with a splash of milk and sugar and this is something you’ll find by my side on a daily basis. I’m not quite sure that drinking it like that preserves all of the health benefits but you can’t win them all! The beauty of Matcha is that it’s incredibly versatile, I added it in to my morning porridge and it would work equally well as a power boost to a smoothie for breakfast on the go. In true Laura style I also managed to make a “superfood” in to something as supremely unhealthy as possible, in the form of cupcakes slathered with vanilla buttercream icing.
These couldn’t be easier to make, just whip up a basic sponge mixture (I used a basic 4oz butter, flour and sugar recipe with 2 eggs) and stir in Matcha powder to taste, I used 1tsp and made 12 cupcakes and the flavours and colour were spot on.

Bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes at 160*c then allow to cool before taking the biggest bowl (or in the case of me, pre-made tub, oops!) of vanilla butter cream and slather it on top before chucking on whatever sugary embellishments you can find!

The overall effect was simple but a big hit! The green colour of the cakes envoked intrigue among my colleagues and the Matcha combined with traditional sweet and spongey goodness was the perfect compliment to the mound of icing. I’ve still got about half of my Matcha left and have plans to experiment more in the baking department- let me know if you’d like me to share recipes.

What’s your favourite way to enjoy Matcha? Never tried it before? Stock up here.

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Teapigs kindly sent me this kit to enable this post to happen. Even Mae was impressed.

Posted in baking, food, life, life stuff, review

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Experiments in baking: Protein Muffins

22nd April 2015
Not only have I not done a baking post in forever, it has been ages since I last did any baking in general let alone try anything new. My work/life balance hasn’t been in my favour when it comes to getting time in the kitchen, so when myprotein got in touch I was determined to take advantage of the chance to try out some new ingredients.
Protein has become a bit of a buzz word in the baking world with it cropping up in all manner of recipes. It’s perfect as high energy boost for those with an active lifestyle and surprisingly makes for a versatile ingredient. I was sent a package of goodies which included coconut oil, a muffin mix, a pancake mix, a bag of whey powder and a bag of buckwheat flour. I wasn’t quite sure where to start but in the end I stayed semi-close to what I knew and went for the protein muffin mix for my first foray.
The mix I had was the 200g unflavoured pouch which yields enough to make 8 muffins, although I made mine smaller and got 12 from the mixture. To the powder I added 200ml milk, 4 tbsp coconut oil (something I had read ALL about yet never used), 3 tbsp cocoa powder and a bag of white chocolate chunks- not brilliant for a health food and I could have gone all out with fruit and nuts but a girl needs her chocolate fix from time to time (or all the time!). If you didn’t want or need 8/12 muffins you could just use half of the mixture as the pouch seals up easily to keep the mix fresh.

After a quick mix up in a bowl the muffins took only 12 minutes in the oven at 190*c before they were ready to go. I wasn’t too sure what to expect, and mine were a little burnt on top thanks to our temperamental oven but these came out so soft and fluffy inside with a lovely texture. I won’t lie, you can taste that there is something “different” about these but if you are already used to protein enriched products you probably won’t notice it and I certainly had no issue with it- neither did the other people in and around the house who I asked to sample these, they aren’t an every day snack, but if you know you’ve got a jam packed few days coming up or have some lovely long hikes/cycles/runs coming up with Spring sunshine then these would make a perfect portable snack or recovery food once home.

For me they are a quick and easy way to get some calories and nutrition in, and whilst it’s an expensive way to bake I can see myself purchasing a mix or two every now and again just to keep in.

Stay tuned for the next instalment in my baking adventures; which ingredient would you like to see me use next and do you have any recipe suggestions?

Have you ever tried baking with protein powders and mixes? How did you find it?

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Posted in baking, fitness, food, recipes, review

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Event Alert- Dr Oetker Even Better Baking Boutique

04th November 2014
I know that many of you, like me are keen bakers. I never seem to find the time to get busy in the kitchen these days thanks to a jam-packed schedule of work commitments and I know my skills are in need of whipping in to shape. It saddens me that all the coolest sounding events are in London when I’m all the way down in Bristol; even if the trains are extortionate, by the time I’d make it to the captial after work the event would long be over. Still, that doesn’t mean I’m not going to share awesome things with you- for anyone who is in the Big Smoke over the next few days why not pop along to the Dr Oetker Even Better Baking Boutique for some inspiration, hints and tips?
Britain’s biggest and best loved home baking brand – Dr. Oetker, will open its doors to the Even Better Baking Boutique on Friday 7th November until Sunday 16th November 2014.

Each day, the interactive baking space will play host to a range of inspiration experiences to encourage the nation to become even better bakers. These include demos, product showcases, taste testing, master classes, and for the first time ever consumers will also get the chance to purchase all of the amazing products on the spot.

Even Better Baking Ambassador Juliet Sear will host a very special master class on Friday 7th November, sharing all of her insider hints and tips on perfecting a range of tricky techniques. These include the art of perfect piping, simplifying sugar roses, truly irresistible toppings and Christmas themed modelling.

On Thursday 13th November, cake pop expert and baking extraordinaire April Carter will host an exclusive Cake Pop Night, designed to give consumers the confidence to turn their own favourite pop stars into quirky cakes on sticks! Consumers will get the chance to learn from the best and have a go themselves on the night, to the backdrop of a DJ spinning everyone’s favourite 80’s pop tunes.

Other master classes taking place at the Dr. Oetker Even Better Baking Boutique include Beautiful Baking Trends, Chocolate Emporium and Winter Wonder Bakes.

For more information on the full schedule of experiences and to register for a place at any of the exclusive master class’s just visit the Dr. Oetker facebook page.

Let me know if you go along, or better yet blog about your experience sharing your new found knowledge!

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Autumn Baking- Sticky Plum Flapjack

09th September 2014
It feels like ages since I tried something new in the kitchen, I never seem to find the time to bake these days and when I do I tend to stick to old, faithful recipes that I know won’t fail me. A glut of Victoria plums in the garage last weekend spurred me in to looking outside of what I knew and for something I could bake to save them from spoiling…plums are my favourite fruit at this time of year and the idea of them going to waste did not sit well. A quick trawl of some recipes books and I stumbled over this recipe in one of our many “Good Food” books and decided that these sticky plum flapjack bars just had to be made.
Now, as you can tell these got a touch burnt on top which was kind of gutting as they had previously looked and smelt so incredible. This wasn’t due to lack of care though, nope, this was despite cooking on a lower temperature than stated and for less time- our oven isn’t on it’s best behaviour at the moment and seems to decide to cook how it best sees fit no matter what instruction we give.

Thankfully these still tasted amazing, and they were a bit more like an oaty cake due to the addition of flour. Plums, doused in sugar and spices were the perfect compliment to the oats and I’ll be making these again (but maybe in someone else’s oven!) in the very near future. I also think the recipe would lend itself well to fresh apricots so that might be my next venture…they also happen to go rather wonderfully with a cup of tea.

You can find the recipe here, let me know if you make some of these, or what else you’ve been creating with all the wonderful fruits that this time of year brings.

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Baking with Dr. Oetker

11th August 2014
Wow, when did I actually do a baking post on the blog? It’s been a good long while eh? I just don’t seem to get the time any more( or I tell myself I don’t have the time) but actually it doesn’t have to be a lengthy and involved process, and sometimes the simple recipes are just as good as one that takes up four pages of a cook book.
The folks at Dr. Oetker recently sent me a huge envelope filled with some of their latest cake decorating products so I decided it was perfect time to whip up something sweet- no need for anything fancy, I just used a basic cupcake recipe I have stored in my head and added Ben’s favourite glacé cherries and a hefty dose of desiccated coconut.
The new products all look so good and I have ideas for all of them so watch this space for some more baking posts! For these cakes I made a basic vanilla buttercream and decorated half with Zebra Chocolate Triangles and some more desiccated coconut for a more grown up finish. The other half got a touch of Ocean Pearls as I didn’t want to add any clashing flavours and these are just so pretty I was dying to use them!
I baked the cakes in the new Edible Wafter Cases which are genius! You only get six in a pack so they work out quite pricey for every day baking but for a special occasion they are perfect and there’s no mess because you eat the case too.
Next on my list is chocolate cookies studded with Rainbow Popping Candy for a bit of fun…then I’ll be thinking up ideas for the rest of the range.

What have you been baking lately?

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Posted in baking, food

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