Thursday, January 26, 2017

Week 14: Pink Grapefruit Cake

And we have lost track of the dates!! ;) haha

Thinking back to baking this I recall how I had a bike accident the day before we made it. That is how I remembered when we made this. Not to worry, I was feeling fine. Just a little battered ;)


The day was a lovely sunny day, and I had just bought some gorgeous bluey-purple flowers, which I didn't know the name of. To top things of on this lovely day, we were all (mostly all of us) in the kitchen trying the grapefruit that was left over from the zest we needed in the cake ;) Here is Sophie trying the fruit for the first time:


So without further a do, and with our grapefruit trying done and dusted for the year (it was VERY bitter, and Sophie did have a point about it tasting like the yucky taste from drinking juice right after brushing your teeth), we got stuck in to the recipe.

Jennifer whisking up the cake batter
The batter looking very smashing, I must say!
Grating the grapefruit was my job :D We made the cake vegan, so that is why there is the paper there. I had written down the ingredients we were substituting for eggs (1/4 cup banana to 1 egg) and butter (oil margarine), so that we wouldn't get confused ;) 
All ready for the oven
Getting the grapefruit drizzle ready for when the cake came out of the oven. There was A LOT of icing sugar in that!!
In the meantime we decided to decorate our flat :) What do you think?
And we also decorated the W that we had stuck on the noticeboard during the first month in our flat. We did this because we usually have the "Wee World Cafe" meetings for International Students in our flat :D 
DRIZZLE!! We were quite unsure when to put the drizzle on, so after some brief deliberation we decided on just going with it. I had not idea cause I had never made drizzle cake before, and neither had any of the other baking students, so we went with Jennifer on this one.

It was soaking around the edges, but it somehow had soaked in to the cake in less than a minute!!

The final presentation of the Pink Grapefruit Cake :D
The taste was ... so deliciously zingy. Is that the right word? It was light, and yet it was heavy. I am not even making sense!! haha. So the citrus fruit made it very fresh on the palate, but the denseness of the glaze in the cake made it heavy. I mean, I could easily have eaten piece after piece!! haha

Till next time,

The Baking Students xx

Friday, January 20, 2017

Week 13: Date, Maple and Pecan Cookies

Jennifer wrote this post :) I have had so many wonderful reviews from these cookies!! A match made in heaven <3 


For a change we made these date, maple and pecan cookies vegan which is good because it means there is finally some baking Pamela can taste.


Laura made the maple and pecan butter by roasting pecans in the oven and then blitzing them in a blend active with maple syrup.


I beated the butter and sugars together and then stirred in the maple and pecan butter, dates and banana (which was the egg replacement).

In another bowl I sieved the flour, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda.

I folded in the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients.

I put the dough in the fridge for half an hour. Sophie had a good music playlist on which helped pass the time as I am impatient.

After half an hour, Laura came back and we rolled the dough into many balls and pressed them with a fork.



We put the cookies in the oven for ten minutes. They were still soft when they came out but they hardened up as they cooled.
Till next time,

The Baking Students xx


Thursday, January 12, 2017

Week 12: Ginger and White Chocolate Loaf

This was the day before I left Helsinki to come back to Edinburgh. Just letting you know ;) I love baking so much :D haha

So after my dad and I had come back from iceskating, a good 2 hours of pure pleasure, we both got stuck in to making this lovely Ginger and White Chocolate Loaf. 

All the ingredients ready for baking
Getting the sugar, butter and golden syrup ready for the heat
Globby mess that is soo yummy!! ;)
Having a party in the oven
Almost ready!! 
After adding the creme fraiche and white chocolate icing and crystallised ginger the loaf is looking quite gorgeous!! 

We all loved this loaf!!! I made it the day before I left to go to Edinburgh, so that meant I only got one piece of the cake :( My parents really enjoyed having some baked goods in the house though !!

Till next time,

The Baking Students xx


Wednesday, January 4, 2017

Week 11: Cinnamon Sugar Pretzel Sticks

This recipe is definitely my favourite in a while :) I was staying at my grandparent's place during my holidays, and thought I would try something really new, so I decided to give this a go ;) It ended up that my mum, grandmother, and I were all working together to get these done. It was such fun!!

So firstly I had to make the dough, and let it rise for two hours.

Here I am in my great grandmother's apron in my grandmother's kitchen about to start folding the dough after letting it rise for two hours :)
Folding the dough
And it was sticking to the table :(
More attempts at folding
More...
Until my grandmother came in and helped me wipe the table with more and more oil ;) (That is what the recipe said to do). This made the dough less sticky and easier to work with.

Cutting up the dough into many little sticks
That is what they are supposed to look like ;) I think ...
I then had to place them for 30 seconds in a pan of simmering water and baking soda

My dad helped out a bit ;) hehe
The interesting technique of putting dough into the water, placing it on paper towelling, and then on a tray for the oven :D  It was very fun!
My grandmother, my mum and I <3 
The Sticks came out looking like little "Tiger Breads" ;)
Pretzel Sticks
Brushing the last lot of Pretzel Sticks with egg before putting them in the oven

You can then choose to either make a dip for the Sticks, or a sugar coating. 

I wanted to make a Caramel Gingerbread Dip, but we went through some difficulties trying to make the caramel...


Two times the caramel crystallised in the pan, and we have no idea why, so after a good sleep (and when my mind was not so annoyed at the sugar and water) I decided upon a Cinnamon Sugar coating ;)

The final product!!

The taste of these cuties was exactly like donuts ;) I would definitely recommend this to everyone!! It really isn't that difficult, it just takes time. 

Till next time,

The Baking Students

xx