Hazelnut Mocha Recipe

Ordinarily, I would not post a coffee recipe as I usually fail horribly when trying to make anything even vaguely similar to something you would buy in a coffee shop but today I have finally succeeded. I made this in a Costa's travel mug (to give an idea of the size) before my throat became too raw and sore and couldn't swallow anything (and went upstairs to lie in bed feeling sorry for myself).

50% hot milk
50% boiling water
Coffee (I used 1 sachet of Starbucks Colombian coffee, which I think is about a teaspoonful)
A heaped teaspoonful of drinking chocolate
A level teaspoonful of nutella
A splash of vanilla extract (about 1/4 to 1/2a teaspoon)
Whipped cream

Half fill the mug with boiled water, add coffee and stir.
Add the drinking chocolate and the nutella and stir well.
Add the splash of vanilla extract, stir.
Add the hot milk and stir well.
Add the whipped cream to top.

Photos to follow, currently posting from my kindle and hoping this  posts okay.

Delicious

Christmas Dessert (Chocolate Fudge Cake- amazing heated with extra thick baileys cream)

 Chocolate Orange Cheesecake

Recipe: Scotch Pancakes

Made these myself recently.  I had never made pancakes before until recently, the first attempt did not go too well, the recipe I used suggested a high heat which left me with burnt pancakes and it was missing what I would suggest is a vital ingredient for Scotch Pancakes: Golden Syrup. Without the golden syrup they tasted quite bland and unlike any I had ever tasted (Scotch pancakes are very sweet tasting), plus my Mother made the absolute best pancakes and she ALWAYS used it (sadly, she never wrote the recipe down so I had to try and remember what she used to do). This batch (attempt no 2) turned out perfectly, not quite as good as Mums, but I am happy with them and would not be ashamed to serve them to anyone.

I am told that these are best cooked on a girdle (griddle in England, girdle is the correct term in Scotland) but most people of my generation (or even my Mums, my Granny did have one which I think my Auntie might still have) do not own one but a heavy based frying pan will do.  When cooking keep on a low heat, if it is not ready you can always wait a little bit longer, these do cook really quickly and burn easily.

Best Served hot with butter.

120g Self raising flour
 30g  Caster Sugar
   1    egg
1/4 pink of milk
Golden syrup- use as much as you feel necessary

A small amount of butter on pan to help cook it

1) Sift Flour into bowl
2) Add Sugar
3) Crack egg into milk, whisk
4) Pour wet into dry, mix into smooth batter
5) Add golden syrup
6) Pour some batter onto pan (I use a ladle to make 4 pancakes at a time)
7) Turn using a pallet knife, until a light golden colour (see picture)

Four Seasons

Autumn

Here are some photo's that I took last year. Autumn is my favourite season but due to the unusually hot patch we had here in the UK in late September/early October autumn has been a bit later than usual. Still hopefully things will settle down now and we can enjoy the season and have a beautiful, snowy winter to look forward to. 

Colourful cupcakes

I can't imagine that I will ever want to bake a cake without a gel colour in it again...

Rainbow Cake

I'll be honest, I was quite pleased with myself when I baked this. I made it from scratch (i.e. the cake mix and frosting were made from actual ingredients, not from a box or tub) and it tasted great. I did, however, end up with a LOT of washing up to do afterwards, which was a whole lot less enjoyable.  I think this would be a good birthday cake if you added buttercream between the layers with the jam and covered it with icing rather than frosting. I can post the recipe or a tutorial if anyone wants it.