Maple and Pecan Muffins

I mentioned that I'd made these in my last post and I've got around to posting them now. Finally.

These were the best muffins I've ever had. And nothing ever beats chocolate for me. I'd even consider them as the best cake I've ever made and I've made a lot of cakes.

I used the recipe from the Hummingbird Bakery book and shock horror, I didn't change it one bit! I'm definitely going to be making these again in case you hadn't guessed already. Oh and I almost forgot to mention, the house smelt amazing with these in the oven!

They weren't the best shape, I think I over filled the cases a bit and I didn't have a muffin tin (That has now been rectified) but it didn't really matter.

Sorry for the slow posts but I'm going to get back on it this week, got loads of Christmassy cooking planned!

Pecan Pie

I mentioned in my Thanksgiving post that I'd been wanted to make some Pecan Pie and I finally did so here's the post I promised about it.

I've had a good week of cooking, my lamb casserole was so nice, not blowing my own trumpet or anything but it is the perfect winter dinner. And I made and tried dumplings for the first time, I'm not sure how I feel about them, any fans out there? Yesterday we got a bit festive and had a turkey risotto which I really enjoyed. My brother thought he'd take charge of making some French beans to go with it and managed to blow them up... No one's worked out how to use our new space age microwave yet.

Today I've been busy practising for my competition which is creeping up on me pretty fast now but, my dishes are going well and I'm really proud that they're something I've created. Pictures are on their way but not till the first round's done, I don't want to give too much away!

And last but my favourite creation of the week, Pecan and Maple muffins. Again, not to blow my own trumpet but there were ama-zing. I'll definitely be posting them in the near future.

Anyway back to the Pecan Pie, I used the Hummingbird Bakery recipe and I it was brill, the pie disappeared pretty quick so it's safe to say everyone liked it.

Bonfire Banana Bread

I promised lots of posts and here is the first one. I made this on Bonfire night (Doesn't it feel like ages ago already?) it's a perfect autumn/winter cake and is even better when eaten warm.

I added cinnamon, nutmeg and chocolate to the original recipe to make it that bit more seasonal and I'll definitely be making it again soon.

Strawberry Cheesecake Cupcakes

First and foremost, sorry for the lack of posts recently, apparently technology doesn't like me.

But here I am now, last weekend we had someone come to stay with us so it gave me an excuse to try out another recipe from my new Humming Bird Bakery book. After looking through the book, I decided on Strawberry Cheesecake Cupcakes and making the most of the short-lived heatwave, I walked to the shops and got my ingredients.

They have a layer of strawberries, then a vanilla sponge, topped with cream cheese icing and finished with crushed digestive biscuit and chopped strawberries.

They went down really well and we all agreed that they really did taste like strawberry cheesecakes! I'll definitely be making them again...

Mocha Cake

It's taken me a little while to get round to posting this one but I think it was worth the wait. I've wanted 'The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook' for ages and I finally got it for my Birthday a couple of weeks ago. Once I had in in my hands, the tough decision of what to make first came so after going through looking at each recipe about a million times, I settled on the coffee cake with chocolate icing, a mocha cake.

It went down really well and was finished in a few days. I can safely it was the best chocolate icing I've ever tasted too.