Eric Landlard's Peanut Butter and Chocolate Egg Cups recipe.

The Happy Egg Co. Pecan and Chocolate Honeycomb Cookies.

As a part of the #happyeggtastemakers team for The Happy Egg Co. we get to enjoy yummy treats, taste The Happy Egg Co.’s eggs and hear all their exciting news. When we recently got sent a lovely gift from The Happy Egg Co. that included a tasty chick biscuit we also got sent a tasty recipe.

Whilst we have yet to try the recipe yet thanks to our oven packing up (eek!! Christmas is fast approaching and our oven doesn’t work……panic!), the recipe sounds so yummy that I wanted to share it with you lovely lot just in case you want to try making it.

The Happy Egg Co. Pecan and Chocolate Honeycomb Cookies

Makes: About 18 cookies

Cooking time: About 12 minutes

Oven temperature: 180˚C / 350˚F / Gas mark 4

Top Tips For Using Marzipan On Your Wedding Cake.

If you’re making a wedding cake you’ll want it to be picture perfect and the best way to ensure a beautifully smooth finish is to use a layer of marzipan.  Not only will a marzipan layer ensure your icing and decorations look wonderful it will also help trap the moisture in the cake so that it’s mouth-wateringly delicious for that first slice.

Renshaw and Juliet Sear show you how to marzipan your cake successfully.

Cupid cakes - Tate & Lyle recipe.

These adorable pop-in-the-mouth cupid cakes will undoubtedly set hearts aflutter.

*  Makes:  18

*  Prep time:  1½ hours

*  Cooking time:  10 minutes

Meringue Love Hearts - Tate & Lyle recipe.

Pretty as a picture, these pastel meringue hearts make a stunning finale to a Valentine’s dinner à deux.

  

*  Makes:  2 pairs

*  Prep time:  30 minutes

*  Cooking time: 1 hour

Lyle’s Golden Christmas Puddings.

These sparkling gilded Christmas puddings make a dramatic and opulent ending to the festive meal.  Edible gold flakes can be found in cake decorating shops.

Makes: 6                             

Prep time:  50 minutes

Soaking time:  3-4 hours

Cooking time: 1¼ hours

Ingredients - 

for the Christmas puddings

*  50g (2oz) golden sultanas

*  75g (3oz) currants

*  75g (3oz) raisins

*  60g (2½oz) dried apricots, finely chopped

*  60g (2½oz) dried mango, very finely chopped

*  50g (2oz) mixed peel

*  40g (1½oz) flaked almonds, roughly chopped

*  60ml (2½floz) brandy or orange liqueur

*  1 tsp vanilla extract

*  125g (4½oz) unsalted butter, softened

*  40g (1½oz) Lyle’s Golden Syrup

*  40g (1½oz) Lyle’s Black Treacle

*  95g (3½oz) Tate & Lyle Fairtrade Light Muscovado Cane Sugar

*  2 large eggs, beaten

*  75g (3oz) plain flour

*  150g (5oz) fresh white breadcrumbs

for the brandy butter

*  125g (4½oz) unsalted butter, softened

*  95g (3½oz) Lyle’s Golden Syrup

*  2 tbsp brandy or orange liqueur

to serve

*  6 tbsp Lyle’s Golden Syrup

*  edible 23 carat gold flakes or dust

*  few sprigs holly

*  You will also need 6 x 125ml (4½floz) greased pudding basins.

Method - 

*  Combine all the dried fruits and nuts in a mixing bowl, add the brandy or liqueur and the vanilla.  Mix well, cover and leave to soak for 3-4 hours or overnight.

*  Beat the butter, Lyle’s Golden Syrup and treacle and the Tate & Lyle sugar together in the bowl of an electric mixer for 5-8 minutes until light and creamy.  Add the eggs little by little, beating well after each addition.

*  Sift the flour over the fruit mixture and stir well to ensure all the fruit is coated in flour.  Add to the creamed mixture along with the breadcrumbs and stir well to combine.

*  Preheat the oven to 170°C/Fan150°C, 325°F, gas 3.

*  Divide the mixture between the pudding basins and smooth the tops.  Place in a deep baking dish and pour in enough boiling water to come halfway up the sides of the tin.  Cover with a sheet of buttered parchment paper and then some foil.

*  Bake on the middle shelf of the oven for 1¼ hours or until firm when lightly pressed in the middle.

*  Make the brandy butter by creaming the butter and Lyle’s Golden Syrup together until very soft.  Gradually beat in the brandy or liqueur.  Spoon into a serving bowl.

*  Remove the puddings and leave for 5 minutes before turning out onto warm plates.

*  Gently heat the Lyle’s Golden Syrup in a small pan until hot then brush all over the puddings.  Sprinkle with gold flakes, decorate with holly and serve with the brandy butter.

Do ahead -

You can make the puddings and the brandy butter 1 month ahead and freeze them in a lidded container.  Alternatively, make both 3 days ahead and store in the fridge.  To reheat, place the pudding basins in a shallow saucepan half-filled with boiling water, cover with foil and steam for about 20 minutes or until hot.  Or microwave for 1-2 minutes until hot.

*  I have not received anything for sharing this recipe *

Smiley spiral apple tarts - Ella's Kitchen recipe

Who knew apple tarts could taste this good? Little ones will love to get involved using pastry cutters and decorating the tarts with apple slices.

Easter baking with bug.

With Easter landing on the same weekend as Bug’s 2nd birthday it has been the perfect excuse for me to get in the kitchen with Bug and bake some tasty treats for us all to enjoy to get in the Easter spirit and being the celebrations for Bug’s big day……not that I need much of an excuse to indulge myself with some scrumptious treats.

When I think of Easter and food many recipes, meals and treats spring to mind.  Gorgeous lamb dinners, Hot Cross Buns, Simnel Cake, Egg Nests with mini eggs, Easter themed biscuits and cupcakes, to name but a few.

I have fond memories of my mum cooking up a storm in the kitchen when I was young especially during Easter when the kitchen would be filled with delicious aromas of all the gorgeous food she cooked and baked.  Not only did my sister and I get to enjoy her wonderful food but we also helped mum, assisting her in the kitchen, especially enjoying decorating her masterful creations of cakes and sweet treats.  Our favourite ‘job’ was to decorate her mouth-watering cupcakes, getting a little messy as we embellished each cupcake.  Even though my cookery skills do not come close to my mum’s talent at cooking I hope to achieve the same fun and enjoyment in the kitchen with Bug that my mum did with my sister and I. 

Decorating cupcakes (Project 365 - 83/365).

Recreating Revolting Recipes

When I was a child I loved Roald Dahl; I would get lost in his books for hours on end, getting caught up in the magic of his stories.  I read all of his books, reading them again and again.  I still have a lot of my old, extremely well read Roald Dahl books and have started reading a few of the battered looking but much loved books to Bug as I want to pass on my love of reading and the magical stories that Roald Dahl weaved in his magnificent books.  As well as enjoying the splendid stories that Roald Dahl wrote I also loved the vivid illustrations that complemented the stories which were created by the legendary illustrator Quentin Blake.

When I heard that for Roald Dahl Day 2012 they were celebrating 30 gloriumptious years of the loveable, swizzfiggling Big Friendly Giant (otherwise known as The BFG) I started reading The BFG to little man enjoying once again the story of The BFG and how he catches, creates and makes dreams come true.