Weekend Bake | Skinny Chick Easter Nests

A no-cook Easter Weekend make for the family, to get you in the chocolate spirit. This recipe is adapted from Nigella Lawson's How To Be A Domestic Goddess:

Ingredients (Makes 12):

400g dark and milk chocolate (adapt the ratio of bitter/sweet chocolate to taste)

100g Shredded Wheat (about 4 nests of Shredded Wheat)

2 packs of Milkybar Mini Eggs (enough for about 3 or 4 eggs per nests)

1 tablespoon Golden Syrup

25g unsalted butter

Method:

1) Place 12 muffin, cupcake or fairy cake cases in a muffin tray.

2) Break up 100g of Shredded Wheat in a large bowl.

3) Melt all of the chocolate and butter in a smaller bowl, by placing over a saucepan of boiling water.

4) Stir the melted chocolate and Golden Syrup into the Shredded Wheat until fully combined (NOTE: This needs to be done quickly, before the chocolate is too set to cover the Shredded Wheat fully).

5) Place blobs of the mixture in the muffin cases and decorate with chocolate eggs (I used white chocolate Milkybar eggs) and Easter chicks.

'Mr Nutella' Chocolate Cupcakes | Weekend Bake Recipe

In honour of Ferrero Rocher chocolate tycoon Michele Ferrero, or 'Mr Nutella', who sadly died this week, I had fun developing these Nutella inspired treats. Warning: These cupcakes contain a combination of ingredients so indulgently sweet as to probably be capable of inducing a heart attack. Bon Appetit!

Ingredients (Makes 6):

2 eggs (room temperature)

2oz caster sugar

2oz self-raising flour, no need to sift (or plain flour and 1 teaspoon baking powder) 

2oz unsalted butter (room temperature)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Butter icing: icing sugar, unsalted butter, vanilla extract, 1 dessert spoon of Nutella

Method:

1) Preheat oven to Gas Mark 5

2) Cream together sugar and butter

3) Mix in eggs and vanilla extract

4) Fold the flour into the mixture

5) Spoon half of the mixture into 6 muffin cases

6) Add a teaspoon of Nutella in the middle of each case

7) Spoon the rest of the mixture into the cases, so that it covers the Nutella blob in the middle

8) Bake for 15-20 minutes in the preheated oven and allow to cool on a wire rack when baked

9) Decorate with a sprinkle of icing sugar or a dollop of Nutella butter icing

Weekend Vlog: Romeo, Romeo and Chillin' from a Height

Romeo turned up at my window at 7am this morning (how rude) in the form of two painters. Ok, they were on scaffolding and sheltering from the sun, but a girl can dream? In other news, I've turned the platform outside my window into a temporary elevated sunroof, which is actually pretty cool and makes me wish I had a permanent balcony there. 

How are you chilling this weekend?

On my toes: Barry M Indigo

Carpe Diem xx

Weekend Bake: Celebration English Cupcakes Recipe and Tips

Whether it's a birthday, an unbirthday, a summer barbeque or the Wimbledon final, it's always great to get baking and try an English version of sweet American cupcakes. With more flour and less sugar, these cupcakes are more Victoria sponge and work perfectly for tea parties.

Ingredients:

3 eggs

6oz self-raising flour

6oz caster sugar

6oz butter

1 tsp vanilla extract

Method:

1) Cream together butter and sugar

2) Fold in flour into the mixture in stages

3) Break in the eggs

4) Spoon into cake cases

5) Bake in a Gas Mark 4/350F/180C

Chef's Tips:

1) Sift flour and icing sugar fully before combining

2) Add 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract to the mixture for extra taste sensation

3) Combine all the ingredients until smooth

4) Leave to cook until bouncy and golden

5) Decorate with chocolate and other flavoured icing, when cooled, by adding cocoa powder to icing sugar and water

Carpe Diem xx