BAKE IT: Chocolate brownie.

Chocolate is every girl's best friend, especially in those rainy days. I thought that I have to make something chocolaty for Halloween and I found this great recipe on Crafted Cake blog! Go and visit this blog for more great recipes.

In Poland brownie is made without chocolate so it was something different to me, but when I tried it... Oh my! Heaven! 

I think it's perfect for Halloween so if you craving for some chocolate it's not to late to make this amazing brownie.

Ingredients:
150g dark chocolate
50g milk chocolate
180g butter
40g cocoa powder
3 eggs
270g golden caster sugar

​1. Grease a baking tray and preheat the oven to 180c/ Gas 4, a tray that is 23cm and 4cm deep is usually best for brownies.

2. Melt the chocolate slowly on a low heat and add the butter and melt together, when all is finally melted then take it off the heat to cool.

3. In a seperate bowl whisk the eggs, gradually adding the sugar as you whisk, whisk the egg and sugar until it is pale and has doubled in size, roughly whisk for about 3-5 minutes.

5. When whisked and the chocolate mixture has cooled (you need to make sure it really has cooled otherwise if it is too warm it will turn your egg mixture into scrambled egg!) add the chocolate mix to the eggs and sugar and carefully fold together until all is combined. 

6. Sieve the flour and cocoa and add it to the mix and carefully fold it all together.

​7. Place on the middle shelf in the oven and bake for about 25- 30 minutes, they will be ready when they have risen and have a light crust looking layer on the top, remove them from the oven and leave them in the tin to cool, then when cooled, cut into squares and enjoy!

Czytaj dalej »

BAKE IT: Carrot cake.

I only ate carrot cake once, when my friend brought it to work and it was great! Since then I wanted to make my own carrot cake, but it seemed so difficult to make (I didn't even read the recipe) and I also wanted to learn how to bake simple recipes so I left this one for later. 

One day I looked in the fridge and I saw that we have a lot of carot there, so I googled the recipe and I finally made it the next day. 

I think this is one of my favourites, it's a nice sponge which isn't dry at all, you actually can't taste the carrot (I'm talking here about its texture) but you can notice a sweetness from carrot. And believe it or not - philadelphia is just perfect with it. It will be one of my "must-bake" cakes for autumn and winter.

Ingredients:
2 cups of plain flour
3 cups of grated carrot
1 cup of oil
3/4 cup of caster sugar
4 eggs
1 tsp of bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp of baking powder
2 tsp of cinnamon
pinch of salt
Walnuts (add the amount you prefer)

Cream cheese frosting:
500g of Philadelphia or mascarpone
1/2 cup of sugar
100g of soft butter

Method:
Grate peeled carrots on a bigger grater. Sift flour, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt into a bowl. Mix eggs with sugar in another bowl, then add oil and mix again.
Add dry ingredients to egg and sugar mixture and mix ingredients with a spoon. Add carrot and walnuts.
Pour your mixture into a 25 cm cake pan with a parchment on it and bake in 180 degrees for 50 minutes.
Cool the cake in a cake pan and then leave it to cool completely on a wire rack.
Mix every ingredient of a cream cheese frosting into a smooth mixture, add more sugar if you like.
Slice the cake into 2-3 sponches and put frosting on each of them.
Put whole walnuts to decorate the top of your cake. Sprinkle cinnamon on top.

Put into a fridge to cool.

Enjoy!

Do you like carrot cake? What is your favourite autumn bake? Let me know in comments below.

Czytaj dalej »

How to rock casual outfit with fringe boots?

Jeans and sweater is the perfect outfit for cosy evenings in fall. And when you add fringe boots to it your quick visit to a local shop round the corner becomes a fashion outing! Just one item can rock the whole look.

This sweater has a long V neckline so it is very feminen and slightly romantic such as the fabric it's made of. Romantic and comfortable is what i like the most. Classic jeans are in white to give this outfit a contrast. And last but not least - fringe boot, my must have for autumn! I love the colour which is very neutral but it's not black which I don't wear very often.

I also like this time of the year when days are shorter and a little bit colder and you can just spend evenings under the blanket with a glass of wine or hot chocolate or you can play on the floor with your little one.

Autumn and winter are seasons of warm sweaters so choose your favourite one and pair it with some jeans, add your must have shoes for this season and you're ready to rock.

Czytaj dalej »

Apple tart.

I think this is my favourite and the easiest bake ever. I've made apple tart few times before and the pastry dough wasn't perfect, but now I made more pastry dough so it was thickier and... I used white strong flour which is originally for making pizza dough or bread. I didn't have a plain flour so I gave it a go and it was just perfect! Well, that's what my fiance said.

Apple tart is great for summer days in the garden or at a picnic, but it would be also good in fall. I think it's actually an autumn bake. The best is served hot (straight from the oven) with a bit of ice cream. So delicious!!!

Ingredients for a pastry dough:

• 170 g plain flour
• 55 g caster sugar
• 110 g sliced, cold butter
• 1 egg yolk

Place every ingredient into a bowl and mix together until you get a pastry dough. Make a ball from a dough, put cling film on and flatter a bit. Leave in the fridge for at least an hour.

Apple filling:

• 5 big apples without a skin and a centre, cut in bigger parts
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon powder
• pinch of cloves in powder
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• more - 1 tbsp breadcrumbs
• 1 beaten egg with 1 tbsp of milk to spread on top of the tart before baking

Put pieces of apples into a pan, add cinnamon, cloves, sugar and lemon juice. Simmer for a while and stir on a medium gas to not overcook the apples. they should be soft but not falling appart. Take off the hob.

Take a 20 cm diameter tart pan, spread a bit of butter and then sprinkle flour on it.

Take pastry dough out off the fridge and devide it in two parts.

Roll one part with a rolling pin and put on the bottom and sides of the tart pan. Sprinkle breadcrumbs on top of the pastry dough, then put apples and even the surface. Roll the second part of the pastry dough, place it on of of the apples and put it together with the pastry dough on the sides. Dab it few times with fork and then cover it with beaten egg and 1 tbsp of milk.

Bake in 180 degrees for 30 - 45 minutes till it's golden. Take it out off the oven and leave to cool.

Although I prefer it to be hot and served with ice cream.

Sprinkle some icing sugar on top before serving.

Enjoy!

Czytaj dalej »

Thumbprint cookies.

I've skipped one episode of Great British Bake Off as my blog post, because I am so busy at the moment and those cookies are just simple to make so I've decided to share the recipe with you. I made them few times already and everyone seemed to love them. They're good with a morning coffee and also as an evening snack while watching a movie. You can of course choose different flavours to the dough or put nutella instead of jam (but then do it after baking). This recipe would give you about 35 cookies, but you could double the ingredients if you want. They're gone so quickly!

Ingredients:

• 125 g sliced, cold butter
• 1/3 glass of caster sugar
• 1 egg yolk
• 110 g plain flour
• 110 g walnuts or almonds in powder
• 1 tsp of vanilla or almond extract
• half tsp of baking powder
• pinch of salt

Also:

• jam to fill the cookies in, the best is the thickiest, but every jam will do

Place all ingredients in a bowl and mix it well until you get the pastry dough (you can also mix ingredients by hand). Make a ball from the dough, then make it flat, put cling film all over and put it into the fridge for 60 minutes.

After that time tear off little pieces of dough and make little balls from them (a size of walnut). Put everything on a baking tray with a baking parchment on it with small spaces between the balls (they will rise during baking). Use your finger or the end of your wooden utensil and make a well in the center of each cookie. Using a teaspoon, fill each well with jam, being careful not to overfill the wells.

Bake in 170 degrees for 13-15 minutes or when cookies are a bit golden. Take them out of the oven, cool them for a while on a baking tray and then place onto a wire rack.

Enjoy!!!

Czytaj dalej »