Date and chocolate Loaf

I am unable to tell you what this loaf tastes like as it is currently sitting in my freezer for use at a later date!
It was fairly straight forward to make, you just need to soak the dates for 30 mins before using them.
The loaf looks very impressive and rose to quite a height. The proof will be in the tasting. Will let you know!

Almond and chocolate chip cake

 I baked this cake, and the date and chocolate loaf at the same time.
There is not much to say about this cake except that it is quick, easy and very tasty. I would definitely make it again.
We gave it 9.0. I should add that it is supposed to have flaked almonds on the top, but I forgot! It would add extra crunch, but its tasty enough without. Perhaps it would make it look a little more exciting!

Irish Soda Bread

Yesterday the kids all went back to school, so the house seemed really quiet. Adam and I realised that it had been about 10 weeks since we were on our own, as that was when Tom finished his GCSE's. Now, I love having the kids off school, but it's also nice when they go back, if you know what I mean!
I made some of this soda bread for our lunch. It was really easy as it does not have yeast in it and therefore does not need kneading. The down side of this is that it makes quite a dense bread.
Adam and I had a couple of slices, and were rather full!
I probably would not be in a hurry to bake it again. I think its worth doing some kneading and getting a lighter loaf. We only gave it 6.5. The kids finished it off with their pasta bake at tea time. They didn't really comment about it, but it all went, so they can't of thought it was too bad!
As I type, I have another two cakes in the oven. I have several events coming up, so am trying to make a few cakes to freeze. I am starting to wonder whether it would be possible to complete this baking mission within the year - it sounds mad, but it might just be possible. Watch this space!

Oat and Sunflower Squares

This week Adam and Tom went to see some of our neighbours who are advising Tom on building a computer. It's Tom's 17th birthday next week (no idea what cake I am going to bake), and he has been saving up to buy a custom made desk top PC. This is not my field of expertise, but I thought our neighbours would appreciate these oat and sunflower squares.
They are rather like flapjacks but only have a small amount of butter and syrup, so are more healthy. The sunflower seeds give it a nice crunch, however I think they could do with a little more syrup to bind the mix together. The ones in the picture were the best looking ones, and we did end up with quite a big bowl of unstuck bits - nice for snacking on!
The taste was good and I would probably rate them about 7.5, maybe more if they had extra syrup. Our neighbours, however thought that they were really delicious, and asked for the recipe, so that was great!
Oh, and I should add that I did not use jumbo oats as the recipe suggested, but ordinary ones - maybe they would have held together with larger oats, who knows?!

Gingerbread Men

I made these gingerbread men on Monday as I thought it would be a nice thing to do with the children before they went back to school. However, it didn't quite work out like that, and I ended doing most of the work!
Although we decorated some of the men traditionally, the best fun was had decorating the others with white chocolate and jelly tots. They looked a real mess, but tasted delicious!
The most difficult thing about making them was getting the thickness just right. Too thin and they are too crunchy, too thick and they are too soft. We had a mixture of both.
We gave them a score of 8.0
p.s Make sure you grease the trays well, or they stick, like the man below. We called him Charles 1 - Tom is studying him for history so we let him have that one!

Eccles Cakes

Now I have to confess that I did not make the pastry for these. I do feel slightly guilty about this as I have seen flaky pastry made on the "Bake off", and feel that I should challenge myself to it. Having said that, in the introduction to the recipe, Mary says that you can use ready made puff pastry, so I did have permission!
I already had some pastry in the freezer that needed using up, so this morning I made these.
They were very easy, and the results were good, however a few of the family said that they would be much better with flaky pastry as the puff pastry had a hint of sausage roll to them! They only say that because they are not the ones that would have to make it!!
If there are any more recipes that require flaky pastry, I shall attempt to rise to the challenge!
We gave them 8.5.
On a practical note, the recipe only makes 8 large cakes. This may feel slightly disappointing if you have gone to the effort of making flaky pastry. I think it would be good to make slightly smaller ones, and have a few more.

Chocolate Swiss Roll

 I made this swiss roll for lunch yesterday. I thought that, as Ad and Ben had just come home from camp, they deserved a baking treat. Like the other two swiss roll recipes, this was super quick and easy - having said that, this is partly because I can put the eggs and sugar in my mixer and leave it to whisk up and thicken, which does take about 5 mins. It's great to be able to just leave it while I tidy up the kitchen!
It tasted great for the amount of effort, and we gave it 8.5. There was even a couple of slices left over to share with a friend, who said that it came just when she most needed it!