Mike's Baking on Channel 4

Check me out on Baking Mad with Eric Lanlard!

Muffin Mondays

Check out all the yummy Muffin Monday recipes.

Take the challenge: Live Below The Line

I am taking the challenge and going to Live Below The Line from May 7th - 11th. Join me!

CAKE!

Check out the yummy cake recipes!

Cupcakes!

Check out all the yummy cupcakes!

Vegan Brownie Bites

I wanted to bake something for a friend's birthday party, but I had no idea what to make and didn't feel like going to the grocery store for ingredients. My mind went to brownies right away, easy and I was pretty sure that I had all the ingredients needed. However, I didn't have eggs so started searching for Vegan brownie recipes. There are quite a lot out there but many had mixed reviews or just sounded pretty complicated. I finally decided on one from the Minimalist Baker with their Simple Vegan Brownies. Their "eggs" were made with flaxseed, which I had no idea could be used as an egg replacement. I only ever used flaxseed in my smoothies, now I want to try it out in other recipes. These brownies were extremely easy to make. I only added in some chocolate chunks and a little icing. While searching for a brownie recipe, I found somewhere on youtube some unique icing for brownies made out of only 2 ingredients. Equal parts Agave nectar and cocoa powder turns into a perfect icing for these brownies. The brownies went down really well. They were yummy, slight crust outside and moist inside. They were good!! I didn't change anything in this recipe, so go check out the Simple Vegan Brownies recipe from Minimalist Baker!!


Very Lemony Cupcakes

A couple week's ago our friend was having her baby shower and I wanted to try out a new yummy cupcake recipe for her. I went to look for a cupcake recipe from my Hummingbird Bakery books and forgot that I haven't tried out their newest book, Home Sweet Home. (As of today, March 30, 2014, the book is only £5!! Great price!) I had a look through but couldn't find one that I really wanted to make for the baby shower. So what did I do?! I changed a recipe slightly and combined it with another one. I started off with their Key Lime Cupcake recipe and changed everything to lemons and didn't make the custard. Then I had to figure what kind of frosting to pair up with the tart lemon flavour. I decided on making Lemon Cream Cheesing frosting from another recipe in the book. I ended up with a vanilla sponge, filled with lemon curd, and topped with lemon cream cheese frosting. They turned out lovely and went down well at the baby shower. The tart lemon curd was balanced by the cake and cream cheese frosting. I was really happy with how they turned out and the yummy cupcakes disappeared fast!! It was also the first time that I've made lemon curd... I had no idea how easy it is to make and can't wait to make it again.

To make this recipe follow the curd recipe on page 52 of Home Sweet Home, replacing the limes with lemons and don't use the double cream. Then on the same page, follow the sponge recipe exactly. Then on page 106, follow the frosting recipe exactly. Then you have very yummy Very Lemony Cupcakes, perfect for Spring time! If you don't have the Home Sweet Home recipe book yet, go out and get it! Lots of yummy recipes!
 

Cinnamon Apple Loaf

I wasn't planning on baking anything today but I was browsing Pinterest this morning and changed my mind. There are so many yummy recipes that people pin on there. I really wanted to make these quinoa cookies but didn't have all the necessary ingredients... I've saved that to try out another day. Instead I found this Cinnamon Apple Loaf recipe and I had everything needed to make it. The recipe is fairly simple and was easy to whip up. I changed some minor things from the original recipe, such as doubling the cinnamon, different brown sugar, and used almond milk instead of normal milk. I layered the batter and apples as described in the original but wished I would have swirled the apples in the middle into the batter. The loaf also took a lot longer to cook then 30 minutes for me. I checked every 10 minutes to see if it was done but ended up having it in there for a whole hour. The loaf turned out great though! It is a nice vanilla cake like texture with the apple cinnamon mixture layer in the middle and then a nice crunch on top with the second layer of apple cinnamon mixture. It's not too sweet either which makes it nice for a little breakfast treat. I would make this again and maybe add some type of nut into the apple cinnamon mixture. Try out this yummy recipe soon! (Oh and excuse the photos... they are from my mobile.)

Recipe by AllRecipes.com
Ingredients:
1/3 cup brown or muscovado sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon
2/3 cup caster sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 large eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups plain flour
1 3/4 tsps baking powder
1/2 cup milk (I used almond)
1 apple, peeled and chopped

Steps:
Preheat oven to 350F/ 175C. Grease and flour a 9x5-inch loaf pan. Mix brown sugar and cinnamon together in a small bowl. Beat white sugar and butter together in a medium bowl using an electric mixer until smooth and creamy. Beat in eggs, 1 at a time, until incorporated; add vanilla extract. Combine flour and baking powder together in a small bowl then fold into creamed butter mixture. Mix milk into batter until smooth. Mix together the chopped apples and brown sugar mixture. Pour half the batter into the prepared loaf pan; add half the apples and brown sugar mixture. Lightly pat down into batter or swirl with a knife into the batter. Pour the remaining batter over apple layer; top with remaining apples and brown sugar mixture. Lightly pat this into batter. Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted in the centre of the loaf comes out clean, about 40 minutes and then check every 10 minutes until the toothpick comes out clean.



Chocolaty Pretzel and Peanut Cookie Bars

Hope everyone is having a great start to the new year!!! 

I wanted to share this yummy Martha Stewart recipe with you. It was shared in a post of hers called "Sweet and Salty Dessert Recipes" collection. There are some really good recipes in there that I want to try out but I went with the Chocolaty Pretzel and Peanut Cookie Bars this time to bring over to our friend's house. It has in it all the flavours I love and I couldn't wait to try it out. It was fairly easy to make and you get about 20 cookie bars from the recipe. You have to have some patience with this one though as it takes awhile to cool and set fully. Just make sure you give it about 3 hours before slicing into bars, I didn't have that time, so it got a little messy. Even with it being a little messy, it turned out wonderful and was very yummy. Sweet, salty, and gooey goodness! I will be making this one again!! Check out the recipe here and try making it for your next gathering.