Coffee Granita

I was watching the Good Cook show the other day, and he was making a Coffee Granita. I have never heard of it before but it seemed like a great recipe to try out for the summer. Granita is a semi-frozen dessert made from sugar, water and various flavorings. Originally from Sicily, although available all over Italy, it is related to sorbet and italian ice. It is extremely easy to put together and tastes very nice. I have modified his recipe, see it below. Or try your own combination of ingredients. I am going to try making some fruit granitas in the future. This recipe completes number 85 of "My 100" list. 

My Recipe
Coffee Granita

• 4.5 Cups Double Strength Coffee (I used 10 scoops of coffee grounds)
• 170g Sugar
• 225ml Milk
• 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 1/2 tsp Almond Extract

Whipped Cream

• 250ml Double Cream
• 1 Tbs Icing Sugar
• 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract

Toppings

• Cinnamon (optional)
• Demerara Sugar (optional)
• Caramel (optional)

Steps Brew coffee  Pour sugar into a mixing bowl, add in the vanilla and almond extracts. Once coffee is brewed, pour into mixing bowl and whisk everything together Pour into a 8" x 8" glass pan Place carefully into freezer Check in an hour, use a fork to rake through the mixture Continue to check every 30 minutes and rake through the mixture It took 5 hours for mine to complete, but it all depends on your freezer Once you are ready to serve, combine the 3 ingredients for the whip cream. Whip it to a soft peak Scoop on top of the granita Sprinkle with your choice of topping

Last addition of milk

Ready for the freezer

Halfway there

Almost done

Ready to eat!

Whipped Cream Topping

 Enjoy!

Read More

First Order Completed!

I received my first official order from a friend at work for her daughter's 18th birthday party. She wanted 60 cupcakes and some kind of American theme, as that was the theme of the party! I have never made that many cupcakes before but was ready for the challenge! We decided on making an American Flag out of cupcakes! Here are some pictures from the order!	Everything needed to make 60 cupcakes!

Icing sugar went EVERYWHERE!

I was really happy with how they turned out and loved doing it! R.I.P. hand mixer, it couldn't quite handle the 5th batch of thick buttercream frosting! I really need to save up for the stand mixer, so I can do more orders!

Read More

Got a Logo!!

Mike's Baking now has a logo! Which color is your favorite?

 Thanks to Aaron Demant for designing the logo, check him out on twitter! 

Read More

Test Kitchen: Frosting

So, every time I follow the butter cream frosting recipe that I have, it always comes out very thin and doesn't hold it's shape. Until today!! I decided to leave the milk to the end and add very little amounts at a time, until I got the thickness I wanted. I hardly used any milk, only 15ml, and it came out the perfect consistency, just what I was looking for. Here are some photos of the frosting with the new piping set I got this weekend.

Star Swirl

Giant Star

Smooth Swirl

Which one do you like?

Read More

kMix vs KitchenAid

Which one is better?

I am trying to save up for one of these mixers but not sure which one to go for... HELP!

March 2012 - Update - I finally got my stand mixer and went with the kMix! LOVE IT!

Read More

Visit to Georgetown Cupcake

After watching their TV show and hearing good things from friends, I really wanted to try out Georgetown Cupcake. It was actually the first stop of our visit into the city. There wasn't a line out the door, so we were right in! There were so many yummy flavors to try out and I follow them on twitter, so I had the secret free flavor of the day to try as well. I tweeted the sisters telling them we were coming but they didn't respond, maybe meet them next time. We got four of the free secret flavor, coconut lime, and then ordered half a dozen: pumpkin spice, chocolate peanut butter swirl, red velvet, chocolate & vanilla, and chocolate ganache. I wish I could have tried all of them as they looked amazing. Out of the ones we bought, I tried the coconut lime, pumpkin spice, and chocolate peanut butter swirl. They were all wonderful. I really loved the secret flavor, coconut lime, great combination of flavors that I will have to recreate in my kitchen. I would also like to try making a pumpkin spice cupcake with yummy maple frosting. The chocolate peanut butter swirl was good but it was my least favorite out of the three I tried. The peanut butter filling in the middle was a bit too much.

I really enjoyed our visit to Georgetown Cupcakes. It is probably a good thing that I don't live in the Washington DC area anymore as I would have lots of cupcakes to exercise off! Maybe on our next visit, the sisters will give us a VIP tour. Until then I will keep baking... maybe one day I will have a shop of my own.

Read More

Holiday

We are on holiday in DC at the moment and got to try Georgetown Cupcakes featured on TLC's DC Cupcakes, blog post to follow when we get home. They were amazing cupcakes!

Read More

Some Of My Past Baking

I was having a browse through my pictures and found some from when I have baked in the past. Most of the pictures were taken with my mobile phone, so not the best quality. I have added a link to some of the pictures below. I wish I would have taken more pictures but will do for any future baking!

Monkey Bread

Shane's 25th birthday cake 2010 (Tunnel of Fudge)

Flapjack

Chocolate Fudge Cupcakes

Love making and eating Chocolate Pretzels

Mum-In-Law's birthday cake 2010

Vegan Vanilla and Chocolate cupcakes

Vegan Marbled Cupcakes

Cinnabon Cake - Blobs

I love Baking!

Read More

Grasshopper Pie

It was my friend's birthday this past week and we were having a little get together for her at our house. I told her to have a look through the Hummingbird Bakery: Cake Days book and choose anything she wanted. She chose Grasshopper Pie, an American recipe that I have never heard of or even tried. I have never made a pie before either but I was going to have a go at it and hope for the best. I followed the recipe except for the crust I used Oreos and I added more peppermint extract and green food coloring, as the amount stated in the recipe was not enough. It  was very easy to make and everyone liked it! I will definitely make this one again.

Read More

Texas Bean Salsa

Ok, so this isn't baking but it is worth a mention. My Aunt Heather introduced me to this recipe and we love it. The picture above is slightly different from the original recipe, only because we can't find everything here in England. The above was made by Shane, my husband. Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1 can pinto beans
• 1 can black beans
• 1 can black eyed peas
• 1 can corn
• 1 small jar pimento
• 1 jalapeno
• 1 cup finely chopped bell pepper
• 1 cup finely chopped celery
• 1 small onion

Marinade:

• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2tsp pepper
• 1 Tbsp water
• 3/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 1 cup sugar

Mix all ingredients together except for Marinade ingredients.

In a small pan, mix together salt, pepper, water, vinegar, oil and sugar, stirring occasionally, until brought to a boil. Let marinade cool and pour over bean mix. Mix well and chill for 24 hours. Drain and serve

Read More

Caramel Cupcakes with a Twist

Another recipe from the Hummingbird Bakery: Cake Days book. I made these caramel cupcakes for my sister-in-law. She loves chocolate pretzels so I thought I would combine the two. The cupcakes didn't rise as much as I would have liked but not sure if that is because of the caramel I used.  I will try again and hopefully find the tinned caramel.

Here are the caramel cupcakes as following the recipe.

Then with my little twist.

All gone and everyone loved them!

Read More