Classic Caggs

Yesterday I was invited over to a friend's house for a "wii and juicing" party on the same night as the very first social of the year at university. It's obvious which option I went for. After having a glass of the juice she whipped up I decided that following our exam results, due to be released the following day, I would treat myself to a slightly cheaper smoothie maker that I had set my heart on. Unfortunately the results were delayed by three days, but I decided to buy the smoothie maker anyway because I was so desperate to try out some recipes! The two that I have tried out so far are a cucumber, mango and ginger beauty, the other a peanut and banana smoothie. Both are super duper. The quantities are for the 600ml smoothie maker I used; you may need to adjust accordingly! A lot of the quantities are halves of fruit BUT if you chop up the lot you can freeze it ready for the next time you want to make it! I'm excited already! For the cucumber, mango and...

Not a lot beats freshly baked goodies, particularly those that aren't labour intensive in the slightest and flipping delicious. These cinnamon swirl buns are perfect for brunch with a nice hot coffee, which is how I just enjoyed them! I used a  London Eats  recipe for these beauties.  You can top them with sugar nibs (which is how the Swedes enjoy them) but I wanted to keep them as fuss-free as possible…more importantly though I don't own sugar nibs (though if you wanted to give it a go I'm sure granulated sugar would do the trick!) To make 12 cinnamon swirl buns (actually 14, you'll see later) you will need: The buns 2 tsp dried yeast 50g sugar 60g soft butter 150ml milk 1 egg (actually half an egg - the other half you can use to glaze!) 1/2 tsp salt 1 tsp ground cardamon seeds (I did this by hand using a pestle and mortar) 325g strong white bread flour  The filling 60g soft butter 60g caster sugar 3 tsp ground cinnamon Op...

The weather today was crazy - one minute sunny and the next windy and tipping down with rain. With such unpredictable weather the best plan of action was definitely to stay in and bake, which is how this little beauty was born! It is an adapted version of an Emma Goss-Custard recipe. The brownies are super duper rich and so work magically with a good scoop of ice cream. The photo above is of the non-topped versions but you can include the chocolate-orange topping if you so choose; I quite like them in their most deeply dark version.  To make a tray of gluten free chocolate orange brownies you will need: Brownies 150g salted butter 600g plain chocolate 240g ground almonds 1 tbsp coffee granules (you can't taste it but it makes the brownies even more decadent) 1 tbsp of a mix of orange juice and zest (or if you wish just orange juice with bits) 6 eggs Chocolate orange top 50g plain chocolate 1 tbsp olive oil 1 tbsp of a mix of orange juice and zes...