Classic Caggs

Millionaire shortbread is one of my ultimate favourite treats: the combination of shortbread, caramel and chocolate is pretty special. This recipe is a Phil Vickery one that is gluten free, which makes a bit of a change (and you would never guess it's gluten free!) I managed to get 24 squares out of the tray but it's totally dependent upon how large you want to make your shortbread; it's very rich (but very moreish!) so little squares make you feel less guilty about having more than one.  To make gluten free millionaire shortbread you will need: Shortbread base 150g rice flour 55g caster sugar 115g butter Caramel 150g butter 150g soft brown sugar 397g tin of condensed milk Chocolate 200g chocolate (milk or dark - I love dark but it can be too intense for some people!) Start by preheating your oven to 180C and greasing and lining a square tin.  The shortbread base involves you rubbing the butter into the rice flour and sugar until it rese...

I'm home for the summerrrrrr!! My 11 month year at university is at last over!  Gluten free pastry is notoriously tricky to work with - don't be disheartened if it cracks after coming out of the oven; I tend to patch it together with the last few scrapings from the pastry bowl to prevent the entire contents of the quiche leaking out. My filling was bacon and cheese but you can adapt the filling, provided you use the same volume of liquid to fill the pastry case.  To make your gluten free quiche you will need: Pastry: 200g rice flour 1/2 tsp xantham gum Pinch of salt 100g cold butter 4-8 tbsp cold water Liquid filling 5 eggs 100ml milk 200ml double cream Contents 250g cheddar 6 rashers bacon Sliced tomato Start by preheating your oven to 180C and preparing your quiche dish by buttering it.  Add the rice flour, anthem gum, pinch of salt and cubed butter to a bowl and rub in the butter until it forms a breadcrumb-like...

This cake came about as there were 4 bananas that had been sitting in the fruit bowl for as long as I could remember that were crying out to be used. I wanted to make something a little more exciting than banana bread and so created this little number. It's exceptionally quick and easy too. Possibly a new favourite recipe... To make a banana, coconut and sultana cake you will need: 140g self raising flour (or 130g plain flour with 2 tsp baking powder) 50g desiccated coconut 150g soft brown sugar 180ml sunflower oil 2 eggs Mashed bananas (I used 4) 100g sultanas Preheat your oven to 170C and line your cake tin with greaseproof paper Weigh out and sieve your dry ingredients (flour, coconut and sugar). Stir with a wooden spoon Pour in the wet ingredients (oil, eggs and banana) and stir this through. Throw in the sultanas and gently combine. Pour into your cake tin and bake in the oven, checking at 35 minutes to see if it needs any longer th...

Anyone that knows me will know how obsessed I am with elderflower cordial. For that reason I thought it was about time I started incorporating it into my baking. I found a lovely recipe on Wallflower Girl's blog and decided to give it a go. It was originally going to be a white chocolate and elderflower combination but there was a lonely lemon that I thought would make these even more of a springtime treat.  I managed 2 cake tins worth of shortbread, which equated to 16 slices. To make elderflower and white chocolate shortbread you will need: 250g butter 100g caster sugar 2 tbsp elderflower cordial 1/2 tsp vanilla extract The rind of 1 lemon 300g plain flour 100g chopped white chocolate Preheat your oven to 180C and prepare your baking tins. I went for 2 silicon cake tins to get the classic shortbread eighths but you're welcome to go for a square tin and create fingers...cut out rounds...whatever you fancy! You'll just need to increase the cooking time ...

My friend Chris introduced me to these brownies a couple of years ago and it has been the recipe I've used ever since. They're super chocolatey and really moreish (which is both a good and a bad thing!) They're called triple chocolate revision brownies for obvious reasons. For triple chocolate (revision) brownies you will need: 185g butter 185g dark chocolate 85g plain flour 40g cocoa powder 275g caster sugar 3 eggs 120g chocolate - my standard is 60g white chocolate and 60g plain Preheat the oven to 180C and line a tin with greaseproof paper - I tend to use a shallow rectangular one but you're welcome to use a cake tin if you don't have a suitable brownie tray to hand, you'll just need to adjust the cooking time a little. Pop the dark chocolate and butter in a saucepan (preferably non-stick) and melt over a low heat, stirring all the time. Leave to cool. Sift the plain flour, cocoa powder and caster sugar into a large bowl. Add the 3 eggs and...

It had been talked about for ages , but last night it at last finally happened. We made a GBK avocado bacon burger at home. And it was beautiful. They're incredibly filling though, hence me only only having 8 chips on my plate.  All it took was: As many burger buns as there are mouths to feed As many burgers as you need to fill the buns 1/2 an avocado per person (mash using a fork) 2 rashers of bacon per person A few slices of beef tomato per person A few lettuce leaves Mayonnaise Jalapeño burger relish (I promise you it makes all the difference) It's just a question of cooking up your bacon and burgers (quality ones make all the difference!) before popping them into your prepped buns - which have been smothered in mayo, relish and mashed avocado - and throwing the salad bits on top. Unbelievably yummy.  

So...it has come to my attention that I haven't actually uploaded anything here since the 8th of December. That's over 2 months ago.  I'm going to blame it on Christmas and birthdays but really it's because I have just totally neglected to give my blog any love recently. Sorry about that. I say I'll try and upload some recipes and baking soon but I'm moving to West Wales in a few weeks and who knows what the internet situation will be there. I can just use that as an alternative excuse I suppose!