Mini gingerbread houses
ByRuthBlack

Available to license exclusively at Stocksy

Banana bread ❤

Call me raspberry freak :D

Pretty impressed with this!

I wanted to make an awesome cake for my dad’s birthday. And an easy one too… ;)

With Star Wars being so prominent in his life BB8 seemed the perfect cake to bake!

Happy birthday Papa Bear!

Homemade banana cake……

#AgainstTheOdds Jenin Murad’s family in Gaza have found a surprising way of making resistance taste unexpectedly sweet…

I completed my Zakk Wylde apple pie today.

It’s been a long, stressful and upsetting week. I needed the getaway in a form of art to keep me going. Interesting technique with the stencilling, but does take quite some time to complete. Thanks to Jessica over at Pies are Awesome for the tutorial :)

I also added some food colouring to the rings to make black pastry, plus a couple of pastry guitars to finish

Check out Jessica’s blog over at www.piesareawesome.com

Rainbow Fruit Popsicles

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INGREDIENTS:

• ½ cup (140 g) pineapple, cubed
• ½ cup (140 g) mango, cubed
• ½ cup (140 grams) strawberries
• ½ cup (140 grams) kiwi, peeled and cubed
• ½ cup (140 grams) blueberries
• 2 ½ cups (600 grams) full fat coconut milk, divided
• 10 tablespoons honey, divided

INSTRUCTIONS:

• In a high speed blender, blend each fruit individually with a ½ cup of coconut milk, and about 1-2 tablespoons of honey.
• Adjust the sweetness for each fruit to your liking.
• Set up you popsicle mold on a flat surface in the freezer.

• Depending on how many layers you are doing, start by pouring your first fruit layer in each mold.
• Freeze for 15-20 minutes before pouring the next layer.
• Repeat with each additional flavor until the popsicle mold is full.
• Place the lid on the mold and insert a popsicle stick into each pop.
• Freeze for several hours, or overnight until firm.
• Un mold the popsicles and enjoy!

Meringue roulade with raspberries

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Ingredients:

For meringue roulade

• 180g (6.3oz) egg whites
• 125g (4.4oz) superfine sugar
• 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 tsp corn starch
• ½ tsp hazelnut extract
• ½ cup hazelnuts chopped

For mascarpone creme

• 227g (8oz) mascarpone cold

• 150g (5.3oz) heavy whipping cream cold
• 90g (3.2oz) powdered sugar sifted
• 1 tbsp brandy
• 1 pint raspberries

Instructions:

• Preheat the oven to 325F. Line a half-size baking sheet with a silicone mat.
• Combine egg whites and superfine sugar in a bowl and heat in a bain-marie until 140-145F. Remove from heat and whip at the highest speed until the volume of meringue stops growing (medium-stiff peaks). Add hazelnut extract, cornstarch, and vinegar and beat for another minute to incorporate them well.
• You can spread the meringue on the lined baking sheet and level with a spatula. Or use a pastry bags, and round piping tip with ½" opening. It helps to avoid incorporating large air bubbles between lumps of meringues and makes leveling much easier. Pipe keeping 1" of space between the sides of the baking sheet and the meringue edges. Level the top and sprinkle evenly with chopped nuts.
• Bake for 12 minutes. Turn off the heat and keep the meringue in the hot oven for 5 more minutes.
• While the meringue is baking, combine all ingredients for the mascarpone cream and whip with a whisk. Keep refrigerated until ready to use.
• Remove the meringue from the oven and let cool down. If needed, separate the meringue from the sides of the baking sheet first with a sharp knife. Cover the meringue with a sheet of parchment paper and flip the baking sheet upside down. Carefully peel the silicone mat from what used to be a bottom of the meringue.
• The creme is very thick and spreading it with a spatula may damage the meringue. Use a pastry bag with basketweave decorating tip (I don’t have one so needed to carefully level the cream with a spatula). Pipe the cream on the meringue. Scatter raspberries evenly over the cream.
• Using the parchment paper or a silicone mat, start rolling the meringue from the long edge. Carefully transfer the log to a serving plate and refrigerate for at least a few hours. Slice and serve.

Raspberry Jam Filled Rose Buns

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Ingredients:

• 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour, plus more as needed
• 5 Tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp fine salt
• 2/3 cup milk, warm
• 2 ¼ tsp instant or active dry yeast
• 1 large egg
• 5 Tbsp butter, at room temperature
• 1 tsp vanilla , or vanilla bean paste

• ½ cup Raspberry jam, for filling
• 1 large egg , beaten with 1 tsp. water, for brushing before baking

Instructions:

• To a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a kneading hook, add 2 cups of the flour, the sugar and salt. Mix to combine.
• Heat milk in a saucepan or the microwave until lukewarm. Add yeast, stir and allow to stand for 5 minutes, until frothy. Add to flour mixture, along with 1 egg, the butter and the vanilla. Mix to combine. Begin adding additional flour, starting with ¼ cup increment, then in tablespoon increments, until you have a smooth, moist dough. Remove dough to a greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Allow to rise until doubled, 60-90 minutes.
• Grease 10 muffin cups and set aside.
• When dough has risen, remove to a floured work surface. Divide dough into 10 equal portions and form into a ball (about 80g each, if you have a scale). Cover dough balls with a clean kitchen towel and let rest for 10 minutes. With a rolling pin, roll each ball into a circle, about 5 ½ - 6 inches in diameter. Using a sharp knife, cut slits into the dough as shown in the photo below. Place 1 Tbsp. of jam into the centre and continue shaping into rose as shown in the photos below, by working your way around the circle and wrapping each of the “petals” up and around each other, pinching as necessary to hold them together. Place into greased muffin cup. Repeat with remaining dough.
• Raspberry Jam Filled Rose Buns - how to shapeSave
• When all buns have been shaped, cover with greased plastic wrap and allow to rise until puffy, about 30-45 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 350° F. When buns are ready to bake, beat egg with 1 tsp. water. Brush buns with egg wash. Fill any empty muffin cups ½ full with water before baking.
• Bake in preheated oven for about 20-25 minutes, or until golden and they sound hollow when tapped.
• Remove from oven and allow to cool in muffin tin on cooling rack for 15-20 minutes, then remove from muffin tins to cool on the rack. When cool and before serving, dust generously with icing sugar.

LEMON POPPYSEED BREAD

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INGREDIENTS:

• 3 large eggs, separated (2 large eggs and 1 egg yolk)
• 1 cup (2, 5.3 ounces EACH containers, 230g) full fat Lemon Greek yogurt (or vanilla Greek yogurt)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ½ teaspoon almond extract, optional
• ½ cup (111g) coconut oil
• 1 large lemon
• ¾ cup (156g) white sugar

• ½ cup (48g) oat flour
• 1 cup (134g) white or white whole wheat flour
• 1 tablespoon (8g) cornstarch
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• 1 and ½ tablespoons poppyseeds

Optional Glaze

• 3 and ½ tablespoons orange juice
• ¾ cup powdered sugar
• ½ teaspoon lemon extract
• 1/8 teaspoon almond extract, optional
• ½ cup sliced almonds

INSTRUCTIONS:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Generously grease and then light dust a bread pan with flour and set aside.
• I use an 8 and ½ x 4 and ½ bread pan.
• Make sure to measure the coconut oil in LIQUID (melted) form. Melt the coconut oil, measure, and then allow to slightly cool so you don’t cook your eggs.
• In a large bowl, whisk 2 large eggs and 1 large egg yolk (discard or save the whites for another recipe). Add in the lemon Greek yogurt (1 cup total), vanilla extract, almond extract, and coconut oil.
• Briskly whisk in the coconut oil with the other ingredients to get them to be well combined.
• Get the zest and juice of 1 large lemon. About 2 teaspoons zest and 2 tablespoons lemon juice (30g) is perfect! Add in the sugar and again mix until all ingredients are completely combined.
• In the same bowl, add the oat flour (measure oat flour AFTER blending the oats to get ½ cup total flour; to make oat flour, put old fashioned or quick oats in a blender and pulse them until they resemble flour).
• Without mixing yet, add the white or white whole wheat flour, cornstarch, baking powder, salt and poppyseeds.
• Mix together, very gently, until just combined (over-mixing will yield a denser bread).
• Bake for 55-65 minutes or until a fork when inserted into the center comes out clean or the bread starts to pull away from the edges. If needed, tent the top with tin foil if the top of the bread is baking faster than the rest.
• Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 2-3 minutes. Remove from the bread pan.
• Without the bread cooling too much, top with the glaze. You want the glaze to go on the bread within about 5-7 minutes of it coming out of the oven.
• For the glaze, whisk together the orange juice, sugar, lemon and almond extract. Pour over the bread and immediately top with the sliced almonds.
• Store in an airtight container in the fridge.

Dark Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake

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Ingredients:

 For the Crust

• (1) full-size package Oreo cookies, crushed into fine crumbs (36 sandwich cookies in total)
• ½ cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, melted

For the Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake

• 2 cups (340g) semi-sweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
• 2 teaspoons espresso powder
• 1 and ½ pounds (680g) full-fat cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1 cup (198g) granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup (71 grams) light brown sugar, packed

• 2 and ½ Tablespoons Dutch-process cocoa powder
• 4 large eggs plus 2 egg yolks, at room temperature
• ¾ cup (170g) heavy cream, at room temperature
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup (120 grams) fresh raspberries

For the Chocolate Ganache

• 1 and 1/3 cups (226g) semi-sweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 1 and ¼ cups (283 grams) heavy cream
• ¼ cup (57g) unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into cubes

For Garnish (optional)

• 1 cup (120 grams) fresh raspberries
• 1 cup chocolate sauce (use your favourite store-bought variety)
• ½ teaspoon cocoa powder

Instructions:

 For the Crust

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease the bottom and sides of a 9-inch springform pan. Wrap the outside of the pan in layers of heavy duty aluminum foil. You’ll be placing this pan in a water bath, so be sure the pan has been wrapped from every angle.
• In a large bowl combine the crushed cookie crumbs and melted butter, mix well to combine.
• Press the mixture into the bottom - and slightly up the sides - of the prepared pan.
• Bake the crust in preheated oven for 10 minutes. Remove the crust from the oven and set aside on a cooling rack until needed. Reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees (F).

For the Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake

• Fill a medium pot one-third full with water and bring it to a low simmer over medium heat. Place a heatproof bowl that will fit on top of the pan snugly, but will not touch the simmering water, on top of the pan.
• Reduce the heat to low and add the chopped chocolate and espresso powder into the bowl over the pot. Heat until the chocolate is completely melted, stirring occasionally with a silicon spatula. Remove the pot from the heat, leaving the bowl of chocolate over the hot water. Set aside until needed.
• In the bowl of a food processor, pulse the cream cheese until completely smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed, about 2 minutes. Add in both sugars and cocoa powder and beat smooth. Add in the eggs and egg yolks, one at a time, beating until just combined.
• Slowly add in the heavy cream and vanilla mix until just combined, about 20 seconds.
• Finally, fold in the melted chocolate. The batter will get very thick at this point!
• Remove the bowl from the food processor and, using a rubber spatula, stir the filling several times, to ensure the batter is evenly blended.
• Pour half of filling over the partially baked crust. Add raspberries in a single layer. Then pour remaining batter on top, making sure all raspberries are covered by the batter.
• Place the springform pan in a roasting pan or large baking pan. Place the roasting pan in the preheated oven and pour enough hot water into the pan to come 1-inch up the sides of the springform pan.
• Bake the cheesecake in the water bath for 1 hour and 10 minutes, or until the center of the cake is set but still slightly jiggly. The cake will set completely as it cools.
• Remove the cake from the water bath and place the pan on a wire rack. Carefully loosen the foil, then immediately run the tip of a knife around the sides of the pan, to prevent the top from cracking.
• Cool completely (in the pan), then transfer cheesecake to the refrigerator to chill for at least 6 hours before removing from the pan and slicing.

For the Chocolate Ganache

• Add chopped chocolate to a medium bowl and set aside.
• In a small saucepan over medium-heat, bring the cream to a rolling boil then immediately remove from heat. Pour the cream on top of the chocolate pieces and set aside for 1 minute. With a whisk, begin to incorporate the melted chocolate into the cream, whisking until smooth and glossy.
• Add in the butter and use a spatula to stir until the butter is completely melted. The mixture will be dark and glossy. Set aside, at room temperature, until needed.
• Pour ganache over cooled cheesecake. Set aside until ganache is set, about 1 hour.

To Garnish & Serve

• To serve, slice the cheesecake with a thin-bladed sharp knife, wiping the knife clean between each cut.
• Top each slice of cheesecake with a drizzle of chocolate sauce, a few raspberries, and a light dusting of cocoa powder. If you’re presenting the cheesecake whole, you can drizzle the chocolate sauce over the entire cheesecake, then top with raspberries, and cocoa.
• Store, loosely covered, in the refrigerator, for up to 5 days.

Notes

• If you don’t have a food processor, a high-powdered blender will work, or use an electric stand mixer or hand mixer.
• I recommend using chocolate between 55% and 70% cocoa.
• Don’t skip the chilling phase! If you slice into this cheesecake without chilling it, it will be more like a lava cake.
• This cheesecake will keep in the fridge for 5 days, but keeps best without any topping on it (other than the ganache).

PEANUT BUTTER OATMEAL COOKIES

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INGREDIENTS:

• 1 ¼ cups old fashioned rolled oats
• ½ cup whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• ¼ tsp salt
• 4 Tbsp coconut oil, melted and cooled
• ¼ cup natural creamy peanut butter (I used no added sugar)
• ½ cup maple syrup
• 1 tsp vanilla

• ½ cup chocolate chips 

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large bowl, whisk together oats, whole wheat flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt, setting aside.
2. In a smaller bowl, mix together melted coconut oil, peanut butter, maple syrup, and vanilla until well combined. Then pour the wet ingredients in with the dry ingredients and mix until just combined, folding in the chocolate chips last.
3. Using a small cookie scoop (or medium-sized cookie scoop if making larger cookies), drop 1-inch cookie dough balls onto a prepared baking sheet and flatten the tops a bit with the back end of a spoon, making sure the cookies are still intact.  You should end up with about 20 small cookies or 12 larger cookies.
4. Bake cookies at 350 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes until cookies are golden and set.  Please note they will look really soft coming out of the oven, but will firm up and set as they cool so keep them on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack.
5. If you’re baking larger cookies (or just prefer a crispier cookie), bake them for about 12 to 13 minutes.

galette season.

i always forget how much i like baking. made this peach galette, along with a blueberry lemon and apple galette.