Pumpkin Brownies

It's no secret that autumn is my favourite time of year, not just because of the colours and halloween but because it's an amazing time for food. I love all the comforting flavours that this part of the year brings, especially pumpkin. It's also no secret that I'm a sucker for sweet treats, and adore baking, although I must admit it's a hobby I've neglected for some time. In order to rectify this I thought I would combine my two favourite things.

You can never go wrong with a brownie, so I thought that I'd try my hand at baking some pumpkin, caramel brownies. They turned out pretty tasty, if I do say so myself and I love the way the marbling effect turned out. As they actually turned out to be quite easy to make, I thought I'd share the recipe in case you wanted to try and make this delicious treat for yourself.

Ingredients //

Chocolate Chips

Butter

Plain Flour

Baking Powder

Pumpkin Puree

Caster Sugar

Golden Caster Sugar 

Cinnamon

Eggs

Method // 

1.Pre heat the oven to 180 degrees celsius (fan oven.)

2.Line a square baking tin with baking parchment ( I didn't have any so used tin foil and it worked equally as well.) 

3. Melt 200g Chocolate chips with 185g Butter and then set aside to cool

4. Mix 3 eggs, 200g Caster Sugar & the cinnamon with the melted chocolate mixture.

5. Add 100g Plain Flour, 1 and half tablespoons Baking Powder & the Cinnamon into the mixture. 

6. Set aside 1/5 of the brownie batter and pour the rest into the baking tray and spread evenly.

7. Mix the pumpkin puree into a separate bowl with 2 eggs and a dash of milk (I used almond milk.)

8. Pour the pumpkin mixture on top of the brownie batter in the tray and spread evenly.

9. Make the caramel by melting 110g of golden caster sugar. 

10. Pour the Caramel evenly on top of the Pumpkin layer.

11. Using a knife, blend the layers together slightly creating a pattern, this will give the marble effect.

12. Cook for 30-40 minutes, until cooked through. 

13. Leave to cool before cutting. 

14. Enjoy these delicious gooey brownies. 

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DIY Totoro Cake

Baking is one of my favourite things to do, but is unfortunately something I don't have that much time for. I recently had the excuse to don my pinny and bake a cake for my sisters birthday. I always try to make her a creative cake, honing in on all her favourite things; her last 3 cakes have consisted of Baby Groot Cupcakes, an Olaf Cake & Rapunzel's Castle, respectively. She is currently a huge fan of all things Studio Ghibli, so I opted to make her a cake depicting everyones favourite guy: Totoro. 

This recipe is a lot easier to create than it looks, so if you are no Mary Berry don't worry as all hope is not lost.

Ingredients

For the Cake.

Butter // 12oz

Caster Sugar // 12oz

Self Raising Flour // 12oz

Golden Syrup // 3oz

Eggs // 6 

Vanilla Extract // 2tsps

Milk // if required

For the Icing & Decoration.

Butter

Icing Sugar 

(I've not added measurements as I just eyeballed it until it seemed the right consistency.)

White Chocolate Buttons

Black Icing

Black Food Colouring

Cocoa Powder (optional)

Method. 

Pre heat the oven to 150 degrees celsius (fan oven)

Cream together the butter, sugar, vanilla essence & golden syrup

Beat the eggs in a bowl

Sieve the flour & add the eggs slowly to the mixture, folding gently in.

Add milk if it's required

Pour the mixture into two circular cake tins and spread the mixture evenly.

Bake the cake for 12-15 minutes until golden brown.

Allow the cake to cool and then carve the cake into the desired shape.

To make the icing:

Mix icing sugar & butter to create the icing.

Add black food colouring to create Totoro's grey colour.

Use the white icing for his tummy.

Add White chocolate buttons (or melted white chocolate) for his eyes.

Use black icing for the other details and to create optional soot sprites to use as decoration.

Eat & enjoy.

I'm very happy with how this cake turned out, my sister was absolutely over the moon when she received it. It was almost too cute to eat (almost.)

Would you give this recipe a go?

What's your favourite thing to bake?

Speak Soon

Char xx

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Baking | Nutella Stuffed Cinnamon Muffins.

Nutella & cinnamon are two of my favourite tastes, so when I saw this recipe that combines the two, I just had to give it a go. 

Ingredients

1/3 Cup (5 Tbsp) Unsalted Butter, softened to room temperature

1/2 Cup Sugar

1 Egg

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

1/2 Cup Milk

1 1/2 Cups of Whole Wheat Flour

1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder

1/2 tsp Cinnamon

1/4 tsp Nutmeg

1/2 tsp Salt

8 tsp Nutella

For the Cinnamon Sugar Topping

1/4 Cup Sugar

2 tsp Cinnamon 

3 Tbsp Unsalted Butter

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Method

Preheat the oven to 218C and put 12 cupcake/muffin cases in a cupcake/muffin tray

Cream together the butter & sugar

Add Egg, Vanilla & 1/2 cup milk -- Mix Together

Add Flour, Cinnamon & Nutmeg and stir until just combined

Spoon 1 heaped tablespoon of mixture into each cupcake/muffin cases, then add a teaspoon of Nutella on top of each one & then add another heaped tablespoon on top of each to cover the Nutella

Pop in oven for 5 minutes then turn down to 200C and bake for another 13-17 Minutes

Take out of the oven and leave to cool for 5 minutes

For Sugar Cinnamon Topping

Melt the butter in the microwave

Mix the sugar and cinnamon together in a bowl

Take a small amount of melted butter and dribble over top of muffin -- enough to cover it. Then take a spoon of the cinnamon sugar and sprinkle over the top

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Et Voila, deliciously indulgent muffins for everyone to enjoy!

These are honestly one of my most favourite things I've ever baked & I can't wait to make some more in the very near future

Let me know your thoughts if you give them a go

Whats your favourite thing to bake?

Any recommendations for me?

Speak Soon

Charlotte xx

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