Honeycomb

Ingredients

• Butter, for greasing.
• 200g caster sugar.
• 5 tablespoons golden syrup.
• 2 teaspoons bicarbonate of soda.

Method

1. Grease a 20cm square tin with butter, you can also use baking parchment if you wish.
2. Get a deep saucepan, mix the caster sugar and golden syrup and stir over gentle heat until the suagr has completely melted. Don't let mixture get to bubbling point.
3. Turn up the flame and simmer until the mixture turns to a amber coloured caramel. Turn off the heat as quickly as possible and add the bicarbonate of soda into the mixture, beat with a wooden spoon.
4. By this point, the mixture should be foaming.
5. Scrape the mixture into the tin, then leave it to cool for 1 hour- 1 hour and 30 minutes.
6. By this time, the honeycomb should be hardened and ready to crumble or snap into slices or chunks. You can also add chocolate on top and let it cool again.

Get Creative

We are currently looking for people to try out some of our recipes.
You are allowed to decorate your cakes or even cupcakes and muffins however you want. This gives us a chance to get some feedback on how people are doing with the recipes we post.




Just simply send us a Facebook message with a picture of your yummy art to:  https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jess-Baking/836448559744529

Or post a tweet with a picture that also includes the following hashtag:

#jessgetcreative

Easy-Bake Yogurt Cake

Ingredients

• 4 eggs.
• 3 cups sugar.
• 3 cups flour.
• 1 cup vegetable oil.
• 1 teaspoon baking soda.
• 1 cup yogurt of choice.

Method

1. Prepare a large baking tin with baking parchment, use butter too if that makes you more confident.
2. In a mixing bowl, add the 3 cups of sugar, 3 cups of flour and baking soda. Mix these together with a wooden spoon.
3. Then add the 1 cup of vegetable oil, the 4 eggs and the 1 cup of your chosen yogurt. Mix with a wooden spoon between each time you add something new and then again at the end.
4. By this point, your mixture should be very wet and sticky and also very hard to stir.
5. Pour mixture into the baking tin and spread evenly.
6. Bake in oven at gas mark 6 for approximately 30-45 minutes or whenever cake becomes very golden.

Banana and Chocolate Shake Drink

Ingredients

• 2 frozen bananas.
• 1.5 teaspoons dark chocolate cocoa powder.
• 1/2 cup coconut milk.
• 1/2 cup cold water.
• 1 tablespoon almond butter.
• Pinch of cinnamon.

Method

1. In a large cup or a blender, combine ingredients and blend everything until smooth.
2. Add more water if  necessary to reach desired consistency. 
3. You should serve this immediately. 

Starbucks Iced Coffee Drink

Ingredients

• 2 cups of ice.
• 1 cup strong brewed coffee.
• 1 cup cooled low-fat milk.
• 1/3 cup caramel sauce.
• 3 tablespoons white sugar.

Method

1. Blend the ice, coffee, milk, caramel sauce and sugar together in a blender on high until smooth.
2. Pour the drink into two 16-ounce glasses.

Lemon Burst Cake Mix Cookies

Ingredients

• 1 box of Lemon Cake Mix.
• 1-8oz container Cool Whip.
• 1 egg.
• 1/3 cup powdered sugar (for rolling).

Method

1. Preheat over to 350c.
2. In a mixing bowl, beat cool whip, egg and cake mix together until well blended. The dough will be thick and very sticky.
3. Drop by teaspoons full of into the bowl of powdered sugar and roll to coat.
4. Place on baking paper lined cookie sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes.

Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter.
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature.
• 1 cup of packed light brown sugar.
• 2 large eggs.
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract.
• 1 1/2 cups of all purpose flour.
• 1 teaspoon baking powder.
• 1/4 teaspoon salt.
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar, for rolling.
• chocolate kisses, unwrapped.

Method

1. Preheat over to 350F. In a mixing bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, and salt. When done, set aside.
2. Mix together peanut butter and butter until smooth with an electric mixer. Add to the mixture, sugar, eggs and the vanilla extract. Slowly add in the other dry ingredients.
3. Place granulated sugar on a plate. Roll a full tablespoon of dough into a ball, then roll into the sugar. Place on cookie sheets, approximately 2 inches apart.
4. Bake until the cookies start to puff up, for approximately 10 minutes. Remove from the oven, gently press in the chocolate kiss into the center of each cookie. Then return to the oven and bake for another 2-3 minutes, until the cookies look golden and the chocolate is soft. 
5. Leave to cool on the cookie sheet for approximately 10 minutes before placing on to a wire cooling rack.



Easy Bake Irresistible Brownies

Ingredients

• 200g butter or margarine.
• 165g cocoa powder.
• 400g light brown soft sugar.
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract.
• 125g plain sugar.
• 2 eggs.
• 100g chocolate chunks or walnuts.

Method

1. Line or grease a 20 x 18cm baking tin. Preheat the oven to 180c, gas mark 4.
2. Melt the butter and cocoa together in a saucepan. Add the sugar and vanilla to thee mixture. Continue to mix together thoroughly.
3. Remove from the heat and mix in the flour, then the eggs. Pour into the pre-prepared tin.
4. Bake for approximately 20 minutes. They are cooked when the top is slightly springy.
5. Cool and cut into squared slices.

Delicious Watermelon Cupcakes

Ingredients

Cupcakes

• 175g self raising flour.
• 125g caster sugar.
• 125g margerine.
• 2 eggs.
• 2 tablespoons cold water.
• 1 tablespoon pink food colouring.
• 1/4 of a bag of milk chocolate chips.

For the icing

• 225g softened block butter.
• 450g icing sugar.
• 1/2 tablespoons of green food colouring.

Method

For the cupcake

1. Make sure the oven is fully preheated to 200c, gas mark 6.
2. Next, put the bun paper cases into the bun tins. Put the flour, sugar, margerine, eggs and water into a mixing bowl.
3. Beat all the ingredients together in a bowl until the mixture is smooth. Then add in the chocolate chips and slowly pour in the food colouring.
4. Put heaped teaspoons of the mixture into each bun case.
5. Place in the oven on the top shelf and bake for about 15 minutes until golden brown.
6. Cool on a wire tray. When cold, spread Nutella on the top and add your favourite topping.

For the icing

1. Beat the butter until soft. Gradually beat in the icing sugar, using a hand-held electric mixer.
2. Use a piping bag to put onto the cupcake and top with the leftover chocolate chips.

Easy-To-Bake Mini Pancake Muffins

Ingredients

• Ready-made pancake mix.
• Chocolate chips.

Method

1. Mix the instant pancake mix and chocolate chips.
2. Pour the mix into muffin tins, up to 3/4 full. And put what you want to have on top.
3. Bake at 350c for about 12 minutes.

Chocolate Caramel Shortbread

INGREDIENTS

For the shortbread

• 170g plain flour.
• 60g caster sugar.
• 120g butter.

For the caramel

• 1 (397g) tin condensed milk.
• 2 tablespoons golden syrup.
• 60g caster sugar.
• 120g butter.

For chocolate topping

• 1 (100g) bar milk chocolate, melted.

Method

1. Firstly, preheat oven to 170c (gas mark 4). Grease, line (with baking paper) and then grease again, a 18cm square cake tin.
2. For the shortbread: sift the flour and sugar into a large mixing bowl, and add the butter. Wash your hands and start rubbing the butter into the mixture until it becomes together into something that looks like dough. Press it into the bottom of the cake tin and create an even layer. Prick all over this layer with a fork and bake for 15-20 minutes or until it turns a golden colour.
3. For the caramel: while the shortbread is baking, pour the condensed milk, syrup, sugar an butter into a saucepan. Cook over a low heat, stirring all the time. This takes a while but has to be done carefully, otherwise it will stick to the pan and burn, and that's something we really don't want. Watch it closely, and when it turns into a deep caramelized colour, pour it over the shortbread.
4. Once out of the over, allow it to cool down for 30 minutes or so, then pour over melted chocolate. Transfer to the fridge for another 30 minutes or so to set before you start slicing into squares.
5. They will keep for approximately 5 days if you store them in an airtight container/tin or the fridge.

Fudge Browines

Ingredients

• 85 good dark chocolate (70% cocoa).
• 100g unsalted butter.
• 125g caster sugar.
• 100g light muscavado sugar.
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract.
• 2 whole eggs and 1 egg yolk, at room temperature, beaten together.
• 100g plain flour.
• 3 tablespoons cocoa powder.

Method

1. Firstly, preheat the over to 180c (gas mark 4).
2. Grease an 18cm (7in) square shallow cake tin and line the bottom and sides with baking parchment, this will make it easier to tip out and will prevent it from sticking to the tin.
3. Break up the chocolate and put it into a heatproof bowl with the butter. Set the bowl over a pan full of simmering water, be careful so that the water doesn't come out from the sides and causes you to burn yourself. Make sure the water doesn't touch the boiling water. 
4. Once everything is melted, remove the bowl from the heat and set aside for it to cool down.
5. Stir the caster suga and muscavado sugar into the same bowl as the chocolate, together with the vanilla extract.
6. Gradually, beat in the eggs and the yolk.
7. Sift over the flour and cocoa powder, you have to do this to make sure you don't get huge chunks in your mixture, stir it until it is evenly blended. Do not overmix.
8. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin. Bake for approximately 30 minutes or until risen, you can check if it is done by simply gentle poking it in the middle with a knife and checking if the knife comes out with a wet mixture on it, if it does then you should leave it for another few minutes.
9. The top should look cracked so don't you worry about that, it is just very important that you don't over cook it.
10. Leave in the tin for 5 minutes and then turn out. Leave to cool and then cut into squares.

Tip: These taste extra nice if you pour cold double cream over them just before serving.

Marshmallow Fondant Icing

Ingredients

• 450g plain marshmallows.
• 900g icing sugar.
• 1 and a half tablespoons water.
• Butter/margarine, for greasing.

Method 

1. Get your marshmallows into a microwave safe bowl, set microwave on high for 30 seconds each time, you will have to do this a few times to make sure all the marshmallows have melted as we don't want lumps in our fondant.
2. Add the water to the marshmallows, this will help the process of the marshmallows melting.
3. Grease a large spoon with butter or margarine.
4. Stir the marshmallows and keep on the melting process checking every 30 seconds until the mixture is smooth.
5. Begin adding icing sugar 1/3 at a time, stirring between each time you add the icing sugar until all the icing sugar has been added to the mixture.
6. Right now, the mixture will be very sticky, so grease your hands with butter and knead the mixture on a butter greased surface until smooth and no longer sticky.
7. Grease your work surface lightly and roll out your fondant evenly, not too thick but not too thin either.
8. And now you are ready to either put it on your cake as covering or to make your fondant models. 

Buttercream

Photo by www.bakingamoment.com

Ingredients

• 600g icing sugar, sifted.
• 300g unsalted or salted butter, softened.
• colour of choice (optional).
• grated lemon or orange zest (optional).

Method

1. Beat the icing sugar and butter together alongside your chosen colour and flavour. Keep beating the mixture until you are left with a smooth, spreadable product.

A little advice

If you are doing a celebration cake, I advice to use unsalted butter.

If you are using this buttercream for cupcakes.