Catching Up!!!

So it is almost the end of 2013 I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! I thought I'd do a lot of catching up for the new year. I have split this post in to two parts: savoury and sweet.

Savoury

First I thought these squashes looked really funny with the empanadas in front so I photographed them.

I love this twisty wreath of bread even though it is very complicated to make. when you have made the dough you roll it out and sprinkle blue cheese and walnuts then you roll it up and cut it lengthways and finally twist it into a wreath. It is good straight from the oven on a cold December night to warm you up.

Now here is a very useful tip when making pies to stop them sticking: shred some grease-proof paper and sit the pies on top.

Sweet

I made these fairy cakes quite a while ago but here's another useful tip: when you are looking for a nice smooth top to your cakes, slice the top off and use runny icing, not too runny though! I use the tops to make trifles with.

One morning I made some blueberry pancakes for breakfast (Do you like my onesie?). They turned out quite sweet and would do nicely as a desert. 

This is a very exciting pudding as suggested by it's title: coffee chocolate volcano!

You fill the hole with walnuts and pour a coffee sauce thing on top  letting it run down the sides.

The next two things are from the Linda Collister's Baking Bible.

These chocolate biscuits are like meringues; crisp on the outside, soft on the inside, a brilliant texture.

You are supposed to cut this into bars but I personally prefer breaking chunks off. This is completely topped with pecan nuts but is soft and chewy underneath.

Finally a big almond cake to finish off. I can't remember much about this rather dense cake apart from that it tasted good and sank in the middle a lot!

I hope you have all enjoyed this very long post. I also hope you had a merry Christmas and will have a happy new year!