Christmas Chocolate Cupcakes with Candy Cane Sprinkles and White Chocolate Gingerbread Men

There are some peculiar people who do not like the great treats that come hand in hand with Christmas, namely mince pies, Christmas pudding and Christmas cake (my brother is one of these people). A chocolate Yule log is the usual alternative dessert served up over the festive period, but let's face it, Yule log can get pretty boring for those who don't enjoy the above mentioned Christmas goodies. So much choice for the boozed fruit eaters, so little choice for the chocolate lovers. So that is why I am stepping in with these Christmas chocolate cupcakes complete with candy cane sprinkles and white chocolate gingerbread people!

I can't believe it's Christmas in TWO DAYS GUYS TWO DAYS serious wtf-ing going on over here. The lack of snow has left me feeling somewhat cheated out of the exciting Christmas build up (or maybe the lack of excitement has more to do with being 20 and not 9 and less to do with the lack of snow.. who knows, ima go ahead and blame the snow anyway).

Spiced Clementine Star Topped Mince Pies

I have spent the whole of this week baking and eating mince pies (it has obviously been a good week) in order to create the perfect Christmas recipe. For me the only good best thing about Christmas is the colossal amount of food I am free to gorge myself on from the moment I wake until the second I fall asleep Terry's Chocolate Orange in hand, so a zesty, boozy, spiced, little pie rich in fruit and butter that I will could definitely probably pop into my mouth whole is a really, really, really great thing.

Pistachio Baklava Birthday Cake

 

Baklava is one of Hannah's favourite sweet treats and so what would be more fitting than to turn it into a cake for her nineteenth birthday? (Eeeesh it's been all go on the birthday front recently and soon it will be Christmas gaaaah so many occasions so little time so little dollar) This cake/baklava extravaganza is made up of two layers of spiced cake laced with honey syrup and coated in a mix of chopped pistachios, almonds and pumpkin seeds (OK so technically it's a mixed nut + seed baklava birthday cake, feel free to omit the latter pistachios are expensive but I wanted green!!) and two layers of sweet sweet spiced, honey-syrup-drowned, pistachio covered baklava.

Smokey Sweet Potato Cous Cous Mushroom Veggie Burgers

Spiced Butternut Squash Mini Bundt Cakes

Chocolate Malt Cake {Birthday Cake}

Pumpkin Spice Latte {Happy Halloween}

Pumpkin Chocolate Marble Bundt Cake {New post - about blummin' time}

Fig and Ginger Frangipane Tart

Fig and Salted Caramel Blondies

Healthy (ish) Wholewheat Pizza Rolls

Blackberry Crumble Coffee Cake

Chocolate Orange Oaty Wholewheat Sandwich Biscuits

Summer Berry Galette

Celebratory Hippo Cupcakes {Blog Rename/ FINALLY got a domain Celebration Post!!}

Marzipan Tart with Red Berries

Lemon and Marzipan Buns

Triple-Lemon Drizzle Birthday Cake

Super Rich Chocolate Cake with Dark Fudge Frosting

Well I feel like I should probably re-introduce myself it's been so long... I'm Kate, it's nice to meet ya etc etc yada yada. I do apologize but I have my reasons, I promise! Hannah and I have been busy moving stuff out of our current place and back to the 'rents homes for the next six weeks, before once again returning to Liverpool, only this time we will have our own cosy little apartment - counting the days down already, the kitchen has little yellow tiles and everything.

Marbled Cupcakes

 

Gooey Chewy Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookies

I haven't baked cookies in what seems like FOREVER. I have, however, eaten my body weight in Aldi's half coated chocolate chip cookies mmmmm. That being said, I decided - with all the free time I have on my hands now exams are done - to whip up a batch of gooey chewy salted caramel chocolate chip cookies.

Rhubarb and Custard Tart with Sweet Almond Shortcrust Pastry

I have been coveting one of these lovely, delicate, oblong tart tins for a while now. As soon as my exams were over I took myself to Lakeland and bought one. I much prefer an oblong tart tin to a circular one, the finished dessert is much prettier and a little French looking - perfect.

Rhubarb is quickly becoming my favourite fruit. Once macerated to sweeten the rhubarb, the hint of tartness you still get is something I find wonderful, a refreshing break in an otherwise perfectly sweet tart.

Oreo Cheesecake Mini Bites

This is the quickest, easiest recipe in the world - and a no bake one! Perfect for those days that are far too hot to even toy with the thought of turning your oven on. These Oreo Cheesecake Mini Bites will be a hit with kids and adults alike as they are super tasty and have a secret hidden surprise at the bottom of the case in the form of a WHOLE OREO BISCUIT!

The crumbled Oreos in the cheesecake batter give an extra crunch to this delightfully sweet no-bake treat.

Vanilla Bean Pancakes for Two

I love Sunday morning breakfasts. I have enough time to prepare a feast for two without rushing around for uni or feeling guilty about not getting out of the house and doing something new and interesting. Sundays are my lazy day. Sunday is pancake day. Or more precisely, Vanilla Bean Pancake day... mmmmmm

Vanilla Bean Cakes with Cherry Swiss Meringue Buttercream

I talked a lot in the last post about the lovely fresh produce summer brings. Here is another example of that produce - these lovely, flavoursome, juicy cherries. I must admit most of these were eaten before I decided to use them to make cherry Swiss Meringue buttercream to top these lovely moist, light and fluffy vanilla bean cakes.

Almond Roulade with Lemon Curd and Fresh Strawberries

Much to my delight the lovely warm sunshine (when I say warm I mean 16 degrees C HA!) has been out consistently for the past few days now (touch wood touch wood touch wood - with every limb because I HAVE to). I cannot express how much I love the sun and how much difference I think it makes with regards to one's mood.Sun = happiness, ergo I must move to a warmer country or I am going to be one miserable munchkin by the time winter rolls back round. Gaaah. Never mind I should be quiet and make the most of it while it graces dreary England with its presence! That (make the most of it I mean!) is exactly what I did yesterday when I made this very summery almond roulade with lemon curd and fresh strawberries, took it off half completed to the bus station to meet Hannah and then on to the park for a well deserved picnic after the last few weeks of solid hard work!

In our picnic hamper were two cans of the delightfully refreshing cloudy lemonade (not as good as blood orange San Pellegrino but mmm thinking about it makes me want to run to the fridge and crack open my last can of cloudy lemonade which I have been saving for later), an onion bagel each - oh my goodness those things get tastier with age - cream cheese and a little jar of strawberries. I LOVE how much fruit this season brings to the markets in town. The copious amounts of fresh produce available (at a much lower price) is definitely one of my favourite things about summer.

Seriously Tasty Onion Bagels

Hello! Before I get to the post I want to apologize for being MIA over the last how many is it now.. nine days? Eeeesh crikey how rubbish of me. Anyhooo I am very sorry. Exams and whatnot got in the way then my mum came down for a very lovely two days (I have her stamp of approval on these onion bagels!) and since I still don't have a working camera and Hannah is at college I have to juggle shoots around her schedule too. Crazy. In other news, I think this is my first savoury post?! Look at me branching out!

Roasted Rhubarb and Custard Muffins

Until this lovely sunny bank holiday weekend I have never tried rhubarb. As a child I would always be secretly disappointed when my Grandma or Nanna served rhubarb crumble as opposed to a pudding made of one of the yummier fruits such as I don't know, apples or berries. What's wrong with a good apple crumble eh? Well now, thirteen years later, I have realised that rhubarb is the superior crumble fruit. In fact I like it so much that I made sure there was some left over after I divvied it up between the muffins to sit with and scoff with a spoon straight from the roasting tin.

The sun has been in hiding again recently in Liverpool but this weekend it finally reappeared. What better way to spend my Sunday than making these Rhubarb and Custard muffins? They offered a well needed break from revision that's for sure (roll on Friday 2 down 3 to go!!!!). These muffins have a lovely crunch to the top of the sweet, light sponge which means they taste like rhubarb crumble without having to make a streusel topping and thus no more washing up! Bonus!

Tiramisu Brownies

Hello you wonderful people!! I am SO sorry for the lack of posts in the last week, I cannot express how much this distance was completely and utterly against my will! Two exams down, three more to go boooo :( I am SO ready for them to be over. I have been cramming like a mad woman because Donut Week consumed an awful lot of my revision time, but I have given myself time off after a day of procrastinating (no, in all seriousness I made some flash cards on fungi as pathogens haha go me!).
I found a little bit of time on Wednesday evening after my exam to bake these bad boys...

Vanilla Chai Donuts with Browned Butter Chai Frosting - Final Day of Donut Week!

We have come full circle so today is the last day of Donut Week boooooo sad I know, but it's OK it just means I can make something different to share with you! Today's final Donut Week post is Vanilla Chai Donuts with Browned Butter Chai Frosting.

These donuts are moist, fluffy and extremely light with a very delicate flavour, something I find much more appropriate for the summer season when it comes to spice!

Baked Banana and Chocolate Chunk Donuts with Marbled Dark and White Chocolate Ganache

Welcome to day 6 of donut week! I'm really excited to share today's post with you as I have been trying to perfect a good banana recipe for a while, these Baked Banana and Chocolate Chunk donuts are THAT recipe.

I love the idea of baking with bananas as they are naturally so moist, sweet and flavoursome when over ripe and mashed. I am yet to succeed in making a banana bread I am 100% happy with and I do not believe in posting recipes I don't feel fully confident in myself! I may be on the verge of success though so stay tuned! Anyway, I digress, this post is meant to be about donuts!

Sticky Chocolate Orange Donuts

It's day five of donut week and I tell you, I am surprised to find I am not yet sick of donuts (pleasantly surprised of course!)! I had no idea how versatile they could be - we've had vanilla donuts with raspberry icing, chocolate donuts coated in salted caramel, strawberry and custard filled donuts like you get in the bakeries here in the UK, wholewheat super healthy mango streusel breakfast donuts and today we are moving on to my favourite flavour combination, chocolate orange donuts!

These donuts are so sticky and orangey, part of me wondered whether baking them myself was a dream brought on my all these donuts and my intense love of chocolate orange. As it turns out I made them! Hooray! Now we can all have uber sticky donuts fresh out of the oven to share with family and friends or eat all to ourselves under the pretense that you need all that chocolatey goodness to do revision sit and read your favourite baking blogs whilst sipping a much needed cuppa.

Wholewheat Breakfast Donuts with a Mango Streusel Topping

Welcome to day 4 of Donut Week! Today's post is Wholewheat Breakfast Donuts with a Mango Streusel Topping. If you thought my previous donuts were healthy, wait until you hear what is in these - wholewheat flour, yoghurt, orange juice to name the three healthiest ingredients and they contain only 10 g of butter and 45 g of sugar!

These donuts are super easy to whip up - heck if you're a kitchen demon you could even make 'em before work/uni/school/college in 20 minutes from start to finish.

British Bakery Strawberry and Custard Filled Donuts

Welcome to day 3 of donut week! Today's post is British Bakery Strawberry and Custard Donuts! (really that should be doughnuts but for consistency I am continuing with donuts) I may be being presumptive calling them British bakery donuts but I live in Britain and these are exactly like the donuts my mum used to bring home for my brother and me on a Saturday afternoon (and fill with extra jam because there was just never enough!). Again, these donuts are baked but if you served them up to oblivious guests they would not be able to tell the difference!

The fact that these donuts are baked, and like the others contain very little fat, makes it completely acceptable to coat them in monstrous amounts of sugar.

Chocolate Donuts With Gooey Glossy Salted Caramel

Welcome to day 2 of donut week! I present to you... Chocolate Donuts With Gooey Glossy Salted Caramel! I cannot express how much I am enjoying myself, all I've eaten today is donuts donuts donuts! I shall not tell you what sort as that will spoil tomorrow's installment! The fantastic thing about baked donuts is that I can scoff scoff scoff until the cows come home and not feel an ounce of guilt - now THAT is what I like in a baked good.

These donuts are not quite as easy to eat several in a row of like a well tuned robot as yesterday's Vanilla Bean Baked Donuts With Raspberry Icing were as the cocoa powder makes them heavier, but who cares right they're chocolate mmmmmm... and still only contain 10g of butter.

Vanilla Bean Baked Donuts with Raspberry Icing to Kick off DONUT WEEK 2013!!!

OK so I discovered that Donut Week is the 11th - 18th May this year (maybe every year who knows) a while ago and have been obsessing about donuts ever since. I am so excited to share what I think is the best thing I have ever baked with you - so excited that I am writing this post early and queuing it!

The beauty of this pink sparkly tasty treat is that it looks fabulous but is SO simple to make. This Vanilla Bean Baked Donut is so moist and chewy and everything a donut should be, yet it is baked... and therefore... drum roll please... a healthy donut. (I realise I am quite late jumping on the baked donut band wagon but if you've ever tried to buy a donut pan in the UK that doesn't involve mail ordering from the US you'd understand why) Actually, what makes this recipe healthy is the 50g of Greek yoghurt that goes into it and the amount of butter that has NOT gone into it - there is a mere 15g of butter in this recipe!

Cherry and Almond Super Massive Muffins

I often find myself in Costa eying up the gigantic muffins, so big you could share could eat all to yourself and be good to go for the rest of the afternoon mmmmm. Sadly this is followed by me eying up the price. Except it's not sadly at all. I see it as an opportunity a necessity to go home and create my own super massive muffins to rival those of all the coffee shops with the extra advantage of being able to put whatever flavours and ingredients I like into them. I am currently loving cherry and almond EVERYTHING - stay tuned for a cherry and almond scone post - so the tastiest muffins I could think of were... Cherry and Almond Super Massive Muffins! We are on the cusp of summer but the English spring weather (cough winter cough) sticks its gloomy head in our way a little too often and for those days cherry and almond makes the perfect almost-summer-but-still-a-little-chilly mid-morning, afternoon, whenever-you-fancy treat.

These muffins are DOUBLE almondy

Fondant Fancies

With sunshine comes the good mood that sees me buying dungarees, pastel coloured socks, not grunting at the crowds of people in Liverpool on a bank holiday weekend and having the urge to make fondant fancies! I came home one day last week to find someone had 'taken' my piping bag (there is a lot of 'taking' going on here at the moment, I cannot wait to move out into our own apartment where I can keep my stand mixer out and still come home to it!) so the chocolate drizzle on top isn't fab but I tried two different ways did the best job I could without my tools!

White Chocolate Mocha Cupcakes

I am not a huge coffee drinker but I do adore white chocolate mochas (white cafe mochas or whatever they are called in your favourite coffee shop - which I hope is not Starbucks, they don't pay their UK tax!), they taste nice AND give me a caffeine kick, something I find to be a coffee oxymoron. The downside, however, of this fantastic drink is that they are SO expensive at almost three quid a pop it somehow just doesn't seem worth it. I had a go at making one myself at home: 1tsp instant coffee + 1 sachet of options white hot chocolate + milk + hot water + microwave -> something along the lines of 50p perfection. Then it came to me... THE ONLY THING MORE PERFECT THAN A WHITE CHOCOLATE MOCHA WOULD BE A WHITE CHOCOLATE MOCHA CUPCAKE REJOICE!

These cupcakes are fab in the morning, the afternoon, for dessert, for a grab and go breakfast, you name your time and I will find you an excuse to eat it there and then! Take one to work/uni/college and grab it when you are craving a white chocolate mocha (drink) to satisfy your sweet tooth and the caffeine gobbler inside you (and save the pennies).

Orange Butterfly Iced Biscuits

The sun is shining in Liverpool again (I probably shouldn't get used to it) so I thought I'd spend the morning making these lovely little fluttery delights! The dough is as delicate as butterflies themselves so needs to be handled with care, other than that they are easy peasy and can be whipped up pronto. (Or it can take you all morning if you are trying to find a no-revision-worthy activity.)

Two Dogs Dining - something to put a smile on your face :)

Just saw this on Amateur Gourmet's blog I loved it so I thought I'd share it with you wonderful people! I hope it makes you laugh as much as I did!

Vanilla Orange Upside Down Cake

Hannah has been banging on and on and on and on and on and on and on and ON at me for a very long time to make her an upside down cake. OK she asked pretty nicely all ten thousand times but as someone who cannot understand why anyone would want to make a cake as ugly as an upside down cake it felt a lot like someone banging on. Anyway, she was at college and I wasn't at uni so with lots of work nothing to do I wanted to make something yummy for her coming home and I couldn't think of much she'd appreciate more than me giving in and making an upside down cake. I didn't fancy the more traditional toppings (bottoms? who knows) of apple or pineapple and was feeling a little adventurous so I bought some perfect looking oranges from my favourite fruit and vegetable stall in town. I know I keep harping on about the sun but it seriously does influence my baking choices! I was a little skeptical about not taking the skin off the oranges but to my delight and sheer amazement the cake was super scrummy! I still stand by it being pretty ugly and it was a nightmare to photograph but ya know the things you do for love and all that!

This cake is perfect for summery days and goes brilliantly with custard

Very Lemony Cupcakes with an Oozy Centre and Lemon Curd Cream Cheese Frosting

I had some cream cheese that needed using left in my fridge, so what better way to use it than to take the opportunity to share my best Very Lemony Cupcakes with you!? They have an oozy lemon centre and lemon curd cream cheese frosting making them a hit with all lovers of lemon!

 

Giant Double Chocolate Sandwich Biscuits

I crave biscuits often and chocolate all the time even more often and on a student budget it is very difficult to find an affordable satisfyingly yummy chocolate biscuit... OK who am I kidding Aldi's dark chocolate digestives and Lidl's bourbon biscuits are perfectly yummy enough to gobble down nine at a time, I just wanted an excuse to create the biggest yummiest chocolate biscuits I could think of after 5 hours of data analysis (a uni assignment, fingers crossed!). I plonked myself down to watch the Great British Sewing Bee with a cup of tea and one of these bad boys within half an hour of taking the dust cover off my stand mixer. Yes I could have plonked myself down sooner had I simply taken the lid off the biscuit tin, but truth be told these homemade biscuits ARE much more satisfying than the aforementioned budget buys - not to mention significantly larger! (ENORMOUS)

Red velvet sandwich cookies, blueberry crumble bars and ramblings about my baking day with Katie

As you may know from previous posts I was back in North Yorkshire the last two weeks for the Easter break, two weeks isn't long and flew by a little too quickly to get much baking revision done but I did have a wonderful baking day with my best friend growing up, Katie. We chose a recipe each, raced round Tesco buying only own-brand ingredients - she too is a poor poor student - and spent the afternoon baking and jibber jabbering about when we were 9 year old twin mermaids drawing up rotas so we could coordinate outfits (right down to the hair bobble), how ridiculously priced the socks with the frilly lace

Summer Lovin' Cake

I know it's not summer but there have been a few hints that it is on its way - "Really?" I hear my fellow Brits say, "was it not snowing in April this year?!" - and the tiny ray of sun I saw peeking out of the clouds the other day made me feel all summery, not to mention this cake is yummy yummy yummy and so in an attempt to coax the reluctant sun from its hide out behind the clouds and raise everyone's rather wintry spirits I want to share my Summer Lovin' Cake with you all!

This cake looks so much more difficult to make than it is so it is perfect for impressing friends and family at picnics and BBQs. It is made using two different flavoured (and coloured) sponges and provided you have a heart cutter and a loaf tin you are good to go!

Facebook!

I have created a facebook page for the Hungry Hippo Baking Blog! Follow the link through to like it :)

Simnel Cupcakes

I had been wanting to making a mini version of the traditional simnel cake since Easter eggs went on sale in Tesco. However, before I went about doing it myself I discovered Emma from baketheneat.com (check out her fantastic blog!) had created the most perfect simnel cupcakes that were exactly what I had in mind. I left out the booze but they were still fantastic and went down a treat with both mine and Hannah's families.

The Best Snickerdoodles!

Back in February I stayed with my friend Lydia for a few days while Hannah was in Yorkshire. She is the most amazing cook (with a collection of beautiful cookware) and so I had the pleasure of sampling some of the tastiest food known to my mouth. The first night she cooked a gorgeous pasta dish with butternut squash and pine nuts and pecorino melted on the top (I am a firm believer in a pasta dish not being finished until it has been put back under a grill blanketed in cheese) and ummm it was delicious. I was also treated to a delightfully boozy tiramisu (one of my favourite desserts) and tried snickerdoodles for the first time! Now I can't lie, I find the name of these crumbly melt-in-the-mouth little balls of heaven to be rather off putting - I really do not like Snickers bars, but let me tell you I was so so so wrong (and my low expectations made it an even better experience). If you have not tried these before you are in for a treat!

Ingredients

165g flour (I used self-raising)

1 egg

Vanilla Rainbow Buns

Everyone loves colour, especially bright colours so what could be more exciting than these moist and fluffy Vanilla Rainbow Buns? Although not the most obvious choice for a cake, these are fun to create and little kids, big kids (my friends, despite at 19 one is an 'autonomous adult') and even bigger kids (my dad!) alike will enjoy these crazy colourful cakes.

This recipe will make 12 large muffin sized cakes or one 7" cake.

 

Ingredients 

100g unsalted butter

100g sugar