Thursday 26 September 2013

Peanut Butter Cups

I have wanted to try Reece's peanut butter cups for a long time, and even thought we now can buy them in the UK I decided to try them out when we went to New york.
I have to say I was quite disappointed with them> The chocolate tasted really fake ( sorry my lovely American friends but American chocolate sucks lol)  I also found the peanut butter very salty. Anyway I wasn't going to be beat so I made some myself and they are yumtastic and so very simple to make :)

Ingredients:
1/2 cup of Smooth peanut butter
2 teaspoons of icing sugar
Chocolate bar of your choice/as needed.

You will also need mini cupcake liners.
This recipe made 25 peanut butter cups.

Method and preparation:
Prepare the peanut butter filling:


Add the peanut butter and icing sugar into a bowl and mix together until blended.

Now Melt the chocolate in a bowl over boiling water. ( double boiler)


While the chocolate is melting, prepare the liners on a flat tray.

Add a tea spoon of melted chocolate in each of the liners to coat the base of them.


Now pop the tray or plate into the fridge for 5 minutes to set the chocolate.

While waiting for the chocolate to set, put the peanut butter filling in a piping bag or ziplock bag and snip off a tiny tip at the bottom. 


Pipe the peanut butter filling (as much as you like) But leave room to top the top half with more chocolate and pop the tray into the fridge for another 5 minutes.


Now top up the cake liners with more chocolate and rap the tray on a surface to get rid of as many air bubbles as you can.

Now put the finished tray into the fridge and let the chocolate set completely. I waited an hour before tasting one.


Now The chocolates are finally ready to eat :)


Peel the paper of gently ...


Enjoy :)


Monday 9 September 2013

Vanilla Latte and Vanilla Syrup

It's coming up to that time of year again with smallest comfort of a yummy hot drink brings a smile to your face :)
Who said you have to go to Starbucks for a good hot drink?
With just a handful of Ingredients you can make this delicious Vanilla Latte at home without any effort at all.
Give this a try, you won't regret I promise you :)

Ingredients:
Any good Instant or percolated coffee (brewed) I made a cup full and used as needed) Espresso is usually used in Lattes but I didn't have any so I used percolated coffee and it tasted fab :)
Vanilla syrup ( 1Tbs per mug)
 1 cup of milk per mug (boiled)
Cinnamon powder to sprinkle on froth.

Method and Preparation:

If using a coffee machine Like I did, set it to prepare the coffee.

Now Put the milk on the hob to boil.
Add 1 Tbs of Vanilla syrup per mug or Glass.


Now Add The coffee to the Glass. 4 table spoons per Glass. ( or as desired)


Now comes the fun part ;)
If you have a frother or milk steamer you can use it now but as I have neither , I used a hand held blender and put it straight into the boiled milk to create the froth. :) (It worked woohoo) Please be careful as the milk may splash and scold you.

Now carefully add the milk to the glasses/mugs and spoon the froth on top :)

Finally for the finishing touches Sprinkle some Cinnamon powder on the froth.

Enjoy :)


For those Wanting to make homemade Vanilla Syrup Here's how to make it :)

Ingredients:
1 cup water
1 cup granulated sugar
3 Tbs Good Vanilla Extract ( I used my home made one :))

Method and preparation:
Add The water and sugar to a pan and bring to a boil.





Once the sugar has completely dissolved remove the pan from the heat and let the syrup cool down completely.

Once the syrup is cooled down add the Vanilla Extract and stir well.


This syrup is now ready to use in drinks etc. 


This syrup can be refrigerated or kept out in room temp for a week :)
I hope you try this.