American Pancakes

Ingredients:
225g Plain Flour
2 Eggs
300ml Whole Milk
4 tsp Baking Powder
2 tsp Golden Caster Sugar

To Make
In a large mixing bowl, sieve together the plain flour, baking powder and mix in the sugar.

Make a well in the centre of the mixture then add the milk and eggs. Whisk together until pancake batter forms and leave to stand for at least 30 minutes. Leaving the batter to stand for half an hour allows the flour to fully absorb the liquid making the batter thicker.

Lightly grease a hot frying pan with butter. Ladle the pancake batter into the pan and cook for a couple of minutes until the top of the pancake bubbles then flip the pancake over to cook the opposite side. Repeat this until the batter is finished, you should be able to make approximately 18 pancakes depending on the size of them.

Place on a plate to serve and pour maple syrup over the top.

Enjoy!

Jammie Dodger Biscuits

Ingredients: 
100g Unsalted Butter
140g Caster Sugar
1 Egg
200g Plain Flour
1/4 tsp Cream of Tartar

For The Centre:
100g Seedless Strawberry Jam
220g Icing Sugar
70g Unsalted Butter
20ml Whole Milk
1/4 tsp Vanilla Extract

To Make
Preheat oven to 170°C. To make the jammie dodger biscuits beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add in the egg and whisk until ingredients fully mixed together. Sifted together into the bowl the plain flour and cream of tartar fold into the mixture until a dough forms.

Lightly dust a work surface with flour and roll out the dough to the thickness of 4mm. Using a cookie cutter cut out 32 biscuits, this with form 16 jammie dodgers. On half on the cookies use a star shaped plunger and cut out a star in the centre of the biscuits. Place them on a baking tray and bake for 10-15 minutes until golden brown. 

For the centre of the biscuits, mix together the icing sugar, butter, milk and vanilla extract into a mixing bowl until a frosting forms . On one half of the biscuits spread strawberry jam and one the other spread the vanilla frosting and sandwich together to form the jammie dodgers.

Enjoy!

Vanilla Heart Cupcakes

Ingredients:
110g Softened Butter
110g Caster Sugar
2 Eggs
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
110g Self Raising Flour
1-2 tbsp Whole Milk

Vanilla Cream Frosting:
500g Caster Sugar
200g Butter
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1-2 tbsp Whipping Cream

To Make
Preheat oven to 180°C. Cream together the butter and sugar into a large mixing bowl until pale and fluffy. Beat in the eggs gradually and add the vanilla extract. 

Fold the sifted flour into the mixture adding a little milk. Spoon the mixture evenly into 12 paper cases 1/2 filling them. Bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes, until golden. 

For the frosting beat together the butter and sugar. Once smooth add the vanilla extract and cream until the correct consistency for piping. For this recipe I also added a few drops of red food colouring so the frosting would turn a pale pink. 

For the decoration, lightly dust a surface with icing sugar and roll out royal icing until a thickness of 3-4mm. Using a heart shaped icing plunger, cut out roughly four or five hearts per cupcake. 

Red Velvet Cupcakes

Ingredients:
125g Sifted Plain Flour
1/4 tsp Baking Powder
1/4 tsp Salt
1 tbsp Cocoa Powder
57g Unsalted Butter
150g Granulated Sugar
1 Egg
1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
2 tbsp Red Food Colouring
1/2 tsp white distilled vinegar
1/2 tsp Baking Soda

Cream Cheese Frosting:
227g Cream Cheese
1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
60g Caster Sugar
160ml Double Cream

To Make
Preheat the oven to 175°C. In a large bowl sifted together the flour, baking powder, salt and cocoa powder. In a separate bowl beat the butter until soft, add the sugar and mix together until fluffy. Adding the egg and vanilla extract. Combine the two mixtures gradually folding them together. 

Whisk together the buttermilk with the red food colouring and add to the mixture whilst whisking. In a small cup add the vinegar to the baking soda and let it fizz and quickly fold into the cake mixture this will act as a raising agent. 

Spoon the cupcake mixture into 12 individually paper cases and bake for 18 - 23 minutes. 

For the cream cheese frosting, beat the cream cheese until smooth, add the vanilla extract and the sugar and beat until mix, gradually add the cream until thick enough to pipe.

For the decoration sprinkle chocolate chips

Chocolate Heart Pops

Ingredients:
150g Milk Chocolate
100g White Chocolate
50g Dark Chocolate

To Make:
Melt all of the chocolate into separate bowls. On a sheet of grease proof paper place a heart shaped cookie cutter and fill with the melted chocolate mixing the three kinds together.

Once the chocolate begins to form the shape of the heart remove the cookie cutter and insert the lollipop stick to the the end of the heart. To decorate sprinkle hundred and thousand before the chocolate sets.

Enjoy!