Most of us students have just gone through the trauma of exams and are then faced with being back in lectures with no break other than the weekend. It has been a hard time for us all and I think we should treat ourselves, whether this is for doing well in an exam, to forget a horrendous exam that you never want to think about again, managing to get out of bed to make it to those lectures or perhaps just wanting to treat yourself. Personally I think these are all justifiable reasons.
I love to bake; every term I come back with a tin full of some sort of baked good and it never takes long for them to disappear. Now I have my house, I can bake whenever I like and have been doing it a lot in this past week. These are some of my favourite things to bake.
Cakes – I am yet to meet someone who doesn’t like cake. The range of flavours and mixtures makes them so versatile and suited to all. A classic Victoria Sponge never goes a miss with my family, yet cupcakes are a firm favourite amongst my friends. The variations of cupcakes are incredible, you don’t have to have the basic vanilla any longer; mojito, strawberry cheesecake, and red velvet are amongst the many choices available.
Cake Balls – These are a relatively new thing and they are amazing. If you have ever messed up a cake with it sinking in the middle or not coming out the way you wanted it to, these balls are the answer. They also create a brilliant treat. You crumble up the cake and mix it with buttercream; you can make different flavours of buttercream to vary up the taste. Then make these into balls around the size of a golf ball, stick them on the end of a kebab stick and coat in melted chocolate. After this you can also sprinkle on various decorations to make them look pretty. Put them in the fridge to cool and hey presto, a tasty treat just for you.
Brownies – A firm favourite of mine. What’s not to love? It’s chocolate with more chocolate. I like to put lots of bit of chocolate in my mixture so it makes them slightly gooey inside… heavenly. It can be very difficult to remember to share and not eat the whole tray of brownies to myself. The recipe I use for brownies is Mary Berry’s, the Queen of baking; it is fabulous.
Cookies – Again another fantastic treat. Depending on your preferences you can make them healthier with oats and raisins, stick with the winning formula and use chocolate, or mix chocolate and fruit together to make you feel slightly less guilty about eating them. I find that the best cookies are slightly floppy and not like biscuits, as can be the case with the ones you find in the shops.
Sources
Recipes can be found online and in various cook books. The best for cake balls was bakingmad.com
Pictures from kitchengoddess.co.uk, standard.co.uk, Google images
Edited by Luisa Parnell