If any of you follow me on Instagram (http://instagram.com/conniemaitland/) you may have noticed my frequent baking posts. Over the Christmas break I took it upon myself to bake as many tasty treats from The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook as possible. This is a fantastic cookbook bringing a brilliant selection of traditional American bakes over the pond, including cupcakes, cakes, pies, brownies and bars, muffins and cookies. If the front cover isn’t enticing enough, just wait until you see the mouth-watering recipes inside!
So, up first was Banana Bread with the addition of Nutella spread. This was heavenly! The combination of banana and Nutella was unbeatable and perfect for a well deserved Christmas break breakfast. I had reservations about the consistency of the Nutella after baking, but there was no need to worry- it maintained its glorious gloopyness. Easy and quick to bake, I would definitely recommend this recipe. Spice up your breakfast routine with this variation of banana bread, especially as it’s National Nutella Day on February 5th!
After ogling their desserts, I had to try them. Next, I baked Red Velvet Cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. I’ve always found red velvet cupcakes to taste a bit…well, red. I found they didn’t taste as nice as plain and simple uncoloured sponge. However, this recipe uses exactly the right quantity of cocoa powder to tint the cupcakes a sultry brownish-red and toned down the red flavour that always turns me off. After dolloping on the cream cheese frosting and adding Christmassy silver baubles, they looked super cute and tasted ever better!
Next up I wanted to try something I never had done before; I opted for the American version of white chocolate brownies- Blondies! I was feeling slightly guilty after stuffing my face with red velvet cupcakes so I felt that maybe the addition of healthy pecan nuts to these blondies might compensate… possibly?! Well anyway, these turned out to be extremely addictive as they were nowhere near as rich as normal brownies. Although I prefer good old traditional English brownies, blondies were a welcomed change- especially with all the chocolate consumed over the Christmas period!
The Hummingbird Bakery’s Rocky Road was without doubt the highlight of my Christmas! In fact, it was so delicious that my family and I wolfed the whole thing down in less than 15 minutes. Typically American, the recipe includes eight of your favourite regular sized chewy, filled chocolate bars such as Mars, Snickers (unsure who would pick this?!) or Crunchies. A whole bag of Maltesers and a generous splattering of marshmallows later, and you are left with the tastiest bake I have ever had.
With my stomach double the size as it was before I broke up for Christmas, I decided to be good for my last bake so I chose a recipe with strawberries in it- Strawberry Cheesecake Cupcakes. Although not looking particularly pretty, these little cupcakes were a massive triumph! The bottom layer of strawberries gave the cheesecake a fresh kick, whilst the digestive biscuits added texture- completely reminiscent of strawberry cheesecake.
Cheer up these cold winter evenings with a tasty treat from The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook- perfect for indulging after a long day at uni. Why not try out the Hummingbird Bakery’s latest cookbook ‘Home Sweet Home’ for even more recipes?! After all ladies, it’s only February- those bikini bodies can wait!