When deciding to bake for family we’d invited over last Sunday, I’d forgotten the detrimental affect small eager hands can have on the outcome. I wouldn’t say I’m a pro baker but I wouldn’t say I’m a disaster either and I do like WInston to get as involved as possible. Here are the small (too) eager hands:
The two items I chose to bake were pretty straight forward – lemon cookies and vanilla butterfly buns. I’ve made both a number of times and don’t seem to have to many problems. Here are the lemon cookies:
Not exactly tempting. How is one supposed to negotiate a toddler throwing peppercorns, pretending to wash is hair and face with icing sugar, asking to suck on the lemon and keep track of the time? It is an impossibility and my lemon cookie disaster goes to prove it.
The butterfly buns were slightly more successful – at least they were edible.
The saving grace was some hot chocolate sauce that I poured over the buns with a dollop of ice cream…if you haven’t ever made hot chocolate sauce before, it goes with everything, is so easy to make and is pretty gorgeous too.
Here is the recipe I used:
Ingredients
– 200g chocolate (milk or dark depending on your preference)
– a small tub of double cream
– a generous squidge of honey – about a tablespoon
– a tablespoon of butter
Method
1. Melt the chocolate carefully in the microwave or over a pan of water.
2. Add the butter and squidge of honey.
3. Remove from the heat and stir in the double cream until fully combined.
4. Serve immediately or place in the fridge to gently reheat later.
I was feeling slightly insecure about my baking fail, so I attempted some more last night (bakewell tart and chocolate butterfly buns) for hubs to take into work for his last day. They were both a success, although I still managed to break the weighing scales and drop an egg in the process!
E xx