Boozy Gin Brownies - Recipe

Oh gin, you popular wee thing you. The boom in this particular drinks trend is far from over, and with more than 70% of all gin in the UK now produced in Scotland, it's no surprise half of us have gone gin mad. 

It just so happens that I've now decided to eat the stuff, never mind consume goblets of it at the weekend.

Not the most experienced of bakers, I wanted to incorporate one of my favourite spirits into a simple recipe which bakers of all levels would be able to tackle. And with a slight addiction to chocolate, I opted for my very own Boozy Gin Brownies.

There are of course numerous different ways you can make brownies, and if you've got your recipe nailed then that's totally cool. But for those who don't, I've pulled together a recipe for simple, slightly gooey brownies below.

And as well as gin, I've also added some white chocolate chips and mini marshmallows for those who really want to have fun with this recipe.

To make the boozy gin brownies you will need the following...

Ingredients:

• 200g dark chocolate (I used Bournville)
• 100g unsalted butter
• 250g caster sugar
• 4 large eggs (or five medium)
• 60g cocoa powder
• 3 tsp vanilla essence
• 60g plain flour
• One handful of white chocolate chips
• One handful of mini marshmallows
• Any premium gin (I used Cocoa Gin from Hotel Chocolat)

You will also need one square/rectangular baking tin lined with grease proof paper to bake the brownies in.

Below is the step-by-step method you will need to follow - however I've left out the gin and tonic I'd poured myself to drink whilst baking.

Method:

1. Pre-heat your oven to 180C and line your baking tin - set tray to the side.
2. Break the dark chocolate into small pieces and place in a heatproof bowl. Melt the chocolate gently over simmering boiling water in a pan, or microwave the chocolate in bursts of 30 seconds. Set the chocolate aside to cool.
3. Put both the butter and the caster sugar into a mixing bowl and beat until fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one after the other. Add in the vanilla essence and beat well.
4. Slowly pour some of the melted chocolate into the mixture and mix it in. Do this until all of the melted chocolate has been added. If you would like, feel free to add white chocolate chips and marshmallows at this stage - or any other confectionary you would like.
5. Sift in the cocoa powder and flour and gently stir into the mixture ensuring it has completely combined.
6. Pour the mixture into the lined baking tin and put into the pre-heated oven for 20 minutes.
7. Once cooked, place the brownies on a wire cooling rack. Leave the brownies to cool for about 8-10 minutes and then, depending on how strong you would like your brownies to be, pour/drizzle your favourite gin over the brownies. The mixture will soak up the gin. For this recipe I used Hotel Chocolat's Cocoa Gin which is infused with cocoa shells.
8. Cut into pieces and serve.

To confuse things a little, I decided to make two batches when baking these brownies - both containing gin, however only one contained the mini marshmallows and white chocolate chips.

These brownies are a great fine piece to take to any tea party and can be made with numerous other spirits including rum, reposado tequila and even a dark beer. I used Hotel Chocolat's Cocoa Gin due to it being infused with cocoa shells, but next time I'll definitely think of using a more floral gin or one with lots of botanicals from the sea, as I think they would work extremely well. I can imagine the Gin Bothy amaretto gin liqueur would also be a winning combination too.

Enjoy your boozy baking folks, but remember, please bake and drink responsibly.

  For Now...

Just Julia

Somewhere over the rainbow: Rainbow Cake recipe

Baking has never been my forte. It's one of those past times which, if I'm being frank, is the bain of my life when I try and attempt it- exactly why I never do it.

So when I do bake something, and it actually turns out like what it's meant to, there's no chance I could miss the opportunity to scream, shout, and let it all out, about this once in a lifetime experience. Fancy impressing your family and friends with a show stopper even Mary and Paul would be proud of (if they were judging a child's baking competition that is), well then, this Rainbow Cake recipe is for you...

What you'll need for the cake mix:
The following ingredients create seven cake sponges (which need to be seperated out equally throughout the baking process)

• 437.5g butter (softened) with a little extra for greasing the tins
• 337.5g plain flour
• 525g golden caster sugar
• 11 medium eggs
• 3.5 tsp vanilla extract
• 3.5 tsp baking powder
• Edible food colouring in red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple and pink
• A few pinches of salt

And for the icing:

• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 350g icing sugar
• 3 x 250g tubs cream cheese (or mascarpone)

Ready, set, bake!

1. Pre-heat your oven to 180C and grease two 20cm round sandwich tins well. Pour all of the sponge cake ingredients, except from the food colouring, into a large mixing bowl. Beat the ingredients with an electric whisk until smooth. 

2.  As quickly as possible, weigh out half of the mixture into another bowl. Choose two of the colours and stir a little into each mix. You can add as much colouring in as you like - the more colour, the brighter the cake, and if you're anything like me you'll add lots!

Pour the different mixtures into the cake tins, spreading the mixes as smoothly as you can. Bake both cakes on the same oven shelf for 10 - 12 minutes (bake until you can poke a skewer into the middle  of the cake and it comes out clean).

3. Once the cakes are baked, gently turn the cakes out onto a wire rack, allowing them to cool. Next, thoroughly wash the cake tins and the bowls and start from step 1 all over again - using two different colours of course! Repeat one more time, and then use the final cake mix left over to create the last cake. Leave them to cool off.

4. Now on to the icing...

Briefly beat the vanilla extract and cream cheese with an electric whisk until smooth. Gently sift in the icing sugar, slowly folding in with a spatula (although I used a wooden spoon). It's important to be careful with the icing, as the more you work it, the runnier it will get!

5. Place a wee bit of icing on a plate, or a cake stand if you have one, to stick the first sponge too. Starting with the red sponge, spread icing all over it to the edge and repeat, sandwiching the other colours on top. Following a 'traditional' rainbow the next colour should be orange, yellow, green, blue, purple and pink to finish it off. Spread any remaining icing all over the top and sides of the cake. Sprinkle hundreds and thousands all over the cake to finish it off nicely. You can even add edible glitter if you're feeling adventurous!

6. Finally, slice, plate up, and devour. Job done.

  For Now...

Just Julia

Have your CAKE and eat it

Recently I was presented with a gift soo gooey and delicious that if I hadn't have experienced it myself, I would never have believed something so divine could be delivered to my door in record time.

In the name of market research, I offered my tasting services to the lovely artisan cake shop, CAKE, providing them with my guinea pig ways to give them vital feedback on a new service they were to provide to the public, home delivery. 

Now I don't know about you but when Jen, the owner and pastry chef of CAKE, presented me with the opportunity of complimentary chocolate which would be delivered straight to my door (and most importantly would be home by the time I arrived back from work), was simply an opportunity I couldn't refuse.

CAKE, which is based in Aberdeen city centre, is a small artisan cake shop which prides itself on high quality, home-baked goodies. The ethos of the brand oozes Jen's obvious passion for baking, and it is extremely refreshing to see such raw talent catering for a wide audience, especially as she offers a scrumptious gluten-free range too.

I'm not going to lie, I've never been one to fuss over gluten-free products, however on this occasion, I was quite looking forward to sampling my first ever gluten-free brownies.

Only expecting one brownie in my mysterious box, I was pleasantly surprised by its size. Laying seductively on my bed, those brownies were ready for me to devour them. Opening the box I was presented with FOUR strategically placed brownies, hidden slightly by internal packaging, to ensure they would survive the journey.

Included were three different flavours; Chocolate orange, chocolate marshmallow and chocolate caramel, all gluten-free.

As expected, I couldn't bring myself to demolish all four brownies in one sitting. So one by one, throughout the week they quickly disappeared. On feasting, all of the brownies were moist on the inside and crisper on the outside, and extremely chocolatey - which is exactly how I like them. The marshmallows were gooey and the taste of orange was strong, yet not over-powering. I was surprised how well they kept due to the fact it took me a wee while to get through them, this told me a lot about their ingredients and packaging - high quality.

I am no brownie expert by any means, but in my eyes, they were very well baked, well packaged, and  were on my mind for days after consumption. The brownies are very rich and filling and one could easily be shared between two, not that I was going to share. CAKE really did hit the nail on the head with these bad boys. They have since then launched their Christmas cakes and have stocked up big time on their brandy. As far as quality and taste goes, Jen, keep doing what you're doing.
P.S. thanks for the brownies!

  For now...

Just Julia