Festive Baking

Nothing quite like some baking around Christmas to get me into the festive spirit. I have really been getting into baking and cooking a lot more. Therefore, what better than sharing what I have been up to and hopefully inspire you in some way!

I have made some shortbread and chocolate cake so will be talking about both of these today!

Shortbread

I have made shortbread quite a lot because it is one of the most easiest things to make! So if you are not really a baker then this is the one for you.

• All you need is unsalted butter, sugar and plain flour (if you have seen Waitress the Musical you will understand how I cannot write this without singing the song haha). These three ingredients make some incredible biscuits! Plus you can use any shaped cutters and create any shortbread that you want (there are many great recipes online so check them out!)
• Of course because it is the festive season I wanted to create some in relation to that! So using a cutter I created some snowmen, reindeer and santa’s (of course me being me I forgot to actually take a picture of this sorry).

• However, I found this cute set from Sainsbury’s which is perfect for nights in or to share with friends and family for more fun! You can get super creative and decorate how you wish too! All you have to do is add the butter and you are good to go! It comes with all the decorating kit, and the cutter which is super easy! It would also be great fun to do with children as well.

Myself and Ryan are clearly great at decorating haha! 

Chocolate Cake

I love making cakes, it is just so much fun! Today I decided on a chocolate themed Christmas cake. Of course you can use whatever ingredients you need to cater for your needs but I will share the ones I used.

• All you need is; caster sugar, butter, eggs, self-raising flour, cocoa powder (apologies I am not sure on exact measurements etc). Of course also to add on top or in the middle of your cake you can pick up some chocolate frosting and decorations of your choice.

• Once I mixed all the ingredients together I filled my cake tin (make sure to butter and flour the tin to make sure the cake does not stick). If you are planning on using the chocolate for the middle of the cake then I suggest getting two half tins for your mix. This just makes things easier rather than later having to cut a cake in half!
• I then baked the cake for about 30 minutes, of course just make sure to check regularly.
• Once the cake was done I got it from the tin and left on a rack to cool down.

• When it was time the creativity commenced. At first in my head I wanted to go all out with the decorating, but then whilst I was doing it I just thought simple was best. So I completely covered the cake with the frosting (including the sides of the cake), and today I used the new Cadbury’s frosting! Then using my Christmas decorations which included; Santa’s, reindeer and Christmas trees I placed these around the edge and one tree in the middle to finish.

Voila say no more I am officially a baker (jokes). I am excited for this cake to be eaten up tonight with family coming over and hopefully they will enjoy it (I mean who knows what it tastes like).

There you have it, some festive baking for you! I hope you enjoyed and if you did then let me know in the comments your favourite biscuits or cakes during the festive season?

Also if you have any recommendations for what I should bake next then let me know! 

Thanks for reading,

Gemma xx

CATCH UP ON THE PREVIOUS FESTIVITIES HERE|Festive Host with me|Homemade Hot Chocolate|Festive Plans|Let the Festivities Begin: Brigit’s Bakery London|Have yourself a Sustainable Christmas…|Getting Ready for Christmas🎄

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