Gibby Bakes

An absolute classic, the recipe for this Bakewell Tart is one I fondly remember learning during Food Tech lessons when I was probably in year 9! Whenever I make this recipe it always makes me think of my Food teacher, who was also my form tutor. I used to absolutely adore this subject at school, and this teacher is certainly up there as one of the people who inspired me to get baking! I used to make this recipe so often, however as I began to make this tart less and less and the recipe began to slip from my mind, and I needed to get it written down! Years later (last week in fact), I rediscovered my old Food Tech folder with this recipe inside, and decided it deserved a rerelease worthy of Speak Now (Taylor's Version)!  A thick layer of cherry jam! When it came to reinventing this tart, there wasn't a great deal I actually wanted to change. This recipe quickly became my Dad's favourite when I brought it home, but since I've been practicing new skills recently I thought ...

April 29th isn't just a date referenced by Taylor Swift in High Infidelity. April 29th also happens to be my birthday!  This year I was feeling a little down about turning 24. 24 feels like a naff age where nothing is really happening... not quite early 20s, your late-teen years are well in the past, but you're not ready to admit you're into your mid-20s either. I couldn't even properly celebrate my birthday on the day, even though it was a Saturday, as I had work really early on Sunday morning.  I needed a way to cheer myself up, and seeing as an espresso martini is my favourite cocktail I decided a coffee and vodka themed bake would do the trick. I'd been trying to crack the case where pavlovas are concerned for a while now, so I also decided another pavlova was the way forward.  Espresso Martini Pavlova! In the past, the pavlovas I've made have been based on French meringue. This meringue is arguably the easiest to make. By whisking egg whites until they form...

It's been almost a month since I've posted anything! I've still been making time to bake, but I just haven't been making the time to sit and write about them! Then it was my birthday, and then it was my best mate's birthday, and time just kept on slipping away... A bank holiday though means I've got the perfect opportunity to sit down and get some much needed writing time in! And something I've been desperate to share with you all are these Vegan Death By Chocolate Cupcakes! Vegan Death By Chocolate Cupcakes! At work a couple of weeks ago we had a belated Eid lunch, where we all brought in something homemade to contribute to a buffet. And when I tell you these absolutely stole the show I'm barely exaggerating. Vegan chocolate fudge cake cupcakes, filled with vegan chocolate ganache, and decorated with vegan dark chocolate Swiss meringue buttercream combine to make the perfect celebration cupcakes. The Swiss meringue buttercream takes a little extra effor...

Recently I've been obsessing over the recipes on the Bunch vegan blog, so when I came across this recipe for a Vegan Miso Mushroom Quiche I knew I had to give it a try! In the spirit of total honesty though, this quiche just isn't for me. I have a very love/hate relationship with miso (I absolutely love the flavour of it in Bunch's recipe for Miso Mushroom Pasta, but for this quiche it was a miss for me). If you're a miso lover though then I guarantee this quiche is for you! The first step was to make the pastry. The recipe calls for the use of shop bought filo pastry, but I really wanted to have a go at making my own vegan shortcrust pastry! This was so easy! By simply rubbing vegan butter into flour and salt, adding water, and then rolling the pastry out to line a tart tin, you end up with the perfect vegan shortcrust pastry case for this recipe! With this recipe being vegan friendly, I was intrigued as to how you would make a quiche filling with no eggs, cream or mil...

The perfect little activity for a chilled out Easter Sunday, these vegan friendly cinnamon rolls were actually my second attempt at baking cinnamon rolls! Pretty symmetrical! Compared to my previous attempt at cinnamon rolls, these are a triumph! The method is so simple. Bread flour, salt, sugar and yeast are combined in a bowl, then a warm mixture of melted butter and soya milk is added to the dry ingredients. The mixture is then kneaded for about 5-7 minutes until it passes the window test when held up to the light! An individual roll! For the filling, softened vegan butter, light soft brown sugar and ground cinnamon are creamed together. When the dough had risen, I rolled it out into a large rectangle, before spreading the cinnamon filling over the dough. The dough is then rolled up from one of the longer edges and cut into 12 rolls to form the not-too-tight tight spiral. The rolls are then left to proof for a second time on a baking tray before baking. I was slightly worried about ...

A reworking of my Chocolate Fudge Cake Cupcakes from my last post, these Ferrero Rocher Cupcakes consist of chocolate fudge cake sponge, a chocolate ganache filling, and a chocolate whipped cream buttercream icing. The cupcakes are, of course, topped with Ferrero Rocher and toasted hazelnuts! The perfect present for my parent's wedding anniversary!  I've been playing with my new piping nozzles, and I settled on this design! Seeing as I've only recently written about the method for chocolate fudge cake batter, whipped ganache and whipped cream buttercream, I won't go into it again. I don't often repeat bakes so quickly unless they weren't very successful, but they felt like the perfect indulgent treat for a wedding anniversary! Roughly frosted cupcakes sprinkled with toasted hazelnuts! I recently saw a technique on TikTok where you pipe a ring of buttercream using a plain nozzle around the base of a domed cupcake, press the cake into toasted hazelnuts, and then p...

When I say I think I've outdone myself with this one, I truly think I've outdone myself with this one! The ultimate indulgence, these cupcakes consist of chocolate fudge cake inspired sponge, a chocolate ganache filling, a chocolate whipped cream buttercream icing, and the whole thing is topped with a salted caramel brownie! As I was going along I forgot to take pictures of the individual stages, sorry in advance about that! I mean come on, just look at them! I've always shied away from making chocolate fudge cake, for no apparent reason. I guess I just always assumed it'd be quite hard. When I settled on my plan for these cupcakes though I just knew it had to be a chocolate fudge cake base.  Making the sponge was surprisingly easy though! To achieve that classic chocolate fudge cake texture, melted butter, vegetable oil, eggs, vanilla extract, caster sugar, and soft brown sugar are beaten together in a stand mixer for about five minutes. At the same time, cocoa powder ...