baking

Quick Carrot Cake Recipe

Posted on by maya

 

hi-guys

I’ve never been one to sleep in, mainly because my lack of social life ensures an early night. However, I’ve always enjoyed an extra hour or so in bed on Sundays, especially when on holidays. So it was a surprise when this morning I woke up unusually early to the sounds of what my sleep-deprived mind imagined to be a battle going on outside my bedroom. As it turns out, it was simply my younger siblings on an enthusiastic Easter egg hunt around my house, their chocolate-fueled excitement apparently making any kind of discretion at 7a.m. impossible.

Luckily, one giant, mint-flavoured, gold foil-wrapped chocolate egg later, my abrupt awakening was forgotten and I officially switched over to Easter-celebration mode. I wanted to share this delicious carrot cake recipe with you guys today, because it’s such an Easter classic! The bright, colourful carrots combined with crunchy pecan nuts, flaky coconut and warm spices, make a perfect, aromatic batter. The moist cake is topped with a fluffy mascarpone icing that just brings it to the next level. I just barely managed to snap a few photographs of it, before my family promptly devoured it in seconds.

Make sure to let me know in the comments below what other posts you guys want to see this spring. Happy Easter! signature

 

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Ingredients

cake
75g self-raising flour
1 tsp ground allspice
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 carrots, grated
50g pecans, chopped (plus a few to decorate)
30g desicated coconut
75g light brown sugar
2 eggs
3 tbsp fresh orange juice
75g butter, melted
Icing
250g mascarpone
3 tbsp icing sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
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Method
  1. Preheat the oven to 190’C (375’F). Grease and line a baking tin with baking parchment.
  2. Sift flour, spices and baking powder into a large bowl.
  3. Add pecans, coconut, sugar and carrots. Mix well.
  4. Add eggs, orange juice and butter. Stir until well combined.
  5. Pour mixture into baking tin. Bake for 20-30 minutes.
  6. Leave to cool on a wire rack.
  7. For the icing, beat together mascarpone, icing sugar and vanilla extract until smooth.
  8. Spread the icing over the top of the cake and decorate with a few pecan nuts.
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White Chocolate Coconut Cookies Recipe

Posted on by maya

hi-guys

I hope you’ve all been having a lovely week 🙂 . I’m in the middle of my mock exams at the moment in preparation for the Leaving Cert (ie. the final exams to get into college here in Ireland), which means I really should be dedicating all my spare time to studying. So naturally, I decided to do some baking instead. Because really, no study session is truly complete without an excessive amount of snack breaks, procrastination and regret.

Anyways, I thought with the weekend coming up it was the perfect time to share this super simple recipe with you guys. These soft, chewy cookies were deliciously addictive – it took all my self control to wait and take a few photos before eating them. I’ve always had a slight white chocolate obsession and, paired with coconut, the two truly make a perfect match! I also love that this recipe doesn’t involve chilling the dough, because really who has time for that sort of thing.

Of course, you can enjoy the cookies as they are or, if you want to put a little extra effort into presentation, drizzle some melted white chocolate over them and top with some more coconut.

Let me know in the comments below if you guys try them out and what your go-to study snack is!

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Ingredients
1 large Egg
2 cups Plain (all-purpose) flour
1 tsp Baking soda
1/2 tsp Baking powder
1 cup Caster (Granulated) sugar
1/8 tsp Salt
1 tsp Vanilla extract
1 cup White chocolate chips/ chopped White chocolate
1 cup Desiccated Coconut
1/2 cup Butter

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Step 1 In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar.

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Step 2 Add egg and vanilla essence to the mixture. Beat until light and fluffy.

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Step 3 Add flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Combine well until mixture forms a crumbly dough.

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Step 4 Roughly chop chocolate. Or alternatively buy chocolate chips, which is no doubt easier – I just didn’t have any on hand.

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Step 5 Add chopped chocolate and coconut. Mix until well combined.

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Step 6 Roll the dough into small balls and place them onto a lined baking tray.

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Step 7 Lightly press down on each ball with a fork.

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Step 8 Bake cookies at 180’C/350’C for 10-15 minutes, or until they’re a pale golden brown.

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Step 9 Leave to cool on a wire rack.

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Step 10 Enjoy!

 

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How to Make Snowball Cookies

Posted on by maya

hi-guys

So I’m not going to lie, I’ve been wanting to share this recipe with you guys for months but have been patiently waiting for it to be socially acceptable to post Christmas recipes (which according to my mother would be the 1st of August)! Anyways, now that I’ve heard every single Christmas song ever written being played about a hundred times over in the last week, I figured it’s a perfectly acceptable time for making snowball cookies.

Personally, there’s nothing I love more on a cold winter’s day (or any day, really – weather’s pretty irrelevant) than to snuggle up in bed, briefly consider the possibility of being productive and ultimately end up just eating cookies for a couple of hours. And what with Christmas break coming up, I thought I’d spread some Christmas cheer and encourage you all to do the same 🙂 – because I’m such a great influence. And trust me, these little icing-covered, melt-in-your-mouth balls of deliciousness make the perfect snack to share with your family (or enjoy by yourself – I don’t judge) over the holidays!

I hope you get a chance to try them out over the weekend – if you do, make sure to let me know in the comments below!

ingredients

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1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup icing / powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/4 cups plain flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
plus additional icing sugar for rolling

method

Preheat the oven to 250°C/400°F. Combine butter, sugar and vanilla in a large bowl.

Add the flour and salt. Mix well until a crumbly dough forms.

Shape the dough into balls. Place the dough balls on a cookie sheet and bake for about 9 minutes until set (don’t let them brown 🙂 ).

Leave the cookies to cool slightly, then roll them in icing sugar while they’re still warm. Enjoy!

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Rich Chocolate Brownie Recipe

Posted on by maya

Every once in a while we all crave something rich, decadent and chocolatey (unless of course you’re allergic/don’t like chocolate, in which case you’re unfortunately missing out on one of the great joys of life). The summer holidays are a great time to bake a batch of brownies and share them with friends and family (or alternatively, enjoy them by yourself on the couch while watching your favourite TV show 😉 ). For years this has been my go-to brownie recipe and I’ve included step-by-step photos to make sure it’s really easy to follow. I thought this was the perfect thing to post on Father’s Day, since I’m absolutely certain that no Dad could resist freshly baked brownies. Let me know in the comments below what you guys like to bake/do during the holidays and if you found this recipe helpful!signature

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Ingredients

brownies ingredients

100g/ 1/2 cup butter

175g/ 3/4 cup caster (granulated) sugar

175g / 1/2 cup dark muscovado sugar

125g dark chocolate

1 tbsp golden syrup

2 eggs

100g / 3/4 plain (all-purpose) flour

2 tsbp cocoa powder

1/2 tsp baking powder

Method

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1. Gently heat butter, sugars, chocolate and golden syrup in a heavy based saucepan. Stir until mixture is smooth. Remove from the heat and leave to cool.

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2. Beat together eggs, then whisk in the cooled chocolate mixture.

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3. Sieve together the flour, cocoa powder and baking sugar and fold into the egg and chocolate mixture.

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4. Mix until ingredients are well combined.

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5. Spoon the brownie mixture into a lightly greased cake tin and bake in a preheated oven at 180’C/350’F for approx. 30 minutes, or until the top is crisp and the edge of the brownie starts to shrink away from the tin.brownies 8

6. Technically, you’re supposed to leave the cake to cool before cutting it into squares to serve. However, seeing as you’ve put in all this hard work, I think its perfectly acceptable for the chef to try some while it’s still warm ;).

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Simple Sponge Cake Recipe

Posted on by maya

hey

I haven’t posted a recipe in a while, but since I’m on holidays I finally got a chance to do some baking yesterday and take some half-decent pictures for you guys 🙂 . I make this simple vanilla sponge so often, it’s now become my signature cake and go-to recipe whenever I’m baking a dessert for guests. It’s light, moist and incredibly easy to make! Let me know in the comments below if you try this cake out, and what other recipes you’d like to see on Arsty Teen.signature

 

 

Ingredients

For the cake

  • 175g / 7/8 cup caster/granulated sugar
  • 175g/ 3/4 cup butter (softened)
  • 175g/ 1 1/2 self raising flour (sifted)
  • 3 eggs
  • 2 tsp vanilla essence

for the glaze

  • 280g/2 cups icing sugar
    (sifted)
  • 2 tbsp milk
  • 2 tsp vanilla essence

Method

  1. Preheat oven to 180’C (375’F) and line a 5 x 9 inch rectangular baking tin with parchment paper .
  2. In a large bowl, combine sugar, vanilla essence and butter.
  3. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Tip: To make sure the mixture doesn’t curdle, add one tablespoon of flour along with each egg.
  4. Mix in the rest of the sifted flour.
  5. Empty mixture into tin and bake for 35-40 minutes.
  6. When the cake is ready, remove from oven and leave to cool.
  7. While your cake is cooling, make the glaze. Combine the sifted icing sugar, milk and vanilla essence in a small bowl until the mixture is smooth and glossy.
  8. Pour the glaze over your cooled sponge and leave to dry.
  9. Enjoy!
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5 things to do when you’re on holidays

Posted on by maya

I’m not sure what the school calendar’s like in other countries, but here in Ireland we are currently on mid term break. Now I don’t know about you, but whenever holidays approach, I convince myself that I’m going to spend my time off being amazingly productive. I’ll write a novel. I’ll exercise every morning. I’ll do all my homework the Friday before the holidays.

Yeah, as if. In reality, I ultimately end up lying on my bed staring at my phone all week.

Not that there’s anything wrong with eating junk food and watching Netflix, but time off is a great opportunity to do all the things you don’t have time to do when you’re busy with school.
So, here are five things to do during the holidays…


1. Read that book

You know, that book. The one you’ve been meaning to read for ages but just haven’t gotten around to doing it? Maybe it was recommended to you by a family member, or maybe you have to read it for English class. Either way, it’s just been sitting there, gathering dust on your bedside table for weeks. Well, good news – this is the perfect time to read it. So as soon as you’ve finished reading this post, go get a cup of tea, or coffee, or whatever beverage you enjoy and get reading!

2. Revamp your room

 Winter’s finally over (or so I’ve heard – it’s still rainy and cold over here), so that’s means it’s the perfect time to give your bedroom a good clean (or as I call, move the pile of my belongings from the floor, to my desk) and revamp your room decor. And I don’t mean just go on pinterest and contemplate revamping your decor. I mean physically embracing your inner artsy teen, getting out your glue gun, scissors and sharpies and making some stylish DIY decor. I’m actually working on a room decor post at the moment which I’ll be publishing shortly, so hopefully that will give you some ideas!

3. Do some baking

 One thing I personally love doing during the holidays, or any time of the year really, is doing a bit of baking. If you’re stuck for ideas, allow me to recommend two amazing recipes for Lemon Cake and Chocolate Chip Cookies. Seriously, you should try them out 😉 .

4. Practice!

Whether you play an instrument or a sport, make sure you take advantage of all your free time and get some extra training/ practice sessions in. Ironically, I always seem to neglect my piano playing during the holidays, but really I should be practicing even more than usual.

5. Organise a day out

OK, so maybe this last bit of advice is a little hypocritical as I actually haven’t left my house all week, but I swear I’ve tried to organise something with my friends, they’re just all too “busy”. Which is strange, because I know for fact that none have them have social lives. Anyway, planning a trip with your friends is always tons of fun, whether it’s going into town and having lunch out, or going for a walk (not really my thing, but each to their own) and having a picnic.
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So, that’s all for today… I know this was a short post, but as I mentioned, I’ve got some really fun DIY posts planned for the not-so-distant future, so keep an eye out for them!