I Should Have Been On The GBBO

The Great British Bake Off may be over for this year but that doesn't stop the rest of us from baking. I personally think I should have been on the GBBO for amateurs.

Aldi recently set some of us lovely bloggers a bake off challenge of our own.

Using some Aldi's Home Baking SpecialBuys and core ingredients, I had to pick a recipe from one of the many used on the GBBO show this year, I opted for the Fruity Swedish Tea Ring which Richard cleverly made.

Now this isn't something I've made before and I'm not lucky enough to own a freestanding mixer or a proving bag for that matter but I gave it my best shot….

Quick and Simple Bread Recipe

Whilst clearing out my kitchen cupboards the other day, I happened to find all the ingredients that I had been leftover from me making bread and I realised that I never shared my recipe on here.

Making bread needn't be complicated and below is a really quick and simple method for creating your very own loaf.

Ice Cream Bread Recipe

So it may be Summer right now but the weather is so changeable that it doesn't always seem appropriate to be eating a freezing cold ice cream.

However this doesn't stop the kids from asking for them.

There isn't really a good substitute for ice cream so the next best thing, ice cream bread.

Now I know you're all thinking I'm mad right now but it really works and the best thing, you only need two ingredients.

Pumpkin and Coconut Bread Recipe

So today is Halloween. I'm sure many of you are busy with your kids, dressing up, carving pumpkins, perhaps a spot of trick or treating.

On Sunday I posted a picture of  a pumpkin with its top cut off. The question was, what to do with the insides??

I seem to have caught the baking bug lately so decided to bake some pumpkin bread with the added ingredient of coconut to add a little twist.

Ingredients - makes 2 loaves of bread

* 400g Castor Sugar
* 220g Brown Sugar
* 250ml Vegetable oil
* 4 Eggs
* 440g Plain Flour
* 2 tsps Bicarbonate of Soda
* 2 tsps Salt
* 1 tsp Ginger
* Pureed Pumpkin
* 75g Dessicated Coconut
* 150ml Water

Preparing

* Preheat your oven to 180 degrees.
* Grease and flour two loaf tins.
* Mix together the oil, sugars and eggs.
* Stir in the pumpkin puree.
* Add the flour, bicarbonate of soda, salt, ginger and water.
* Finally add the coconut and fold into the mixture.
* Pour the mix into the loaf tins and bake for around 60 minutes.

I put a skewer in the centre around 50 minutes and again at 55 minutes, if the skewer comes out clean then the bread is baked to perfection.

The bread should come out with a lovely golden crust on the outside whilst remaining wonderfully moist on the inside. No pumpkin waste in sight!!!

Oh and if people were wondering from my Silent Sunday last week what my pumpkin turned out like, well I didn't do the traditional carving, instead I went with this :

What has everyone else done with their pumpkins?

xxxx