Flashback Friday - office bake off!

Now halfway through of the newest series of Great British Bake Off and we've been tuning into every episode, have you?

If you follow us on Facebook or Instagram, you might be aware that we've had a few of our very own bake-offs at Ellie Ellie HQ. SO we're taking a look back at the best (and yummiest) moments..     

Last Christmas, the team individually baked snowflake cookies, reindeer cupcakes, and even a gingerbread house!

...and here are the winning star bakers with their fantastic creations!

At Easter, we all rolled up our sleeve and got involved once again, competing for the best bake prizes! Featuring chocolate eggs, bunnies, and white chocolate fingers...

                                

Taggie and Lindsay's bakes were crowned best looking and best tasting -  an indulgent layered chocolate cake, and surprise on the side Victoria sponge!

 Which bakes are your favourite?

Our new 'Bakers gonna bake emoji mug' is also a firm favourite for all those star bakers out there!

 www.ellieellie.co.uk

Bakewell Baking Festival!

It's not your average summer festival, and it's guaranteed not to disappoint! The worlds first baking festival is now in its third year, taking huge vintage inspiration for its stalls and entertainment - including a custard pie fight and mad hatters tea party for the kids! 

Held in the picturesque town of Bakewell, Derbyshire which is known as the "Spiritual home of baking", the festival prides itself on providing "quintessential English fun" for all the family, and its pet friendly, so why not bring the dog along too? As well as the old British favourites, there's delicacies from all around the world to get stuck into.. but don't forget to head to the vintage marketplace too, offering beautiful cake stands and crockery!

To watch demonstrations from professional bakers, visit a doggy deli, decorate some gingerbread and more, head over to the website to get your tickets!

www.ellieellie.co.uk

House of the Rising Bun Cupcakes!

The lovely Laura at House of the Rising Bun sent us over one of her baking cake mixes, and as it was Holly's birthday at Ellie Ellie HQ last week, it was the perfect excuse to get baking and try out the mix. 

The cake mix arrived in a brilliantly packaged box, with a great design and all the information you needed to bake your cake clearly written on the back. Inside the box you have a cake mix and an icing mix, all you need to add is 3 eggs and butter! 

House of the rising bun was founded by Laura Stephenson, who noticed her cupboards were full of ingredients that she had only used once when baking. Her mixes use the best ingredients and apart from the eggs and butter, includes everything you need to bake the perfect cake. 

Our cake was Lemon Poppy Seed, but her other flavours include raspberry and vanilla, double chocolate and vanilla bean! 

I started by following the simple instructions written clearly on the back of the packaging, and my mixture soon looked like a yummy cake mixture, all i had to do was soften the butter and add in their cake mix packet. Simple, no need to add a teaspoon of baking powder or a cup of sugar, it's all done for you. 

Once the cake mix was blended in, i added the eggs one by one, and soon my mixture was ready to put in my cupcake cases and into the oven. 

Once the cupcakes had been in the oven, they came out looking tasty and ready to cool.  

Once they were cool i started the simple task of making my icing, which again just included adding water to the icing mix!

When i finished my icing, i simply covered my cupcakes and added some sprinkles to add some colour! 

Not only were the cupcakes easy to make, but they tasted delicious too. All the girls in the office absolutely loved them and their lemony goodness. 

The cake mix was so simple to use and meant i didn't need to rummage in my cupboards for ingredients i wouldn't ever use again. Rather than buying each individual ingredient for a cake, i think stocking your cupboard with these cake mixes is a much better idea!

Thank you House of the Rising Bun, now to try out the other flavours!  

Christmas Cupcakes!

There is nothing better than getting creative in the kitchen at Christmas and there are loads of ways to cook up a storm with the family this festive season. A great way to involve the kids is to make some Christmas cupcakes. They can decorate the cupcakes how they like, using Christmas coloured icing and Christmas cake toppers. Ellie Ellie’s Vintage Christmas Cake Toppers are perfect for this.

You can use your normal cupcake recipe and decorate with lovely ideas!

Here are just a few ideas to give you some inspiration!

 

 

 

 

Enjoy your Christmas baking!

Halloween Treats!

A great way to get the kids involved with something fun and creative this Halloween is by getting in the kitchen and cooking up a storm!

You can't go wrong with a spooky Halloween cupcake, which are bound to delight the little kids as well as the big kids! Decorating the cupcakes are a fun afternoon activity for the kids to keep them entertained!

These spooky spider cupcakes are easy to make and fun to decorate! Find the recipe for the cupcakes here.

 

And to decorate the cupcakes you will need:

 

2 packs of liquorice Catherine wheels

12 tbsp. Nutella or other chocolate spread

Liquorice allsorts (the black ones with the white centre)

tube of black writing icing

1 length of red bootlace

 

To decorate the cakes: unravel the liquorice wheels and cut into lengths to make the dangly legs, let the kids get creative and stick the legs onto the top of each cake.

 

Spoon the chocolate spread on top and spread lightly within the liquorice legs to make the spiders body! Now cut the allsorts to make the eyes and the red bootlaces to make mouths! Let the kids stick everything onto the cupcake and make different spooky creations they will love to eat!

Another great Halloween treat is these Eerie Eyeballs, which are a healthy option for kids this Halloween! Made from apple rings, dried apricots and raisins they will be a fun addition to Halloween and the kids can have fun making them. Find out how to make these here!

Have fun this Halloween creating fun and exciting treats for the family!