Makin' Cakies

So, a little off from what I normally blog about, I've been baking today and thought somebody might enjoy what I've been making, so here is a full step-by-step instruction blog complete with photographs to help you along as you make the wonderful cakey goodness that is Cakies. I call them Cakies because they aren't quite cakes, but aren't cookies either. Sort of in the middle, but you can make them go either way depending how you prefer them.

So first up, ingredients and other things you will need:
- 4oz Sugar
- 4oz Butter
- 6oz Self Raising Flour
- 1 Egg
- Chocolate (I've gone for a bar, but chocolate chips work great too)
(Click Here for a good site for conversions)


- A mixing bowl
- Scales
- Baking Tray
- Greaseproof Paper
- Whisk (if you don't have one, just use a wooden spoon)
- Wooden Spoon



Step 1: Prepare!
Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas 4/350F, and get your greaseproof paper on your tray. I know some people like to grease trays, but I always just use paper for these Cakies and I've never, ever had a problem. This is always a good time to get your chocolate chopped up if you're using a bar, I like big chunks in mine, so that's what I've got!


Step 2: Butter & Sugar!
This is the part where you chuck it all in and get it looking like more than a collection of ingredients.
First, put your butter into your bowl and add the sugar to it (just as a note to my picture - if you use your mixing bowl with your scales, make sure you always set it to Zero when you put the scale tray back on!)

Then, give it a blitz with your whisk until the butter and sugar have mixed together to form a creamy yellow substance, like so:





If you don't have a whisk of any kind, just use a wooden spoon. This will mean more arm power, but it gets the job done just as well.




Step 3: Egg & Flour!
Crack your eggs into the butter/sugar mixture and add a small amount of your flour. Give it a whisk until it's all mixed in, add the remainder of the flour, and whisk again. By this time you will have a thick sort of cake mix.





















Step 4: Chocolate!
Pour your chocolate chunks/chips into the mixture, and fold in with a wooden spoon, until you're happy that it's thoroughly distributed.

Step 5: Baking Tray!

I always go for a whole tray of Cakie, but it would work the same if you wanted to spoon blobs of the mixture onto the baking tray instead. I prefer to bake it all together, and then cut it into slices. This way, the centre pieces are amazing and so soft! This choice is obviously completely up to you though! Note - smaller cakies will take less time to cook.

Step 6: Into the Oven!
Go on, pop it in! My Cakie took 15 minutes to cook, obviously this will depend on the oven.
Please take note! Your Cakie will come out soft. Do NOT judge it by how firm it feels - it will firm up when cooling. I have made this mistake before, and the outcome isn't great! It will have started to brown off at the edges, but will probably still be pale in the centre (see my picture below). Just take it out of the oven, and leave it as it is on the baking tray to cool down. When it feels firmer to the touch, slice it up into squares, and use a spatula or other flat utensil to gently peel each slice from the baking paper, which should happen with ease.


If you want it to be more like cookie dough, take it out sooner, you just want it warmed through really. If you want it to be more like biscuit, leave it longer in the oven to dry out some more.

I love it the way it is - soft and Cakie! ^_^


Step 7: ENJOY!!

It's been a cold week....

Ok, this is going to be a picture heavy post. (Click them for the full sized image)

I'll start with Chinese New Year - went into central London with a couple of friends, their baby & my young cousin to see a bit of the celebrations. It was absolutely packed! We watched some of the singers/dancers in Trafalgar Square for a bit, which was good. Saw this incredible picture drawn on the floor in chalk by a homeless man. My drawing talents stretch about as far as stick men....


It snowed heavily all day on Monday, and apparently will do again this weekend. I don't think Winter is gone at all.
So, some pictures of the snow, which includes the 'Gigantic Balls' phenomenon:













And the first hint of Spring:


















Also, I've been making. Well, customising actually. These are for my best friend's baby:
























And here are some shoes I attacked for a friend in my infinite boredom:















Right well this is overly long now, and no one even reads it so it doesn't matter too much!

Kung Hei Fat Choi!

Indeed, Happy (Chinese) New Year! Welcome to the year of the Ox!


Just wanted to say, how awesome are these shoes?! Just to point out, I am really not a shoes person. I own 10 pairs of Converse that I live and die in, and a pair of flat black shoes for placement. But yeah, if they weren't over £60, they'd be mine already! :(

I love the little robot on the buckle! Awww. Anyone feeling generous?



:)

So much for blogging...

Well that went out the window quickly. I completely forget, should get myself into a routine or something. So, it's been a while. Done half a year at Uni, had my 21st birthday, Christmas, and now it's the first day of a new year. Welcome, 2009.


So what do I envision for this new year? No resolutions - I can make silly claims that I know I can't stick to at any time of the year. Therefore, I've decided to go in with a new approach - 'Do It'. It's for times when I'm unsure. When I've got to make a choice. What's the worse that will come of it? Looking a bit foolish? Oh well, that's life. You have to grab it by it's proverbials and shake it about a bit. I've been far too bored recently and need a bit of a wake up. So here it is. Doing It.


I'm going to celebrate every occasion and get my work done. I'm going to volunteer somewhere and I'm going to make some friends and some money. I'm going to get round to seeing people I haven't seemed to have time for, go on some interesting holidays and I'm going to relish every moment. I'm gonna learn stuff. New, interesting stuff. I'm going to learn things about myself, about my friends, and about the world. And then I'm going to see if I'm a different person this time next year.


Happy New Year everyone.

Had a mad few days....

Finally at Uni! All the months of build up and I'm finally here! It's quite exciting, but at the moment I'm absolutely knackered. Stayed in Saturday night and had pizza and drinks with the girls I'm living with, went out Sunday Evening, came back quite late, then had to be up at the crack of dawn today. Got my timetable and it's not too demanding....2 days a week pretty much for the next 12 weeks. Not too bad!


Had a bit of trouble getting on the net - you have to go onto the internet to register for the internet.... Obviously sorted now though.


It's now time for bed, another early morning awaits!

Busy busy!

It's been a bit full on recently, I'm constantly doing something! Spent a weekend down at my cousins new place in Wiltshire, during which we took the dog for a walk down the road and bumped into a lot of tourists and a pile of stones:
















We went into Salisbury and saw the Cathedral, but just from the outside as we were poor, and they charge:
















I've spent a lot of time with the kids (my cousins) recently, as they aren't back at school, which has been fun. Spent the day at a converted barn which is now a big indoor soft play and climbing area. Was nice and empty because everyone else is off learning elsewhere.

There have been birthday parties and days out galore, and it's not over yet! The littlun is 2 tomorrow, so we're having a little get together, then my uncle's birthday is Friday, so there will be another get together Thursday, and then.......dun dun dun!

Saturday! Moving to Uni! I can't wait. I'm so, so excited. I've been looking forward to it for an entire year now, and I'm 10 times more excited than when I was about to start at Queen Mary. Which was rubbish by the way, hence the new start.
Also on Saturday we're off to see Thomas the Tank Engine at the cinema. That's in the morning, and from there I'll be getting my stuff and moving on out. I'll literally be going from child to adult in the space of about an hour.

I'm so excited, I could eat a Crunchie right now!

I've been stripping today!

My nan is decorating her spare bedroom at the moment, and whilst stripping off the top layer of wallpaper, look what we found underneath! (I say 'we found', my nan did already know about it, what with it being the wallpaper she put up many years ago!)




And the linoleum floor:



Those two matching but different coloured wallpapers were in the same room, the pink on 2 opposite walls, the blue was on the other 2. I love it! I'd be pretty happy with that wallpaper in my room now!