Domesticity in its finest

Well my exams are finally over, so in the lead up to Christmas here is hoping I will be able to post more often. Today I had a day of baking, and my first attempt at making candy. The result? Lemon drops, honey snap cookies and maple fruit muffins! Sweet treats indeed.

Lemon drop candies

A while ago I bought an amazing book called A Field Guide to Candy by Anita Chu (say it out loud - I'm still trying to establish whether it is real, or an incredibly clever pen name). The stove elements at my old flat were terrible and my first attempts failed, but now I'm at home I can whip out my candy thermometer and make all sorts of delightful noms!

I think that these turned out quite well for a first attempt. Sadly I was missing citric acid, so I flavored them with lemon and orange extract instead. They are slightly on the chewy side, and very sweet, but delicious all the same. If I can get into the swing of this candy making thing I'll be set for christmas presents this year. Next up on my candy making missions: maple taffy and caramel apples!

Honey snap cookies

These cookies are made from a recipe out of the Edmond's cookbook. First honey, sugar and butter is melted together and then mixed with flour, a half teaspoon of cinnamon and a ton of baking powder and baked for about 10 minutes. Once baked and cooled you end up with these delicious, chewy yet crunchy cookies. Watch out though, because they double in size while baking so can spread into each other easily.

Maple fruit muffins

Traditionally I'm more of a cupcake

girl, but after all of my sugary escapades this morning I thought a healthier option could be a b

etter go. These are made from another Edmonds recipe, adapted a little by using raw sugar instead of white, a little maple syrup

and one half wholemeal flour. The fruits I used were sultanas, apples and dried apricots. I used half a teaspoon of homemade plum jam as fruity centers. These will make the perfect morning tea at work tomorrow :)

That's all from me today. It's my roller derby league's final this Saturday and we often make cupcakes to sell as snacks, so if I'm not too busy having game nerves there may be another post then!

x CB