Gingerbread Cookies - Semi Successful

Happy New Years Eve!
Since I am a sad soul and does not have anything to do on this exciting day, I will just write an update on a recent recipe I tried.

I know, I know, the holidays have already passed, but I just had to make cookies yesterday since I bought two new cookie cutters from Sur La Table in Newport. These cute little cookie cutters are probably my new  favorite! They even had rainbow whisks, unfortunately they were too expensive.

Onward to the baking!

Pros
+ cookies came out nicely
+ color was the same
+ nice and crunchy

Cons
- required golden syrup which I didn't want to use
- sugar burned
- not enough flavor
- pricey

From my previous post, I said that I had finally found Golden Syrup for about $8 which was pretty expensive for a small tin can. So for this recipe, I was a little cheater and only used 3Tbsp of Golden Syrup and 2Tbsp of corn syrup. This seemed okay, since the melted ingredients came out fine.

Yes, stupid me, burned the sugar. I have a bad habit of turning the fire on really high and just leaving it to heat up whatever is on the stove. I turned my back for just a few seconds to find a bowl and my brown sugar started to burn! I just had to work around it and fish out the burnt pieces. Also, not all the sugar melted...

The flavor may have been light since not all the sugar was incorporated into the mixture or there was just too little ground ginger. However, you could still taste the ginger in the cookies which is great!

Suggestions and solutions are always welcome 8)
Happy New Year!

Find the Recipe here: Gingerbread

FOUND IT!

Guys! I found Lyle's Golden Syrup at a market called "Bristol's Farms" in Newport. Quite a long drive from where I live. This tiny can is also quite expensive. About $8 for this beautiful can of goodness. Still worth it though!

Crunchy Honeycomb with Chocolate - Fail

Hi, sorry it's been forever since I've posted. It was finals week, blah blah blah, just didn't get the chance to post any of the recipes I've tested.
Anyway, long story short, I finally have time now!

Yesterday, I made the Honeycomb recipe. Unfortunately it didn't turn out the way it was supposed to... \:

Pros
+ color was similar to Sorted's
+ fizzing and bubbling was present
+ tasted good!

Cons
- didn't have castor sugar
- had to substitute Lyle's Golden Syrup with Karo Corn Syrup
- added honey
- probably added more sugar and syrup than I was supposed to..
- didn't harden
- stuck to the paper
- deflated a bit (is that supposed to happen?)

As for the sugar, I only had confectioner's sugar which, from online sources, is not the same as caster sugar. However, people suggested grinding up granulated sugar, which I did. Surprisingly, it actually worked! The sugar was half confectioner's and half grinded granulated sugar. Could that have been a problem?

WHY ISN'T THERE GOLDEN SYRUP IN THE US? I stood in the syrup section of a local Stater Bros. looking for a tin can that had a dead lion on it with bees surrounding it. No luck! I just had to settle for corn syrup. Isn't corn syrup supposed to be terrible for your body? Well, if anyone knows where I can get my hands on some Lyle's Golden Syrup, please let me know!

The color was looking a bit lighter than Sorted's so I added some honey. Being the genius that I am, I thought the honey could help with the color and taste. Wrong! It just made it more liquidy. So then I added more sugar which is probably the reason why it didn't harden.

Oh, and I left out the chocolate because I thought it would've been too sweet. ^u^

If ANYONE can help me out, that would be awesome! I would love to be able to make this treat to share with friends and family. Thanks! x

For the recipe: Sortedfood's Crunchy Honeycomb

List of Recipes (Seafood)

Seafood:

1. Monkfish rending curry recipe
2. Salmon bagel burger
3. Indian salmon hash
4. Fish fingers and mushy peas
5. Greek salmon parcels
6. Teriyaki ramen noodles
7. Fish in a bag recipe
8. Prawn toast
9. Healthy gammon and apple
10. Leak and butterbean fish
11. Fish curry
12. Tuna nicoise
13. 13.  Fish and chips
14. 14.  Prawn and pea pasta
15. 15.  Salmon en croute
16. 16.  Crustless salmon quiche
17. 17.  Smoke mackerel and scrambled eggs
18. 18.  Tandoori salmon
19. 19.  Tuna linguine
20. 20.  Thai pot noodle
21. Crab cakes
22. Mussels mariniere
23. Asian ginger salmon
24. Squit in brandy cream
25. Fish finger sarnie
26. Fish washer
27. Rainbow trout with citrus rice
28. Steamed Chinese sea bream
29. Seafood spaghetti marinara
30. Seabass with braised lettuce
31. Harissa prawns with bulgar wheat
32. Salmon beetroot gravadlax
33. Indian salmon hash
34. Poached salmon and watercress
35. Seabream with coconut
36. Crustless salmon quiche
37. Sardine escabeche
38. Quinoa salad with baked fish
39. Lemonade calamari
40. Smoked mackerel pate
41. Wasabi tuna and noodle salad
42. Salmon scotch eggs
43. Smoke salmon potato cakes
44. Prawn pakora
45. Fish crumble pie
46. Salmon en croute

List of Recipes (Vegetarian)

Vegetarian:

1. Vegetarian bean burger
2. Vegan falafel balls
3. Vegetarian tortilla lasagne
4. Mexican beans on toast
5. Party dips
6. Ham and spring onion toaster omelette
7. Smokey bbq beans and jacket
8. Homemade pizza
9. Butternut squash ravioli
10. Mac n cheese
11. Florentine jacket potato
12. Sweet potato curry recipe
13. Asparagus and beetroot
14. Smokey red pepper with feat and mint soup
15. Spicy red pepper with chive yoghurt soup
16. Roasted red pepper, tomato and pesto soup
17. Spiced carrot and lentil soup
18. Classic carrot and coriander soup
19. Carrot and coconut soup
20. Garlic mushroom and thyme soup
21. Hungarian mushroom soup
22. Mushroom and spinach soup with oregano
23. Creamy broccoli and brie soup
24. Broccoli and peanut butter soup
25. Red pepper and goats cheese risotto
26. Mediterranean haloumi and vegetables
27. Egg surprise
28. Cheese stuffed mushroom
29. Tupper salads
30. Onion bhaji
31. Bloody mary soup
32. Creamy mushroom polenta
33. Secret veggie pasta
34. Creamy squach gnocchi
35. Broccoli and bean soup with brie dunkers
36. Salsa and guacamole dips

List of Recipes (Sweets)

Hey! This is my list of recipes I hope to get through until the year 2014. This list is only up to 10-12-12, so it doesn't contain any of their new recipes after that date.

Sweets

1. Chocolate Spaghetti Meatballs
2. Peanut butter jelly cookies
3. Ice cream sandwich
4. Chocolate and apricot brioche
5. Jelly fruit slices
6. Raspberry in cider jelly
7. Blackberry cheese cake swirl
8. Chocolate cake √
9. Chocolate dirt pot
10. Rainbow pancakes
11. Chocolate mousse
12. Eton mess ice cream
13. Pimp’d tropical salad
14. Key lime jelly pots
15. Marshmallow whoopee pie √
16. Lemon meringue pie
17. Peanut butter arctic roll
18. Fluffy strawberry mousse
19. Churros with chocolate sauce
20. Slimmers’ breakfast muffins
21. Crunchy honeycomb with chocolate X
22. Chocolate ice pops
23. Lemon zebra shortbread
24. Milky bar and blueberry cheesecake
25. Ultimate red velvet cupcakes
26. Hot cross bun and butter pudding
27. Passion fruit pudding
28. Marmite and mango panna cotta
29. Savory pancake recipe
30. Cornish pasty
31. Sticky toffee pudding
32. Sexy chocolate fondant
33. Rhubarb crumble cake
34. Lemon meringue pancake
35. White chocolate profiteroles √
36. Secret donut recipe
37. Christmas yule log
38. Gingerbread √
39. Apple strudel
40. Halloween popcorn
41. New Cake in a mug
42. Banoffee cupcakes
43. Chocolate polenta
44. Macarons
45. Epic candy cookie
46. Peach melba meringue
47. Tiramisu
48. Sushi
49. Tropical jelly
50. Granola
51. Royal wedding cake
52. Healthy smoothie
53. Microwave pudding
54. Fruit custard tart
55. Chocolate truffle
56. Jammie dodger recipe
57. Chocolate brownies
58. Vanilla panacotta
59. Baked Alaska
60. Apple flapjack
61. Baked cheesecake
62. Chocolate cake in a mug
63. Mr. Nigella Lawson
64. Strawberry shortcake
65. Rocky road
66. Freeze cake
67. Caribbean banana
68. Spiced apple and cinnamon cupcakes
69. Apple and mango crumble
70. Milky ice lolies
71. Tea poached fruit dessert
72. Fruit in the hole
73. Café latte crème caramel
74. Raspberry milkshake
75. Orange cake
76. Focaccia bread
77. Strawberry milleguille
78. Fruity French toast
79. Cosmo fool
80. Plum frangipane
81. Savory scones
82. Pineapple upside down cake
83. Boozy berry trifle
84. Peach and pistachio crumble
85. Summer prridge
86. Bakewell pastry slice
87. Apple and blackberry scones
88. Pineapple tarte tatin
89. Chocolate cherry rice pudding
90. Baked strawberries and cream
91. Mint chocolate soufflé
92. Frosted parsnip cake
93. Orange and cardamom crème brulee
94. Passionfruit pudding
95. Peach melba meringue roulade

Who and What is SORTED?

For those of you who have been depriving your feast beasts, I would like to introduce the SORTED crew to you. SORTED is, long story short, a group of friends who cook together.

However, SORTED to me is more than entertainment.

To save ya'll the cheesy, sap story that is probably fictional, I'm just going to jump straight to my point.

SORTED is my inspiration and my motivation.

To read about their real story: SORTED About