Amateur baker, part time traveller and full time foodie~ Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tangosbaking/
A slightly late Merry Christmas from me!! 🎉🎉 I got a little carried with a lot of stuff lately (work, uni essay and readings among many other things 😬), but finally found some time to do some festive baking in the past month. 😁 What kinds of festive baking have you done?
And also a quick shoot of the beautiful Christmas lights here in Edinburgh!! 😍😍
Happy Christmas Eve! 🎄☃️🌟 Almost a week into tier 4, but funnily enough I am still enjoying my time away from work and being left to my own devices. 😌 Obviously this Christmas is a lot quieter than previous years, but I think it’s good to find some peace in these uncertain times.
Continuing my spree of festive baking, I decided to make a traditional Yule Log today. The filling is a whipped cream with raspberries, wrapped in a chocolate sponge coated in dark chocolate ganache and decorated with tempered chocolates. 😋 It’s very straightforward, and I had such a fun time making it because I just love doing tempered chocolate work. 😁👌 And to finish, all it needs a little dust of icing sugar to bring it to life! ❄️❄️
Despite the fact we are approaching Christmas🎄, I know for many of us in the UK, there will be no moods for celebration. The chaos that has happened in the past few days had most certainly angered and frustrated me (and it’s much more than just having my holiday plan tossed right out of the window). I do believe tier 4/lockdown is the right thing to do, but I sighed at the incompetence, disorganisation and seemingly lack of care shown by the British government that has allowed the situation to be escalated to this stage… It’s such a sad way to end a truly unusual year (and who knows what’s in hold for the new year). Meanwhile, however, I am just happy to stay in my tiny flat and keep myself occupied for this festive period. I am not unused to celebrating the holiday alone, but I know many will be disappointed of being unable to celebrate with their families. I do hope everyone out there get to enjoy the holiday in some way despite the circumstances. ❤️
Taking my mind off everything going on, I decided to go ahead with some festive baking in the upcoming days. Today marks the winter solstice and apparently the ‘Christmas star’ ⭐️ is set to align for the first time in 800 years tonight from a social media account I have read. What a coincidence today that I decided to bake a ‘star bread’ (and it is REALLY a coincidence I promise!😂 Was wanting to make it when I saw it on Instagram a while ago!😄)
I used a simple white bread dough recipe (It’s the same dough recipe I used here 👉https://tangosbaking.home.blog/2020/07/07/rise-and-shine/), and decided to go with a savoury filling of spring onions, ginger, garlic and coriander. I also added hot olive oil into the spring onion filling (apparently it helps to make the aroma of the spring onions to come out better??) The bread is actually easier to shape than I thought – you can see the steps below. Why not give it a try? 😉
Wishing everyone a good week ahead of them!
It’s been over a month since I last posted… and needless to say work and lockdown has completely took over my life in the past month… 😅 (I was still required to go to work, so not that my routine changed dramatically at all, but the hours have been intense at times. 😛) However, one more week of work left before my official holiday, and I am determined to finish on a good note 💪 and can’t for Christmas to finally come! 🎅🎄❄️
Unfortunately, a close colleague of mine has been tested positive for COVID-19 a few days ago, so I am currently sitting out for self-isolation at home for another week. (Although a little birdie told me that self-isolation period is going to be shortened, so I may be returning to work sooner than I thought…) Meanwhile, it’s good that I finally have some free time for myself to do some baking. Today, I have decided to make some flower sausage breads using a technique I learnt from making a sausage roll wreath last Christmas (after I saw that on Bake Off!) Bringing a little sunshine ☀️ and a feel of spring 🌼🌼 into this gloomy weather! 😊 I was so happy that the dough still managed to rise very well despite the freezing temperature haha! 🥶❄️❄️
I have no idea what I will expect in my upcoming holiday (since I am nervous about booking anything in advance due to fears of change in restrictions), but hopefully some exciting fun will be on the horizon. 😁 What are your plans for Christmas? 🎄
Happy Christmas Eve, everyone! 🎄❄️💫❤️❤️ It’s so nice to be back home in the holiday, isn’t it? (I certainly am, since I am posting this whilst setting up a bath lol! 🛀)
Hope you all are enjoying your holiday, and I am sorry if this post dampens the festive mood for you but I have thought long and hard before writing this… My break didn’t start off well when I found out three days ago that my family home was broken into. Losing valuables was one thing but I am just glad that no-one was hurt. However, I am upset by the fact that someone feels they have the rights to violate the place that holds so much happy memories to me. Here I am, a few days later, taking a picture of this cake at the exact same spot where it was broken into… I still feel a little uneasy around the house, but hopefully over time it will heal. ❤️ Though I am not going to let this stops me celebrating Christmas with a smile on my face! 😊
So happy with how this cake turns out ‘cause I’ve never done something like this before! The cake is just a simple vanilla sponge covered with a smooth whipped cream, and topped with flakes of chocolate. However, the iced biscuits are actually shortbreads as my family and I are not particularly fond of gingerbread, so I made a break away from the tradition lol. 😛 (A tip: Make sure to always rest the shaped biscuits in the fridge or freezer before baking. This is to prevent the butter from melting too fast during baking so that the biscuits don’t lose the shapes you probably spent some time painstakingly trying to cut out! 😂)
Can’t wait to be binge-watching Christmas TV all day tomorrow! Merry Christmas and best wishes to you all! 🎅🎄❄️💫🎉🎉🎊🎊👏👏👏
Three more days and counting! Time really does fly before you know it! 😆 And at last I am so happy that my holiday has begun!
I took this Sunday to fulfil a promise I made with a friend. Last week, I was supposed to bring her a mojito cake for a viewing party of the Strictly final, but I was down with a cold and was pretty much bed-bound for the weekend. 🤒 But never too late to make up for lost time, right? 😁 So today I brought her a mojito snow angel cake to make up for it haha! 😇 The cake was composed a lime sponge soaked with a mojito syrup and covered with a lime and mint icing with some shots of rum! 🍸 (Try not to get drunk lol) It was then finished with a white fondant and some tempered chocolate work plus a few small touches for decorations. ❤️
Are you naughty or nice this Christmas? 😉
Christmas baking truly marks for me the beginning of the seasonal festival. There are so many things I love about Christmas, from the beautiful lights in the streets of London to a crazy time in the Winter Wonderland whilst listening to the best Christmas tunes. It’s truly the best time of the year! ❤️💚❤️💚 What are your favourite things about Christmas? 😊
Last year, I decided to make a Yule Log after seeing it done in the Great Christmas Bake Off the year before, and I was so happy with how it turned out in the end! 😁👏👏 Swiss roll was the first ever bake I learnt to make so it does bring back a sense of nostalgia to be making that back at my family home. ❤️
(P.S. A couple of days after that, I also made a Christmas croquembouche! 😆)
Now, what should I make this Christmas? 🤔😗
Wordless Wednesday: Christmas Special
Honestly can’t say how excited I was for this weekend! 🙌🙌 After reading so much about city getaway trips on the social media and internet, I have always wanted to do that and, earlier this week, I went on an impulse and booked a trip away from London for the weekend! Having said that, I didn’t want to go too far (and avoided flying in case I won’t make it back in time for work on Monday lol 😂.) So I ended up choosing the historic Canterbury in Kent as my destination, only a relatively short one and an half hours by train from London.
Despite sleeping quite late last night, I set my alarm (with snoozing lol) early for this morning. Victoria Station was super busy but I managed to grab a breakfast roll from a Burger King before hopping onto the train.
The train was such a peaceful ride. Not only did I get to enjoy the countryside scenery, I also was able to get some work done during the journey and kept myself occupied. 😂👌
The weather was not the best when I arrived with slight drizzle running throughout the lunch hours. Strangely though I wasn’t hugely bothered and continued to explore the old city.
The steep entry fee of Canterbury Cathedral put me off from going inside…😥😥 So instead I had a wander inside Castle Fine Art nearby, then Old City before heading off for lunch.
The rain got heavier 🌧🌧 as I was heading to the restaurant, so I almost sprinted my way there. I did some research and chose to go to The Ambrette Canterbury, an Indian fusion restaurant. And I must say I was not disappointed, in fact I was slightly taken aback by how good it was! 🤤🤤 (I am not exaggerating but it is hands down the best Indian food I have ever eaten! ❤️❤️) The price is also very reasonable as well, especially given their quality! (Costed me under £24 for the entire lunch… That’s less than twice the entry fee to go inside Canterbury Cathedral haha. 😂😂)
I have never heard of Kulfi until today! (For those of you who don’t either it is an Indian ice cream.) But it was so delicious, I want to go home and make this myself! ❤️❤️ (Watch this space haha 😉) Not only were the dishes presented beautifully, but they are wildly flavoured with spices! If you are a lover for spices, you will definitely love this place as much as I did! 🤤🤤
After a brief rest in the inn (which is a convenient spot within the Old City), I went for another walk in the evening to catch the beautiful, bright Christmas lights under the night sky. ❄️❄️❄️ The streets and market were busy with brilliant music playing in the background. Since I moved to London, watching Christmas lights and going to Christmas market have become a tradition of mine every year to welcome the full swing of the winter season, so this year I am simply starting somewhere else! 😉 Christmas can’t come any sooner! ☃️🎄⭐️ (And I brought a slice of Yule Log back to my hotel room after dinner! 😋❤️)
Hope you all also have an amazing weekend!
Tango's Baking 