treats – the joy of five

Children, Chocolate, Families, Family Life, Festivals, Food, Picnics, Recipes

Gooey Chocolate BBQ Cones

June 3, 2016June 3, 2016by thejoyoffive3 Comments

We had our first experience of camping at a festival this weekend and I really wanted to try out some tasty treats that were easy to prepare with limited space but we’re still a little bit special.

We had decided that disposable BBQs were going to be our best friend as we could quickly prepare the food and throw everything away when we were done.

The whole family has a sweet tooth so something sticky and chocolaty would be the perfect treat. Take a look at these yummy cones if this is the kind of thing that takes your fancy too!

Gooey Chocolate BBQ Cones

Makes 10

Pack 10 waffle cones
200g milk chocolate
Large pack of marshmallows
120g cadburys nibbles
Punnet of strawberries

Break chocolate into pieces, cut marshmallows into half and quarter the strawberries.
Take out the cones and equally divide the chocolate, marshmallows, nibbles and strawberries between each of them.
Wrap the cones separately in tin foil and place on the BBQ when it is just warm at the end of your main cooking.
Leave to warm through for around 10mins, remove and serve. They would be perfect with a big blob of vanilla ice cream.

Cafes, Children, Families, Family Life, Food

New Year Treat At Georgous Gerties

January 9, 2016January 9, 2016by thejoyoffiveLeave a Comment

Choosing a Christmas present for my Mum and Dad is always tricky so my sister and I now club together to take them out for a treat rather than buy them a gift they will probably never use.

I wrote a post the other day on how depressing it is once all the Christmas and New Year celebrations have finished so we decided to take Mum and Dad for afternoon tea at Georgous Gerties in Dorking which is somewhere we’ve not tried before.

I arrived late as usual and Mum and Dad were already sitting with tea in hand inside the quaint tea rooms. It has been decorated wonderfully with lots of vintage items and pretty bunting which is always a hit with me!

I have sampled many an afternoon tea in my time but I’ve never been somewhere that caters for the children specifically. They had their very own cake stand of simple sandwiches, retro sweets, vegetable crudités and yummy crispy cakes. They were over the moon to be made to feel so special.

Unfortunately I was at the wrong end of the table to get any pictures of the adults cake stands but I can ashore you they were full of the brim with tasty sandwiches, homemade cakes and delicious scones that I topped with way to much jam and cream!

While at the table I had a little nose at what else was on offer as it came out of the kitchen and there seemed to be a great looking selection of lots of other hot and cold food and a rather scrumptious looking milkshake.

Normally a setting like this makes me feel on edge with the children but the staff were great with them and a selection of toys nustled in the fireplace kept them amused.

Not only do they serve wonderful food there is also a selection of great gifts, an old fashioned sweet shop and a creative workshop offering classes that I’m going to be looking into for the future.

If you are looking for somewhere to celebrate a special occasion or simply somewhere to have something good to eat I would highly recommend popping along and seeing for yourselves.

Allergy Free, Baking, Christmas, Nut Free, Recipes, Soya Free, Wheat Free

Allergy Friendly Christmas Cup Biscuits

December 2, 2015December 2, 2015by thejoyoffive5 Comments

There is nothing better than a lovely warming cup of hot chocolate and a yummy biscuit with the cold weather in the lead up to Christmas.
I’ve made some pretty biscuits that are allergy friendly and can be balanced on the side of your favourite mug or cup and decorated any way you like.

Christmas Cup Biscuits

300g Gluten free flour
150g soft brown sugar
150g dairy free margarine
1 egg equivalent of egg replacer
2tsp all spice
250g icing sugar
Juice half an orange

Preheat the oven to 180c/Gas Mark 4 whilst lining two large baking trays with greasproof paper.
Mix together the flour, and sugar and then rub together the butter and egg replacer to make fine breadcrumbs. Leave it in the fridge to chill for 20 minutes.
Once chilled roll out onto a floured surface until it is about 1cm thick. Take any festive cutter you like and cut out the shapes. Once out then cut a small rectangle into the bottom of each biscuit slightly larger than the rim of your cup.
Place in the oven and cook for 15 minutes whist mixing the icing sugar and orange juice to make the icing.
Once the biscuits have been taken out and cooled place your icing into a piping bag and pipe on your design.
When the icing has set serve on the side of a cup of hot chocolate.

Baking, Cakes, Food, Reviews, Uncategorized

Baker Days Cake Review And Givaway

August 22, 2015August 23, 2015by thejoyoffiveLeave a Comment

With our anniversary only a week away I was so happy to be asked by the fabulous Baker Days to review their ingenious letter box cakes. There was a large range of designs to choose from and lots of yummy flavours. I opted for a personalised cake so that I could have one of our wedding pictures on the top.

When I first read that the cake would be sent in the post and simply popped thought the letterbox I must admit I was a little sceptical on what it would look like on arrival. I was amazed that when I opened the box and the pretty tin it was presented it there was a lovely, perfectly intact cake inside.

The image covered the entire cake and not just a topper like you normally get. It was perfect for a reminder of our special day.

We are a greedy family but this would easily give you four good sized portions. The cake itself was soft and moist and the icing was wonderfully sweet.

I will definitely be using Bakerdays in the future and would be very interested in trying out the personalised cupcakes as I find these a good option for children’s birthday parties as they save on the fuss of party bags.

If you would like to try one of these great letterbox cakes for yourself then click here to enter.

I was given this product by Bakerdays to review and all my opinions are an honest view of what I thought.

Allergy Free, Cakes, Children, Dairy Free, Education, Families, Family Life, Food, Gifts, Healthy Eating, Nut Free, Recipes, Soya Free, Wheat Free

End Of Term Pressies

July 16, 2015July 20, 2015by thejoyoffive5 Comments

At the end of term we always like to say a big thank you to the teachers by making them something homemade.

This year I used a recipe from Life Currents that I had originally set aside for number four as it is allergy free; but it seemed something nice and easy for number three to prepare herself.

Coconut Bites

200g Shredded Coconut
230ml Coconut Oil
2tbsp Maple Syrup
Half tsp Vanilla Extract

In a saucepan mix together the coconut, coconut oil and the syrup and heat for about 5mins until some oil is absorbed.
Remove from the heat and pack firmly into a 9 by 5 inch loaf tin and refrigerate for around an hour.
Once hardened remove from the tin and cut into 21 small pieces.

I found some lovely jam jars in our local kitchen suppliers The Art Of Living which were perfect to home our handmade gifts.

Number three then cut a gift tag from some coloured paper and added her own message.

To finish the gift off she tied her gift tag to the jar with some string.

Hopefully her teachers will be pleased with the gifts and have a great summer holiday.

What gifts do you normally chose for your children’s teachers?

Allergy Free, Chocolate, Dairy Free, Egg Free, Families, Family Life, Fathers Day, Food, Nut Free, Photography, Recipes, Wheat Free

Allergy Free Chocolate Plops

June 21, 2015August 31, 2015by thejoyoffive3 Comments

With Fathers Day celebrations happening this weekend I knew there would be lots of treats flying around that number four would not be able to join in with; so whilst the older children made chocolate muffins for their Dad we set to making some super easy chocolate plops.

All that is need is a large bar of dairy free chocolate and some cake decoration sprinkles. There are lots available so you can be as creative as you like with your decoration.

Firstly get a chopping board that will be able to lay flat in your fridge and cover with a layer a cling film.

Then melt your chocolate in a bowl I’ve some boiling water, take a teaspoon and put a 5cm drop of chocolate onto your covered board. Then add your sprinkles to each plop.