Coates - The sugar hit: sweets that pack a punch!

LETS MAKE SOME BAD DECISIONS. THEY WILL BE KICK-ASS, TOTALLY DELICIOUS AND SOMETIMES UNEXPECTED BAD DECISIONS AND WELL BE MAKING THEM ALL IN THE KITCHEN. IM TALKING ABOUT PUTTING CAKE IN MILKSHAKES, EATING LUSCIOUS PANCAKES FOR BREAKFAST AND HAND-DIPPING YOUR OWN CHOCOLATE-COATED ICE CREAM CONES. THE GOOD NEWS IS THAT THERES NOTHING SO TERRIBLE HERE THAT CANT BE UNDONE WITH A LITTLE JUDICIOUS DIETING AND HITTING THE PAVEMENT SO ITS NOT LIKE PIERCING YOUR NIPPLE OR TATTOOING WINONA FOREVER ON YOUR ARM!

Cooking from a recipe is a strange form of hanging out. If youre lucky, over time you get to know the person who wrote the recipe and really grow to like them because they keep giving you good food. Whether that person is physically in the kitchen with you or not doesnt really matter. A lot of the time they probably wont be. Ive gotten to know so many people through their books, blogs or YouTube channels. Either way, they always feel like friends because theyre trying to help me out.

Sometimes the person is a maternal influence, like Martha Stewart, who is bossy but always right. Sometimes its an impossibly chic and awesome older woman, who you just wish you were as cool as, like Nigella Lawson. And sometimes they feel like an older sister or a sassy friend, like Joy the Baker, Gizzi Erskine or Jemma Wilson who are just like me but with a whole arsenal of amazing tricks up their sleeves, which Im dying to learn.

Think of me as your cheeky younger sister. Im not a responsible older sibling whos going to teach you how to apply lip-liner correctly, or explain why you should eat kale salad (why?). Im still working out those adult skills myself (you should see me try and apply lip-liner). What I have got worked out, though, is the short-cut route to the best, sexiest and tastiest sweet things for those days when it is time to CUT LOOSE and enjoy yourself.

If you and I were going to be in a water bomb fight, I would fill our balloons with jelly instead of water, to give us the edge over the competition. Thats the same attitude that I have brought to this book. I have used every dirty trick in my arsenal to lead you to victory when it comes to tearing it up in the kitchen. I have tested, re-tested and mad scientist-ed this whole book to get down to the MOST delicious, MOST ridiculous, MOST fun bunch of Sugar Hit goodness I could come up with.

As a blogger who jumped the hell out of the rat race at the very first opportunity, I am a HUGE believer in the lifes too short mentality. I know thats hardly an original thought, but I feel like its never more important than when youre looking at a book full of sweet snacks and desserts. If you want to bake something, I am more than happy to be that little imp on your shoulder screaming YES YOU SHOULD!, because I totally think that life is for the living and cake is for the eating. Pancakes forever, dieting never!

So what can you expect to find in here? Ive broken it down into six chapters. The first is Breakfast & Brunch. As American comic TV character Ron Swanson said, There has never been a sadness that cant be cured by breakfast foods. So that was a no-brainer.

From there I moved on to the Coffee Break chapter, because thats how my mind works as soon as breakfast is over, Im already thinking about my mid-morning snack-attack.

In the Healthy Junk chapter, youll find something for every day of the year. Something for your vegan friend, your gluten-free niece and for those days when you want to eat rice pudding but also feel healthy and full of life.

From there, things take a devious turn in the Midnight Snacks chapter. Im so excited about that chapter. Im not going to say anything more about it. Just wait till you get there.

Party Time is all about layer cakes, giant pies and show-stopping desserts. These are the things to pull out for a graduation, engagement or twenty-first birthday they are recipes that really make eyes light up. Stick a bunch of sparklers in the top of any one of these and make someones day.

And, finally, because I am absolutely, hopelessly in love with the festive season, the last chapter is Happy Holidays. Its full of all the things that I want to make and eat while staring at twinkling lights and singing Christmas carols loudly and off-key.

I hope you find something in here that makes you feel like you just have to make it straight away. And I hope you share it with a friend or a loved one. And I hope it makes you and them as happy as all these recipes have made me. Because life is short, and butter is the best!

Lets do this!

BUTTER

My rebellious streak refuses to bow to the conventional wisdom that unsalted butter should be used in baking. I like salted butter its what I put on my toast, so thats what I use. If youre using unsalted, no dramas, just be generous with any additional salt!

CHOCOLATE AND COCOA

When it comes to chocolate it definitely pays to shop for quality. This is one of those instances where you definitely get what you pay for. Always go for at least 70 per cent cocoa solids in dark chocolate, and at least 3540 per cent in milk chocolate and shop around to find your favourite brand. For unsweetened (Dutch) cocoa powder, I think the darker the better. I tend to go for an organic brand, which is almost black and full of flavour.

COCONUT OIL

The two kinds of coconut oil youre likely to see at the shops are virgin and refined. Theres a lot of debate about the relative health merits of each. I use coconut oil, not for health reasons, but because it solidifies at cold room temperature and has a great taste. Virgin coconut oil tastes strongly of coconut, while refined oil has a much more subtle, nutty flavour. Either one will work for the recipes in this book.

DEEP-FRYING

is the funnest! But its also, obviously, not something that you want to muck around with. My tips for deep-frying are as follows:

Pick a heavy, sturdy pan to deep-fry in

Use an oil with a high smoke-point, such as canola or grapeseed

Put your pan on a burner at the back of the stove, not the front

Make sure any handles arent hanging over the side of the work surface

Invest in a thermometer to measure the temperature of the oil

Never fill your pan more than a third full of oil

Leave the oil to cool completely before disposing of it

Use common sense!

EGGS

All eggs are large, free-range and organic in my kitchen. Im happy to pay a little more if it means that one less chicken has to live a horrible battery-cage existence. Organic eggs taste fantastic and theyre better for you, but any large eggs will do.

FLOUR

The two main types of flour used in this book are plain (all-purpose) flour and strong flour (sometimes called bread flour). Strong flour has a little extra protein, making it better suited to bread baking. I recommend that you use strong flour, where its mentioned, for the best results.

LINING A TIN WITH ACETATE

Acetate is a food-safe plastic, which you can use to line a cake tin when you want a really tall finish, or are working with liquid fillings that need time to set. You can buy it from specialty cake stores. Simply set up your springform tin as usual, and then line the plastic inside the tin, using masking tape on the outside to hold it in place. You may need to use two pieces to get a high enough rim. True confession I have been known to use clear A4 pieces of stationery plastic in a pinch.