Archive Cooking | Random Stuff

Birthday Muffin Cup cakes

Friday, April 16th, 2010 | Birthday Cakes, Cooking, Cupcakes | No Comments

I like to try and make the little one a Birthday cake, I think it’s nice to put in the effort, well maybe not when I’m up at 3am trying to get it sorted. But the finished result is nice. This year, however, I needed to follow a slightly different tact.

We had decided on a party that involved very little preparation. This was due to the fact that we were away in the run up to the party and didn’t want to be all stressed out the week before running about getting things sorted. So indoor play centre here we come, safe place for the children to run about and burn some energy. Food provided for a reasonable fee, no setting up or clearing away required. Turn up, kids have fun, eat and leave.. bliss!

Now although this was all great, one of the difficult things at these places is Health & Safety. You could being a Birthday cake in and cut it but the children couldn’t eat it on site. Hmmmm, I really didn’t fancy having to cut and wrap up 17 bits of cake!

*light bulb moment* I know I’ll make individual cakes all ready to go, no hassle just pop them in the party bags!

All wrapped up

For some time now I have been searching for the ultimate muffin recipe… Ideally one you can freeze, that tastes great once defrosted.. well I’ll only eat them otherwise! I think I have cracked it now, I’ve mixed it up a bit and made it my own so it is a closely guarded secret. Don’t even think about asking for it! But it’s not just the cake… It’s the icing too, and I could never get it just right like it is in the stores..

Perfect

Butter icing, the stuff they put on those nom swirly cakes! When ever I attempted it, it was always too soft and buttery… too sickly. I finally found the ultimate white chocolate butter icing. It handles really well and tastes delicious…

Pink for girls, blue for Boys

But what about the Birthday cake I hear you cry! Well I had a plan for that too… A stack of 5 muffins to make the main cake! Candles on, blow candles out, take cake home – easy!

Muffin Cake!

Top of Muffin Cake

They looked great and tasted amazing…. even if I do say so myself!

Tags: birthday, cake, cup cake, cupcake, muffin

Christmas Muffins… anytime of the year!

Wednesday, January 27th, 2010 | Cooking | No Comments

I came across these when searching for home made things to put in a Christmas hamper for my Mum and Dad and my brother and his wife. It was on the BBC good food website that I found these and they really looked the part and seemed easy to make up and also more importantly easy to bake. Though I will admit I didn’t actually give these a taste test before giving them as a gift.

Christmas Muffin Mix

The recipe is very simple, but the gift is all in the presentation. I used the 89p 1 litre slom jars from Ikea and then layered the following ingredients in the jar (flour at the bottom).

300g self-raising flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp ground mixed spice
100g pecans or walnuts (if your not a nut lover leave these out and put in more fruit)
140g tropical dried fruits medley
100g light muscovado sugar

The nuts and dried fruits in this recipe can be what ever you like.. in fact the batch I made today had dried fruit and seeds as I didn’t have any nuts. I’ve also done this without the mixed spice and just using and extra bit of Cinnamon or Nutmeg instead.

I tied a wooden spoon to the jar with some rafia style paper from the pound store, and printed off a tag with the cooking instructions:

Tip the contents of the jar into a large mixing bowl. Make a well in the centre and add 2 beaten eggs, 300ml/½pt milk and 100g/4oz melted butter. Mix quickly and lightly to a soft batter. Divide between 12 muffin cases. Bake at 190C/fan 170C/gas 5 for 18-20 mins. Use within 4 weeks.

ommmmm

As mentioned above I did actually make these after reports that they were really very nice! So for your viewing pleasure here’s the finished article.

nommmmm

Tags: Christmas, dried fruit, healthy treats, muffins

Freecycle and the yoghurt maker I’ve always wanted

Sunday, January 24th, 2010 | Cooking, Money Saving | No Comments

Ever since I was about 13/14 and my neighbour got BEL yoghurt making machine I’ve always wanted one. It’s strange really as I don’t have any recollection of the yoghurt being especially nice. I do remember putting lots of sugar in it, so that must have meant it wasn’t all that great but hey it didn’t stop me wanting one!

The BEL

Over the past year or so I found myself hankering after one more and more.. It didn’t have to be a BEL but the whole thing of simplifying and making things from scratch – knowing what goes into the food you eat made me think about it all the more. So I looked about and the first one really that stood out purely because it was everywhere was the easiyo sold by places like Lakeland ltd, QVC, Julian Graves etc… on the plus side they don’t require electricity but the problem…. well you have to buy these special yoghurt culture packs. I didn’t like that idea.. I want to be able to male my yoghurt as and when without having to go to a special shop to get the special packs. So I looked some more.. and found various other electric yoghurt makers from around £20 upwards.

Thing is, honestly, I couldn’t justify the cost to buy one new.. I mean for years I’ve wanted one, but it could just be all too much effort for not a great result. I don’t recall that much about the taste it might make me heave.. then I’d be really sick at spending the money! So I decided to bide my time, keep an eye on ebay, the for sale section of the various forums and… of course freecycle!

Then a belated Christmas present came my way in the form of a freecycle post offering no less that the original BEL yoghurt maker! I was quick with my response and kept my fingers crossed. To be totally honest on the one hand I really, really wanted to get this but on the other hand it was a fair distance to travel and kinda against ‘MY’ ethos of freecycle. But… Luck came my way and it was offered to me, I waited a few days to collect to try and justify the journey.. maybe find something to get/do on the way, but in the end it was a dedicated journey just for the yoghurt maker.

The long awaited BEL yoghurt maker…

Nice individual pots

So far since picking it up I’ve made two batches of yoghurt, the first batch I made with Semi-Skimmed UHT milk and a couple of teaspoons of some natural yoghurt I had in the fridge. Unfortunately I left it on too long, it was supposed to be on for 6 hours and I swear I turned it off before I went to bed but when I came down in the morning it was still on. The yoghurt was still edible in fact it was absolutely fine just more of a fromage frais style set yoghurt.

The first batch of yoghurt

The second batch I made with Evaporated milk diluted one to one with water and a couple of teaspoons of yoghurt from the previous batch as a starter. This made an extremely creamy yoghurt which was very nice.. but with 9% fat in the evaporated milk I don’t think I’ll be making it this way again. I Shall try again with the semi-skimmed UHT milk but make sure I switch it off after 6 hours. I also have some soya milk so will give that a try as well.

Obviously It uses electricity, but with evaporated milk costing 50p a can and UHT costing a little less, it’s a pretty cheap way of getting your yoghurt fill!

Tags: freecycle, yoghurt making, yogurt making

New Cookie cutters

Wednesday, November 18th, 2009 | Cooking, Craft | No Comments

A few weeks a go I noticed Lidl were doing some home baking stuff and that they had cookie cutters. I’m always on the look out for decent ones that are a good size but not too pricey.. they all seem so expensive!

Shiny

There was lots of lovely cutters and it came with a storage ring, though not sure how all of those will fit! But not only does it include the usual shapes the set also has a Christmas tree, Holly leaf, bell, snowman and Angel which is a bonus for this time of year.

Stars

Lovely stars in different sizes and hearts in different sizes too. I don’t think I’ll be needing to buy any more cutters for a very long time.. Just need to start using them now!

Hearts

Tags: biscuits, cookie cutters, cookies

Meal plan w/c 04.07.09

Saturday, July 4th, 2009 | Cooking, Gardening, Meal plan, Money Saving, Vegetarian | No Comments

Well this weeks menu has been planned around harvesting foods from the garden… Though I’m not too sure how I’m going to get along with cook having cut my finger.

Saturday 04.07 – Left over Chilli Bean Tortillas
Sunday 05.07 – Out
Monday 06.07 – Chicken & Spring veg
Tuesday 08.07 – Catalonian Tortilla
Wednesday 09.07 – Chicken & Spinach pasta
Thursday 10.07 – Falafel pittas
Friday 11.07 – Chicken & Broccoli noodles

Tags: Chicken, Falafel, noodles, Spinach, Tortilla

Meal plan w/c 27.06.09

Saturday, June 27th, 2009 | Cooking, Meal plan, Vegetarian | No Comments

Limited menu this week due to being away for the weekend and going out for a Birthday meal on Wednesday evening.

Saturday 27.06 – Away
Sunday 28.06 – Away
Monday 29.06 – Sausage & corn hash
Tuesday 30.06 – Moroccan Chicken w/ cous cous
Wednesday 01.07 – Out
Thursday 02.07 – Vegetable Paella
Friday 03.07 – Chilli Bean Tortillas

Tags: beans, Chicken, chilli, moroccan, paela, sausage, tortillas

Meal plan w/c 20.06.09

Saturday, June 20th, 2009 | Cooking, Meal plan, Vegetarian | No Comments

I know I’m slacking at putting recipes up at the moment but, if you want the recipe for something specific leave me a comment and I’ll get it posted asap… otherwise I will catch up I promise!

Saturday 20.06 – Out
Sunday 21.06 – BBQ
Monday 22.06 – Spagetti Bolognese
Tuesday 23.06 – Jamacian Jerk Pork / roasted sweet potatoes
Wednesday 24.06 – Warm chickpea salad
Thursday 25.06 – Chicken & Butternut squash curry w/ rice
Friday 26.06 – Away

Tags: BBQ, butternut squash, Curry, jamacian, pork, Spagetti bolognese

Chicken Zorba

Monday, June 15th, 2009 | Cooking, Meal plan | No Comments

This is an old time favourite that has been hidden away for far too long. It’s very simple and pretty quick if you don’t count the marinading time. Ideal for the frying pan, grill or BBQ if done on skewers!

Serves 4, you will need:

Ingredients

juice of 2 limes
1tsp ground coriander
1tsp ground cumin
½tsp turmeric
pinch of salt
1tbsp freshly chopped mint
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
150g tub Greek style natural yoghurt
170g tub houmous
2tbsp olive oil
8 white pitta breads
To serve mixed salad leaves, sliced tomato and sweet pepper

How to do it:

In a bowl mix together the lime juice, coriander, cumin, turmeric, salt and mint
Cut the chicken into thin strips
Add the chicken to the marinade and mix well to coat the chicken, cover and leave to marinate in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
Mix together the yoghurt and houmous, cover and chill until required.
Heat the oil in a large frying pan and cook the chicken for 8-10 minutes stirring occasionally until golden. Alternatively thread the chicken onto skewers and BBQ or grill until cooked through.
Toast the pitta breads and then cut in half crossways, open up and spread with a generous spoonful of the houmous and yoghurt mix.
Fill with mixed salad, sweet peppers, tomato and chicken.
Serve immediately and enjoy!

Serve with a nice Greek salad or eat on it’s own.

Time to nom

Tags: Chicken Zorba, Greek

Meal plan w/c 13.06.09

Saturday, June 13th, 2009 | Cooking, Meal plan | No Comments

Meals for the week ahead!

Saturday 13.06 – BBQ – Usual stuff
Sunday 14.06 – Out
Monday 15.06 – Chicken Zorba
Tuesday 16.06 – Chicken & ham Pie
Wednesday 17.06 – Chicken w/ cannellini beans
Thursday 18.06 – Ham, Potato and feta salad
Friday 19.06 – Ham & Pepper tart

Meal plan w/c 06.06.09

Saturday, June 6th, 2009 | Cooking, Meal plan | No Comments