225g / 8oz caster sugar
3 eggs
200ml / 7 fl oz vegetable oil
grated rind and juice of 1 orange
225g / 8oz self-raising wholemeal flour
1 tsp ground cinanmon
1/2 tsp grated nutmeg
pinch of salt
350g / 12oz grated carrot, squeezed dry
175g / 6oz walnuts, chopped (I used pecan nuts)
Oven: 180C
Makes 12 large muffins (get your bun tin lined with cases ready)
Beat the sugar, eggs, oil, orange rind and juice together until light and frothy. Stir in the flour, spices and salt and beat for a further minute. Stir in the nuts and carrots.
Fill the prepared cases and bake for 20-25 minutes until the cakes are firm in the centre. Turn out onto a wire rack to cool.
Cream cheese frosting:
140g/ 5oz softened butter
225g / 8oz cream cheese
225g-250g / 8-9oz icing sugar
Beat the butter and cream cheese together until thoroughly blended, soft and creamy. Gradually beat in the icing sugar until the mixture is smooth, with a spreadable consistency.
Saturday, 29 January 2011
Chicken Pie
Pastry - use 150g self-raising flour, 75g fat
Pie filling:
2 chicken breasts, diced and floured
handful sprouts, sliced
handful baby carrots, sliced
packet baby button mushrooms, sliced
1 large clove garlic, finely chopped
100g philadephia
teaspoon wholegrain mustard
tablespoon flour
about 75ml milk, boiled, plus boiling water to make up to about 300ml, plus 2 chicken stock cubes
Oven: 180C
Heat a large frying pan or wok with a tablespoon of olive oil, over a medium heat. Add the garlic and swirl around quickly. Just as they start turning brown, add the floured diced chicken. Turn the heat up and stir to seal the chicken on all sides - you may need to add some water to stop things sticking (don't add any more oil). Once the chicken is sealed add the rest of the vegetables and stir fry for a few minutes.
Next add the philly, flour, stock and mustard and stir until the philly is no longer a big sticky lump. Cover and cook for 10 minutes (while you peel the potatoes for the accompanying mash).
Roll out the pastry that you made before you started cooking (!), pour the pie filling into a dish (mine is about 10" square I think) and cover with the pastry. Put in the oven for about 20 minutes until the pastry is cooked.
Serve with mashed potato. And green beans if you remember to cook them. (Which I forgot.)
Pie filling:
2 chicken breasts, diced and floured
handful sprouts, sliced
handful baby carrots, sliced
packet baby button mushrooms, sliced
1 large clove garlic, finely chopped
100g philadephia
teaspoon wholegrain mustard
tablespoon flour
about 75ml milk, boiled, plus boiling water to make up to about 300ml, plus 2 chicken stock cubes
Oven: 180C
Heat a large frying pan or wok with a tablespoon of olive oil, over a medium heat. Add the garlic and swirl around quickly. Just as they start turning brown, add the floured diced chicken. Turn the heat up and stir to seal the chicken on all sides - you may need to add some water to stop things sticking (don't add any more oil). Once the chicken is sealed add the rest of the vegetables and stir fry for a few minutes.
Next add the philly, flour, stock and mustard and stir until the philly is no longer a big sticky lump. Cover and cook for 10 minutes (while you peel the potatoes for the accompanying mash).
Roll out the pastry that you made before you started cooking (!), pour the pie filling into a dish (mine is about 10" square I think) and cover with the pastry. Put in the oven for about 20 minutes until the pastry is cooked.
Serve with mashed potato. And green beans if you remember to cook them. (Which I forgot.)
Monday, 20 April 2009
Garlic Mushroom Stuffed Red Peppers
Ingredients
6 red peppers, halved lengthways and de-seeded
breadcrumbs made from 6 slices white bread, lightly toasted (alright, dried out in the toaster)
3 large flat mushrooms, chopped
3 cloves garlic
half a cup strong cheddar, grated; plus extra for topping
2 eggs
quarter cup of milk (as necessary)
olive oil and butter
salt and pepper
Instructions
Heat the oven to about 180C.
Line a baking sheet with foil. Place the pepper halves on the sheet, open side up.
Fry the mushrooms until tender in the butter and oil (butter for flavour, and oil because butter burns); drain on kitchen paper. Fry the garlic in a little more oil until just turning golden brown.
Combine the breadcrumbs, mushrooms, garlic and cheese in a mixing bowl. Add the eggs and as much milk is needed to make a useable stuffing mix.
Distribute the stuffing between the pepper halves, and top with a little extra cheese.
Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Uncover and bake for a further 20 minutes.
6 red peppers, halved lengthways and de-seeded
breadcrumbs made from 6 slices white bread, lightly toasted (alright, dried out in the toaster)
3 large flat mushrooms, chopped
3 cloves garlic
half a cup strong cheddar, grated; plus extra for topping
2 eggs
quarter cup of milk (as necessary)
olive oil and butter
salt and pepper
Instructions
Heat the oven to about 180C.
Line a baking sheet with foil. Place the pepper halves on the sheet, open side up.
Fry the mushrooms until tender in the butter and oil (butter for flavour, and oil because butter burns); drain on kitchen paper. Fry the garlic in a little more oil until just turning golden brown.
Combine the breadcrumbs, mushrooms, garlic and cheese in a mixing bowl. Add the eggs and as much milk is needed to make a useable stuffing mix.
Distribute the stuffing between the pepper halves, and top with a little extra cheese.
Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Uncover and bake for a further 20 minutes.
Thursday, 2 October 2008
Coffee Cake
Ingredients:
6oz / 175g margerine
6oz / 175g caster sugar
6oz / 175g sr flour, sifted
2 large eggs
teaspoon baking powder
2 tablespoons instant coffee
2 tablespoons hot (not boiling) water
2 tablespoons cold water
Directions
1. Preheat oven to (160C / Gas 3).
2. In a cup, dissolve the coffee in the hot and cold water.
3. Tip ALL the ingredients into a mixing bowl and beat well. Hint: Use an electric mixer!
4. Divide the mixture between 2 greased and lined cake tins and bake for approximately 30 minutes or until the cake is springy when touched.
Fill with whipped cream or butter icing.
Wednesday, 10 September 2008
Plum Crumble Cake
This recipe is courtesy of Jacqui Hobbs, from the September edition of "Your Steyning".
This cake is delicious with a dollop of whipped double cream and a good cup of coffee. It keeps for up to a week.
Ingredients:
800g plums, halved, stones removed
For the Cake:
125g (4.5oz) plain flour
1tsp baking powder
125g (4.5oz) caster sugar
1 lemon, zest only
4 drops vanilla extract
125g (4.5oz) softened butter
2 medium eggs
For the Crumble:
150g (5oz) plain flour
100g (3.5oz) caster sugar
pinch ground cinnamon
100g (3.5oz) butter
Method:
Preheat the oven to 180C (gas 4). Grease and line a 10" springform cake tin.
To make the crumble, sift the flour, cinnamon and sugar. Either rub in the butter by hand or pulse in a food mixer until you have a fine breadcrumb texture.
For the cake. Sift the flour and baking powder, add the other ingredients and then either use a hand whisk or a food mixer to achieve a smooth consistency.
Spoon the mixture into the tin. Smooth the surface flat. Arrange the plums cut side up so that they overlap.
Sprinkle over the crumble mixture in an even layer.
Bake in the oven for about 50 minutes (test with the tip of a knife which should come out clean).
Remove from the oven and release from the tin. Place on a wire rack to cool.
I made this crumble cake yesterday and it was DELICIOUS. I had to cook it for an extra 20 minutes however with just the bottom element of the oven on to cook the cake base, I think I had melted the butter for the cake mix too much so it was having trouble cooking - but, it worked, and worked really well. I shall be making this again - I just need an excuse now!
This cake is delicious with a dollop of whipped double cream and a good cup of coffee. It keeps for up to a week.
Ingredients:
800g plums, halved, stones removed
For the Cake:
125g (4.5oz) plain flour
1tsp baking powder
125g (4.5oz) caster sugar
1 lemon, zest only
4 drops vanilla extract
125g (4.5oz) softened butter
2 medium eggs
For the Crumble:
150g (5oz) plain flour
100g (3.5oz) caster sugar
pinch ground cinnamon
100g (3.5oz) butter
Method:
Preheat the oven to 180C (gas 4). Grease and line a 10" springform cake tin.
To make the crumble, sift the flour, cinnamon and sugar. Either rub in the butter by hand or pulse in a food mixer until you have a fine breadcrumb texture.
For the cake. Sift the flour and baking powder, add the other ingredients and then either use a hand whisk or a food mixer to achieve a smooth consistency.
Spoon the mixture into the tin. Smooth the surface flat. Arrange the plums cut side up so that they overlap.
Sprinkle over the crumble mixture in an even layer.
Bake in the oven for about 50 minutes (test with the tip of a knife which should come out clean).
Remove from the oven and release from the tin. Place on a wire rack to cool.
I made this crumble cake yesterday and it was DELICIOUS. I had to cook it for an extra 20 minutes however with just the bottom element of the oven on to cook the cake base, I think I had melted the butter for the cake mix too much so it was having trouble cooking - but, it worked, and worked really well. I shall be making this again - I just need an excuse now!
Saturday, 9 August 2008
Treacle Tart
Recipe courtesy of James Martin from Housecall.
Ingredients
Pastry:
225g / 8oz plain flour
110g / 4oz butter, chilled and diced
1 medium egg
Filling:
450g / 1lb golden syrup
85g / 3oz fresh breadcrumbs
generous pinch ground ginger
1 lemon, zest finely grated, plus 2tbsp of the juice
Rub the fat into the flour until it resembles fine breadcrumbs.
Mix in the egg with a knife, and knead to a smooth dough.
Use the dough to line a 9" loose-bottomed tart tin, prick with a fork and leave to rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 190C.
Bake the pastry blind for 10-15 minutes until light golden brown.
Mix together the filling ingredients and pour into the pastry case. Bake for about 30 minutes. Serve hot or cold.
And now for my adjustments....
I used a large egg in the pastry mixture and it was still quite difficult to get it all to bind together well. One recipe I found said to add a little water to the mix if it was being difficult.
I used two 5" foil cases for my tarts, and the pastry mix was more than enough for them.
There was slightly too much filling for the two cases though.
Apart from that, I followed the recipe exactly, and they turned out really well!!
Next time....
I am going to make the breadcrumb to syrup ratio slightly less syrupy, and use black treacle as well as golden syrup - I'll probably use just less than 400g total syrupyness.
I think that's the only thing I'm going to change for next time!
Edit
I made two tarts for Steve, using most of a 900g tin of golden syrup and what was left in my black treacle tin which might have been about 50g. It came to just over 800g all in, there's still a good amount of syrup left in the big tin. Breadcrumbs - used 8 slices thick sliced warburtons, crusts removed. Grated rind of 2 lemons, plus 4 tablespoons of the juice, and a generous amount of ground ginger. Have to admit I cheated though and used 2 ready made shortcrust pastry bases! Tarts were REALLY well received, the black treacle is definitely a "secret ingredient" to be shared and the lemon is extremely necessary.
And they are even better with double cream.
Ingredients
Pastry:
225g / 8oz plain flour
110g / 4oz butter, chilled and diced
1 medium egg
Filling:
450g / 1lb golden syrup
85g / 3oz fresh breadcrumbs
generous pinch ground ginger
1 lemon, zest finely grated, plus 2tbsp of the juice
Rub the fat into the flour until it resembles fine breadcrumbs.
Mix in the egg with a knife, and knead to a smooth dough.
Use the dough to line a 9" loose-bottomed tart tin, prick with a fork and leave to rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 190C.
Bake the pastry blind for 10-15 minutes until light golden brown.
Mix together the filling ingredients and pour into the pastry case. Bake for about 30 minutes. Serve hot or cold.
And now for my adjustments....
I used a large egg in the pastry mixture and it was still quite difficult to get it all to bind together well. One recipe I found said to add a little water to the mix if it was being difficult.
I used two 5" foil cases for my tarts, and the pastry mix was more than enough for them.
There was slightly too much filling for the two cases though.
Apart from that, I followed the recipe exactly, and they turned out really well!!
Next time....
I am going to make the breadcrumb to syrup ratio slightly less syrupy, and use black treacle as well as golden syrup - I'll probably use just less than 400g total syrupyness.
I think that's the only thing I'm going to change for next time!
Edit
I made two tarts for Steve, using most of a 900g tin of golden syrup and what was left in my black treacle tin which might have been about 50g. It came to just over 800g all in, there's still a good amount of syrup left in the big tin. Breadcrumbs - used 8 slices thick sliced warburtons, crusts removed. Grated rind of 2 lemons, plus 4 tablespoons of the juice, and a generous amount of ground ginger. Have to admit I cheated though and used 2 ready made shortcrust pastry bases! Tarts were REALLY well received, the black treacle is definitely a "secret ingredient" to be shared and the lemon is extremely necessary.
And they are even better with double cream.
Friday, 25 July 2008
Chicken and Mushroom Pie
Well this is almost cheating, but not quite. Almost, because I used a packet sauce (for chicken and leek bake) but not quite because I did all the rest myself.
Serves about 6 as part of a main meal.
Ingredients
For the filling:
1 packet of chicken and leek bake sauce mix, 3/4 pint milk
2 large chicken breasts, diced
handful of big button mushrooms (I had.. um... 9?)
1 red onion, finely chopped
2 heaped tablespoons flour
Short pastry made with 300g flour and 150g baking margerine.
Oven to 180C.
Line the bottom of a pie dish with just over half the pastry, bake blind.
Coat the chicken pieces in the flour, tap the excess off and set to one side.
While this is baking, fry the onion on a low heat in some oil in a non-stick frying pan until starting to lose its colour - about 5 minutes. Add the chicken piece by piece so it doesn't all stick together. If necessary, add a splash of water if everything is sticking to the bottom of the pan. Never add more oil - just splashes of water. Turn the heat up to medium and seal the chicken - about 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms and cook for a few minutes. Make the sauce mix up and add to the pan, bring to boil and cook another 5 minutes.
Transfer the whole lot to the pie dish, top with the remaining pastry and cook for 30 minutes or until pastry on top is golden.
Serve with new potatoes, french beans and carrots :)
Serves about 6 as part of a main meal.
Ingredients
For the filling:
1 packet of chicken and leek bake sauce mix, 3/4 pint milk
2 large chicken breasts, diced
handful of big button mushrooms (I had.. um... 9?)
1 red onion, finely chopped
2 heaped tablespoons flour
Short pastry made with 300g flour and 150g baking margerine.
Oven to 180C.
Line the bottom of a pie dish with just over half the pastry, bake blind.
Coat the chicken pieces in the flour, tap the excess off and set to one side.
While this is baking, fry the onion on a low heat in some oil in a non-stick frying pan until starting to lose its colour - about 5 minutes. Add the chicken piece by piece so it doesn't all stick together. If necessary, add a splash of water if everything is sticking to the bottom of the pan. Never add more oil - just splashes of water. Turn the heat up to medium and seal the chicken - about 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms and cook for a few minutes. Make the sauce mix up and add to the pan, bring to boil and cook another 5 minutes.
Transfer the whole lot to the pie dish, top with the remaining pastry and cook for 30 minutes or until pastry on top is golden.
Serve with new potatoes, french beans and carrots :)
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