Thursday 26 September 2013

Peanut Butter Cups

I have wanted to try Reece's peanut butter cups for a long time, and even thought we now can buy them in the UK I decided to try them out when we went to New york.
I have to say I was quite disappointed with them> The chocolate tasted really fake ( sorry my lovely American friends but American chocolate sucks lol)  I also found the peanut butter very salty. Anyway I wasn't going to be beat so I made some myself and they are yumtastic and so very simple to make :)

Ingredients:
1/2 cup of Smooth peanut butter
2 teaspoons of icing sugar
Chocolate bar of your choice/as needed.

You will also need mini cupcake liners.
This recipe made 25 peanut butter cups.

Method and preparation:
Prepare the peanut butter filling:


Add the peanut butter and icing sugar into a bowl and mix together until blended.

Now Melt the chocolate in a bowl over boiling water. ( double boiler)


While the chocolate is melting, prepare the liners on a flat tray.

Add a tea spoon of melted chocolate in each of the liners to coat the base of them.


Now pop the tray or plate into the fridge for 5 minutes to set the chocolate.

While waiting for the chocolate to set, put the peanut butter filling in a piping bag or ziplock bag and snip off a tiny tip at the bottom. 


Pipe the peanut butter filling (as much as you like) But leave room to top the top half with more chocolate and pop the tray into the fridge for another 5 minutes.


Now top up the cake liners with more chocolate and rap the tray on a surface to get rid of as many air bubbles as you can.

Now put the finished tray into the fridge and let the chocolate set completely. I waited an hour before tasting one.


Now The chocolates are finally ready to eat :)


Peel the paper of gently ...


Enjoy :)


Monday 9 September 2013

Vanilla Latte and Vanilla Syrup

It's coming up to that time of year again with smallest comfort of a yummy hot drink brings a smile to your face :)
Who said you have to go to Starbucks for a good hot drink?
With just a handful of Ingredients you can make this delicious Vanilla Latte at home without any effort at all.
Give this a try, you won't regret I promise you :)

Ingredients:
Any good Instant or percolated coffee (brewed) I made a cup full and used as needed) Espresso is usually used in Lattes but I didn't have any so I used percolated coffee and it tasted fab :)
Vanilla syrup ( 1Tbs per mug)
 1 cup of milk per mug (boiled)
Cinnamon powder to sprinkle on froth.

Method and Preparation:

If using a coffee machine Like I did, set it to prepare the coffee.

Now Put the milk on the hob to boil.
Add 1 Tbs of Vanilla syrup per mug or Glass.


Now Add The coffee to the Glass. 4 table spoons per Glass. ( or as desired)


Now comes the fun part ;)
If you have a frother or milk steamer you can use it now but as I have neither , I used a hand held blender and put it straight into the boiled milk to create the froth. :) (It worked woohoo) Please be careful as the milk may splash and scold you.

Now carefully add the milk to the glasses/mugs and spoon the froth on top :)

Finally for the finishing touches Sprinkle some Cinnamon powder on the froth.

Enjoy :)


For those Wanting to make homemade Vanilla Syrup Here's how to make it :)

Ingredients:
1 cup water
1 cup granulated sugar
3 Tbs Good Vanilla Extract ( I used my home made one :))

Method and preparation:
Add The water and sugar to a pan and bring to a boil.





Once the sugar has completely dissolved remove the pan from the heat and let the syrup cool down completely.

Once the syrup is cooled down add the Vanilla Extract and stir well.


This syrup is now ready to use in drinks etc. 


This syrup can be refrigerated or kept out in room temp for a week :)
I hope you try this.

Friday 9 August 2013

Fruitylicious Cake

This is another one of my first time first time bakes. I've had some really lovely shop bought fruit cakes and some really awful dry ones too which were quite off putting so I decided to try and make my own one :) I chopped and changed a few ingredients, It turned out delicious and moist.


Ingredients:

1 and 1/2 cups of mixed dried fruit with candied peel.
1 and 1/2 cups plain flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup of vegetable oil ( instead of butter)
2 eggs
1 tbs honey
2 tsp mixed spice
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup packed brown sugar

Preparation Method :
Pre heat oven to 150

In a large mixing bowl, sift in the flour salt and and baking soda.
Add in the dried fruit and mix well  with finger tips to make sure the fruit is coated and separated.

Now in a separate bowl, whisk 2 medium eggs and add the sugar, honey and mixed spice. Mix it all up. There's no need to dissolve the sugar.

Now gradually add the wet mixture into the fruit and flour mixture and fold through until incorporated well.

Now grease and flour your cake tin (9 inch) and pour in the cake batter, spread the batter from the center outwards to ensure a level cake. 
Pop the cake into the lower shelf of the oven and bake for an hour and 10 minutes. Check after an hour as oven temps vary.
Can you smell the yummy spices? ..... Mmmmmm yummy :)

An hour 10 mins later here is my cake :)


Wait for the cake to cool before turning it out onto a plate.


Cut a huge slice or 2 for your self ;)



Enjoy with a brew mmmmm :)


I hope you try this out :)

Monday 5 August 2013

Flapjacks

These Flapjacks are very easy to make and tasty too :)
Give it a try for a yummy sweet snack :)


Ingredients:
4 cups of porridge oats
1 cup brown packed sugar
2 rounded Tbsp of golden syrup
3 tbs Butter
1 tsp ground ginger

Preparation Method:
Pre heat oven to 150

Put the porridge oats in a large bowl.
Now add the sugar, golden syrup and butter to a pan and heat until melted and syrupy. 
Set the syrup aside.
Add Ginger powder to the oats and mix through.
Now add syrup to the oats and mix through until the oats are coated well.

Line a baking tray with grease proof paper and pour in the oat mixture and press down to the desired thickness.

Put the baking tray in the middle shelf of the oven and bake for 30 - 40 minutes until golden brown.

Let the the mixture cool completely and cut into squares.



Enjoy :)

Friday 2 August 2013

Ginger Biscuits

These Ginger biccies are extremely easy to make and really remind me of Christmas :) you must give them a go they are delicious :)


Ingredients:
1 cup of self raising flour
1/2 cup brown packed sugar
2 tbs butter
1 tbs golden syrup
1 medium egg
1 tsp bicarbonated soda
1 rounded tsp of ground ginger.
Preparation Method:
Pre heat oven to 180 

Cream the butter and sugar together then sieve in the flour, ginger and bicarbonated soda together.
Now add in the the Golden Syrup and gradually add in the egg to form a stiff biscuit dough.
At first the dough will feel crumbly to handle but don't worry it will come together after kneading.

Line a baking tray with parchment paper and roll the dough into walnut sized balls.
This should make 12 biscuits.
You can flatten the biscuits if you wish before baking but I like them as they are.


Bake in the middle shelf of the oven for 15-20 minutes ( mine took exactly 20 mins)

Readyyyyyyyyy ;)



Enjoy with a glass of cold milk mmmm :)


Wednesday 31 July 2013

Peanut butter Dreams

I really fancied making cookies so I thought I'd experiment with a few ingredients and see how they turned out :) Once baked they turned out amazingly delicious , I was over the moon. And with such few ingredients they took little time to make and were eaten even faster lol.
I hope you try this recipe out :)


Ingredients:
1/2 cup of peanut butter smooth or crunchy ( I used smooth)
1 egg
1 cup plain flour
1/2 cup white granulated sugar
2 tablespoons vanilla sugar 

Preparation Method :

Pre heat oven to 180.
In a large mixing bowl add all the ingredients together and mix well until all the ingredients are incorporated .

Now line a baking tray with grease proof paper and drop spoon fulls of the cookie dough  onto it leaving enough space between them as the cookies spread while they bake.

Now reduce the oven temp to 150 and place the baking tray on the middle shelf and bake for only 12 minutes.
Keep an eye on them to make sure you don't over bake them as they will burn quickly.

Let the cookies cool a little before lifting them as they are delicate. These cookies are chewy in texture.

Enjoy  :)


Thursday 25 July 2013

Gingerbread

I've only ever tried shop bought and My other half's Mam's Homemade Gingerbread, I'd I have to say I'm a big fan of it :)
It looked quite daunting to make but I thought to myself if I don't try I'll never find out what it will turn out like.
So here's my take on it . It turned out amazingly moist, light and tasty :) Great for a first time try.

Ingredients:
3 fl oz Golden syrup
2 Tbsp Treacle
3/4 cup dark muscovado sugar
1 1/4 cups boiling water
2 cups plain flour
1 1/2 tsp ginger powder
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon powder
2 1/4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
6 tbs softened butter
1 tbs white sugar
1 large egg
1/4 tsp salt

Preparation Method:

Preheat the oven to 180 then turn it down to 150 when you put the Gingerbread in to bake.


Combine the golden syrup, treacle, brown sugar and boiling water in a pan. Stir and set aside until it reaches room temperature.


Mix together the flour,spices, baking powder,baking soda and salt.


In another bowl cream together the butter and white sugar until light and fluffy.
Beat egg into the mixture and add the cooled syrup .
Stir in the dry ingredients only to blend together.




Butter and flour a 9 inch square baking tray.


Pour the batter into the tray and pop in the oven for 30- 40 minutes until the skewer comes out clean.
Mine took exactly 30 minutes but ovens may vary so please keep a check on your gingerbread.



It's ready :)


Let the Gingerbread cool down for 10-15 minutes before cutting into squares.


Enjoy with cream or custard or even as it is with a lovely cuppa :)

Tuesday 16 July 2013

Spicy Kidney Bean Salad

As the weather is getting hotter, light meals are more popular than eating a big heavy meal. I decided to make this refreshing easy and tasty salad which was lovely and light and can also be used as a wrap filling.

Ingredients:
1 can of kidney beans (washed)
1 small can of sweet corn
Sliced cucumber as needed
Lettuce as needed
Pink radish sliced as needed.
2 tomatoes sliced
1 red bell pepper diced
Lemon and dill Olive oil ( as needed)
Splash of balsamic vinegar or as needed.
Grated cheese as needed
Black pepper as needed
Pinch of cayenne pepper
Peri-peri salt ( spicy Portuguese seasoning) 

Preparation Method:
Chop all the salad and put it into a large bowl.
Add the seasonings and mix gently.
Now add the flavoured olive oil around the edge of the bowl along with the balsamic vinegar.
Gently turn through with a large spoon.

Enjoy :)
This salad is lovely eaten with wraps.

I hope you enjoy this recipe.





Wednesday 10 July 2013

Strawberry And Green Chili Jam

I absolutely adore Strawberries and always get a punnet on our weekly shop. Whatever strawberries don't get eaten are cut up and and stored in a ziplock bag and frozen. I find it a sin to let them rot.
Another fave ingredient of mine is fresh chilies and I also have plenty of them in the freezer at hand. So I thought why not combine my 2 fave things and turn them into a yummy Jam :) So I went ahead and did it :) It tastes sooooooooo gooooood :)

Ingredients:
I punnet of sliced frozen Strawberries(you can use fresh) 
5 Green Birdseye Chilies ( topped and blended) I kept the seeds in for added heat but you can remove them if you wish.
1 Brown sugar ( not the packed one just ordinary)
1 cup White granulated sugar.
Juice of 1 lemon

Preparation method:

Put the frozen strawberries In a large bowl and Add the 2 types of Sugars  and the blended chili.




Now add in the juice of 1 lemon and give all the ingredients a good stir.


Transfer The strawberry Mixture into a large heavy based pan and turn the heat up to low and stir continuously until all the sugar has dissolved and the the strawberries have separated.


Now get a potato masher and crush a few of the strawberries, I like to keep it chunky but you can use a blender at this point to make the jam smooth.
Now turn up the heat and bring the jam to a rolling boil.
Once you reach that boiling point time 10 minutes and keep stirring while the jam is boiling. Do this for only 10 minutes as over boiling will end in disaster and your jam will Crystallize. Remember the jam will set as it cools so don't be fooled by the runniness of it. 10 minutes is perfect.

 After the 10 minutes of rapid boil, you will feel the jam thickening, you should now remove the pan from the heat and try to skim off as much of the scum/foam from the surface and put it aside in a bowl, do not throw this away as this will be your first tasting of the batch that you've made.

Now if you have a canning kit go ahead and follow the procedure.
I do not have a canning kit so I washed two small jars with hot soapy water which does the trick :)


Put your jars on a heat proof surface or a kitchen towel  And carefully Ladle the jam into the jars. Please be very careful as the jam is extremely hot.




Get a wet paper towel and clean the rim of the jars and around the jars and let the jam cool completely before storing them in the fridge.

Enjoy :)