Marshmallow Sheep Cupcakes

1 star2 stars3 stars4 stars   

Bake regular sized and mini cupcakes and decorate these party cupcakes to make little marshmallow sheep. As featured on GMTV.

Prep

 

10 minutes

Cook

 

No cooking required

Serves

 

6

INGREDIENTS

6 Cupcakes

• Marshmallow Sheep
• 6 large white marshmallows
• mini white marshmallows
• tube of black Writing Icing

Buttercream

• 100g butter, softened
• 225g icing sugar, sieved
• 1 tbsp water

Conversion chart

METHOD

1. To make the buttercream, sift the icing sugar.  Beat the butter until creamy in an electric mixer, then gradually beat in the icing sugar. Finally beat in the tablespoon of water.
2. Spread a layer of buttercream over the cupcakes using a palette knife and making a small mound of buttercream in the centre.
3. Cut the mini marshmallows in half. Arrange them in two circles around the edge of the cakes.
4. Cut the large marshmallows in half. Place one half on top of the mound of buttercream for the face.
5. Cut the other half of the marshmallow in half again and place on either side of the sheep’s face for the ears – the marshmallow ears will stick naturally as the cut sides of the marshmallows are very sticky. Arrange some halved mini marshmallows on the top and behind the sheep’s head.
6. Draw eyes and noses on the sheep’s face using the black Writing Icing.

Read More

Easy Cupcakes

1 star2 stars3 stars4 stars5 star

This is a basic cupcake recipe. You can change the ingredients slightly to make different-flavoured cakes, or add all sorts of icings and decorations so every cake is a mini masterpiece!

Prep

 

10 minutes

Cook

 

18 to 20 minutes

Makes

 

12 cupcakes

INGREDIENTS

• 110g butter, softened
• 110g caster sugar
• 110g plain flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp salt
• 2 medium eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Conversion chart

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/ 350F / Gas 4. Line a muffin tin with paper cases.
2. Put the butter and sugar in a bowl and beat until pale and fluffy.
3. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into the bowl.
4. Beat the eggs and vanilla and add to the bowl. Beat until just combined.
5. Spoon the mixture into the paper cases.
6. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes until risen, golden and firm to the touch.
7. Cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Fillings and Flavour Suggestions

You can add a filling to the cupcake by cutting a cone from the middle of each cake with a serrated knife. Fill the hole with jam, lemon curd or one of these fabulous fillings:

Raspberry and Chocolate Cupcakes

Fill each cake with 1 tsp seedless raspberry jam and ice with chocolate buttercream.

Lemon Cupcakes

Fill each with 1 tsp lemon curd. Ice with lemon buttercream.

Caramel Cupcakes

Fill each with 1 tsp dulche de leche, ice with a single quantity of vanilla buttercream and top with sliced banana

Chocolate Cream Cupcakes

Mix 75g mascarpone with 2 tbsp double cream and quarter tsp vanilla. Put 1 tsp of this in the centre of each cupcake. Ice with chocolate buttercream.

Buttercream Icing Suggestions

For plain buttercream, beat 110g butter until soft, then beat in 110g icing sugar, a tablespoon at a time.

For vanilla buttercream, add half teaspoon vanilla extract and beat to combine.

For lemon buttercream, beat in 1 tbsp lemon juice- add 1 tsp at a time and taste after each addition.

For chocolate buttercream, beat in quarter tsp vanilla, 60g (2oz) melted and cooled milk chocolate and 2 tbsp cocoa powder.

Read More

stout hot cross buns

stout hot cross buns

JUNE 25, 2015

I adore hot cross buns and have always been quite happy to buy them. Admittedly, I am fussy about where I get them though, hot cross buns are not all made equal in the mainstream retail environment. I always try to find the extra fruity and spicy ones too.

That has now all changed.

I have made and mastered these easy and delicious stout hot cross buns, and now a supermarket version just pales in comparison. I based my recipe on Dan Lepard’s spiced stout buns, adapting it to suit my fruity taste buds and to use my favourite local stout which comes in a 340ml bottle. Castle Milk stout has a lovely flavour with hints of chocolate, so it works beautifully with these buns.

I adapted a few of the ingredients and the method slightly, I found that placing the dough in a warm sunny spot during the two long proving times helped to lighten them up. I also added a little more yeast which may have contributed to this too. I did however stick to the strange interval kneading routine, but would like to give them a bash doing it another way.

I added half cranberries and half raisins because I love the slight tartness the cranberries add, and I have also used 100g soft dried Turkish apricots which I finely chopped. A 100g of mixed citrus peel is essential to me and you can buy this already chopped.

I did a version adding two tablespoons of cocoa powder and this worked out really well, but on the whole I prefer a more traditional spiced bun.

The buns take a while to make in that you start the prep the night before, but the process is pretty effortless as they kind of make themselves. They are made by hand with very little kneading involved. I’m smitten.

If I’m not eating them straight out the oven, I love to toast them. Always served with lashings of butter melting right into the core of them.

Cooks note ~ I found making the paste that you pipe over the buns to make the crosses a little tricky. The flour and water mix tends to clump a bit. So I used an electric whisk to smooth this out and poured it into a plastic piping bag and cut to make a very small hole on the end. I found that none of my piping nozzles were the right size. It also gets quite messy, so you can just throw it all away once finished piping.

This recipe makes 16 – 18 buns, but any excess can be frozen. You can use a mix of raisins and cranberries or all of one or the other.

• 1 x 340ml bottle Castle Milk stout
• 2 tsp instant dry yeast
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1tsp mixed spice
• 870g flour (divided)
• 100g citrus peel
• 150g raisins
• 150g dried cranberries
• 100g soft dried apricots, finely chopped
• 250ml strong black tea
• 1 egg
• 50g melted butter
• 50g caster sugar (plus extra for glaze)
• 1 ½ tsp salt

Prepare the mix the night before by mixing the stout, spices, yeast and 320g of the flour in a large bowl. Mix to combine everything and leave uncovered.

Brew a strong cup of tea in 250ml boiling water and pour this over the raisins, dried cranberries, peel and apricots in a separate bowl.

The following day, mix the egg and melted butter with the fruit, and then stir this into this into beer and spice batter. Add the remaining 550g flour, sugar and salt. Tip this onto a work surface and briefly knead to form a large ball. Leave for 10 minutes. Lightly oil your hands and knead the dough for 10 seconds, leave for 10 minutes, then repeat twice more at 10-minute intervals, then leave for an hour covered with a tea towel in a warm spot.

Using a bread cutter or sharp knife, divide the dough into 100g pieces (use a scale to make this easier and to achieve consistency) and shape them into balls. Arrange these on a large baking tray lined with baking paper so they are just touching each other. Cover with a tea towel and place in a warm spot for 90 minutes.

Pre heat the oven before the proving has finished. Mix a little flour with water to form a runny paste consistency (use and electric whisk to get this smooth if necessary). Place in a plastic piping bag and cut a very small edge off the tip. Pipe crosses on each ball of dough. Bake at 200C (180C fan-assisted) for 25 minutes. If necessary, loosely cover with a sheet of tin foil to prevent over browning. Mix 2 tablespoons of castor sugar with 2 tablespoons of water and brush this over the hot cross buns as they come out the oven. Serve with lashings of butter.

Read More

mango split with passionfruit, berries and coconut

MARCH 23, 2015

Mangoes are in full season and I’m loving everything about them. Maybe I’m eating more than I normally do at this time of year, but I’m finding them extra delicious somehow. I made a mango, passionfruit and yoghurt brûlée recently which is a wonderful dessert or sweet treat at a brunch. Here I’ve made them into a split with vanilla ice cream, fresh berries, passionfruit, a drizzle of melted white chocolate and coconut shavings. Tropical fruity flavours with a scoop of decadence.

Mango works as well as a banana for a split, perhaps better, and you don’t need a recipe here. Simply cut wedges out of mango cheeks and scatter over whatever berries you like. I spooned over the pulp from fresh  passionfruit to give it a lovely tart flavour, and mango and passionfruit are such good flavour friends. I added 2 scoops of vanilla ice cream and melted white chocolate to drizzle over. I finished off with coconut shavings to add texture and crunch to this dessert.

I’m clinging on to the last few weeks of summer as we move into autumn.

Read More

apple and strawberry crumble

JUNE 2, 2015

Winter has arrived with full force in Cape Town as our first big cold front hits. Up until now we’ve had a long and beautiful autumn and I’ve loved spending so much time in the vineyards soaking in all the beautiful colours. I decided that this apple and strawberry crumble was perfect for todays stormy weather and I’ve been dying to make it since I first tried it a couple of months back. The strawberries add so much value, and it has officially become my favourite crumble recipe.

Sophie is a cousin of a friend of mine who also happens to be a qualified pastry chef and this is her recipe (more or less). It’s utterly delicious. She served it with a vanilla bean crème anglaise which finished it off perfectly and reminded me how important it is to go the extra mile with what we serve our crumble with. My preference will always be lightly whipped cream with vanilla (Chantilly cream), home-made vanilla ice cream, or crème anglaise.

This recipe is a little extra special because I used unrefined golden caster sugar from Natura. Yes that’s right, we now have a super premium range of amazing naturally produced sugars in South Africa (made in Mauritius) and I could not be happier. Check out their website to see the range and also to see where they are selling the product. If you understand mass sugar production, the molasses is refined out the sugar and then added back. Here they make it keeping everything locked in. Its unbleached, non GM and non irradiated. It tastes like sugar is supposed to taste and the flavours come shining through. Obviously this process is much more labour intensive and time-consuming so the product will be more expensive, but the quality and taste is simply exceptional. I cant wait to play around with all the other variants.

This strawberry and apple crumble has a super crunchy topping and the slivered almonds add extra crispness. As a textural eater this is hugely important to me.

Cooks notes ~ I used frozen strawberries because they are just as good for this purpose and quite convenient to have all year round. Just allow them to thaw first. Cut the apples into whatever size you like, but I like mediums sized chunks so they still hold their bite. The strawberries make a lot of pink syrupy sauce which is delicious. I used Golden Delicious apples.

Recipe – Makes one decent size crumble to serve 6 people

Filling:

• 350g fresh or frozen strawberries
• 6 apples, peeled, cored and cut into medium & even sized chunks
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 80ml golden caster sugar or regular caster sugar

Crumble topping:

• 120g butter
• 120g flour
• 120g golden caster sugar
• 50 – 80g sliced almonds (raw)

Crème anglaise:

• 1 cup (250ml) milk
• 1 vanilla pod
• 60g sugar
• 3 free range egg yolks 

Pre heat the oven to 180C.

Mix all the filling ingredients in a bowl and set aside.

To make the crumble topping, either do this by hand, or as I do, and whizz it through my food processor. Mix all the crumble ingredients except the nuts together until it looks like a fine crumb. Then using your hands, clump the crumbs together to make bigger bits.

Spread the apple and strawberry filling in an appropriately sized oven proof dish and sprinkle the crumble topping evenly over the top. Scatter the almonds and bake for 35 – 40 minutes until the pie is bubbling and the top is golden brown. * If the top is over browning during baking, cover loosely with a piece of tin foil (I pretty much do this with most of my baking.

Stay warm x

Read More

creamy miso mushrooms and eggs

FEBRUARY 20, 2015

This is my take on mushrooms on toast topped with a fried or poached egg. It’s for when you want to make breakfast that little more special, or show someone you love that you really love them. Or, if you’re like me, and enjoy eating eggy things anytime, then this is great for lunch or supper too.

You really don’t need a recipe here because you just make whatever quantity you need, and it really is a case of a splash of this and a dash of that. My secret ingredient is miso paste, because I can’t get enough of it and love adding extra umami flavour to most things these days. I even made the most delicious ginger miso ice cream, which sounds weird but think salted caramel but with more depth.

I used a selection of mushrooms including Shiitateke, Portabellini, King Oyster and Shimeji, but use whatever you like. I tend to steer clear of white button mushrooms as far as possible because they are bland. They are really great pickled, but thats about it. You will need about 250gms to make enough for 2 generously topped slices of toast.

Oh and the toast, I love sourdough so I used it here. A good seeded health loaf would be wonderful too.

Slice your mushrooms and fry them in a large non-stick pan in bubbling hot butter (about 50gms). Wait until they start turning golden brown and have absorbed most of the butter. Add a crushed garlic clove or two and toss around but making sure you don’t burn it. Add a generous splash of boiling water, it doesn’t really matter – I’d say around 100ml and a tablespoon of miso paste. Swirl this around until most of the water evaporates. The miso paste and water make a lovely stock. As the mushrooms start becoming sticky, add about 80ml cream and about 2 tablespoons of chopped parsley. Swirl this around until it starts to thicken. I also added a pinch of smoked chilli flakes. Serve this piled on toast and top with a poached or fried egg. Scatter over more chopped parsley for garnish if you like. It doesn’t really need salt, but a few grinds of black pepper is good.

Read More

caramelized pear and gorgonzola toasties

FEBRUARY 11, 2015

When Breville asked me to create a recipe using their jaffle maker, I knew immediately I wanted to do something sweet. This fabulous non-stick machine, seals and cuts your sandwiches, making perfect triangle pie-like pockets which are perfect when you have saucy fillings – like these caramelised pear toasties with oozy Gorgonzola cheese.

I have used raisin bread, which is very much like brioche in texture and works wonderfully for this recipe, but any soft white loaf will work well. These decadent toasted sandwiches hover between sweet and savoury with the caramel pears complimenting the salty blue cheese perfectly.

Try and use pears that are ripe and ready to eat but not overly so. If they are too ripe they will disintegrate in the hot sauce

Recipe – make 4 – 6 toasted sandwiches

•  500g sliced pears (bout 4 ripe pears)
• 30g butter
• 70g demarara or dark brown sugar
• 8 – 12 slices raisin bread or brioche
• 50g butter, melted for brushing
• 100g – 150g (approx. 25g per sandwich) – Gorgonzola (or similar creamy blue cheese)

Melt the butter in a non-stick frying pan and toss in the pears to coat. Sprinkle the sugar over and allow this to bubble for 3 – 5 minutes (depending on how ripe the pears are), shaking the pan ever now and again.

When the pears have started to soften and a caramel has formed, take them off the heat and allow to cool in the pan.

To make the sandwiches heat the Breville toasted sandwich maker and lightly spray the surface with cooking spray. Assemble the sandwiches by topping a slice of bread with pears and crumbling the blue cheese. Close with another slice of bread, and then brush each side with melted butter.

Place these in the toaster and seal. Allow to toast until golden brown.

 * Disclaimer * This post has been sponsored by Breville South Africa. I am working on a few projects with their marketing team, including developing recipes using these amazing appliances. Breville appliances are exclusively available at @Homenationwide.

I look forward to connecting with you again in the future.

Read More