CUPCAKES FOR A PRINCESS!

Really and truly this should be the best written, wittiest and most informative blog on the blogsphere ......  well if the amount of time I spend planning posts were anything to go by anyway!!!!  When I can't sleep at night, I lay there and plan all sorts of wonderfulness to amuse and entertain you all - then life gets in the way and I don't even cook!!

Brownieville Princess was anxious to bake the other day (one of the many "I'm bored" moments - all new to me, a particular female trait I gather!!)  Anyway with Dom's challenge in mind, I let her loose in the "cook book room" (I don't actually have a "cook book room", but I do have a room full of cook books!) to source a sweet treat - she lighted upon "Cupcakes from the Primrose Bakery", and chose the Chocolate Cupcakes.  These cupcakes would be great for icing as they remain nice and flat to accept whatever topping you wish .... unfortunately our impatience didn't allow the cupcakes to cool enough to ice ..... they were demolished in no time... at least I got to take a photo!!

Although they went down well with the children, I felt that they was a bit too much faffing about for what were very ordinary buns, nice but not really worth the effort - that said, the raw mixture was absolutely delicious!!

Chocolate Cupcakes

115g             dark chocolate
85g                butter
175g              soft brown sugar
2                    large eggs - separated
185g              plain flour, sifted
3/4 tsp           baking powder
3/4 tsp           bread (bicarbonate of) soda
250g              milk - room temp
1 tsp              vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 180 C/375 F
Line 16 cupcake holders

Melt the chocolate in a bowl over simmering water.
In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until pale and smooth.
In another bowl, beat the egg yolks with clean beaters, and when you have done this for several minutes add the yolk to the butter and sugar and beat well.
Add the melted chocolate to this mixture and beat well.
In another bowl (see what I mean about the faffing!!) combine the flour, baking powder and bread soda.
Add the vanilla extract to the milk.
Add 1/3 of the flour mixture to the chocolate mixture and beat well.
Pour in 1/3 of the milk and beat again .... repeat these steps until everything combined.
In a clean bowl whisk the egg whites until soft peaks form.
Fold the egg whites into the chocolate mixture carefully, keeping as much air in there as you can.
Fill the prepared cupcake cases to 2/3 full and bake for about 20 minutes (depends on the size of your bun tray)
Insert a skewer to see if cooked through.
Allow to cool in their tin for 10 minutes and then cool completely on a wire rack.

The book says that they keep well .... I wouldn't know!!

BROWNIES 18

I think it's time to introduce you to the new members of the Brownieville world.  You already know me, my other half (Brownieville Man) my taste testers supreme Brownieville Boys #1 and #2 (although brownieville boy #2 would prefer to be referred to as "the talented one" or "the brilliant one" or even "the handsome one"!!! ) The new members of the team are Brownieville Brother-in-Law (BVBIL), Brownieville Boy #3 (not very interested in anything other than football!!) Brownieville Boy #4 (another fantastic taste tester) and Brownieville Princess (who will keep me baking or else!!!!!).*

Dom over at Belleau Kitchen has challenged us to bake a random recipe from our first ever cook book - well my first ever cook book was "Look I Can Cook" (the orange omelet being a particular favourite!) but that book has gone the same way as my youth and disappeared forever!!!!!  I imagine that I share Delia's "Complete Illustrated Cookery Course" with many others as my first cookbook that I still possess, so cheating a little I asked Brownieville Princess to choose a recipe for us to bake - she wasn't impressed that there were no cupcakes or muffins, and compromised with Delia's "American Brownies"..

I have to say that BVP chose well - these are good brownies, rich, chocolaty and squidgy.  These little treats head straight to near the top of the list, I'm thinking second or third place - I made a double quantity and they lasted about 10 minutes (I am cooking for alot of people these days) not bad going!!

*Brownieville Sister #2, Brownieville BIL #2, and Brownieville Boys #5 and  #6, and Brownieville Baby should also be mentioned!



American Brownies

110g             Butter
50g               Plain Chocolate (I used 80%)
2                   Eggs, beaten
225g             Granulated Sugar
50g               Sifted Flour
1 tsp             Baking Powder
110g            Chopped Nuts (I left these out BVP is not a fan)

Preheat oven to 180 C
Line a 7 x 11 tin with baking paper

Melt the butter and chocolate over a double boiler.
Stir the other ingredients into the butter and chocolate mixture.
Mix well and then pour into the prepared tin spreading out evenly.
Bake for 30 minutes (mine took 45!) until the mixture shows signs of shrinking away from the sides and the centre feels springy.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then divide into small pieces (it's rich!) and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.


Doubles well ..... Enjoy!

SIMPLE SAMBO

This is a sandwich combination that my late sister (oh, how I hate the past tense) introduced me to - and I have been addicted ever since.  I haven't had much of an appetite over the past weeks, but recently I remembered how much she loved these panini and have been indulging in one most days - they can only be described as tasty, but really intensely deliciously tasty!

Goats cheese is lower fat than most other cheeses, if you roast your own tomatoes (I just bung some in the oven when it is heating up for, and cooling down from, other dishes - a day or two of this popping in and out of the oven leaves perfect sun (!) dried tomatoes), they need just a splash of oil - making this a healthy and delicious lunch.

Best Ever Panini

Ciabatta Bread
Goats Cheese (I like the cheese from a log)
Sunblushed Tomatoes
Black Olives


Make your sandwich and toast!
I sometimes use this combination on an open toasted sandwich using brown bread instead of the ciabatta - even healthier!

I have been blessed with the two best sisters anyone could wish for, we have always been incredibly close and supportive of each other.  My nearest sister (in both age and geography) has always been very enthusiastic about this blog, and has often mentioned how she loves when I personalise the posts, mentioning different family events and occasions.  She told me that when the blog started that I sounded like quite the alcholic!! (not bad for someone who has about two drinks a week!)

It is with the heaviest possible heart that I speak about her recent death in this post - she was such a huge part of my life that this tragic event cannot go unmentioned.  She was always the most generous of people and even at this time she has given me the most precious of gifts - to be allowed to share in the care and nurturing of her three wonderful young children - they were the center of her world, and I just hope I can do half as good a job as she would have.

EAT MORE GREENS!

With sincere (?) apologies to my chocoholic readers (you know who you are .... Dom and Chele) I'm back with more veggies.  Years ago (when the boys were small and I was obsessed with nutrition) I read a wonderful book by Andrew Weil called "8 Weeks To Optimum Health" - a few of his recommendations have stuck with me through the years:  Have a "news fast" every so often (no radio or TV news and skip the newspapers) - very calming.  Buy yourself flowers regularly - they lift your spirits.  Eat broccoli - it is brim full of goodness - so here goes!

I have been dipping in and out of Ellie Krieger's "The Food You Crave" recently, and when I saw a recipe for "Dirty Broccoli" - I just had to try it!!!  Not sure where the dirty bit came from but the recipe is excellent - tasty, interesting and healthy.  Ellie describes the dish as delectable, and she's right!


"Dirty" Broccoli

1                bunch broccoli

2 tbsp        olive oil (I used slightly less)
2               garlic cloves, minced (I used 3)
3 tbsp        wholemeal breadcrumbs
1/4 tsp       dried oregano
1/4 tsp       salt
1/4 tsp       pepper



Divide the broccoli into spears and steam until cooked to your taste.

While the broccoli is steaming heat the oil on a large pan or wok, adding the garlic while the oil is still cold, cook it for about a minute.
Add the breadcrumbs, oregano and seasonings and stir until the mixture is toasted and golden.
Combine the broccoli and the crunchy breadcrumbs and serve.

Enjoy.

EAT YOUR GREENS

I think it's time to redress the balance - what about some nice healthy vegetables after all the recent breads and cakes??  And what nicer vegetable to turn to than vibrant, mineral rich cabbage.  One of my very favourite (I never seem to make enough!!) and this is an easy, tasty way to prepare it.  Although perhaps not an obvious pairing I think that orange goes really well with irony (is that a word?) deep green cabbage - the slightly tart, slightly sweet orange seems to bring out the intense greenness of the vegetable.

This is a handy dish for dinner parties as you can prepare the (orange and garlic) oil and cabbage before time and then just stir fry them together at the last minute.


Garlic and Orange Cabbage

1 head             Dark Green Cabbage
1                     Orange (Zest and Juice)
1                     Large Clove Garlic
2 tsp                Olive Oil
1 tsp                Butter


Heat the oil and butter in a wok or large pan to medium high.
While it is coming up to temperature grate in the garlic and orange zest.
Allow to sizzle but do not allow the garlic to burn.
Add the cabbage and toss in the flavoured oil.
After a minute or so, add half the orange juice.
Cook until it is to your taste - about 4 minutes is enough for me.  You might need to add more of the juice.
Season with salt and pepper and serve.


Enjoy.

A GAME OF TWO HALVES!!

Dom over at Belleau Kitchen has come up with a genius challenge, whereby we are to choose an untried recipe from our cook books and give it a go.  To be more specific he asks us to take all our cookbooks from the shelf, choose one at random and then select a recipe from it again at random and being the brain-box he is, he has called it Random Recipes Challenge.  I would need to call in a moving company to make a pile of my cook-books (!) so instead I chose a selection of books that are untried either because they are new or because I bought them and promptly forgot them.

I was hoping for some nice cup-cakes or perhaps a wonderful new vegetable dish or even a practical mid-week dinner idea, instead I opened the page to the dreaded yeast bread.  Regular readers will know that I have a "thing" about yeast breads, all the kneading looking for spongy/springy textures - all that fuss when you can just throw a lovely soda bread together in no time, why bother!!!

The book chosen was "Bake" by Rachel Allen, and the recipe was for her "White Yeast Bread", which in itself was a problem as we much prefer brown bread.  I decided to compromise slightly and replace 200g of the strong white flour with wholemeal.

I'm afraid to say that yet again I failed in an attempt to have a perfect yeast loaf emerge from my kitchen.  The bread tasted fine, no better than one you'd buy in a supermarket, I think it would be best described as blah!!  This is a Link to Rachel's recipe.

As luck would have it, soon after making this bread, Rhylesgranny over at Tea and Wheaten posted her recipe for Honeyed Porridge Bread, which also is a yeast bread.  Her directions are so clear and simple that I felt confident enough to give it a go (and get that yeast "monkey" off my back!!!!).  This bread was so delicious (and easy to make) that I made it two days in a row!!

Thank You Rhylesgranny!

I want to thank Dom for this wonderful challenge (a step towards world domination perhaps!!!), not least because it indirectly brought me to try the Porridge bread - and of course a big thank you to Rhylesgranny too.  Looking forward to next month!