Velvet Cupcakes

This one is for all the Mum's, Mum's-to-be and those who love their Mum out there (Hi Mum - B & I love you!). B has entered the Mum's club and celebrated her first official Mother's Day this year. Soon B will experience all the beautiful little homemade cards and gifts that baby B will bring home from school hidden in the bottom of his school bag (well when he starts school that is) but for now I'm sure she enjoyed getting pampered and maybe having a sleep in. This could be a regular gig hey Mr B? (hint hint).

As everyone says, until you become a mother yourself, words can't explain the amount of love that you have for your little people and that protective instinct that kicks in from late in pregnancy. It's an amazing feeling and I now understand my own mum and the way she is always putting herself last on the list. She is a very strong woman and I hope to instill all the strengths and values she has taught me into my own children. Thanks Mum!

We usually gather at Mum's place on Mother's Day or we sometimes head out for a picnic depending on the weather and even though it's "OUR" day I still bake because we all know Mr M is not exactly skilled in this department. Lets just say a pair of tongs in his hand is better suited and as for Mr B, he can produce an edible dish now and then under instruction, but now that baby B has arrived, he will have duties of his own. I think I may have more hope with my own Mr 8 being able to master the kitchen and we will work on baby B from the moment he can hold his spoon!!

So the Mother's Day picnic usually requires making simple things to eat straight from the picnic basket and I always seem to be allocated a sweet thing, so I was desperate to try these Velvet Cakes that I had spotted in Jamie's America ages ago. I had never made a red velvet cake before and wanted to know what all the fuss was about. It certainly has a dramatic colour and is so soft and fluffy (I had to eat one before I even iced them) and there was the hint of chocolate with the cocoa.

You will need:  - makes 12 cupcakes
50g unsalted butter, at room temperature
150g caster sugar
1 large egg
sea salt
1 teaspoon good-quality vanilla extract
optional: 3 tablespoons natural red food colouring - I used normal red food colouring
2 heaped tablespoons cocoa powder
150g plain flour
125ml buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 1/2 teaspoons white wine vinegar

For the frosting:
150g full-fat cream cheese
50g unsalted butter, at room temperature
100g icing sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
zest and juice of 1 lemon

Preheat oven to 180 degrees/350 F/gas 4 and line a 12 hole muffin tin with cupcake cases.

Using an electric mixer, or by hand, cream your butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.

Gently beat in the egg, a pinch of salt, the vanilla extract and, if using, the red food colouring.

In a separate bowl, mix together the cocoa and plain flour and fold half of it into your batter mix, followed by half of the buttermilk. Repeat with the remaining flour and buttermilk until you have a gorgeous smooth mixture.

In a small bowl mix your bicarbonate of soda and white wine vinegar together so it fizzes up, and stir this into your cake mix.

Divide the mixture between your cupcake cases and bake in the oven for 20 to 25 minutes.
I learnt a new trick when making cupcakes....if your like me and your cupcakes usually come out of the oven spilling over the edges, flat on some, not enough in others, well I found this very useful tip in one of my Donna Hay books. For a nice rounded cupcake spoon your mixture into 1/3 measuring cup for each patty case as this will ensure each cake will be nice and even.

To check they are cooked through, insert a skewer into the centre of a cake - if it comes out clean, they are perfect. Leave them cool for 5 minutes in the tin, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely while you make the frosting.

Frosting
Put all your ingredients into a food processor (I just used my cake mixer for this) and whiz until smooth and creamy.

Once the cakes are cool they are ready for the frosting.

Yum! M x

Fiery Dan Dan Noodles

I'm going to admit now before I continue on with this recipe that I'm not a huge fan of hot and spicy food, meaning the kind of hot that blows your taste buds through the roof of your mouth and sends beads of sweat dripping off the tip of your nose and into your bowl of yumminess. However, I can handle a good kick and do enjoy a moderately spiced dish. I know B has made this dish before and it rated highly on her culinary palate so I was eager to have a go.

B & I both have a ton of books from our favourite cooks and chefs and we are eager to work our way through these for you. We've both got a secret crush on Jamie Oliver (although B may actually have more of his cooking 'bibles' than I do!!!) and this fiery dish comes from his "Jamie's America" which I really do love and if you have been a follower of ours from the start you will see a gorgeous chocolate tart that I attempted as my first post for M & B from this same book (I do get a little distracted at the mention of chocolate - back to the fiery noodles!). These noodles are called "Dan Dan Noodles" and Jamie tells us that in the western Szechuan province of China they actually make a similar dish in massive buckets and carry them on poles over their shoulders. The word "Dan" apparently means pole so these are literally "pole pole noodles". I found the dish to be super easy to make and if you're looking for that extra kick of chilli this recipe is for you.

Having little people in our family I tend to have to make things somewhat child friendly and by using all of the chilli oil mentioned by Jamie and reading his comment - "this dish is right on the edge of my chilli tolerance" made me somewhat hesitant to add all of the chilli (but hey, if you're a chilli fan go for it). I will let you know how much I used in the recipe below.

The flavours of these noodles were amazing and it still managed to have a slight kick and keep 2 out of 3 little people happy and of course Mr B was making his usual "nom nom's" of approval. One thing I did do wrong and will definitely do next time is that I added the mince before it was meant to go in making all my effort of getting it nice and crunchy go to waste. Oh well I'm sure I'm not the only one who has had a mishap in the kitchen, right guys???

You will need:   serves 4

1 beef or chicken stock cube

500g mince beef

2 tablespoons runny honey

300g wheat noodles

4 handfuls of mixed green veg (Chinese cabbage, sprouting broccoli, bok choi, spinach) I didn't use spinach only because I forgot

4 cloves of garlic, peeled and very finely chopped

3 tablespoons dark soy sauce

2 teaspoons ground Szechuan pepper

5 tablespoons good-quality chilli oil (I only used 2 and 1/2 tablespoons)

2 spring onions, trimmed and finely sliced

1 lime, quartered, to serve

Crumble your stock cube into a large pot of water and put it on the heat to boil.

Add the beef to a dry pan and, on a medium to high heat, keep moving it around until it's golden and crunchy, which will take about 10-15 minutes. Pour away any excess fat. ( I used lean mince so I never really had any excess fat to tip off and the moisture I did have soon evaporated very quickly )

Add the honey and toss until all the mince is nicely coated. Cook for about 30 seconds, then take the pan off the heat and put your mince in a separate bowl. 

Stir your noodles into the boiling stock and move them about a bit so they don't stick together. Cook according to the packet instructions.

Shred your cabbage into 1 cm strips, quarter your bok choi and snap up the broccoli spears. 

When the noodles have 1 minute to go, throw in the prepared greens to blanch them. Drain the whole lot in a colander, reserving a mugful of the cooking water. Tip your noodles, veg and the mugful of water back into the hot pot.

Add your garlic, soy sauce, Szechuan pepper and chilli oil. Give it all a good mix with the tongs and divide between bowls.

Sprinkle over the crunchy beef (this is where I made my boo boo, I added my mince in with the other ingredients and water) finish with a scattering of spring onions and serve each dish with a lime quarter (you will need it if you go the whole chilli kick!!)

We will be making this one again! Enjoy M x

Orchard Eve Pudding - another M and B Jamie Oliver obsession!

Something that will really not surprise you by now, is that I really do like the odd Jamie Oliver cook book (and maybe the man himself!). Between M and B we may just have all of his books and even some DVD's on our shelves. I find his recipes very easy to follow and just so darn tasty. This pudding I made is from his "Jamie at Home" book "Cook your way to the Good Life" and with the cooler months approaching us, this pudding is one for the memory bank as you can add any fruit that is in season really, with the exception of raspberries as they tend to disappear!

This Pudding is called "Orchard Eve's pudding with whisky Jersey cream" on page 301 in his book "Jamie at Home"

You will need
1.5kg (any of the following fruit you can use) apples, pears, plums, banana, peaches or strawberries
I used apples, pears and plums in this pudding
a large knob of butter, plus a little extra for buttering the dish
100g brown sugar
a pinch of ground cinnamon
a pinch of ground nutmeg
a pinch of ground ginger
3 fresh bay leaves - i didn't have any fresh ones so i used 2 dried ones
1 vanilla pod
1 300ml double cream
1 tablespoon icing sugar
a little swig of whisky - i pinched a little of Mr M's burbon

for the batter
200g butter, softened
200g golden caster sugar - i used normal caster sugar
4 large free-range eggs
200g self-raising flour

Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees/350F/gas mark 4.

Peel and core the apples and pears and cut them into large wedges. Halve and stone the plums (their skin can be left on). Place in a big saucepan with the butter, brown sugar, spices and bay leaves, give it a stir and stew gently for 20 to 30 minutes with the lid on. The smell of the spices and the fruit stewing is devine!!

When the fruit is soft and cooked, remove the pan from the heat, discard the bay leaves and put to one side.

To make the batter, cream the butter and sugar together with a wooden spoon in a bowl until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating them in well, then fold in the flour. You can make this in a food processor too, which is what I did.

Using a slotted spoon, transfer half the cooked fruit (without the juices) into the bottom of a round, 20cm buttered ovenproof baking dish. Top with the batter, then spoon over the remaining fruit, reserving the juices. Bake in the preheated oven for 40 to 45 minutes, or until golden brown and risen. To check whether it's cooked through, stick a skewer or small knife into the middle of the sponge - if it comes out clean, you're in business.

Slice the vanilla pod in half lengthways and scrape the seeds out using the back of your knife. Put them into a bowl with the cream. Lightly whisk the cream and vanilla seeds and icing sugar until it forms soft peaks (Very lightly is the key with double cream). Fold in the whisky!!

Serve straight away with big dollops of the cream and a drizzle of the fruit juices.

Yum!

M xx

Salads for sharing with friends

I rarely read fiction novels at bed time, unless I'm madly trying to catch up on uni readings so my usual bed time reading is a cookbook. 30-Minute Meals has been a favourite bed time read of late, but I haven't made anything out of it yet (all in good time my friends!). Amongst my group of friends, some of us have a bit of an obsession with this cook book, but again I don't think any of us had made anything out of it yet. Until now.

My good friend Rack of Lamb (yes, that is her nick name), actually took the leap and recently made some of Jamie's salads for a gathering of friends she hosted. It was a laid back affair, drinks on the deck, shared finger food, some Singstar and just generally a few laughs.

We had some sourdough and dips, mini-pies and a few other nibblies to kick off the afternoon on Rack of Lamb and Mr Rack of Lamb's deck.

Our lovely host then dropped some 30-Minute Meal goodies on us. First up was smoked salmon with creamed horseradish and cress (p160 of the book). The combination of the smokey fish with the tangy horseradish was perfect. We all tucked in using our fingers to roll up some salmon and swipe it through the sauce. 

Next up was a prosciutto and melon salad (p26 of the book). This had a lemon and balsamic vinegar dressing along with some torn basil. Again we were able to use our fingers to roll a strip of salty prosciutto around the sweet and tangy dressed melon mixture.

The third salad Rack made was not one I would have immediately picked out of any book, but I will now certainly be making myself. This Sweet and Sour Cucumber actually comes from Nigella Lawson's book Nigella Express (p122). It actually went well with the smoked salmon having a strong dill flavour paired with the sweet and sour pickling juice. We used fingers, but you could certainly have made a little meal on a plate with the cucumber, salmon and some of the sourdough bread.

The shared salad feast prepared by Rack of Lamb (well done Rack - it was a beautiful spread!):

Lastly, I couldn't share Rack of Lamb's feast without also sharing these little sweeties. These guys are Rack's 'babies' - Mischa and Lola. Brother and sister Burmese cats. Mostly they slept while we feasted, but when they were awake they hung out with us like little people. You can tell I was very rude and interrupted their sleep from these photos (sorry guys!).

Enjoy!

B xx

Meet Maude

Hello from Maude

Following on from my sister Betty's chocolate theme, and what a theme it is! I also LOVE cooking, anything crafty, looking after my 3 beautiful children (oh and the hubby!) and having a good laugh with family and friends. I think i will keep the chocolate theme coming (okay maybe i like chocolate ALOT) but you really must try this recipe from Jamie Oliver - "Jamie's America". He describes it as outrageously sexy and if you make this for someone special they will want to marry you! (So for all those singles, get baking!)

It really isn't for the faint hearted though - WARNING: CHOCOLATE LOVERS ONLY! as it really has a rich chocolate taste and the spicy dusting really gets those taste buds dancing!! This one didn't last 1 day in our house and even Miss 9, Mr 6 and Miss 4 loved it!


It's called Chocolate Mole Tart by Jamie Oliver (Jamie's America page 233)

Sweet Pastry 

this recipe is on page 122 in Jamie's America

250g plain flour, plus extra for dusting

50g icing sugar

125g unsalted cold butter, cut into small cubes

optional: orange zest

l large egg

a splash of milk

You can make this pastry by hand, or put it in a food processor.

I did mine in the food processor

Sift the flour and icing sugar into the food processor, add the butter cubes and the zest from 1 orange

Pulse it a couple of times until the mixture looks alot like breadcrumbs

Add the egg and a splash of milk and pulse again, remembering not to over do it just until the mixture comes together. If you work the pastry too much it will become elastic and chewy.

Sprinkle some flour over a clean work surface and pat your pastry dough into a flat disc, then wrap it in glad wrap and pop into the fridge to rest for at least 30mins



Carefully roll out your pastry, turning it every so often, until it's about 0.5cm thick. Then carefully ease the pastry into the oiled tin, making sure you push it into all the sides. Trim off any excess by running a knife along the top of the pastry case, then prick the base of the case all over with a fork and pop it into the freezer for 30 minutes. Preheat your oven to 180 degrees/ 350F/ gas mark 4.

You will need to blind bake your pastry now. Line your pasrty with greaseproof paper and fill the case up with rice or those baking beads, and bake blind for 10 min. Take the case out remove the paper and rice then return the case to the oven to cook for a further 10 min until it's firm and almost biscuit-like. Leave to cool.

For the filling

100g hazelnuts

200g good-quality dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids), bashed up

sea salt

150g unsalted butter, chopped into cubes

200g caster sugar

3 large eggs, preferably free-range

4-5 tablespoons dulce de leche (I found a jar of this at Pennisi deli, on Balaclava St at the Gabba)

Spread your hazelnuts out on a roasting tray and place in your hot oven for 6 to 8 minutes, until

golden. Remove from the oven and leave cool, but leave the oven on.

Heat 2.5cm of water in a pan over a low heat and put a large heatproof glass bowl over the top of it, making sure the bottom of the bowl doesn't touch the water. Put your bashed-up chocolate into the bowl with a pinch of salt. When it starts to melt, add the butter and give it the occasional stir. Keep the heat low or the chocolate will split. Turn the heat off once everything is smooth and melted.

Pour 75ml of cold water into a clean pan on a low heat with 150g of sugar and whisk gently. When all the sugar has dissolved and you have a smooth syrup, set aside.

You want your eggs to get really fluffy, so put them into the bowl of an electric mixer and add the remaining 50g sugar. Mix about 4 minutes, until pale and frothy. At this point, slowly pour in your warm sugar syrup. mixing as you go. Turn the mixer off, pour in the melted chocolate, then mix again for 10 seconds, no longer.

Use the back of a spoon to spread the dulce de leche around the entire base of the cooled pastry case until evenly coated. Bash up your roasted hazelnuts and sprinkle then all over the dulce de leche. Pour over the chocolate filling mixture, using a spoon to even it out. Place on a baking tray and bake in a hot oven for 17 minutes, until the chocolate has set around the edges but is quite wobbly in the middle ( have Faith!!).

Remove and let cool for 2 hours ( if you can bear it!) - the filling will settle a little as it cools.

For the spicy dusting

1 level teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 cloves

1 level teaspoon coriander seeds

1 dried red chilli

zest of 1/2 an orange

4 heaped teaspoons cocoa powder

2 heaped teaspoons icing sugar

a few pinches of sea salt

Use a pestle and mortar to bash all the spicy dusting ingredients together intil fine. Sieve this over the tart for the finishing touch and serve with a dollop of cream.

You can store any leftover chocolate dust in the fridge and use it on ice-cream or hot chocolate!

It might seem alot of work for this tart,  but really it's quite simple techniques and worth EVERY delicious bite. B and I love our Jamie recipes!

Enjoy!! M xx