Sorry

So sorry one and all it has been a month since my last posting. I have been fighting with the realms of video blogging (I did warn you I was a bit of a technophobe), busy creating soaps for the many events I had booked and keeping up with twitter and face book.

So the update... well the video blog is no nearer working! The soap collection has grown and found it's sister in natural soy burns. Hell we have even been making our own packing boxes. Been busy helping my daughter with new magazine launch...more on that soon.

But to keep you going here is my favourite Muffin recipe of all time...Coconut

You will need:- 1 cup Plain Flour, 1/2 cup coconut, 1/2 cup sugar. 1&1/2tsp baking powder, 1 egg, 1/2 tsp vanilla, 1/4 cup vegetable oil. Remember the key is the whisk all the wet ingredient together before adding to the sifted dry ones. Use mixture to fill muffin cases 1/3 full and bake at 200 C for 20 mins.

Sausage Meat Potatoe Bake

With a trip to the supermarket pending the fridge contents were low and mainly uninviting with a slab of sausage meat that needed to be used up I scoured the kitchen cupboards for additives to make an alternative meal. The result was...1/2 tin baked beans, 1/2 tin chopped tomatoes, 2 shallots, 1 garlic clove, 3 spoons of gravy granules and the sausage meat.

I sliced the sausage meat and spread it across the base of the baking dish, sprinkled over the gravy granules before adding a layer of sliced shallots which I topped with the bean and tomato mixture before spreading over the boiled and mashed potatoes to which I had added the crushed clove of garlic and a large knob of butter. The whole thing was baked at 200C for around 40mins. It was golden brown and very scrummy.

The Saga of The Jam Disaster

So yesterday I set about making good of the huge fruit bowl sitting on the side, now I haven't made jam since I was a school so I got the trusty recipe book out, wrote a list of items missing from the store cupboard and went off to Tesco. Stew the fruit - easy anyone can do that. Add the sugar and boil - ok just make sure the pans big enough. Check the setting - mmm seems to be runny - keep boiling. Check the setting - oops seems to be like a sweet. Ok so no problem - decant into jars (one lump at a time!) leave to cool.

Try to repair damage - when cooled at about 9pm last night I put it all back in the pan and added some more water and re-boiled. It's now spreadable (just) and tastes good so what the hell. Note to self - Give up on Jam making!!

Coconut Cake

When I lived at home my dad used to make us the most wonderful coconut cake, in the 20 years since I left I have never made it so this week I decided to give it a go - it has all vanished so I figure a job well done!

I used 175g self-raising flour, 1tsp baking powder, 175 g butter, 175g golden cater sugar, 3 eggs, 100g desiccated coconut, 40g sliced almonds, Finely grated zest and juice of 2 limes.

I preheated the oven to 180oC Put the flour, baking powder, butter, sugar, eggs, coconut and 2/3 almonds and lime zest and juice into a large bowl and mixed together until light and fluffy.
Decorate top with remaining almonds. Baked for 45-55 minutes.

English Breakfast Crumble

With a household of people who would live on egg and bacon I am constanly looking for ways to make them more interesting the the good ol English fry up. This week I decided tomake them into an alin one meal.

I used: 8 rashers of bacon, 1 onion, 1 tin of plum tomatoes, 4 medium potatoes, 5 mushrooms and 3/4 pt gravy for the filling with a topping of 1 cup flour mixed with 1 cup of butter.

I lined the bottom of the dish with 4 bacon rashers, peeled and part boiled the potataoes, chopped the onion & mushrooms and fried gently in a pan with the poatatoes, stirred in the tomatoes and gravy poured the contents onto the bacon and topped with the remaining 4 rashers before covering withthe crumble mix. Baked for 50 mins at 200 degree C.

Bread Pudding

Having been out a lot over the weekend I found myself with half a loaf going stale this morning and in these times I hate to throw any food stuffs away so it was into the store cupboard to see what was lerking to be used and the outcome was good old fashioned bread pudding with a nutty twist.

None of these ingredients were measured as such just mixed to eye. Iused around 300g of diced bread, 1/2 pint milk, 1 large egg, 1 tblsp cinnamon, 2tblsp chopped mixed nuts, 3 tblsp dried mixed fruit.

Soak the bread in milk for around 2 hours then mix well with all other ingredients and press into a heavily buttered dish. Then bake on a low heat (160 C) for 60 mins turn oven offbut leave pudding in oven todrawremaining heat for 3 hours.

Homely Toad in the Hole

With the Bank holiday and a poorly child this weeks Tuesday Bake turned into a Thursday bake! As the summer seems to have well and truely left and been replaced with howling wind I decided to go for a good homely meal of winter.

I used: - 6 Pork Sausages, 110g Plain White Flour, 300ml Milk, 2 Small Eggs, ½ tsp Salt.

With all the dry ingredients in a bowl and a small well in the centre add the eggs. Then mix in the milk whisk until fully combined and the surface is covered with tiny bubbles and put into fridge. Heat the oven to 230 degree C put the sausages in dish and bake for around 15 mins. Pour cold batter over the sausages and return dish to the overn for around 30 mins until golden brown and well risen. Serve at once as the batter will deflate.

Fruity Muffins

Well yesterdays bake seems to have been a resounding result as the 48 muffins I made at 2pm are already diminshed 20!

The trick seems to be to whisk asmuch air as possible into all the wet ingredients at thesame time before adding to the dry and then only tomix very gently before putting into cases.

Recipe:

2 Large Eggs

125ml Vegetable Oil

250ml Fresh Milk

1tsp Vanilla Essence

1/2 tsp Almond Essence

400g Plain Flour

3tsp Baking Powder

1/2tsp Salt

200g Canned Mixed Summer Fruit

Mix all wet ingredients with sugar until dissolved. Mix all dry ingredients in a seperate bowl. Make a well pour in wet ingredients, mix roughly. Add drained fruit to complete mixture and stir gently. Put mixture into large muffin cases (2/3 full) bake in a preheated oven at 200 degrees C for 25 mins. Make Coffee, sit back and enjoy.