Hot cross bun cupcakes

Ingredients (makes 12)
1 tbsp. lemon juice
100ml whole milk
175g unsalted butter
175g self raising flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
175g  soft light brown sugar
2 tsp mixed spice
100g ground almonds
3 large eggs, beaten
Zest of 3/4 orange
100g raisins or sultanas
1 medium eating apple, peeled & grated
1 tbsp. apricot jam, warmed with a splash of water
For the spiced buttercream:
Zest of 1/4 orange
50g full fat cream cheese
50g icing sugar
25g butter, softened
1/4 tsp mixed spice

1. Combine lemon juice & milk in a large jug and set aside for 5 mins. Meanwhile, pre heat oven to 180C/Gas mark 4 and melt butter in a saucepan. Use a little of the butter to grease a 12-hole muffin tin.

2. Put flour, baking powder, sugar, spice, almonds and a pinch of salt into a large bowl, then sift through it with your fingers to squash any lumps of sugar. Beat the eggs, zest and melted butter into the thickened milk. Pour this into the dry ingredients, then beat with a balloon whisk until even.

3. Stir in the dried fruit and apple, scoop the mixture in to the tin and bake for 18-20 mins until golden and well risen. Cool for 10 mins in the tin then remove to a rack.

4. When the buns are cold, cut a cross from the top of each one using a serrated knife, then brush the tops with the apricot jam. For the spiced buttercream, beat everything together until creamy and pale. Pipe the buttercream into the crosses. Alternatively, simply glaze the buns and pipe crosses across the tops.

Everyday Bread Rolls

Here is a recipe i use every week to make a batch of ordinary bread rolls. Nothing fancy, just very nice rolls you can use during the working week for sandwiches.

Makes approximately 12 rolls

475g of Strong White Flour

2 Tablespoons of Butter (olive oil as replacements) 

1 Teaspoon sugar

A pinch of salt

1 and 1/4 Teaspoons Yeast

275ml of water (275ml equals 275g for those without accurate volumetric measurement)

Mix together thoroughly the flour and butter (or oil) and stir in the sugar, yeast and salt and gradually add enough water to make a smooth dough. 

Knead well on a lightly floured surface until dough is smooth and elastic. Place the dough back into the bowl and cover, set aside in a warm place for around an hour or until it has doubled in size. 

Cut the dough into 12 pieces and shape them. At this point you can either go for plain rolls and shape them into small balls or go for something fancy and make coils, knots or plaits. Place the 12 pieces on a greased baking tray and set aside for 30 mins in a warm place. 

brush the tops with egg yoke and sprinkle seeds or herbs or salt flakes on top. Bake in a preheated oven at 200oC (gas mark 6) for 10-15 mins until golden and the bases sound hollow when tapped. 

Spanish Paella

Spanish Paella

You might be surprised to hear that a spanish paella recipe isn't fixed in stone; there are many regional and cultural variations with the addition of sea food, meat or poultry, but fundamentally they are all based on using a hard white rice.

The beauty about a basic Paella dish is the that you can pretty much add anything you want, if you are a seafood lover you can add prawns, muscles even squid and octopus! The seafood variety, of course, is synonymous with tourist view of spanish food and that's not a far off assessment. A Paella looks complicated but it is surprisingly easy and quick to make.

The basic recipe with chicken:

In one large pan (does not have to be shallow) gently heat a good splash of Olive oil and add a clove of crushed and chopped garlic. Gently fry the garlic and remove. Do not let the garlic burn. Add small chunks of chicken breast and fry until cooked, adding a few splashes of white wine to add flavour.
Once cooked, pile a couple of handfuls of hard rice per person in the middle of the pan and add a teaspoon of Turmeric to the top and pour in the same quantity of water as the rice (1 cup of rice to 1 cup of water) and add a splash of wine. Mix well.

After about 5/10 mins of cooking start adding peas, pimentos, prawns etc, then add a couple of bay leaves, pepper and herbs (oregano and basil). Keep an eye on the amount of liquid in the pan and add little bits at a time if needed. Keep turning the rice over to ensure even cooking, and keep tasting the rice. Hard rice typically takes 20 mins to cook.

Once cooked, switch off the heat, cover the pan and let it stand for 5 mins to absorb the remaining liquid back into the rice. The final dish should be fairly dry with no liquid leakage.

Seafood Variation:

1 large Spanish onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
Good pinch of saffron strands
1 tsp fennel seeds
1 tsp smoked paprika
300g paella rice
100ml dry white wine
850ml hot chicken stock
300g mussels, cleaned
10 raw tiger prawns, with shells
2 medium squid, cleaned and cut into rings
2 roasted red peppers, cut into strips
200g mixture of peas and broad beans
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 large orange, cut into wedges
2 tbsp chopped parsley


Heat the oil in a large, deep ovenproof sauté pan with a tightly fitting lid or in a paella pan. Sweat the onion and garlic over a medium heat for 5-6 minutes until soft, without colouring.

Stir in the saffron, fennel seeds, paprika and rice and fry for 1 minute, mixing well to coat the rice in the spices and oils. Pour in the wine and bring to the boil. Cook until the wine has reduced by half, then add enough stock to cover the rice. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook for 8-10 minutes, stirring continuously.

Stir the seafood, peppers, peas and broad beans into the rice and add some seasoning. Balance the orange wedges on top, then pour in the remaining stock. Cover with a lid or tightly with foil. Cook over a low heat for ten minutes until the rice is tender, the mussel shells have opened, the prawn shells have turned orange and the squid flesh is cooked through but still soft.

Remove the lid or foil from the pan and check for seasoning. Discard any mussel shells that have not opened. Stir in half of the parsley, then divide between warmed plates. Sprinkle over the remaining parsley to serve.

DELIA cookery course

Some of us learnt with this:



but for you youngies out there this is the way it is done today:

DELIA online cookery school


my friends get fed up of me saying: "DELIA says" but if you do it her way it will be the  best even if you end up with every kitchen utensil used and piles of washing up; well I don't cos I try and cut corners where I can!! See, not a DELIA puritan after all....

cup cakes, everything you need to know on one page...

Standard “cake club” recipe 1) Preheat oven to GM4/1750c 2) Place 18 paper muffin cases in muffin tins 2) Put all cake ingredients in a large bowl and whisk with an electric whisk for 2 mins (longer if using a wooden spoon!) 3) Spoon the mixture using a teaspoon into the muffin cases 4) Bake for 20-25 mins or until cakes are springy to touch 5) Meanwhile, make icing a) beat butter until smooth b) gradually stir in sugar and vanilla essence c) beat well with electric whisk until smooth d) leave in fridge for 15 mins before using Variations:

makes 18 225g/8oz soft butter 225g/8oz caster sugar 225g/8oz self raising flour 1 tsp baking powder 4 eggs 1 tsp vanilla essence icing 180g/7oz icing sugar 100g/4oz unsalted butter (softened in microwave for a few seconds) 2tsp vanilla essence

1) choc cup cakes a) butterfly style: cake: replace vanilla essence in cake mixture with 2 tbs cocoa powder icing: replace vanilla essence with 2 tsp of cocoa powder dissolved in 4 tsp of boiling water; put inside cakes by removing a cone shape or making wings b) plain style: cake: replace vanilla essence in cake mixture with 2 tbs cocoa powder icing: instead of icing pour over recently melted chocolate (approx  200g) variation: insert M&M’s while choc still warm 2) mocha and walnut cup cakes cake: add 100g/3 ½ oz chopped walnuts icing: ·        225g/8oz unsalted butter ·        340g/11 ½ oz icing sugar ·        1 tbs instant coffee granules combined with        1 tsp hot coffee   ·        1 tsp vanilla essence ·        spread thickly (1cm) over top of cooled cakes

3) colourful cup cakes a) butterfly style: cake: stir in 110g/4oz sultanas just before putting in cases icing: add a few drops of food colouring then put inside cakes by removing a cone shape or making wings b) plain style: cake: stir in 110g/4oz sultanas just before putting in cases icing: make a glace icing to spread over top of cakes: ·        8oz icing sugar, ·        few drops of vanilla essence ·        2 tbs hot water few drops of food colouring (make in two batches if two separate colours required)    “cake club”  quantity also makes a big rectangular cake if placed in a 20cm x 30cm, greased and lined tin. Cook for 30mins or until a knife comes out clean.

It has been a while but fortunately blogs don't run out if not used for a while...

Chocolate Fudge Brownies

Chocolate Fudge Brownies are my favourite, only in small doses mind you, as they can be very rich. I found this recipe on Marriages' website, where incidentally, they make great flour for bread-making. Not that i can attest to that fact as i use Allinson's flour, but they do have a good reputation.

What You Will Need

Preparation: 15 minutes
Cooking: 25 minutes
Makes 16

225g unsalted butter, diced
100g dark chocolate, broken up
200g caster sugar
4 large free-range eggs, at room temperature
½ teaspoon vanilla essence
50g Marriage’s Finest Plain Flour
50g cocoa powder
A good pinch of salt
75g walnut pieces
Icing sugar for dusting
20.5cm square tin, greased and base-lined

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4.

Put the pieces of butter and chocolate into a small heavy pan. Set over the lowest possible heat and leave to melt gently, stirring frequently, until smooth but not hot. Remove from the heat and leave until needed.

Put the sugar, eggs and vanilla into a mixing bowl large enough to hold all the ingredients. Mix thoroughly with a wire whisk or wooden spoon.  Whisk in the melted chocolate mixture. Sift the flour, cocoa and salt into the bowl and mix until thoroughly combined. Stir in the nuts then transfer the mixture to the prepared tin and spread evenly. Bang the tin on the worksurface to expel any air bubbles. 

Bake in the heated oven for about 25 minutes until a skewer inserted into the centre of the mixture comes out with moist crumbs – the mixture will continue cooking after it comes out of the oven and it’s vital not to overcook it. Note that the mixture will puff up in the oven but sink on cooling. Stand the tin on a wire cooling rack and leave to cool completely before cutting into squares. Dust with icing sugar just before serving. Store in an airtight container and eat within a week.