Showing posts with label Baking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Baking. Show all posts
Its that time of year again. The time of the great garden Zucchini glut. It happens every year about this time. We end up with zucchini (or courgettes as they are loving called here in the UK) coming out our ears. We don't even have to grow it ourselves because everyone else who is growing it will soon start happily dumping it on us. I got one given to me just the other day!
Normally I would be sharing a lovely iced and baked cake with you today, as it is my birthday. I ususally make myself my Raspberry Celebration Cake every year. It is my all time favourite birthday cake to make. However Photo Bucket is still holding my photos hostage over there and I can't seem to be able to get any answers from them. So this year on my Birthday you get Muffins. Triple Berry Muffins.
Fruit and Nut Muffins. Oh boy, are these fabulous muffins. Moist and delicious and filled with not one, not two, but three dried fruits. Chopped dates, raisins and chopped prunes!
Believe it or not, there is NO refined sugars in this recipe. In fact there is no sugar at all. All of the sweetness relies on those lovely dried fruits, and trust me when I say that they are just sweet enough.
In fact there is only 1/2 cup of butter in the whole recipe, which breaks down to 86 calories per muffin, so over all thats not too bad. Its less than a tablespoon per muffin.
Low fat, no sugar . . . and terrifically moist and delicious. There is nothing wrong with these!
You cook the fruit in a saucepan along with a cup of water to begin with, like making a date and nut loaf. It kind of melts down a bit, at least the dates to . . . into a sweet caramel-like mass. I put the butter right into that hot mixture and it melts down into it.
Once it cools to lukewarm, you can add it to the flour. The only leavening is baking soda. It starts to work as soon as you add the fruit and eggs, so work quickly then to get the batter in the pan ready to bake.
As you can see, they rose up beautifully . . .
They are loaded in natural fibre from the dates and the raisins and the prunes . . .
The toasted walnuts add a lovely crunch. I always toast my walnuts when I am baking with them. Its very easy to do. Just pop them onto a baking sheet and toast them into a hot oven (200*C/400*F) for about 8 to 10 minutes. You will be able to smell their nuttiness. Toasted nuts just taste better in my opinion. Its not necessary to toast them, but I always do.
Don't you love my little ruffled muffin cups. I got them from the Scandanavian Pantry. They are so cute!
I just adore anything Scandanavian . . . don't you?
If I could afford it I would kit my whole house out in Scandanavian style . . .
Back to the muffins, because they are low in sugar and fat, and high in fibre, you won't mind indulging yourself in a little bit of butter spreading . . .
Its not necessary mind you . . . but awfully nice all the same. 😁😁
Fruit & Nut Muffins
Yield: 10
prep time: 15 Mcook time: 20 Mtotal time: 35 M
These muffins are incredibly moist and delicious. Serve warm, split and spread with butter for an incredible taste treat! There is no sugar in these. They are sweetened by the dried fruit, and are filled with lovely flavours.
Ingredients:
- 150g chopped dates (1 cup)
- 75g chopped prunes (1/2 cup)
- 75g raisins (1/2 cup)
- 240ml water (1 cup)
- 120g butter (1/2 cup)
- 1/4 sp salt
- 140g flour (1 cup)
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
- 2 large free range eggs, whisked lightly
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 60g toasted chopped walnuts (1/2 cup)
Instructions:
- Place the dates, prunes and raisins in a saucepan with the water. Bring to the boil, then reduce to a slow simmer and cook for about 8 minutes until soft. Remove from the heat. Add the butter and allow it to melt.
- Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Line 10 muffin cups with paper liners.
- Sift the flour, salt and soda into a bowl. Add the beaten eggs, vanilla and date mixture and mix all together just to combine. Fold in the walnuts.
- Divide the mixture between the muffin cups.
- Bake for 20 minutes, until well risen and a toothpick inserted in the centre of one comes out clean.
- Remove to a wire rack to cool somewhat before eating. These are gorgeous served warm and spread with butter.
- Store any leftovers in an airtight container.
This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you may report it to me at: theenglishkitchen@mail.com
Thanks!
I will be the first one to admit that I am hopeless at sugarcraft. I was going to take a course once a very long time ago, but we ended up moving to where my job as a chef was beginning so that course never did happen.
I can use a piping bag however so I can capably pipe on some icing and with a few odds and sodds you can pretty up just about anything. The most important thing is the flavour and consistency of the cupcake when it comes right down to it, alhough admittedly we eat first with our eyes, so pretty does get out attention!
The important thing is the flavour and texture of the cupcake, and these Vanilla Cupcakes are the absolute best! They are nice and moist from the use of thick greek yogurt.
If you really want a vanilla bang you can use vanilla flavoured Greek yogurt, but that is not available here in the UK. We only get it plain, or as far as I can see . . . I could be wrong. I have just never found it anywhere I have shopped.
Other than that it is a pretty basic batter which bakes up beautifully into a light, moist and flavourful cupcake. Oh, it is also a small batch, so it only makes 6 cupcakes.
The buttercream is a simple ordinary buttercream as well, nothing fancy. Just butter beaten together with some sifted icing sugar and milk, a few drops of vanilla. Easy to make. Easy to use and easy to eat! Do make sure your cakes are completely cold before you ice them.
I could have just sprinkled them with sprinkles, but I decided to get a bit fancier today and I used some fresh berries, daisies (tis the season and they are so pretty) some silver balls, a few marshmallows, and some sprigs of rosemary because I thought they would be nice and green and go with the blackberries and red currants. OH, and I drizzled a bit of caramel sauce over some of the berry ones also.
The Best Vanilla Cupcakes (small batch)
Yield: 6 cupcakes
prep time: 10 Mcook time: 25 Mtotal time: 35 M
These cupcakes are moist and delicious, due to the use of yogurt in the batter. They are finished with a lush buttercream. The two together are amazing!
Ingredients:
For the Cupcakes
- 60g butter, melted (1/4 cup)
- 95g sugar (1/2 cup)
- 122g plain full fat Greek yogurt (1/2 cup)
- 1 large free range egg
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 105g plain flour (3/4 cup)
- 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/8 tsp baking soda
- pinch salt
- 2 TBS milk
For the Vanilla Buttercream:
- 6 1/2 TBS butter
- 130g icing sugar, sifted (1 cup)
- 1/2 TBS milk
- few drops vanilla
Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Line 6 cupcake tin holes with paper liners. Set aside.
- Whisk together the melted butter and sugar in a bowl. Beat in the yogurt until well mixed then beat in the egg and vanilla.
- Sift together the flour, soda, baking powder and salt. Add to the creamed mixture, alternating with the milk, beginning and finishing with the dry ingredients.
- Spoon into the prepared cupcake tin, filling them 2/3 full.
- Bake for 25 minutes or until well risen, golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.
- Remove immediately to a wire rack to cool completely.
- To make the icing, beat the butter until fluffy, then beat in the icing sugar, vanilla and milk until you have a light and fluffy icing.
- Frost the cooled cupcakes with this mixture and decorate as you wish.
- Store any leftovers in an airtight container.
These turned out really nice. Do warn your partner not to eat the rosemary, lol. I forgot to tell Todd and he was not fond! You should have seen the look on his face! Same with the daisies. Not sure if they are edible or not, but they sure do look pretty. Mint leaves look rather nice also with the berries.
Just a flight of fancy to begin August with.
We are huge muffin lovers in this house. I usually try to bake a batch every weekend so that we have them to enjoy for a few days. Some weeks I small batch, not wanting to waste any. This weekend finding ourselves in possession of quite a few over-ripe bananas I decided to bake a full batch of Banana muffins, knowing that I can simply free what we will not eat within a couple of days to enjoy somewhere down the road.
Normally this wouldn't happen. But Todd went for a walk the other day and bought some bananas at a shop, not realising of course that I had bananas on my grocery order for delivery. Not a problem really as I always use them up.
Sometimes I will bake Banana Bread and I have some really great recipes for a variety of Banana Breads on here. My absolute favourite one is this Sour Cream Banana Loaf. This is the one I always bake for the Mr when I cooked at Brenchley Manor.
I had to make sure that there was always one of those in the larder. He loved it toasted in the toaster oven and spread with cold butter for breakfast. I do love Banana Bread, but in all truth I don't always want to wait the hour or so that it takes to bake.
If you are looking for instant gratification, Banana Muffins are the way to go. They mix together rather quickly and bake lickety split..
You can usually be enjoying one of them within a half an hour, start to finish, and this is my favourite recipe for them.
It is my favourite recipe for a number of reasons. One with the ease at which I can throw them together and two because they always bake up moist and delicious, never dry and always beautifully flavoured.
If you are a purist, you can of course leave out the chocolate chips and walnuts, but we love them just as they are! You can of course use pecans if you would rather. We like the walnuts.
I always toast my nuts before using them when baking. It doesn't take much effort. Just a few minutes on a baking tray in a hot oven does the trick. Toasting your nuts just helps them to taste nuttier!
It enhances the nuttiness as it were . . . and chocolate chips. Chocolate and banana are a beautiful conbination. Think chocolate dipped frozen bananas here. The two flavours are quite symbiotic.
I was thinking as well, if you love peanut butter and banana sandwiches, you might like to use peanut butter chips in these instead of chocolate? What say you eh?
In any case I think these are pretty perfect just as they are. Soft, buttery, lightly spiced and moist.
Quick to make, quick to bake, incredibly moreish when it comes to enjoying them. I could easily eat two of these in one sitting, but I restrain myself.
If you are looking for the perfect Banana Muffin, you can't go too far wrong by using this recipe. I think quite possibly, its the absolute best.
Banana Muffins
Yield: 12 muffins
These are the perfect banana muffins. Moist, lightly spiced and filled with toasted nuts and chocolate chips (or not if that's what you prefer.)
Ingredients:
- 210 grams plain flour (1 1/2 cups)
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
- 3 large over-ripe bananas (about 1 1/2 cups)
- 86g melted butter (6 TBS)
- 145g soft light brown sugar (2/3 cup)
- 1 large free range egg, lightly beaten
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 TBS whole milk
- 60g chopped toasted walnut meats (1/2 cup)
- 90g semi sweet chocolate chips (1/2 cup)
Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 220*C/425*F/ gas mark 7. Line a 12 cup muffin tin with paper liners.
- Whisk together the flour, soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Stir in the chocolate chips and nuts.
- Using an electric whisk beat the bananas in a bowl until mashed thoroughly. Whisk in the sugar, egg, vanilla, melted butter and milk, combining well together. Add the dry ingredients all at once and stir together just to combine. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin tin just to below the top of the paper liner.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 5 minutes then immediately lower the oven temperature to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4 without opening the oven door. Bake for a further 15 minutes until well risen, golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the centre of a muffin comes out clean.
- Allow to cool for five minutes, prior to carefully lifting out to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Store any leftovers in an airtight container for up to two days. These will also freeze well, properly wrapped, for up to three months. Thaw overnight prior to eating.
So what is it that makes a muffin the perfect muffin for you? What flavours do you enjoy? Next to Banana I love Bran. I need to find a way to combine the two don't you think?
Lemon Blueberry Turnovers . . . is there any more delicious flavour combination on the earth than the combination of lemon and blueberry??
I think not . . .
Combine that with flaky buttery puff pastry and you have a marriage made in heaven! This is the perfect time of year to be enjoying blueberry treats!
What is a turnover but a little pie, and these ones are so easy to make!
The filling is very simple to make and they cook in literally minutes, which makes them perfect for the summer months when you don't want to be heating up the kitchen!
I’m all for easy. How about you?
You only need a few ingredients as well. Puff pastry. Blueberries. Bueberry Jam. Lemon Curd.
Plus an egg wash to brush over and seal the edges.
The glaze is simple as well, just icing sugar and lemon juice . . . perfect.
I always have puff pastry in the freezer and lemon curd in the refrigerator. I also always have blueberry jam. I use Bonne Maman . . .
Wild Blueberry Jam . . . it reminds me of home.
I spent many a summer bent down low picking wild blueberries for my mother. Hot and painstaking work. They grow low to the ground.
It takes quite a few to fill a bucket, but their flavour is exemplary. Cultivated ones never quite come up to the flavour of the wild berry.
Mom never made jam with them, just pies. I used to make jam and pies and cakes, muffins, etc. You could usually buy big crates of wild blueberries at the farmers market.
They did cost a lot more than the ones you picked yourself, but . . . sometimes you know, its just worth it.
We grow our own cultivated blueberries in our garden, but when I saw frozen wild blueberries for sale on Ocado, I jumped at the chance to buy a bag.
They were not cheap but I knew their flavour would be amazing.
I sacrificed some of them to make these lush turnovers today. Mixed with a bit of wild blueberry jam, they made for an excellent filling.
I also added some lemon curd . . . because you know, blueberries and lemon . . . perfect.
This was the perfect blend of tart and sweet . . . perfect.
Although I did brush the squares of puff pastry well with an egg wash to help seal the edges and gild the top, I had blow outs . . . which upset me a bit . . . but then I realised . . .
The little blown out bits add to their beauty! And they get nice and sticky as well, which is why you really need to use baking paper and then scoop them off to a cooling rack pronto!
There is no mistaking that these are blueberry turnovers!
That combination of sweet/tart filling . . . that flaky buttery pastry . . . the sweet lemon glaze . . .
Doesn't this just look like a pair of sweet kissable blueberry filled lips? Mmmm . . . kiss . . . kiss!!
Lemon Blueberry Turnovers
Yield: 6 - 8 turnovers
Lemon and blueberry are one of the nicest combinations. These are quick and easy and oh-so-delicious!
Ingredients:
- 125g fresh or frozen blueberries (1 1/4 cup)
- 1 heaped dessert spoon of wild blueberry jam (about 1/3 cup)
- 6 - 8 TBS good quality lemon curd
- 1 sheet of puff pastry
- 1 large free range egg yolk beaten with 1 TBS cream
To glaze:
- 65g icing sugar (1/2 cup)
- 1 TBS lemon juice
Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F/ gas mark 6. Line a large baking sheet with baking paper. (Do not skip this step.)
- Stir the blueberries together with the blueberry jam.
- Unroll the puff pastry. Cut into 6 to 8 even squares (depending on the size of your sheet).
- Beat the egg yolk together with the cream. Brush the edges of each square with some of this.
- Place 1 TBS of lemon curd on one half of each pastry square. Top with about 2 TBS of the blueberry mixture. Fold the half without the filling over to cover the filling and press the edges sealed with the tines of a fork. Place onto the baking sheet leaving plenty of space between. Make a few steam vents in the top of each and brush the tops of the turnovers with the remaining egg wash.
- Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until well risen and golden. Scoop off onto a wire rack to cool completely.
- Whisk together the icing sugar and lemon juice until smooth. Drizzle decoratively over top of the turnovers. Allow to set before serving.
- Best served on the day.
These are quite simply beautiful. To look at. To eat. To enjoy! Happy weekend!
This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you may report it to me at: mariealicejoan at aol dot com Thanks so much for visiting. Do come again!
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