Showing posts with label small indulgences. Show all posts
Showing posts with label small indulgences. Show all posts
One of the most popular and favourite desserts here in the UK has to be Sticky Toffee Pudding Cake. I can't think of anyone that wouldn't swoon at being presented with a nice bowl of Stocky Toffee Pudding slathered with lashings of cream.
It is just heaven in a bowl. I first tried it when we were up in the Lake District. You could buy it readymade in the chiller cabinets at the shops. It is a Lake District original and considered to be a modern classic!
And so, so, sooooo popular. Small wonder. A sticky moist date filled cake topped with a sticky caramel topping. What's not to like?
Only about a bazillion calories, but who's counting! Quite dangerous to have around . . .
It presents a bit of a conundrum . . .
First . . . its fabulously delicious, but its only big enough for one, meaning that there isn't a ton of it hanging around tempting you to keep digging in.
Which means that I can make this just for my husband and I don't have to eat something which I really shouldn't be eating . . .
But . . . . it takes less than two minutes all together to have it sitting on your plate waiting for you to dig in.
So . . . you are never more than two minutes away from eating sticky toffee pudding . . .
Hence the dilemma . . . but hey. My husband doesn't mine not ever being two minutes away from sticky toffee pudding and I can certainly exercise a little bit of willpower.
You will either hate me or love me for this. The choice is yours.
I tend to think that it might be a little bit of both, but hey, I have big shoulders. Enjoy!
*Sticky Date Pudding for One*
Serves 1 generously
few drops vanilla
4 TBS self raising flour
few drops vanilla
Have ready a large mug/ramekin. Whisk the vanilla, melted butter
and date syrup together to combine fully in the mug. Whisk in the brown
sugar and the egg. Whisk in the flour until smooth. Place in the microwave and
cook on high for 1 minute to 1 1/2 minutes. Watch it. This timing
depends on the strength of your microwave. Mine took 1 1/2 minutes.
Take out and set side while you do the sauce. Melt the butter in a small bowl then whisk in the cream, vanilla and dark brown sugar. Microwave for about 3 seconds and whisk again. It should be smooth and not gritty. Place the mug/ramekin with the cake onto a small plate. Pour the sticky toffee sauce over your warm cake and serve with or without cream for pouring. I dug a little hole into the centre and poured some cream into there. Oh my word, this was so very good.
I really can't wait for you to try this. If you love sticky date cake with sticky toffee sauce, then you are in for a real treat in . . . less than two minutes. I bought my date syrup from Amazon. (UK) (US) (CAN)
You can also make your own using this recipe. It works a charm and is essentially the same thing as the stuff you buy. You get a lovely date flavour and moistness without any chunks. Bon Appetit!
When I was a child one of the favourite things that my mother would make for us as a treat on cooler autumn and winter nights was her version of Cinnamon Rolls. Not the yeasty bready kind of cinnamon rolls, but the quick bread/biscuit/scone type of Cinnamon Rolls. Oh boy but they smelled so good when they were cooking, and they tasted even better. Heavenly Bliss.
I decided to make Todd a treat today. I have next to no will power when it comes to cake and so I have been trying to do mug cakes when I can. That way he gets to enjoy a bit of an indulgence and I have nothing to tempt me. This one turned out really REALLY lovely.
It's been almost a year since I was diagnosed as a Type 2 Diabetic and I would be lying to you if I didn't say that it has been a real struggle. Coping with this along with Diverticulitis, IBS and other health issues means that putting anything into my mouth is a bit like playing Russian Roulette. No fun. It definitely hasn't been easy. I have managed to keep the Diabetes under control and take myself back to pre-diabetic glucose levels . . . the other things I never know from one day to the next what is going to set things off. I just think I got a handle on it and bingo! Surprise, surprise, something else will trigger an attack.
I profess to having a certain fondness for donuts, especially the cake type. I like those ones much more than the yeast once, although they are also certainly very good and have their place. But give me a chocolate sour cream or plain sour cream donut over a crueller any day of the week! Love, Love, LOVE!
I have several recipes posted on here for donut muffins. This recipe for Jam Donut Muffins is very good. This recipe for Glazed Donut Muffins is also excellent! This recipe for Donut Muffins is my absolute favourite. They are also filled with jam, but are more cakey than the first one. All are good. Today I am showing you a recipe for Baked Apple Donuts, which are a mini muffin that greatly resemble donut holes when done!
The people at Rachel's sent me over some fresh new Autumn/Winter recipes for me to try. Boy do they ever look delicious. With my diabetes I have to be a bit careful what I eat at the moment, so the first one I tried was the Avocado on Sour Dough Toast with Chilli Scrambled Egg & Bacon. (I used sausage instead of bacon.) There is also a recipe for A Salted Caramel Malt Cake and Lemon, Coconut and White Truffles. Sooooo delicious!
There is a possibility that I might be a coeliac. At least that is what the specialist said the other day. I have all of the symptoms, but have been treated for having IBS for about 5 years now. The symptoms are very similar.
I did a reckie around the grocery store today and there is not a heck of a lot for coeliac's. There's a bit, but what is there is very expensive.
I picked up some gluten free self rising flour and a box of cereal, but seriously . . . they wanted almost £3 for a loaf of bread. (That's like almost $4.51 American or $6.01 Canadian.) I don't know how people cope. It's outrageous! I really hope I am not.
I thought I might try baking a Gluten Free cake or some such. I looked at one recipe and it would have cost me a virtual fortune by the time I baked the one I was looking at.
I would have spend almost £6 on ground almonds alone, not to mention half a dozen large eggs and all the other bits in it. I can't afford that . . . as lovely as it looked. Then there is the sugar . . .
I found this recipe in a gluten free baking book by Hannah Miles. (Remember she was first runner up in Master Chef 2007 and her cakes are lovely. It's called The Gluten-Free Baker.
It has a lot of sugar in it (1 1/2 cups altogether plus 1 TBS), so I was only able to have a tiny taste, but I can tell you from the tiny taste I had . . . they are totally gorgeous!!
She baked hers in tiny loaf tins. I chose to bake mine in muffin tins because I was too lazy to cut out baking paper to fit into the loaf tins . . . and if I did muffin cakes then I could use my cupcake papers.
The cakes are really moist and lemony flavoured.
A lot of the moistness comes from the amaretto syrup drizzle you spoon over the hot cakes when they come out of the oven. It soaks all down into the cakes . . .
Once totally cooled you spoon a lemon drizzle icing over top and scatter on toasted flaked almonds. Altogether very scrumptious indeed.
I would think these would please any coeliac . . . at least any coeliac who wasn't diabetic at any rate!
*Lemon Amaretto Cakes*
Gluten Free
Makes six individual cakesthe juice of one lemon
For the icing drizzle:
160g of icing sugar, sifted into a bowl (1 cup confectioner's sugar)
the juice of one lemon
toasted flaked almonds to top
Grease
a six cup muffin tin and line with paper liners. Preheat the oven to
180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Place the muffin tin on a tray.
Cream
the butter and sugar together in a bowl until light and fluffy. Beat
in the eggs, one at a time. Whisk together the flour and almonds. Fold
this into the creamed mixture along with the yogurt and lemon zest.
Divide the cake batter amongst the prepared muffin cups.
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until the cakes are firm to the touch and golden brown.
Whisk
together the ingredients for the amaretto drizzle until the sugar is
dissolved. Spoon this over the hot cakes, a bit at a time, when they
come out of the oven. It will be completely absorbed.
Allow them to
cool in the pan. Once they are completely cooled, whisk together the
icing sugar and lemon juice to make a spoonable drizzle icing. If you
need to add a bit of water you can. Spoon this over the top of each
cake and scatter with some flaked toasted almonds while the icing is
still wet. Allow to set.
Bacon . . . it's something I don't eat very often . . . but when I do, I like to make sure it's a good bacon. After all, if I am going to splurge on a bit of a calorie bonus . . . I want to make it worth my while! More often than not, I will opt for a good quality, dry cured and oak smoked back bacon, cut thickly, with not too much fat on it. It's a real treat!
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