Are you looking for a quick bake for the family over the Easter Holidays?  Dr Oetkers new Bake in the Box Loaf Cake Mixes are perfect for that.  I was recently sent one of each flavour to try out.  These unique mixes come with their very own box that you both mix and bake them in, which also makes them perfect for students who are living away from home and who don't have a lot of tins and things for baking with.   Their smaller size also makes them perfect for the smaller family who don't want to go to the fuss of baking a larger cake that might or might not get eaten.

 

It comes in three flavours  . .  Lemon & Poppy Seed, Banana & Chocolate Chip and Double Chocolate.

 

You just dump the enclosed packet of mix into the special packaging which also serves as a baking container  . . .

 

Add the amount of milk required and stir together until well blended. Specific amounts and instructions are clearly marked for each flavour, both on the baking container itself and on the inside packaging, as well as times, temperatures, etc.

 

You bake them for ten minutes, draw a knife through them and continue to bake according the package directions.  Here they are right out of the oven, freshly baked.

 

Then all you need to do is to run a knife aroudn the edges and then unfold the edges to loosen the cake from the baking container. 

 

 

And there you have it, perfectly sized and baked loaf cakes to share with the family. No fuss. No muss, nothing to wash up afterwards and . . .

 

Quick, easy and quite delicious I thought!  And to think all you needed was a bit of milk and a spare 30 minutes.  

I am taking advantage of these last cooler days we are having before the weather gets too hot to enjoy comfort meals such as this delicious Smothered Chicken recipe which I am showing you today.  

 

You might think that as a Diabetic and person who is watching the calories that food such as this would be totally off the menu.  This dish today proves that not only can you eat comfort foods when you are watching the calories and carbs, but they can also be delicious as well as nutritious!

 

Effortless and filled with lovely flavour this is such a simple dish to make and it is bound to become a real family favourite.  Who says tasty has to be high in fat, carbs and calories! 

 

This homestyle chicken dish has no fat or oil added to it at all, unless you count the spritz of cooking spray that you use to cook the onion and garlic in at the start.  

 

Soften them and add water.

 

After that you add boneless, skinless chicken to the pan and allow it to simmer until it is cooked through. 

 

Once it is cooked through you add some chicken stock and continue to simmer it until the chicken is meltingly fork tender.

 

The gravy is thickend with a flour/water  mixture and at the very end you stir in chopped spring onions and parsley for a bit of colour and even more flavour. 

 

Altogether, this is very delicious and nobody will even guess that its actually healthy.  It only tastes naughty!

 

  

Spray a large skillet with nonstick cooking spray.  Add the onions and cook, stirring occasionally over medium heat until beginning to brown.  Stir in the garlic and cook for a minute or so longer.  Add the first amount of water and cook for a further five minutes. Season the chicken all over with salt and pepper and add to the pan with the onions, garlic and water. Cover and simmer until the chicken is cooked through, 20 to 30 minutes.  Uncover and stir in the chicken broth.  Scoop out the chicken breasts and set aside. Shake together the flour and water and whisk this into the chicken broth/etc.  Cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture boils and thickens. Return the chicken to the pan, turning them to coat in the gravy.  Cover and cook over low heat for a further 10 to 15 minutes.  Stir in the spring onions and parsley.  Taste and adjust seasoning as required with salt and black pepper.  Serve hot. 

As a diabetic I choose to have mine with brown rice. A complex carbohydrate, which is diabetic friendly and low GI.  My husband, the meat and potatoes man, enjoys his with mash.  And why not.  He shouldn't have to pay for my sins.  Bon Appetit!  

 

I love cakes which are made with sour cream and yogurt.  Adding sour cream or yogurt add moisture and makes for a lovely tender crumb.  

 

This is especially welcome when you are baking a cake to which fresh fruit is going to be added.  Fresh fruit can tend to sink to the bottoms of your cakes, but this never seems to happen when I use a batter with sour cream or yogurt added.

 

My guess is that the fruit can get kind of heavy once it starts to cook and some of its moisture starts to seep out, and by adding the sour cream or yogurt to the cake you create a batter which can stand up well to that occurrence. 

That's my theory anyways!

 

I know that when you are using dried things in cake, like raisins, chocolate or nuts, tossing them with a bit of flour from the recipe helps to prevent them from sinking.

 

I don't know if  that would work with fruit. It could get claggy.which might make it sink more. Any thoughts on this?

 

In any case this is a beautiful cake, with a lovely moist crumb.  Its light in texture and filled with pockets of sweet tart raspberries.

 

This is really nice as its not an overly sweet cake. It works well.

 

It makes a great cake to enjoy for breakfast or brunch, or for with your afternoon cuppa. I love cakes that are perfect for any time! 

Mind you, I am the type of person who can eat cake any time!

  

  This Raspberry Yogurt Cake also makes a nice light dessert, especially if you choose to serve it warm with a nice scoop of vanilla ice cream on top. 

That is the Canuck in me. Wanting ice cream and cake. In the UK they would probably prefer a dollop of clotted cream and I won't argue with that incredibly delicious option!

 

You could also use blueberries or blackberries if you wanted to, or even a mixture. I have often been tempted to use diced peaches.

 

I think peached would go very well, especially if you used a mix of raspberries and peaches. Then it would be like a Peach Melba Yogurt Cake.

 

You just scatter the fruit over top of the batter after you spread it in the pan, and they sink down into place as the cake bakes.  

 

They mostly end up in the middle and leave little pockets/dimples over the surface of the cake, which I think adds to its attractiveness.

 

It is not a cake that needs icing.  Its perfecly delicious without it, however I do like to dust it with a bit of icing sugar to dress it up a bit, but that is completely optional. 

It also helps to accentuate those delicious raspberry dimples a little bit more.  Very Pretty.

 

In any case if you are looking for a simple, easy and delicious cake to bake this weekend, then this baby is the one you are looking for!

 

 

Preheat the oven to 190*C/375*F/ gas mark 5.  Butter a 9 inch round baking tin and line the bottom with paper. 

 

Oh boy, looking at these pictures this morning is tempting me to want to cut myself a piece and enjoy it with my morning cuppa, and I think I might do just that!  Cake for breakfast. Its a very good thing. 

 

 

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I got a really good deal at the grocery shop the other day on some plums. A whole punnet for only 25 pence! How could I resist! We love plums! They were as hard as a rock, of course, but that is not a problem if you plan on cooking them, in a crumble or a cake . . . but I had something else in mind.

 

When you can't get good fresh plums in season however, this is an excellent way to prepare them. Poached plums. Beautifully tender plums, with a lovely vanilla scented and flavoured syrup spooned over top, with just a hint of lemon.

 

 

They are equally as good served with a dollop of tangy Greek Yoghurt or Creme Fraiche.

One bite and I was back in Austria where we holidayed one year . . . each morning they served us these lovely poached plums for breakfast, along with yoghurt and meusli. It was a gorgeously delicious and healthy breakfast.

 

 

*Vanilla Poached Plums*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe 

Poaching fruit is the perfect thing to do with supermarket fruit that you know will annoyingly rot before it actually ripens. Actually hard fruits are just wonderful done this way. It gives them new life. We like this with vanilla ice cream, but a dollop of Greek yoghurt or Creme Fraiche is always lovely too. You also don't need to keep the spices at just vanilla. Try using some bruised cardamom pods, cinnamon or cloves along with the vanilla! 

8 plums, washed, cut in half and stoned
1 litre of water (4 cups)

190g  caster sugar (1 cup)
a strip of lemon peel, no pith
the juice of half a lemon
1/2 a vanilla bean, split lengthwise 

 

Place the water, sugar, lemon peel, and lemon juice in a deep skillet, just large enough to hold all the plum halves in a single layer. Bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer. Add the vanilla bean, scraping out the seeds into the mixture. Simmer for about 5 minutes, then add the plums cut side down. Simmer for about 3 minutes. Flip them over and simmer for another 3 to 4 minutes, just until they have surrendered their firmness and absorbed some of the syrup. They should be just tender to the tip of a knife. Scoop the plums out immediately to a bowl and allow to cool to room temperature. Cool the syrup down as well. Spoon the fruit into dessert bowls and spoon some cooled syrup over each serving. Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a dollop of Greek Yoghurt or Creme Fraiche. Store any leftovers in the refrigerator. 

I am so happy that lighter days are here and grateful for sunnier days as well. My food pictures turn out so much nicer!

 

Blondies.  Blondies are often called a white brownie. That's not an entirely accurate description. Just what is a Blondie?  

It is the dense, more caramel like version of a brownie, but every bit as dense and fudgy in texture. They are incredibly sweet and incredibly moreish.  But what makes a good Blondie?

What could you classify as the best blondie recipe? I'll tell you.

 

Quality ingredients.  That's what.  First, you need to use a really good quality butter.  I use lurkpac, lightly salted.  

There is also a fine line between using too little butter and too much. 125g (about 1/2 cup) does it perfectly.  Any more and they would be greasy.  I also melt the butter.  

My ex MIL taught me to do that.  It creates a perfect denseness.

 

I like to use muscovado sugar, or at the very least dark soft brown sugar.  The higher the molasses content, the more fudge-like consistency you will get.  

This gets whisked into the melted butter along with 1 large free range egg and some really good vanilla.

 

I use pure vanilla extract, not artificial.  Don't be tempted to use Vanilla Paste. Its a waste here and too sweet.

These are really sweet bars, and you don't want to be adding too much extra in the way of sweetness.  Extract works beautifully.

 

Plain flour.  No leavening.  Just stir it in with a pinch of salt, just to combine.  

Don't overmix, or you might overdevelop the gluten in the flour.  Just mix until there are no dry streaks.

 

I like to use two kinds of chocolate chips, and again I use quality ones here.  A good semi-sweet and a good white chocolate chip work well.  

I like the Kirkland chocolate chips you can get at Costco for the semi sweet ones, and I buy my white chocolate chips at an American supply company. 

Failing that, get some really good white chocolate, like Green & Blacks and chop it up.

 

You want the white chocolate to be somewhat creamy and not artificial . . .  and you want the semi sweet chocolate chips to be really semi sweet, again not artificial tasting.  

With the Kirkland chocolate chips, even an hour later, they still appear moist and fudgy in the bake, not hard.  I like that.

 

I bake them in a 9 inch square baking tin.  You could bake them in a smaller tin, but you would need to bake them for longer and, in all honesty, you won't end up with the right quality of dense fudginess.  

I prefer to cook for a shorter time and go fudgier.

 

You don't want dry Blondies.  Dry Blondies are no fun.  

Fudgy is better. Way, way better.

 

And that's what you want. Dense and fudgy. Not raw.  

I remember attending a cooking show down in London  a number of years back and they had celebrity chef's on baking Brownies. I was NOT impressed.  

Their idea of a good Brownie was a raw Brownie.  Seriously.  That's not a good brownie, that's a mess.

 

Like a good brownie, you should be able to pick up a good blondie in your hands to eat it, without it falling apart or oozing. If its oozing its raw.  

It should hold together with a moist dense crumb.  That is what makes a Blondie a "The Best" Blondie. End of.

 

 

 

I prefer to serve these cut into triangles.  They are very rich and very sweet.  I think a triangle gives you just enough to enjoy.  Bon Appetit!