Don't Knock It 'Til You Try It

Cupcakes, cupcakes, cupcakes!!

2010-05-13T07:53:00.000-07:00

My sister-in-law bought the Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook for me for Christmas. First off, I love cookbooks. I can't actually get enough of them. I also love cupcakes. Who doesn't, really? Since receiving the cookbook, I've made 8 types of cupcakes, 2 cakes, 1 loaf, 1 cheesecake, 1 pie, 2 brownies, 2 muffins, and about 6 types of frosting. I've also found inspiration for my own recipes.

What I love about these cupcakes is this: They are light and really easy to make. They don't have incredibly complicated instructions and are very easily adaptable for someone like me - who doesn't eat egg. I've only had about 2 recipes that I really didn't like and only one complaint about another recipe.

I didn't like the Mississippi mud cake -- I think that is because the recipe is mainly egg and using a substitute doesn't cut it. I like my teeth too much to eat that ever again. The other was the banana cupcakes. Other people liked them, but I think that it tasted like banana bread -- and not the amazing banana bread in this cookbook, but a mediocre one in another book. Adding frosting was just weird.

The frosted brownie recipe looks amazing, but isn't. It doesn't rise, which I put down to the fact that it has no baking powder. Egg substitute would easily make that rise. It was really a shame. I used a truly delicious brownie adaptation from a book and my brain for the raspberry cheesecake brownie base. Lovely. I could kiss whoever came up with this delight! I probably won't though. I'll just lick the raspberry toping off of my face and say "hummingbird bakery" in hushed tones. So, so yummy.

The savoury muffins are also really nice. I particularly love the spinach and cheese. My husband had a particularly wimpy palette, so I've changed the cayenne for paprika. Still lovely. Still good any time of day. I highly recommend this book!

Pistachio filled chocolate cookies

2010-05-13T07:30:00.000-07:00

About November time, I tried to make a pistachio paste that ended up a bit too hard. It has been in a bag in my freezer ever since, waiting for me to do something to it. Finally, after six months, I took it out and -- simple as this -- added about 2 tablespoons of warm water to it. It is now a lovely marzipan like paste that I would love to use more! I found a recipe for marzipan filled chocolate cookies and thought, "Why not pistachio?" And here they are.

The chocolate cookie recipe is pretty simple. I changed it a bit, adding baking powder, vanilla, and salt. The dough was so lovely that the cookies were almost not made. It's a really thick dough that almost feels like a cool cooked brownie.

Ingredients:

185g butter

200g light brown sugar

1 egg

300 g plain flour

60ml cocoa powder

1 tsp baking powder

pinch of salt

1 tsp vanilla extract

pistachio paste

White chocolate

Directions:

Preheat oven to 190C/ 375F. Either lightly grease a baking tray or use grease proof baking paper.

Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat for an extra 2 minutes. Add egg and vanilla. Beat well. Sift remaining ingredients and add to the butter mixture. Beat until combined.

Take a ball of dough in your hand about 1 1/2 inches thick. Flatten it out and add a dollop of pistachio paste. Close the chocolate dough around it and pat together to remove seams. Continue for remaining dough. Makes about 20 cookies.

Bake for 10-12 minutes until the cookies have slightly risen and just the dough JUST starts to crack from the sides. Place on a wire rack to cool completely.

Melt the white chocolate and drizzle over the cookies.

Chocolate Chip Apricot Cookies

2009-11-12T08:40:00.000-08:00

I've been really craving some good chocolate chip cookies, like Ben's Cookies. I got a hold of the cookbook, authored by the founder of Ben's Cookies, Helge Rubinstein. Woo Hoo!! Now, I've been trying to make sure that food doesn't go bad in my cupboards, so I decided to also use some dried apricots. Good? Wow, I think so, but you'll have to decide for yourself.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter

1/3 cup pale brown sugar

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 egg

a few drops of vanilla essence

1 1/2 cup flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

a pinch of salt

chocolate chips (probably between 1/2 cup and 1 cup .. depending.)

dried apricots, roughly chopped

Directions:

Set oven at 190C/ 375F

Beat the butter with both sugars until pale and fluffy, then beat in the egg and vanilla.

Sift the flour with baking soda and salt. Beat into the mixture.

Stir in chocolate chips and roughly chopped apricots. (You can gage how many chocolate chips to use by the amount of dough you have. I used 1 UK package of chocolate chips, which is 100g ... or about 1/2 cup .. which was plenty of chocolate chips.) (Also, with the apricots, I cut them using kitchen shears. Putting them into a food chopper or processor made them clump together. Cutting about 6 or so dried apricots directly into the bowl helped them to mix more evenly into the dough.)

Place small spoonfuls of the dough on to well greased, papered, or non stick baking trays. (I'd suggest balling the dough in 1" balls, since it makes the cookies last longer and you don't feel so bad when you eat more than one.) Be sure to leave space for them to spread.

Bake 10-15 minutes, until the balls have spread into thick cookies and the tops have just begun to split. To lock in moisture, lightly slam the tray down before taking the cookies off the tray to cool on a wire rack.

Molten Chocolate Cakes

2009-01-19T11:48:00.000-08:00

Ingredients: serves 6

4 Tbsp butter at room temperature (plus some for muffin tins)

1/3 cup granulated sugar (plus some for muffin tins)

3 large eggs

1/3 cup all purpose flour (although, I use self rising flour)

1/4 tsp salt

8 oz bitter sweet chocolate, melted

confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Directions:

Preheat oven to 200C/ 400F. Butter 6 cups of a muffin tin (I usually end up with about 9-12). Dust with granulated sugar, tapping out excess. Set aside.

Cream butter and granulated sugar until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in flour and salt until just combined. Beat in chocolate until just combined. Divide evenly in muffin cups.

Bake just until tops of cakes no longer jiggle when the pan is lightly shaken -- 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from oven. Let stand 10 minutes.

Turn out cakes. Place on serving plates bottom sides up and dust with confectioners' sugar.

sweet potato and butternut squash soup

2009-01-19T11:43:00.000-08:00

Ingredients:

1 sweet potato

1 butternut squash

1 medium onion

Directions:

Seed the butternut squash. Cut into cubes and place on a baking tray. Don't peel. Cut sweet potato without peeling and place on baking tray. Quarter onion and place on baking tray. Drizzle olive oil over vegetables and bake at 200C/ 400F ish for 1 hour.

When finished, blend with 1 liter of vegetable stock.

Lemon Poppy Seed Cake

2009-01-19T11:27:00.000-08:00

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, softened

2 1/2 cups flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 3/4 cup sugar

4 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp lemon extract

3/4 cup milk

1/4 cup poppy seeds

Directions:

Butter and flour two 8" round cakes tins. Line with waxed baking paper. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Cream butter with electric mixer. Gradually add sugar. Mix in eggs after each addition. Beat in vanilla and lemon extract. Add flour and milk alternatively and beat on low speed after each addition. Stir in poppy seeds. Pour batter into tins and bake at 350F/ 180C for 35-45 minutes or until knife inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool on wire rack. Remove from tins and peel off wax paper. Spread cream cheese frosting on bottom layer, stack on the top layer, and frost again. When ready to serve, pour lemon poppy seed glaze over the top, allowing to drizzle down the sides.

Cream Cheese Frosting:

beat 1 8oz package of cream cheese with electric mixer until smooth. Add 1/4 cup butter and 2 cups powdered sugar. Mix on low speed until smooth. (I found this a bit too runny.)

Lemon Poppy Seed Glaze:

Stir together 1 cup powdered sugar, 3Tbsp lemon juice, and 1 1/2 tsp poppy seeds. Add more lemon juice if needed.

Honey-Almond Granola

2008-11-11T07:06:00.000-08:00

Ingredients:

4 cups porridge oats

1 1/2 cups cracked wheat

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp nutmeg

1/4 cup cooking oil

1/2 cup honey

1 tsp almond extract

Directions:

Preheat oven to 300F/170C

In a large bowl, mix oats, wheat, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

In a sauce pan, warm the oil and honey. Stir in the almond extract. Carefully pour the liquid mixture over the oat mixture. Stir gently with a wooden spoon until mixture is evenly coated.

Spread granola on a large cookie sheet or in a baking dish. Bake 40 minutes for the cookie sheet and 50 minutes for the baking dish. Stir carefully every 10 minutes of baking. Remove from oven and cool completely. Store in an air tight container.

Chilli

2008-11-05T09:32:00.000-08:00

Ingredients:

1/2 clove garlic

1 medium onion, finely chopped

1/2 red pepper, finely chopped

1/24 yellow pepper finely chopped

1/2 heaped tsp cumin

1 level tsp chilli powder

1 sliced and diced sausage (or mince meat, stew steak, whatever .. can be completely omitted)

4 good sized mushrooms

1/4 tsp tomato paste

olive oil

1 400g tin chopped tomatoes

1 400g tin kidney beans

dash of cinnamon

Directions:

Fry together onion and garlic in a little olive oil until soft. Add peppers, chilli powder, cumin, salt and pepper (just a dash of each), frying for just a minute or two. Add meat and cook until browned. In a food processor, make mushrooms, tomato paste, and olive oil into a paste. Add paste to the pan with the tin tomatoes, a bit of water (probably half a tin), and dash of cinnamon. Bring to a boil. Turn down heat and simmer for 60 minutes (the other option is to cook it in a casserole dish in the oven for 60 minutes on 150C/300F/Gas 2.) Add kidney beans and simmer for a further 30 minutes.

Serve with sour cream or guacamole. (unless you're Ash, in which case, it's gwock.)

Total time is 2 hours

Bread Rolls

2008-11-05T09:16:00.000-08:00

Ingredients:

500g/ 1 lb plain white flour

1/2 tsp salt (maybe 1 tsp at the most)

275 ml/ 10 oz warm water

2 tsp dried yeast

2 - 3 tsp brown sugar

2 tsp vegetable oil

Directions:

Preheat oven to 200C/400F/ Gas Mark 6. Lightly oil an oven sheet.

Dissolve the yeast and sugar into about half the quantity of warm water in a jug and leave in a warm place with a cloth over the top until the yeast is frothy -- about 10 minutes.

Sift the flour and salt in a large bowl. Make sure that the flour is slightly warm. (I put it in the microwave for 20 seconds.)

Pour yeast and oil into the flour and knead, either by hand or with a mixer with a dough hook. Add more water to make the texture moist, but not sticking to your hand. When well kneaded, form into a ball and cover the bowl with a cloth. Leave in a warm place and allow to rise to double -- about 30 minutes. Knead it back to it's original volume.

Divide into 12-16 individual, smooth dough balls. Place on a lightly oiled oven try and bake for 20 minutes, until brown on top.

Chocolate Beetroot Cake

2008-10-23T06:31:00.000-07:00

I like to think that the batter is a good indication of the finished product, but it's really not true with this one. I really enjoy this one. The beetroot gives it a rick color and makes it just the right texture.

Use a round cake tin.

Ingredients:

100 g (3.5 oz) cocoa ((3/4 cup))

1230 g (8 oz) self raising flour ((2 cups))

200 g (7 oz) caster sugar ((3/4 cup))

100 g (3.5 oz) 70% dark chocolate, broken into pieces

125 g (4.5 oz) butter ((2/3 cup))

250 g (9 oz) cooked beetroot

3 large eggs

To serve: icing sugar for dusting and creme fraiche

Directions:

Preheat oven to 180 C/ 350F/ Gas mark 5. Grease and flour cake tin. Sift together the cocoa and self raising flour, then mix in the sugar. Melt the chocolate and butter together in a heatproof bowl suspended over a saucepan of barely simmering water. (I just use the microwave.) Puree the beetroot in a food processor, whisk the eggs, then stir them into the beetroot. Add the beetroot and chocolate mixtures into the dry ingredients and mix together thoroughly. Pour the mixture inot the cake tin. Bake for 50 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Remove from the oven and leave the cake to stand in its tin for 10 minutes. Turn it out on a wire rack to cool. Serve dusted with icing sugar and some creme fraiche, natural yogurt, or ice cream.

Old Fashioned Ginger Cookies

2008-10-04T13:56:00.000-07:00

Ingredients:

300g/ 11oz/ 2 1/2 cups plain (all purpose) flour

5ml/ 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)

7.5ml/ 1 1/2 tsp ground ginger

1.5ml/ 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

1.5ml/ 1/4 tsp ground cloves

115g/ 4oz/ 1/2 cup butter or margarine

350g/ 12oz/ 1 3/4 cup caster (superfine) sugar

1 egg, beaten

60ml/ 4 tbsp black treacle (molasses)

5ml/ 1 tsp fresh lemon juice

Directions:

1 Preheat oven to 160C/325F/Gas 3. Grease 3-4 baking trays. Sift flour, bicarbonate of soda, and spices into a small bowl. Set aside.

2 With an electric mixer, cream butter. Add 1 1/2 cup sugar, reserving 1/4 cup, and beat until light and fluffy.

3 Stir in the egg, treacle, and lemon juice. Add flour mixture and mix thoroughly to make a soft dough.

4 Shape the dough into 2 cm/ 3/4 inch balls (personally, these are quite small. I tend to double that size.) Roll the balls into the sugar and place them on the baking trays about 2 inches apart.

5 Bake for about 12 minutes until the biscuits are just firm the the touch and the tops are starting to crack. Transfer to a wire rack and leave to cool. (I don't usually do that last bit.)

This recipe is from the flip cook afternoon tea cook book. I personally would add a bit more liquid. I had to leave after making the dough, so I put it in the refrigerator for a few hours. The cookies resulting from that dough were absolutely awesome! I'd recommend that!

General Conference Cinnamon Rolls

2008-10-04T13:21:00.000-07:00

Growing up in Utah, every six months we watched the LDS General Conference on television instead of traveling the 2 blocks to the chapel. Before the Saturday morning session, my mother faithfully made a huge batch of massive cinnamon rolls. It was a tradition. When I was about 14 I asked for the recipe. Years later, when I was living on my own and my parents had moved far away, I gave them my first attempt only to discover that my mother didn't put the amount of flour on the recipe. She didn't know how much flour she used. This is a bad sign; here is why: I didn't know how many it would make. I was under the assumption that she tripled or quadrupled her recipe. I was wrong.

In my first attempt, the yeast didn't rise. I used about 2kg of flour. I had 50 pooplet cinnamon rolls, which tasted lovely, but were very heavy. Since then, I've been .. perfecting .. my cinnamon rolls on a biannual basis. I'm getting better. This fall, I decided that I really like ground ginger, so I added that and a bit of ground cloves for a kick. They aren't normal for the recipe and may be omitted. Bless my mother for this wonderful tradition!

Ingredients: (makes 25)

For the Rolls:

3 eggs

1/2 cup (125ml) warm water

2 cups (500ml) milk

1/2 cup (125ml) sugar

1 1/2 Tbsp (22.5ml) salt

1 1/2 Tbsp (22.5ml) yeast

1/4 cup (60ml) vegetable oil (personally, I like to use less, if possible)

1/4 tsp (1.25ml) ground ginger

1/4 tsp (1.25ml) ground cloves

sugar

cinnamon

For the Glaze:

powdered sugar

butter

water

vanilla

Directions:

Activate yeast in 1/2 cup warm water, adding the 1/2 cup sugar, in a large mixing bowl. Leave until yeast is a bit foamy.

Combine eggs, milk, salt, ginger, and cloves in a sauce pan, heating until warm to the touch.

Pour the milk mixture in with the yeast mixture, adding the oil. Stir together.

Add flour one cup at a time until the dough begins to get difficult to stir. (I like to add a cup of whole meal flour and pretend that it gives some sort of redeeming value to the rolls.)

Put the dough on a floured surface and continue to add flour one cup at a time while kneading until it is not sticky to touch -- not stiff, just smooth and not sticky.

Lightly oil a large bowl around the sides and place the dough in it. Let it rise until doubled in size (at least 30 minutes).

Divide the dough into 2 parts. Roll out the dough into a rectangle, top it with cinnamon and sugar (all the way to the edges!)

Roll it the long way and slice it into thick circles. Place on a greased pan and let them rise until doubled (Preheat oven to 350F or 180C and leave them for about 20 minutes)

Bake for 15 minutes.

Frost them with the vanilla glaze.

(Melt about 2 tbsp butter. Add about 1/4 cup water and about 1 tsp of vanilla. Add powdered, or icing, sugar until it's a good consistency, like gravy.)