Pretty in Pink Cupcakes

Pretty in Pink….and white…I have an issue with cupcakes….well, not with eating them of course, but rather with taking pics of them. And so it was that I put a shout out on Facebook for suggestions…shooting suggestions if you will, on cupcakery!! What do you know?? There are experts out there, most of whom will give you their honest opinion for a cupcake….and one who came and actually took pics and gave me a very quick lesson on the finer points of my own camera, for the princely sum of two cupcakes! Fantastic….(thanks Mark) so now…who took which pic??? That is the question. I took pics as well, so if you can tell whose is whose, I will send you a cupcake. (Actually, I will not, but you can have this perfectly good cupcake recipe and make a whole dozen for yourself!)

Getting stuffed….with homemade raspberry jam…recipe coming

Cupcakery….

Cakes;

NEED:

100g butter

150g brown sugar

1 tsp Heilala vanilla bean paste

45g maple syrup

2 eggs

Pinch Murray River pink salt flakes

170g flour

1/2 tsp each baking powder and baking soda

DO:

Preheat oven to 180ºC and line 12 hole muffin tin with silicone cupcake liners.

Place butter into saucepan and cook until it becomes buerre noisette on Induction 10, stirring constantly. Pour into Thermo bowl and add sugar, vanilla and maple syrup. Blend 5 sec/speed 5. Scrape down and allow to cool slightly.

Add eggs and blend 10 sec/speed 6. Add remaining ingredients and fold 12 sec/Interval. Scrape down sides of bowl to incorporate last little bits of flour. Divide equally in prepared tin. Bake 20-25 minutes or until springing back when touched with a finger. Cool completely.

Optionally, cut out the centre piece of each cake and fill with 1 tsp raspberry jam and place the piece of cake you removed back into place before continuing with frosting.

Raspberry Puree;

NEED:

150g raspberries

Juice 1 lime

DO:

Place berries and juice into Thermo bowl and cook 6 min/100ºC/speed 2. Strain through fine sieve and cool completely before using.

Frosting;

NEED:

400g fine icing sugar

50g butter

As much Raspberry Puree as needed to reach colour you are happy with!

DO:

Place sugar and butter into Thermo bowl and blend 6 sec/speed 6.

Whip 30 sec/speed 4/butterfly.

Remove butterfly and add raspberry puree a little at a time blending 3-4 sec/speed 6 between additions until you have the desired colour.

Remove frosting from bowl and place in fridge for an hour or so before piping onto cupcakes.

Happy Mothers (and might I add Grandmother’s) Day….to you all!

Pink Lime-Ade

Well I am to be a grandmother in just a few weeks…not surprisingly this is both amazing and wonderful! I have decided however to be called ‘Grandy’ not Nanna, not Nan, not Grandma, not Granny. I have been told that this is not up to me, but I figure, a slap or two and the kid will get it down no problems!

(Just in case you don’t know me by now, I jest!!)

For the baby shower (it is a little girl, yay, we are even-ing the score a little in the Holder family!!) I created a few little pink treats and this is one of them. Others may or may not follow depending on their success! But this was certainly on the ‘successful and shall be done again’ list! You need a couple of days up your sleeve for this one remember…to get the fizz happening…so if you are after something for Mother’s Day (or should that be called Grandmother’s Day??) then get squeezing!!

NEED:

300g sugar

40g raspberries

Zest 10 limes, finely grated

Water to 2L mark in Thermo bowl

Juice of 10 limes

2 tsp dried yeast

Sterilised glass bottles as required

DO:

Place sugar, zest and raspberries into Thermo bowl and cook 10 min/100ºC/speed 2. Cool.

Add juice and yeast and stir 5 sec/speed 8. Strain through fine sieve into sterilised bottles and leave out of the fridge for 2 days until bubbles start to accumulate. Refrigerate and serve with more raspberries and lime slices to taste. It can also be diluted with sparkling water if needed.

Dried Chia Seed Cereal

Dried Chia Seed Cereal

As previous posts have mentioned, I am all for convenience and as school starts again (can you believe we are Term 2 with winter looming already??) and as the mornings down under are getting cooler, and as my daughter has developed a gluten intolerance, this was a yummy solution that takes no time  on a busy morning. Filling, nutritious, gluten free, and you can add fresh fruit, berries, honey, dairy free milk, milk, cream, mascarpone to dress it up or down as much as you want. The flavours improve over a few days as the vanilla and cinnamon do their thing, so try and resist at least that long. The beauties of Chia seeds are well discussed here at our friends Honest to Goodness. And the best thing of all? So filling, there has been documented weight loss in this household…not mine of course, but amongst other family  members who care….I either need to eat it more frequently, or stop eating other stuff all together….hmmmn, what to do?

NEED:

70g rapadura or coconut sugar

1/2 stick cinnamon

1 roasted vanilla bean (see the best selling cookbook, For Foods Sake for all the benefits of this little trick!)

100g buckwheat

100g almonds

250g chia seed (any colour)

100g Inca berries (we have discussed these before!)

60g Crio Bru granules of choice

DO:

Place sugar, cinnamon stick and roasted vanilla bean into Thermo bowl and mill 10 sec/speed 10. Tip into jar you will use to store cereal mix.

Place buckwheat into Thermo bowl and mill 3 sec/speed 6. Add to jar.

Place almonds into Thermo bowl and chop 3 sec/speed 5. Add to jar.

Add chia seed, Inca berries and Crio Bru to jar and give it all a good stir.

To prepare mix 3 tbsp mixture with approx 1/4 or 65-70g boiling water, stir and let stand for a few minutes. Stir and add toppings and milk of choice!

YUM…

Well not toast exactly….guessing you know how to toast bread without a Thermo Mixer of any description getting involved?? BUT, this recipe has officially been banished to the ‘Never Will Be Made Again’ list as I seriously ate almost all of it…it took a few days, but plow through it I did, one slice at a time, heroically even, never even trying to stop. I toasted, I buttered, I conquered….and now I must pay for it in so many ways! (Fat clothes…where are you???) My children have an objection to fruit in bread, and so it was that I was able to have something that lasted more than a few moments, but will be remembered forever on my hips!! I love the crunchy little resistance created by the toasted Crio Bru granules…I love the sweet surprise of a dried cherry, I love that it contains our beautiful freshly harvested honey and I must add, that should you get your hands on some raw honey, you will never look back….

I digress, recipe please??

NEED:

1 sachet dried yeast

20g raw honey + 30g extra

300g water

30g Crio Bru dry granules (not pre-brewed in other words)

500g Lauke bakers flour

Pinch Murray River pink salt flakes

2 tsp mixed ground spices of choice, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, cardamom, allspice, ginger

20g butter plus some more for brushing

Generous handful dried cherries or craisins

DO:

Place yeast, 20g honey and water into Thermo bowl and warm 2 min/37º/speed 2.

Add remaining ingredients except cherries and blend 10 sec/speed 6.

Knead 2 min/Interval.

Add cherries and knead further 1 min/Interval.

Turn out onto floured bread mat and roll into tight ball. Wrap and prove. (Do I need to mention the Kleenmaid warming drawer, or is it just getting annoying??)

Cut the dough in half using your Super Kitchen  Machine Spatula and roll into two small loaf shapes. Place side by side in loaf tin. Return to warming drawer or cover and keep in draft free place.

Preheat oven to bread baking setting 220ºC.

When loaf has risen to top of the tin, place into the oven and reduce heat to 200ºC. Cook 15 minutes until golden and sounding hollow. Brush with melted butter immediately.

Try not to eat it all whilst warm and fragrant….save some for fruit toast…and slather both with more butter and raw honey to taste. Ahhh-mazing!

EVOO, Lime and Yoghurt Cake

My sister has blessed me with an enormous bag of limes…without a doubt my favourite citrus of all…and I have already done a Lime and Raspberry Tart with them today. It is Easter Sunday and we have a boating trip planned for tomorrow and boating with us has come to mean that I provide the feast. SO, tarts don’t travel well (just ask me) and so a cake was the best thing, a moist Lime Cake…and just like a pair of sensible shoes, not that attractive, but really do the job when required.

I have no butter, I made yoghurt on Friday, and so this was the natural progression. Hoping you love…hoping we love, as we skip across an azure sea tomorrow….

NEED:

240g sugar

zest 2 limes, finely grated

280g Greek yoghurt (home made if possible)

1 tsp Heilala vanilla bean paste

60g  Fini EVOO

35g fresh lime juice

2 eggs

200g flour

1 tsp baking powder

Pinch Murray River pink salt flakes

GARNISH:

40g icing sugar

Zest 1 lime, finely grated

DO:

Preheat oven to 180ºC and oil a loaf tin with EVOO. Set aside.

Place sugar and zest into Thermo bowl and mill 10 sec/speed 10.

Add yoghurt, vanilla, EVOO, lime juice and eggs. Blend 10 sec/speed 6.

Add remaining ingredients except garnish and blend 12 sec/Interval.

Scrape into prepared tin and bake 40-45 minutes or until skewer comes out clean.

Leave in tin for boating travel, or turn out after 10 minutes before dusting with icing sugar and garnishing with lime zest.

Serve in big chunks appropriate for sensible appetites..nothing dainty here!

A bunch of Yoghurt cake recipes were the inspiration for this…and can be found here at Smitten Kitchen, or Chocolate and Zucchini, or our very own Aussie blogger, Souvlaki for the Soul.

Crio Bru Easter Eggs with Pistachio Almond Paste Filling

You knew this had to be coming didn’t you? Really…it was only a matter of timing. And wait for it…if you blink you may miss it…Easter is upon us. I know, I know, I was just posting Christmas recipes but a moment ago, but here we are, the big pink bunny is on his way, camping trips, school holidays, over indulgence in all things chocolate…so this recipe is healthy. NOT KIDDING…totally healthy, just don’t eat it all at once. You too may be bouncing all over more than any bunny I’ve ever come across. Full of natural energy, go read about Crio Bru’s amazing benefits HERE and then proceed with confidence. Any flavour of the Bru will Do! Enjoy these Eggcellent eggs…oh and Hoppy Easter! (Sorry…please eggcuse me!)

NEED:

100g Crio Bru dry granules

100g Rapadura sugar

1 tsp Heilala vanilla bean paste

65g cacao butter

Pinch Murray River pink salt

Paste Filling;

100g pistachios, shelled

40g almonds

50g Rapdura sugar

10g cacao butter

Pinch Murray River pink salt

Additional almonds and pistachios to garnish

Easter egg mould or other mould of choice

DO:

To make chocolate shells, place Crio Bru granules and sugar into Thermomix bowl and mill 20 sec/speed 10.

Add vanilla bean paste, cacao butter and salt and blend 10-15 sec/speed 6 until a chocolate paste forms. Spread into moulds of choice and place into fridge.

Without cleaning bowl, make paste by placing pistachios, almonds, and sugar into Thermomix bowl and mill 10 sec/speed 10. Add cacao butter and salt and blend 20 sec/speed 8, stopping to scrape down sides of bowl as necessary. Fill each shell with the filling, placing a few of the additional nuts into the centres as desired. Finish off with additional nuts, making sure that you press them into the filling so that they will set into the egg.

Refrigerate.

Remove from moulds. Wrap and gift…or slice it to eat, or, well, put it on a plate and do a Seinfeld and get the knife and fork out! (But remember, it is very, very dark and rich and full of antioxidants and energy!)

Carob Plum Morsels

I was away earlier in the year as you might have read, and I got this fabulous email out of the blue, asking me if I would like some organic carob pods to play with….and of course, I said yes! It was Kristen Morrison from Naturally Better Foods who wanted to know! To cut to the Readers Digest version, I had a long chat with the very energetic and dynamic Kristen about her amazing business that operates out of Victoria, and if you are at all inclined to want the best sourced, least fiddled with ingredients for your family, then head on over to her site and join up! She also has a fantastic book about her own experience with her darling little boy which is absolutely fascinating reading and a must for any mum with a child with (or without for that matter) any sort of health difficulties….so what did I do with the carob??

(Just giving you the heads up…) There was a bit of process involved to get to the carob powder stage…not really that difficult, just a little time consuming. The fragrant results however were well worth it.

SO…to process the pods, you must boil them in plenty of water (out of Thermomix in other words), then remove the seeds. Roast the seeds for about 25 minutes in a hot oven at 180ºC and then allow them to cool before milling at least 3 times 1 min/speed 10, cooling well in between each milling. Sieve out any hard pieces and discard.

Roasted Carob powder with raw pods

Then you can make these delicious little treats; they are nut free, (unless using pistachios for coating) therefore perfect for school lunch boxes…or try chopping and adding them to Graneusli from For Foods Sake…quite a decadent, yet very healthy little mouthful!

The other great thing about Kristen and her site is that she is giving us the chance to give away a hamper to the value of $150 for you to spend in her online store…to be in the running, please head over to her Facebook page, ‘like’ the page and then put the comment “Tenina sent me” and Kristen will draw the lucky winner on Thursday 29th March…the same day as the Albany Cooking classes for those in the know!!

NEED:

100g seeds of choice (I used sunflower, pumpkin and linseed)

150g pitted prunes

50g carob powder

60g maple syrup

Pinch Murray River flake salt

Some chopped nuts, shredded coconut and more carob powder to roll them in

DO:

Place seeds into Thermomix bowl and mill 30 sec/speed 10.

Add remaining ingredients other than the rolling thingos of choice and blend 20 sec/speed 6.

Using wet hands, roll the mixture into balls and roll into either/all options to garnish.

Eat on a whim….but make sure everyone knows you made the carob powder…yourself…

Parmesan Sage Shortbread

It all about the cheese in the end…please buy a great Australian Parmesan for this recipe and you won’t be sorry…seriously delish…I have eaten about 8 of them just as I am writing this post. (I WILL eat the salad, I WILL eat the salad….) A great little nibble, a bit impressive if you are having guests and if you don’t have sage growing in the garden, use any herb of choice….rosemary would be fantastic, as would parsley or basil. Of course the little sprinkle of flaky salt on the top knocks them over the edge to divine, but be careful not to be too heavy handed…you just want  a little surprise every now and again, not a full on mouthful of salt. You could also freeze these unbaked, wrapped in baking paper, thaw slightly before cutting and then proceed as directed, though baking time may need to be increased a tad! Enjoy…

NEED:

40g parmesan, cubed

Zest 2 lemons, finely grated

Few sage leaves

170g light rye flour

110g butter, cubed

Murray River pink salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste

1 egg yolk

2 tbsp lemon juice, fresh

Extra salt for garnish

DO:

Place parmesan, lemon zest and sage into Thermomix bowl and mill 10 sec/speed 8.

Add remaining ingredients except garnish salt and blend 10 sec/speed 6.

Tip out onto floured Silpat mat and roll into a long sausage shape. Wrap and refrigerate for at least 3 hours.

Preheat oven to 190ºC and line a tray with baking paper.

Slice rounds and place on tray. Sprinkle with salt, and bake 15-18 minutes until golden around the edges.

Serve with a cheese platter, or on a savoury antipasto plate.

After Dinner Mints

It goes without saying, if you have a Thermomix, you want to make EVERYTHING! (Am I right??) There is some sort of thing in the back of my mind when I shop for food, read a menu, see something new online, that I say to myself; ‘Huh, I can do that!’ And then I go home and I do…this is one of those recipes. I wouldnt say they were easy, the dipping is a little fiddly, but over all, not bad, and certainly worth all the drama. Whip out a tray of these after your next dinner party, casually mention you made them yourself and see everyone’s jaw drop…unless of course they have a Thermomix too. Then they will just smile a little and think to themselves, ‘Huh, I can do that!’

NEED:

260g icing sugar

25g unsalted butter

25g evaporated milk

½ tsp peppermint oil (not extract)

½ tsp lemon oil (not extract)

250g chocolate, broken into pieces

1 tbsp coconut oil

DO:

Place icing sugar, butter, milk and oils into Thermomix bowl and blend 30 sec/speed 6. Scrape down sides of bowl and knead 30 sec/Interval. Remove from bowl and roll into a smooth disc. Wrap in baking paper and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Break disc into small pieces and roll into balls about the size of a large macadamia. Place in freezer while you prepare the chocolate.

Place chocolate and coconut oil into clean, dry Thermomix bowl and heat 10 min/37ºC/speed 1. Scrape down sides of bowl as necessary until you have a nice liquid chocolate.

Press mint balls flat with the bottom of a glass, using a small piece of baking paper to prevent glass from sticking.

Dip each disc in chocolate and lay on lined metal tray. Refrigerate until use.

Lemon and Raspberry Sweetheart Cake (Gluten Free)

Yes, it is that time of year already…and I am still sporting the Christmas lights out front! (Inside Christmas has long gone, but cannot get DH to bring them down…so much {boating} to do, so little time!)

So I apologise for the lateness of the arrival of this recipe in your inbox…hoping you are subscribed and that these little pearls of wisdom arrive with no effort on your part each time I post. If you are not, go to the right of screen and subscribe immediately. It means you will never miss out on a single thing that is going on in my recipe life! (Unless you want to keep it that way of course!)

So dear H….one for you, not involving gluten, chocolate, or Crio Bru…just for you!

NEED:

200g almonds

250g potatoes, peeled and cubed

Water for steaming

zest 3 lemons, finely grated

200g sugar

200g butter, cubed

2 tsp baking powder

4 eggs

1 tsp Heilala vanilla bean paste

Raspberries to garnish

Glaze;

Juice 1 lemon stirred together with 2-3 tbsp sugar

DO:

Place almonds into Thermomix bowl and mill 10 sec/speed 10. Remove from bowl and set aside.

Peel and cube potatoes and place into simmering basket. Insert into Thermomix bowl and pour enough water over to just reach the bottom of the basket.

Steam potatoes 15-20 min/100º/speed 3 or until they break easily when pushed with a fork. Drain water and tip potatoes into Thermomix bowl. Mash 10 sec/speed 5. Scrape down sides of bowl and repeat if needed. Remove from bowl and set aside to cool completely.

Preheat oven to 180ºC and line the base of a heart shaped springform cake tin.

Place lemon zest and sugar into clean, dry Thermomix bowl and mill 10 sec/speed 10.

Add butter and whip 20 sec/speed 4. Scrape down sides of bowl, add baking powder, eggs, vanilla and almond meal. Blend 10 sec/speed 6.

Scrape down sides of bowl, add mashed potato and blend 15 sec/speed 6 or until the batter is well blended.

Spread batter into prepared tin and bake 45-50 minutes until risen and golden.

Allow to cool in tin for at least 10 minutes prior to removing. Cool before garnishing with raspberries to taste and drizzling with the glaze.