Thursday 30 May 2013

Red Velvet Cupcakes!!

My mums work is launching a new America and Canada tours so these were for her office to hand out! I never really understood all the big fuss over red velvet cupcakes... i mean yeah they are nice but what flavour are they?? They aren't really chocolate and how do you describe what they taste like?? I would love to know what was going through the mind of whoever created red velvet when they decided to put an entire tablespoon of colouring into the mix?? and how they thought it was going to taste any different..  Although with a good swirl of cream cheese icing on the top how could you say no?? They do look really cute with the red and white colour contrast and i added some blue sparkles to make them more american!







Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups sifted cake flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 Tbsp cocoa powder
1/4 cup  unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cups caster sugar
1 large egg
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 Tbsp liquid red food colouring
1/2 tsp white distilled vinegar
1/2 tsp baking soda

Cream Cheese Frosting:
150 cream cheese, room temperature 
100g butter, softened 
2 tsp pure vanilla extract 
4 cups Icing Sugar, sifted
1/4 cup milk

Method:

- Preheat oven to 175°C (350°F) and line 12 muffin tins with paper cupcake liners.In the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the butter until soft (about 1-2 minutes). Add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy (about 2-3 minutes). Add the egg and beat until incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the vanilla extract and beat until combined.



In a large bowl sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, and cocoa powder. In a measuring cup whisk the buttermilk with the red food coloring. With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and buttermilk to the butter mixture, in three additions, beginning and ending with the flour.




- In a small cup combine the vinegar and baking soda. Allow the mixture to fizz and then quickly fold into the cake batter. Working quickly, divide the batter evenly among the 12 muffin cups and smooth the tops with an offset spatula or the back of a spoon. Bake in the preheated oven for approximately 15-18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cupcakes comes out clean.



- Cool the cakes in their pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes and then remove from pan. Let cool completely before frosting. Either spread the frosting with a knife or offset spatula, or use a large 1M Wilton open star decorating tip to pipe the frosting.



Cream Cheese Frosting: In the bowl of your electric mixer beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add the butter and continue to beat until fluffy. Add vanilla, milk and icing sugar and beat until smooth. Using the whisk attachment. Add more sugar or milk as needed to get the right consistency. Makes 12 cupcakes.




Sunday 19 May 2013

Chocolate Anzac biscuits!

Around Anzac day I decided to come up with my own version on Anzac biscuits! I tried a few recipes and i think my family were really over this cookies by the time i was finished but lucky them got to get them all!

In the end i came up with Anzac biscuits with chocolate chunks, apricot and white chocolate over the top! I LOVE chocolate and apricot together so this was really a match made in heaven!

Ingredients
1 cup flour
¾ cup Chelsea Organic Sugar
1 cup rolled oats
½ cup diced dried apricots
½ cup dark chocolate bits 
1/2 tsp Cinnamon 
¼ cup shredded dried coconut
3 Tbsp Chelsea Golden Syrup
120g melted butter
1 tsp baking soda

Method

Preheat oven to 190°C .
Place all ingredients into a mixing bowl, mix till combined.


Place 1 tablespoon of mixture onto the greased baking sheet, press down with fork.
Bake for 12 minutes.


Optional -  Drizzle with melted white chocolate ant enjoy!!




Gluten Free Gingerbread Houses!

So this was the middle weekend of the holidays, a rainy Sunday so Georgia and I decided to make gluten free gingerbread houses!

I had never made these before but had recently seen them make really cool gingerbread structures on The Great British Bake Off so we wanted to give them a go.  I had also never seen a gluten free version anywhere so off we went. They were only small but still lots of fun! No recipe for this because i cant remember which one i used but here are the step by step photos :)











Wednesday 1 May 2013

The Raw Brownies - Gluten free and Vegan

The Raw Brownies!!

This is one of the easiest, fastest and yummy recipes! Its all raw... the ingredients and no baking!

This is seriously good! I have made 2 batches these holidays and most of it has been eaten by me!!

The original recipe is from this website http://mynewroots.org/site/2011/04/the-raw-brownie-2/ but i have changed a few things!

This is gluten and dairy free and can be made vegan if the chocolate used is vegan or leave this out :)

Ingredients:
2 cups whole walnuts
2 ½ cups dates
1/2 cup raw cacao (I used Dutch cocoa)
 1/4 cup coconut
1/4 cup pumpkin seeds 
1/2 cup raw unsalted almonds, roughly chopped
100g energy or dark chocolate, melted and cooled

Directions:
- Place walnuts in food processor and blend on high until the nuts are finely ground. Add the cacao and salt. Pulse to combine. 

- Add the dates one at a time through the feed tube of the food processor while it is running. What you should end up with is a mix that appears rather like cake crumbs, but that when pressed, will easily stick together (if the mixture does not hold together well, add more dates). Poor in the melted chocolate.



4. Combine the walnut-cacao mix with the chopped almonds, threaded coconut and pumpkin seeds. Press into a lined cake pan or mold. Place in freezer or fridge until ready to serve (it is also easier to cut these when they are very cold). Store in an airtight container.


*Top and bottom photos are off here http://mynewroots.org/site/2011/04/the-raw-brownie-2/ 

Caramel Slice!!

Tan Square!!!

In New Zealand there is a version of caramel slice called tan square!!


It is caramel sandwiched between soft shortcake, this slice is so easy to make that you might find yourself making it a little too often and its not the best thing for you! Today i decided to double the amount of caramel... yuuum there is nothing better than more caramel!! If you don't want to double the caramel then just half the amount stated below...




Ingredients
  • 180g butter
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence
  • 2 cups Healtheries Gluten Free Baking Mix
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder 
  • 2 can sweetened condensed milk
  • 2 Tbsp butter
  • 4 tablespoon golden syrup
Method

    - Preheat oven to 180'c. Beat butter and sugar until pale and creamy, mix in vanilla, flour and baking powder and mix well. Reserve 2/3 of mixture for topping. 
    - Press mixture into a lined 28 x 18cm slice pan. Bake for 10 minutes.

    - Place condensed milk, butter and golden syrup in a sacepan and heat until butter is melted. Cool in saucepan and then spread over base. Return to the oven for another 10 minutes.

    -Sprinkle with remaining shortcake mixture and bake for another 10-15 minutes.

    - Leave to cool over night, cut and enjoy!! 

    - Optional to drizzle with chocolate :)