Versatile Muffin/Cake Recipe

I always make muffins at Hallowe'en for either (sometimes both) my daughter's class or troop at Girl Guides. I know I have posted this recipe before, but I don't think I ever mentioned that it is the same versatile recipe that I have used for other occasions, just changing the ingredients slightly. So here I am stating the other possible ingredients!

3 cups flour [I usually do approx 2 cups white & 1 cup coarse ground]
2 tsp baking soda [same as bread soda]
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground clove
4 eggs
2 cups sugar [I usually mix brown & white]
1 ½ cups sunflower oil
1 tsp vanilla
**2 cups {approx} grated carrot OR crushed pineapple OR smushed banana OR apple sauce OR pumpkin mush [OR combination, for instance when making “Hawaiian” I whiz up 1 can of pineapple with 2 mushed bananas and infuse the cake with some rum before frosting!]

OPTIONAL:  walnuts, pecans, raisins

1. Preheat oven to 350 F/180 C
2. In a large bowl mix together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, & spices
3. In another large bowl beat together eggs & sugar; then beat in oil & vanilla.  Slowly stir in dry ingredients, then fold in fruit or veg mush.  Add nuts or raisins last, if using.
4. Grease & flour bundt cake tin, or other large tin IF making a cake.  If making muffins, put muffin cases in deep muffin tin.  For cake bake approx 1 hr 10 mins or until tester comes out dry; for muffins the time is between 15 –  20 mins depending on the size of the muffin tin.

NB this is a large recipe, for 1 large cake (like a bundt), a sandwich cake or about 5 dozen standard size muffins (less if making large muffins, more if making small muffins!).

For cakes I tend to make a butter frosting (butter, icing sugar, small amount boiled water, vanilla, food coluring) but for muffins it is simple enough to frost with a glace frosting (small amount of boiled water, icing sugar, vanilla, food colouring). I don't have a cake decorating kit, but a zip-lock bag with a cut corner serves as a squeezy sack for coloured frosting to decorate (the smaller the cut corner, the finer the decorative line).

Mini quiche recipe

I had overseas visitors arriving after midnight last Friday, so I wanted to prepare some nibbly food to have with a relaxing chat and glass of wine before they headed for bed. A few small snacks and also something light but sustaining - I thought mini quiches would fit the bill. I added some dried basil to my usual pastry recipe, but basically use your favourite pastry recipe or pre-made puff pastry to fill a tart tin (usually 12 shallow places). Preheat the oven to 180 C.

For my filling, I cut only about a  tablespoon or 2 of purple onion and two mushrooms in small pieces and divided among the pastry shells. If I didn't already have the onion waiting for use, I would have used a scallion (green onion) instead. By all means, use your own favourite fillings but remember these are 2-bite size, so you only need a small amount (eg, 1/2 cooked sausage, 1/2 cooked slice of bacon - chopped and divided between all!).

I beat 2 eggs with a splash of milk and divided between the pastry shells (about 2 spoons each).

The egg doesn't have to cover the fillings (as it will in cooking) and be careful not to overfill the pastry shells.

Slices of cheddar cheese are placed as the last ingredient and I have cracked some black pepper on top as a finishing touch.

Bake in the oven at 180 C for 15-20 mins. They will look like little souffles when fully cooked.

Once they start to cool, they deflate. Remove them from the baking tray and they can be served hot or room temperature. They are delicious!

Hummus recipe

My cousin and her partner will be in Ireland this week, and they will be having a dinner visit at my place on Friday. My cousin's partner is wheat intolerant, so everything I make for the dinner party will be wheat free. Both my husband and I have decided on a very yummy menu, with nothing glutenous in sight! One of the pre-dinner nibblies will be our family favourite hummus and crudités. As tends to happen with most of my recipes, I just eyeball everything. If using dried chick peas (like I do), soak overnight, rinse, boil for about 1/2 hour with a bay leaf, let sit an hour or so then rinse and drain before adding to recipe.

Sorry I cannot include accurate measurements, but here is my guestimate for the recipe: 1 tin chick peas (garbanzo beans) or equivalent, 1/2 cup yoghurt (I use Greek Style -- adding yoghurt makes the hummus lighter to eat!), 1/2 cup tahini, 1/2 cup olive oil, 2-3 cloves garlic. Throw everything in mixer and whizz till it is a smooth consistency. Add a bit more olive oil or yoghurt if it still seems too thick. When serving, drizzle a bit of olive oil and sprinkle some paprika over hummus. Serve with whatever crudités you like (celery, zucchini, red pepper, carrot and/or cucumber sticks, baby tomatoes, button mushrooms) and it is delicious also with crackers, bread sticks or crusty bread if you are not catering to wheat-free.

Cole slaw

While shopping the other day, my eye was drawn to the beautiful heads of purple cabbage and I could not resist picking one up. My daughter adores the cole slaw I make based on a recipe in my ancient Chatelaine recipe booklet from Canada. I think the booklet is from the '60s - the pages are really yellow and most of the recipes are pretty dated. However, the lemon meringue pie recipe is fabulous and with a slight change I have turned it into coconut cream pie on occasion; in addition, the basic custard recipe used is easy and far superior to any powdered or ready-made custard I have ever  tasted. 

But I digress, what I am interested in today is the Everlasting Slaw recipe in the booklet. Tried and true - as soon as my daughter saw the purple cabbage she was delighted as she knew what I had in mind. My husband is allergic to carrots, and none of us like the typical Irish cole slaw, which is heavy on the mayonnaise. So a variation of the Chatelaine cole slaw is more to our liking. Delicious! Here is what I use: 1 head of purple cabbage, chopped; 2 purple onions, chopped; 1 tsp dried mustard; 1/2 tsp salt; 1/2 cup sunflower oil, 1/2 cup brown sugar; 1/2 cup malt vinegar.

Stirring, bring the vinegar, oil, sugar, mustard and salt to a boil. Let cool.

While the wet mix is cooling, chop up the cabbage and onions and add to a large mixing bowl. Pour the wet mixture over the vegetables and stir in completely. You will notice the fresh colour of the vegetables taking on a brownish appearance from the wet mix. Cover and leave for at least 8 hours before eating. This makes quite a lot of cole slaw (I used 3 1/2 x 1 kilo peanut butter pails!). Put in covered containers and store in the fridge. It actually tastes better with each day. Supposedly it lasts more than a week but it has never lasted more than a few days in my house (I only made it yesterday and 1 1/2 kilos are already gone, between 3 people!). Enjoy!

Xmas Nibbles!

There have been a number of things that I normally make at xmas that I have not done or plan to do this year, but that hole left has made me want to make things that I have not made recently, to try them out again as an entertaining treat. 

With this in mind, I thought I would try out some edible "straws". I made chocolate straws and pesto straws for a "cousins and cocktails" night a number of years ago and the sweet and savoury treats were a hit. So I thought it was time I tackled the more well known "cheese straws" (of which the chocolate straws and pesto straws are simply a variation). They are easy to make with simple ingredients: cheese (I use a mix of mature cheddar & parmesan), Jus-Roll puff pastry, and a beaten egg for finishing. 

The puff pastry brand I use (Jus-Roll) contains two rolls of ready made pastry (if you make your own from scratch, good on ye, but I am going for party convenience!), which is ideal for making both a sweet and a savoury snack. Roll out according to packet instructions, on a lightly floured surface; here I also include a sprinkling of parmesan to become embedded in the pastry while rolling. Put handfuls of cheese on half the rolled pastry, then fold, roll out again and add another layer of cheese.

With a sharp knife cut the rolled pastry into strips.

Carefully take one strip at a time and twist before placing on a baking sheet, which is already prepared with a surface of parchment or wax paper. The straws always want to move around and untwist on the sheet. Be patient with them; try twisting tighter than you want them to be and you may end up with the twist you want. Actually, it doesn't really matter -- they taste great and each one looks individual when baked. Divide the beaten egg into two dishes so that you can have one specifically for the savoury and the other sweet. To finish the straws, loosely brush on some beaten egg. Sprinkle some more parmesan over the straws before putting in the oven.

Bake in the centre of the oven about 10 minutes at around 180C.  Cool before removing from tray; they can be eaten warm or cold. They also freeze well, though make sure they are in a sturdy container as they are delicate pastry. The yield is pretty good: two and a half dozen at least from the single pastry roll. Tip: only bake one tray at a time for even cooking; prepare the other trays when the first is in the oven -- it is still pretty quick.

The same process is done for making the chocolate straws. Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface, spread chocolate on one half of the pastry, fold, repeat, cut into strips, twist. Note: since this is a sweet snack, sprinkle sugar on the surface with the flour so that it gets embedded into the pastry dough while rolling!

Again, brush the straws loosely with beaten egg.

For the finishing touch, sprinkle the straws with more sugar before putting into the oven.

I prefer the savoury straws myself, but anyone who likes sweets will love these!

Xmas cooking - apricot pineapple jam

It's that time of year, when the month is spent in preparation and lots of cooking for one day! (Or in my family, all the preparations are for an ongoing celebration, so it is definitely more than one day,) The first jam I learned to make when I became interested in canning more than 30 years ago, was an easy apricot-pineapple concoction made from dried apricots and canned pineapple. I have tweaked it over the years, and settled on "Apricot-Pineapple Jam with Almonds" as an annual xmas recipe that I have been making for at least 20 years now. My recipe uses two packages of dried apricots, 1 can of pineapple rings, about 100 grams of flaked almonds, lemon juice & zest and about a half kilo of sugar. The apricots need to be rinsed, removing dirt & unwanted blemishes, and soaked overnight. 

Here is what they look like the next day, after soaking up lots of water.

Loosely pre-chop pineapple rings and add to food processor with apricots. You will need to include some of the juice from the apricot soaking in the processor. If there is a lot of this juice, don't waste it but use it instead of or added to water when simmering the lemon zest.

This is what the apricot and pineapple should look like after processing.

Meanwhile, slice lemon zest and simmer with some water till soft before adding mush. Add juice from canned pineapple, and any additional water if it seems to need it (this concoction will happily cook and simmer while other preparations are being taken care of). Juice lemon and set aside. Have sugar in a bowl gently warming in upper oven or beside simmering fruit (sugar is only warming naturally, not cooking). Prepare jars for canning and other utensils. I sterilise jars by heating in the oven at 200 C/400 F minimum of 20 mins, leave in the oven till ready to use with oven turned off; lids are boiled 5 mins, and utensils are in container of boiled water, ready for use.

When all the fruit seems cooked and somewhat thickened, add lemon juice and sugar. Bring to a rolling boil, stirring constantly about 10 mins then add almonds. Stir and simmer a bit more. You may do the "jam test" by putting a small bit of the jam on a saucer which has been in the freezer; as it cools drag your finger through it -- a bit of drag should be apparent signalling that it is ready. However, with this jam you should simply be able to tell that it is the thickness of jam from stirring!

I always put a small amount of the hot jam in the bottom of a jar first, before going back and filling. This way you will know immediately if the jam is too hot for the jar (you will know right away if the jar cracks!).

This is really delicious jam and the yield is pretty good! For many years I have used the flaked almonds as a luxurious addition, but I remember once or twice adding sultanas (make sure they are very clean beforehand and stir the jam well so they don't stick to the bottom of the pot). The zest from an orange or clementine can also be added at the same time as the lemon zest in the initial simmer.

Lemon Ginger Tea

I feel like I've had the plague for awhile now - I caught a cold about two months ago; then got tracheitis (a throat infection) from which I never quite recovered. Still not feeling well a week after the antibiotic course finished I went back to the doctor. Sinusitis was the next diagnosis leading to a longer antibiotic course, which finished a few days ago. Towards the end of last week I felt like I was coming down with something while still on the antibiotics. So the prescribed medicine is now finished with and I have a horrible cough and cold still. Time for lemon ginger tea. Actually, I made a nice batch of ginger and honey to put in the fridge for any time. Here's the simple recipe. 

Peel the ginger handily with a spoon.

Whizz the ginger, using the pulse setting.

The ginger is nicely mashed and ready to put in a jar.

Honey is a great preservative, so mix in with the ginger. This lasts at least a month in the fridge (usually it is consumed before that). The mix should be a little runny. Add about a spoon (or to taste) of this mix to boiling water and a dash of lemon.  Lately I have been simmering it with a twig of turmeric for about 5 minutes.

Hallowe'en!

Well, it was a year ago that I posted how to make pumpkin mush for use in future recipes (pumpkin pie, pumpkin muffins, cake, etc) that I intended to share but never did! I remembered of course, when I pulled out a bag of last year's pumpkin mush in order to make muffins for my daughter to bring to both her school and to her Girl Guides troop as a Hallowe'en treat. So here is the recipe:

Ingredients: 3 cups of flour (I use a mix of self-raising & coarse), 2 tsp baking soda, 2 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp salt, 2 tsp cinnamon powder, 1 tsp clove powder, 4 eggs, 2 cups sugar (I use a mix of white & brown), 1 1/2 cups sunflower oil, 1 tsp vanilla, 450 grams pumpkin mush [just because that is how I measured the mush out last year, this year's bags weigh approx 440 grams - I don't think it will matter much, the original recipe is for 2 cups]

Preheat oven to 350 F/180 C. In a large bowl mix flour, baking soda & powder, salt, cinnamon & clove. In another large bowl beat together eggs & sugar, then beat in oil & vanilla. Stir in dry ingredients from other bowl and gently fold in pumpkin mush. Let mix sit at least 5 minutes then spoon into muffin cups. (If not using paper muffin cups, make sure that muffin tin is thoroughly greased & floured. Bake approx 15 minutes. Yield at least 5 dozen. Decorate the muffins when cool; I frost with a simple glace frosting (icing sugar & water) with food colouring.

To get into the Hallowe'en spirit of course, pumpkins need to be carved into Jack-o-lanterns, and my husband has taken to the Irish tradition of carving a Willie-the-wisp out of turnip. This year he decided to skin the turnip completely, and the resulting skull looked a bit like alabaster.

I think it is a North American Hallowe'en tradition to bake the pumpkin seeds. It is a very simple and delicious snack! After cleaning the pumpkin in preparation for carving, be sure to wash the seeds.

Spread on a baking tray with a few knobs of butter and plenty of salt. Bake at 350 F/180 C for about 20 mins - check after 10 mins to shake tray and check if more butter is needed!

Mmmmmm, don't burn your mouth by immediately chowing down, but this snack is especially delicious when warm!

Blackberry Apple Pie!

My daughter recently waxed lyrical on the wonders of autumn. One of her favourite things of the season she proclaimed, was a fresh blackberry apple pie. How could I not take this hint? My husband had picked fresh blackberries at our local park and picked apples from a friend's garden. The cupboard store provided the rest of the ingredients. First, the no-fail, easy pie crust that I use all the time. Directly in the pie tin mix 1.25 cups flour (I usually do a mix of self-raising & coarse), pinch of salt, about 1 tsp sugar. 

In a measuring cup mix 1/3 cup sunflower oil with 1/3 cup milk, then pour into flour mix.

Stir around with a fork, mixing the wet & dry ingredients. If it seems too moist, just sprinkle in small amounts of flour, but a pliable consistency is more desirable than a crumbly one.

With your hands pull out about half the pastry dough and set aside (this will form the lid) and then mould the pastry to the form of the pie tin. (This is a very hands on process!).

Peel and chop the apple. I used 3 medium garden apples, but you can use a large cooking apple if preferred. I always soak the apples chunks in some lemon juice before adding to the pie.

Add the berries layer, some sugar (white or brown), more apples if you have them.

The lid is composed of a patchwork of pastry dough -- it can fall apart in your hands if the pieces you are using are too large so just a bit of patience is needed to cover the pie completely. Make sure to cut an "x" at the top, to give the juices an out (this may or may not happen). Years ago I was given the tip that sprinkling sugar on the top crust of the pie before putting in the oven eased slicing. This may or may not be true, but an extra bit of sugar in or on a pie never goes wrong!

Bake at 180C for about 25 mins, the crust will be golden brown. I usually leave the pie about 10 mins to settle before slicing. This is extra delicious with cream poured on top!

Easiest Delicious Chocolate Cake!

A few years ago my daughter wanted a chocolate cake for her birthday and I had never made one before. An internet search for recipes made me anxious as I found that chocolate cake was a lot more complicated to make than I expected. Even with the addition of "simple" to my search the results were still not very promising. I found one, however, that seemed do-able and it is this faultless recipe that I have been using annually to great joy! Apologies to whomever originally posted this recipe for not getting full credit here, but at the time I did not realise I would be sharing it in this manner nor did I realise what a keeper it would turn out to be.

Moist Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake

Ingredients:       2 cups flour 

                        2/3 cup cocoa

                        1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda

                        1/4 teaspoon baking powder

                        3 eggs

                        1 2/3 cups sugar (I use a mix of regular white granulated & brown sugar)

                        1 teaspoon vanilla

                        1 cup mayonnaise (do not use a substitute)

                        1 1/3 cups water

I like to get everything together and then put items away after use. You need two mixing bowls.

Preheat oven to 350F/180C. Grease and flour 2 - 9" round cake pans. 

Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda and baking powder. 

Mix well and set aside.

Beat together eggs, sugar and vanilla in a large bowl for 3 minutes, using the high speed of an electric mixer. Mixture should be smooth and creamy. 

Reduce speed to low and beat in mayonnaise until blended.

Add flour mixture in batches, alternating with water, in 4 equal additions (1/4 of the flour, then 1/4 of the water etc).

Pour the batter into the prepared cake pans.

Pin a band of wet towelling around the cake tins to get a more evenly baked cake. I think I got this tip from one of my nieces and it really works well!

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the center of the cake springs back when lightly touched or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake is clean when removed. Cool in pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove from the pans and allow to cool completely before frosting with your favorite frosting.

For birthday cake I make a simple butter icing with sugar, butter, a bit of vanilla and some boiling water. I have used a small amount of yellow food colouring for the initial icing in the cake sandwich and the base colour for the top.

I separated some of the icing into small bowls to add other colours, placed in small food bags and cut a corner in order to create a makeshift icing bag to squeeze out  loose designs and writing for cake decoration. This is a really moist and delicious chocolate cake!