Banana and Oatmeal Muffins

The banana battle continues on in our fruit bowl - forcing me to result to tried and true but long forgotten battle plans [read:recipes]. A rummage through the bookshelf got me reacquainted with "Muffins - Fast and Fantastic" by Susan Reimer, this book is responsible for developing my baking passion! When I first moved to Edinburgh I shared a flat in St Stephen's Place with a couple from New Zealand (whoever thought putting an Aussie and two Kiwi's in a flat together was a good idea?) and various other people ranging in nationality from South Africa to Scotland occupied the third bedroom, which was really just a box room and probably explained why there was always a very high turn over in occupancy for it.

Being the first time I had ever 'stood on my own two feet' my very first grown up decision was to make sure I ate healthy food which was to include my 5 a day. This was a very good plan, that seemed to last all the way from the front door of the flat to the supermarket at Cannonmill's and back again. Peppers and mushrooms always went in the pasta that was great for dinner and could be taken to work for lunch the next day, the broccoli and cherry tomatoes that went into the feta salad also made a great dinner (but not quite so nice the next day for lunch), apples for morning tea, I pretty much had this healthy eating thing under control! Except for the banana's. They seemed to multiply in the fruit bowl and this is when I went out and purchased afore mentioned Muffin Book. I made banana muffins every Sunday afternoon, tried all the variations I could lay my hands on, and had a banana muffin every morning for breakfast.

Now I think about it, this was obviously the beginning of the end for banana's and I, and we parted company quite amicably after about a year or so Breakfast Banana Muffins. But as I've mentioned previously Hubby loves 'em, which has ended our fruit bowl cease fire.

Banana Oatmeal Muffins

225g SR flour

1 tsp bicarb of soda

1/2 tsp salt

3 large well ripened bananas, peeled and mashed

110g caster sugar (vanilla!)

1 egg beaten (the cake stand at work had duck eggs on it this week so I used one of those)

90ml milk

90ml veg oil

60g rolled oats

85g walnuts

1 tsp vanilla extract

Prepare the muffin tins. Preheat oven to 190-200C.

In a large bowl, sift together; flour, bicarb and salt.

In another bowl, mash banana thoroughly (I pop them in a mini food blender and give them a good whiz - that'll teach 'em!) until pureed. Stir in sugar, egg, milk, oats, vanilla and oil.

Pour all of the wet ingredients into dry. Stir until batter is evenly mixed but still lumpy. No dry flour should be visible. Add walnuts during the final strokes.

Spoon into tins. Bake for 20-25 mins, until tops are lightly browned and spring back when pressed gently.

Makes 12 standard sized muffins

Adapted from 'Muffins - Fast and Fantastic'

Sometimes I sprinkle some more rolled oats and a bit of demerara sugar of the tops of the muffins before baking but today they have gone au natural.

Fresh From The Oven - Brioche

I've not been around much lately ~ sorry!  There are no excuses suitable but to say that there just aren't enough hours in the day pretty much sums up whats been going on!!!  I'm pretty much back to full capacity after my recent illness though, many thanks to all of you who left me get well wishes, it was much appreciated ;0)

As such, my time in the kitchen has been very limited but rest assured that I am planning to put things right very soon and I even have a few recipes I am hoping to share with you all this weekend (time permitting of course!!) starting with this very yummy and easy Brioche recipe.

This month's Fresh From The Oven challenge was picked by moi!  This was my second time in charge of choosing the recipe for the group and pressure was immense but I've always wanted to try my hand at Brioche, I never had though as I always thought it was a tricky bread to make.  I was wrong ;0)

Brioche
400g strong white bread flour, plus extra for dusting
5g powdered dried yeast
10g fine sea salt
90ml warm milk
2 tbsp caster sugar
100g butter, softened
4 medium free range eggs, beaten
To Glaze
1 medium free range egg
2 tbsp milk

To knead by hand: mix all the ingredients in a large bowl, and bring it all together to form a dough. Knead for about 10 mins, until smooth and shiny.  Or, to use a food mixer: fit the dough hook and add all the dough ingredients to the mixer bowl. Mix on low speed until combined, and leave to knead for about 10 mins, until smooth and shiny.

Shape the dough into a round, place in a bowl and cover tightly. Leave in the fridge overnight.

The next day, divide the dough in two and form into the shape of your choice. Lightly flour the loaves, lay them on a wooden board or linen cloth and cover with a plastic bag. Leave them somewhere nice and warm to prove until almost doubled in size; this could take 3 or 4 hours, as the dough is cold.

Preheat the oven to 200C/gas mark 6. For the glaze, beat the egg and milk together. Transfer the risen loaves to a baking tray and brush all over with the glaze. Bake for about 10 mins, then lower the oven setting to 180C/gas mark 4 and bake for a further 30 mins or until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack.

Makes 2 small loaves
River Cottage Handbook No.3 - Bread

My sis in law had taken pity on me last weekend and took me into town for a bit of retail therapy.  Of course I just had to pop into Lakeland (I could easily spend my months salary in that shop!) and I happened to spot a silicone Brioche pan.  I divided half my dough into a loaf and the other half went to make individual brioches. 

I haven't cut into the loaf yet, that is happily living in my freezer for the time being, but the individual brioches turned out a treat.  I was a bit worried while making the dough that it was too wet, there was no way I could have kneaded it by hand, opting instead for Big Bertha, so I wasn't all that sure how well the end product would end up.  For a first attempt I'm pretty pleased ;0)

Don't forget to head over to the Fresh From The Oven page from tomorrow onwards to see how everyone else got along with this months challenge.

S'mores and more ...

Before moving to the UK I was fortunate enough to work in a Summer Camp in America two years running. It was hard work, mixed with lots memories like when we shared a platform tent with a skunk and the swimming pool with a snake one morning but I also made some of my strongest friendships while I was there, camp is very much a ying and yang type experience and at the end of the day I wouldn't change any of it for a second!

One experience I was really looking forward to was the all American campfire complete with S'mores. I confess my first experience was a huge disappointment. Hershey's chocolate is an acquired taste, not the milky-creamy-melt-in-your-mouth-sweet chocolate I was used to - although I did develop my fondness for cookies and cream Hershey bars at this time, oh the shame! And continuing in this vein Graham Crackers didn't really do it for me either, it may have been the texture, not sure. But the marshmallows in America are amazing, HUGE fluffy things that positively goo all over your hands and face when biting into said S'more.

So I was resigned to the fact after two summer's worth of S'mores that the two of us just weren't designed for each other but then Donna Hay came to my rescue. Thank you Donna! These are amazing, moreish, addictive - you get the gist?

Chocolate and Oat S'mores

125g butter, softened

220g brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla bean paste

1 egg

225g plain flour, sifted

1/2 tsp baking powder, sifted

100g dark chocolate chips

100g milk /white chocolate chips

30g rolled oats

20 pieces of dark chocolate

20 marshmallows

Preheat the oven to 180C. Place the butter, sugar and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat for 8-10 mins or until light and creamy. Add the egg and beat until well combined. Add the flour and baking powder and beat until just combined. Fold through the chocolate chips and rolled oats. Roll tablespoons of the mixture and place on baking trays lined with non stick baking paper, leaving space between them to spread. Flatten slightly and bake for 10-12 mins or until golden. Cool on trays.

To assemble, place the biscuits bottom side up on a tray. Top half with a piece of chocolate and the other half with a marshmallow. bake until the chocolate and marshmallows are starting to melt. Sandwich the halves together and serve.

Makes 20

Taken from Donna Hay Magazine, Issue 39

When the girls got these in their hampers I had used a snowflake chocolate mould to shape white chocolate for the S'mores. As it is meant to be 'summer' snowflakes won't do for today so I've made chocolate bark, hope it works!

Barefoot Contessa's French Chocolate Bark

270g white chocolate, broken into squares

225g white chocolate, finely chopped

150g whole roasted, salted cashews

160g dried apricots, chopped

70g dried cranberries

Melt the first portion of chocolate in a bowl set over a pan of simmering water. When melted, add the finely chopped chocolate top temper.

Meanwhile, line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Using a ruler and a pencil, draw a 9 x 10 inch rectangle on the paper. Turn the paper face down on the baking sheet.

Pour the melted chocolate over the paper and spread to form a rectangle, using the outline. Sprinkle the cashews, apricots and cranberries over the chocolate. Set aside for 2 hours until firm. Cut the bark into 24 pieces and serve at room temp (or to accompany S'mores!)

Makes 24

Adapted from Ina Garten's Barefoot Contessa Recipe

I found that the fruit and nut topping has overwhelmed the chocolate base, and I didn't even put it all on. Next time I'll reduce the topping quantities by half I think.

Toblerone Cheesecake

Tomorrow is Miss KS's birthday - 21 again! We're having a barbie around at her house in the evening and she requested the S'mores she had in her Christmas Hamper last year for dessert. Of course I'm more than happy to oblige, will be making them tomorrow morning so they are nice and fresh, the cookies need to be crunchy on the outside but soft and deliciously gooey on the inside ... I digress! More about S'mores tomorrow!

KS has gone to so much effort getting food and drink in for everyone that when she mentioned buying a cheesecake to help feed the crowd I immediately offered a taste of my youth in this Toblerone Cheesecake. I've not met a person yet who doesn't like it, even SD who is a notorious Toblerone disliker (strange girl!) likes this. The Toblerone is a very subtle flavour, its definitely more cheesecakey in taste than chocolatey, which can sometimes be a good thing I guess.

As already mentioned, this is a taste of my more "formative" years growing up in Tasmania, so the recipe is in cup measurements - sorry! I had intended to translate it into grams and tbsp's but that just seemed like I was messing with the laws of Toblerone Cheesecake so I've left it as is. If memory serves me correctly the recipe came off the side of the Philly Cream Cheese box - those were the days, cream cheese in a box with a thick foil wrapping!

Toblerone Cheesecake

1 cup plain chocolate biscuit crumbs (back in the day that meant choc ripple biscuits but I can't seem to find a UK alternative so I either use chocolate coated Hob Nobs or Nice biscuits with some cocoa powder added)

1/3 cup butter, melted

2 x 250g cream cheese, softened at room temp

3 tsp gelatine dissolved in 1/2 cup boiling water

3/4 cup caster sugar

100g Toblerone Swiss milk or dark chocolate, melted

1/2 cup cream (double)

Mix biscuit crumbs and butter and press into the base of a 20cm springform tin. Chill.

Beat the cream cheese with an electric mixer until soft. Add gelatine mixture, caster sugar, melted toblerone and cream, blend until smooth.

Pour into crumb base and chill in refrigerator for 2-3 hours or overnight. Garnish with chocolate shavings and strawberries.

Not sure how many people this serves, or should I say how many slices you get from the cheesecake, as the number of servings and the number of people aren't necessarily the same thing! Generally speaking though, small slices would be recommended as it is quite rich. Strawberries are great served on the side, think I'll do the Pimm's Strawberries to take to the barbie, just for something a bit more grown up.

There was also some spare Lemon Tart filling still in the fridge from the Martin Wishart Cook School day earlier in the week. I decided to use up the mixture by making some mini tarts, finished with a creme brulee topping as the chef's did at the school. My blow torch seems to have given up the ghost though (a pity seeing as this was the first time I've been brave enough to try and use it!) so I gave the creme brulee topping a whirl under the grill. This technique is obviously not for the faint hearted! I'm afraid I chickened out before the sugar went fully creme brulee like, but it was a toss up between that and a burnt crust ...

These little beauties will be served with the Macerated Raspberries we learnt to make at the Cook School too.

We Should Cocoa ~ Rose Scented Indulgent Chocolate Cake

When Choclette announced that this month's We Should Cocoa Challenge was to use rose alongside chocolate, I will admit to being slightly perplexed.  Rose isn't an ingredient I am use to baking with and after quite a bit some consultation with my ever expanding stash of recipes nothing really came up trumps for me and inspiration was sparse to say the least!  I was an unhappy little teapot ;0(


Then Mr JS rode in to my rescue ... without even knowing it!  He has returned from Australia for a short stay and comes to at dinner with Hubby and I once a week.  It was during this weeks meal that he asked me if I could make a chocolate birthday cake for another one of our friend's (the birthday bash being last night ... slightly worse for wear today!)


It was a eureka moment for me.  I knew the exact cake to bake, and with a small amount of tweaking I could get it to fit in with this month's theme, resulting in a happy little teapot once more ;0)

Rose Scented Indulgent Chocolate Cake
175g SR flour, sifted
3 tbsp 70% cocoa powder
1 tsp rose water
175g butter, completely softened, plus extra for lining the tin
175g caster sugar
1 tsp baking powder
3 eggs
1-2 tbsp milk
100g 70% dark chocolate, melted and cooled
Icing
500ml double cream
500g milk chocolate, chopped
Rose Scented Mascarpone Filling
500g mascarpone
2 tsp icing sugar
1-2 tsp rose water, depending on taste


Make the icing first (it takes a while to cool and thicken).  Put the chocolate into a bowl.  Pour the cream into a pan and heat until simmering.  Take off the heat and pour it over the chocolate.  Stir until the mixture is smooth.  Cool, then chill until really thick but spreadable.


Heat the oven to 180C/fan 160C.  Butter and base line 2 x 20cm sandwich tins with baking parchment.  Take 3 tbsp flour from the full flour amount and put them back in the flour bag - the cocoa powder will make up the difference.


Put all the cake ingredients except the chocolate in a large bowl.  Beat them together with an electric whisk (or whizz in a food processor) until you have a creamy mixture, then fold in the melted chocolate.  Add a little more milk if the mix is too stiff - it should fall easily from a spoon.


Divide the mixture between the 2 tins and level.  Bake on the same shelf in the oven for 20-25 mins or until the sponge springs back when pressed.  Cool for 5 mins, turn out onto a wire rack, peel off the paper and cool completely.

While the cakes are cooling make the filling.  Mix together the mascarpone, icing sugar and rose water in a bowl until well combined and smooth.  When the cakes are cool sandwich the layers together with the rose scented mascarpone and then with some of the chocolate icing.  Use the rest of the chocolate icing to spread over the rest of the cake in a nice thick layer.


Serves 10
Adapted from a recipe in Olive Magazine, April 11

I should have decorated the cake some crystallised rose petals of course, but I didn't have any so white chocolate stars it had to be!  Its a very much a home-made looking cake but it didn't detract from the taste one little bit.  Purely indulgent with every mouthful!  If I had one criticism, its that the rose maybe wasn't as strong as I thought it would have been.  I did err on the side of caution with the amounts of rose water added because I didn't want the cake to end up tasting like a bar of soap!  I would add more next time, both to the cake and the mascarpone.  On the up side, after the small mishap of the chocolate icing not really firming up last time, I gave the mixture a good whip before letting it set in the fridge overnight which seems to be the trick, it was lovely and thick and smooth and everyone seemed to enjoy their slice!

The Breakfast Club

Through the week Hubby and I decided that we were going to start having a 'civilised' breakfast at the weekend ... set the table ... peculate the coffee ... brew the tea. Monday to Friday our breakfast regime consists of cereal thrown in a bowl and wolfed down as we dash about the flat getting ready for work but we want to make our weekends leisurely and enjoyable, starting with breakfast.

On this morning's menu we had French Toast with Strawberries and Banana's and as we had sis in law staying with us as well, Roasted Strawberry Scones served with Peach and Apricot Jam. If something is worth doing you may as well push the boat right out! I came across the recipe for the scones on the British Larder blog and couldn't wait to give them a try. We've had a surplus of strawberries in the fridge this week so now seemed the perfect time to give the recipe a try.

Confession time ~ I can't bake scones! Don't know why, they just never seem to rise no matter which recipe I try and I'm afraid to say that this one was no different. Very disappointing on that score but the flavour was very fresh and summery and if it wasn't for my complete inability to make scones in any way shape or form I would be tempted to make them again.

French Toast with Strawberries and Banana's

1 whole egg

150ml skim milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

4 large slices sourdough bread, crusts removed

1 spray oil spray

2 small bananas

250g fresh strawberries, stalks removed

2 tsp icing sugar

1 tbsp honey or maple syrup

Combine egg, milk and vanilla essence in a shallow bowl.

Cut slices of bread in half. Dip bread into egg and milk mixture, allowing it to soak for a few seconds so that the liquid is absorbed.

Heat a large non stick frying pan over medium heat. Spray with oil. Add soaked bread and cook on both sides until browned. Transfer to warmed plates.

Slice strawberries and banana's and add to a bowl with the icing sugar and honey (I often use maple syrup in its place) and stir to coat. Any combo of fruit can be used, just depends on what you have in the fridge.

Serves 4

Adapted from WW

Roasted Strawberry Scones
250g fresh strawberries

250g strong bread flour

250g plain flour

20g baking powder

100g caster sugar

100g unsalted butter

Pinch of salt

230ml milk (depending on how jammy the strawberries are more milk may be needed)

Preheat the oven to 200C and line a baking tray with parchment paper.

Wash and hull the strawberries. Cut them in quarters and spread the strawberries on the lined baking tray. Roast the strawberries for 15-20 mins, until they are dry and all the juices become jammy. If they start to colour too much turn the oven down to 180C. Let the strawberries cool completely before using in the scone dough.

Sift both flours and baking powder into a mixing bowl and add a pinch of salt, the sugar and butter. Rub the butter in with your fingertips until it represents fine breadcrumbs. Add the cooled roasted strawberries, mix lightly in the flour mixture to coat the strawberries. If the dough is a bit dry then add a little bit more milk. Let the dough rest for 30 mins in the fridge.

Roll the dough out to 2cm thick on a lightly floured work surface. Use a 6cm diameter cutter and place the scones on a lined baking tray and brush the tops twice with egg wash made from 1 egg yolk nixed with 1 tbsp caster sugar. Let the scones rest for 15 mins, after they have been glazed before you bake the scones at 180C for 20-25 mins.

Transfer the baked scones to a cooling rack to cool completely before dusting with icing sugar and serving with homemade jam and clotted cream.

Makes 18 scones

Taken from the British Larder

Passionfruit Gems

How do you spend your Sunday night's?  Personally, I like to try and escape the enveloping darkness of doom (i.e. returning to work!) by picking a book from the shelf and loosing myself in its pages for a few hours.  Not a 'novel' kind of a book either, not a page turner of a book with characters and storyline's, no siree, its always a recipe book!  Yes I am one of those people who has a pile of cookbooks beside my bed and I feel no shame in admitting that ;0)

So this recipe comes from one of my Sunday night musings, a book my Mum sent me for Christmas last year called quite simply 'Cookies'.  Its an Australian Women's Weekly publication and is stuffed full of amazing looking cookies.  It comes as no surprise that the ones to catch my eye use Passionfruit which has got to be one of my all time favourite flavours ever.

Passionfruit Gems
150g plain flour
75g SR flour
2 tbsp custard powder
110g icing sugar
90g cold butter, chopped
1 egg yolk
60ml passionfruit pulp (about 1 1/2 passionfruits)
Butter Icing
125g unsalted butter, softened
240g icing sugar
2 tbsp milk

Process the dry ingredients and butter together until crumbly; add egg yolk and passionfruit pulp, pulse until ingredients come together.

Loving that colour!

Knead dough on a floured surface until smooth.  Roll between sheets of baking paper until 5mm thick; refrigerate for 30 mins.

Preheat the oven to 180C/fan 160C.  Grease oven trays; line with baking paper (I hate greasing oven trays and as I had run out of baking paper I floured the tray's instead).

Using a 4cm round flower shaped cutter, cut rounds from dough.  Place about 3cm apart on oven trays.

Bake for about 10 mins.  Cool on wire racks.

Make the butter icing; beat the butter in a small bowl with an electric mixer until it is as white as possible.  Gradually beat in half the sifted icing sugar, milk, then the remaining icing sugar.  (I still had half a passionfruit left over so I added this to the icing and reduced the amount of milk accordingly).

Spoon the icing into a piping bag fitted with a small fluted tube.  Pipe stars onto cookies.

Makes 70
'Cookies' Australian Women's Weekly

These are yummy!  However, I have a few points to highlight.  I got far less than 70 cookies from the dough, which I am prepared to admit is probably down to me [ahem] firstly I need to readdress my idea of what 5mm looks like, secondly the smallest cutter I have is 48mm so my cookies were not only thicker but bigger too - I don't mind this though.  And then I discovered that along with running out of baking paper I also had an empty packet of piping bags sat in my draw, very helpful!  So I had to spoon the icing onto the cookies, they don;t look as pretty as they should but thankfully that doesn't affect the flavour at all ;0)

To Tanzania ~ With Love

Our little Miss KH will be heading off for a year or two in Tanzania this time next week. Continuing in the tradition of sending her off around the world with a full tum (when she went to Australia we gave her a full Scottish meal of Veggie Haggis, Neeps, Tatties and Rhubarb Crumble) we had a surprise barbie for her tonight, the weather even played along with us which is always a bonus.

To round off the meal was a Chocolate Tart which had proved very problematic the first time I tried to make it, the pastry just never wanted to be made into a tart, if it didn't solidify to the tart tin base then it stuck to the bottom of the greaseproof paper when I tried to blind bake it - disaster! The filling, however, can be saved and turned into a rather nice fondue, just in case you ever need to know! This time round I ditched the shortcrust pastry as described in the recipe and stuck with the tried and tested Rachel Allen Shortcrust Pastry (please excuse the quality of the photos - Pimms had been consumed!)

Rachel's Sweet Shortcrust Pastry
200g plain flour, sifted
1 tbsp icing sugar
100g chilled butter, cubed
1/2 - 1 medium egg, beaten

Place the flour, icing sugar and butter in a food processor and whiz briefly. Add half the beaten egg and continue to whiz. I find I need to add nearly all the egg before its just moist enough to come together in a ball.

With your hands, flatten out the ball of dough until it is about 2cm thick then wrap in clingfilm and leave in the fridge for at least 30 mins or, if you are pushed for time, in the freezer for 10-15 mins.

Makes 400g
Taken from Rachel Allen's 'Bake'

Milk Chocolate Tart

400g shortcrust pastry
Double cream or ice cream, to serve
Filling
250g milk chocolate, broken into pieces
1 cup double cream
1/2 cup caster sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
Pimms Strawberries
Strawberries, hulled (I used a punnet for 4 of us and have lots left over)
2 tbsp icing sugar
2 tbsp Pimms

Roll pastry between 2 sheets of cling film to a 35cm round. Use to line the base and sides of a 3cm deep, 25cm (base) loose based flan pan. Refrigerate for 30 mins (I was a bit pressed for time and skipped this step but the pastry didn't seem to be any the worse for it). Preheat oven to 180C.

Make filling; place chocolate, cream and sugar into a heatproof bowl. Sit over a pan of simmering water (make sure the bowl doesn't touch the water) and stir until melted and smooth. Allow to cool. Stir in the eggs.

Line pastry with baking paper. Cover base with raw rice. Bake for 15 mins. Remove rice and paper. Cook pastry for a further 10 mins, or until golden and cooked through. Reduce oven to 170C.

Remove pastry from oven. Pour filling into pastry case. Bake for 30 mins, or until just set. Set aside to cool.

Make Strawberries; place strawberries, icing sugar and Pimms in a bowl. Toss gently to combine. Stand for 15 mins. Serve tart with strawberries and cream for adults or with plain strawberries and ice cream for kids.

Serves 8

Not 100% sure where I got the original recipe from, have a feeling it could have been http://www.taste.com.au/

Unfortunately I didn't manage to get a photo of the tart all nicely sliced and covered with strawberries and softly whipped cream (probably wouldn't have done it justice even I have had though) but it was goooooooooooooooooood!

Sweet and Simple Bake Number 1 - Not So Jammy Doughnut Muffins!

These little beauties are my first ever attempt at a Sweet and Simple Bakes monthly bake (Rosie and Maria just as soon as I figure out how to add your badge I promise it will be done)! This one has been mulling around in my mind for a little while now and as a result its not quite the same as the original recipe and it is entirely possible that I may have bent the rules slightly, very sorry if I have offended. The inspiration behind them being filled with Dulce de Leche and topped with caramel icing is twofold;

1) Iced doughnuts are the best.

2) I still had quite a bit of Dulce de Leche still kicking about

after the Banana and Mars Bar Cake.

But is a muffin with icing still a muffin?!?!?!?!?

So, I had the recipe, now all I needed was an excuse to bake ~ generally speaking having the recipe is normally reason enough but we're both still suffering with honeymoon weight gain and have promised each other to be extra strict with our WW points this week ~ and then Mr DF went and got himself admitted to hospital. Emergency baking action was required (as well as surgery for DF but he is home again now and driving Miss SD completely bonkers which is a sure sign he is returning to normality). Surely a trip into hospital and surgery and, in SD's case at least, having to look after a grumpy patient is reason enough for some nice Iced Doughnut Muffins? I knew you would agree.

Iced Doughnut Muffins

275g plain flour

3 tsp baking powder

Pinch salt

100g caster sugar

2 eggs

200ml milk

75g unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1 tsp vanilla extract

12 tsp Dulce de Leche

For The Topping

150g icing sugar

2 tbsp Dulce de Leche

2 tsp hot water

Chocolate Strands, for sprinkling

Preheat the oven to 190C/gas 5.

Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a large mixing bowl, and stir through the sugar. In a large jug. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, stir gently until just combined. (Do not over mix, its fine to have a few lumps in the mixture). Spoon half the muffin mixture into the base of each paper case, top each muffin with a teaspoon of Dulce de Leche. Now top each paper case with equal amounts of the remaining mixture. Bake in the preheated oven for 15-20 mins until well risen, golden and firm to the touch.

For the topping; combine icing sugar, Dulce de Leche and hot water in a bowl. Dip the tops of the cooled muffins into the icing mixture and sprinkle with the chocolate strands.

Adapted from Sweet and Simple Bakes Blogspot

The original recipe would have made 12 muffins but mine made 7 owing to the fact that these ones are HUGE. I wanted to try and recreate the ones that you get in cafes that look as though they have exploded over the tops of their paper cases so filled them right to the very top. I got the desired effect but I think investing in some of those Texas muffin pans might help them along even further. I made a batch following the same recipe yesterday and used greaseproof paper instead of muffin cases but they weren't as successful. My tried and true taste testers (Hubby and SD) both sampled the ugly ducklings and confirmed that they were still entirely eatable and possibly would have scoffed the lot had it not been time to head back to work!

Next time I'm going to add white chocolate to the mixture (this received a thumbs up from both testers) and possibly replace the vanilla extract with some banana flavouring as Miss SD loves Banoffee Pie and sounded quite keen to taste test the Banoffee Pie Muffins.

Baked Jam Doughnuts

In all probability ... there is every chance ... that I may have over egged ... just ever so slightly ... the wonderful use I bought my Strawberry and Pimm's Jam to.  Let's face it, a booze laden jam, no matter how subtle, is not the condiment for your morning toast ... is it?


This is one of the ways I decided to use said item;

Imagine you can see the centre of jam!

Baked Cinnamon Doughnuts

255ml reduced-fat milk

50g unsalted butter, melted

490g plain flour

1 sachet instant dried yeast (7g)

55g caster sugar

1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Place milk in a heatproof, microwave-safe jug. Microwave on medium-high (75%) for 30 to 40 seconds or until heated through (do not allow to boil). Stir in 15g of the butter.  (I don't have a microwave so I simply added the milk and butter to a saucepan and heated over a low heat until the butter started to melt, then I turned the heat off and let the residual heat melt the rest of the butter, you don;t want the milk too hot or it will kill the yeast).

Sift flour into a bowl. Stir in yeast, sugar and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon. Make a well in the centre. Add milk mixture. Mix to form a soft dough. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead for 10 minutes or until smooth and elastic.

Place dough in a lightly oiled bowl. Cover with plastic wrap. Set aside in a warm place for 1 hour or until doubled in size. Line a baking tray with baking paper.

Using your fist, punch dough down (I prefer to use my fingertips to gently press into the dough to release the gas rather than 'punching' the dough back, its a living being after all!) Turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead until smooth. Press dough out until 2.5cm thick. Using a 6.5cm cutter, cut 12 rounds from dough. Using a 2.5cm cutter, cut circles from the centre of each round. Place doughnuts, 5cm apart, on prepared tray. Cover with lightly greased plastic wrap. Set aside in a warm place for 30 minutes or until doubled in size.

Meanwhile, preheat oven to 200°C/ 180°C fan-forced. Cook doughnuts for 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown and cooked through. Combine remaining sugar and cinnamon in a bowl. Brush doughnuts with remaining butter. Dip in sugar mixture, shaking off excess. Place on plates. Serve.

Makes 12
From the Taste Website

·         Omit caster sugar and cinnamon. Sift 2/3 cup icing sugar into a bowl. Add 3 to 4 teaspoons lemon juice. Stir to combine. Dip half the doughnut in sugar mixture, then in 100s and 1000s.

So this recipe describes how to make 'proper' doughnut shaped doughnuts but I wanted jam filled doughnuts!  In order to do this I just didn't do the part of the step with the 2.5cm cutter and baked them as directed.  Once they were baked I filled them with the jam which I had put in a squeezy bottle, that is the beauty of a soft set jam, it can be squeezed no problem at all ;0)


For a first attempt they turned out really well, Hubby loved them!  Next time I'll be sure to fill them with a lot more jam, I was a bit tentative in hindsight.

This recipe is going over to Jac at Tinned Tomatoes for her Bookmarked Recipes event, which is based on the event first started by Ruth's Kitchen Experiments.  I hate to think how long I have had this recipe saved for!!

Jammy Doughnut Muffins

I'm back to work tomorrow - not sure if that is a good thing or not!  I've not missed the office politics one little bit but then day time TV is so poor it makes me think I could tolerate the politics again!  Returning to work means that there will need be some treats to either take in with me (to get me through the day!) or to have waiting for me to snack on once I get home. 

These muffins were the first recipe I ever made with the Sweet and Simple Bakes gang, except I didn't make mine jammy style, opting instead for Iced Doughnut Muffins that were filled with Dulce de Leche.  Mmmmmmmmm.  I am pleased to note that they are just as yummy when filled with some of that pesky over set strawberry jam that I am still trying to get rid of!

Jammy Doughnut Muffins
275g plain flour
3 tsp baking powder
Pinch salt
100g caster sugar
2 eggs
200ml milk
75g unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 tsp vanilla extract
12 tsp strawberry or raspberry jam
For The Topping
100g unsalted butter
150g granulated sugar
½ tsp ground cinnamon (optional)
You will need 12 hole muffin tin lined with paper cases.

Preheat the oven to 190.

Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a large mixing bowl, and stir through the sugar. In large jug, lightly beat the eggs then add the milk, cooled butter and vanilla extract and beat together. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients stir gently until just combined. (Do not over mix, its fine to have a few lumps in the mixture.) Spoon half the muffin mixture into the base of each paper case. Top each muffin with a teaspoon of jam. Now equally between each paper case, top with the remaining muffin mixture. Bake in the preheated oven for 15 – 20 minutes until well risen, golden and firm to the touch.

For The Topping: melt the butter in a saucepan over a low heat. Spread the granulated sugar in a wide, shallow bowl with the cinnamon if using. When the muffins are baked, leave in the tin for 5 minutes. Dip the tops of the muffins in the melted butter and then roll in the sugar. You can serve these muffins warm or cold.

Makes 12
Sweet and Simple Bakes

I love the muffin cases!  I found them at Morrison's and they come in a range of animal prints - these muffins are sporting the Zebra print - Hubby is not as appreciative of this fact as I was lol.  Although he has just phoned me to say that he has taken his first bite of the muffin and really, really, really likes them!

Bread In Fife

The whole gang - Colin, Hilary, Jac and Louise

A couple of weekends ago I spent a fantastic day out with Jac from Tinned Tomatoes and her friend's Hilary and Louise.  We spent the day making bread under the tutelage of Colin Lindsay in his B&B which can be found in the very cute little Scottish Village of Freuchie, in Fife and just a quick 30 minute (ish) train ride from Edinburgh.  Jac, being the super organised yummy mummy that she is, has already posted her round up for the day complete with some wonderful photo's so please head over to her blog where Jac has paid the day far more justice than I can!

Shaping Oatcakes ... not too sure he'll
thank me for publishing this one!

Preparing the Rye Bread for baking

We started the day by sampling some of Colin's home made Oatcakes, which we later got the chance to make as a group.  I think these are going to be in the Christmas Hamper for the girl's this year, no more store bought oatcakes for them!  They seriously bought any oatcake you have ever tasted before to shame.  As a group we also made a Rye Loaf, the method for making this being a bit different to a 'regular' bread dough as it is far too gloopy to knead by hand.

Wholemeal dough proving in the banneton

The finished articles ...

And the tin baked version.

Then we got to work on some wholemeal loaves, one made in a tin and the other in banneton, which is a wicker proving basket.  My dough was made following the 'master recipe' while Hilary and Jac added 'Old Dough' or 'Mother Dough' to theirs and Colin and Louise added sourdough to theirs, to help vary the flavour and texture of each of the breads.

Griddling the Staffordshire Oatcakes

Heaven in prep mode!  Yum!

While the dough for the wholemeal loaves was proving, Colin made some Staffordshire Oatcakes, which I have to admit somewhat stole the show for me.  A-Mazing!!!  We tried them firstly with some honey drizzled over but the piece de resistance had to be eating them warm for lunch in the garden with ripe juicy tomatoes and parmesan cheese sprinkled over.  They were so good I've managed to track down a local supply of the Oatmeal Colin used so I can make them myself.

Top tip:  Press your thumb into the top of the shaped
rolls before baking to ensure an even rise while baking.

My finished babies!

After lunch we baked the wholemeal loaves and made bread rolls.  This was the one of the highlights of the day for me, previously my attempts at making bread rolls have been comical to say the least!  Colin taught us how to shape them into the perfect little rolls, all smooth and regular shaped with no unsightly seams to ruin their shape or rise.  Woo hoo!

We each used different flours in our rolls and then got to sample one of each at the end, my favourite bread rolls were made by Jac using Shipton Mills Three Malts and Sunflower Brown Flour, a rich earthy flavour with loads of texture from the three malts speckled through.

We came home with bags stuffed to the gunnel's with completed bread ... not to mention belly's stuffed full too!  I highly recommend this course to anybody in the area who maybe searching for some friendly tuition on the subject of bread making.  And if your not from the area then why not come for the weekend and stay at the B&B too!