Spiced Roast Carrot, Puy Lentil and Feta Salad.

This recipe post comes with the news that I have just burned 626 calories zumba-ing on the Wii so, for someone reading my blog for the first time right now they might assume that I am actually a really healthy person which, of course unfortunately wouldn't be entirely true... okay so it's not really at all true but, we're not here to talk about the little bit of extra padding I carry around my waistline right now, are we? I do try my best to be relatively healthy but, I do love a good cupcake every now and then as I am sure you are all aware and there are also so many recipes out there that are just begging to be tried which, don't exactly go easy on the old calories. I have actually just finished writing out my shopping list for the next meal I am planning to make which is a peanut satay with coconut and pineapple rice and as you can imagine; several hefty dollops of peanut butter, a good glug of rich, creamy coconut milk and a rather generous portion of sweet, sugary caramelised pineapples doesn't exactly make for the healthiest of combinations but, it sure makes for a delicious one. Needless to say, I definitely can't say no to the calories all the time!

Not all great recipes have to make you pile on the pounds though, as this delicious salad recipe proves. This spiced roast carrot salad is fresh, vibrant and summery and has a delicious combination of flavours; from the lightly spiced and caramelised roast carrots to the creamy, crumbly feta and from the earthy puy lentils to the refreshing, tantalizing addition of the fresh mint and lemon juice. A bowl of this is just so much more gorgeous, exciting  and scrumptious than your average bowl of lettuce leaves and I really hope you love it too! Simple to make, quick to produce and extremely yummy; what more could you ask for? Food that doesn't expand the old waistline? Well, it's good for that too. There's no expansion here. Just enjoy!

Recipe

2 tbsp. olive oil                                                                   

1 tbsp. cumin powder and 1/2 tbsp. cumin seeds  

500g carrots, peeled, halved and cut into batons

1 tbsp. clear honey or maple syrup
250g pouch cooked Puy lentils (or canned, drained and rinsed) 
1 red onion, finely sliced 
½ lemon, juiced 
large handful mint leaves, roughly chopped 
100g lamb's lettuces 
100g feta cheese, crumbled

Method

1. Heat the oven to 200°C. In a shallow roasting tin, toss together half the oil, the cumin, carrots and some seasoning. Roast for 25 mins, turning halfway through cooking. Drizzle over the honey or maple syrup, stir and roast for 5-10 mins more.

2. Meanwhile, gently heat the lentils with the onion, lemon juice, remaining oil and some salt and pepper. Allow to cool slightly while the carrots finish cooking. 

3. Toss the dressed lentils with mint and lamb's lettuce. Lay warm spiced carrots on top and scatter with crumbled feta. 

Chocolate and Peanut Butter Cupcakes.

When it comes to food; I don't think there is anything I like more than chocolate and peanut butter. The rich, salty peanut butter against the sweet,decadent chocolate; for me, it is just perfection. As such, this recipe is one of my all-time favourite cupcake recipes and I hope it becomes one of yours too! Again this recipe uses my favourite chocolate cake recipe to create a lovely, moist chocolatey sponge filled with rich, dark chocolate ganache and sweet, creamy peanut butter pudding. Top it all off with a swirl of fluffy peanut butter frosting and a sprinkle of mini Reese's peanut butter cups and you're good to go! So please, go devour them happily! Some things taste just too good to worry about the waistline. 

Recipe

For the Chocolate Cupcakes-

110g unsalted butter, softened

220g dark brown sugar

2 eggs

165g self-raising flour

55g cocoa

1/2 tsp. bicarbonate soda

1/2 tsp. baking powder

140ml sour cream

For the Chocolate Ganache-

100g dark chocolate, broken into pieces

100ml double cream

For the Peanut Butter Pudding-

30g Golden caster sugar   
1 1/4 tsp. cornflour
pinch of salt 
100ml evaporated milk 
30ml double cream 
30g peanut butter 
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

For the Peanut Butter Frosting-

220g icing sugar

200g creamy peanut butter

140g unsalted butter, softened

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 tsp. salt

160ml double cream

To top the cupcakes- 24 Reese's Mini Peanut Butter Cups (chop 12 into tiny pieces and keep 12 whole)

Method

1. Start by preparing the cupcakes. Line a muffin tin with 12 muffin cases and pre-heat the oven to 180°C.

2. For the chocolate cupcakes, cream together the butter and sugar using an electric whisk. Gradually beat in the eggs and add the sour cream. Sieve together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda and delicately fold into the mixture.

3. Divide the mixture into the 12 cake cases and bake for 15-17 minutes or until the sponge springs back when the surface is pressed lightly.

4. Place the cupcakes on a wire rack and allow to cool.

5. While the cupcakes are cooling, prepare the chocolate ganache. Heat the cream until it simmers and stir in the dark chocolate until it completely melts and produces a glossy, dark chocolate ganache. Allow to cool until it thickens slightly but, not too much as it will be difficult to fill the cupcakes.

6. Next, prepare the peanut butter pudding. Whisk together the caster sugar, salt and cornflour in a saucepan to blend. Gradually whisk in the milk, then cream. Whisk over medium heat until the mixture comes to the boil. Then boil until thick, whisking constantly for about 30 seconds. Whisk in the peanut butter; boil until thick again, whisking often for about 1 minute longer. Remove from the heat and whisk in the vanilla. Set the pan aside to cool.

7. Once the cupcakes are cool use an apple corer to cut out a dip/hole in the centre of each cupcake and once the ganache and pudding are cool fill each dip/hole with 1 tsp. chocolate ganache and 1 tsp. peanut butter pudding. 

8. Finally, prepare the peanut butter frosting. Place the icing sugar, peanut butter, butter, vanilla, and salt in a bowl and mix with an electric mixer. Mix on medium-low speed until creamy, scraping down the bowl with a rubber spatula as you work. Add the cream and beat on high speed until the mixture is light, pale and smooth. Finish by piping each cupcake with a swirl of peanut butter frosting, scatter with the chopped reese's mini peanut butter cup pieces and pop a whole peanut butter cup on the top.

Mint Chocolate Cupcakes.

Making a cupcake that tastes just like a Mint Aero could never be a bad thing, right? Well, I've only gone and done it! Yesterday, I decided to whip up a batch of my favourite chocolate cupcakes and then I made half into Chocolate and Peanut Butter Cupcakes and half into these Mint Chocolate Cupcakes. I've got to say I am actually really pleased with them and they taste pretty damn good if I do say so myself! The sweet, fluffy peppermint frosting tastes lovely paired with the soft, chocolatey sponge and rich, dark chocolate ganache and the pastel green frosting also looks really pretty against the deep, decadent, dark chocolate sponge which, I'm really happy about. I love a sweet and simple presentation and I really hope you enjoy these Mint Chocolate Cupcakes too! 

Recipe

For the Chocolate Cupcakes-

110g unsalted butter, softened

220g dark brown sugar

2 eggs

165g self-raising flour

55g cocoa

1/2 tsp. bicarbonate soda

1/2 tsp. baking powder

140ml sour cream

For the Chocolate Ganache-

100ml double cream

100g dark chocolate, broken into pieces

For the Peppermint Frosting-

230g unsalted butter, softened

450g icing sugar, sifted

2 tsp. peppermint essence

green food colouring

crumbled chocolate cupcake or cookie to decorate

Method

1. Start by preparing the cupcakes. Line a muffin tin with 12 muffin cases and pre-heat the oven to 180°C.

2. For the chocolate cupcakes, cream together the butter and sugar using an electric whisk. Gradually beat in the eggs and add the sour cream. Sieve together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda and delicately fold into the mixture.

3. Divide the mixture into the 12 cake cases and bake for 15-17 minutes or until the sponge springs back when the surface is pressed lightly.

4. Place the cupcakes on a wire rack and allow to cool.

5. While the cupcakes are cooling, prepare the chocolate ganache. Heat the cream until it simmers and stir in the dark chocolate until it completely melts and produces a glossy, dark chocolate ganache. Allow to cool until it thickens slightly but, not too much as it will be difficult to fill the cupcakes.

6. Once the cupcakes are cool use an apple corer to cut out a dip/hole in the centre of each cupcake and once the ganache is cool fill each dip/hole with 2 tsp. chocolate ganache. Reserve the chocolate cupcake centres ready to crumble over the cupcakes for decoration or alternatively you can use crumbled chocolate cookie.

7. Finally, prepare the peppermint frosting. Beat together the butter, icing sugar and peppermint essence until the frosting is light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add a few drops of green food colouring to the frosting and beat until the frosting is a nice pale, mint green colour. Lastly, pipe a swirl of the frosting onto each cupcake, scatter with a sprinkle of crumbled chocolate cookie or some of the reserved chocolate cupcake crumbs. 

White Chocolate and Raspberry Cupcakes.

There are some combinations that you just can't go wrong with like; chocolate and peanut butter, maple and pecan or marmite and beans on toast...(no, just me?). The bloomin' delicious combination of white chocolate and raspberry is no different. To start with; the vibrant pink rasberries paired against the delicate, creamy white chocolate looks amazing but, it also tastes great which, is definitely the most important! The juicy, tartness of the raspberries perfectly accompanies the luxurious, rich, sweet flavour of the white chocolate and I discovered that this lovely flavour combination doesn't disappoint and continues to work perfectly together to create a really lovely cupcake too so, do enjoy if you decide to whip up a batch yourself!

On a side note, I reverted back to my 13 year old boyband obsessed, fan-girl self again on Friday morning and managed to get tickets to see 5 seconds of summer in Birmingham next year which, I am fairly sure I am far too excited about for a 20 year old but, oh well! I had 3 laptops going, recruited my sister to help out and managed to get my tickets which, I am over the moon about. I felt slightly insane refreshing the page every few seconds, panicking that I wouldn't get any, it was really a very stressful time. I am definitely too obsessed for a grown woman but, nevermind, it's a healthy obsession... largely. A group of handsome Australian guys (albeit most are two years younger than me :/ but hey, what's two years?), playing instruments, writing great music, singing great songs, wearing great clothes, having great hair and generally looking gorgeous all the time, what grown woman wouldn't fall slightly in love? Needless to say, next June regardless of whether I am supposed to be a respectable, sensible and adult 21 year old, I will definitely be rocking out with my socks out for 5sos and won't care at all!

Recipe

For the White Chocolate and Raspberry Cupcakes-

300g plain flour

2 tsp. baking powder

150g caster sugar

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla extract

• 225ml whole milk
• 50g butter, melted and cooled slightly
• 100g fresh raspberries, cut in half
• 110g white chocolate, chopped into chunks
• For the Raspberry Filling-

80g fresh raspberries

1 tbsp. caster sugar

1 tbsp. lemon juice

2 tsp. corn flour

60ml cold water

For the White Chocolate Frosting-

170g white chocolate, melted and cooled slightly

230g unsalted butter, softened to room temperature

240g icing sugar, sifted

1 tbsp. whole milk

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/4 tsp. salt 

To decorate - white chocolate shavings, white chocolate chips or grated white chocolate and 24 fresh raspberries.

Method

1. Start by preparing the cupcakes. Line a muffin tin with 12 muffin cases and pre-heat the oven to 200C.

2. Sift the flour and baking powder into a large bowl and stir the sugar into the flour mixture.

3. In a separate bowl crack the egg, whisk in the vanilla extract, milk and melted butter (melt for approximately 30 seconds in a microwave and allow to cool slightly before adding to the egg and milk). 

4. Stir the liquid mixture into the dry mixture.

5. Using a metal spoon, fold the raspberries and white chocolate chunks into the cake mixture.

6. Fill each cake case 2/3 full with the mixture, making sure that each case has some white chocolate chunks and raspberries in. Bake for around 17-20 minutes or until the cupcakes are golden and spring back when the surface is pushed lightly.

7. Transfer the cupcakes to a wire rack and allow to cool.

8. While the cupcakes are cooling, prepare the raspberry filling. Combine the raspberries, lemon juice and sugar in a saucepan and begin to simmer over a low heat.

9. Whisk the corn flour into the cold water until smooth, add to the raspberries in the saucepan and bring to the boil. Simmer for about 5 minutes, stirring constantly until the desired consistency is reached and set-aside to cool. The sauce will thicken further as it cools.

10. Using an apple corer, dig out a hole in the centre of each cupcake and once the raspberry sauce is cool, spoon 2 tsp. raspberry sauce into each.

11. Finally, prepare the white chocolate frosting. Beat together the butter, icing sugar, milk, vanilla extract, white chocolate and salt until the frosting is thick, smooth, light, pale and fluffy. Pipe a swirl of frosting onto the top of each cupcake and sprinkle with the white chocolate shavings and top with two fresh raspberries.

Summer Vegetable Pizza Pie.

I always find that whenever I do any baking, I tend to go straight to the internet to find new recipes to try even though I've got a huge stack of delicious cookbooks in my bedroom so, today I decided to make my first recipe out of my Higgidy Cookbook and I'm very glad I did as this pizza pie was lovely. It is very similar to a quiche so, perfect to serve alongside some salad in the summer or to even take as a yummy snack for a picnic. I literally fell in love with the croustade pastry, it is gorgeous and tastes like a rich, buttery cheese scone. Yum! The filling was also very tasty and quirky and tasted very fresh and summery with all of the summery vegetables and the addition of the lemon zest. 

I really loved this pizza pie and it was actually really easy to make too which is good as pastry dishes can often be quite faffy and require lots of skill and time to make them look neat. I love the rustic look of this pizza pie which, is perfect for me as I have always been pretty terrible at shaping pastry and haven't quite managed to make any gourmet looking quiches or pies in all my ten or so years of baking yet but, I didn't think this pizza pie looked too shabby. 

Has anyone else stumbled upon any delicious recipes recently in their mound of long forgotten about cookbooks? 

Recipe

For the Savoury Croustade Pastry:

200g plain flour, plus a little for dusting

A generous pinch of salt

75g unsalted butter, well chilled and cut into small cubes

50g mature Cheddar cheese, finely grated

1 medium egg, beaten

2-3 tbsp. ice-cold water

For the Filling:

A knob of butter

3 garlic cloves, roughly chopped

1 courgette, cut into discs and then halved or quartered to make small chunks

4 large spring onions, cut into 1.5cm slices on an angle

75g asparagus, chop each asparagus spear into three

250g full-fat cream cheese

1 medium egg

Zest of 1 lemon

2 tbsp. chopped fresh flat leaf parsley

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the Topping:

1 ball buffalo mozzarella, torn

A little beaten egg, for brushing and glazing

Finely grated zest 1/2 lemon

Method

1. Start by making the savoury croustade pastry. Sift the flour and salt into a large bowl, add the butter and rub in with your fingertips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add the grated cheddar and stir until the cheese is just mixed in. Add the beaten egg and a few splashes of ice cold water and mix just enough to bring the pastry together. Turn out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead lightly until smooth. Try not to handle too much or the fat will get warm and the pastry may turn out tough and chewy. Wrap in clingfilm and chill for 30-60 minutes before use.

2. Now prepare the pizza pie filling. Melt the butter in a large frying pan. When it's sizzling throw in the garlic, courgettes and asparagus and fry over a high heat for 2 minutes. Add the spring onions and fry for a further 4 minutes or until the veg is beginning to steam but, hasn't lost it's vibrant colour. Now set aside to cool.

3. Beat the egg in a medium bowl and then beat in the cream cheese until fully incorporated. Season with black pepper. Add two-thirds of the cooled vegetables, the lemon zest and chopped parsley and stir to combine. Preheat the oven to 200°C. 

4. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the pastry into a 30cm circle about 3mm thick. Transfer to a large baking sheet (the pastry may hang over the sides). Spoon the creamy mixture onto the pastry, leaving a border of about 5cm all the way round the edge. Sprinkle over a third of the torn mozzarella and a good grating of black pepper and a pinch of salt. Top with the remaining vegetables and mozzarella and turn up the excess pastry around the edges of the filling.

5. Brush any exposed pastry with beaten egg and bake for about 25 minutes or until the pastry is golden and crisp. Finally, remove from the oven and allow to sit for 5-10 minutes before slicing into wedges and serving.

Bury Me In Rock and Roll.

Today I wore...

The Whitepepper Gingham Sleeveless Smock similar here

with my

Topshop Cream Lace Crop Top similar here

Topshop Round Sunglasses

Vintage Wrangler Denim Jacket from Ebay similar here

and my

All Black Vans Authentic.

Hi there! I hope you have all had a lovely sunny day today. I just got back from playing with my nephew on the beach and munching on a yummy cheese and onion pasty for my tea which, was a really lovely way to end the day. 

This morning I got up, full of energy and got ready to take these outfit photos, only to walk outside to find that the sun was shining directly above me so, that I couldn't even see the screen of my camera or take off my sunglasses because it was so bright. I decided to take a few outfit photos anyway just because I was all dressed up ready and these are the pictures I have used in my post because the sun literally didn't stop shining in the area I wanted to take my photos until 6pm tonight by which time I had just got back from the beach, was looking a bit windswept, had eyeliner smudges under my eyes and had climbed into my cosy, pyjamas so... not looking my finest and far too comfy to get all done up again. I think most fashion bloggers would scrap these photos and take them again when the light was just right to get the best photographs but, I'm still learning and hopefully they don't look too terrible anyway. 

On to the outfit! Today, I wore my Whitepepper gingham sleeveless smock which, I got a few months ago from ASOS. As I mentioned in my post the other day, I am really loving The Whitepepper brand at the moment and I really love this smock dress. It is really comfy and pretty and adds a nice girly edge to a grungy outfit. It is so easy to throw on to create a simple, cute and eye-catching outfit. I placed my cream lace crop top from Topshop underneath, popped my all black vans authentic on my feet and then finished the outfit with my new round sunglasses from Topshop which, I adore because they have such a cool, grungy, 90s vibe about them. 

I hope you like my outfit! P.s. The title of my post comes from this awesome song by Kids in Glass Houses so do enjoy!