Saturday 14 November 2015

Cinnamon Apple and Salted Caramel Duffins.



I don't think this recipe could be any more Autumnal if I tried; a scrumptious little bundle of doughy joy, wrapped in a lovely cinnamon sugar blanket and brimming with a salty caramel centre and sweet, juicy cinnamon apple compote; how delicious! I am a huge fan of duffins and there crisp, sugar coated doughnut exterior; encasing a soft, fluffy muffin interior as you really do get the best of both worlds and to be honest, aren't both worlds bloomin' gorgeous! These duffins are utterly wonderful and moreish and you can honestly cram them full of any delicious filling you like but, my choice seasonal Autumn filling at the moment is most definitely cinnamon apple and salted caramel and I am sure you will love it too. So remember, the next time you head out on a chillly Autumn walk; wrapped up in your coziest attire and crunch your way through of a pile fiery orange leaves; leave one of these lovely little duffins waiting for you to tuck into back at home and I can assure you; with a duffin in one hand and a hot chocolate in the other you'll think wow, isn't this Autumn really rather magical.

Ingredients
Makes 10-12 duffins chock-full of cinnamon apple compote and salted caramel; aren't you lucky!

For the duffins:
210g plain flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
165g caster sugar
1 large egg
188ml buttermilk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
65ml sunflower oil
For the sugar coating:
150g Unsalted butter, melted
200g caster sugar
1-2 tsp. cinnamon
For the cinnamon apple compote:
Granny smith apple peeled and diced into very small cubes
20g butter
1 tsp. cinnamon
20g brown sugar
A splash of water
For the salted caramel filling:
250g light soft brown sugar
150ml double cream
1/2-1 tsp. sea salt (depends on your taste, I go all out!)

Method

1)  Start by preparing the cinnamon apple compote. Melt the butter in a small saucepan over a medium heat, add the brown sugar, cinnamon and tiny splash of water and whisk until the sugar is dissolved. 
 2) Add the apples and cook until soft. Remove from heat and allow to cool. The mixture will thicken as it cools.
3)  Next prepare the mind-blowing salted caramel! Heat the brown sugar, ½- 1 tsp. salt and cream in a saucepan until the sugar has dissolved. Bubble for a few minutes, then leave to cool. I find it easier to fill the duffins while the caramel is still a little warm though as when it is completely cool it becomes very thick and harder to work with.
4)  Now prepare the duffins. Pre-heat the oven to 180°C/ 160°C fan/ Gas mark 4 and sieve the plain flour, baking powder, salt and caster sugar into a large bowl. Add the freshly grated nutmeg.
5)  Next, whisk the buttermilk, large egg and sunflower oil together and add the vanilla extract. Pour the liquid ingredients slowly into the dry ingredients and stir using a spatula until just combined.
6)  Take a 12-cup muffin tin and use a little oil to lightly grease each hole in the muffin tin. Spoon the duffin mixture into the muffin tin holes, filling them two thirds full. Alternately, use a cookie scoop and you get the perfect dollop!
7)  Bake for 20 minutes until golden and well-risen and until the surface of each duffin springs back when lightly pressed with a finger. 
8)  While the duffins are baking, melt the butter in a small saucepan over a low-heat, pour into a bowl and set-aside. Now, add 200g caster sugar to another bowl stir in 1-2 tsp. cinnamon to create cinnamon sugar.
9)  Remove the muffin tray from the oven once the duffins are cooked and gently lift the duffins out onto a wire cooling rack. Immediately dip the duffins into the melted butter and then roll in either the sugar or cinnamon sugar to liberally and evenly coat them before allowing to cool completely on the wire cooling rack.       
                            
10) Once cool, use a cupcake corer, apple corer or sharp knife to gently remove the centre  of each duffin, creating a hole. Finally, fill each duffin with 1 tsp. salted caramel and top  with a mini tower of 1 tsp. glossy apple compote and devour and enjoy immediately!

Sunday 18 October 2015

Butternut, Spinach and Peanut Curry.




Seeing as how it is National Curry Week, which of course I was completely aware of at the start of the week...I decided to make this delicious Butternut, Spinach and Peanut Curry. Truthfully, I didn't have the foggiest idea that it was National Curry Week until I stumbled upon the hashtag on twitter but, rather conveniently I had already whipped up this mighty fine recipe after stumbling upon it on the delicious. website and having the slightly worrying peanut butter addiction that I do, I instantly thought my doesn't that sound autumnal and scrumptious and rest assured, it really is! 

For my Food Technology GCSE which, was over and done with a full 5 years ago now (boohoo what an old lady I am), I developed a peanut satay dish which my lovely mum and I fell madly in love with at the time but, I have since grown to feel that it can often be a little on the heavier, richer side which isn't necessarily a bad thing but, it really must be eaten in moderation even by this peanut butter addict right here. This Butternut, Spinach and Peanut curry on the other hand, is much lighter and yet the sauce still remains utterly moreish and creamy and the Thai flavours of the dish really come through and taste devilishly divine (little Halloween pun for you there). Unlike the delicious magazine recipe, I added butternut squash to my curry instead of pumpkin as, shock horror, I couldn't locate a pumpkin despite Halloween being virtually upon our doorstep. I know, how utterly ridiculous right? Nonetheless, the butternut squash was delicious in this dish and my own addition of red pepper and spinach was also a most excellent choice if I do say so myself. Pair this curry with some basmati or Thai Jasmine rice, scatter with fresh coriander leaves and you really have treated yourself to quite a phenomenal little autumnal dish to warm you up on a cold October night.

Ingredients

2 tbsp. peanut butter
1 tsp. tomato purée
Zest and juice of 1 lime
1 tbsp. light soy sauce 
1 tsp. light brown sugar
Small handful fresh coriander
2 red chillies, halved and deseeded
4 garlic cloves
1cm piece fresh ginger
2 tbsp. vegetable oil
2 red onions, cut into thin wedges
300g butternut squash, peeled, deseeded and chopped into chunks (not too big!)
200g red pepper, core and seeds removed
100g frozen spinach
400ml tin coconut milk

Method

1. Stir the peanut butter into a jug containing 200ml hot water, until it dissolves, then stir in the tomato purée, lime zest and juice, soy sauce and brown sugar and set aside.

2. Remove the leaves from the coriander and set aside as well. Chop the stalks as finely as you can and chop up the chilli, garlic and ginger nice and small too.

3. Heat the vegetable oil in a wok or good-sized pan and fry the onions quite briskly for a few minutes, so that they catch slightly. As soon as this starts to happen, add the butternut squash and red pepper and stir-fry for a few minutes. 

4. Stir in the chilli, garlic, coriander stalk, garlic and ginger mixture for 1-2 minutes, then add in the lovely creamy coconut milk. Stir once more, then add the peanut butter mix and cook at a brisk simmer for 20-30 minutes, adding the frozen spinach half way through, until the sauce has thickened slightly, the spinach is cooked and the butternut squash is tender. (Just a pre-warning, I almost keeled over with starvation as the clock struck 8pm waiting for my butternut squash to soften so make sure you give yourself plenty of time for cooking and preparing the dish, about 45-60 minutes I'd say before tea as the pesky squash likes to take it's time but, it does make up for it at the end when you finally get to take a mouthful and realise the wait was most definitely worth it!)

5. Finally, garnish with the reserved coriander leaves and serve with cooked rice. Basmati rice or Thai Jasmine would be perfect! All done and dusted, now enjoy!








Monday 8 June 2015

Raspberry and Lime Jam Duffins.





There are many pairings that go together in this world; peanut butter and chocolate, macaroni and cheese, rhubarb and custard, kenan and kel but, never before had I realised just how fantastic combining a doughnut with a muffin would be. Never before had I even known about combining a doughnut with a muffin so thank you kindly Bea for your delicious recipe! The result of this gorgeous combination is a soft, moist, doughy bundle of joy, oozing with a luxurious, zesty raspberry and lime jam filling and enveloped in a shimmering blanket of sugar. 

I recently baked these duffins for one of my final assessments at Liverpool John Moores University where I just finished my second year studying Home Economics and I filled them with a lovely rhubarb compote and vanilla custard filling which I will definitely share on here at some point too but, for now I just thought that the vibrant, zesty raspberry and lime jam duffins would create the perfect little treat to enjoy on a nice summery picnic or to pack up for a trip to the seaside on a lovely, sunny day. Alternatively, if like myself all you are seeing outside your window is the all too familiar sight of a British summer filled with grey skies and showers of rain, then I think that means that we can all just eat even more of these melt in the mouth bundles of sweet, sugary heaven to drown our sorrows, after all they'll be no need for a bikini body in this weather so might as well get working on building up that extra layer of padding for winter!

Ingredients
Makes 12 delicious duffins
For the Raspberry and Lime Jam:
300g raspberries, fresh or frozen
300g jam sugar
zest and juice of 1 lime
For the Duffins:
210g plain flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
165g caster sugar
1 large egg
188ml buttermilk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
65ml sunflower oil
For the Topping:
150g Unsalted butter, melted
200g caster sugar 
1 tsp. cinnamon

Method
1)    Start by preparing the raspberry and lime jam. Place the raspberries, lime zest and juice into a saucepan. Bring to the boil and once turned to a pulp, add in the jam sugar and stir, allowing the sugar to dissolve. Bring to the boil again, boiling for about 10 minutes or until you reach the jam thickness you desire.
2)    To test the set of the jam, place a small tea plate into the freezer to chill whilst you boil the jam. Place a small bit of your jam onto the cold plate and if it is set the surface of the jam should wrinkle when you push a finger through it.
3)    Once the jam has reached your desired thickness, pour it into sterilized jars and set aside.
4)    Next, prepare the delicious duffins! Pre-heat the oven to 180°C/ 160°C fan/ Gas mark 4 and sieve the plain flour, baking powder, salt and caster sugar into a large bowl. Add the freshly grated nutmeg.
8)    Next, whisk the buttermilk, large egg and sunflower oil together and add the vanilla extract. Pour the liquid ingredients slowly into the dry ingredients and stir using a spatula until just combined.
9)    Take a 12-cup muffin tin and use a little oil to lightly grease each hole in the muffin tin. Spoon the duffin mixture into the muffin tin holes, filling them two thirds full.
10)  Bake for 20 minutes until golden and well-risen and until the surface of each duffin springs back when lightly pressed with a finger.

11) While the duffins are baking, melt the butter in a small saucepan over a low-heat, pour into a bowl and set-aside. Now, add 100g caster sugar to another bowl and into a final bowl add 100g caster sugar and stir in 1 tsp. cinnamon to create cinnamon sugar.
12)  Remove the muffin tray from the oven once the duffins are cooked and gently lift the duffins out onto a wire cooling rack. Immediately dip the duffins into the melted butter and then roll in either the sugar or cinnamon sugar to liberally and evenly coat them before allowing to cool completely on the wire cooling rack.
13)  Once cool, use a cupcake corer, apple corer or sharp knife to gently remove the centre of each duffin, creating a hole. Finally, fill each duffin with 1 tsp. of the raspberry and lime jam and devour and enjoy immediately!
p.s. any of the remaining jam can be popped in the fridge and enjoyed on toast or scones- well everybody loves a good scone with jam and clotted cream in Cornwall don't they!



Monday 1 June 2015

Roast Tomato Soup with Grilled Cheddar Cheese and Caramelized Red Onion Sandwich.


I bring you this dish on a cold, blustery day in Cornwall but, while it warms me up nicely as I take a scoop from my bowl and hear the chilly, breeze blowing outside, if you are fortunate enough to be having a sunnier and warmer 1st of June than myself then please still feel free to devour this lovely soup and enjoy it's vibrant, refreshing, summery flavours. 

Never will I eat tomato soup without a grilled cheese again. The crisp, golden bread encasing an ocean of melted cheddar and sweet, caramelized red onions is the perfect accompaniment to dunk into this wonderful soup and quite frankly the perfect food to eat at any moment when hunger strikes; breakfast, dinner, tea... and again for dessert. It is scrumptious! Taking the typical cheese toastie I've always had growing up, the American's thought why not go one better and smother this in butter and fry it until crunchy and glorious? Boy am I glad they did. Add in a yummy roast tomato soup drizzled with pesto oil, scattered with molten mozzarella and topped with a vine of sweet, juicy cherry tomatoes and you've got yourself a pretty damn delicious dinner.

Ingredients
Makes 4 BIG bowls of soup and 4 gorgeous grilled cheeses.
For the Roast Tomato Soup:
12 salad tomatoes, halved
A pinch of caster sugar
6 tbsp. olive oil plus extra to drizzle
50g unsalted butter
2 each of onions, carrots and garlic cloves, chopped fairly small
2 tbsp. tomato puree
400g tin of chopped tomatoes
1 bay leaf
1 basil sprig plus 12 leaves to prepare the basil oil
1 litre vegetable stock
4 clusters of vine-ripened cherry tomatoes
12 mini mozzarella balls/pearls
For the Grilled Cheddar Cheese and Caramelized Red Onion Sandwiches:
1 large red onion, sliced
1 tsp. olive oil
A good sprinkling of dark brown sugar
A good glug of balsamic vinegar
8 slices of thick white bread
A hefty pile of grated mature cheddar cheese
Unsalted butter, softened

Method

1.    Preheat the oven to 180°C. Place the salad tomatoes, cut-side up, onto a baking tray and sprinkle with sugar, drizzle with olive oil and season. Roast for 40 minutes until nice and softened.

2.    Meanwhile, heat the butter and 1 tbsp. olive oil in a pan over a medium heat and cook the onion, carrot and garlic, stirring for 5 minutes until softened. Add the tinned tomatoes, tomato puree, bay leaf, basil sprig, vegetable stock, roasted salad tomatoes and any cooking juices. Bring to the boil and then reduce the heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 20-25 minutes until the vegetables are lovely and tender.

4.    Discard the basil sprig, cool slightly and then blend the soup in batches. Return to the saucepan and cook over a low heat, stirring until warmed through. 

5.   While you warm through the soup, take your vine ripened cherry tomatoes, place them into a baking dish, drizzle lightly with olive oil and roast in the oven for about 15-20 minutes until softened and lightly charred.

6.   Next, place 5 tbsp. olive oil into a blender with 12 large basil leaves and blitz to make your basil oil. 

7.   You can now prepare your grilled cheese sandwiches. I apologize for the vagueness of my ingredients list here but, this is because with a grilled cheese you can't really go wrong with how you prepare it; what ingredients you put in it or how much of each ingredient you use. It's entirely up to you! To prepare my caramelized red onion I add the sliced red onion to a saucepan, fry it until softened in 1 tsp. olive oil, then add a sprinkling of dark brown sugar, stirring until the onion becomes caramelized, add in a splash of balsamic vinegar and continue to cook until the onion is lovely, glossy and sticky.

8.   I then like to take two pieces of chunky, white tiger bread, scatter one piece with a large pile of grated mature cheddar cheese (please feel free to use whatever cheese you like though e.g. goats cheese, edam, swiss cheese, blue cheese and as much as you like!), scatter on some caramelized red onions, place the other round of bread on top and squash down a little to help the sandwich hold together when you're flipping it in the pan. 

9.   Next, heat a drizzle of olive oil in a frying pan over a medium heat, spread a layer of butter on top of your sandwich and place it butter side down into the hot frying pan, leaving to fry for a few minutes until lovely, crisp and golden. Once ready to flip, spread another layer of butter on the uncooked side of the sandwich and flip, leaving for a few minutes again until crunchy and bronze. Grate a little more cheese on the top side and keep flipping until both sides are bronze and crunchy and the cheese in the center is completely melted.  

10.  Now scoop the warm soup into bowls, place three mozzarella balls into each and allow to melt in the hot soup, drizzle with a swirl of basil oil and pop a vine of the roasted cherry tomatoes on top. Finally, cut your crunchy grilled cheese in half and watch as a waterfall of golden cheese oozes out. Last of all, whether your snuggled up on your sofa in a blanket or sunbathing outside on a deckchair, sit back and enjoy!