Snicker cupcakes

It's been a while since I've had the chance to get creative in the kitchen and this idea has been in my mind for a while. Due to today's strikes my booking was cancelled and the children were at home. The weather ruined our chances of going to the PYO so what better than an afternoon in the kitchen.
Mr P, my partner has a sweet tooth I blogged about his birthday cupcakes and the Oreo cupcakes that followed Here. The Oreo ones set his mind to work wondering what other of his favourites I could turn into Cupcake creations. Next came a request for Malteaser cupcakes, which I'm pleased to say turned out well. Then came the request for Snicker cupcakes. Hmmm! I had to think about this one. Not so easy to blitz up a snickers bar to add to the mixture and anyway, I'd done that! No, these needed to be different.
So this is what I came up with.

I started with my usual Chocolate Cupcake recipe and made 12 cakes.

Cooling off in a sunny spot

Once they'd cooled I took a knife and cup into the tops.

Use a nice sharp knife

Cut in a round as if you were making 'TopHat' cakes

Put each top back on to it's cake, so as not to mix them up and set each one aside while you cut the rest.
Take a teaspoon and fill each hole with a teaspoon of caramel.

Pop the lid back on to each cake. Don't worry if some of the caramel oozes out, it will be hidden under the icing!

Speaking of icing, this one's not for the feint hearted!
I made half my usual quantity of Butter Cream icing (200g Butter, 400g Icing Sugar, splash of milk) and added to it a whole jar of crunchy Peanut Butter (or Peanutterbut as it's known in our house!) I found it better to make up the Butter cream first and then stir in the Peanut butter. You want to thoroughly combine it but don't over mix it.
Put the mixture into a piping bag and pipe your icing as usual.

I topped them off with a slice of a mini snickers bar. In fact they were treat size Nutty Bars from Asda. I popped them in the fridge to firm them up, making them easier to slice.

I was really pleased with how they looked. They'd turned out pretty much as I'd hoped. But as they say, the proof of the pudding is in the eating!

Oozy caramel centres

The family all really liked them, even R who is not a huge cake fan and doesn't like Peanut Butter.

I only ate a half. I'm watching my weight (again!) and I calculated the cost in calories of these little beauties and they come in at slightly under 500 calories each!  I wonder what suggestions Mr P will give me next???

A lighter lasagne

It's been a while since I've blogged. Life's just been so hectic. I guess it's just the run up to the end of term.
Anyhow, I thought I'd share a summery recipe with you, despite the lack of summer weather!


It's my Turkey, Leek & Bacon Lasagne.

SERVES 4-6

1 Pack Turkey mince, approx 400g

1 Pack of Bacon, cut into small cubes/strips (you could use Pancetta, but rashers are cheaper)

2 Leeks, thinly sliced

2/3 cloves Garlic, crushed

Large Glass of white wine

approx 200ml Single cream

fresh flat leaf parsley, finely chopped

Half a vegetable stock cube and seasoning

1 Pack fresh lasagne sheets

 Basic white sauce, approx 1 pint

Ciabatta bread

Grated Cheese (I like mozzarella but cheddar or your favourite will do)

Make your crispy bread crumbs by cutting the ciabatta into small cubes and baking in a low oven to dry them out while you make the rest of the lasagne.

Once dried out crush the cubes to make chunky crumbs

Soften the leeks and Garlic in a little olive oil for a couple of minutes in a deep non stick frying pan (I have a Saute pan)

Add chopped bacon and turn up the heat a little

Add the turkey mince and half a stock cube and cook for a couple of minutes.

Pour in the wine and cream leave to cook on a low heat.

Make white sauce (approx 25g flour & 25g butter, make a roux cook out & slowly add  a pint of milk, season to taste)

Check seasoning on Turkey/Bacon mix You may NOT need to add salt as the bacon usually does the job for you.

Add  Parsley to Mince/Bacon mix Stir in, take off the heat and set the pan to one side.

Make up the Lasagne with alternate layers of pasta and filling.

 Top off with a final layer of pasta and top with the white sauce, bread crumbs & grated cheese.

Bake in an oven for about 30/35 mins at gas 4 or 180c

Child size portion at the front, adult portion at the back

Serve with a nice green salad & garlic bread 

Notes

1) I use a glass lasagne dish which is about 10 inches square & use about 3 layers of pasta.

2) Make the filling & use canelloni tubes instead of lasagne sheets, or just put on top of your favourite pasta & enjoy with out baking!! 

Enjoy x

Sunny Sunday Walk

We like to go for walks with the dog as a family. Quite often we stick to our local parks. One is a park with various play areas and fields for the dog to run around and the other is tucked behind a church with a lake and hidden paths, old trees and lots of shade. We love both but every once in a while we drive to Billinge where there is a lovely Ice cream parlour called Antonio's. They make their own Ice cream which means the flavours are always changing and are seasonal. On offer this time were summer fruits, peach, apricot,  orange choc chip as well as all the usual favourites including bright blue bubble gum flavour. If you walk down the side of the shop it leads to a pretty standard residential street with a mixture of houses and bungalows. But when you get to the end of the street it narrows into a lane and if you follow the lane you end up walking along side a field of crops that just seems to appear from no where.

Two minutes before this we were in the residential  street

As you walk further along there is a path. One way leads to more fields and back down to the village, the long way round and the other leads you through some trees and along a path where you have to pass through three sets of gates before reaching open land.

Views for miles around

We always take the path with the gates as it leads to a steep hill, where even on a hot sunny day there is a strong cool breeze. Something you need after walking to the top in the afternoon sun.
But it's worth it, especially on a clear day, as you really can see for miles and miles.

It was a little hazy this day

There are a full 360 degrees of views. So after looking all around and trying to spot familiar points to gauge how far we can see, we head down the other side of the hill to walk around the edges of more fields of crops.

That's the top of the hill viewed from across
one of the fields

This as much of a path between the fields as you get!

It so peaceful up there. A great place to go if you need to clear your head or just want some quiet. There are no fences or boundaries. You are just free to roam where ever you like and you feel like you're in the middle of no where.

 Backing on to one of the fields is a golf course, again with no fences just a few sapling trees as a boundary.

Forget-me-nots growing between the crops

It's such a mish-mash place! So many things in one small area. Farmer's fields surrounding a hill in the middle with a concrete building at the top that no one seems to know the purpose of and a golf course! All hidden at the end of a residential street.
And dotted about there are wild flowers to brighten up the predominantly green surroundings, if you know where to look.

Hot-dog taking a break!

Tasty Mistake

My middle child L doesn't have a great deal of experience in the kitchen. She is only 9 and very much away with the fairies most of the time. So usually when she asks to help cook or bake I'm on hand to help and guide her. However, her older sister, at the ripe old age of 11 is very capable in the kitchen and can happily follow a recipe with great results. So I felt that it was time to give L a bit more independence in the kitchen. The other day she asked if she could make up a jelly for after tea that evening. A simple task I thought, so I let her get on with it. I walked into the kitchen to find a large jug filled with orange liquid. Upon asking "you did read the instructions to see how much water you needed, didn't you?" I got a blank stare in return! I had taken for granted that she would read the instructions on the box (silly me) and she, bless her, said that she see's me make jelly without reading any instructions all the time. Needless to say the jelly didn't set!
So when she asked this morning if she could bake some fairy cakes by her self I agreed but made a point of showing her where the recipe was and insisted that she needed to read the instructions, which she assured me she would.
I chose a recipe from The Dairy book of home cooking. It's full of good basic recipes and was given to me by my Mum when I was about 18. It's got lots of information about different cuts of meat, kitchen hygiene and storing food etc. Great for a cook just starting out. The methods are broken down into clear instructions and I still refer back to this book for certain recipes even now. With all this in mind I thought it would be a good place for L to start.

So I showed her a basic sponge recipe that can be used for a  Victoria sandwich or fairy cakes.

100g Butter
100g Caster sugar
100g Self raising flour
2 eggs
3 tbsp jam
icing sugar sifted.

Had she read the instructions and not just the list of ingredients she would have known that the jam and icing sugar are for the Victoria sandwich version, but no!

I was called to the kitchen as she was so proud of her measuring skills only to find that everything had been placed in one bowl. No creaming of butter and sugar here, no adding one egg at a time, no gently folding in of flour, just a big bowl of ingredients unmixed and topped off with a huge blob of raspberry jam!!

I calmly asked what the jam was doing in the bowl and was told that "that's what it said in thew book".
Oh dear. I think a little work on reading INSTRUCTIONS is required, don't you?!

I told her to go ahead and mix it all up & we'd just have to see what results we got.

Raspberry Jam cake mix

Next L got out our collection of my Mum's paper cake cases. So many pretty patterns & colours to choose from.

some of these are, as my Mum would say "Donkeys years old!"

L likes to work in a mess!

The cakes were baked in the oven on 190c/gas 5 for 20 mins (although I think they could use a couple of minutes less)

They smelled delicious

Next came L's favourite bit. Icing the cakes.

Of course sprinkles were required

And I have to admit they actually tasted really nice. She was very pleased with them and I guess that's all that counts and I wouldn't have her any other way x

Rhubarb rhubarb rhubarb

I love rhubarb and it seems lots of other people do too! As a child I'd often pop upstairs to visit Auntie Betty, who lived in the middle floor of our old house for many years. She'd save me some stewed rhubarb and serve it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. I'd gladly eat it that way now!  
I'd been wanting to buy some rhubarb, but it seemed expensive to me, as I was used to my Mum handing over lovely pink stalks picked fresh from her garden. But when I popped into Aldi the other week it was one of their 'super six' deal so I bought a couple of packs.


I thought about stewing it and eating it with ice cream, A la Auntie Betty or making a yummy crumble as I sometimes do, but instead I looked online for inspiration and came across a recipe for a crumble cake on the Delicious website.

This is a lovely recipe and I've only altered it slightly. The cake is scrumptious served hot or cold (I prefer room temp) with cream or custard or just a cuppa. The only downside is the amount of washing up! You prepare the cake in stages Crumble, rhubarb then cake each requiring a separate bowl. I feels it's a small price to pay for a great cake.


Make the crumble mix first.
50g unsalted butter

1. 65g golden caster sugar
2. ¼ tsp vanilla extract
3. 100g plain flour
4. Pinch of salt

Melt the butter in a small pan, once melted remove from the heat and pour in the sugar. Mix until the sugar is melted and a toffee like consistency 

add in the flour, salt & vanilla extract

It already smells wonderful

You'll get a biscuit type consistency. Press it down firmly into a small bowl and set aside to cool.

Next prepare the Rhubarb.you need about 225g once trimmed and washed. Don't dry the Rhubarb once washed.
Place the rhubarb on a bowl with about two tablespoons of plain flour and about 50g of caster sugar. Mix the rhubarb in the sugar/flour mixture to coat it. Put to one side and just give it a stir from time to time. The mix will slowly coat the rhubarb.

Now is the time to put on the oven at Gas 4 or 180C. Grease and line a 23cm round or a 20cm square tin. Whatever tin you use it must have a loose bottom. I only base line, I don't line the sides, just grease well.


For the cake part you need

1. 6 tbsp soured cream
2. 1 large egg, plus 1 yolk
3. 1 tsp vanilla extract
4. 100g plain flour
5. 100g caster sugar
6. ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
7. ½ tsp baking powder
8. ¼ tsp salt
9. 75g unsalted butter, at room temperature
10. 50g ground almonds
11. 
    
12. In another bowl put the egg plus extra yoke, sour cream and vanilla extract and mix. 

Into the mixer, or yet another bowl put the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and butter combine until you have a crumb like consistency. Stir in the ground almonds. Now add the cream and egg mixture combine well until you have a smooth cake batter. 

Put the cake mixture into the prepared tin

Place the sugar coated rhubarb on top of the cake mixture

sprinkle over any sugar left in the bowl

Now take the crumble mix, which will be quite solid by now and break into crumbs. Crumble it over the cake and fruit in the tin by hand

You want nice small crumbs

Keep going until the cake is covered and all the crumb mix is used up

Bake in the oven for 45 minutes. Check with a skewer, which should come out clean when cooked (don't forget you might hit a piece of rhubarb which will still be moist)

Leave to cool in the tin for about 15 minutes. Remove and serve warm or at room temperature with your choice of accompaniment, cream, custard or a cuppa ;o)

Crumble cake in the sunshine!

I had some rhubarb left over so pinching an idea from Jamie Oliver I cheated and used eight ready made, but good quality sweet pastry tarts. Cooked about four stalks of rhubarb in a little water and sugar for about six minutes. Drained, then divided the rhubarb between the cases. Whipped up 100g ground almonds, 100g butter, 90g golden caster sugar, an egg, the grated rind of an orange and a tablespoon of vanilla extract. Just whizz it all together with a wooden spoon. Divide between the pastry cases and pop into the middle of the oven on gas 5 or 190C for 18 minutes. They are SO GOOD! Sorry no pics as I made these on the spur of the moment when my sister came to visit, but I just had to share xx