We have had guests here at our home for the past week. It has been a whirlwind week really. We've been taking them places and showing them what we can of the "England Wales North West." The weather has been dry but very cold, so we were a bit limited, but we tried our best. We live in such a beautiful part of the country here, and there was ever so much more I wanted to share with them, but the time just seemed to evaporate!
On one of the mornings that they were here I made us a delicious Dutch Baby Pancake for breakfast. It went down a real treat!
A Dutch Baby Pancake is kind of like a huge sweet batter or Yorkshire pudding! It puffs up in the oven like magic, leaving a huge hollow centre, ripe for filling with whatever your heart desires!
We like fresh berries with ours and I had picked up some lovely looking raspberries and blueberries, so they went perfectly with it.
*Dutch Baby Pancake*
Makes 2 - 4 servings (depending on appetites)
Place
the flour, milk, eggs, sugar, vanilla and salt into a blender or food
processor. Blitz to combine for about 20 seconds, scraping down the
sides after 10 seconds. Let stand on the counter top or about 20
minutes.
This is a simple and easy recipe, which makes it perfect for entertaining. The fact that it is also delicious and very pretty is quite simply the icing on a very delicious cake!
It puffs up huge in the hot air of the oven! You are almost afraid that it is going to overflow, but no worries. It is supposed to do that. Its all a part of the magic of the experience. Be prepared for plenty of Oooohs and Aaaaahs when you bring this delightful breakfast to the table!
Bon Appetit!
Whenever I have stale bread I want to make one of two things . . . either I want to make a bread pudding, or I want to make French Toast. Today the French Toast won out, but it's not just any French Toast . . . its Lemon Stuffed French Toast!
Lemon Curd is something I always have in my larder. It is considered a store cupboard essential! I also make my own quite often, especially in the winter months when lemons are in season! Oh to have my own lemon tree . . . sigh . . .
Yes, I am a Lemon lover of the utmost extreme! If it is lemon. I am on it!
This is so simple to make. You just make your traditional French Toast egg batter . . . you cut a pocket into thick slices of stale bread, fill the pockets with lemon curd, soak the slices in the egg batter and then cook it as per normal.
It goes very well with berries . . . strawberries, blackberries, raspberries . . . frozen or fresh. You decide!
*Lemon Stuffed French Toast*
Serves 4
Serves 4
Printable Recipe
A wonderful way to use up stale bread, with a tangy lemon curd filling. Serve with some golden syrup and fresh berries for a delightful breakfast treat!
One (16 ounce) loaf of french bread, unsliced
295ml of milk (1 1/4 cup)
3 large free range eggs
1 TBS sugar
1 tsp vanilla
pinch salt
a jar of lemon curd
unsalted butter and vegetable oil for cooking
To finish:
Icing sugar to dust
an assortment of fresh berries
golden syrup (optional)
A wonderful way to use up stale bread, with a tangy lemon curd filling. Serve with some golden syrup and fresh berries for a delightful breakfast treat!
One (16 ounce) loaf of french bread, unsliced
295ml of milk (1 1/4 cup)
3 large free range eggs
1 TBS sugar
1 tsp vanilla
pinch salt
a jar of lemon curd
unsalted butter and vegetable oil for cooking
To finish:
Icing sugar to dust
an assortment of fresh berries
golden syrup (optional)
Preheat the oven to 150*C/300*F/ gas mark 2. Butter a baking sheet. Set aside.
Cut the bread into 8 equal slized, each about 1 inch thick. Cut a pocket into each piece of bread, using a serrated knife, carefully slicing into, but not all the way through. Spoon about 1 dessertspoon full of lemon curd into the pocket created in each piece of bread.
Whisk together the milk, eggs, sugar, vanilla and salt. Dunk the stuffed slices of bread into the egg mixture, allowing them to soak it up for several minutes, turning to coat it evenly on both sides. You want it saturated, but not falling apart.
Warm 1 TBS of butter and 1 TBS of oil together in a large heavy skillet over medium heat. Cook the slices of stuffed bread in the heated fat until golden brown and lightly crisp on one side, flip over carefully and brown and crisp the other side. Place them onto the prepared baking sheet and keep warm in the oven while you cook the remainder, using more butter and oil as necessary.
When all the toast is ready, place it onto heated plates and dust lightly with icing sugar. Serve immediately with some fresh berries and golden syrup (if desired.)
Happy weekend and Bon Appetit!
There are normally only two of us eating in this house and so I normally
try to cut recipes in half for us, or create dishes which are simple
and make just enough for two. It's not that hard to do really. And
you can normally multiply up with no problems at all.
I found myself with an abundance of cherry tomatoes on Saturday last and
so I decided that I would incorporate them somehow into our supper. I
also had chicken breasts. Chicken and tomatoes go really well
together. One only need to look at delicious recipes such as Chicken
Cacciatore or Chicken Parmesan to see that this is true.
This recipe goes together very quickly so I would suggest you have all
of the ingredients ready and hand before you start. The chicken breasts
are cut into two escallopes horizontally which makes for quick cooking .
. .
The cherry tomatoes are cut in half as well, for quick cooking. I saw a
really interesting and helpful little video on how to that really
quickly the other day. You can see it here. It's a slap on the forehead, why didn't I think of that kind of a thing! (It really does work!)
The tomatoes are quickly frizzed in some olive oil along with some
garlic. You dust the chicken pieces with some flour and salt and pepper
and then brown them in the same pan, along with some sage. It
doesn't take very long at all as they are only half as thick as they
normally are.
A splash of white wine, a few capers . . . . bubble bubble bubble, a
handful of chopped parsley and presto chango, you have tender moist
chicken with a delicious sauce of cherry tomatoes and capers, that will
please any meat loving man. The Toddster loves this. I always serve it
with some boiled new potatoes. It goes down a real treat, and goes
together lickety split. If you are looking for a quick, easy and
delicious supper and are feeling a tad bit lazy, this is your perfect
meal! Looks like you slaved all day, but took literally minutes.
*Chicken with Cherry Tomatoes and Capers*
Serves 2
Serves 2
through the middle into two escallopes (4 pieces in total)
salt and black pepper
I guarantee you will love this. You may even want to double it anyways! Bon Appetit!
The Victoria Sponge is one of my absolute favourite of all the cakes. There is nothing fancy about it. It is just a plain simple sponge, which when mixed and baked properly, results in a fine cake that everyone loves. If I had to choose between this and a chocolate cake, I would choose this every time. I know . . . I'm not normal, lol.
Two buttery layers put together with jam and vanilla buttercream, and then dusted on top with confectioners or caster sugar, this is the quintessential "Tea Party Cake."
It's popularity was achieved during the reign of Queen Victoria, which is probably why it is called a Victoria Sponge Cake! The ingredients in a traditional Victoria Sponge, sometimes called a Victoria Sandwich cake, are eggs, flour, sugar, and butter, and should be of equal weight; the eggs are weighed in their shell.
Truth be told however, it began as a "Nursery" cake during the reign of Queen Victoria when it was believed that children would perhaps choke on the dried fruit of a traditional fruit cake which would have been served for tea. An inventive baker came up with the Victoria Sponge for a children's teatime treat, and eventually the cake made its way to the adult tea table and the rest is history.
*Victoria Sponge Cake*
Makes one 7 inch cake
Printable Recipe
Popular during the reign of Queen Victoria, this cake remains popular to this day, which is a huge testament to it's taste and ease of baking!
Printable Recipe
Popular during the reign of Queen Victoria, this cake remains popular to this day, which is a huge testament to it's taste and ease of baking!
170g butter (12 TBS)
170g caster sugar (1 cup)1/4 tsp vanilla extract
3 large free range eggs, beaten
170g self raising flour (a scant 1 1/2 cups)
To finish:
3 TBS raspberry jam
buttercream to fill (optional)
icing sugar or caster sugar to dust the top
Butter and base line two 7 inch sandwich tins. Set aside. Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4.
Cream the butter, sugar and vanilla together until light in colour and fluffy. Gradually beat in the eggs, a little at a time, beating well after each addition. If the mixture begins to curdle, add a spoonful of the flour.
Fold in the flour with a metal spoon, taking care to use a cutting motion so as not to knock out too much of the air that you have beaten into the batter. Divide the batter evenly between the two cake tins, leveling off the surface. Make a slight dip in the centre of each.
Bake on a centre rack of the oven for
about 25 minutes, or until the sponges have risen well, are golden
brown, and spring back when lightly touched. Allow to cool in the pan
for five minutes before running a knife carefully around the edges and
turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Once cooled, place one layer on a cake plate. Spread with raspberry jam and buttercream (if using). Place the other cake on top, pressing down lightly. Dust with icing or caster sugar and serve.
Alternately you can bake the batter in a mini cake tin. I have a tin that allows you to make six individual cakes. Just butter, line the bottoms and bake for 15 to 20 minutes. Split and fill the finished cakes as above.
HANDY TIP ALERT!
For an easy way to cut small cakes, or large cakes for that matter,
perfectly in half horizontally . . . cut yourself a nice long piece of
dental floss (preferably not flavoured) that fits around the cake with
enough over hang to grip decently. Place it around the centre of the
cake, crossing the floss ends over each other in front.
Easy peasy lemon squeezy.
Bon Appetit!
We had a lovely weekend weatherwise last weekend. Salad weather. Well, I thought it was salad weather anyways. Todd was not so sure! It was nice to have drier, sunnier days however, and to me that spells Salad weather! I do love my comfort food in the Winter, but long about this time of year I start to craving salads!
This simple and easy to make salad encompasses all of the things you love about the classic BLT Sandwich.
With lovely chunks of ripe tomato, bits of crisp bacon, and crunchy romaine lettuce, chopped red onion, all mixed with some cooked pasta and a fabulous punchy lemon mayo dressing. Some crunchy croutons (I used bacon flavoured ones this time) are it's crowning touch!
*BLT Salad*
Serves 8
black pepper to taste
100g of dry pasta shapes (3/4 cup)
1 (20g) pack of crisp bread croutons ( about 1/2 cup)
Note - If you wish to make this ahead, leave out the lettuce and the croutons until just prior to serving. Bon Appetit!
If you are like me, you will hate waste. I hate throwing away food. My mother was the same. I learned my food thriftiness from her I guess. In any case, there are people who won't eat leftovers, but they don't live in this house and never have! I have a way of making leftovers taste even better than the original meal!
This is a simple casserole that really is tasty and so very simple to
make. If you can boil water and have been thrifty enough to save some
meat and some of that fabulous gravy, you can make this!
It is an adaptation of a recipe I found in a very old cookery book of mine entitled "Twice is Nice" by Edna K Damerall. I adapted it to use the leftovers I had with most delicious results!
Cooked elbow macaroni is seasoned with some herbs and then layered in a
casserole dish along with chopped leftover roast beef, sliced onions,
leftover gravy, cream and cheese.
You bake it for a little while and then you lay some sliced tomatoes on
top and sprinkle on some herby buttered crumbs and bake it for a little
while longer, with the end result being something which is very tasty,
not to mention visually appealing and quite economical.
*Macaroni Roma*
Serves 6
I hate waste. This is a most delicious way to use up some of the leftovers from your Sunday Roast!
1/8 tsp garlic powder
2 cups of diced leftover cooked beef
Cook
the macaroni according to the package directions. Drain well. Return
to the pot and toss together with the pepper, salt, garlic powder,
oregano and basil.
Mix the gravy and the cream together.
Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Butter a 1 litre casserole dish. (1 quart)
Layer in the dish as follows: 1/2 macaroni, 1/2 the beef, 1/2 the onion, 1/2 of both cheeses, 1/2 the gravy/cream mixture. Repeat the layers. Loosen the mixture gently with a knife so that the sauce filters down through the layers. Bake for half an hour in the preheated oven. Remove from the oven and lay the sliced tomato on top. Melt the butter and mix together with the bread crumbs and the thyme. Sprinkle this mixture over top of the casserole and bake for 10 minutes longer, until golden brown.
I hope that you will give this a go. I imagine you could also make it with cooked ground beef and gravy mix and it would also be quite good. Bon Appetit!
Don't you just love vanilla? I do. Just the smell of vanilla can get my tastebuds tingling and never more so than when it is being baked into a lovely, dense and moist cake such as this one!
This lovely loaf cake gives you a triple vanilla whammy! First, there is vanilla in the batter. I like to use Vanilla paste because of the lovely flecks of vanilla seed that it scatters throughout the loaf, but feel free to use regular vanilla extract if you wish. Just make sure it is pure.
Once the cake is baked, you get a second dose of vanilla by basting the still warm cake with a vanilla syrup, which gets soaked into the cake . . . kind of like a lemon drizzle, but its vanilla not lemon . . .
The third layer of Vanilla comes from the epic vanilla glaze icing which gets spooned over top of the vanilla soaked and cooled loaf . . . making for triple Vanilla yuminess!
It goes lovely with a cup of tea, herbal or otherwise. You can enjoy this beautiful loaf any time of day. I've even been known to have it for breakfast with some fresh fruit on the side. Great for elevensies, or coffee break, in lunches, or just because. You are going to love this . . . . whenever. Its quite simply gorgeous!
*Vanilla Yogurt Cake*
8 to 10 slices
1 1/2 TBS milk
1 tsp vanilla paste
Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Butter an 8 1/2 inch by 4 1/2 inch loaf pan. Line with baking paper. Set aside.
Sift
together the flour, baking powder, and salt into one bowl. Whisk
together the yogurt, sugar, eggs and vanilla in another bowl. Slowly
whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until incorporated.
Fold in the vegetable oil until it is well combined. Pour into the
prepared baking tin and bake for 50 to 60 minutes, until a toothpick
inserted in the centre comes out clean.
While the cake
is cooking, whisk together the first glazing ingredients in a saucepan
over medium heat, stirring until the mixture is completely clean. Set
aside.
Allow the cake to cool in the pan for 10
minutes. Tip out onto a wire rack and while the cake is still warm,
pour the glazing mixture over top allowing it to soak in. Cool
completely. (You may want to have a piece of paper underneat the rack to
catch any drips and make clean up easier.)
Combine
the icing sugar, milk and vanilla paste for the final icing glaze and
pour over the cooled cake. Allow to set before cutting into slices to
serve.
I like to use the loaf tin liners that you can buy at the bake shop. They make things a lot easier. Kind of like muffin tin liners, except they are large enough to line a loaf tin. Bon Appetit!
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