Getting Ready for Easter

Well what can we make with this for Easter? Well we have one styra foam ring, ribbon, felt flowers, felt, threads, glue, beads and sundry other bits and pieces. Well keep your eyes on this blog to see. 

Yummy Carrot Cake

I had promised my hubby a carrot cake for Valentines but I got a bit carried away with the biscuits and I made some truffles so any more would have just been too much. So this weekend I finally got to make him the carrot cake.

I use a modified Delia Smith recipe, well it suits my family. The Delia one is excellent especially since its low fat but we like a different topping and I use raisins rather than sultanas  and ordinary flour rather than whole meal. I also use different spices. So if you want Delia's Recipe you'll find it in her 'Delia's How to Cook Book One'. Its a great book and as with all Delia's recipes it works failure to get good results is unheard of.

Here though is my recipe.

Ingredients 

Cake

175 g Brown Sugar
2 Eggs large.
120 ml sunflower oil
1 1/2 tsp Bicarbonate soda
200 g Self Raising Flour
1/2 tsp Nutmeg
1/2 tsp Cinnamon 
1/4 tsp Ginger
Pinch of Cloves
Zest of Orange
Zest of Lemon.
175 g Raisins 
200 g grated Carrot 

Topping

1 tub large cream Cheese (Philadelphia is preferred)
300 g- 350 g Icing Sugar 
Lemon juice.

Method.

Pre heat oven to170 c 325 f or Gas Mark 4.

Line a rectangular baking tin with baking parchment 

Whisk eggs, sugar and oil together until its nicely foamy.

Add to this the sifted flour spices and bicarbonate soda and stir in with care.

Once this has been stirred in then add raisins, orange and lemon zest and grated carrot.

Pour mixture into baking tin and place in the centre of the oven cooking for 35-40 minutes. I normally check with a metal skewer to ensure its cooked.

Once cooked place on a cooling rack.

Whilst its cooling make up topping. Mix icing sugar with cream cheese and lemon juice into a thick fairly stiff mix.

When cake is completely cooled spread topping over the cake.

You can leave the cake to cut when serving or do as I do and cut into several squares. I find cutting it before serving means people don't cut too big a slice which they then cant eat and waste. Well that's just me you do as you wish. 

Stampin Up Day

Last Saturday we from the Papercrafters  spent a very enjoyable day at a 'Stampin Up' Workshop and we all had a great time making cards, chatting,drinking tea and eating cake. I really love the 'Stampin Up' stuff great stamps inks and papers, plus a great demonstrator. Sadly due to copyright restrictions I can't share all the cards we made but I can share the wild card that we were all given to make up to our own design. 

Shelia the 'Stampin Up' demonstrator gave us a collection of cards and a stamp set and told us all to use our imaginations and create our own card design. Here's what I turned out with the addition of some matching ribbon and backing paper.

What do you think. 

A String of Hearts

I quickly ran up a small heart shaped strand of bunting. for my daughter to decorate her place for Valentines Day. I used felt cut into heart shapes which I sewed together adding a ribbon loop at the top of the heart. I then stuffed them with soft toy filling. After this I decorated with sequins, felt letters (spelling LOVE) and a sparkly heart shape. 

To finish I looped and knotted each heart onto a red ribbon so it could be hung as bunting. They looked really pretty when hung and my daugheter weas most impressed.

Stuff for Valentines Day

I know its too late to make stuff for this years Valentines Day but you might like to try this recipe for next year or modify it for Easter biscuits.

Decorated Valentines Biscuits 

Ingredients 

100g Caster Sugar
225g Plain Flour
150g Butter
1 Egg yolk
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
Zest of Lemon.

100 g Chocolate
100 g Block Fondant Icing Red


Heart shaped cutters   


Method 

Pre heat oven to 180C or 350F or Gas mark 4

Mix sugar, flour, lemon zest and butter into large bowl and mix. This can be done by hand or in food processor ( Food processor definitely quicker)

Add egg yolk vanilla extract and bind all ingredients together. 

Once bound together place on cool work surface then roll out and cut out heart shapes. 

C
  Place the heart shapes onto a grease-proof paper baking sheet.

Bake in the oven for 10 to 15 minutes. Till biscuits are a light gold colour 

Cool on cooling rack and then decorate either with melted chocolate or fondant icing.

For the chocolate biscuits dip half of each biscuit in the chocolate.

For the fondant icing biscuits, roll out icing the cut out with heart shaped cutters.

Pack in a pretty box and there's your valentines day gift sorted


You can use same recipe to make Easter biscuits using a bunny or Easter egg shaped cutter. These are great biscuits as well for kids to decorate with icing and sweeties etc.

Mexican Chili Wrap Stack

I recently saw a recipe in the Morrisons magazine for a Mexican Chili Lasagna and I thought that sounds good. However, the recipe was a bit bland so I decided I'd make up my own recipe. So here it is 

Ingredients 

400 g Minced Beef (you can use any minced meat lamb, pork, chicken  or turkey) 
I Red Sweet Pepper
1 Red Pepper
1 Yellow Pepper
1 Green Pepper 
2 Onions
1 Tin Chopped Tomatoes
1 tin Tomato Paste 
2 tsp Chipotle Paste
2 tsp Paprika
2 tsp Cumin
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
2 Cloves Garlic
1 dtsp Marmite 
1 Stock Cube.
Oil for frying/browning
Several slices of Red Jalapeno Pepper 
Pkt of Wraps.

120 g Butter
100 g Plain flour
Milk 
120 g Cheddar Cheese
1 tbsp Parmesan Cheese
1 Egg
1 tsp English Mustard
Method

Pre heat oven to 180C

Slice onions peppers and garlic and then add to frying pan to gently cook till onions have gone opaque.

Also place meat into pan and brown off and then add to vegetables(onions pepper and garlic)

Add spices, a few slices of jalapeno peppers  and Chipotle paste and gently heat through.

Then add marmite, tinned tomatoes, tomato paste and stock cube.

Make white sauce by first melting butter then add flour and milk stir continuously to ensure you get a smooth even sauce.

Add  mustard and mix in well

Return sauce to heat to thicken then add cheeses, (leaving a little for top). When mix has cooled slightly add egg. The egg gives a lovely smooth rich sauce and it gives the sauce a great taste.   

Now layer the meat mix and wraps. First meat then a wrap finish off with the white sauce  and grated cheese and decorate with jalapeno peppers.

Cook in oven for about 20 mins or until cheese is lovely and golden  

The finished article serve with salad. Eat and Enjoy

Muffin Time

Over the weekend I had this urge to do a bit of baking, not the boring stuff, but something tasty. So I had a go at making some muffins, lovely raspberry and blueberry muffins here's the recipe if you'd like to give them a try.

Ingredients 
60 g Butter
280 g Plain Flour 
200 g Caster Sugar
1 tbsp Baking Powder
1 Egg
Zest of Lemon
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
250 ml Milk
125 g Blueberries
100 g Raspberries 

Method 

Pre heat oven to 220C 425F or Gas Mark 7

Melt butter in pan

Sieve flour with baking powder into a bowl and then stir in the sugar. 

Make a well in centre of flour ready to add other ingredients.

Beat egg and then add melted butter lemon zest and vanilla extract.

Mix these wet ingredients with flour and sugar until you have a nice smooth mixture.

Fold in blueberries and raspberries, trying not to over mix.

Add mixture to cupcake cases.

Place in oven and cook for 15 to 20 minutes.

Remove muffins and place on a cooling rack.

You can glaze them if you wish with a mix of lemon juice and sugar gives them a slight moistness which is yummy.

You can of course add other fruit or perhaps chocolate chips give it a whirl.