autumn recipe:roast pumpkins with apple and cinnamon

I love pumpkins, they really make up a large part of Autumn, especially through Halloween but I always seem to overcompensate and buy more pumpkins than I need (I know, who can have too many pumpkins). eventually I run out of ideas to carve into the pumpkins to make them scary for my visitors though so I love it when I have recipe's lying around where I don't just use the insides, I use the actual pumpkin itself. its a great way of recycling the pumpkin after Halloween is over as well as all of those wonderful pumpkin faces just get thrown in the bin.


Roast pumpkins with apple and cinnamon

ingredients
serves: 4

• 4 small pumpkins, tops sliced off and seeds removed
• 450g (16 oz. ) apple sauce
• 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• salt and freshly ground lack pepper to taste

directions
prep: 15 minutes
cook: 45 minutes
ready in: 1 hour

1.  preheat oven to 160 c/ gas mark 3. lightly grease a medium baking dish
2. in a small bowl, mix apple sauce, cinnamon, salt and pepper. spoon 1/4 of the mixture into the bowl of each pumpkin.
3. place pumpkins in the prepared baking dish. cover with aluminium foil and bake in preheated oven for 1 hour and 45 minutes, or until tender.

all rights and credit goes to the creator of this recipe. enjoy :-)

autumn recipe: blackberry picking: blackberry pie

Okay so I am starting to like blackberries all of a sudden and my blackberry bush is sprouting lots of little juicy berries so I thought I would make my first blackberry pie. I found this recipe online and I am very eager to try it out. I will post photos of my progress when I do my baking.

Ingredients

Serves: 8
For the shortcrust pastry:
150g cold salted butter, cut into cubes
275g plain flour
30g icing sugar
1 large egg, beaten
1/2 tablespoon water
For the filling:
500g freshly picked blackberries
120g brown sugar
Beaten egg or milk, to glaze
Preparation method

Prep: 20 mins | Cook: 25 mins | Extra: 30 mins, chilling
1.To make the pastry: Use your fingers to rub the cold butter, flour and icing sugar together. Add the beaten egg and 1/2 tablespoon water and use your fingers to form the dough into a ball. Cover with greaseproof paper and place in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

2. Preheat your oven to 180 degrees C. Lightly grease a 23cm/9 inch pie dish.

3.Slice the dough in half and roll out the bottom of the pie on a lightly floured surface. Try not to overwork the pastry - it doesn't matter if it doesn't look perfect.

4.Mix the brown sugar into the blackberries and pour onto the pastry case.

5.Roll out the second half of the pastry on a lightly floured surface and place on top of the fruit. Cut away any excess pastry and crimp the edges with your thumb to seal. Brush all over the top with lightly beaten egg. Prick a few holes over the surface and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown.

All credit goes to the creator of this recipe. Enjoy :-)

Autumn posts

I will be posting only Autumn posts from the end of August onwards. Feel free to leave comments of suggestions for blog posts of you want anything in particular :-)

summer recipe

Easy strawberry cupcakes

makes: 24 cupcakes

Prep time: 20 minutes

Cook time: 18-22 minutes

Ingredients

For the cupcakes:

• 1 (15.25 ounce) package French Vanilla cake mix 
• 1/2 (3.4 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix
• 1 cup greek strawberry yogurt
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup water
• 4 eggs, lightly beaten
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup diced fresh strawberries (about 10 medium berries)

For the strawberry buttercream:

• 4 sticks (2cups) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1.5 pounds (24 ounces or about 5.5 cups) confectioners' sugar, sifted
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• about 8 medium fresh strawberries, pureed (you'll need 4-5 tablespoons of puree)

Directions

For the cupcakes:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line muffin tin with paper liners or spray with non-stick cooking spray.
2. In the bowl of  a stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat together the cake and pudding mixes, Greek yogurt, oil, water, eggs and vanilla. Beat for about 2 minutes on medium speed until well combined. Fold in diced strawberries.
3. Using a large cookie scoop, distribute the batter between 24 muffin wells; about 3 tablespoons of batter per well.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 18-22 minutes or until the tops of the cakes spring back when lightly touched. Allow the cupcakes to cool inside muffin tins for about 10 minutes. The cupcakes may develop a slight divot in the centre as they cool, but no worries, you'll cover that with delicious frosting.
5. Remove cupcakes from muffin tins and allow to fully cool on a wire rack. Once cupcakes are cool, prepare your frosting.

For the frosting:

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium-high speed for about 5 minutes.
2. Turn the mixer down to low speed and gradually add in the confectioners' sugar until it is completely incorporated. Add in vanilla and 3 tablespoons of strawberry puree, mix until incorporated. turn off the mixer and heck the buttercream for taste and texture. gradually add in the  last 2 tablespoons of strawberry puree until you have reached the desired level of strawberry flavour. Please note that adding more than the required 5 tablespoons could result in a thinner frosting. turn the mixer back up to medium-high speed and beat the mixture for about 3-4 minutes or until light and fluffy.
3. Pipe the frosting onto the cooled cupcakes and if desired, garnish with fresh strawberries

I found this here, all rights go to the creator of this recipe. enjoy.