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.

Summer recipe: Cherry ice cream profiteroles

Cherry Ice Cream

makes about 1 1/2 quarts

3/4 pound cherries, pitted and roughly chopped

2/3 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon lemon juice

2 cups heavy cream

1 cup milk

Combine cherries, 1/3 cup sugar, salt, and lemon juice in a medium saucepan. Cook on medium heat for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the cherries turn soft and jammy and the mixture is  bubbling. Remove from heat and let the mixture cool to room temperature.

In another medium saucepan combine the cream, milk, and remaining 1/3 cup of sugar. Heat over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is almost simmering.

Remove from heat, pour mixture into a bowl, and chill over an ice bath until it is room temperature.

Stir in the cherries. Cover and chill the mixture in the refrigerator for 4 hours or overnight.

Freeze in an ice cream maker per manufacturer's instructions.

Pâte à choux Dough

makes 20-24 puffs

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup water
4 ounces unsalted butter, cut into pieces
3/4 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
4 + 1 large eggs, room temperature

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.

Combine milk, water, butter, sugar and salt In a heavy bottomed medium saucepan and heat on medium high.

Once the mixture is at a rolling boil, add all of the flour at once, reduce the heat to medium
and start to stir the mixture vigorously with a wooden spoon. The dough should come together into a ball. Continue stirring for another 3-4 minutes until it is completely smooth and soft.

Transfer the dough into a bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat to cool it down slightly. Add in four eggs one at a time, beating after each egg has been added to incorporate it into the dough. The dough should be very thick and shiny but not liquidy.

Transfer the dough to a pastry bag fitted with a 1 inch plain tip. Pipe out mounds of dough on the prepared baking sheet, spacing about 2 inches apart.

Beat the last egg with a little water to form an egg wash, then brush lightly over the puffs.

Bake in oven for about 15-18 minutes, rotating halfway through. The puffs should turn golden brown and be dry to the touch. It's easier to underbake than to overbake; make sure they are dry before taking out.

Place sheet on a wire rack and let puffs cool before slicing in half and filling with ice cream to make profiteroles.

Almond Granita

1 cup almond milk

1 cup water

3 ounces almond paste

3 tablespoons sugar

1/4 teaspoon lemon juice

Combine all the ingredients in a blender and process until very smooth.

Strain into an 8 inch square baking pan (stai nless steel is best).

Place in freezer and let freeze for about an hour. Using a fork, break and crush the mixture into small pieces. Freeze for another 30 minutes and repeat the process, turning the pieces into even small crystals. The mixture should be firm and ready to serve after about 2 hours of this process
I found this here

Summer recipes: Chocolate dipped frozen bananas

bananas, not overly ripe
chocolate
toppings
popsicle sticks

Peel bananas and cut in half.  Insert a stick into the bottom of the banana, place on a waxed paper lined plate and freeze until frozen through.

Chop chocolate and melt.  Cool slightly.

While chocolate is cooling, set out desired toppings.  Our favorites include rainbow sprinkles, nuts and crushed cookies, but let your imagination run wild and set out a bowl of your personal favorites!

Remove the bananas from the freezer, and working fairly quickly, dip first into the melted chocolate and then quickly into the toppings.  Replace dipped banana onto the waxed paper, and when all of the bananas are dipped, return to the freezer.

Freeze until the bananas are re-frozen (they may have thawed slightly during dipping) and the chocolate is set.

I found this here

Summer recipe: rocky road sundae

INGREDIENTS
For the marshmallow ice cream

1 vanilla pod, split and seeds scraped out
200ml whole milk
400ml double cream
100g caster sugar
5 egg yolks
55g mini marshmallows
100g glacé cherries, chopped
30g toasted coconut flakes

For the chocolate crunch ice cream

1 vanilla pod
200ml whole milk
400ml double cream
100g caster sugar
5 egg yolks
200g dark chocolate, melted
100g chocolate biscuits, crushed
55g salted peanuts

To finish

1 quantity Chocolate sauce
Chocolate vermicelli, to sprinkle
Halved glacé cherries, to decorate
Method

To make the marshmallow ice cream, place the vanilla seeds, pod halves, milk and cream in a heavy-based saucepan and bring to the boil. Immediately remove from the heat and leave to infuse for 15-20 minutes. Meanwhile whisk together the sugar and egg yolks until light and creamy and doubled in size. Remove the vanilla pod from the milk and cream mixture, bring it to the boil again and then, while still whisking, slowly pour it into the sugar and egg mixture. Return this custard mixture to the pan and over a gentle heat, whisk for a few minutes until the mixture begins to thicken. Set aside until the mixture has cooled completely, then transfer to the fridge to chill. When chilled, add any flavourings to the base and churn in an ice cream machine until frozen (according to manufacturer's instructions). When almost frozen stir in the marshmallows, cherries and coconut flakes. Freeze until needed.

To make the chocolate crunch ice cream, repeat the same process but stir the melted chocolate when cool and freeze as before. When almost frozen, stir in the crushed chocolate biscuits and peanuts. Freeze until needed.

To assemble, put scoops of the marshmallow ice cream in the sundae dishes. Drizzle over some chocolate sauce (warmed if liked) and add a scoop of chocolate crunch ice cream followed by a second scoop of marshmallow ice cream. Sprinkle with chocolate vermicelli and decorate with a few glacé cherries. Serve immediately.
I found this here

Summer recipe: Nectarine and amaretto jam

Ingredients
1 kg nectarines, flesh, peeled and stoned weight
1 kg jam sugar
60 ml lemon juice, (1-2 small lemons)
3 tbsp amaretto (almond liqueur)
Method
1. Before making the jam, sterilise your jam jars and lids. Jars can easily be sterilised by washing in hot soapy water, rinsed and then placed on a baking tray and heating for 10 minutes at 120C. Lids should be boiled for 10 minutes and drained on a clean tea towel.

2. Peel, stone and dice the nectarines. Discard the skin and stones.

3. Place the diced nectarine, sugar and lemon juice into a large pan. Choose a pan with plenty of room for the jam to increase in volume when it boils. If you have a jam thermometer, place it into the pan before turning on the heat.

4. Heat gently until the sugar has dissolved, then turn the heat up and bring to the boil.

5. Boil until the temperature reaches 105C. This can take anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes, depending on the juiciness of the nectarines, the size of your pan and the heat.

6. If you don't have a jam thermometer, test that the jam has reached setting point after 10 minutes of boiling by putting a teaspoon of jam onto a plate and popping it into the freezer two minutes. If the jam has started to gel (and wrinkles when you touch it) it's ready. If not, cook for a few more minutes and test again.

7. Remove from the heat. Use a slotted spoon to skim any scum from the surface.

8. Allow to cool for a few minutes before adding the Amaretto liqueur and mixing thoroughly.

9. Pour into sterilised jam jars, seal with lids and leave to cool
I found this here

Summer recipe: Dandelion lemonade

Ingredients
1 kg tart dessert apples, roughly chopped
85 g dandelion petals
100 ml lemon juice, freshly squeezed
750 g granulated or jam sugar
Method
1. Put the apples in a pan with 600 ml water and 55 g of the dandelion petals and bring to just below boiling point. Remove from the heat, cover and leave to infuse overnight.

2. Strain the liquid to remove the apple pieces and petals, return it to the pan and add the lemon juice and sugar. Stir over a low heat until the sugar has dissolved, then add the remaining dandelion petals. Boil rapidly until setting point is reached – bear in mind that if you are not using jam sugar, the set will be soft.

3. Using a large spoon, remove any scum from the surface, then pour into warm, sterilized jars and seal immediately. If the petals are floating to the top, shake the jar once it is at room temperature to distribute the petals throughout the marmalade
I found this here

Summer recipes: Ricotta mixed berry mini cakes

Ingredients
200 ml milk
20 g unsalted butter
1 x vanilla bean, seeds scraped
1 1/3 cup caster sugar
400 g ricotta
5 x egg yolks
3 x egg whites
250 g strawberries, hulled, quartered
125 g blueberries
125 g raspberries
2 x lemon, rind
1/2 cup caster sugar (for pastry)
140 g unsalted butter (for pastry)
2 1/4 cups "00" flour (for pastry)
2 x eggs (for pastry)
1 x lemon rind (for pastry)
Method
To make pastry, place sugar and butter in a food processor. Process until combined. Add flour and pulse to combine. Add eggs and lemon rind and pulse until dough forms a ball around blade. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hrs or overnight.
Preheat oven to 190C or 170C fan. Grease and flour 12 x 10cm loose-based flan pans.
Heat milk, butter, vanilla bean and seeds and extra sugar in a pan on medium. Simmer for 5 mins. Transfer to a bowl. Cool. Strain and discard vanilla bean.
Using an electric mixer, beat ricotta and sugar until smooth. Add egg yolks and beat until well combined. Add milk mixture and beat to combine. Whisk eggwhites in a bowl until soft peaks form. Fold into ricotta mixture. Fold in berries and lemon rind.
Roll pastry on a lightly floured surface until 5mm thick. Cut 12 x 14cm rounds from pastry. Line prepared pans, pressing pastry into edges. Fill with ricotta mixture and smooth surface.
Bake for 25-30 mins, until set and golden. Cool on a wire rack. Serve dusted with icing sugar.
In each cake: 1862 kilojoules, 11g protein, 19g total fat (11g sat fat), 59g carbohydrate (39g sugar), 2g fibre, 106mg sodium.

I found this here