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Showing posts from January, 2017

Apple Cake

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Apple Cake- a light, moist sponge cake flavoured with chunks of fresh apple and cinnamon. Delicious served warm with cream or custard for an autumn winter dessert. I am usually really good at finding interesting ways to use up any bananas that are on the turn (see here for my banana recipes ). But, when it comes to apples, I don't have that many recipes at my fingertips. You could make crumble with leftover apples but really, it's much better with cooking apples than eating apples. When I remembered that a few eating apples were lurking under a big bunch of bananas in our fruit bowl, I wasn't sure quite what to do with them. I decided to make an apple cake to use them up, rather than let them go to waste. I was very pleased when the apple cake turned out beautifully, all golden brown with little pieces of apple peeking out of the top. It has a lovely, soft texture and the apple pieces make it very moist. This apple cake works very well with slightly softened, eating apples

Seeded Wholemeal Bread Rolls

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Do you ever make your own bread? I first made some when I was at university and I remember being very proud of it! It was a lovely white crusty loaf. The only problem was that the crust was quite salty and I suspect that I hadn't followed the recipe I was given correctly. I was a bit slap-dash in those days! I didn't make bread all that often after that day but, when I was getting married, I took the opportunity to put a breadmaker on my wedding gift list. My lovely sister and brother-in-law were kind enough to buy it for me (ahem, I mean us!). It was one of my most favourite gifts and it made me so happy when my sister was pregnant and craving cinnamon, that I could make her a home-made cinnamon raisin loaf. It took me a little while to brave making bread rolls, because I was a bit scared of trying things that weren't baked in the breadmaker, particularly getting the second rise of the dough right. It's actually not that scary, you just need to tackle the kneading wit

Slow Cooker Lamb Madras

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Slow Cooker Lamb Madras- a spicy slow cooked lamb curry, less than 200 calories. A great alternative to a takeaway and syn-free on Slimming World. Jump to recipe You just can't have enough curry recipes in my opinion, especially slow cooker ones. They help to get the absolute best out of those cheap cuts of meat which absorb all the delicious spices. So with that in mind, I was inspired by a pack of diced lamb that I got on special offer, to do a slow cooked lamb madras. Madras comes in many styles and originates from South India. The name madras for the curry however, is a British invention, like most of the curry names that we know and love. Madras is a red curry with plenty of chilli used to make it hot. It usually has a sour element included such as lime juice or vinegar, and sometimes will have yoghurt added to cool the heat. I used both fresh chillies and chilli powder to make this slow cooker lamb madras and add lime juice for the sour flavour. It thickens up beautifully

Slow Cooker Rosemary Chicken Stew

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Well the weather here has certainly turned. Below zero temperatures and even some of the white stuff! The change in temperature had me craving something warm and comforting, so I made a nice big batch of chicken stew in the slow cooker last week. Chicken stew is full of flavour just cooking in its own stock, but I wanted to boost that even more by adding rosemary. Chicken and rosemary are a classic flavour combination- so delicious together. The smell of the rosemary floating up the stairs, while it was cooking during the evening, was torture. I had to close all the doors to stop us from drooling! When we could finally eat it the following evening, it didn't disappoint and the rosemary flavour totally makes it, if I do say so myself! I'm sure that using the slow cooker really helps the depth of that flavour as well. I had made a great big batch, so the rest was swiftly split between plastic containers ready for lunches. I used chicken breasts for the Rosemary Chicken Stew becau

Oaty Double Chocolate Loafcake

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I had a bit of a dilemma when I was designing this recipe. I wanted to make a double chocolate loaf cake BUT... it's January. I'm trying to be healthier, most people are. Is it really a good time to be posting double chocolate cake?! So, I fiddled about with the recipe to try and make it a bit less indulgent and was really pleased with the result when I added porridge oats. The oats in this cake made it a denser, more filling cake, so a single slice is all you need. You still get a delicious chocolate hit from the cocoa and the chocolate chips too! Everything's automatically healthy if it has oats in. I'm pretty sure that's the rule... I had a slice with a cup of tea, whereas my husband really enjoyed a big thick slice with hot custard (slightly undoing my attempt to up the healthiness of the recipe!) I think it would make a great after school treat. A slice could probably be split between two children and easily keep them going until teatime!

Choc-Chip Panettone Bread and Butter Pudding

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Choc-Chip Panettone Bread and Butter Pudding- the best way to use up leftover over Panettone is to make this twist on the traditional British dessert. Use Panettone instead of bread and add chocolate chips for a creamy, comforting winter dessert. Did you get a Panettone as a gift this year? It's a pretty popular gift these days at Christmas, but until a couple of years ago, I had never really come across one, never mind eaten one. This sweet, enriched bread, full of dried fruit, has been made in Italy since the middle ages and has grown in popularity throughout Europe in recent years. Did you know that Panettone are hung upside down when baked, so that their dome shape doesn't get cracked and spoilt? No- me either! To enjoy Panettone traditionally, you slice it like a cake and serve with butter and/or jam to spread on top and have with coffee. Alternatively, you can tilt it sideways and slice circles from the end so that they will fit in the toaster. Apparently, it's amazin

Satsuma and Yoghurt Bundt Cake

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It was my Dad's birthday last week and a great excuse to give my Christmas present, a NordicWare Bundt tin, a trial run, by making him a cake. I decided to make a Satsuma and Yoghurt Cake, given all the satsumas that were available post-Christmas. I know many people will find this an unsual idea, but satsuma juice is absolutely delicious and makes as good a citrus cake as any other citrus fruit. It's a great way to use up any spare satsumas that you have to hand. The tricky part about using satsumas is the zesting. Satsumas don't have really firm skin like lemons, limes and full-size oranges. But, if you're careful, you can zest it. The first thing is to choose satsumas that aren't loose in their skin. You want the ones that would be annoying to peel, because they won't come away in nice big pieces. Then use your zester gently to grate the zest from the skin. You can't go at it hard, like you would with a lemon, so restrain yourself! Using a really good zest