Monday 30 April 2018

Schoko-Nuss Muffins: Double Chocolate and Pecan Muffins (Wheat Free, with Dairy Free Option)

Today is the last day of (Irish) spring, and before the summer recipe collection starts, here is my final springtime offering: chocolate and pecan nut muffins!


Apologies for the poor photo quality: I'm due a phone upgrade, and as my phone ages (for the whole two or so years I've had it) the camera quality has slowly degraded. The levels and contrast are all over the place. Hopefully, with my new odd job doing homework tutoring, I can save up for a new one!

But anyway, back to the recipe.


It's been a while since I did a muffin recipe: the last one was nearly eighteen months ago back in the September of 2016, where I was introducing my companion to the wonderful world of baking. I don't think I've done many muffin recipes at all on this blog, because I'm not a big lover of muffins, truth be told.

However, I was moved to try a new muffin recipe with inspiration from the Whoopie pie recipe. When I was eating a whoopie pie, I thought they tasted very muffin-like, which made me wonder if the recipe could be adapted. I took the whoopie pie recipe, and simply added an extra medium egg, 4 ounces (115 grammes) of chocolate chips, and 2 ounces (55 grammes) of pecan nuts. I divided the mix among 12 large muffin liners, and baked at the same temperature for 20 to 25 minutes.

They worked really well! Although, next time I think I'll try adding a little extra sugar because they were a little more bready than cakey. They turned out well for an experiment!

THIS TIME IN 2015: Tiramisù Mini Cheesecakes (Wheat Free)
THIS TIME IN 2013: Dinosaur Kimberleys (Wheat Free)
There were no blogs on or around this day in 2014, 2016, nor 2017.

Saturday 28 April 2018

HUGE Exam Tomorrow! Wish Me Luck!

Hello all!

Tomorrow I have a mock exam for my black belt in Taekwondo. This is a hugely important exam, and if I pass, it will be the culmination of seven long years of martial arts study. If not, it will be back to the drawing board until next year. This is why I've been a little quiet over the past fortnight.

You cannot progress to the actual, for-real black belt exam without passing the mock exam (which makes the second "real" exam seem kinda superfluous to me, but oh well), so as you can well imagine I'm flipping the flip out over it!!!

So, tomorrow at 12:30PM, my worth as a martial artist will be measured, and hopefully not found wanting!

With me luck, everyone! I'll be back with a delicious recipe on Monday afternoon!

Sweetie xxx

Sunday 15 April 2018

First Attempt at Whoopie Pies (Wheat Free with a Dairy Free Option)

 There is now a new and improved post about Whoopie Pies here.

Today, I present to you a recipe several months in the making! Behold my own take on the American classic, Whoopie Pies!


About two or three years ago, I got a new cookery book for my birthday, which is a typical gift for me. This book, simply entitled Whoopie Pies introduced me properly to a confection that I had only heard of by name once or twice. I tried a recipe or two from the book, but wasn't a hundred percent happy with how they turned out and, as such, the book is still gathering dust on my bookshelf. 

Then a few months ago I was watching a programme on Food Network, and I saw the cook make some chocolate whoopie pies. It had been quite some time since I had last tried them and I thought Heck, why not give them another go? Seeing as the cook described them as a "mixture between a cupcake and a sandwich cookie", that's the kind of approach I took: I tried merging my basic sponge cake recipe and my chocolate chip cookie recipe together, but the results were disappointingly flat and crispy.


The real breakthrough came when I merged my basic sponge recipe with a basic scone recipe, and replacing the butter with oil: it made a very fluid mixture that puffed up nicely, but didn't spread out too much during baking. The result is a cake that has all the fluffiness and sweetness of a sponge cake, but the sturdiness of a biscuit. However, I'll probably work on this recipe in the future, because I generally am not a fan of the fact that this only uses brown sugar: I don't want my plain vanilla whoopie pies to be brown!

These lovely little sandwiches go slightly sticky on the crust the longer they stay in storage, which is ideal: I have it on good, American authority that a whoopie pie should somewhat stick to your fingers. 


~~ ^ _ ^ ~~

DIFFICULTY
Requires mixing and spooning out runny batter

TIME
About 2 hours

RECIPE RATING
Easy!

~~ ^ _ ^ ~~

INGREDIMENTS

For 12 to 14 sandwiches (24 to 28 total cakes)

8 ounces (225 grammes, 1.8 US cups) plain white spelt flour
2 teaspoons (10 millilitres) baking powder
¼ teaspoon (1 millilitre) salt
6 ounces (170 grammes, 1 US cup) brown sugar
4 fluid ounces (115 millilitres, ½ US cup) sunflower oil
1 medium (US large) egg
6 fluid ounces (170 millilitres, ¾ US cup) buttermilk, or plain soya yoghurt
1 teaspoon (5 millilitres) vanilla essence
About 1 pound (455 grammes) icing filling of your choice: butter cream, ganache, marshmallow fluff, etc.


METHOD

  • Preheat the oven to 170°C (340°F, Gas Mk.3), and grease and flour two flat baking trays.
  • In a large mixing bowl, sieve together the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Make a well in the centre.
  • In a jug, beat together the buttermilk, egg, oil, and vanilla essence until smooth. Pour into the well in the dry ingredients then, using a balloon whisk or electric mixer, mix together until there are no streaks of flour and the mixture is smooth and consistent.
  • Drop teaspoonfuls of the mixture on the baking trays, about an inch (2 centimetres) apart, using the tip of the spoon to smooth the dollops into rounds. Tap the trays sharply on the work surface to flatten out the pies. I got about 6 on each tray.
  • Bake in the centre of the preheated oven for 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from the oven when the pies spring back when touched lightly with a finger.
  • Allow to cool for about 5 minutes before transferring from the trays to wire cooling racks to cool completely. Repeat with the remaining mixture.
  • Pair the cakes together according to size, then sandwich together with about two tablespoons of filling. Set in the fridge for about half an hour before serving.


NOTES

  • For chocolate whoopie pies: Replace an eighth of the flour with cocoa powder, and sieve in with the other dry ingredients.
  • For red velvet whoopie pies: Replace a tablespoon (30 millilitres) of the flour with cocoa powder and sieve with the dry ingredients, and add red food colouring to the wet ingredients to get the shade you want.
  • For pumpkin spice whoopie pies: Add in 1 or 2 tablespoons (15 or 30 millilitres) to taste of your favourite pumpkin spice or mixed spice blend, and sieve in with the other dry ingredients.
  • For coffee whoopie pies: Add 2 teaspoons (10 millilitres) of instant espresso powder, and sieve in with the other dry ingredients

THIS TIME IN 2016: Buttermilk Scones (Wheat Free)
There was no blog on this day in 2014.

Thursday 12 April 2018

McVities Jaffa Cake Review Video

Today, I decided to dissect a Jaffa Cake on request to reveal its secrets.....


If you want to see more videos like this one, check out my YouTube page and like my Facebook page for notifications!

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/SweetiePieLMK
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/SweetiePieLMK

Tuesday 10 April 2018

Mr Kipling Mini Battenberg Review Video

Today, I decided to dissect a mini Battenberg cake on request to reveal its secrets.....


If you want to see more videos like this one, check out my YouTube page and like my Facebook page for notifications!

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/SweetiePieLMK
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/SweetiePieLMK

Sunday 1 April 2018

Modern Simnel Cake 2.0: "Can any cake be a Simnel cake? Or must it be fruit cake?" (Wheat Free with Dairy Free Option)

Alleluia! Christ is risen!

Happy Easter all, and to celebrate here is a delicious carrot cake with super luscious cream cheese icing, decorated with cake truffles made from leftover cake and icing.


Last year, I did a raspberry and almond cake for Easter, taking inspiration from the original marzipan element of the traditional Simnel cake, but fashioning little marzipan icons for each Apostle. This year, however, the only thing Simnel-y about this cake is mixed spice in the carrot cake. And, of course, the decoration.

No-one can agree on the origin of the word Simnel, but what most people agree on is that it's made of a fruit cake with a marzipan filling and topping, and has 11 marzipan decorations on top to represent the Disciples of Christ, without Judas.

So, in reality, any kind of cake can be a Simnel cake as long as it has the 11 disciples on top: for example, this is a fairly run of the mill carrot cake with cream cheese icing, but because of its decoration, it has Easter significance.



This time, the Disciples are represented by cake truffles which I made out of crumbling the sliced-off dome of the carrot cake and some icing. Usually, the eleven decorations are just arranged on top as if it's normal, but seeing an uneven number arranged like it's nothing very irritating. So, this time I decided to make a point of the missing Disciple to give it some evenness, and also I feel it gives its greater weight and significance.

The icing I used in this recipe was a little bit of an experiment, and before I share it with you I want to do some fine tuning. When I demonstrate it in a video, I will share the updated recipe. For now, just use whatever cream cheese icing you like.

~~ ^ _ ^ ~~

DIFFICULTY
Requires mixing, cake slicing, and layering

TIME
About 2 hours

RECIPE RATING
Easy!

~~ ^ _ ^ ~~

INGREDIMENTS

For one deep 8 inch (21 centimetre) round cake

8 ounces (225 grammes) white spelt flour
2 teaspoons (10 millilitres) baking powder
2 tablespoons (30 millilitres) ground mixed spice
¼ teaspoon (2 millilitres) salt
8 ounces (225 grammes) finely grated carrots
Zest of half an orange
4 medium (US Large) eggs
6 ounces (170 grammes) light brown sugar
4 fluid ounces (120 millilitres) sunflower oil
1 teaspoon (5 millilitres) vanilla essence
Optional: 3 ounces (85 grammes) raisins
Optional: 3 ounces (85 grammes) chopped walnuts

To decorate
1 pound (455 grammes) cream cheese icing, of your choice (see below for my recipe)
Icing sugar
Ground mixed spice

~~ ^ _ ^ ~~

FREE FROM
Wheat, yeast, dairy

CONTAINS
Eggs, spelt, nuts (unless you omit them), refined sugar

~~ ^ _ ^ ~~

METHOD

  • In a mixing bowl, sieve in the flour, baking powder, mixed spice, and salt. Stir in the carrots and orange zest, and the raisins and nuts if using, and toss through the flour.
  • In a wide jug, beat the eggs with the brown sugar with an electric hand mixer for a full five minutes, until doubled in size and pale, and when you lift the beaters you can leave a trail of mixture on the surface.
  • With the mixer running, gradually add in the sunflower oil and mix in well. Beat in the vanilla essence.
  • Make a well in the centre of the flour and carrots mixture and pour in the whipped eggs and sugar mix. Gently fold the whole thing together with a metal spoon or rubber spatula.
  • Pour the mixture into your prepared tin and bake in the centre of the preheated oven for 45 minutes to an hour, or until a cocktail stick stuck in the centre comes out completely clean.
  • Allow the cake to cool completely before cutting off the dome and slicing in half horizontally.
To decorate

  • Crumble the cake dome until very fine and mix with just enough icing to make a dough like texture. Roll the mixture into 11 balls, and chill for an hour until set.
  • Fill and ice the cake with the remaining icing (my cake was only one layer because I made a smaller cake). Place the cake truffles on top, using the lid of a cola bottle to replace the twelfth ball.
  • Dust the tops of the balls with icing sugar, and then mixed spice for visual contrast. Remove the cola bottle lid, and chill for an hour. Allow to temper to room temperature for half an hour before serving.

Mock "Cream Cheese" Icing

I made a cream cheese icing that doesn't actually have any cream cheese in, instead it had yoghurt. I find here in Ireland cream cheese varies so much in quality that it's unreliable: some days it whips up beautifully, and other days it turns to water.

To make this mock "cream cheese" icing, I melted together 4 ounces (115 grammes) each of Greek yoghurt and sugar and then simmered it for one minute (it will split slightly, but don't worry: you'll be whipping it later and won't notice it much). I removed it from the heat before adding in 8 ounces (225 grammes) of white chocolate and 4 ounces (115 grammes) of unsalted butter, in small pieces. I returned to pan to very low heat and cooked very gently, stirring all the time, until it was smooth and flowing. I then added a full quarter teaspoon of coarse salt and 1 tablespoon of lemon juice to give it that salty sourness associated with cream cheese icing.

I then allowed to cool and thicken, stirring every so often, until it reached a spreadable consistency. I lightly whipped mine with a hand mixer for a lighter texture, but this is optional. This icing is stable at room temperature.

THIS TIME IN 2017: College Classes are Over! Hoorah! (Chocolate Butter Cake with Simple Fudge Icing)
THIS TIME IN 2013: Different Sponge Cake Flavours (no April Fool, it's after 12pm)
There were no blogs on this day in 2014, 2015, or 2016

It's been a while! Happy 9th Anniversary!

  It's been a while. The past two years have been a helluva a ride. This year is gonna hold some big changes for this blog. I'm comp...