Thursday, April 28, 2011

Spicy Apple Cakes


ingredients

100g unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1/3 cup caster sugar
1 egg, beaten lightly
1/2 cup milk
1 cup plain flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
pinch of salt

1 large apple, peeled, cored and sliced into thin pieces

1/4 cup raw sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

How to make your Spicy Apple Cakes

Lightly butter a 12 cup capacity muffin tin. Pre heat oven to 170C.

Combine melted butter, sugar, beaten egg and milk. Sift in the flour and ground cinnamon and salt. Stir gently until just combined. The mix will be lumpy not smooth. Spoon mix into tins. ( you should get about 11 to 12 cakes from the mix) Lay apple slices over the top. combine cinnamon and sugar and then give each cake a good sprinkle. Bake for 15 mins. then turn up the oven to 200C and cook a further 10 mins.

Crispy on the outside, soft in the middle.....YUM!

hope you all had a lovely Easter with family and friends!

enjoy!

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Slightly Tweaked Scones....

I was all ready to put up a Scroll recipe this week but then I got distracted (as I do) and here I am throwing around this old chestnut......This recipe first appeared on the blog on the 24th April last year. It's hard to believe that I am already a year old. The very first recipe along with the first dodgy photo appeared on the 6th April 2010.....hopefully my pics are a tiny bit better now!

I really wanted scones for breakfast. I don't know why or where I pulled that idea from but there I was on Sunday morning thinking I had everything and d'oh, no buttermilk. Then I spied 2 little tubs of Vanilla yogurt, just looking at me.....So here's the same recipe but instead of the buttermilk I've used 2 x 200g tubs of Jalna yogurt in Vanilla flavour. The result: YUM!

ingredients
3 and 1/2 cups Self raising flour
2 tablespoons caster sugar
pinch of salt
60g chopped butter
2 x 200g Jalna yogurt tubs

how to make your slightly tweaked scones

Pre-heat oven to 200C (fan forced). Place baking paper over a tray, set aside. Place 3 and 1/2 cups Self raising flour, 2 tablespoons caster sugar and a pinch of salt in a bowl. Combine. Add 60g chopped butter and rub through with your fingers until the mix resembles breadcrumbs. Make a well in the mix and add your 2 tubs of jalna yogurt. Using a flat blade knife, stir until dough almost comes together. Place on a floured surface (or another piece of baking paper on the bench). Give it a really good knead until dough comes together then using a rolling pin, roll out to a 3cm thickness. Then cut out rounds and place on your tray. Cook for approximately 18 - 20 mins, until golden brown on top and they sound hollow when tapped. Makes approximately 12.

I made a simple caramel sauce with equal amounts of butter and brown sugar and then added some chopped figs.........perfect start to Sunday!

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Kitchen Love Part 2




Here's a little sneak peek into our very simple kitchen.....these gorgeous pink glass cups and saucers I bought about 10 years ago....I love the light reflecting through them...




Originally I had open baskets under this beautiful old table that we use as a chopping block, however with my mountain of cookbooks, it was looking like a big mess. So I bought these gorgeous old suitcases.....problem solved!



This is one of my favourite spots in the kitchen....It's actually the top of the fridge. All my old china, platters, butter dish and my gold teapot live up here...just hanging out and looking pretty. I also love the old painting too. I saw the painting, without a frame in Vinnies but bought it anyway and a few weeks later I was in my favourite place in Newtown, Newspaper Taxi and saw this gorgeous gold frame...meant to be!




Speaking of Newspaper taxi......this was their christmas party invitation for last year....I just love it and think it looks gorgeous paired with this old cake tin by Willow. My Mother-in-law was going to throw it out but asked me if I could use it for anything.....now it takes pride of place in my humble little kitchen....



In our previous place the kitchen was a very vintage - pink and grey. I saw these and snapped them up! but I think they look equally as good in this kitchen too....especially with an unusual pink vase with home grown camelias and 2 old german milk glass cannisters....



So that's our kitchen - old, wooden, simple, nirvana.......oh, and that little nook near the water purifier....that's where I stand with my cup of tea, thinking about the day ahead....