Very Berry Mini Muffins

Happy 2011!

Apologies for the long sabbatical at the end of last year. But don't fret. The baking continued, just not the blogging. It was Christmas after all...

You might be thinking January is a strange time to get back to blogging about baked goods. What about the world's obsession with being healthy and fit at the beginning of every year? Muffins and cakes don't fit into any fad or detox diet that I know of.

In light of this, and my ever going resolution to keep healthy, the next few blogs will focus on healthier bakes. Wholewheat, multi-grains, low-fat, low-cal, portion controlled, etc, etc.

One of the best tricks to lighter baking is fruit. It adds sweetness without refined sugars, moister without fat. Berries are good for a tart taste, bananas for a moist bite and orange for a tangy mouthful.

I had some defrosted frozen mixed berries on my pancakes this morning so I decided to use up the last of those in today's muffins. These are a nice little (mini, if you will) treat that look really interesting. M commented that 'you can tell there's no butter but they are still nice.' I agree. Moist and tart.

Very Berry Mini-Muffins.

1 cup oats

3/4 cup skim milk (semi-skimmed is fine too)

1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1 tbsp baking powder

1/4 cup sugar

1 cup berries, any

2 egg whites

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 cup almonds or walnuts (optional)

Combine the oats and milk in a bowl. Set aside to soak for 15 minutes

Combine flour, baking powder and sugar. Mix well. Add the oat mixture and the rest of the ingredients. Stir until the dry is just moistened.

Coat a muffin pan with non-stick fat-free spray (we use Fry Light Sunflower Spray). Fill cups 3/4 full with batter. Bake at 350/gas mark 5 for 12-15 minutes, longer is using regular muffin tray.

Remove from oven and allow to sit for 5 minutes before removing from the pan.

If you don't have a mini-muffin pan, the recipes works just as well with a regular muffin pan. Just extend the baking time. They are ready when a tooth-pick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

My batter came out purple thanks for the berry mix and the tops of the muffins stayed purple, making them look really interesting. Shout out to my mother-in-law--she bought me the really pretty cake box behind the muffins in the picture.

Bonfire Night

Happy Bonfire Night!

Apple Streusel Muffins

It's been a long time, eh? Sorry about that. Besides being on holiday for a week, I took a little break from baking, mostly because it's almost Christmas and I do an extraordinary amount of baking for Christmas.

But, as it's Halloween, in the UK retail world tomorrow marks the official beginning of the Christmas season. And I really can't let autumn pass by, Halloween especially, without some seasonal baking.

Apples and pumpkin. Short of candy corn and cranberries, they are the staples of autumn baking. (Can you bake with candy corn, actually? Perhaps I'll experiment on that in the next few days...) Had I not used the last of the eggs for today's muffins today would have provided a double feature, these apple muffins and something else with the pumpkin puree that's s

itting in my fridge. Alas, no more eggs. And it's too rainy to go to the shop.

So it's just the muffins today. But they are plenty. Delicious with spice, nutty on top, great with a cup of Chai Spiced tea.

The recipe calls for flaxseed but I don't have any in the cupboard (can you believe Tesco want 5 quid for a box?). I substituted wheat germ instead, which worked fine. If you don't have either, perhaps whole wheat flour will suffice. Try it and see.

1 cup flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/3 cup brown sugar

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp apple pie spice (see notes below)

1/4 tsp salt

2 eggs

1 cup buttermilk

2 tbsp canola oil

3/4 cup shredded apple with peel

2 tbsp chopped pecans

1 tbsp flaxseed

1 tbsp butter

1 tbsp brown sugar

Preheat oven to 350/gas 4.

Sift both flours, baking powder, sugar, salt and spices together. Make a well in the centre, set aside.

Beat eggs. Stir in milk and oil. Add to the flour mix. Stir together until just moistened. Fold in apple. Spoon into 12 muffin cups.

Combine pecans, flaxseed and sugar. Cut in butter until it looks like bread crumbs. Spoon on top of muffins.

Bake 18-20 minutes until skewer inserted comes out clean. They won't look that golden on top so don't overbake (I think I did a little). Check with a toothpick at 18 minutes to be sure then go from there.

For the apple pie spice, as it's not something sold in the UK (this is an American company's recipe), mix together 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp nutmeg, 1/8 allspice and 1/8 tsp ground cardamom. This will produce more than the 1 tsp necessary but just barely. Feel free to make a bigger batch and store in your spice cupboard. I did.

Naughty Mess Cake

Ok. It's not the best or most appealing name for a cake. But it's accurate. It's filthy. It's diabolical for your waistline. It's ooey gooey and gets everywhere. It's, literally, finger-lickin'.

But it's fantastic. I'm not generally boastful when it comes to baking. I like to think I'm pretty honest, actually. Most things taste pretty good; I don't always get an A for presentation, but I know what I'm better at than other things. But this was amazing. I want more.

It's Michelle's birthday this time around. I know she likes chocolate but she was already hinting that she was going to bring in a chocolate cake and because the 2 previous were chocolate I thought I'd keep it to an accent, not a base.

It looks complicated. Don't try to make this unless you're prepared for a really messy kitchen afterward. You will use most of the dishes in your house.

Crust:

230g butter

2 tbsp sugar

2 cup flour

Vanilla Pudding:

3 egg yolks

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup flour

2 cup milk

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 tbsp butter

Cream Cheese Layer:

225g cream cheese

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp lemon juice

1 cup whipped cream

Glaze:

55g semi-sweet chocolate

2 tbsp butter

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

Additional layers:

1 1/2 cup whipped cream

225g crushed pineapple

toffee sauce

Butter a 9x13 pan. Preheat oven to 350/180/5. Beat butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in flour until pebbly. Press into bottom of pan. Bake 20 minutes. Let cool completely.

Beat egg yolks for pudding. Set aside. Whisk sugar, flour and milk until free of lumps. Set on medium heat. Cook until just a boil. Remove from heat, stir a little into eggs. Pour egg mix back into pan. Cook 1-2 minutes until thickened, whisking occasionally. Remove from heat, pour into a bowl, add vanilla and butter and mix until melted. Chill with cling film pressed on top of pudding (to prevent skin).

Beat cream cheese, sugar, vanilla and lemon juice. Fold a scoop of whipped cream into mix then fold rest in.

Melt chocolate with butter and vanilla.

To assemble: Spread crust with cream cheese mix, then crushed pineapple, toffee, pudding, and lastly, whipped cream. Drizzle with glaze. It's best if let to chill overnight in the fridge. It helps all the layers to set, mix and soak with each other.

German Chocolate Cake

It's another September birthday cake! This time around it's my mother-in-law, Mary's, birthday. And what kind of cake do you make someone who likes chocolate, coffee and richness? One option is an espresso-style cake with a creamy frosting but I've been so tempted to make this cake. There is a hint of coffee, a really rich and dense cake and loaded with chocolate.

I'm not sure where the name came from though I have my theories. I don't think it came from Germany. I actually think a German-American immigrant created this and just threw a bit of their heritage in it, as happens with a lot of traditional American recipes. Hybrids of recipes brought over with family members, altered and varied to make it more accessible are rich in American culinary history. Or maybe I'm wrong. Whilst I like philosophizing about history of recipes I haven't done any research, perhaps I should pick of a book or two. Speaking of which, dear reader (hi Kerry), it's almost my birthday.

What distinguishes this recipe is actually the frosting. The cake itself is just a richer chocolate cake, with a bit of coffee. But the frosting is incredibly different than what you'd think to put on top a cake. Coconut and chocolate? With a caramel style base?

One downside to this cake-experience, the sandwich tins I have are incredibly shallow so the cake layers are quite thin compared to other cakes. One upside is that meant I had a lot of extra batter so I got a chance to make German Chocolate Cupcakes as well, with a dollop of pecan-coconut frosting on each.

120g semi-sweet chocolate

2 1/4 cup flour

3/4 cup cocoa powder

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup hot coffee

1 cup buttermilk (or soured milk)

280g softened butter

2 1/4 cup sugar

5 eggs

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

Preheat 350/170/4. Line 3 round sandwich tins and dust with flour.

Melt chocolate in a double boiler or a bowl set over simmering water. Let cool to room temperature.

Sift flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Combine coffee and buttermilk. Beat butter until smooth and creamy. Add sugar. Beat 3-5 minutes. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Beat in vanilla.

Add coffee mix and flour mix to sugar and butter in alternate batches, starting and ending with flour. Mix until just combined. Fold in chocolate. Divide evenly between tins. Bake 30-35 minutes. Let cool in pans 20 minutes then invert to racks and let cool completely. Frost when cooled.

Coconut Pecan Frosting

125g pecans

1 cup granulated sugar

240ml single or double cream, your choice

3 egg yolks

113g butter, cut into cubes

1/8 tsp salt

1 1/2 cup coconut flakes (desiccated coconut)

1/2 tsp vanilla

Roast pecans 8-10 minutes. This can be done whilst the cake is also in the oven.

In a saucepan, combine sugar, cream, eggs, butter and salt. Cook over medium heat until boils and thickens.

Remove from heat, stir in coconut, pecans and vanilla. Let cool until spreadable. Can be chilled until ready. If it's too hard after coming out of the fridge, microwave a little until better.

Assemble cake layers with a layer of frosting in between each.

Chocolate Toffee Cake

Let's start with the first of September's run of birthday cakes: Dave's.

The original name of this cake is a little ambitious. The recipe I based this cake off of is actually called better-than-sex cake. I'm not sure how the two are comparable? I guess both are physical and you can eat cake with another person.

It's too early in the morning to get philisophical about cake names.

For this, use any chocolate cake recipe you prefer. It can be made with cocoa powder, melted chocolate or both. You could even throw in chocolate chips if you wish. The actual base nature of the cake doesn't matter, just that it's chocolate and any additions don't clash with toffee.

1 chocolate cake

1 can sweetened condensed milk

toffee fudge (either homemade or the premade ice cream topping)

Whipping cream

2 tbsp icing sugar

crushed chocolate toffee bars

Bake your cake according to your recipe instructions.

As soon as you pull the cake out of the oven, poke holes or cut slits into the top. Pour sweetened condensed milk over, letting little bits soak in before pouring on more. You can use the whole can or just a bit, it's up to you (I only used about half).

Once soaked in, pour over toffee and let soak into cake.

Let cake cool entirely. Whip cream and sugar together until stiff and spreadable. Spread over cake. You can spread the sides of the cake as well or you can leave them bear. Pile crushed chocolate toffee bars on top. And your done!

As you can see from mine, I baked two cake round, soaked milk and toffee on top of both cakes and put the whipped cream in the middle (and yes, mine did come out a little wonky. boo).

Nut & Seed Biscotti

As part of another little project I'm in the middle of, M and I hosted an Italian night for our friends; lots of red wine, antipasti, bread and all followed by coffee and biscotti. I thought about making almond biscotti as it's a bit more traditional. I have a very good recipe for almond basil biscotti with a hint of lemon. It's wonderful dipped in vanilla or amaretto cream.

As it was, I was in the mood for something a little more savoury. These fit the bill just right. It's basically a vehicle for nuts and seeds, just enough flour and egg to hold it all together.

This time I used shelled pistachios, poppy seeds, sunflower seeds, linseeds, hemp seeds, pecans and whole almonds. Any mix works well though, so go with your own preferences or what you have on store.

1 1/3 cup flour

2 cups mixed nuts and seeds

1/2 tsp salt

2 eggs

2/3 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup oil

Preheat 300/155/gas 2. Grease and line a 1lb loaf tin.

Combine flour, nuts/seeds and salt. Whisk together eggs and sugar.

Combine flour mix into egg and sugar. Scoop into loaf pan. Bake 45-50 minutes.

Remove from pan right away. Turn oven up to 425/220/gas 7.

Slice loaf thinly whilst hot. Brush one side of each slice with oil. Bake 3-4 minutes. Turn over, brush other side with oil and bake until crisp. Let cool.

Alternatively, after brushing with oil, you can put the slices under the grill until crisp and browned.