Creole Christmas Cake ... YUM !!

So this year I decided ... it is my first Christmas in my new home, my first Christmas ever in my own home; I am going to do this properly!

Christmas pudding, Christmas cake, Mince pies, Home-made Stuffing Terrine to go with the Turkey and roast potatoes and roast parsnips and brussel sprouts and yorshires and gravy and all the other masses of gorgeousness that we shove on our plates on Christmas day !! :) 

Home-made of course ... well I'm going to try ... I'm doing dinner for 7 people so it's probably going to be half and half ... shop bought some bits ... the Christmas pudding is one of those things ... I'd love to attempt my own ... maybe next year ... I don't know ... but there is too much going on this year to be able to do that too! 

What I am making home-made is the Christmas cake! 

I am following Delia this year. 

I stumbled upon this wonderful recipe at my friend Evelyn's house in France. She was my English neighbour and we became good friends. She absolutely swore by it. And me vary wary of traditional Christmas cake tried it and was won over instantly! This is how much her and her husband like this cake ... they make it in April and she makes about 8 and stores them wrapped up in the cellar. They eat them all throughout the year now! 

I'm not quite that bad and I followed Delia's recipe closely which was no feeding and said only make it a month before. 

Here's the link for Delia's recipe ... mix it up this Christmas ... try Creole instead of traditional ... It's moist and lighter and totally transforms the traditional heavy stodgy in your face insane bitter flavour of the traditional! 

Delia's Creole Christmas Cake

Try it and let me know what you think !! 

Mine is baked and stored away ready for icing just before Christmas ... you will have to wait until then to see the finished product ... 

simple bakes for crazy lives ... fat free apricot tea loaf

mmmm i must start with an apology ... again !! 2 months have practically gone by and i have given you one whole blog !! Wowza !! anyway ... life is fairly hectic ... and i have done loads of cooking and i've got photos for blogs coming out my ears ... but actually sitting down here to blog seems fairly rare ... 

This one is a hugely simple and easy to do recipe (I can remember the recipe in my head and am blogging from my desk at work its that easy). You just need to be in to have the oven time and soaking time, but the actual method is easy !! 

One absolutely gorgeous moist tea loaf ... making it your own as well is so simple, you can used spiced tea's or different fruit. Generally i use raisins or mixed ... my mum tried it not so long ago with a chai tea ...

See mums recipe 

but this is a long standing family recipe ... fat free but lets be honest with the amount of sugar thats in this bad boy we can't really claim it's a healthy bake !! lol The diet goes out the window again !!

heres what you do ...

use a mug to measure all your ingredients ...
preheat the oven to gas 4//180 degrees

Firstly take a mug of fruit (raisins, mixed dried fruit, apricots, dried cherries)
pour it into a mixing bowl
Then measure a mug full of sugar and stick it in the same bowl
(I actually found it a little sweet last time so next time i would use maybe 3/4 of a mug of sugar)
Then make black tea in the same mug (do not use milk), boil it up then let it brew for a few minutes and add to the bowl
leave to soak for at least 30 mins
rinse and leave the mug to dry at this point

pop off and do a bit of shopping or some ironing ... then ...

add to the bowl (using the same dry mug) 2 mugs full of self raising flour
and 1 egg ...
Mix ...

Stick into a greased loaf tin ... and bake for about an hour ... it really will depend on what you've put in there, so keep your eye on it and check with a skewer to check it is cooked through.
If not ... leave it in for a few more minutes ... it's so moist it won't dry out unless you bake it for ages ... so don't be worried about leaving it for a few more minutes ...

et voila ... one squishy fruity tea loaf ... ready for your family to scoff (Oh and did i mention - it's fat free !! LOL)

chocolate cheesecake muffins

the hubster was mightily impressed with these ...

i made these a few weeks ago as my birthday cakes to take to the office ...

I have been saving the blog til i had time to sit down and write the recipe out.

so if you want to do some easy chocolately swirly impressiveness ... this is the recipe for you.


you will need :

Cheesecake mix:
175g cream cheese (make sure its full fat)
60g sugar
1 egg (lightly beaten)
1/2 tsp vanilla essence

Muffin mix:
150g flour
175g sugar
35g cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup veg oil
4 tbsp melted butter
2 eggs (lightly beaten)
1 tsp vanilla essence
110ml milk (this is fairly approximate, just put it in little by little and check how runny your mix looks)
75g semisweet chocolate

heat the oven to 190 degrees// gas mark 5
get your muffin tray ready, with cases, or grease it (I always use cases)

For the cheesecake mix combine the cream cheese, sugar, egg, and essence in a bowl, leave to one side.

Then for the muffins, mix the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda and salt in a large bowl.

In a second bowl mix together the oil, melted butter, eggs, vanilla, melted chocolate and about half the milk.

Now add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Add the remainder of the milk, little by little, until you have a thick cake mix.

You are going to layer the mixtures into the cases so you do no want it too runny, but it needs tobe pourable.

Layer your mixtures into the muffin holes, starting with the chocoate mix. Pour a blob into each hole,  this does not have to be perfect, each muffin will be different, then follow with the cheesecake mix and repeat until the holes are about 3/4 of the way full.

You can either leave them as they are in sort of ring formation, or swirl through them with a knife to create a marbled effect. 

Wack them in the oven for about 25 mins ... mine took slightly longer, but it was the first thing i cooked in my new oven, so i was still working out the temperatures and timings.

Leave for a few mins in the tray before turning to a wire tray for cooling.

Seriously gooey, easy muffins to impress ... !!

light lemon cheesecakes

well ... it has been a while ...

since i was last on here we have bought a house, taken it back to bare brick and built it up again to a gorgeous little pad for me and Tim.

Got some friends over tomorrow and i've made some light little desserts for dinner as i'm still trying to do the dreaded diet. Fairly difficult when you love food as much as i do! :( lol

anyway heres a little treat for you !!

I made four little ones out of this recipe:

ingredients:

4 tbs fat free greek yoghurt
6 tbs lemon curd
1 tsp lemon juice
125ml double cream

5 digestive/oaty biscuits (I use a mixture)
50g butter

Whiz biscuits in a processor until they are finely crushed.
Melt the butter over a low heat in a saucepan.
Mix the butter and biscuit crumbs together and press into four cheesecake moulds.
Mix the yoghurt, lemon curd, and lemon juice together in a large bowl.
Whip cream in a separate bowl until you get "floppy" peaks.
Fold the cream, a tablespoon at a time into the mix.
I did mine in little glasses and just layered the cheesecake mix on top of the biscuit.
I used a spatula to push the topping flat, i couldn't fit a pallet knife inside the glasses. 
Chill in the fridge for at least 30 mins.
I did mine the night before and ... they are sat there right now - tempting me!

Lemon Tart

yet again an easy but delicious and pretty impressive!

I cheated with ready made pastry which made it like 50x easier!
What you need to do is ...
Blind bake your pastry ... for about 15 mins on gas mark 6/200 degrees
Whilst it's in the oven ...
cut up 200g of fresh strawbs into whatever shapes you want really then ...
whisk together ...
3 medium eggs
75g caster sugar
220ml double cream
finely grated zest and juice of 3 lemons

and that's it really ...  when the pastries done pull out the shelf and place your strawberries on the pastry, then pour your mixture ... if you fo this on the oven shelf you'll hopefully have no spillage.

Then bake it on 180 degrees or gas mark 4 for 30 mins - 40 mins ... keep your eye on it and check it with a skewer. Dust it with icing sugar if you fancy.

Chocolate Snowballs ....

Christmas parties have started ... these were a real hit!! 

seeing as so many people have been asking ... i'll share the recipe !! 

Ingredients: 

4 oz dark Chocolate (melted and cooled)

4 oz milk Chocolate (melted and cooled)

1 + 1/2 cups plain flour 

1/2 cup cocoa powder

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter (room temperature)

1 + 1/3 cups light brown sugar

2 large eggs1 tsp vanilla essence

1/3 cup of milk

1 cup granulated sugar (for rolling)

1 cup icing sugar (for rolling)

in a medium bowl whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt until well mixed

in a large bowl beat butter and brown sugar with an electric mixer on medium high speed until light and fluffy.

add eggs and vanilla extract and beat well until combined

add chocolate and beat until blended

with mixer on low add flour and milk bit by bit alternating between the two until just combined

divide the dough into quarters and wrap in cling film and stick it in the fridge for at least two hours (i left mine overnight)

preheat oven to 180 degrees and line cookie sheets with baking paper

place your sugar into two separate bowls

roll your mixture  into balls i got bout 12 out of each portion of mixture (leave the mixture until the very last minute, do one packet at a time as it melts quickly especially if your a hot blooded creature like me)

roll each ball through the granulated sugar and then through the icing sugar

place on your tray about 2 inches apart - they grow massively in the oven

cook for about 12 - 15 minutes 

leave them to cool on a cooling racks and store in airtight containers for up to a week - but trust me - you'll struggle to keep them that long

who likes a low fat dessert thats tasty ???

I DO !! this one was goooooooood !!

This is a FROZEN STRAWBERRY MERINGUE CAKE

Ingredients:                                                              For the Coulis:
low fat cooking spray                                              200g Strawberries (chopped finely)
150g amaretti biscuits (crushed)                             1 tbs Icing Sugar
50g low fat spread, melted
2 egg whites
60g caster sugar
250g ripe strawberries (chopped finely)
1 tbs lemon juice 
1 tsp vanilla extract

You need a springform 9 inch tin for this one lined with baking paper

Spray the lined tray with cooking spray
mix together the biscuits with the low fat spread in a bowl and push into the bottom of the tray
Stick in the fridge until needed
put your egg whites and whisk until stiff peaks form (you need a very very clean bowl)
add the sugar a little at a time and whisk to mix it in
fold in the strawbs, lemon juice and vanilla
spoon mixture on top and  spread out evenly with a spatula or palette knife
freeze for 3 hours 
make the coulis by blitzing the strawberries and sugar in a blender (you can sieve it if you want it pip free but i left them in)
remove from freezer 20 minutes before serving
slice and serve with drizzled coulis
if you slice this pud into 8 pieces each slice is only 4 weight watchers pro points
and an 8th is a fairly big slice  - yummy "healthy" pud !! :)

cute cupcakes ...

I had lots of fun with these :)
Sorry I haven't blogged in a while. Living with the in-laws and not doing a lot of my own cooking.

Enjoy these photos of my lemon curd cupcakes. I had so much fun trying out my first attempt at icing and making flowers and stuff ... It was a lovely activity. I got one of those icing syringes as a birthday gift and had to try it out. Plus my mother in -law is a master cake decorator and showed me how to do the little flowers and let me into the secrets of her cake decorating box. (i have never seen so many different colours of food colouring.

Mojito anyone ?

Mojito cheesecake ... for the brother in law who loves his mojitos.

Sorry i haven't blogged in a while ... it's been a combo of moving house and the old weight watchers ... I'm actually going to the class now so i have to be really good !!

Heres the recipe ... all i'd say on this one is you don't really need to be a fan of mojitos ... but you do need a sweet tooth!And you need time ... it takes a while ... but it' not difficult ... the work is simple and quick it's just a waiting game ... I'd suggest that you bake this the day before and let it cool overnight.

Ingredients:

900g cream cheese

1.5 cups of sugar
3 tbsp flour
4 large eggs
1/4 cup of lime juice (i used bottled)
2 oz rum
5 oz evaporated milk
1 or 2 teaspoons of dried mint leaves (chopped finely)
115g mascapone
75g fromage frais
(the mascapone and fromage frais make a topping which could be left out if you felt that was too much)
a lime for decoration (optional)
digestives + butter for base (i cant remember the quantitiies - look on line for a base recipe)
Method: 

Preheat oven to 250degrees
crush your biscuits, and mix with melted butter, then press into tin
Mix together the cream cheese, sugar and flour until very smooth
Add eggs one at a time
Add rum, lime juice and condensed milk mix together well and add mint, stirring until evenly spread
Pour into prepared pan (i use a spring loaded tin)
Bake on 250 for 15 minutes and then turn down to 130 for a full hour
(I actually baked mine in my mums gas oven and the temperature was gas 8 and then needed to turn it down to 1/4 but my mums cooker doesn't go that low so i put it on gas mark 1)
Leave to cool completly nd then refrigerate before serving ... it's a bit of a long process ... 
To make the topping all you do is mix the mascapone and the fromage frais until really well combined and spread over the cooled cheesecake. 

chocca mocha caramel cake

This was a great cake ... not weight watchers ... but truly delicious ... I don't think i need say anything else ;)

Cake Ingredients:

1+1/2 tsp fresh ground coffee/ 2 tsp instant coffee
2 tbsp cocoa
175g butter, softened
175g caster sugar
2 eggs
2 tbsp golden syrup
200g self raising flour
4 tbsp milk
100g chocolate caramel bars (broken into pieces)

Icing:
100g chocolate caramel bar
50g butter
2 tbsp milk
100g icing sugar

Instructions ...

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees
Line your cake tin
Mix the coffee, cocoa and 2 tablespoons of hot water into a smooth paste
Place all cake ingredients except the chocolate caramel bars into a large bowl (including coffee paste) and beat until smooth
Add the pieces of caramel bar and stir in
Pour into the prepared tin and bake for 50-60 minutes
Cool on a wire rack

For the icing:

Heat the caramel bar gently with the butter and milk until smooth (stir continuously)
Remove from the heat and stir in the icing sugar
Leave to cool then transfer to serving dish
Spread the icing over the cooled cake

And .... enjoy !! :)

beautiful berry muffins for tea ...

These are a treat for my good friends who were spending the evening with tonight!
I am on weight watchers and i've walked past the box about 100 times and resisted .... but then i gave in ... after about an hour i gave up on feeling guilty and worked out the points to see quite how naughty i'd been ...

turns out not so bad ... only 4.5 ww points per muffin !! lol so i'll just have to eat less later !! and not enjoy another muffin!

heres the recipe so you can try these muffins ... they're really light and fluffy .. and fresh strawbs make them taste like summer !! these would be a great easy dessert for a bbq ... i think served with a big helping of coconut ice-cream (i mean vanilla would be fine but coconut is summery too!!)

Ingredients:
2.5 cups of SR Flour/ 375g
90g cold butter, chopped
1 cup caster sugar/ 220g
3/4 cup milk ( i use 1% milk)
1/2 cup low fat natural yog
1 egg beaten lightly
200g of berries - fresh or frozen ... i used half fresh strawberries and half frozen mixed berries

It's really easy to do ....

* preheat oven to 180 degrees, and grease your muffin tin
* sift flour into large bowl (if you dont have a sieve, use a whisk after you've put your flour in the bowl ... give it a quick whiz round ... this has the same effect - thanks to hugh at river cottage for that advise)
*rub in the butter
*stir in sugar, milk, yoghurt, and egg
*the mixture will look a bit lumpy (see pic above)
*add the berries and mix them in lightly
* spoon mixture into tray
*bake for about 20 mins
*cool on a wire tray

my messy kitchen !!

so there you have it ... another quick recipe to spin out for your family and friends

apple cinnamon muffins with a crunchy butter top

Ingredients:

2 cups (300g) SR flour
1 cup (150g) Plain Flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 cup (200g) firmly packed brown sugar
2 tsps cinnamon
1.5 cups (210g) chopped apple
2 eggs
1.5 cups (375ml) milk
3/4 cup (180ml) veg oil

topping:
1/4 cup (50g) brown sugar
1/4 cup (35g) plain flour
40g butter

preheat oven to 180 degrees

makes 16

Sift dry ingredients into large bowl, stir in combined eggs, milk and oil.
Add cinnamon and 1 cup of the apple (saving the rest for the topping).
Put mixture into prepared muffin tin.
Make the topping by combining sugar and flour, and rub in butter.
Top the muffins with apple and topping.
Bake for about 20 minutes.

chocolate caramel layer cake ...

DELICIOUS !!

This cake is made up of four different layers ... it takes a while to do but it worth the while (I got it out of the good food mag)

For Vanilla and Chocolate sponges:

225g butter (plus extra for greasing)

225g caster sugar

175g self raising flour

85g ground almonds

1 tsp baking powder

3 eggs

150ml natural yoghurt

1 tsp vanilla essence

5 tbsp cocoa powder

For caramel and caramel-choc sponges:

225g butter (extra for greasing)

175g light muscovado sugar

50g dark muscovado sugar

175g self-raising flour

85g ground almonds

1 tsp baking powder

3 eggs

150ml natural youghurt

1 tsp vanilla essence

1 tbsp cocoa 

to assemble:

397g can caramel

140g dark chocolate

140g milk chocolate

300ml double cream

Heat oven to 180 degrees, grease and line bases of sandwich tins with baking parchment.

For the vanilla and chocolate sponges mix together all the ingredients apart from the cocoa, with an electric whisk. 

Scrape half the mixture into a second bowl and mix in the cocoa.

Scrape the vanilla mix into one tin, and the chocolate mix into the other, bake for 20-25 mins.
Repeat the same steps for the caramel and choc-caramel sponges, leaving the cocoa out until you have separated the mixture. Bake the sponges as above. 

While the sponges are cooling melt the chocolate together. Then stir in the cream, and cool or chill until spreadable. 

When the sponges are cool, decide which is the bottom sponge and spread a third of the caramel over it. Choose your next sponge and repeat the process, take your third sponge and use the remainder of the caramel to top it, add the last sponge. 

Spread the cake with the chocolate icing. 

It will last for up to 3 days (if you can make it last that long), I kept mine in the fridge, but an airtight container in a cool place would be ok.

Enjoy making this .... i did! :)