tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15329353279151714472024-03-14T05:45:06.330-07:00A TableSpoon Of ThisA tablespoon of This...http://www.blogger.com/profile/05262346093737696869noreply@blogger.comBlogger41125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1532935327915171447.post-38846607276336487972015-04-26T12:34:00.000-07:002015-04-26T12:34:26.291-07:00Nutella Brioche Star bread!!!!<div style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 13px; padding: 0px !important;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">So you know that Nutella brioche star bread that was all over the Internet? I've made it already. A million times.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">And you want to know something else? </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">I made it so many times because everyone loved it so much and now we are taking a 'break' from it!</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Maybe a break for one or two weeks then I'm so going to make it again!!! :-P</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">It is DELICIOUS!!! And it tastes of REAL brioche! Even better than the one you get in the supermarket- because not only is this homemade, but it has Nutella in it.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Nutella makes EVERYTHING taste like its descended from the heavens.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">We all know that to be true!</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">In fact a couple of weeks ago, while I was busy preparing lunch in the kitchen I suddenly heard it.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Heard what?</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Nothing! </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">You know how scary that is when you have a two year old Snugglebug lurking around the house? Silence is suspicious.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Panicking, I ran out of the kitchen calling his name but had no answer.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Then I saw him in the kitchen- the same room I was in all along- quietly crouched in a corner with his back to me. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Relieved to have found him I went to give him a hug, only to find his entire hand inside the jar of Nutella that he had pulled out of the 'locked' cupboard. His entire face was covered in the chocolatey goodness and he had a look of pure delight on his face.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">I couldn't even be mad at him. I mean we would all dig into the jar of Nutella and eat it all up if we could right?</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Needless to say, the Nutella stays in a safer place in the kitchen now.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Anyway. Make this bread. It's super amazing and having some with a nice cup of tea is perfection!!!!</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Also, it is SOOO pretty!!!</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">I got the recipe from <a href="http://www.thebreadkitchen.com/recipes/nutella-brioche-flower/" target="_blank">here</a> but eliminated the lemon zest. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxaDxiqTiT0" target="_blank">Here</a>'s a straightforward video on how to make the bread!</span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuke7Tkfc8uPx5Jia51RPmO3SOpcjMrjCfaKG-z_A3Dfzcdb9RztQbc0qNnYXcPwuA5FEkeRtkTpLxsMi3ndmWL2D9gbG5BBSx0FzQuUxvKhR9NoLp3WoVfxLQHfH65_FbuY0b6cPL8hM/s1600/IMG_8766.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuke7Tkfc8uPx5Jia51RPmO3SOpcjMrjCfaKG-z_A3Dfzcdb9RztQbc0qNnYXcPwuA5FEkeRtkTpLxsMi3ndmWL2D9gbG5BBSx0FzQuUxvKhR9NoLp3WoVfxLQHfH65_FbuY0b6cPL8hM/s1600/IMG_8766.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Take each to segments and twist away 360<span style="text-align: start;">° and then </span><span style="text-align: start;">90°<br />and press together.</span><span style="text-align: start;"> </span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><b>Ingredients</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><b>For the dough</b></span></div>
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<li style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">500 g (16 oz) bread flour or all-purpose flour</span></li>
<li style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">190 ml (6 fl oz) lukewarm milk</span></li>
<li style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">3 tbsp sugar</span></li>
<li style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">60 g (2 oz) melted butter</span></li>
<li style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">2 eggs</span></li>
<li style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Grated zest of a lemon</span></li>
<li style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">1 tsp salt</span></li>
<li style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">1 tsp dried yeast</span></li>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><b>The rest of the stuff:</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><b></b></span><br /></div>
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<li style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Nutella</span></li>
<li style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">1 tbsp milk + 1 tbsp water for a glaze</span></li>
<li style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Icing sugar</span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 13px; letter-spacing: 0px;">Mix the yeast and the sugar with the milk. Leave for 10 minutes for the yeast to activate.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 13px; letter-spacing: 0px;">Beat the eggs in a separate bowl.</span><br />
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Mix the flour and salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the centre and add the butter, eggs and yeast/milk. Mix to a soft dough.</div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 13px; letter-spacing: 0px;">Knead the dough for 10 minutes then form into a ball and place in a bowl.</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 13px; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 13px; letter-spacing: 0px;">Cover and leave it in a warm place until the dough has about doubled in size.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Cut out a circle of baking or greaseproof paper about 30 cm (12″) in diameter. You can use this as a guide on how big to roll out each dough quarter.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Once risen, turn the dough out onto a surface, knock it back knead for 3-4 minutes. Divide the dough into 4 pieces and form each piece into a ball.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 13px; letter-spacing: 0px;">Roll a ball of dough out into a circle measuring about 25 cm (10″) in diameter.</span><div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Place the dough onto the baking paper on a baking and spread on a layer of Nutella, </span>leaving a small gap at the edge. Don’t make the layer too thick so that it leaks out!</div>
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Roll out a second ball of dough, place it on the first layer and spread with Nutella. Repeat with the third and fourth balls of dough but do NOT spread Nutella on the final layer.</div>
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Place something round and circular in the centre of the dough. I usually use my smallest drinking glass.</div>
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Cut the brioche into 16 segments. Take a pair of adjacent segment, Lift and twist them away from each other through 180°. Lift and twist through 180° again, then twist through 90° so that the ends are vertical. Press the edges together firmly. Repeat this process for all pairs of segments.</div>
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Cover the bread on its baking tray with lightly oiled cling film and leave in a warm place for 1-2 hours.</div>
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Brush with the glaze then bake at 160°C fan oven, 180°C conventional oven for 20 minutes. </div>
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Let it cool, then you can dust it lightly with icing sugar, but I skip this step because it's too pretty anyway!</div>
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This is such an easy recipe with super satisfying results and even the 'dough-making challenged' people such as myself can make it no problem :-)</div>
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-S</div>
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A tablespoon of This...http://www.blogger.com/profile/05262346093737696869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1532935327915171447.post-80079267910027833402015-01-19T12:10:00.000-08:002015-01-19T12:10:55.418-08:00Nutella and Ferrero Rocher cake<div style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">My Snugglebug is two years old!! These have definitely been two of the best and fastest years of my life alhamdulillah :-)</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">And for his second birthday? All I knew is that the birthday cake had to be epic! </span></div>
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<div style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">It's obvious I'm not all that talented in the cake decorating department but the taste had to be something else! After much thought I finally came to a decision! </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Nutella and Ferrero Rocher cake!!!! Now who won't go nuts for that?</span></div>
<div style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I considered adapting my own recipe for it, but with such a short frame of time I had no room for error. I found the most popularly blogged recipe and gave it a shot!</span></div>
<div style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The result?? A decadent, ultra rich, crazily chocolatey and delicious cake that can make you weak at the knees :-D</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">It was everything that I wanted his second birthday cake to be and it was wiped out super quickly!!</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Here's the recipe:</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Cake Layers</span></div>
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<li style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; margin: 0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">7 large eggs, room temperature</span></li>
<li style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; margin: 0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">½ cups sugar, granulated</span></li>
<li style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; margin: 0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">2 cups finely ground hazelnuts or hazelnut flour</span></li>
<li style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; margin: 0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">3 Tbsp all purpose flour</span></li>
<li style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; margin: 0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">3 Tbsp cocoa powder</span></li>
<li style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; margin: 0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">3 tsp baking powder</span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Frosting</span></div>
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<li style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; margin: 0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">300 grams unsalted butter, room temperature</span></li>
<li style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; margin: 0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">2¼ cups chopped chocolate or chocolate chips</span></li>
<li style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; margin: 0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">½ cup Nutella</span></li>
</ul>
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<li style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; margin: 0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">1.5 cup wafers, crushed</span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Decorating</span></div>
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<li style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; margin: 0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">10 Ferrero Rochers</span></li>
<li style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; margin: 0px;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">¾ cups hazelnuts, chopped / or ¾ cups wafers, crushed</span></li>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Instructions:</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Cake Layers:</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Preheat oven to 350F. Butter 2 – 8 inch round pans and line with greaseproof baking paper.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">In a bowl, Sift flour, cocoa & baking powder. Stir in ground nuts.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">In a separate bowl, Whip eggs on high speed, until frothy. Slowly add the sugar and continue whipping until tripled in volume, about 5 minutes.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Slowly, mix in the dry ingredients into the eggs.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Divide the batter evenly between the 2 – 8 inch pans and bake at 350F, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Once baked, leave in the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Although I was super careful not to over bake the cake, I found it slightly dry once it had cooled from the oven. I think the next steps were really helpful in making this cake super moist and yummy.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">In a small pan, I made a light sugar syrup using half parts sugar to half parts water. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Heat 3/4 cup sugar with 3/4 cup water until it comes to a boil. Poke holes using a skewer around both the cake layers and spoon over the sugar syrup equally over the cake and leave for about an hour to absorb.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Make the Frosting:</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Melt chocolate in microwave, on low heat, in short intervals, stirring each between each time. Bring to room temperature.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Whip chocolate, butter & Nutella until thoroughly combined.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Assembly:</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Once the cakes are cool , you can start assembling it.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Firstly, crush wafers by putting in a ziplock bag, then going over them with a rolling pin or something heavy.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Place a dab of frosting onto a serving platter to secure the cake on to it and then place the first cake layer on it. Generously spread just over a third of the frosting on to the cake and then sprinkle over the crushed wafers.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Place the second cake layer on top of this and spread frosting generously. I also piped some of the frosting around the edge of the cake to neaten it up.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Pipe 8 stars on top of the cake.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Press the crushed wafers or chopped hazelnuts onto the sides of the cake. I used both :-)</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Place a Ferrero Rocher on top of each piped star.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Refrigerate the cake but bring it to room temperature completely before serving. </span></div>
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<div style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I got the recipe from <a href="http://betterbakingbible.com/cakes/chocolate-ferrero-rocher-nutella-cake-with-hazelnuts" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">This cake was super super yummy and amazing. I do however want to create my own version of a Nutella and Ferrero cake that includes a lot more Nutella. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Because really, there isn't ever anything like too much Nutella :-P</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">-S xx</span></div>
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A tablespoon of This...http://www.blogger.com/profile/05262346093737696869noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1532935327915171447.post-71284245934108167462014-11-16T10:55:00.003-08:002014-11-16T11:05:12.151-08:00Hummingbird Cake<div style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 13px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Recently after a couple of days away from home, I returned to find a surprise gift from my mum.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Jamie Oliver's Comfort Food book!! I literally screamed with excitement! Not only was it a lovely lovely surprise to come back to, but i am super obsessed with the new comfort food series!</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Okay and I admit I am guilty of pretty much forcing my mum to watch the recorded series with me. While she is too polite to tell me that it's fine for me to watch it quietly on my own, she also lets me rewind, play, rewind again, play.. just so I get to listen to the recipe properly.</span></div>
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<div style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 13px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">It's good I got the book now, so I won't be harassing her with that any more! The rewinding and pausing I mean, not the watching of the episodes- we're still going to do that! :-P</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The good thing about these recipes are that even though they are a bit time consuming and super indulgent (comfort food being the key word here)- they are actually doable! It's totally possible to come up with an awesome result at the end!</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The first recipe I tried out was the lovely Hummingbird cake! Packed with bananas and pineapple and pecans, this cake is amazingly delicious! The cream cheese frosting makes it very indulgent and the best bit? The pecan brittle on top that I admit to being super proud of!!</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">All these components together make the perfect combination of a sweet, indulgent, fruity cake topped with the perfect amount of crunch!</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">On a side note- not completely relevant but I shall add it anyway, My baby boy made us sing happy birthday to him three times while cutting the cake!..and it wasn't even his birthday cake! I guess it would be safest to just bring a ready sliced cake in front of him. I would- but seeing his face light up in delight EVERY SINGLE time is totally worth it :-D</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Alhamdulillah!</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I will be posting about his epic chocolatey Nutella cake soon!!</span></div>
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<div style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 13px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Anyway- the recipe for the Humminbird cake can be found <a href="http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/recipe/hummingbird-cake/" target="_blank">here </a>!</span><br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Make it!! not only is it fun to make but it is also going to make everyone very happy!!</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Pecan Brittle</span></td></tr>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Ingredients:</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">For the cake:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 13px; letter-spacing: 0px;">250 ml olive oil, plus extra for greasing</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 13px; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 13px; letter-spacing: 0px;">350 g self-raising flour</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 13px; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 13px; letter-spacing: 0px;">1 level teaspoon ground cinnamon</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 13px; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 13px; letter-spacing: 0px;">350 g golden caster sugar</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 13px; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 13px; letter-spacing: 0px;">4 medium-sized very ripe bananas</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 13px; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 13px; letter-spacing: 0px;">1 x 425 g tin of pineapple chunks</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 13px; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 13px; letter-spacing: 0px;">2 large free-range eggs</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 13px; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 13px; letter-spacing: 0px;">1 teaspoon vanilla extract</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 13px; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 13px; letter-spacing: 0px;">50 g pecans</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 13px; letter-spacing: 0px;">For the icing:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 13px; letter-spacing: 0px;">400 g icing sugar</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 13px; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 13px; letter-spacing: 0px;">150 g unsalted butter, (at room temperature)</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 13px; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 13px; letter-spacing: 0px;">200 g cream cheese</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 13px; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 13px; letter-spacing: 0px;">2 limes</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 13px; letter-spacing: 0px;">For the Brittle:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 13px; letter-spacing: 0px;">100 g caster sugar</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 13px; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 13px; letter-spacing: 0px;">50 g pecans</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 13px; letter-spacing: 0px;">Method:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 13px; letter-spacing: 0px;">Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas 4. Grease and line two 23cm round cake tins. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 13px; letter-spacing: 0px;">Sift the flour and cinnamon into a mixing bowl, then add the sugar and a large pinch of sea salt. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 13px; letter-spacing: 0px;">Peel the bananas and mash them up with a fork in another bowl.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 13px; letter-spacing: 0px;"> Drain and finely chop the pineapple and add to the bananas with the oil, eggs and vanilla extract. Mix until combined, then fold into the dry mixture until smooth. Finely chop the pecans and gently fold in, then divide the batter evenly between your prepared tins. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until risen, golden and the sponges spring back when touched lightly in the centre. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 13px; letter-spacing: 0px;">For the icing, sift the icing sugar and add the butter and beat until the mixture is pale and creamy.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 13px; letter-spacing: 0px;">Add the cream cheese and finely grate in the zest of 1 lime and add a squeeze of juice.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS; font-size: x-small;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Beat until smooth, but </span>don't<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> over mix it. keep it in the fridge </span>while<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> moving on to the next </span>step.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS; font-size: x-small;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">To make a brittle topping, place the caster sugar in a non-stick frying pan on a medium heat and shake flat. (Jamie adds a splash of water to this, but that </span>doesn't<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> work well </span>for me- so do whatever suits you).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS; font-size: x-small;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Swirl the pan occasionally until dissolved and lightly golden. Add the pecans and a pinch of salt.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS; font-size: x-small;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">Stir around to coat, and when its finally nicely golden, pour onto a sheet of oiled greaseproof paper to set. Once cool, smash up to a dust- or a bit chunkier the way I prefer it! You </span>don't<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"> need to use all of this so you can set some aside for other desserts!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 13px; letter-spacing: 0px;">Assemble the cake by placing one sponge on a cake stand or a plate and spread with half the icing. Top with the other sponge and then spread over the rest of the icing.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 13px; letter-spacing: 0px;">Grate over the zest of the remaining lime and finally, sprinkle over the brittle.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 13px; letter-spacing: 0px;">This cake is absolute genius.. make it..then; 'serve in a bluebell wood on a fallen tree, as you do'-</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 13px; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 13px; letter-spacing: 0px;">;-)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 13px; letter-spacing: 0px;">-S</span><br />
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A tablespoon of This...http://www.blogger.com/profile/05262346093737696869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1532935327915171447.post-58474558476306530662014-08-29T14:16:00.001-07:002014-08-29T14:46:27.183-07:00Hot Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough...<div style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">
Eight years ago, which was around the time I got engaged, I was crazy in love with Pizza hut's cookie dough dessert. </div>
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It was this thick, soft, gooey, chocolatey and hot cookie with crispy edges. </div>
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Topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and hello heaven!!</div>
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Even though I would eat super super healthy (as all brides-to-be do :-P) and go to the gym four times a week, this was the one dessert that I would ALWAYS succumb to. A trip to Pizza Hut with the family meant me skipping my meal and eating a plain salad so I could indulge in the dessert. </div>
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Yup I'm all about priorities!! :-P</div>
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I haven't had Hot cookie dough for years at Pizza Hut.</div>
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That's because I make it home!.. and may I just take a moment to say... It's bloody brilliant!!!.. And no I'm not being vain because it isn't my own recipe, I found it on another <a href="http://jensfoodandphotos.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/warm-cookie-dough-dessert.html" target="_blank">blog</a> :-P</div>
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Sooooo yummy!!! </div>
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Ingredients:</div>
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<div style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">
125 grams butter</div>
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100 grams caster sugar</div>
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100 grams light brown sugar</div>
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1 egg</div>
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1 tsp vanilla essence</div>
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1/2 tsp salt</div>
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225 grams self raising flour</div>
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100 grams chocolate chips</div>
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Method:</div>
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Preheat the oven to 200C.</div>
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In a large bowl, mix the butter, caster sugar and light brown sugar with a electric hand held mixer. Add the egg and vanilla and mix again. Finally, add the flour, salt and chocolate chunks.</div>
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Divide the batter in to however many portions you like. This makes about four generous servings.</div>
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I made a large portion for sharing with half the batter.</div>
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Place it in the preheated oven on 200C for eight minutes.</div>
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Lower the oven temperature to 180C and leave inside for a another 7-8 minutes. It should then be golden brown but still soft.</div>
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Serve hot, straight from the oven with vanilla ice cream and drizzle with chocolate sauce or some warmed Nutella.</div>
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Go nuts!!! :-D</div>
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This is a super yummy, indulgent and amazing dessert!! So easy to make at home and a real crowd pleaser. </div>
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-S </div>
A tablespoon of This...http://www.blogger.com/profile/05262346093737696869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1532935327915171447.post-6836294602556388392014-08-10T15:51:00.000-07:002014-08-10T15:51:39.221-07:00Strawberry tarts! :-)<div style="color: #232323; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 13px;">
First of all I want to take a minute to thank all of you who who have been messaging me and commenting on the blog! Thankyou!! :-)</div>
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It is such a lovely feeling when people tell me the blog has been coming handy to them or that they enjoy reading my ramblings. I really really appreciate it! And I'm really sorry for not posting for so long :-(</div>
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..Okay okay I admit it. This time it's been unacceptably long since I blogged. I wanted to. I HAVE been baking and cooking and stuff.. I've just had some sort of a mind block.</div>
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I don't know how to write anymore. Well maybe it's sleep deprivation.</div>
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Yes it WAS sleep deprivation.</div>
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And I have one kid! ONE!</div>
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May I take a moment to take my hat off to all those mummy's out there.. Especially those with more than one little kid!.. And if you mums manage to leave the house without wearing your clothes inside out.. I ADMIRE you!</div>
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:-D</div>
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(Nope I Haven't left the house with some part of my outfit inside out. I'm totally put together and with it!) :-P</div>
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Okay, so I've been obsessed with trying to get pastry shells for tarts rights. I've tried a couple of recipes..and made mistakes. Plus I really need to make a trip to the shops to invest in some baking beans. I think they will do a world of good!</div>
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Today I finally made strawberry tarts that I was pleased with!! Yay!!!</div>
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The strawberries are simply gorgeous right now and I devoured a large amount while cutting and washing them.</div>
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At least they are healthy!</div>
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I got the recipe for the sweet short crust tart from <a href="http://www.joyofbaking.com/" target="_blank">JoyofBaking</a> who makes totally awesome videos for all her recipes. The recipe yields five small pie shells or one large one.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-c_BxLkCyrZkcMiVMEWgyjtHfRVpzdqXciCS77jjDzc503aiYD2UAH3afUcg8KkgInQ-Hn9I1JFmd_cCaRpMCEVdjcmR9dT9JemW2t-syguFMVx6SVUGq8syFrXaXMeDLLtCIEGxR6qo/s1600/IMG_5470+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-c_BxLkCyrZkcMiVMEWgyjtHfRVpzdqXciCS77jjDzc503aiYD2UAH3afUcg8KkgInQ-Hn9I1JFmd_cCaRpMCEVdjcmR9dT9JemW2t-syguFMVx6SVUGq8syFrXaXMeDLLtCIEGxR6qo/s1600/IMG_5470+copy.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">My pastry shells :-D</span></td></tr>
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Ingredients for the short crust base:</div>
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1 1/2 cups (195 grams) plain flour</div>
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1/8 tsp salt</div>
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1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter at room temperature</div>
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1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated white sugar</div>
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1 large egg, beaten</div>
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Method:</div>
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In a separate bowl, whisk your flour and salt.</div>
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Place your butter in a bowl and beat with a hand mixer until softened. Add in the sugar and beat till light and fluffy.</div>
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Gradually add the beaten egg till just incorporated.</div>
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Add the flour mixture all in one go and mix until just combined.</div>
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Flatten the pastry in to a disk and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 15-30 minutes or place in the freezer for 10-15 minutes.</div>
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Lightly butter your tart pans or spray with a cooking spray.</div>
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Once the pastry has chilled sufficiently, evenly pat it onto the bottom and sides of the tart pans. If rolling it is easier for you instead, then go for it! When that is done, cover it in plastic wrap again and place in the freezer for 15 minutes.</div>
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Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 205 degrees C and place the rack in the centre of the oven.</div>
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You may either place a sheet of baking paper on your pie crust and weigh it with baking beans or prick the bottom of the pastry crust with a fork to prevent it from rising.</div>
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Bake the shells for five minutes and then reduce the oven to 180C. Remove the baking beans if you have used them and continue to bake for another twenty minutes until the crust is golden and baked.</div>
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Since we will be filling the crust with a creamy mixture, seal it by glazing the baked crust with an egg white glaze. You may wish to put it back in to the oven for a minute or so.</div>
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Whilst the tarts are baking in the oven, I sliced some large strawberries and left some whole. I placed them on a large plate and sprinkled them generously with caster sugar and placed it in the fridge so the strawberries would sweeten and produce a syrup.</div>
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For the cream base I went for a quick and easy cheesecake style base that I filled my short crust case with.</div>
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Ingredients for filling:</div>
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150grams cream cheese</div>
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4 tablespoons sweetened condensed milk</div>
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1 tablespoon icing sugar</div>
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1 tablespoon lemon juice</div>
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Some vanilla essence</div>
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Method:</div>
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Place all the ingredients except the lemon juice in a bowl and stir. Gradually add the lemon juice while stirring thoroughly.</div>
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Taste the mixture and add more lemon juice if needed. You don't want it to be too too sweet!</div>
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The mixture should be slightly runny but will firm up when refrigerated in the tart shells.</div>
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For the top of the shells:</div>
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A 375ml tub of double cream whipped to stiff peaks with about two tablespoons caster sugar.</div>
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Finally assemble the tarts once the short crust case is cooled.</div>
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Pour in the cream mixture at the bottom of the tarts. Pipe on the sweetened double cream on top generously and then place the strawberries on top!</div>
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You may wish to pour a little of the strawberry syrup on top of the tarts to make them extra yummy :-)</div>
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These were totally awesome and I can't wait to make them again!! They're super easy to make and SO good!</div>
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Totally worth it :-)</div>
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-S</div>
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A tablespoon of This...http://www.blogger.com/profile/05262346093737696869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1532935327915171447.post-60510354991663928802014-06-16T03:12:00.002-07:002014-06-16T03:15:50.397-07:00Naan khatai biscuits <div style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 13px;">
Sometimes I just want a quick recipe that I can whip up in no time and that still produces great results.</div>
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A while back I had posted a naan khatai (better than shortbread) <a href="http://a-tablespoon-of-this.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/better-than-shortbreadnaan-khatai.html" target="_blank">recipe</a> that produced AMAZING buttery, crunchy cookies. These are literally large golden coins of crumbly, buttery goodness.</div>
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The only downside is the entire process that is a bit time consuming as well as the time set aside for refrigeration, which frankly speaking I don't have much of anymore.</div>
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With a curious little Snugglebug always up to something or the other, I constantly have to have my eyes on him!!</div>
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These cookies that I recently got the recipe of are perfect!</div>
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Not only are they ridiculously easy to make, but they require the simplest of ingredients that are pantry staples.</div>
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While they are baking in the oven, the most gorgeous buttery aroma will fill your house and.. I do not exaggerate: when you bite in to these gorgeous little biscuits, they literally melt and disappear in your mouth!!</div>
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They are divine!! Not to mention, Snugglebug is addicted to them!!</div>
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Nothing better than treating my baby to homemade goodies made with love and knowing exactly what has gone in to them!!</div>
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This recipe yields about thirty gorgeous little biscuits.</div>
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It's remarkable how such amazing results can be achieved by such little effort!</div>
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Ingredients:<br />
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250 grams butter salted<br />
150 grams sugar<br />
400 grams plain flour<br />
1 tsp baking powder<br />
1 egg<br />
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Method<br />
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Cream butter and sugar till fluffy.<br />
Beat egg and gradually add the flour and baking powder. Finally, shape the dough in to little balls and place them on your lined baking tray.<br />
For reasons unknown to mankind (or maybe they are known but I'm too lazy to find out), these cookies traditionally have tiny stamp of food colouring on top. You can add or omit this step because it doesn't make any difference to the taste!!<br />
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Bake on 150 degrees for 35mins- they carry on cooking once you remove them from the oven but when they are cooled and if the center is still soft, put them back in the oven for another 15 minutes.<br />
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Make a piping hot cup of sweet Desi tea, settle down comfortably with your favourite book or movie and enjoy nibbling on these crazy yummy cookies :-)<br />
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-S</div>
A tablespoon of This...http://www.blogger.com/profile/05262346093737696869noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1532935327915171447.post-39965277098168392862014-04-08T13:49:00.001-07:002014-08-29T14:25:38.907-07:00New York Cheesecake<div style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 13.5px;">
New York Cheesecake</div>
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For a couple of years while growing up, I didn't have a normal cake for my birthday. As per my request, I had strawberry cheesecake :-D</div>
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Yup!!! Now THAT was worth the calories!</div>
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A quick, fifteen minute recipe for cheesecake has always been my go to for dessert when we entertain guests but a baked cheesecake? Now I wanted to try that!!</div>
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What better incentive than my lovely sister who had come to visit? We all love desserts and I was going to make the perfect New York Cheesecake for her!!</div>
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After looking through hundreds of recipes I finally came across this one!</div>
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Not too difficult and AMAZING results!!! Creamy and gorgeous with a perfect hint of lemon!</div>
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I made a strawberry sauce to accompany it though.. Because everyone knows my relationship with strawberries :-) </div>
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The only thing to bear in mind is that you must prepare this dessert a day before serving so that it has enough time to sit in the refrigerator.</div>
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I'm looking forward to making it again..mmm :-)<br />
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Ingredients:</div>
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FOR THE CRUST</div>
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85g butter melted, plus extra for tin</div>
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140g digestive biscuits , made into fine crumbs</div>
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1 tbsp sugar , granulated or golden caster</div>
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FOR THE CHEESECAKE FILLING</div>
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3 x 300g/11oz pack Philadelphia cheese , or other full-fat soft cheese</div>
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250g golden caster sugar</div>
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3 tbsp plain flour</div>
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1½ tsp vanilla extract</div>
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finely grated zest of 1 lemon (about 2 tsp)</div>
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1½ tsp lemon juice</div>
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3 large eggs , plus 1 yolk</div>
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284ml carton soured cream</div>
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FOR THE SOURED CREAM TOPPING</div>
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142ml carton soured cream</div>
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1 tbsp golden caster sugar</div>
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2 tsp lemon juice</div>
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Method:</div>
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Position an oven shelf in the middle of the oven. Preheat the oven to fan 160C/conventional 180C/gas 4. Line the base of a 23cm springform cake tin with parchment paper. </div>
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For the crust, melt the butter in a medium pan. Stir in the biscuit crumbs and sugar so the mixture is evenly moistened. Press the mixture into the bottom of the pan and bake for 10 minutes. Cool on a wire rack while preparing the filling.</div>
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For the filling, increase the oven temperature to fan 200C/conventional 240C/gas 9. In a table top mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the soft cheese at medium-low speed until creamy, about 2 minutes. </div>
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With the mixer on low, gradually add the sugar, then the flour and a pinch of salt, scraping down the sides of the bowl and the paddle twice.</div>
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Swap the paddle attachment for the whisk. Continue by adding the vanilla, lemon zest and juice. Whisk in the eggs and yolk, one at a time, scraping the bowl and whisk at least twice. Stir the 284ml carton of soured cream until smooth, then measure 200ml/7fl oz (just over 3⁄4 of the carton). </div>
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Continue on low speed as you add the measured soured cream (reserve the rest). Whisk to blend, but don't over-beat. The batter should be smooth, light and somewhat airy.</div>
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Brush the sides of the springform tin with melted butter and put on a baking sheet. </div>
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Pour in the filling - if there are any lumps, sink them using a knife - the top should be as smooth as possible. Bake for 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to fan 90C/conventional 110C/gas 1⁄4 and bake for 25 minutes more. If you gently shake the tin, the filling should have a slight wobble. </div>
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Turn off the oven and open the oven door for a cheesecake that's creamy in the centre, or leave it closed if you prefer a drier texture. </div>
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Let cool in the oven for 2 hours. The cheesecake may get a slight crack on top as it cools.</div>
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Combine the reserved soured cream with the 142ml carton, the sugar and lemon juice for the topping. Spread over the cheesecake right to the edges. Cover loosely with foil and refrigerate for at least 8 hours or overnight.</div>
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Run a round-bladed knife around the sides of the tin to loosen any stuck edges. Unlock the side, slide the cheesecake off the bottom of the tin onto a plate, then slide the parchment paper out from underneath.</div>
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For the strawberry sauce, I boiled some strawberries with sugar, a little water and some corn starch mixed with water.</div>
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I let it boil for about 10 minutes and crushed the strawberries slightly.</div>
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Let it cool and serve.</div>
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-S</div>
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<br />A tablespoon of This...http://www.blogger.com/profile/05262346093737696869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1532935327915171447.post-43208153664687551742014-03-17T13:53:00.001-07:002014-03-17T14:07:27.791-07:00Caramel and pecan brownies<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #232323; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">Moving house is not easy. Nope.</span></div>
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It's even more difficult when you have a little Snugglebug you'd rather be spending time with instead of packing.<br />
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Plus you don't get any down time. As soon as Snugglebug is asleep we are busy packing and bubble wrapping and taping everything. You know what that means? No time to bake :-(<br />
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A couple of nights ago, the taste tester wanted dessert. Usually I have a couple of dessert slices in the freezer for such 'emergencies', but this time we were all out.<br />
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This was the best opportunity to convince him that I would bake. Ten minutes!!! That's all I asked for. Usually 'ten minutes' in the kitchen means half an hour but this time it actually meant eight. That's right. EIGHT minutes to whip up the batter for the yummiest brownies ever.<br />
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I then stuck it in the oven and ran for my shower.<br />
It was in the oven for precisely sixteen minutes!!!<br />
They came out hot and gooey and yummy and amazingly perfect. When cooled, they were firm enough to cut in to little squares.<br />
Remember, the best brownies are ready just as soon as they go past the 'undercooked' stage. The skewer should still have moist crumbs when inserted.<br />
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The amount of sugar in these is not as much because of the caramel. It had to balance out otherwise it would be way too sweet!</div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">(The taste taster has declared these to be some of the worst pictures I have taken! Oh well :-P )</span><br />
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Ingredients:<br />
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-almost 3/4 cup butter<br />
-1/2 cup cocoa powder<br />
-2 eggs beaten<br />
-1/4 cup sugar<br />
-1/2 cup flour<br />
-1 tsp vanilla essence<br />
-1/2 tsp salt<br />
-4 tablespoons Dulce de leche<br />
-100grams pecans chopped<br />
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Method:<br />
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.<br />
Line a baking dish with grease proof baking paper. I just cut a large sheet of the paper and crumple it into a ball as run in under water and then squeeze the water out. The open it up and line the dish that you are using. An eight inch tray would be good for this. The smaller the tray, the thicker the brownies and the longer the baking time.<br />
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Melt the butter in the microwave.<br />
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In a bowl, combine the cocoa powder with the melted butter completely.<br />
Add in the sugar and stir.<br />
Then add in the beaten eggs and stir till totally combined.<br />
Add in the flour, vanilla essence and salt and stir to combine completely till you can't see any lumps of flour.<br />
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Fold in the pecans.<br />
Pour the batter on to your baking dish.<br />
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Heat up the Dulce de leche slightly in the microwave till it's runny.<br />
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Pour it all over the brownie batter and swirl it around with a fork.<br />
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Stick it in the oven and let it bake for about fifteen minutes. It's ready once the skewer inserted has moist crumbs.<br />
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Serve it warm with ice cream while the caramel is still yummy and melty.<br />
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MmmMmmm<br />
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Enjoy :-)<br />
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-S</div>
A tablespoon of This...http://www.blogger.com/profile/05262346093737696869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1532935327915171447.post-38261166499588994962014-02-09T10:12:00.000-08:002014-02-09T10:12:17.072-08:00Chocolate Fudge cake..and a very very special 1st birthday :-)<div style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 14px;">
A couple of months back we celebrated my baby boy's first birthday! </div>
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The last year since we welcomed him in to our lives has been the quickest, most amazing time of our lives. </div>
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All thanks to God for granting my family with such an amazing blessing. Every moment of mine is filled with happiness and complete amazement at how such a little human being is growing right in front of our eyes. Along with his development and curiosity comes a lot of crashes and bangs and mess and fun. </div>
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Alhamdulillah I can not thank God enough! For his birthday we chose to invite family over and spend the day enjoying each other's company and showering our Snugglebug with lots of love (and gifts!). </div>
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Since I am absolutely rubbish at decorating cakes, the task of creating him a birthday cake that was decent to look at was quite daunting.</div>
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Usually all I care about is the taste, but this time it had to look special and I had to make it myself! I contemplated different shaped cakes, from a dinosaur to Elmo but at the end I decided I wanted to enjoy making a cake that is me and that everyone will enjoy eating. Luckily for me all our family are chocoholics which made the entire task so much easier :-)</div>
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I decided on a deep, fudgey, ultra chocolatey cake covered in chocolate ganache and surrounded with chocolate fingers. I also loaded the top with Maltesers and chocolate buttons. The colour theme for the party was brown, blue and green so I just added some M&Ms for a pop of colour. This was the final result and I was very pleased with it :-) </div>
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I then topped it with a matching topper that I designed and a blue star candle. All Done!! Yay!!</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD2rGVJ2Povf5l1WMWYzCHxhX5C6qI3rJHq5Vvn6S6tpRsuFmt1lVdCdValhDLdixFbdoUt8iBYabtiPzTjpngOlmnwX3Fl8i2HJXGQPsTLQ-yut3AqJeT1U2kfVsCaxDNuHZVzUheB8c/s1600/blog2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD2rGVJ2Povf5l1WMWYzCHxhX5C6qI3rJHq5Vvn6S6tpRsuFmt1lVdCdValhDLdixFbdoUt8iBYabtiPzTjpngOlmnwX3Fl8i2HJXGQPsTLQ-yut3AqJeT1U2kfVsCaxDNuHZVzUheB8c/s1600/blog2.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Ooey Gooey Fudgey Chocolatey goodness!! :-)</span></td></tr>
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By the end of the day we all were on a chocolate high including Snugglebug who had free reign since it was his birthday! The recipe for the cake was the fudge cake that my mum used to make when we were kids and brought back so many beautiful memories. That's what food does. It brings back the fondest of memories of us spending time around the table with our families and as children. I'm going to keep making this cake for my baby boy as he grows so he can create memories of it as he grows just as I did! :-)</div>
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Ingredients:</div>
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4 eggs</div>
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3 level cups granulated sugar</div>
<div style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 14px;">
3 cups plain yogurt</div>
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3 and a half cups plain flour</div>
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2 tsp salt</div>
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2 and a half tsps bicarbonate of soda</div>
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1 cup cocoa</div>
<div style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 14px;">
8oz butter/margarine</div>
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2 tsps vanilla essence</div>
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Place all the ingredients in to a large mixing bowl and mix together with a hand held mixer.</div>
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Bake on 180 degrees for about 40 minutes. It depends on your oven. Be very sure to remove the cakes just as soon as they are done or they will become dry and cake rather than fudge and yum.</div>
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Enjoy :-)</div>
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-S</div>
A tablespoon of This...http://www.blogger.com/profile/05262346093737696869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1532935327915171447.post-26518694436903849082013-09-08T06:03:00.000-07:002013-09-08T06:03:39.595-07:00Cheesecake in a Glass<br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Ever been in a last minute situation where you have to entertain guests for dinner? The type where you discover in the afternoon that you're going to have guests over in a couple of hours? That's when there isn't any time to focus on an elaborate dessert. You have to prepare the meal- and fast!!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">But what's the fun if there isn't any delicious dessert to wrap up the evening?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Once again Nigella comes to the rescue. The one thing about her recipes are that they are completely foolproof and produce brilliant results!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I recently tried out a recipe from a dessert cookbook i was gifted with and followed it to the tee.. With disappointing results.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Not good!!!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This cheesecake in a glass takes less than fifteen minutes to prepare and could be made as little as an hour before serving.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOYet52TxPesN_1-RraXfv8bge1G6hBmSF45OGMN653voRABwrxe99JnN3-APqFVqi98eFp4weTSEkEvyN5u1movcxZXqKeFJkJWEur6DgbgqVkX8wRnsvQkiGMvJmNveoIdswHuMrbFc/s1600/IMG_5942+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOYet52TxPesN_1-RraXfv8bge1G6hBmSF45OGMN653voRABwrxe99JnN3-APqFVqi98eFp4weTSEkEvyN5u1movcxZXqKeFJkJWEur6DgbgqVkX8wRnsvQkiGMvJmNveoIdswHuMrbFc/s320/IMG_5942+copy.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkl0KYxu0p12zazteDvRMAOMoOhVMOHNapZJYmpHfL3S96ieaRfZQm8Ftlv75QpfWUwuUV19cF-mhXuOsozQHTsOTAn_r27y65gxFztjbqBwNLTO6-1ugGbmf5vKgxQWLlxw5XHw6C-dE/s1600/IMG_5945+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkl0KYxu0p12zazteDvRMAOMoOhVMOHNapZJYmpHfL3S96ieaRfZQm8Ftlv75QpfWUwuUV19cF-mhXuOsozQHTsOTAn_r27y65gxFztjbqBwNLTO6-1ugGbmf5vKgxQWLlxw5XHw6C-dE/s320/IMG_5945+copy.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Ingredients</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">200g strawberries (or 1 big punnet)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1 tsp caster sugar</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">4 digestive biscuits</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">100g cream cheese, at room temperature</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">2 tbsp icing sugar</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">125ml double cream</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1 tbsp lemon juice</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">½ tsp vanilla extract</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">4 small glasses/ bowls</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Method:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Quarter the strawberries, then cut in half again, to give pretty small dice. Put into a bowl, sprinkle with caster sugar, cover with clingfilm and shake the bowl once or twice.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Leave the berries to macerate while you put the biscuits into a freezer bag and bash with a rolling pin until you have a sandy bag of crumbs.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Measure the cream cheese and icing sugar into a bowl and whisk by hand. Add the cream, lemon juice and vanilla, and whisk gently to combine.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Divide the biscuit crumbs equally between your four glasses, and arrange in the bottom of each one. Spoon the cream cheese mix on top, dividing it equally between the glasses and covering the biscuits.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Divide the sugar-shiny strawberries between the glasses, to give a glossy, red-berried layer on each glass.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">If you'd like a lemony cheesecake without any strawberries, I'd recommend adding some lemon zest to the cream mixture.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It's such a quick and easy recipe that has the best results!!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Oh and yes my cheesecakes have crushed flake on top of them :-) that's how the Taste Tester prefers them. Everything with chocolate tastes better. He's a man after my own heart ;-)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">-S</span></div>
A tablespoon of This...http://www.blogger.com/profile/05262346093737696869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1532935327915171447.post-27904109963561743872013-08-21T13:34:00.000-07:002013-09-08T04:56:07.926-07:00Soft pretzels<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Ten months! Thats almost how old my baby boy is. The months have passed in such a blur, so fast and so amazing. All praise and thanks to Him, I have enjoyed every precious moment that has passed.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Sleep deprived and exhausted as I may be, every second that passes is amazing, and I'm sure every mother out there can say the same about their children.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">On that note, I am going to be trying out some baby teething biscuits soon and if successful, I will be sure to post the recipe here.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">And I will try not to delay till my son is a teenager!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Anyway, this post is well overdue, and the pictures have been ready ages ago in my drafts, however I haven't had a moment to sit and write down the recipe...because every spare moment</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> that I get nowadays is used to grab a quick meal, shower or nap.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The rest of my time is spent with a curious little snugglebug who loves to touch and press everything that his little eyes lay their sight on.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Oh also, forgive me for my typos and grammar/spelling mistakes. My brain is in scatter mode at the moment!!!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Now to the pretzels! The oh so soft, yummy pretzels!! The ones you can't help but gravitate towards at the mall!!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The other day my mum and I had gone to the mall where I spotted Aunty Annies..and they had samples!!! I was quick to choose the vanilla flavoured pretzels because the aroma was just mouthwatering.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I was definitely not disappointed and made sure I bought some on my way home.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">They were soft, comforting, warm, buttery pretzels! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This recipe comes pretty close! The great thing is, it isn't too difficult and the results are brilliant!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">They are ofcourse, best served on the day they are made, but are pretty good for two days after!</span> </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD_a5nR2TPwaKvaSgeqw0p3ljq7ZwZgMH7lYgP0tQVVuUe7zNsuRSph8LB_k-qn0_7dgWO6WWXzBBLhd3LWqkFWuCLg9AzHg_4261rHzmrTQb2NRA4OlPVgKCGFtPulF9Y5ww5pQyugjg/s1600/IMG_4183+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD_a5nR2TPwaKvaSgeqw0p3ljq7ZwZgMH7lYgP0tQVVuUe7zNsuRSph8LB_k-qn0_7dgWO6WWXzBBLhd3LWqkFWuCLg9AzHg_4261rHzmrTQb2NRA4OlPVgKCGFtPulF9Y5ww5pQyugjg/s320/IMG_4183+copy.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Ingredients: (I got about 20 pretzels out of this)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">One packet quick action yeast</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">2 tablespoons caster sugar</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1 teaspoon salt</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">275g/2 cups bread flour</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">275g/2 cups plain flour</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">350ml/1.5 cups lukewarm milk</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">100g/4 tablespoons butter</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">For the dipping:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">2 cups very hot water</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">2 tablespoons bicarbonate of soda/baking soda</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">For the coating:</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">50g/2 tablespoons melted butter</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">caster sugar/ cinnamon/ vanilla sugar</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 21px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 21px;">Method:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 21px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 21px;">Mix the yeast, salt, sugar and flours in a large bowl. Stir 100g melted butter into a measuring jug containing the lukewarm milk.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">Gradually pour the milk and butter in to the flour and mix. You may not need all the liquid. When it comes into a soft ball of dough, knead for about 8-10 minutes.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 21px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">Cover the bowl with cling film or a plate and let it rise in the warm room until double in size- about 1-2 hours.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">Preheat the oven to 200c and cut the dough in to 20 equal portions.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">Roll each piece into a thin sausage about 1 1/2 feet long. (don't use any flour or it won't roll) - the plus side of this is less mess :-)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 21px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">To form the pretzel, cross the ends of the rope then twist to cross them over again. Take the twisted ends up to the top of the hoop and flip the whole thing over.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 21px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">Dissolve the bicarb in a bowl with the very hot water.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 21px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">Dip each pretzel into the bicarb water, drain them on a cooling rack while you do the rest. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 21px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 21px;">Put non stick baking paper onto two baking sheets and place your wet pretzels, scruffy side down, on to the baking sheets. Bake for five minutes, spin the tray around and bake for another 4-5 minutes more. so a total of 9-10 minutes. Do not over bake!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 21px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 21px;">While the pretzels are baking, melt the last 2 tablespoons of butter and brush each pretzel with it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">Dip immediately in the caster sugar mixed with cinnamon or vanilla sugar. You could also make them savoury by sprinkling with sea salt and seasoning!</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 21px;"><br /></span></span>
<br />
<div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<div style="line-height: 21px;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This is really a great recipe, even for people like me who aren't very great at binding dough.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: normal; text-align: left;">I found the recipe </span><a href="http://thingswemake.wordpress.com/2013/02/16/hot-soft-pretzels/" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: normal; text-align: left;" target="_blank">here</a><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: normal; text-align: left;">.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 21px;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Give it a go and enjoy :-)</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 21px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 21px;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">-S</span></div>
</div>
</div>
A tablespoon of This...http://www.blogger.com/profile/05262346093737696869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1532935327915171447.post-80435577185430705122013-03-25T14:30:00.000-07:002013-03-25T14:30:20.604-07:00Hazelnut & oat raisin cookies<br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">A couple of months back my friends and I had a meet up where someone brought these gorgeous chewy, oaty and hazelnut cookies. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">They didn't look so appealing but once we all tasted them.. We basically went nuts!!!!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I have never tasted anything non-chocolately as amazing as these cookies!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">As soon as I got the recipe, I quickly started baking a batch. Trust me, one batch is NOT enough!!!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Fresh out of the oven with only a couple of minutes for them to cool down.. The taste tester was sold!!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">YAY!!!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Wondering whether we were the only ones so crazy for these cookies, I packed a couple for my parents and passed them along. The reason for my uncertainty was that- there isn't any chocolate in these.. How can they be so good??</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Yup they too fell majorly in love!!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I then baked another batch because I was so happy :-)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">.. And then another to take to the family in London!! I was soo happy to see them.. From the oldest of 70 years to the youngest of 12- go crazy for these!!!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It was sooo worth the effort!!!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Here's the recipe..</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Go bake them NOW!!!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQL68fG_DHFA8YZR4IosW7zzyj8jT63fPcQgIo26DOmlKKo3fI5oBluwuTZRAbmUgkj8y_n9gKqLBI_wfe0N4jcLoAnLqUjAyNnZxmhtR1Xm7H2on8wRJs2QqKDAm0DdeFCog9Q1c9jFc/s1600/IMG_3407+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQL68fG_DHFA8YZR4IosW7zzyj8jT63fPcQgIo26DOmlKKo3fI5oBluwuTZRAbmUgkj8y_n9gKqLBI_wfe0N4jcLoAnLqUjAyNnZxmhtR1Xm7H2on8wRJs2QqKDAm0DdeFCog9Q1c9jFc/s320/IMG_3407+copy.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKupVn04wd_8gqu6WmZ22oUCSG0cLi8C39MDvaWgg_JI5cYicWOnSxg9JOwmHgFUNiVzxNhMqH2S-Zg34NpAu-OWttrdr8DaFrvVvhp0eN1eWanSMB0Ea_rNFFgJUeP5OMh29lS5QU4Iw/s1600/IMG_3412+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKupVn04wd_8gqu6WmZ22oUCSG0cLi8C39MDvaWgg_JI5cYicWOnSxg9JOwmHgFUNiVzxNhMqH2S-Zg34NpAu-OWttrdr8DaFrvVvhp0eN1eWanSMB0Ea_rNFFgJUeP5OMh29lS5QU4Iw/s320/IMG_3412+copy.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKYA9K9TTaPLyyRf3pyPZYN__JKADPiKlwlkyqhTlywCFx-JBcTbBxqjvMmyDtV_37YG0lvwlIb5PcZ0eIN7NQUknSvPte4fPMHh2B9v0UoiqSU-7vde9bB-qGlMAmSBiNFUQkPfXWQFk/s1600/IMG_3414+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKYA9K9TTaPLyyRf3pyPZYN__JKADPiKlwlkyqhTlywCFx-JBcTbBxqjvMmyDtV_37YG0lvwlIb5PcZ0eIN7NQUknSvPte4fPMHh2B9v0UoiqSU-7vde9bB-qGlMAmSBiNFUQkPfXWQFk/s320/IMG_3414+copy.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Ingredients:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">100g hazelnuts</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">100g undated butter, softened</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">200g soft light brown sugar</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1 egg, beaten</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1 tsp vanilla extract</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1 tbsp runny honey</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">125g self-raising flour, sifted</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">125g jumbo porridge oats</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Pinch of salt</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">100g raisins</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">A little milk if needed</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Method:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">-Preheat the oven to 190C/375F/Gas 5. Toast the nuts on a baking sheet for 5 minutes.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">-Once toasted, rub with a clean tea towel to remove most of the skins.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">-Roughly chop the hazelnuts and then set aside.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">-In a bowl, cream together the butter and sugar with an electric whisk till smooth.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">-Add the egg, vanilla extract and honey. Beat well until smooth once more.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">-Combine the flour, oats and salt in a separate bowl, and stir to mix.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">-Stir the flour mixture into the creamed mixture and beat until very well combined.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">-Add the chopped nuts and raisins and mix until evenly distributed throughout.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">-If the mixture is too stiff to work with easily, add a little milk until it becomes pliable.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">-Line 2 or 3 baking sheets with parchment and roll the dough into walnut sized balls.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">-Flatten each ball slightly, leaving plenty space between them.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">-Bake in batches for 10-15 minutes until golden. Cool slightly, then move to a wire rack.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">-Leave to cool completely before serving.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">You can find the recipe here.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Enjoy :-)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">-S</span>A tablespoon of This...http://www.blogger.com/profile/05262346093737696869noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1532935327915171447.post-58548912664296325032013-01-13T14:12:00.001-08:002013-03-17T13:07:19.663-07:00Banoffee Pie<br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The past two months have flown by so quickly. My entire life has taken the biggest turn with the arrival of my beautiful baby boy! I can't thank Allah enough for this blessing. Every single moment is spent caring for a whole entire tiny human being.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Surreal!!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I have been able to carry on baking and making desserts though!! Surprisingly enough!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I thought once my little baby would make an entrance, all my kitchen antics would fly out of the window. Well we can't live without sustenance can we?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Blogging however, seems to have taken a back seat. I really have missed taking pictures and writing about my baking..so hopefully this means I'll try and post more often.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">My first attempt to making a dessert was a couple of weeks ago. Banoffee pie!!!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Creamy, decadent, sticky, sweet, buttery and crumbly....oh so delicious!! Luckily this recipe is so quick and requires each step to be made in shifts. Which is perfect for me :-)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">First, a buttery, crumbly base made with digestives and topped with a gorgeous, golden caramel layer and finished off with bananas, cream and (ofcourse) chocolate.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">You can't have any dessert without chocolate. That's just wrong!!!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So far everyone who has tried this pie has fallen in love. Try making it. You will too :-)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpeqLPqSbla2aaViUY3_rbaww4n6gE-xSbBlZhxLQKByFbqF7RmYUzpC-IoZlZDgpYUrz2kU6vj5aE0zvnFKOnwbDTxeI2tMRYM-KPb1aSgEnqN3aW3-QQoCJXNP5G6Ocpa410iyPl-gI/s1600/IMG_3934+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpeqLPqSbla2aaViUY3_rbaww4n6gE-xSbBlZhxLQKByFbqF7RmYUzpC-IoZlZDgpYUrz2kU6vj5aE0zvnFKOnwbDTxeI2tMRYM-KPb1aSgEnqN3aW3-QQoCJXNP5G6Ocpa410iyPl-gI/s320/IMG_3934+copy.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZP03TbF10BmLIGUgvHgEWttNWMBnN2cRPoA9x7Alq7-JHERUDEFLYecUON1FQxDQXx5t8zpWbgwBDTe1T3_Jm-y44AUrypNI1qObxOGlH13bdnN6DNDX6Wjp7jES0Z6XC3VBEzKhHNZo/s1600/IMG_3935+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZP03TbF10BmLIGUgvHgEWttNWMBnN2cRPoA9x7Alq7-JHERUDEFLYecUON1FQxDQXx5t8zpWbgwBDTe1T3_Jm-y44AUrypNI1qObxOGlH13bdnN6DNDX6Wjp7jES0Z6XC3VBEzKhHNZo/s320/IMG_3935+copy.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Ingredients</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">For the base:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">500 grams digestive biscuits</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">150 grams butter (melted)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">For the Caramel:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">100 grams butter</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">100 grams dark brown soft sugar</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">397 grams sweetened condensed milk (one can)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">For the topping:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1 carton double cream</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1 pack (2 fingers) Cadbury's twirl (I choose this because it is the perfect hit of chocolate!)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">4 large bananas</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Method:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Line your springform pan with greaseproof baking paper and grease it using butter.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Place the digestive biscuits in a food processor and whizz until they are completely crushed. Pour in the melted butter and whizz again till it starts sticking together.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Pour it in to your pan to create a base. You can also place some of it on the sides of the pan to create a pie shell.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Place in the refrigerator for a couple of hours or in the freezer.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In a non-stick pan, melt the butter and the dark brown soft sugar until the sugar dissolves. Pour in the condensed milk and keep stirring. Once it comes to a boil (It will start spitting so be very careful and maintain a distance from the pan)- let it boil for minute, while continuously stirring. It will become thick and come off the edges of the pan. Pour it on top of the base and place it back in the refrigerator for a couple of hours.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Once the caramel has completely cooled, beat the double cream in to soft peaks.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Slice the bananas and place on top of the caramel. (To avoid the bananas going black too quickly, instead of putting lemon on them which could cause them to taste slighty different, I submerge the bananas in boiling hot water for a couple of minutes before peeling . The skin will go black. This way the bananas don't go black in the pie for 2-3 days).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Pour the Whipped cream on top of the bananas and sprinkle the top with chocolate.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Leave in the refrigerator to chill for a couple of hours before serving.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Enjoy :-)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">-S</span>A tablespoon of This...http://www.blogger.com/profile/05262346093737696869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1532935327915171447.post-82663399147530049712012-10-13T09:27:00.000-07:002014-08-29T10:47:25.173-07:00Iced Coffee<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px;">After posting my last entry I was asked how to make the Iced coffee drink that was in the background of the pictures...</span></span><br />
<div style="line-height: 17px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Its really really simple and quick to make and accompanies brownies (or anything else really) well!!</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 17px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">It doesn't really have any specific amounts for the ingredients and you pretty much have to go with taste.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 17px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br style="line-height: 17px;" /></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj__gq8Xs4AtWYreE6WSQOiS1lQNsq7vBixDnZnkVTL20Z4FkMXsan1RKMY_e79j0PnpT3lCLtPPQBRCAC38weAPXGheg0I1jOihi5e6Jb7VRVge_H2Sx1_vJNa5SgaO1WmEgoFn-Maam8/s1600/IMG_2279.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj__gq8Xs4AtWYreE6WSQOiS1lQNsq7vBixDnZnkVTL20Z4FkMXsan1RKMY_e79j0PnpT3lCLtPPQBRCAC38weAPXGheg0I1jOihi5e6Jb7VRVge_H2Sx1_vJNa5SgaO1WmEgoFn-Maam8/s320/IMG_2279.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></a></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Ingredients:</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Instant Coffee</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Whole Milk</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Vanilla Icecream (optional)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Cocoa powder</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Serve with:</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Whipped cream</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Chocolate sauce</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Method:</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px;">- Mix the instant coffee with sugar to taste and boiling water. (You have to use a generous amount of coffee because of the milk and ice cream that you will be adding)</span></span></div>
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</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px;">- Pour the mixture, with a couple of pints of milk in to the blender. You can also add the vanilla ice cream (if you want to) at this point.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px;"></span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px;">- Add some cocoa powder in to the mixture</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px;">- Blend it all together</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px;">- You can either store this in the fridge before serving so that it is chilled or if you have made this well in advance, freeze the mixture in ice cube trays and then blend them before serving.</span></span></div>
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- Drizzle some chocolate or caramel sauce in your serving glass and pour in your iced coffee, topping it up with whipped cream and more chocolate sauce.</div>
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Enjoy :-)</div>
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-S </div>
</span></span>A tablespoon of This...http://www.blogger.com/profile/05262346093737696869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1532935327915171447.post-24235045010314916972012-10-02T13:27:00.001-07:002012-10-02T13:34:40.926-07:00Brownies!<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I finally have access to the internet!!! After a month!!!.. The past month we moved house and have been trying to settle in to it.. which has been a process slightly slower than times before now that everything I do takes double the amount of time!</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Its so strange how dependant we've become to the internet. Without it, you're so cut out from the world. Literally. Its almost impossible to keep up with the news and also keep in touch with people.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">And my blog!!</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Its crazy how these months have been flying by. We're already in to October. The month I'm expecting the arrival of my little Baby inshaAllah. Please keep us in your prayers folks, because that's all we need now!!!</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Anyway..today I'm going to post the recipe of one of the first three things I ever baked. Brownies!!! These simple, no fuss brownies never fail to make people happy. Over the years I've tried many other different recipes..Nigella's walnut brownies which are absolutely divine and many others..but for some reason this recipe has a very loyal bunch of fans. People who would much rather prefer these brownies to the decadent recipes that I have tried out as well.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I always have trouble taking pictures of brownies...or double chocolate chip cookies (that I have baking in the oven this very moment). For some reason, they never actually look appealing on camera.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Maybe its because I don't put too much effort in the pictures I take.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I really should!</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">This recipe doesn't require any real chocolate in it and somehow manages to end up with rich, chocolatey results that would leave you wondering how!</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0F5YcixPL8fc7sQH9xmwCsAM53hARRjMj4uak5iuJ7hbgv65VH9D5DGtRayVLqjsI4cbush_ap-8N5FBXUx2o3QT9EXDmtLVXg18xO4fI4r2KySYD7CcCNyDkL_KEfdn35eAw14UHiZc/s1600/IMG_2274.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0F5YcixPL8fc7sQH9xmwCsAM53hARRjMj4uak5iuJ7hbgv65VH9D5DGtRayVLqjsI4cbush_ap-8N5FBXUx2o3QT9EXDmtLVXg18xO4fI4r2KySYD7CcCNyDkL_KEfdn35eAw14UHiZc/s320/IMG_2274.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0IvRbGEx5NGofRlHcH7V4LDrLMhw1nEdi2wVJbLPkRnWeqtwV7FtQ__tnxDOmBapByFRUQSCk7N_o4ZTzvqb_MKDvvTXD-2jXYTXYhy30D5niji4ZX1SNN7enRFCcC-230oH6PTzzAp4/s1600/IMG_2275.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0IvRbGEx5NGofRlHcH7V4LDrLMhw1nEdi2wVJbLPkRnWeqtwV7FtQ__tnxDOmBapByFRUQSCk7N_o4ZTzvqb_MKDvvTXD-2jXYTXYhy30D5niji4ZX1SNN7enRFCcC-230oH6PTzzAp4/s320/IMG_2275.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Here it is:</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Ingredients:</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">1 cup Margarine/ Unsalted Butter</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">4 tbsps Cocoa Powder</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">2 cups Sugar</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">4 large Eggs, lightly beaten</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">1 and a half cups All Purpose Flour</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">2 tsps Vanilla Essence</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Method:</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">- Preheat the oven to 350F / Gas mark 4</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">- Grease and line a pan. This makes quite a generous amount of brownies depending on the thickness.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">- Melt the margarine in a pan under low heat.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">- Remove from the heat and add in the cocoa powder. Stir it well and then let it cool till tepid.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">- Mix the sugar, eggs and vanilla together with a hand mixer.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">- Add in the flour in two additions and mix with a large mixing spoon.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">- When it is just combined, add the cocoa and margarine mixture and stir them all together until completely combined.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">- Bake for 30 minutes, but start checking at 20 minutes.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">- The skewer that you pierce the brownies with to check should have some mixture stuck to it (so the brownies are not quite done). This is really important because over baking them can lead to dry results!</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">- Take them out of the oven and wait till it cools.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">You can frost the brownies with anything that you like. For this recipe in particular, I prefer my mums Chocolate dropping recipe. Here it is:</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Ingredients:</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">1 tbsp Margarine</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">2 tbps Cocoa</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">8 tbsps Icing Sugar</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">A little hot milk</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Method:</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">-Melt the Margarine</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">-Add in the sifted Cocoa and Icing Sugar</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">-Mix it really well and then add in milk very little by little until you get a nice, glossy frosting in a thick consistency!</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Pour the mixture on top. Sprinkle with Smarties (My personal preference :-P ) and enjoyyyyyy....</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">-S</span></div>
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A tablespoon of This...http://www.blogger.com/profile/05262346093737696869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1532935327915171447.post-15111325058901616762012-08-15T16:30:00.000-07:002013-02-27T07:04:51.299-08:00Pankhas..Mandazis..or..??<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 17px;">Greetings people!!!!</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I know its been a long long time since I've posted an entry. Believe me, its not because I haven't been baking and trying out new recipes, but its been ridiculously busy!!!</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Its Shahru Ramadhan- (I can not believe we're already in to the last ten days) and time is just whizzing by so fast!! :-(</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I haven't even had a chance to take decent pictures of the stuff that I make..just a few quick clicks with my phone and I'm done!!!</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Hopefully, I'll be posting these recipes quickly, because very soon inshaAllah things are going to get really busy with a tiny little new family member! :-)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">So what have I been trying out?? Gorgeous, melt-in-your-mouth, buttery Melting Moment biscuits, Ultra rich and indulgent Banoffee pie, Indian sweets and lots more!!!</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Hmm, what should I start with??</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">A recipe I recently learnt from my sister in law.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">We call it Pankhas. She calls it Mandazis. But really? I don't know what to call it. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I can describe it to you though!!</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Crispy, golden, deep-fried, pastry-like bits of yumminess dipped in a gold, saffrony sugar syrup...</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Pure decadence.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I'm not kidding. Its everything evil put together that brings together the yummiest results!!...When she makes them, they're flawless!!!! </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Best eaten? When they're fresh and hot and crispy and just dipped in the sugar syrup!!!</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The other day I decided to give it a shot. I was so surprised at how easy it was to make!</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">All you have to make is a simple dough and then roll it out and fry it.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Oh and make the sugar syrup.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">But that's it!!!! I'm totally going to make this again. And again. And again :-)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Ingredients:</span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #2a2a2a; line-height: 17px;"><br /></span></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #2a2a2a; line-height: 17px;">2 cups plain flour</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 17px;">8 tablespoons oil</span><br />
<div style="line-height: 17px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Cardamom powder</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">2 cups sugar</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Saffron</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Orange food colouring</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #2a2a2a; line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br style="line-height: 17px;" /></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #2a2a2a; line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Method:</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">You have to start off making the sugar syrup so that it has cooled down completely before you dip in your 'pankhas'.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">To do this, put in 2 cups of sugar, 1 cup of water, About half a tspoon Cardamom powder, a drop of orange or yellow food colouring and saffron in a pan.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Let all these ingredients reach a boil on a high temperature on your stove and then immediately lower the heat.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">When you see the syrup thicken, add another half glass of water and let it boil till its sticky.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">You'll be able to see the consistency and stickiness using your wooden spoon. Once its nice and thick, place it aside to cool.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br style="line-height: 17px;" /></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Next, combine the 2 cups of flour, 8 tablespoons of oil and cardamom powder with your fingers. Bring them together as a dough with warm water.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">This dough is so quick and easy to make. Make sure its not too soft or hard.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Divide the dough in to around seven little balls and then roll each one out quite thin. The thinner the better (because the crispier the results)- and in to a circular shape.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Then, squeeze the top and bottom of the centre of the circle together with your thumb and index finger, bringing them together to a butterfly-like shape.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Using a knife, cut it right in the center so that you end up with a fan like shape.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br style="line-height: 17px;" /></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Fry in hot oil until they are golden and crispy and then dip it in to the sugar syrup.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br style="line-height: 17px;" /></span></div>
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #2a2a2a; line-height: 17px;"><div style="line-height: 17px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Mmmmm...these are BEST on the day that they are made. Sooo easy to make and so worth the results.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Store them in an airtight container!!!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Take care folks! Hopefully you'll see another post very soon!!</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">-S</span></div>
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</span>A tablespoon of This...http://www.blogger.com/profile/05262346093737696869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1532935327915171447.post-62236215325302239932012-06-25T13:44:00.000-07:002012-06-25T13:44:12.701-07:00Banana hotcakes<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px;">Breakfast is always an issue for me. I'm always looking for variety. Something to start your day with that will sustain you and brighten up your morning.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px;"></span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">After all, breakfast is the most important meal of the day right?</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The other day I was longing for something hot and completely different. I usually go for baked oatmeal but that was going to take too long in the oven and I was hungry for food now!!!- so it had to be quick and easy.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">After looking through whatever I had available in the kitchen I decided on some type of pancakes or hotcakes.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">It was sooo easy. The batter took just a couple of minutes to whip together and while the hotcakes were cooking on the frying pan, I had time to chop up whatever fruit I wanted to accompany my breakfast with. In my case- strawberries ofcourse :-)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br style="line-height: 17px;" /></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I also incorporated mashed banana in the batter to make it a bit more filling. The recipe </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">made enough to last for two days' breakfast so that was a bonus!!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSadcEqn1M-zh-ybj2jAy5-sqTDNGLJHnXC-tupbb2dGqZmd_t4kEhrEgvBHn1QIMxhLL8nNgUgQPp-h-wH2XtNNYcq4fqyXe6um4miRz8VKRLYzKsfkcY3oydcQCiNLSoWFaYfMDGjg0/s1600/IMG_3271.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSadcEqn1M-zh-ybj2jAy5-sqTDNGLJHnXC-tupbb2dGqZmd_t4kEhrEgvBHn1QIMxhLL8nNgUgQPp-h-wH2XtNNYcq4fqyXe6um4miRz8VKRLYzKsfkcY3oydcQCiNLSoWFaYfMDGjg0/s320/IMG_3271.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl7VFsbBRAgGqSu08m6OCu5xHHP9JSAz4sh1R8XzwkI3Db5p8UwECDGZxzOVWqIESNAKWHv9HptNOeBTJucM-0fFT7gBRS3kPbhyphenhyphenALUvEdYLTq99k3LfjI9HfTD7-NtUbwydWcSOJckos/s1600/IMG_3272.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl7VFsbBRAgGqSu08m6OCu5xHHP9JSAz4sh1R8XzwkI3Db5p8UwECDGZxzOVWqIESNAKWHv9HptNOeBTJucM-0fFT7gBRS3kPbhyphenhyphenALUvEdYLTq99k3LfjI9HfTD7-NtUbwydWcSOJckos/s320/IMG_3272.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Ingredients:</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br style="line-height: 17px;" /></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">-Two ripe bananas</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">-Just over 1/2 a cup of plain all-purpose flour</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">-1 tablespoon sugar</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 17px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">-1/2 cup semi skimmed milk</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">-pinch of salt</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">-1 egg</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">-vanilla flavouring</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br style="line-height: 17px;" /></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Method:</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br style="line-height: 17px;" /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 17px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Mash up your bananas nice and finely using a fork and set aside.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">In a bowl, measure in the flour and the sugar and the salt.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 17px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">In a separate mug, whisk the egg together with the milk and a little bit of vanilla flavouring/essence. Add it in to the flour mixture and stir it until its combined.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 17px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Add in the mashed banana and combine.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 17px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br style="line-height: 17px;" /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 17px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Heat up a non-stick frying pan (medium heat). You can spray it with some oil or butter but I didn't use anything at all. I didn't find it necessary and my frying pan behaves pretty well :-)</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 17px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">You can use 2-3 tablespoons of the batter per hotcake, depending how large you want them.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 17px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Once the batter starts forming bubbles, flip the hotcakes over and let it cook on the other side.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br style="line-height: 17px;" /></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">It's as simple as that!!</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">You can eat them plain or with maple syrup or with chopped up fruit or icecream!</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 17px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Serve them hot because thats when they are at their best!!</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br style="line-height: 17px;" /></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">This recipe is ridiculously easy and takes just about as long as double toasting your bread!!! It's well well worth it!!! try it out and enjoy :-)</span></div>
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</div>A tablespoon of This...http://www.blogger.com/profile/05262346093737696869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1532935327915171447.post-88775923631359935672012-05-27T14:52:00.000-07:002012-05-27T14:52:22.000-07:00Vanilla cupcakes with strawberry flavoured frosting!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 17px;">Whenever I look at cupcakes in stores or online, I just feel so envious of how beautiful they look.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #2a2a2a; line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I can never actually manage to get them looking pretty enough. Maybe its because of my complete lack of talent when it comes to decorating cakes. I usually just messily ice my cakes- because obviously taste matters much more- but more importantly- because I'm terrible at making any cakes look pretty and presentable!</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #2a2a2a; line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #2a2a2a; line-height: 17px;">Oh well, recently it was my friends' daughters' first birthday and I set a goal for myself to make cupcakes that I was actually going to be pleased with- w</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #2a2a2a; line-height: 17px;">ith a pink theme :-), because pink is just awesome. and girly. and means I could incorporate something strawberry-ish to them!!</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #2a2a2a; line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #2a2a2a; line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Anyway, I got myself a little cake frosting kit, cute pink cupcake cases and lots of pink sprinkles!!!...And then I started baking.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #2a2a2a; line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #2a2a2a; line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">After deciding on soft, fluffy, vanilla cupcakes with a strawberry flavoured frosting I got started.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #2a2a2a; line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #2a2a2a; line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Cupcakes are actually fun to bake :-) and they don't really take that long either.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #2a2a2a; line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #2a2a2a; line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">They are prettier and little kids love to eat them.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #2a2a2a; line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">So do big kids :-)</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #2a2a2a; line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #2a2a2a; line-height: 17px;">The result? Awesomely soft, fluffy, light as air vanilla cupcakes with a thick layer of strawberry flavoured frosting. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #2a2a2a; line-height: 17px;">Even I liked it- and I must admit I'm not really a 'non-chocolate cake' fan.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #2a2a2a; line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #2a2a2a; line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I kept some cupcakes for home and they didn't last long AT ALL!!!</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #2a2a2a; line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">A very nice feeling :-)</span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Light and fluffy :-)</span></td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Cantarell; line-height: 17px;">
<span class="ecxApple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px;"><span class="ecxApple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 17px;">Ingredients for the cake batter:</span></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Cantarell; line-height: 17px;">
<span class="ecxApple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 17px;"><span class="ecxApple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px;">4 eggs</span></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Cantarell; line-height: 17px;">
<span class="ecxApple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 17px;"><span class="ecxApple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px;">8oz self- raising flour</span></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Cantarell; line-height: 17px;">
<span class="ecxApple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 17px;"><span class="ecxApple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px;">8oz caster sugar</span></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Cantarell; line-height: 17px;">
<span class="ecxApple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 17px;"><span class="ecxApple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px;">8oz margarine</span></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Cantarell; line-height: 17px;">
<span class="ecxApple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 17px;"><span class="ecxApple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px;">Vanilla essence</span></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Cantarell; line-height: 17px;">
<span class="ecxApple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 17px;"><span class="ecxApple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px;"><br style="line-height: 17px;" /></span></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Cantarell; line-height: 17px;">
<span class="ecxApple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 17px;"><span class="ecxApple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px;">Mehod:</span></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Cantarell; line-height: 17px;">
<span class="ecxApple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 17px;"><span class="ecxApple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px;">Preheat the oven at Gas mark 4</span></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Cantarell; line-height: 17px;">
<span class="ecxApple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 17px;"><span class="ecxApple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px;">Beat the sugar and the margarine with a hand-held mixer until the mixture becomes light and fluffy.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Cantarell; line-height: 17px;">
<span class="ecxApple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 17px;"><span class="ecxApple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px;">Add in the eggs one at a time and carry on mixing it.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Cantarell; line-height: 17px;">
<span class="ecxApple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 17px;"><span class="ecxApple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px;">Once the mixture is blended in together, add in the flour in additions.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Cantarell; line-height: 17px;">
<span class="ecxApple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 17px;"><span class="ecxApple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px;">keep mixing it.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Cantarell; line-height: 17px;">
<span class="ecxApple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 17px;"><span class="ecxApple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px;">Finally, add a few drops of vanilla essence in to the mixture. Mix it a little more and then using an ice-cream scoop, divide in to cupcake cases. Just fill it two thirds of the way because it needs room to rise.</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 17px;">
<span class="ecxApple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: normal;">Let it bake in the oven until risen and golden. It took me about 20 minutes. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: 17px;">
<span class="ecxApple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: normal;"><br style="line-height: 17px;" /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 17px;">
<span class="ecxApple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: normal;">Let it cool and then frost away :-)</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 17px;">
<span class="ecxApple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: normal;"><br style="line-height: 17px;" /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 17px;">
<span class="ecxApple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: normal;">Ingredients for the frosting:</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 17px;">
<span class="ecxApple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: normal;">2 large serving spoons of margarine.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 17px;">
<span class="ecxApple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: normal;">4-5 large serving spoons of icing sugar (sifted)</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 17px;">
<span class="ecxApple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: normal;">You can add 1 tablespoon of any flavourings (like strawberry) or sifted cocoa (to taste).</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 17px;">
<span class="ecxApple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: normal;"><br style="line-height: 17px;" /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 17px;">
<span class="ecxApple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: normal;">Method:</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 17px;">
<span class="ecxApple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: normal;">Using a hand held mixer, thoroughly mix the icing sugar and margarine together until it is pale in colour.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 17px;">
<span class="ecxApple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: normal;">Then add any flavourings.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 17px;">
<span class="ecxApple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: normal;"><br style="line-height: 17px;" /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 17px;">
<span class="ecxApple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: normal;">The great thing about this cake recipe is that it is SO simple and takes such little time to make..and almost everyone loves the final result!</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 17px;">
<span class="ecxApple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: normal;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 17px;">
<span class="ecxApple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: normal;">Enjoy :-)</span></div>A tablespoon of This...http://www.blogger.com/profile/05262346093737696869noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1532935327915171447.post-53450409434571095512012-02-23T13:05:00.002-08:002012-02-23T13:10:53.521-08:00French toast!<div style="font-family: Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-indent: 0px !important;">Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-indent: 0px !important;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; text-indent: 0px !important;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span lang="EN-US" style="text-indent: 0px !important;">If you really do want to eat breakfast like a king, then this French toast is for you.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><o:p style="text-indent: 0px !important;"></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span lang="EN-US" style="text-indent: 0px !important;">Its soft, sweet, deliciously crispy on the edges and moist in the center and is the true definition of the word ‘yumminess’.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><o:p style="text-indent: 0px !important;"></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; text-indent: 0px !important;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span lang="EN-US" style="text-indent: 0px !important;">My mum used to make it for us ages ago when we were kids and then once we moved to the UK it was forgotten about.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><o:p style="text-indent: 0px !important;"></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span lang="EN-US" style="text-indent: 0px !important;">Until a couple of months ago when she made it for breakfast.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><o:p style="text-indent: 0px !important;"></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span lang="EN-US" style="text-indent: 0px !important;">That's when I fell back in love with it!!!</span><span lang="EN-US" style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><o:p style="text-indent: 0px !important;"></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; text-indent: 0px !important;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span lang="EN-US" style="text-indent: 0px !important;">The good thing is, just once slice of this can fill you up nicely because of the egg and milk that goes in to it.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><o:p style="text-indent: 0px !important;"></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span lang="EN-US" style="text-indent: 0px !important;">We usually go for the freshly baked loaves of bread that you get in the bakery section of the grocery store. It is completely surrounded by a golden, crispy crust and is perfect for making French toast with. </span><span lang="EN-US" style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><o:p style="text-indent: 0px !important;"></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span lang="EN-US" style="text-indent: 0px !important;">The method is so simple and so worth it!</span><span lang="EN-US" style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><o:p style="text-indent: 0px !important;"></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span lang="EN-US" style="text-indent: 0px !important;">You can use as much oil as you wish. If you are cautious about your health then use a tiny bit. The best thing to do is put a drop of oil on to your non stick pan and once its heated, you could brush it around the entire pan so that its greased up.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><o:p style="text-indent: 0px !important;"></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span lang="EN-US" style="text-indent: 0px !important;">If you’re indulgent however, or would like a once in a while treat, then put use a generous amount of oil. Definitely don’t let your bread swim in it, but just enough to last in the pan until the bread is cooked.</span></span></div><div style="font-family: Times; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; text-indent: 0px !important;"></div><div style="font-family: Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-indent: 0px !important;"><br style="text-indent: 0px !important;" /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px !important;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk_ldrvOvzXYYLvb_TM7REgubYCXhPm99VwzzSYSXowInD7wsPe24aMk58oyU7uoyms4HY4b3T6hEA8TurJr-OktsjYW4momwFTy-H0Kn7ijNUJI7Gvr_xtEwBq1_6O2iWwGL-RQPwRwM/s1600/IMG_1813.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk_ldrvOvzXYYLvb_TM7REgubYCXhPm99VwzzSYSXowInD7wsPe24aMk58oyU7uoyms4HY4b3T6hEA8TurJr-OktsjYW4momwFTy-H0Kn7ijNUJI7Gvr_xtEwBq1_6O2iWwGL-RQPwRwM/s320/IMG_1813.jpg" style="cursor: move; text-indent: 0px !important;" width="320" /></span></a></div><div style="font-family: Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; text-indent: 0px !important;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px !important;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghbJwx_dyf5yMPjuJd64w6XeajyI8E4tTFG0wNscdVj0W9id7pAQ2P_Tzviq9W4kOgB1Ok66VLwWf0PQQMtFmtShyyPX03ZNCV6hDDBdOlh4U-Nxxl24QZur-Utdr9tQGi1GVRItUM1zA/s1600/IMG_1817.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghbJwx_dyf5yMPjuJd64w6XeajyI8E4tTFG0wNscdVj0W9id7pAQ2P_Tzviq9W4kOgB1Ok66VLwWf0PQQMtFmtShyyPX03ZNCV6hDDBdOlh4U-Nxxl24QZur-Utdr9tQGi1GVRItUM1zA/s320/IMG_1817.jpg" style="cursor: move; text-indent: 0px !important;" width="213" /></span></a></div><div style="font-family: Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; text-indent: 0px !important;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px !important;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXr1nsP90UvsZEKyt5dSd5DQkD8qoRIWq9JGcuX-VGnBlLIJJkSlWZnzeGQobgV_62lRph4HBvpkCH9EbvpHh0urIKnVI0eXmyJ_5o01M3ymKE8KI35pRTWQdsXrSf64JOHgIVpTzGH1U/s1600/IMG_1814.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXr1nsP90UvsZEKyt5dSd5DQkD8qoRIWq9JGcuX-VGnBlLIJJkSlWZnzeGQobgV_62lRph4HBvpkCH9EbvpHh0urIKnVI0eXmyJ_5o01M3ymKE8KI35pRTWQdsXrSf64JOHgIVpTzGH1U/s320/IMG_1814.jpg" style="cursor: move; text-indent: 0px !important;" width="320" /></span></a></div><div style="font-family: Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; text-indent: 0px !important;"><br />
</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXb9KH_7U7YrWcmMr-plXxvESvwmUu8V2so_wfmKIv6MsKLqU-XmecBCxYdlG8Grs8Quu00f0h0AyK1r1h6b6YBwFq9RiXxRdhJhD_ce68B22_6FV0u2awNGelZAIJg_yBpcXXIB5Irus/s320/IMG_1821.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-indent: 0px !important;" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Crispy on the outside and soft, sweet and <br />
melt-in-your-mouth on the inside!!</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px !important;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXb9KH_7U7YrWcmMr-plXxvESvwmUu8V2so_wfmKIv6MsKLqU-XmecBCxYdlG8Grs8Quu00f0h0AyK1r1h6b6YBwFq9RiXxRdhJhD_ce68B22_6FV0u2awNGelZAIJg_yBpcXXIB5Irus/s1600/IMG_1821.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"></span></a></div><div style="font-family: Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-indent: 0px !important;"><br style="text-indent: 0px !important;" /></span></div><div style="font-family: Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-indent: 0px !important;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span lang="EN-US" style="text-indent: 0px !important;">Here’s the recipe:</span><span lang="EN-US" style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><o:p style="text-indent: 0px !important;"></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; text-indent: 0px !important;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span lang="EN-US" style="text-indent: 0px !important;">Ingredients</span><span lang="EN-US" style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><o:p style="text-indent: 0px !important;"></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span lang="EN-US" style="text-indent: 0px !important;">1 loaf of bread- cut in to 6 chunky slices. (This would depend on the loaf that you use)</span><span lang="EN-US" style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><o:p style="text-indent: 0px !important;"></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span lang="EN-US" style="text-indent: 0px !important;">3 eggs</span><span lang="EN-US" style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><o:p style="text-indent: 0px !important;"></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span lang="EN-US" style="text-indent: 0px !important;">Whole milk- about a pint</span><span lang="EN-US" style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><o:p style="text-indent: 0px !important;"></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span lang="EN-US" style="text-indent: 0px !important;">1 tsp vanilla essence</span><span lang="EN-US" style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><o:p style="text-indent: 0px !important;"></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span lang="EN-US" style="text-indent: 0px !important;">Oil (If you are not worried about the amount, you can use about 6 tablespoons per two slices of bread)</span><span lang="EN-US" style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><o:p style="text-indent: 0px !important;"></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span lang="EN-US" style="text-indent: 0px !important;">Sugar (9 tablespoons or to taste)- you should be pretty generous here- for best results :-P</span><span lang="EN-US" style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><o:p style="text-indent: 0px !important;"></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; text-indent: 0px !important;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span lang="EN-US" style="text-indent: 0px !important;">Method:</span><span lang="EN-US" style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><o:p style="text-indent: 0px !important;"></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span lang="EN-US" style="text-indent: 0px !important;">In a wide dish, whisk the eggs properly and then add the rest of the ingredients. </span><span lang="EN-US" style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><o:p style="text-indent: 0px !important;"></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; text-indent: 0px !important;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span lang="EN-US" style="text-indent: 0px !important;">Mix them all thoroughly and then dip your slices of bread in to the mixture for about 20 seconds each side (keep submerging the bread in to the mixture and make sure to do the same to the other side)</span><span lang="EN-US" style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><o:p style="text-indent: 0px !important;"></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span lang="EN-US" style="text-indent: 0px !important;">Meanwhile, in a wide non stick pan, heat the oil and then once it is quite hot, put in the slices of bread. Depending on how wide the pan is, I usually do two slices at the same time. Let it cook for about 2 and a half minutes. When you open the lid of your pan, the bread would have expanded a bit and sort of dried up. Flip them around and cover again. Leave it for another couple of minutes.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><o:p style="text-indent: 0px !important;"></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; text-indent: 0px !important;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span lang="EN-US" style="text-indent: 0px !important;">Cover the pan and reduce the heat slightly. This is especially important if you are not using much oil.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><o:p style="text-indent: 0px !important;"></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span lang="EN-US" style="text-indent: 0px !important;">You can enjoy it straight away, or if you are cooking it in advance, then place it in an oven dish and cover with foil. </span><span lang="EN-US" style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><o:p style="text-indent: 0px !important;"></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; text-indent: 0px !important;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span lang="EN-US" style="text-indent: 0px !important;">Once it is almost completely done, using a pair of tongs, you can turn the edges of the bread on to the pan so that they crisp up nicely.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><o:p style="text-indent: 0px !important;"></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span lang="EN-US" style="text-indent: 0px !important;">Once it is time to reheat, place it in the oven on a medium heat leaving the foil on.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><o:p style="text-indent: 0px !important;"></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; text-indent: 0px !important;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span lang="EN-US" style="text-indent: 0px !important;">(p.s the darkened bit is not burnt..its caramelised sugar...)</span><span lang="EN-US" style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><o:p style="text-indent: 0px !important;"></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; text-indent: 0px !important;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span lang="EN-US" style="text-indent: 0px !important;">Oh so worth the calories...</span><span lang="EN-US" style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><o:p style="text-indent: 0px !important;"></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; text-indent: 0px !important;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span lang="EN-US" style="text-indent: 0px !important;">-S</span></span></div>A tablespoon of This...http://www.blogger.com/profile/05262346093737696869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1532935327915171447.post-69920890165910566732012-02-16T13:19:00.000-08:002012-02-16T13:24:52.132-08:00Better than shortbread...Naan Khatai :-)<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">If you've ever been to Mombasa- The coastal city in East Africa where I am from, you would most definitely have heard about Hussaini Bakery. It is the most popular bakery that makes all types of biscuits, cookies and stuff. The most popular item that they make is the HB naan khataai.</span></span><br />
<div style="line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Its like a hundred times better tasting than shortbread biscuits. I'm not even exaggerating!!!</span></div><div style="line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br style="line-height: 17px;" /></span></div><div style="line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I can remember these cookies existing ever since I was old enough to understand what cookies are. Which is pretty young!</span></div><div style="line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">They are large, golden coloured, circlular shaped, buttery, crispy, crumbly, buttery pieces of yumminess. (Yes I mentioned buttery twice!!!)</span></div><div style="line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">These are without a doubt the most famous biscuits available in Mombasa, and what you find in almost every household. My grandparents courier us entire boxes when we lived in Nairobi. Not by flight, but by a long 8 hour bus ride. They always survived the journey- but didn't last very long once they reached home!</span></div><div style="line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Whenever people travel back home to Mombasa, they are sure to wrap dozens of packs in their suitcases and bring them back here. Its funny, but whenever anyone is going back there, they almost always bring some of these HB naan khatai back here- if not for themselves then for people who have asked them to bring some for them.</span></div><div style="line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">They are precious goods- and if you ever are lucky enough to taste them, then consider yourself highly priviledged!! :-)</span></div><div style="line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br style="line-height: 17px;" /></span></div><div style="line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">My Dad is the absolute king of these. They have been his absolute favourite since forever and he was pretty pleased with the results of my home baked ones.</span></div><div style="line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">He told me to make more. That means it was good right?? :-D</span></div><div style="line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br style="line-height: 17px;" /></span></div><div style="line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Recently, Fauzia (who I have mentioned here many times) came up with a recipe for these cookies. I was so excited that I baked them as soon as I got a chance- which was yesterday. I have to say, these are really really close to tasting like the Original HB bakery's Naan Khatai. Of course I don't think anyone can get it exactly like theirs but its a really close rendition.</span></div><div style="line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br style="line-height: 17px;" /></span></div><div style="line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The result? Golden, butter, yummy, crumbly cookies.</span></div><div style="line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Definitely worth making and enjoying with a cuppa.</span></div><div style="line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Fauzia, Thanks for the recipe. You are a genius and you have saved the lives of all the HB loving East Africans who live far far away from the amazing Bakery in Mombasa!</span></div><div style="line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br style="line-height: 17px;" /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT8BPvVltkkKIsx-CDa_Hnho8GIGHiwZK_xB8msW7P6xKKG0tNf1wrhKMCGGxsWUSwIOQSHKEMxkjO93XinjmkDQeVx4MBAAFt0aVdkVM5ptQLXnwh7mkc0IrnA0s0QuzwYX1AkiQdIi4/s1600/IMG_2289.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT8BPvVltkkKIsx-CDa_Hnho8GIGHiwZK_xB8msW7P6xKKG0tNf1wrhKMCGGxsWUSwIOQSHKEMxkjO93XinjmkDQeVx4MBAAFt0aVdkVM5ptQLXnwh7mkc0IrnA0s0QuzwYX1AkiQdIi4/s320/IMG_2289.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><br />
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</span></div><div style="line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Here's the recipe:</span></div><div style="line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="ecxApple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px;"><span class="ecxApple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">250gm room temperature butter<br style="line-height: 17px;" />three-quarter cup castor/grinded sugar <br style="line-height: 17px;" />1 egg, lightly beaten and at room temperature<br style="line-height: 17px;" />1 and a half tsp baking powder<br style="line-height: 17px;" />4 tbsp custard powder (plain/vanilla flavour)<br style="line-height: 17px;" />few drops of yellow colour<br style="line-height: 17px;" />2 cups all-purpose flour <br style="line-height: 17px;" />4 tbsp fine sooji/semolina<br style="line-height: 17px;" />1 tsp vanilla essence<br style="line-height: 17px;" />half tsp salt<br style="line-height: 17px;" /><br style="line-height: 17px;" />First, mix the flour, custard powder, semolina, salt and baking powder together in a bowl and set it aside.<br style="line-height: 17px;" /><br style="line-height: 17px;" />In a separate bowl, cream the butter and sugar, add the drops of colour. Beat in the egg and vanilla until fluffy. <br style="line-height: 17px;" /><br style="line-height: 17px;" />Now gradually add in the dry ingredients and mix until the dough comes together. Do not over-mix as that will ruin the crumbly consistency. Only mix enough for everything to get well-combined.<br style="line-height: 17px;" /><br style="line-height: 17px;" />TIP: If you feel that the dough needs a bit more flour, add a tbsp at a time. Do not over-knead the mixture. Keep in mind that the dough will be chilled before shaping and baking, so it will stiffen up some more later, so don't add more flour than you absolutely need to. <br style="line-height: 17px;" /><br style="line-height: 17px;" />Transfer the dough into a piece of cling film and wrap it up tight. Refrigerate for about an hour.<br style="line-height: 17px;" /><br style="line-height: 17px;" />Place some greaseproof paper on your baking sheets. Divide the dough into about 20-21 equal balls. Shape them into big circles of about 3" each, using the palms of your hand, like how we make burger patties. Place them on the tray and flatten/level them slightly and gently. Remember to leave enough room around them as they will expand slightly during baking. You can make imprints on them at this point, I used my heart shaped cookie cutters to make little heart shapes on my cookies.<br style="line-height: 17px;" /><br style="line-height: 17px;" />Once all are shaped, place the trays again into the refrigerator for another half an hour to chill. <br style="line-height: 17px;" /><br style="line-height: 17px;" />In the meantime, pre-heat the oven at 160 C. These cookies are normally large, so we need a lower temperature in order to get them to crisp up properly without getting brown.<br style="line-height: 17px;" /><br style="line-height: 17px;" />Bake for about 20-25 minutes. When they are half-way done, turn the trays around so that the cookies get evenly baked, and if at any time you feel they are starting to take too much colour, lower the heat some more.<br style="line-height: 17px;" /><br style="line-height: 17px;" />Once they are ready, remove them onto a wire-rack to cool completely. When they come out of the oven they will be slightly soft, but don't worry as they will crisp up as they cool. <br style="line-height: 17px;" /><br style="line-height: 17px;" />TIP: After they've cooled COMPLETELY and if you feel they are still not quite crisp enough, just pop them back into the oven on low temperature of about 120-140 C and bake them for another 10 minutes until you are satisfied with the results.<br style="line-height: 17px;" /><br style="line-height: 17px;" />Store them in an airtight container. </span></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br style="line-height: 17px;" /></span></div><div style="line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Enjoy the baking AND the results!!!</span></div><div style="line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">-S</span></div>A tablespoon of This...http://www.blogger.com/profile/05262346093737696869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1532935327915171447.post-24089230545223807432012-01-07T11:32:00.000-08:002012-01-26T14:52:58.535-08:00Tarte tatin- An upside down orange tart :-)<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I love it when the taste tester has people over.</span><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Even when it's a late night meeting..</span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">because:</span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">a) I get the kitchen all to myself where I can spend ages experimenting different things</span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">b) They're all guys so they don't really care about calories - therefore being excellent experimental subjects for me!!!</span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I mean, even if something goes a bit wrong and in my opinion, may 'not be worth the calories' - I know that they don't think that way..so Yay for me!!! :-)</span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I know it sounds mean but its not like I'm going to make them eat something thats...inedible :-P</span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br style="text-indent: 0px !important;" /></span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Hey, if you bake and experiment - SOMEONE's gotta eat it!!!</span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br style="text-indent: 0px !important;" /></span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I've been dying to make Tarte tatin. Ever since I watched it being made on Masterchef Australia, I've really been wanting to give it a go. Slight problem - I've mentioned before that the Taste Tester is not keen on cooked apples - which would be awesome to use in this upside down pie. (I still haven't understood this about him since my last post that had apples in it).</span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Anyway, for the past month or so I have been obsessed about oranges. Like seriously obsessed. I eat like four in a row. </span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">And I can eat more.</span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br style="text-indent: 0px !important;" /></span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I don't really understand where this craze has come from since I used to hate oranges.</span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Its a pretty handy obsession to have though (if that makes sense)...because whenever I make dessert and people have it late at night - (which is obviously not a good idea) I'm pretty happy with my oranges.</span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br style="text-indent: 0px !important;" /></span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">No guilt.</span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">How awesome is that??</span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I hope it lasts.</span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br style="text-indent: 0px !important;" /></span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Anyway so back to my baking story. Since I'm in love with oranges at the moment, it only made sense to use oranges.</span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">So I chopped them up and created a tart.</span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I didn't have a recipe so I just went with what I had seen them do on tv. </span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I think it worked and I was pretty happy with the results :-)</span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br style="text-indent: 0px !important;" /></span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I served it warm with vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce.</span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The caramel sauce was pretty awesome too. Thank you Hershey's people for that!!</span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Anyway next time I make it, I'm going to use apples and we'll see how that turns out.</span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
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</span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br style="text-indent: 0px !important;" /></span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Ingredients: (I don't usually measure stuff so I'm going to do my best to try and estimate)</span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br style="text-indent: 0px !important;" /></span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">2 oranges (you can use apples, peaches, pineapples, bananas- or any fruit you want)</span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">3/4 cup sugar</span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">1/2 vanilla bean or a bit less</span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Ready made (and ready rolled cos I'm lazy) puff pastry (roll it out to around 0.5cm and cut it slightly larger sized than the bottom of the pan that you are using)</span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Butter</span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br style="text-indent: 0px !important;" /></span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Method:</span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Sprinkle the sugar and the vanilla on a heavy bottomed pan (which is suitable for the oven too) and place it on medium heat.</span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Let the sugar caramelise a bit..and become a nice goldeny brown (note: I burnt the first batch of caramel and it was literally a matter of seconds) and then remove it from the heat and arrange the sliced fruit on the syrup. Be very careful because you do NOT want this caramel syrup to get in contact with your skin while its hot. Also - Please don't try and taste it no matter how tempting it may be!!!</span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Place the rolled out pastry on top of the mixture and using a spoon tuck in the edges of the pastry around the caramel/fruit mixture so it encases it nicely.</span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br style="text-indent: 0px !important;" /></span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Using a fork or a knife, pierce the pastry a few times and bake it on Gas mark 7 for about 20 minutes until the pastry is cooked and you can see the caramel bubbling at the edges.</span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br style="text-indent: 0px !important;" /></span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Remove it from the oven and let it stand for about a minute and then VERY carefully (protect your hands with an oven mitt or a tea towel from the bubbling hot caramel) place a plate larger than the pan you cooked in on top of the pan and flip it over.</span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Brush butter on it generously.</span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Let it cool slightly and then serve with ice cream or whipped cream and enjoy :-)</span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br style="text-indent: 0px !important;" /></span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Keep smiling :-)</span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">-S</span></div></div>A tablespoon of This...http://www.blogger.com/profile/05262346093737696869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1532935327915171447.post-91785274807241925882011-12-13T08:54:00.000-08:002012-02-17T10:19:30.903-08:00A Traditional East African breakfast- Barazi & Mahamri<div dir="ltr" style="font-size: 13px; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Greetings all!!!</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-size: 13px; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I know I haven't been posting for a while..Almost a month actually. Apart from the other things that have been keeping me busy, I also have exams to sit.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-size: 13px; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Not good :-(</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-size: 13px; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I haven't sat for exams for years..and the nerves just seem to be getting to me! Honestly. For my first paper, after reading through the questions, my mind had gone completely blank for the first couple of minutes. Sitting right under the nose of the invigilator didn't help either. Oh well, thankfully I remembered most of the stuff (i hope) that I had studied and managed to jot it down. Prayers that I do well please??</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Its good to finally have a new post up. Apologies everyone, for being silent for so long...hopefully will be posting slightly more often.</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="font-size: 13px; text-indent: 0px !important;"><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">When I do get the time to however, I usually get so carried away with my stories that when I'm done, my posts usually end up having to be edited and at least half of what's written needs to be removed. Other wise y'all would be bored to death.</span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br style="text-indent: 0px !important;" /></span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Anyway, todays blog post is going to be something different.</span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">A traditional East African breakfast. Its quite popular in the coastal town of Mombasa where I was born. We call it Barazi and Mahamri. (the tanzanians usually call it mandazi- but mahamri sounds better :-P)</span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Barazi is pigeon peas (gungo peas) cooked in coconut milk and is eaten with Mahamri- a slightly sweet fried bread flavoured with cardamom.</span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">It is officially one of the most amazing combinations ever.</span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The salty savouriness of the barazi is complemented perfectly with the sweet mahamri which is light and fluffy and which is SO SO amazing, even if you just have it with a hot cup of tea.</span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br style="text-indent: 0px !important;" /></span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I have to admit, mahamri was actually one of my biggest enemies in the kitchen.</span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The dough is majorly difficult to bring together. Its like wrestling.</span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">No..its MORE difficult!!!!</span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Actually, I think its just me who finds it difficult to make the dough. People usually find it easy.</span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I only recently learned how to make it right. (thankyou mummy :-) )</span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br style="text-indent: 0px !important;" /></span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">One of the most amazing and favourite childhood memories I have is a little tradition we had with my grandparents when we used to go stay with them in Mombasa as a family.</span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">On Sunday mornings we were awoken at the most unearthly hour (not so unearthly- but for a little kid, 6am is pretty early okay?) and dressed in our swimming costumes.</span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Within five minutes of being woken up, a feverish excitement would fill our home. The three of us kids would be jumping around in excitement, harassing everyone to hurry up and get in to the car. Big baskets with flasks, crockery, breakfast, water and of course, spare clothes would be loaded in to the car and we would set off to the beach.</span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The drive there was amazing. If you've ever been to Mombasa, you would know that as soon as you step out of the plane, a sweet aroma of coconut palm trees and flowers mingled with the smell of seaweed surounds you.</span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Heavenly!!!</span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Once we would reach the beach, it would be nearing daylight and we would run down to the sea. With the tide usually really low, we would splash around in the warm sea water, try and touch the tiny fish that would be darting around in the water and watch the tiny crabs scampering around in the sand and scurrying into their little holes.</span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">We would sit on the damp sand and create masterpieces with our buckets and spades, gaze at the tall, beautiful camels that would be brought on the beach and if we were really lucky, have a long ride on the glass bottomed boats that would give us an opportunity to see the beautiful sea life in its own natural surroundings.</span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br style="text-indent: 0px !important;" /></span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">After thoroughly exhausting ourselves and with our little hands filled with all the colourful shells that we would find everywhere, we would run up to the little concrete, open air 'huts' where we would sit and enjoy our breakfast.</span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">With a plate loaded up with coconuty barazi and sweet mahamri, we would happily eat, washing it down with sweet, steaming hot, indian tea.</span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br style="text-indent: 0px !important;" /></span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Those memories were the best. Those were some of the most ideal moments that I could ever have as a child!!</span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I pray and wish that I get that opportunity again. Not only to be enjoying the raw beauty of my homeland, but also spending time with my loved ones. Laughing, chatting, eating together and having an amazing time.</span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br style="text-indent: 0px !important;" /></span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">When I do make this breakfast, sometimes I just shut my eyes and imagine all the amazing childhood memories that are attached with it. I can never thank God enough for granting me those wonderful moments and blessing me with the memories of them so that I can always be grateful for them!!</span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbRnOmUOFj07z1hyphenhyphenXp741hhQR1ujVBqpuXk80qDKPv0AoLnESNLYztB9Yk_fDuDqzDNaIsI2t-0mTEXDsiirXde2xAdBZ0dDPhkWA2_rMqAYcYmSmGS9HyIkWOCTOgFEpq67kfE9XPM8I/s1600/IMG_1808.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbRnOmUOFj07z1hyphenhyphenXp741hhQR1ujVBqpuXk80qDKPv0AoLnESNLYztB9Yk_fDuDqzDNaIsI2t-0mTEXDsiirXde2xAdBZ0dDPhkWA2_rMqAYcYmSmGS9HyIkWOCTOgFEpq67kfE9XPM8I/s320/IMG_1808.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">This is what it looks like inside :-)</span></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpNvy31pfb1dHj3DawxtJUsETc_U4bkkB2Qmyus1h3tNMQkjTk9W4XfPO1K4pC5YWIx9Tr-7ZJtWK1GJaqPZ61rKgKczh5WhJi3-9HnCbA-zPMoKdtMxribO-xXU7NrHBbWy_PStY1ZII/s1600/CIMG7781.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpNvy31pfb1dHj3DawxtJUsETc_U4bkkB2Qmyus1h3tNMQkjTk9W4XfPO1K4pC5YWIx9Tr-7ZJtWK1GJaqPZ61rKgKczh5WhJi3-9HnCbA-zPMoKdtMxribO-xXU7NrHBbWy_PStY1ZII/s320/CIMG7781.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Couldn't resist :-)</span></td></tr>
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<div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br style="text-indent: 0px !important;" /></span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Here's the recipe..</span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br style="text-indent: 0px !important;" /></span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">For the Mahamri:</span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br style="text-indent: 0px !important;" /></span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Ingredients:</span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br style="text-indent: 0px !important;" /></span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span lang="EN-US" style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">1 cup plain flour</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span lang="EN-US" style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">1 cup self raising flour</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span lang="EN-US" style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">10-12 tsps sugar</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span lang="EN-US" style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">cardamom powder (elaichi)</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span lang="EN-US" style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">1 pack yeast</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span lang="EN-US" style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">4 tbsps oil</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span lang="EN-US" style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br style="text-indent: 0px !important;" /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span lang="EN-US" style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Bring together all the ingredients with hot water, using your hands. Be very very very careful and don't put in too much water otherwise you'll be left with just a mess. I kept making that mistake!! keep adding a little water constantly until the dough is brought together. Keep kneading it until it reaches a soft, smooth and stretchy consistency.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span lang="EN-US" style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br style="text-indent: 0px !important;" /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span lang="EN-US" style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Place the ball of dough into an air tight container (large enough to let it rise) and let it sit for about 2 and a half hours, by when it should have risen.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Once it is ready, we usually split the dough in to six balls. Lightly dust the surface where you are going to prepare it and then roll out each of the six balls in to circles. Roll each ball out to about half an inch thickness and then cut it into four using a knife.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br style="text-indent: 0px !important;" /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">You get 24 out of this recipe.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br style="text-indent: 0px !important;" /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Prepare the oil for deep frying and make sure the oil is quite hot. Fry the mahamris- about 2 at a time so you can keep making sure they get browned equally. Turn them over and watch them rise- its too cool!!! :-)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br style="text-indent: 0px !important;" /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">(Just a side note- if you want to prepare the dough in advance, you can make it and freeze it immediately in a plastic bag. Don't let it rise!!!- whenever you do want to make it, remove it from the freezer and let it defrost itself for a couple of hours and then give it an hour or two to rise before you can roll it out!!)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br style="text-indent: 0px !important;" /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">For the Barazi:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Ingredients: (for about two people)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br style="text-indent: 0px !important;" /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">3/4 cup gungo beans (If they are raw, soak them in hot water overnight and then cook them in the pressure cooker for about 15 minutes)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">If you're lazy- like I am most of the time, you can buy the canned gungo beans and use them instead :-) - just make sure you wash them out!! I use one can for two peoples breakfast!!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br style="text-indent: 0px !important;" /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Half a block of creamed coconut or canned coconut milk. (In Africa we used to use the real coconut milk- but I am completely clueless on how to do that!!)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">2 green chillies</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">1/2 tsp turmeric powder</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">salt to taste</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br style="text-indent: 0px !important;" /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">All you have to do is place your cooked beans in a pan and add some water until its slightly above the surface of the beans.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Add in the creamed coconut and the green chillies, turmeric and salt</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br style="text-indent: 0px !important;" /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-top: 0px !important; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Let it boil for a while (about 15 minutes), until everything is combined. If you are using canned peas, let it boil in the coconut slightly longer so the beans soften a bit more!!</span></div></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br style="text-indent: 0px !important;" /></span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Serve hot and enjoy!!! If you do want to reheat the mahamri later on, you get best results by heating them in the oven on a low temperature!!</span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Enjoy :-)</span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br style="text-indent: 0px !important;" /></span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">-S</span></div></div>A tablespoon of This...http://www.blogger.com/profile/05262346093737696869noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1532935327915171447.post-91266656884447817152011-11-06T11:55:00.000-08:002011-11-06T11:55:57.222-08:00Seero / Suji ka halwa<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">I'm not one of the biggest fans of Indian sweets. Sure there is an exception here and there...Like my mum's amazing 'gulab jamuns'- which are made out of mawa (khoya) which is a rich dairy product used in the best of indian sweet recipes!! You can tell why anyone who tastes them would go crazy..they are perfectly sweet (but not too sweet) and deep fried and then soaked in a sugar syrup with saffron and cardamom!!..mmMmm</span></span></span></span><br />
<div style="line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">Anyway that is a recipe for another day!!!</span></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><br style="line-height: 17px;" /></span></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 17px;"><div style="line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">Unfortunately we don't get this Mawa in the UK, so we usually replace it with Milk powder- which pretty much does the job- but if you DO taste something with the original 'mawa' in it- you can totally taste the difference!!! </span></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><br style="line-height: 17px;" /></span></span></span></div></div><div style="line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">Back home whenever there would be a 'happy occassion' at mosque, along with the main meal that would be served, we would also get either of these two dishes. 'Seero' (semolina/suji halwa) or 'Zarda' (a gorgeous, aromatic, sweet yellow rice with nuts and raisins). Both of these dishes are extremely gorgeous and delicious in their own ways.</span></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><br style="line-height: 17px;" /></span></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">The Seero/Suji ka halwa, whose recipe I am going to post today is more of a soft, gooey, yummy sweet. Its perfect when eaten piping hot and is extremely delectable!</span></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">You could try making a low fat version of it, but I think that if you are going to indulge in something, you may as well have the best version of it!!! Anything else would be a waste of calories!! :-P</span></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><br style="line-height: 17px;" /></span></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">My sister in law always makes this when we go to her place, and it is gorgeous!! It was one of those things that I used to absolutely love eating, but never actually thought of making it. </span></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">I once was having some guests over and it struck me that this would be a perfect ending to a meal!..I was amazed when she gave me the recipe..it was SO easy!!!</span></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">How can something that tastes so good be so easy to make??</span></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><br />
</span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4ETuQXQI5PuUFtc0AVvqPHgfied-V-k45vW6JpTQ6lo5L863YlUBW6g7yW0-4QYLJUsXiuGbpSJU3THZIG_PEi0PV2PI9SwD3Bi8A8ZGpGWsiYyJ1EXuGip4tSBok8ijcyKh_DXA4P5E/s1600/CIMG6701.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4ETuQXQI5PuUFtc0AVvqPHgfied-V-k45vW6JpTQ6lo5L863YlUBW6g7yW0-4QYLJUsXiuGbpSJU3THZIG_PEi0PV2PI9SwD3Bi8A8ZGpGWsiYyJ1EXuGip4tSBok8ijcyKh_DXA4P5E/s320/CIMG6701.jpg" width="320" /></span></span></span></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilY_y6VKmwQDzGUJir_cVwE7sbvbi22OBfF7c5mwvT6c8dH7w9JbzY4wNoBBEm5Ex_Ur_0n8OKbp_2jN_-wvdhC5GZjP9JuOu2LPCD0k2Nm6M_r0s6ekhH17S0Us3phUDEBfcMmi9hjaI/s1600/CIMG6702_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilY_y6VKmwQDzGUJir_cVwE7sbvbi22OBfF7c5mwvT6c8dH7w9JbzY4wNoBBEm5Ex_Ur_0n8OKbp_2jN_-wvdhC5GZjP9JuOu2LPCD0k2Nm6M_r0s6ekhH17S0Us3phUDEBfcMmi9hjaI/s320/CIMG6702_2.jpg" width="320" /></span></span></span></a></div><div style="line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><br />
</span></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><br style="line-height: 17px;" /></span></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">Here's the recipe:</span></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><br style="line-height: 17px;" /></span></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">Ingredients:</span></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">1 cup ghee (clarified butter)- make sure you don't replace this with oil. This is the real stuff!!!</span></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">1 cup milk powder</span></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">1 cup semolina (suji)</span></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">1 can evaporated milk</span></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">1 cup sugar</span></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">Half a teaspoon cardamom powder (elaichi powder)</span></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">saffron</span></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">Crushed nuts for sprinkling on top (I use almonds and pistachios)</span></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><br style="line-height: 17px;" /></span></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">Method:</span></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">Firstly, blend together the evaporated milk, the sugar and milk powder.</span></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">Next, all you have to do is heat up the ghee in a pan, and then add in the semolina. Stir it continuously. You will see that the semolina has soaked up all the ghee. Don't worry about that and keep stirring for a couple of minutes.</span></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">Then pour in the blended mixture of the evaporated milk/sugar/milk powder.</span></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">The mixture will be quite runny. Keep stirring it. Add in the cardamom powder and the saffron and keep mixing.</span></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">The mixture will suddenly become quite thick.</span></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><br style="line-height: 17px;" /></span></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">Pour it in to a dishl and sprinkle it generously with crushed nuts.</span></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><br style="line-height: 17px;" /></span></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">Its so easy to make and is ready in just a couple of minutes. Totally worth it and perfect when you want to make your guests happy :-)</span></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><br style="line-height: 17px;" /></span></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">Happy cooking!!!</span></span></span></div><div style="line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">-S</span></span></span></div>A tablespoon of This...http://www.blogger.com/profile/05262346093737696869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1532935327915171447.post-90577244065572847932011-10-23T09:40:00.000-07:002012-08-15T10:25:30.880-07:00Just cake!!! :-)<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The first thing I ever baked was a plain vanilla cake.</span></span></span><br />
<div style="line-height: 17px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Simple and Yummy.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">My mum used to take cake orders a looong time ago and she always used this recipe. Everyone loved it. Sometimes when she would be busy baking in the kitchen I would go down and watch her. So did my siblings.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">We always had an ulterior motive. As soon as she was done with the batter, the three of us kids used to fight over who gets to lick the remaining batter up! The spoons, the mixing bowl...</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">yes the good ol' days when calories was a word that I hadn't even heard of :-D</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br style="line-height: 17px;" /></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">For me it was especially nice when mum would add some cocoa to the recipe (for marble or chocolate cake). That was when I would REALLY try and get the mixing bowl which had most of the batter in it!!!</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Over the years, this simple recipe has been the most popular.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">We sometimes ice it with buttercream or chocolate dropping, but I like it plain.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Plain cake with tea. My favourite :-)</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br style="line-height: 17px;" /></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">So here I'm going to share the recipe with you.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">It's ridiculously easy and NEVER goes wrong. Best of all, it takes a total of an hour maximum from when you enter the kitchen to make the batter to when it comes out of the oven.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Smells amazing, looks amazing and tastes delicious!!</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Ingredients:</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">4 eggs</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">8oz self- raising flour</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">8oz caster sugar</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">8oz margarine</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Vanilla essence</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Mehod:</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Preheat the oven at Gas mark 4</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Beat the sugar and the margarine with a hand-held mixer until the mixture becomes light and fluffy.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Add in the eggs one at a time and carry on mixing it.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Once the mixture is blended in together, add in the flour in additions.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">keep mixing it.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Finally, add a few drops of vanilla essence in to the mixture. Mix it a little more and then pour it in to a greased tin. (I usually also line it with Baking parchment)</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: small;">.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">You can simply add some cocoa to the batter once its all ready to make it chocolatey. Or you could add cocoa to half the mixture and make it into a marble cake.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">You choose. :-)</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">To prevent the cake from being dry, make sure not to over bake it.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Place it in the centre of the oven and let it bake for about 40 minutes. To check when the cake is ready, pierce it with a skewer. If it comes out clean, the cake is ready :-)</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">This cake is always a winner and everybody enjoys it. Its perfect for birthday cakes or for any occasion!!</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: small;">Just enjoy :-)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: small;">-S</span></div>
A tablespoon of This...http://www.blogger.com/profile/05262346093737696869noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1532935327915171447.post-90969075172088107242011-10-16T05:50:00.000-07:002011-10-23T09:42:10.154-07:00Black Magic cake<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Last week we were in dire need of some baked goods. Seriously, there was NOTHING in the house- and the Taste tester and I don't really like having ready made stuff anymore. I guess its nice to know exactly what goes in to your food and who makes it. (Thats just a personal preference).</span><br />
<div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Anyway, since I've started studying again, alongside the freelancing work that I do, things have been crazy crazy!!</span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I was finally free for an hour and really wanted to bake something quick that I could finish in an hour, so that I could fit in a trip to the gym before the Taste tester got home.</span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I spent about 10 minutes searching the internet for the quickest recipe I could find and ended up in the Hershey's Kitchen website.</span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">You've probably noticed that many times the recipes I choose to try out are just that, quick and easy.</span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Every now and again I like to try something complicated or a bit more time consuming- but right now I just didn't have any time for that!</span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br style="text-indent: 0px !important;" /></span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The Black Magic cake is a simple, dark, light, fluffy, gorgeous, coffee-ish, chocolatey cake.</span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Yumminess :-)</span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The recipe was ridiculously easy and I had it in the oven in just about 10 minutes- and it spent just about 40 minutes inside. Brilliant.</span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I wanted a light frosting- something sweet but not heavy and with a hit of coffee in it.</span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">You really need something extra coffee flavoured in the frosting because the cake just by itself is not very sweet and the chocolateyness somewhat overpowers the coffee.</span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">It was worth a try. The Taste tester and his friends were very happy with it...</span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">and that made me happy :-)</span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">p.s excuse the hideous photographs</span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinoDDtz859MmiyJkhp4WeRXkee6HpA8ik3_v6Srd1YcDT0qEtqF2nQipC2IiiNo-nwovw0krFsbiWkXl9n6fWXJzVrsZP9O3mu5C3CvWCn4S06ISerDBdoK_kVsm0KnHpgOU3Ese7SOn4/s1600/IMG_1467.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinoDDtz859MmiyJkhp4WeRXkee6HpA8ik3_v6Srd1YcDT0qEtqF2nQipC2IiiNo-nwovw0krFsbiWkXl9n6fWXJzVrsZP9O3mu5C3CvWCn4S06ISerDBdoK_kVsm0KnHpgOU3Ese7SOn4/s320/IMG_1467.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVCt9FvKKSiPA2pSXo6mCtJJrIlUfE4IITvCUuemJK4kkHnUWFnA5aGFxeUmR1dE1gN8LfPdtk99Gf6FS4SXGpxBhfHHuenyOmcGDMUD2pZXcqn_GYjROkq5kZOMRPYXT96Cld2gu5Q0k/s1600/cupcake.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVCt9FvKKSiPA2pSXo6mCtJJrIlUfE4IITvCUuemJK4kkHnUWFnA5aGFxeUmR1dE1gN8LfPdtk99Gf6FS4SXGpxBhfHHuenyOmcGDMUD2pZXcqn_GYjROkq5kZOMRPYXT96Cld2gu5Q0k/s320/cupcake.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The texture was almost exactly like that of the <br />
'Perfectly Chocolate' <br />
cake that I made cupcakes out of- <br />
so it would work well as cupcakes too!!</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Ingredients:</span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">2 cups sugar</span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">3/4 cup Hersheys cocoa</span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">1 tsp baking powder</span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">2 eggs</span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">1 cup strong black coffee or 2 tsps powdered instant coffee plus one cup boiling water</span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">1 tsp vanilla extract</span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">1-3/4 cup all purpose flour</span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">2 tsps baking soda</span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">1 tsp salt</span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">1 cup buttermilk/ sourmilk*</span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">1/2 cup vegetable oil</span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br style="text-indent: 0px !important;" /></span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Method:</span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans or one 13x9x2-inch baking pan. </span></span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, buttermilk, coffee, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes (Batter will be thin). Pour batter evenly into prepared pans.</span></span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Bake 30 to 35 minutes for round pans, 35 to 40 minutes for rectangular pan or until wooden pick <br style="text-indent: 0px !important;" />inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool <br style="text-indent: 0px !important;" />completely. Frost as desired. Yields 10 to 12 servings</span></span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br style="text-indent: 0px !important;" /></span></span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">* To sour milk: Use 1 tablespoon white vinegar plus milk to equal 1 cup.</span></span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br style="text-indent: 0px !important;" /></span></span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">For the Frosting, I simply whipped up some double cream with sugar (according to taste), some cocoa powder and ground coffee.</span></span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">It was perfect :-)</span></span></span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">You could use buttercream or any frosting you like. Its totally up to you :-)</span></span></span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I didn't have much time so I just cut the cake in to half, filled the centre with some cream and then covered the whole thing with it after placing the top half on top of the bottom half. No time to be neat but that's how I like it anyway!!</span></span></span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">For such a quick recipe, the results were totally worth it!!!</span></span></span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br style="text-indent: 0px !important;" /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px; text-indent: 0px !important;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">-S</span></span></span></div>A tablespoon of This...http://www.blogger.com/profile/05262346093737696869noreply@blogger.com0