white chocolate and macadamia cupcakes with berry frosting

This is an elegant, sweet treat of a cupcake with beautifully contrasting colours between the bake and the frosting. I find that the tartness of the berry frosting helps to cut through the sweetness of the cake.

The cupcake batter is once again based on the vanilla cupcake recipe in Dan Lepard's excellent book, Short and Sweet. This is my go to recipe for a reliable, tasty cake.



Ingredients
Makes approx. 8 cupcakes in muffin cases

125g caster sugar
125g unsalted butter, very soft
2 eggs
2 tsps vanilla extract (feel free to try almond instead for a variation)
150g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
100g good quality white chocolate, roughly chopped
50g macademia nuts, roughly chopped
1 quantity of berry frosting.

1. Preheat your oven to 180C/160C Fan/350F/Gas 4 and place 8 muffin/cupcake cases in to your muffin tin.
2. Using an electric mixer beat the sugar, butter, eggs and vanilla extract for around 3 minutes on the highest speed until light and fluffy.
3. Next sift in the flour and baking powder and beat for another 30 seconds or so. You will end up with quite a thick batter.
4. Gently stir in the chocolate and nuts being careful not to break them up any further.
5. Fill each case up to about two thirds then place the tray in the over for around 20-25 minutes until golden brown and firm.
6. Let the cupcakes cool completely before decorating with the frosting.

chicken with soured cream, mushrooms and gherkins

After all my recent cake baking I'm in need of some proper savoury, autumnal food. This Nigel Slater recipe came up in the Observer today and I felt inspired to give it a go. My inner Polish girl told me that I had to make this dish especially with ingredients like mushrooms, gherkins and sour cream it immediately appealed. As Nigel says, it isn't hugely different from a stroganoff but to my mind this dish is infinitely better.
Below is my adapted version of Nigel's original. I should also warn you that in this dish the sour cream is likely to curdle a little and not look particularly beautiful. Don't let this bother you. This dish is about homely, autumnal comfort eating and the taste will not be effected in the slightest.

These quantities serve 2.

Ingredients
12 small shallots

2 skin on, preferably organic, chicken breasts or equivalent
a thick slice of butter 

250g button mushrooms, halved
6 gherkins cut into thick pieces. Alternatively some smaller cornichons would work nicely.
500ml riesling or any decent white wine will probably work well.
150ml (a small carton) soured cream

1. Top and tail, and peel the shallots leaving them whole.
2. Heat a wide frying pan or casserole dish over a medium high heat then brown the chicken pieces on both sides in the butter. Add a small oil if you are concerned about burning the butter.
3. Add the shallots and cook until they are coloured on all sides.
4. Next add the mushrooms and colour them lightly.
5. Add the gherkins followed by the wine and bring to the boil. Allow it to bubble away for about 3 or 4 minutes to get rid of the harsh alcohol smell, then lower the heat to a simmer.
6. Allow this all to simmer for about 20 minutes, until the chicken pieces are cooked through, then stir in the soured cream. Make sure the heat is low at this stage.
7. Warm the cream through, check for salt and pepper then serve with potatoes or rice. I served it with my potato, onion and rosemary layer bake. Awesome!

award winning potato, rosemary and onion layer bake

The size of pan you use is not crucial here but it will effect the cooking time and how crispy your layer bake is. This recipe would also work with any number of different herbs such as thyme, marjoram, oregano or a mixture. You could also change it up a bit using a flavoured salt or throwing in some lemon zest for a summery twist. Once you've got the basic technique just go for it and feel free to experiment.

I challenge you to not be salivating when you smell how good it is while cooking!

Ingredients
750g potatoes - it's up to you whether you peel them or not, I prefer them with the skins on.
2 medium onions
3-4 sprigs of fresh rosemary finely chopped
4 tbsp butter, duck, goose or bacon fat
salt & pepper

1. Generously butter a 20-30cm spring form cake tin and preheat the oven to 180C Fan. 
2. Finely slice the potatoes and onions using either a mandolin, food processor or sharp knife. The slices need to be very fine, approx 2-3mm so please take care when slicing. Keep the onions and potatoes in separate bowls.
3. Start with a layer of potatoes on the bottom of your tin, followed by a scattering of onions, rosemary, salt and pepper then finish by dabbing with small blobs of butter.
4. Repeat this process until you have used up all your potatoes and onions. I did three layers.
5. Finish off with some extra blobs of butter to enhance the crispiness then place in the oven. I started by leaving it for 30 minutes then going back to check. I ended up cooking it for about 80 minutes in total but this may be different depending on your dish, thickness of potato and your oven. You are looking for a skewer or knife to be inserted easy and yummy crispy, golden brown colours throughout. Don't be alarmed that your layer bake has shrunk though, this is a good thing. 

 

 

vanilla yogurt frosting

Ingredients

150g unsalted butter, at room temperature

400g icing sugar, sieved
1 tsp vanilla extract

150ml greek yogurt

1. Using an electric mixer, beat the butter until soft.
2. Gradually add the sugar until thoroughly combined, smooth and creamy.
3. Finally add the yogurt bit by bit until you have your desired consistency.
4. This frosting can sometimes look a bit curdled, if this happens to you sieve in some extra icing sugar and beat it until it comes back together.
5. Chill for at least 30 minutes before using.

vanilla caramel cupcakes with salted caramel frosting

This recipe is another borrowed and adapted from Dan Lepard's excellent book, Short and Sweet. The vanilla cupcake batter smells amazing while cooking.

Ingredients
125g caster sugar
125g unsalted butter, very soft
2 eggs
2 tsps vanilla extract
150g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
Chocolate covered caramel pieces

1 quantity of salted caramel frosting.

1. Preheat your oven to 180C/160C Fan/350F/Gas 4 and place 8 muffin/cupcake cases in to your muffin tin.
2. Using an electric mixer beat the sugar, butter, eggs and vanilla extract for around 3 minutes on the highest speed until light and fluffy.
3. Next sift in the flour and baking powder and beat for another 30 seconds or so. You will end up with quite a thick batter.
4. Put a spoonful of the batter into each of the paper cases then top with the chocolate covered caramel pieces. I used Cadbury Caramel Nibbles and put three in each cupcake.
5. Finally cover the caramel pieces with the remaining batter then place the tray in the over for around 20-25 minutes until golden brown and firm.
6. Let the cupcakes cool completely before decorating with the frosting.