Red Velvet Cupcakes

After a very pleasant venture out to a Japanese restaurant here in Glasgow called Nanakusa. I tried everything from sake, to plum wine (which by the way was delicious!) to squid sushi! It was all totally delicious and luckily not too expensive! Now I am home, stuffed, and happy, ready to hit the hay. BUT befoooore that, I thought I'd update my blog with a little sweet treat that I made for my boyfriend yesterday. It was meant to be a sort of valentines thing, but since we were going out for food today, I thought I'd get a head start to it and make some lovely Red Velvet Cupcakes! They are delicious! Next time though, I reckon I will just use a normal cream cheese frosting, as they turned out a little too sweet for my own taste. They are super moist and springy though, and super light!

Red Velvet Cupcakes
(Makes 9, about 200-250 calories each depending on topping)



30 g soft butter, like flora
75 g sugar
1 large egg, lightly beat
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp vinegar
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
60 g sour milk or natural yogurt
65 g plain flour
1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tube or small bottle of red food colouring

For the frosting:
75 g soft, light cream cheese
75 g butter
50 g white chocolate
150-200 g icing sugar

- Start with making the frosting. Melt the white chocolate, in a waterbath. In the meantime, whisk the butter and sugar together. Pour in the melted chocolate, stir in the icing sugar, combine well and put it in the fridge to set for a while.

- Then, it's onto the cupcakes! Once again, whicks butter and sugar together, then add the egg and continue whisking.

- Afterwards, add one ingredients at a time until there are no more!

- Preheat the oven to about 175°C. Fill up 9 cupcake cases 2/3 full, and set in the middle of the oven. Bake for about 15-20 minutes until a skewer comes out clean. Set them on a wire rack to cool completely.

- Now, it's time to get creative! Put frosting on top of each cupcake, leave plain or decorate with whatever sweet treats that take your fancy!

Original source:
http://detsoteliv.no/searchresults_other1gruppe.php?2624

- Jules

Fastelavnsboller

It is that day of the year again where Scandinavians makes buns and have them with jam, whipped cream and a sprinkle of icing sugar! Why? I am not entirely sure, but I think it has to do with an old tradition - one of the best traditions I know! It was a day where you would eat a little extra before the fast, sort of like Shrove Tuesday (Which is on this coming Tuesday, also know as Pancake Tuesday!).
Usually the children in Primary School also make "fastelavnsris" which are the twigs with little fluffy bulbs on them, decorated with colourful feathers and other little pretty things. You can also read about it on Wikipedia. There, it says that is a sort of carnival, which I wouldn't agree with as such, it's more just a sort of holiday where you do these little things that are o so nice!

Originally, this recipe was twice as big, but considering it was only my boyfriend and I who were going to have them, I decided to half it. I made six large ones, but I would recommend making 8 smaller ones, as they are quite filling!

Fastelavnsboller
(Makes about 6-8, 290-220 calories each without the filling and topping)

250-300 g plain flour (start with 250, then add more if the dough is too sticky)
50 g sugar
75 g flora light
150 ml milk (I used semi-skimmed)
25 g fresh yeast (or a sachet of dry yeast, not many shops in the UK sell it dry, I found some in a Polish shop!)
1/4 tsp hornsalt or heartshorn/ammonion bicarbonate (optional)
1 tsp ground cardamom
1 egg for brushing

Filling:
Strawberry jam
Whipped cream

Topping:
Sift a little bit of icing sugar on top

- Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl.

- Melt the butter in a pan and add the milk. It should be body temperature 37°C. Mix the yeast in with about half of the egg mixture.

- Make a well in the dry flour mix, and pour the liquid into the centre. Use a wooden spoon to blend it all together and then knead well, adding more flour if necessary. Leave the dough to rise somewhere warm for about 1 hour (I set the bowl in another bowl of hot water and covered it with a kitchen towel.

- An hour later and you can roll out the buns. Place them on a baking paper clad baking tray and leave for at least another half hour to rise some more. Make sure you have enough space between them as they will rise quite a bit!

- Preheat the oven to 180-200°C. In the meantime, crach an egg into a bowl and top each bun with some of the egg.

- Once the oven is hot, pop in the tray (or trays) of buns in the oven and leave to bake for about 12-14 minutes. I left mine in for a few minutes too much, they should have a nice golden colour. Take them out and leave them to cool down for 5-10 minutes.

- Cut each bun in half, spread over some jam, top with cream, place the lid over and sprinkle over some icing sugar using a sieve.

Original source:
http://forum.snartmamma.com/archive/index.php/t-113182.html and my mother to confirm that this was a proper recipe.

- Jules

061 Broccoli Soup

First of all, a jolly good weekend to you all!

This morning I decided to make something omelette tastic for breakfast and here's what I came up with

This is just a simple omelette consisting of an egg, an egg white, salt and pepper and a dash of milk, served with a few slices of oak-smoked salmon and two slices of toasted delicious German rye bread!

And then we have the two-egg omelette with a few slices of torn Edam cheese, smoked ham, salt, pepper and some onion powder, served on two slices of potato scones. Bow-tie-Butterfly-style!

Earlier this week, I failed at making "cake-in-a-cup", I think I used too much common sense and tried to make it a little healthier, next time - I will do NO such thing, so that might be a wee project that will continue.

Secondly, I had a lonely little broccoli in my fridge that wanted to be used. In the original recipe, you're meant to use a kilogram of broccoli, but seeing as I am the only one in this flat who likes broccoli, and it made 3 medium servings, I thouht I might aswell give the recipe a go. I didn't have the goats cheese or gruyere that you're meant to top the soup with (1 slice on top of each or either goats cheese or gruyere), but it still tasted really nice! Here's what I did

061 Broccoli Soup
(Serves about 3, 100 calories each without the cheese)

How pretty do those cut off broccoli stems look?!

1 broccoli, about 300 grams, trimmed
1 medium potato, about 250 g, peeled and cut into chunks
800 ml vegetable stock
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste (I used quite a lot!)
Optional: 1 slice per person of either goats cheese or gruyere, to top the soup with

- Boil up the vegetable stock along with salt and pepper, and add the potato chunks. Leave to simmer for about 10 minutes until the potatoes is slightly tender.

- In the meantime, cut the broccoli into little florets. Once the ten minutes have passed, add the broccoli and continue simmering for four minutes until the broccoli is soft, but still has that nice bright green colour.

- Take the pan of the heat, and drain the potatoes and broccoli, keeping the excess liquid. Use a blender or a stick blender and whizz the vegetables until it is smooth, with no chunks. Now, you can add a little water at a time and keep blending it until you have the thickness that you desire.

- Fill up bowls of soup and optionally top with a slice of the cheese.

Original source:
Ramsay's Best Menus, number 061

- Jules

Spiced Arancello

Aaaaaaand it's time for yet another update here directly from Glasgow, UK!

First of all, I would like to mention that the past Friday was Burns Night, in ode to the Scottish poet who wrote "Address to a Haggis" amongst other well known Scottish poems. What more befitting than to serve up a haggis supper? This is the third year in a row I've done it, and it's always a treat! I don't just have haggis on this day, but there's something a little special about doing something for the occasion itself!

Secondly, I am about to post up a recipe for a drink that is well overdue!
I made this in December as a sort of christmassy drink however, I was meant to give it as presents, or use it in a punch for a party I was meant to have but never got around to... It was only last night I got people to actually taste it, and it went down really well mixed with either some coke or fizzy lemondade! Personally, I don't drink vodka, BUT I did taste this one making sure it would be good to give away to friends - it's tasty! PS. You need to be patient with this one, it takes two weeks to "brew"....

Spiced Arancello (Makes about 2.5 litres)

5 large oranges
1 cinnamon stick
2-3 cardamom pods
1 vanilla pod
1 l bottle of vodka (I used Russian Standard)
600 g caster sugar
+ a few extra oranges, cinnamon sticks and vanilla pods for decorating purposes!

Before you start, make sure you have a bottle with a wide top to put this in, as you will have to transfer it to a bigger bottle later on in the process! I was fighting with getting the peel out of the actual vodka bottle whenever I made it - you live and you learn! If you have a bottle that can contain 2.5 - 3 litres, then that will definitely come in handy here!

- Pare the zest from five oranges using a peeler, make sure not to use any of the white bitter layer. Put zest, spices and vanilla pod in a large bottle along with the vodka. Seal the bottle and leave it in a dark place for a week, shake it once or twice a day.

SEVEN DAYS LATER

- Have the sugar in a heatproof bowl along with 500 ml boiling water. Stir until the sugar has dissolved. Cool slightly before adding to the vodka mix. Leave for another week, and shake once a day to make sure it is all mixed well.

- Strain into decorative bottles, throw away the peel and spices. Before giving it away, Put a vanilla pod and/or cinnamon stick along with some fresh spices.

These will make perfect christmas presents, or additional hamper gifts. It goes well with fizzy lemonade and can also be mixed with coke.

Original source:
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/8025/spiced-arancello

- Jules

Bananabread

About five or six years ago, when I was working at the fishmarket in Bergen, I was lucky to have some of the best colleagues one could ever ask for. One of them sometimes brought in quiches and loaves straight from the oven and to work. Whenever I came across this tasty treat here, I couldn't help but ask for the recipe - bananabread, what was this ingenious bread with all the sweetness packed inside?

Bananabread
(Serves 12, 220 calories without topping, 265 calories with)

Straaaight from the oven, and the crust came out better than I expected

2 large cups of flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/4 - 1/2 cup of sugar (depending on how ripened the bananas are)
1/2 cup sunflower oil
5 bananas squished

For the top crust:
About 1/2 cup sugar
50 g butter (I used Flora light)

- In a bowl, mix all the dry ingredients, stir well.

- Now, make a well in the centre and pour in the sunflower oil. Pre-heat the oven to 160 °C.

- Squish the bananas, I always do this using the simple tools of a mug and a fork - works a treat! Now mix it into the bowl along with the rest of the ingredients and combine well until you have a really sticky breadmix.

- Pour it into a quite large bread tin, it should reach just above the middle of it, as it will rise quite a bit. Finally, mix the butter and sugar together in a mug or small bowl, and crumble over the top of the bread.

- Place it in the middle of the oven, for about an hour. The trick of making a good bananabread is to NOT open the oven during the cooking time. If you have to check in on it, look through the window of the oven instead, as if you open it the bread will collapse and not cook through.

- Once taken out of the oven, leave for 5 - 10 minutes before taking it out of the tin. I usually keep it in the tin even when serving. It can keep in room temperature for a few days, or refrigerated for at least 5 days.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!


Original source:
Santiago y Paola

- Jules

PS. You can also add nuts, sultanas and other such things that you feel like adding to it. It's amazing with walnuts!

Hummus B'il Tahina

It wasn't until I moved to Glasgow that I came to discover the amazing thing that is..humous! My favourite would probably be the red pepper humous, but the other day I decided to make my own plane one. You can probably add vegetables or chilies to it if you want, but if you want it nice and simple, here's what to do:

Hummus B'il Tahina
(Serves 4, 180 calories each)

400 g can chickpeas/240 g soaked ones, leave a few aside for garnish
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp Tahini (I used the light one)
3 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp salt
A pinch of cumin
1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
A sprig of fresh parsley, garnish

- In a bowl, mix chickpeas, oil, tahini, lemon, garlic and salt. Use a stick-blender to make a nice fluffy paste.

- Add the cumin and stir. Transfer to a serving bowl. You can try and create a whirlpool effect with a spoon and drizzle a little more oil over for presentation if you want. For garnish, top with the extra chickpeas and a sprig or two of fresh parsley.

Serve with anything from nice crispy biscuits to bread and vegetable sticks - hopefully you'll like it!

Original source:
http://www.alternativeegypt.com/Food-&-Recipes/Egyptian-Hummus-Recipe.html

- Jules

152 Baked Courgette and "Tamed" Mushroom Risotto

I got a couple of cook books for christmas, and "Ramsay's Best Menus" was one of them, so I thought I had to try and make something out of it. And it turned out pretty darn tasty, I must say! Originally it should have been made with wild mushrooms, but there were none in sight this Sunday afternoon, so I made it 50/50 with button mushrooms and chestnut mushrooms, trying to slice them nicely for extra texture and presentation.

152 Baked Courgette and "Tamed" Mushroom Risotto
(Serves 4, about 400 calories each)

4 courgettes
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 large garlic cloves, finely sliced
Basil sprigs, leaves only, finely chopped
2-3 tbsp olive oil, plus extra to drizzle
A squeeze of lemon juice
550-600 ml vegetable- or chicken stock
200 g arborio rice
100 ml dry white wine
200 g mushrooms, preferably wild, but like I mentioned I used 100 g of each button- and chestnut mushrooms - cleaned and halved, sliced if they are quite large
2-3 tbsp freshly grated parmesan

- Heat oven to 200°C, and line a large baking tray with foil.

-Half the cougettes lengthways, and slice it criss-cross over the surcafe of each courgette, it looks rather fancy! Now, place them on the baking tray - cut side up, and season with a little salt and pepper, followed by garlic slices and basil. Finish off with a drizzle of olive oil and a squeeze of lemon juice. Bake for 30-40 minutes until they're roasted.

- In the meantime, you can chop the mushrooms, and make everything prepared. Boil up water and resolve the stock, leave it in a small pan on the side.

- Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a large pan and add the risotto rice, stir for about a minute before adding the wine. Bubble it up and as soon as it has soaked up most of the wine, add a ladleful of the stock and stir. Now you can chop up your courgettes nicely and leave them until they're required. Stir regularly!

- Keep feeding the risotto with a little stock at a time, wait until it has absorbed it almost fully before adding more, this will give it a really nice, creamy texture.

- Once out of stock the rice should still be a little tough, but close to cooked, turn off the heat, stir in the chopped courgettes and leave for a few minutes.

- Now is a great time to get a frying pan out, heat up about 1 tbsp of olive oil and fry the mushrooms with a little salt and pepper. Leave them for about 3-4 minutes until they're starting to release their juices.

- If desired, add a little more stock to the risotto as you turn the hob on a low heat to heat it up. Season with salt and pepper to taste (I only needed to add a little bit of each, but it made all the difference!), grate in most of the parmesan and stir in the mushrooms - you can save a little for garnish if you want.

- Divide the risotto between four deep plates or shallow bowls and top with a little grated parmesan, and optionally some of the mushroom if you reserved some of it. Enjoy - I know I sure did!

Original source:
Ramsay's Best Menus, NO 152

- Jules

PS. For a vegan risotto, just opt out on the parmesan, it will still be really creamy!