I am in love again.

With my new KITCHENAID ARTISAN.
After being a loyal friend for 38 years, my dear friend the Kenwood Chef decided that he had had enough. What to do? Buy another Kenwood or look at something else?
The forum I am an administrator on, (Violet's Pantry) are pretty well divided on this subject. Some prefer Kenwood and others love the KA.
So I did some more research and found all the wonderful colours it comes in. People said that I should get the pale pink one as my kitchen is mostly pink. But to be honest with you, to me that looked cheap.
The colour I decided on, is called Boysenberry. Hmmmm, yum.
This machine is so quiet! About half the noise of the Kenwood. And efficient. I had to cream butter until it was white, so on half speed, it managed this in under two minutes. WOW! And I could still hear the radio in the background. Ha ha.
My next post will be the cake I made, something I have never attempted before, a delicious Victoria Sponge. Stay tuned.

Milo Muffins

For the Milo addicts amongst, of which my son is one. Ingredients...
1 3/4 cups S.R. Flour (sifted)
1/2 cup Dark Chocolate bits.
1/2 cup White Chocolate bits.
1 1/4 cups Milk.
75 gms Butter (melted)
1 cup MILO.
1 Egg.

Method...
Preheat oven to 190c. Layout 12 muffin cases in to tray.
Combine in a bowl the flour and both sorts of chocolate bits. Mix together the milk, butter and MILO in a jug. Add to the dry ingredients with the lightly beaten egg. And mix well.
Spoon the mix in to prepared cases and sprinkle a little more MILO on top of each one. Bake in the oven for around 25 minutes. Allow to cool before serving to your addict. Makes 12.

Orange and Cardamom Cookies.

Okay! Who has been keeping this versatile and tasty spice from me? CARDAMOM. I can see it featuring a lot in my cooking in the future.Very easy to make, store and eat (Love 'em)

Ingredients...
250 gms Butter (softened)
100 gms Raw Castor Sugar
1 Egg Yolk. (medium sized)
A little Salt.
Zest of 1 Orange.
1 teasp. Orange extract.
1 1/2 tablesp. Cardamom (freshly ground)
250 gms Plain Flour (sifted)

Method...
Preheat oven to 180c. Line a cookie/biscuit slide or tray.
Cream together butter and sugar until pale in colour. Add the egg yolk, salt, orange extract, zest from orange and the cardamom, then mix again until well combined. Finally add the flour. This is left until last so as not to overwork the flour.
Making sure your hands are really clean, here comes the fun bit.
Make little balls of the mixture (about golf ball size) and place on prepared tray. Now just gently press down on each ball. I used a meat tenderizer so I could have a pattern. But please remember, these do spread a little, so not to close to each other.I also sprinkled a little raw sugar on the top before putting in to the oven.
Place in the oven for around 16 minutes until golden. Cool on rack and then try stopping at just eating one!

Nutty Fruit Cake

This cake I originally found in GOOD HOUSEKEEPING (U.K.) Cakes and Bakes. And was called "30 minute fruit cake". But as is my want, I had a fiddle. 30 minutes is how long it takes to cook, well! After my fiddle and adding a few other things, I had to change it's name. So THANK YOU Good Housekeeping for the original recipe. Now, here's mine.
You will need....
125 gms softened Butter.
125 gms light brown Sugar.
2 Eggs.
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract.
150 gms S.R. Flour. (Sifted)
50 gms Glaze Cherries. (chopped)
200 gms Mixed Dried Fruits (I used Sultanas, Craisins)
100 gms mixed and chopped Nuts. (I used Walnuts and Pistachios)
1 tablespoon Raw Sugar and a small amount of chopped Pistachios for the top.

Method....
Preheat oven to 190c and grease and line a 22 cm round tin.
Beat together the butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla, add the flour. If this is a little dry at this stage, add a small amount of milk until you are happy. Stir in all fruits and nuts. Spoon in to the prepared tin and level the surface. Now sprinkle the raw sugar and Pistachios on top of the mixture.
Bake until golden brown or the skewer comes out clean. Mine took 45-50 minutes.
Leave to cool in tin before turning out.
Do hope you enjoy this. Have a fiddle yourself and change the fruits and nuts used here. I won't mind.

Long absence

I am so sorry for this long absence from my blogs. But my blogging mojo and cooking mojo went out the window. Plus a few things going on in my personal life has kept me away. Some sites I visit and other blogs need updating too, so hopefully it will be today.
I trust you all had a smashin' Christmas and this new year is happy for you.

See you all very soon with my latest bakes.