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.

Brownies with a Coffee Cheescake Swirl

This is a marriage made in heaven. Dark sticky brownies all gooey and chocolaty with a swirl of coffee cheesecake for added yummieness.
Two recipes have been pulled together here, the first (brownies) I have made at least once a week since Heather gave me the recipe over on the forum I belong to Violet's Pantry.
http://pinkbytes.blogspot.com/2009/04/dark-chocolate-brownies.html The second part is from another member from V.P. our dear Granny, who writes a smashing blog called Tea and Wheaten Bread. http://teandwheatenbread.blogspot.com/2009/09/chocolate-cheesecake-brownies.html
Now for what I did.The Ingredients..
8 oz Butter
4 oz Cocoa Powder (good quality)
4 Eggs.
8 oz Dark brown Sugar.
2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract.
4 oz S.R. Flour.
4 0z White Chocolate Chunks.
2 teaspoons Instant Coffee.

Cheesecake Swirl..
8 oz Soft Cream Cheese (I used Philadelphia full fat)
4 oz Castor Sugar.
2 teaspoons Instant coffee (melted in a touch of boiling water)

Method..
Preheat oven to 180c. Line the bottom of a shallow baking tin with greaseproof paper (very important to do this)
Melt the butter, then add the cocoa powder and coffee, stirring well to remove any lumps.
Beat the eggs in a large bowl, add the sugar and mix until smooth.
Stir in the cocoa mixture, white chocolate chunks and vanilla extract and mix well.
Add the sifted flour and mix gently with a spoon. Pour this mixture in to your tin and spread it around.
Now make the cheesecake swirl by mixing all ingredients together in a bowl, when soft and well combined, spoon on to brownie mix already in your tin. Then with a skewer just swirl it around until you have the desired affect.
Place the tin in to the oven for around 25 minutes. When done the brownies should be crisp on top and soft in the middle. Leave to cool before turning out and cutting, then dust with a little icing sugar.

If you wished, you could leave out the coffee element to this recipe, but I think it was HEAVEN. Hope you enjoy.

Cupcakes for Halloween.

A very simple recipe to use and so very quick, all done my hand, no mixers at all.
These were meant to be decorated with the help of my grand daughter, as she was having a sleep over. But she was ill and spent the time on the sofa while Grandma played by herself. Quick and Easy Cupcakes.
Ingredients...
2 cups S.R. Flour (sifted)
3/4 cup Castor Sugar.
3/4 cup Milk.
125g Butter. (melted and cooled)
2 Eggs. (beaten)
1 teaspoon Vanilla Essence.
Assorted sweets and/or decorations.
Icing...
1 and 1/2 cups Icing Sugar.
Food colouring.
1 to 1 and 1/2 tablespoons water.

Method...
Heat the oven to 190c. Put cupcake cases in to tins.
Combine the flour and sugar in a large bowl, and make a well in the centre.
Now add the butter, milk, eggs and vanilla. Use a large metal spoon and stir gently to combine. Spoon mixture in to prepared cases and bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes. (Or until skewer comes out clean)
Allow to cool on a rack. Mix up the icing while this is happening. I used two colours, so had two bowls going. When the cakes are cooled, ice the cakes and decorate with your choice of decorations.
Have fun.

Orange slice or cake.

This cake can be made in to a round or square, or cut in to a slice. Ingredients...
125g Butter (softened)
1 cup Castor Sugar.
Zest and juice of an Orange.
3 eggs.
1 teaspoon Vanilla extract.
2 cups S.R. Flour.
1/4 cup Buttermilk.

Icing...
1 and 1/2 cups Icing Sugar.
1 tablespoon Orange Juice.
A little zest of an Orange.

Method...
Preheat the oven to 180c. Grease and line a 20cm square or round cake tin. I used my brownie tin again.
Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time and mix. Now add the vanilla, orange juice and zest and the buttermilk and mix for a short while. Sift the flour in to the cake mix last, but do not over work.
Pour the cake mix in to the prepared cake tin and bake for around 35 minutes, or until the skewer comes out clean.
Allow to cool before turning out.
I iced some of mine with the icing mentioned above.
Put all ingredients for the icing in to a bowl and mix well, pour over the cake.
Also tried something I had not done before. James Martin used this method of decoration on one of his shows.
Sprinkle sifted icing sugar over the cake. Heat a metal skewer with a kitchen blow torch until it is very hot. (Mind you don't burn yourself here) Then using the HOT skewer make marks in a pattern, in the icing sugar.
Thank you James, so clever yet simple as well.

Moroccan Lamb Shanks

Lamb shanks cooked in a pressure cooker. I have had my pressure cooker for years and at first I was really frightened of it, but then one winter (not that we get much of a winter here) I decided either to get rid of it or start using it. Never used a recipe, just went with the flow.
Then, I was reading Ron's blog http://themerlinmenu.blogspot.com/ and thought I had better bring the thing out again. Air conditioning on (temps out side were mid 20c's) and I did a bit of research on Google and found Moroccan Lamb shanks. I won't give you the site because I had to change a few things as I didn't have all the ingredients. And this is what I ended up with. Ingredients....
3 large Lamb shanks (fat removed)
1 tablespoon Olive oil.
2 Brown Onion. (finely chopped)
2 Carrots. (peeled and coarsely chopped)
4 Garlic Cloves (chopped finely)
1 litre Chicken stock.
750 gms Sweet Potato (peeled and coarsely chopped)
200 gms pitted Prunes.
2 tsp ground Cumin.
1 tsp ground Tumeric.
2 tsp ground Cinnamon.
1 tsp Sweet Paprika.
Fresh Parsley (to serve)

Method...
Brown and seal the lamb shanks in a little oil and set a side. Fry the onions in the same oil until just clear. Now put the lamb shanks, onions, spices, garlic and the chicken stock in to the pressure cooker. Bring up to pressure and let it steam away for 20 minutes. Release the pressure once it has cooled a little.
Then add all other ingredients and bring back to the boil, 'til the carrots are just cooked. (You might want to check the liquid here, add a little more if needed) The sweet potatoes do thicken the sauce and suck up a lot of the liquid.
Serve with mashed potatoes or Couscous and sprinkle with fresh parsley.
Do hope you enjoy this, now I am off to check Ron's blog again.

Savoury Square Muffins.

Four corners and four countries come together here to make these delicious savoury muffins. Spanish red onion, Italian Zucchini, English Cheddar cheese and Indian curry powder. (Made in an Aussie kitchen)
You will need....

2 Eggs.
3/4 cup Milk.
1/2 cup Vegetable oil.
1 Zucchini medium sized. (grated)
1 Spanish red Onion. (finely diced)
1 cup English Cheddar Cheese. (grated)
2 tablespoons of Indian Curry Powder.
2 cups S.R. Flour. (sifted)

Prepare your muffin tin, grease well with butter or a cooking spray. I used a square tin because it is new and I wanted to see how well it worked. You could use the normal round muffin tin with 12 muffin moulds in it. Preheat the oven to 180c.
Mix with an electric hand held mixer the first 3 ingredients. Then stir in all of the next ingredients , all but the flour. Leave this until last, as we don't want to over work the flour. Fold in the flour now.
Place the muffin mix in to the moulds and bake for 20 minutes, or until the skewer comes out clean. Leave to cool a little before turning out on to a wire rack.
My new square muffin tin works a treat, they literally fell out when I turned the tray over. I shall use this often.

Old Fashioned Gingerbread.

I have made Gingerbread before and put it on this blog, you will find it here.http://pinkbytes.blogspot.com/2009/02/very-dark-sticky-gingerbread.html
Sorry Rita's Mum in Scotland, but I have to try different recipes now don't I?
This one is called Old Fashioned Gingerbread and I have added Ginger in syrup, finely chopped.

You will need....
225g Butter (softened)
1 cup Castor Sugar.
3 Eggs (lightly beaten)
1 cup Treacle.
1 cup Milk.
3 cups Plain Flour (sifted)
1 tsp. Cinnamon (ground)
1 tsp. Nutmeg (ground)
2 tsp. Ginger (ground)
2 tsp. Bicarbonate of Soda.
Ginger in syrup (chopped) add as much or little as you like.

Preheat the oven to 160c. Lightly grease and line a 23 cm square cake tin. (I used a brownie tin)
Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Slowly add the beaten eggs and combine well. (I used the hand held mixer for this)
Heat the treacle and milk in a saucepan. Remove and allow to cool before adding in to the egg-butter mixture.
Sift the flour, spices and bicarb together and fold in to the wet ingredients. Now fold in the chopped ginger and put the mixture in to the prepared tin. Bake for around 50 minutes, checking with a skewer until it comes out clean.


Allow to cool in the tin before turning the cake out on to a wire rack to cool completely.
I served mine just warm, with vanilla ice-cream.

If you are a gingerbread lover, this is a MUST TRY recipe.

Sultana and Marmalade Cake

This is what happens when you want to bake and are not sure what you want to do!
I had loads of sultanas and jars and jars of marmalade to use up, just as well because the first time I started, I put the sultanas in the saucepan with the water to boil, then went out side to get the washing in. Result = smoke coming out of kitchen and very burnt sultanas. Please don't do as I do, do as I say. (Do not leave the kitchen when you have something on the stove)

Ingredients.
1 cup brown Sugar.
3 Eggs.
3 tablespoons of dark Marmalade.
2 cups S.R. Flour.
1/2 teaspoon Vanilla extract.
1 teaspoon Cinnamon (ground)
250g Butter.
500g Sultanas.

Method.
In a large saucepan, put the sultanas and 1 cup of water and bring to the boil until most of the water has been absorbed.
Add the butter and marmalade and stir until they have melted. Allow to cool now for a wee while.
Then, beat in the eggs and sugar. This was done with a wooden spoon.
Now add the vanilla and then fold in all dry ingredients. (Still with wooden spoon)
Pour the mix into a greased 22 cm round cake tin. I topped mine with some raw sugar. Bake in oven set at 175c for 1 hour, testing with a skewer for the last 10 minutes.

I have now made this cake twice, as above the first time and the second time, I used a good quality port instead of the water, so that is an option for you too.
Do enjoy.