Lemon Daisy Cupcakes

Ok - I may be a year or two behind everyone else - but I have finally cottoned on to the cupcake craze (just as cake pops are taking over!)
So, expect to see a lot more of these frosted cuties.

Cupcakes seem to come in so many different sizes it's making my head spin - 
and this size is more what I would call fairy cakes.

115g butter
100g caster sugar
2 eggs
115g SR flour
grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
3 tbsps lemon curd.

Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas 4 and line a muffin tin with paper cases.
Beat the butter and sugar together, until pale and fluffy.
Beat in the eggs, 1 at a time.
Sift the flour into the mixture and fold in, then stir in the lemon juice and zest.
Spoon a dollop into each paper case and make an indentation in the centre with the back of a teaspoon. Drop in a dollop of lemon curd, then top with the remaining cake mixture.
Bake for 17 minutes, until risen and golden. 

To decorate,  I added a few drops of green colouring to a ready made buttercream filling. I piped swirls onto the cakes and topped them with edible daisies.

I found in a few of these cakes that the lemon curd sank to the bottom. Maybe I needed more cake mix underneath the lemon curd. But, I think next time I make these I will bake them, then cut out a little bit from the top of the cake (with an apple corer) and fill that with the lemon curd. That should work, do you think?

 

Coconut Cupcakes

I'm on a diet healthy eating plan at the moment, so I am supposed to be keeping away from cakes.
But these little cupcakes can't hurt, can they?
If I stand on one leg when I'm eating them, the calories don't even count at all!!

These are vanilla cupcakes with a lovely, cream cheese frosting.
Simple, but scrummy.

Frosting.
150g cream cheese            50g icing sugar
2 tsp lime juice                   dessicated coconut

Beat the cream cheese, icing sugar and lime juice in a bowl and spread on top of the cupcakes.
Put the coconut in a bowl and dip each cupcake in, until covered.

Butternut Squash and Chilli

We had snow AGAIN at the weekend.
It's not funny anymore!
So, supper needed to be something warm and comforting.
Here's a butternut squash idea that ticked both boxes.

We eat quite a bit of squash in our house, but I usually slice it up and roast it with red onions, carrots and sweet potato.
For this dish, all you do is halve the squash lengthways, and scoop out the seeds. Drizzle with some olive oil and roast for about 45 minutes at 200C / Fan 180C

When the squash is cooked, scoop out a little of the soft flesh and stir it into some chilli. Then fill the squash with your chilli mix and you're good to go :-)

You can find the complete recipe at Good Food.

Raspberry and Milk Chocolate Cheesecake

This has to be the easiest cheesecake I have ever made, and it's so good that 
even Mr Kiss thought it was shop bought!

You can find the recipe here

 Tips
Use Chocolate Digestives for the base.
Make sure you stir in the raspberries gently, or they will break up.
I swirled the chocolate onto the top of the cream mix and let it sink in a little. Then tipped the mixture onto the base.
This gave me lovely seams of milk chocolate running through the cheesecake.

Onion Soup

The garden is once again covered in a  blanket of snow,
so, what better way to keep warm,
than with a bowl of steaming hot, onion soup.

This is not as rich as the classic French Onion Soup, but it's a very easy, tasty alternative.

50g butter (I use garlic butter)                                                        1 small baguette
1kg brown onions                                                                          100g gruyere cheese
2 tbsp thyme
3 tbsp dry sherry (red wine will do)
1.2 litres beef stock

Heat the butter in a large pan and gently cook the onion and thyme until the onion is softened, but not browned (about 20 minutes)
Increase the heat slightly and cook for 15 minutes, until the onion becomes dark golden, sticky and caramelised.
Add the sherry, or red wine and stir for 3 minutes.
Add the stock and bring to the boil.
Simmer for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, grate the cheese onto slices of the baguette. Grill until bubbling.

Ladle the soup into bowls and add a slice of baguette

Passion Obsession

Here's a prime example of me not engaging my brain when cooking!!
I had intended to make a lovely Chocolate sponge, filled with a rich, raspberry cream
and then my 'creative' brain took over!!
 

If you can ignore the fact that it looks like something the cat threw up on,
the chocolate, raspberry and passion fruit is a delicious combination.
And yes, I am obsessed with Passion Fruit at the moment!

 
The recipe is Mary Berry's Chocolate Victoria Sponge, 
filled and topped with chocolate buttercream, raspberries and passion fruit.
If you're after a classic, chocolate cake recipe, give this one a try - 
it's very easy and has a lovely light texture. 

 

When the moon hits your eye, like a big pizza pie...

This was delicious  - and easy - so easy.
The ridiculously, lazy cook in me is going to make it even easier next time, by buying a ready made pastry case.

I almost opted to use a bolognese sauce instead of the chopped tomatoes, but I'm glad I didn't. Having the firmer texture of the tomatoes meant that everything held together really well.
 

Pizza Pie.
Ready rolled sheet shortcrust pastry.
2 large onions, thinly sliced
Garlic      1 tbsp herbs
2 x 400g tins chopped tomatoes
50g sliced pepperoni
100g mozarella
50g anchovy fillets
Olives. (black ones would look better, but Mr. Kiss  likes the green ones, so that's what I went with)

Preheat the oven to 190C ( 170C Fan)
Use the pastry to line a 23cm loose bottomed tart dish. Chill for 30 minutes

Line the pastry with baking paper and fill with rice or baking beans and bake for 10 minutes.
Remove rice/beans and paper, and bake for another 5 minutes.

Heat some oil and cook the onions til soft. Add the garlic.
Strain the tomatoes through a sieve and add the herbs to the chopped tomatoes.
Spread the onions on the pastry and top with the pepperoni.
Add the chopped tomatoes and half the cheese.
Top with anchovies and olives and the remainder of the cheese.
Bake for 25 minutes.