Tuesday Tunes.

 

Song of the week: P!nk-Blow Me (One Last Kiss).

 

I literally have no idea why now but, for some reason when this song first came out I wasn't sure about it. Thankfully now though I have come to my sences and I absoloutely love it. I love P!nk too, she's just so effortlessly cool and unique and there is nobody else like her. I love her music and would love to see her in concert too but, her tickets are just so expensive. I understand why because she is amazing but, I'm just not sure I can stretch to the £60 or more asking price myself or if I'd be able to find anyone else to go with me who'd be willing to pay £60 either. Hopefully one day though. She's probably my favourite female singer and I don't think she's ever released a song I don't like. This song is great too and the lyrics are just fun and really relatable. It's the perfect song to listen to after a bad day or when someones getting on your nerves as it just makes you feel better and cheers you up. I hope you like P!nk too! 

 

Thankyou for listening!

Love Courts x

Carrot Cupcakes.

Carrot Cake is probably my favourite cake, I love it and I found this really lovely recipe for the perfect carrot cake on the Joy of Baking website a couple of years ago. I deffinately reccommend looking on the website as it's absoloutely incredible with every recipe you could ever think of. It is also american so there are lots of lovely american treats including lots of chocolate and peanut butter recipes which, are always good in my books.

 

 

This carrot cake recipe is gorgeous though. The sponge is so light, soft and moist and it has a really lovely sweet flavour with a nice warm spice coming from the cinnamon too. The cream cheese icing is also delicious, sugary and rich and goes perfectly with the carrot sponge.

Recipe - makes 24 cupcakes

 

100g walnuts

340g raw carrots, finely grated

260g self-raising flour

1 tsp. bicarbonate of soda

1 1/2 tsps. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

4 large eggs

300g caster sugar

240ml vegetable oil

2 tsp. vanilla essence

Cream Cheese Frosting -

57g butter

227g cream cheese

230g icing sugar

1 tsp. vanilla essence

1 tsp. finely grated lemon zest

 

Method

 

Pre-heat the oven to 200C and place 24 cupcake cases in two 12 hole bun tins.

 

Peel and finely grate the carrots.

 

Grind the walnuts in a food processor and in a large bowl mix together the ground walnuts, sieved self-raising flour, cinnamon, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt.

 

In another bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the eggs until frothy (about 1 minute). Gradually add the sugar and whisk until the batter is thick and pale in colour (about 3-4 minutes). Add the oil in a steady stream and then beat in the vanilla extract. Pour the liquid into the flour mixture and beat until incorporated.

 

Fold in the grated carrot and evenly divide the batter between the cupcake cases.

 

Bake for 15-17 minutes or until the cupcakes are just firm to touch and a skewer inserted comes out clean.

 

Finally, make the cream cheese frosting by beating the cream cheese and butter together with an electric whisk, blending until there are no lumps. Gradually add the sifted icing sugar and beat, on low speed, until fully incorporated and smooth. Lastly, beat in the vanilla extract and lemon zest and top each cupcake with about 1 tsp. of cream cheese icing and a walnut piece.

 

Enjoy!

 

 

Thankyou for reading!

Love Courts x

Roast Vegetable Pancakes and Cheese, Leek and Veggie Bacon Pancakes.

I do apologise for my terrible blogging throughout the whole of February. It's the 25th of February now and this is only my second post all month :O. Now that's awful. It's just recently I've been really poorly and I've actually only just started to feel better again. The last two weeks I have felt really horrible and ill and last week in particular I had the flu and felt all achy, had a fever, a sore throat, a horrible migraine, ear ache and I felt really sick all week so, not feeling my best really. Now though I am feeling much better which, is nice and so I thought I would post my very very late pancake recipe from pancake day as they were very yummy pancakes.

I always like to try a new savoury pancake recipe every year and in the past I have made some creamy mushroom pancakes and some mozarella, veggie bacon and pineapple pancakes which, have all turned out rather deliciously and so this year I decided to try a roast vegetable pancake as I love roast vegetables and then I made the cheese, leek and veggie bacon pancakes which, I have already tried before because I love them.

I also wanted to make some proper thick american pancakes for desert which, were crisp on the outside and soft and doughy on the inside and I found a really lovely sounding recipe which, I was going to serve with maple syrup and haagen daz pralines and cream ice cream (I know, drool) but, after eating our savoury pancakes we were all full up, except Dad who later informed me with a rather bitter tone that he could have quite happily and easily fitted in some desert pancakes too. Too late now Dad! I may try and make the american pancakes soon though as everybody loves pancakes and Mum and Dad surprised me with a rather delicious and tempting tub of Peanut Butter ice cream the other day so, now I am well again I can't wait to get my paws on that and I think it will go great with some pancakes. Peanut Butter- best food ever!

Anyway, these savoury pancakes were rather yummy themselves so if you would like to give them a go I hope you enjoy them! Especially the cheese, leek and veggie bacon ones, they are gorgeous and ofcourse feel free to use normal bacon if you are not a veggie like myself. Even though it's late I hope you all had some yummy pancakes on pancake day and I also hope you enjoyed the rest of February aswell as it's pretty much past me by now.



Recipe

Roast Vegetable Pancakes - makes 6 pancakes

1 Red Pepper
1 Yellow Pepper
1 Sweet Potato
1 Parsnip
4 Asparagus Spears
1 Red Onion
1 tbsp. olive oil
For the pancakes - (this makes up to 12 thin pancakes but, I like my pancakes a bit thicker and managed to just about make 6).
125g (4oz) plain flour
2 eggs
300ml (1/2 pint) milk
sunflower oil for frying



Cheese, Leek and Veggie Bacon Pancakes - makes 6 pancakes

25g Butter
25g Plain Flour
300ml Milk
Grated cheddar
4 Rashers of Bacon/Veggie Bacon
1 Large Leek
For the pancakes-
125g (4oz) plain flour
2 eggs
300ml (1/2 pint) milk
sunflower oil for frying


Method

For the roast vegetable pancakes-
First, prepare the pancake batter by sieving the plain flour into a large bowl and making a well in the centre. Add the eggs and a little of the milk and gradually blend in the flour, beating until smooth. Add the remaining milk to make a thin, creamy batter.

Next, make the pancakes by heating a small frying pan and brushing it with a little oil. Ladle some batter into the pan and cook for about a minute until the underside is golden. Turn and cook the second side, then slide out of the pan onto a plate. Place a sheet of baking parchment over the pancake and continue to make the second pancake. Place the second pancake on top of the first and repeat, separating each pancake from one another with a piece of baking parchment. 

Then peel all of the vegetables and chop them quite chunky. Place the chopped vegetables in a roasting tray and drizzle with olive oil. Roast at 200C for about 40 minutes or until the vegetables are softened and golden.

Place about 2-3 tbsps. of roast vegetables along the centre of each pancake and wrap them up. Place the filled pancakes in a baking dish and scatter them with grated cheddar and slices of tomato. Bake at 200C for about 20-25 minutes or until the cheese is melted and golden and the pancakes hot.


For the cheese, leek and veggie bacon pancakes-

First, prepare the pancake batter by sieving the plain flour into a large bowl and making a well in the centre. Add the eggs and a little of the milk and gradually blend in the flour, beating until smooth. Add the remaining milk to make a thin, creamy batter.
 
Next, make the pancakes by heating a small frying pan and brushing it with a little oil. Ladle some batter into the pan and cook for about a minute until the underside is golden. Turn and cook the second side, then slide out of the pan onto a plate. Place a sheet of baking parchment over the pancake and continue to make the second pancake. Place the second pancake on top of the first and repeat, separating each pancake from one another with a piece of baking parchment.

Prepare the cheese sauce by melting the butter in a small saucepan over a low heat. Add and mix in the flour, keeping over the heat for about a minute. Remove from the heat and gradually stir in the milk, a little at a time. Return to the heat, stirring constantly to avoid lumps and continue to heat until the sauce thickens and becomes smooth and glossy. Add and stir in the grated cheddar cheese.

Next, chop the leek into 1cm chunks and sweat in a saucepan with 1 tbsp. butter. Chop the veggie bacon into small pieces and fry with the leek until bronzed and the leek softened. Stir into the cheese sauce and then spoon some of the mixture along the centre of each pancake and wrap them up. Place the filled pancakes in a baking dish and scatter them with grated cheddar and slices of tomato. Bake at 200C for about 20-25 minutes or until the cheese is melted and golden.

Enjoy!

Thankyou for reading!

Love Courts x

Red Velvet Cupcakes.

 

Well, being the great blogger that I am I only just realised that my Valentines Day post never actually posted. As I was quite pleased with what I had written though and don't really feel like writing it all again I think I'm just going to go with it. So, Happy 3 days late Valentines Day everyone! Am I getting away with it? Yeah, I don't think so either. Nevermind, enjoy the recipe!

First and foremost, Happy Valentines Day! (Sorry again that it's now the 17th of February :/.) These cupcakes are red which, I think makes them at least a little bit valentines day-ee don't you? (I guess it doesn't really matter now :P.) Although, my Hummingbird Bakery cookbook actually lists them under Halloween so, take that as you will :/. I promise I’m not a hater of Valentines Day and all things romantic though. I must admit though that this week I was much fonder of Pancake Day on Tuesday! Who wouldn’t love a day dedicated to eating pancakes though? It’s heaven. I’d just like Valentines Day a hell of a lot more too if I wasn’t spending it alone with a tub of Ben and Jerry’s and a DVD of the notebook. At least I can say Ryan Gosling was my Valentine ;), it’s just a shame that thousands of other girls will be saying exactly the same thing. Anyway, I’m only joking, that is not my Valentines plan… Seriously, it’s not. Don't get me wrong though I sure wish it was. I’d love to gorge myself on a deep pan pizza for one and top it off with a nice Gu pudding for afters but, for me work calls L. Cue crying. I work two nights a week, how is it even possible that I can’t cope with two nights a week? I don’t know but, somehow it is.

Anyway, on to happier times. Earlier in the week I made these Red Velvet Cupcakes using the recipe from my Hummingbird Bakery Cake Days cookbook which, I got as a Christmas Present from my best friend Michelle, thanks Miv! It’s a really amazing cook book and I actually love it so much already that I now want to plan a trip to London purely so I can go to the Hummingbird Bakery and taste their cupcakes. The Red Velvet Cupcake is their most popular flavour too so, I thought I’d try it first and I also want to start baking a few more classic cupcakes like a basic vanilla and a carrot cake cupcake so, I thought a Red Velvet Cupcake would fit with that plan. I wasn’t sure what to make of this cupcake originally as it called for a whole bottle of red food colouring to be tipped in which, worried me a bit but, I went with it. It didn’t help either that foolishly after mixing together the bitter cocoa powder, the tangy vanilla essence and the chemically tasting food colouring I very stupidly licked the spoon. Oh god! Big mistake. Never do that but, ofcourse you wouldn’t, who in their right mind would? I was left with bright red teeth and the most disgusting dry, tacky, bitter taste in my mouth. Never again.

 

Don't be alarmed though, this recipe when finished creates amazing moist and soft red cupcakes and the cream cheese frosting is sweet, sugary and delicious. I’d never had a red velvet cupcake or cake before as it’s very American so I don’t really often see it over here in the UK. As such I didn’t really know what to expect from the flavour and I’m still not even sure if the flavour I got is correct as I have nothing to compare it too. Nonetheless my Mum, Dad and nephew all absoloutely adored them so hopefully I did alright. These cupcakes have a slight and very mild chocolate flavour to them and they are very sweet so, perfect if you have a sweet tooth which, I'm pretty sure we all do. As I said my Mum, Dad and nephew all love them and they've all had 2 or 3 each now so they've got to taste pretty good.  It is a lovely cake and the sponge is unbelievably light and soft. Not to mention they look gorgeous and classy with their deep, rich red colour. I think it's safe to say I've found my go to Red Velvet Cupcake recipe, afterall I can’t open a Cupcake Shop without one can I? Thanks very much Hummingbird Bakery!

Recipe
Makes about 15-18 cupcakes

For the sponge-
120g (4oz) unsalted butter, softened
300g (10 1/2oz) caster sugar
2 large eggs
20g (3/4oz) cocoa powder
40ml red food colouring (such as Dr Oetker)
1 tsp vanilla essence
300g (10 1/2oz) plain flour
1 tsp salt
240ml buttermilk
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
For the frosting-
100g (3 1/2oz) unsalted butter, softened
600g (1lb 5oz) icing sugar
250g (9oz) full-fat cream cheese (such as Philadelphia)

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 190C, Gas mark 5, and line a muffin tin with muffin cases.
2. Using a hand-held electric whisk or a freestanding electric mixer with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy. Break in the eggs one at a time, beating thoroughly after each addition and mixing in the scrapings from the sides of the bowl.
3. In a separate, small bowl, stir together the cocoa powder, food colouring and vanilla essence to form a paste. Add the paste to the batter, mixing thoroughly until the paste is completely incorporated.
4. Sift together the flour and salt in another bowl, then add the flour to the batter in two batches, alternating with the buttermilk and mixing thoroughly after each addition. Lastly, in another bowl, mix the vinegar and the bicarbonate of soda together by hand and add it to the cake batter, mixing until it is fully incorporated.
5. Spoon the batter into the paper cake cases, so they are two-thirds full, using any remaining batter to fill up to 6 more cases in another tin. Place in the oven and bake for 18-20 minutes or until the sponge bounces back when lightly pressed. Allow the cupcakes to cool completely before you frost them.
6. Using the electric whisk or freestanding mixer with the paddle attachment, and mixing on a low speed, beat the butter and icing sugar together until no large lumps of butter remain and the mixture is sandy in texture. Add the cream cheese and mix together slowly until everything is incorporated, then increase the speed to medium and beat the frosting until it is soft and fluffy.
7. Cover all but one of the cupcakes with 2 tablespoons of the cream cheese frosting, smoothing it down with a palette knife and making a swirl in the middle of the frosting for a decorative finish (or pipe the cream cheese frosting onto the cupcakes).
8. Place the remaining cupcake in a food processor and blitz into fine crumbs, then sprinkle the frosted cupcakes with the red crumbs. Enjoy!

Thankyou for reading!

Love Courts x