Caffeine addiction…mmm nothing better!

This weekend has been one of me stuck in bed!So I decided that I would let you in on some of myfavourite favourite recipes surrounding coffee treats!Being a caffeine addict for many many years now, I’vemanaged to stumble upon and create the most divinerecipes known to coffee holics!  So without keeping youin suspense, here they are, try them out, and let me know how it goes! AUSTRIAN COFFEE CAKE THAT WILL WOW EVEN YOUR MOTHER-IN-LAW! Ingredients: For the sponge cake: 1½ level tbls instant coffee mixed with 2 tbls boiling water 75g walnut halves 175 g self-raising flour 1½ level teaspoons baking powder 175g softened butter 175g brown sugar sifted 3 large eggs at room temperature For the syrup: 1 level tablespoon instant espresso coffee powder 50 g Demerara sugar For the filling and topping: 1 level tablespoon instant espresso coffee powder 1 rounded tablespoon golden caster sugar 10 walnut halves, reserved from the sponge cake 250 g mascarpone 200 ml 8 per cent fat fromage frais THEN:   First of all you need to toast all the walnuts, so spread them on a baking sheet and place in the pre-heated oven for 7-8 minutes. After that, reserve 10 halves to use as decoration later and finely chop the rest. Take a very large mixing bowl, put the flour and baking powder in a sieve and sift it into the bowl, holding the sieve high to give it a good airing as it goes down. Now all you do is simply add all the other cake ingredients (except the coffee and walnuts) to the bowl and, provided the butter is really soft, just go in with an electric hand whisk and whisk everything together until you have a smooth, well-combined mixture, then fold in the coffee and chopped walnuts. This will take about 1 minute but, if you don’t have an electric hand whisk, you can use a wooden spoon and a little bit more effort. What you should end up with is a soft mixture that drops off the spoon easily when you give it a sharp tap; if not, add a spot of water. Divide the mixture between the prepared sandwich tins, spreading the mixture around evenly. Then place the tins on the centre shelf of the oven and bake them for 30 minutes. While the cakes are cooking you can make up the syrup and the filling and topping. For the syrup, first place the coffee and sugar in a heatproof jug, then measure 2 fl oz (55 ml) boiling water into it and stir briskly until the coffee and sugar have dissolved, which will take about 1 minute. Next, the filling and topping, and all you do here is place all the ingredients, except the reserved walnuts, in a bowl and whisk them together till thoroughly blended. Then cover the bowl with clingwrap and chill till needed. When the cakes are cooked, i.e., feel springy in the centre, remove them from the oven but leave them in their tins and prick them all over with a skewer while they are still hot. Now spoon the syrup as evenly as possible over each one and leave them to soak up the liquid as they cool in their tins. When they are absolutely cold, turn them outvery carefully and peel off the base papers – it’s a good idea to turn one out on to the plate you’re going to serve it on. Then spread half the filling and topping mixture over the first cake, place the other cake carefully on top and spread the other half over. Finally, arrange the reserved walnut halves in a circle all around. It’s a good idea to chill the cake if you’re not going to serve it immediately. TRIPLE ICED ESPRESSO (Hetties Cocktails – Nigella Lawson)

A caffeine fix at any time of day is always a help, but mixed with acouple of bartender’s top-shelf specials and you’ve got a cocktail to wakeyou up before you go.   1 (25ml) shot of espresso, chilled 1 (25ml) shot of coffee liqueur 1 (25ml) shot dark rum1.  Pour the chilled coffee into an ice filled cocktail shaker and add the coffee liqueur and rum. Give it a shake and strain into a martini glass. For a real treat, whip up some cream for the top and sprinkle with cocoa! Bottoms up!! CRANBERRY AND PISTACHIO BISCOTTI (The awesome green and red colouring in these makes them perfect for Christmas!) Biscotti is one of those versatile Italian biscuits that you can playaround with flavours, this specific recipe I find great for this time of year because of the vibrant green and red.  But if that doesn’t tickle your taste buds, then why not try adding white chocolate drops and almonds, or coffee granules or dark chocolate drops! Experiment and find your perfect flavour! Ingredients: 1/4 cup Light olive oil 3/4 cup White sugar 2tsp Vanilla extract 1/2 tsp Almond extract 1 3/4 cup All-purpose flour Pinch of Salt 1 tsp Baking powder 1/2 cup Dried cranberries 1 1/2 cups Pistachio nuts Then: Preheat your oven to 150 degrees In a bowl mix the sugar and oil until well blended.  Then mix in the vanilla and almond extracts.  Next beat in the eggs. In a separate bowl combine all the dry ingredients.  Then gradually stir into the egg mixture forming dough. Then with your hands add the nuts and cranberries.  Divide the dough into two logs, place on parchment paper on a cookie tray. Note the dough may be a bit sticky so wet your hands with cool water to handle easier.  Bake for approximately 35mins  or until the dough is a light brown.  Remove from the oven and allow cooling for 10mins.  Then cut diagonally into 3/4 inch slices, lay on the parchment paper and bake for approximately 8 – 10mins or until dry.  Then allow cooling. Serve with yummy cappuccino!

Well thats all for today, happy cooking!

Cooking is like love.  It should be entered into with abandon or not at all. ~Harriet van Horne

…moreish muffins!

I often receive requests on moist muffin recipes, and the one thing that I need to re iterate here is that DON’T be afraid to experiment with flavours!

There is nothing better than citrus bran muffins or cranberry and nut or anything really that you can find lying around in your pantry

So the base recipe I use is as follows:

Ingredients
2 eggs
150 g soft brown sugar
60 ml canola oil
250 ml oat bran
375 ml cake flour, sifted
500 ml bran
2 ml salt
15 ml bicarbonate of soda
5 ml cinnamon
1 large apple, grated
250 g sultanas
500 ml low-fat milk
5 ml vanilla essence

Method:
Preheat the oven to 180 °C.
Beat the eggs, sugar and oil together.
Add all the dry ingredients, the grated apple and the sultanas and mix well.
Add the milk and vanilla nad mix thoroughly but guard against overmixing.
Leave in the fridge overnight.
Stir before baking, place in a a muffin pan and bake for 15 minutes

NOTE:  here I used apples, saltana’s and cinnamon, but go wild, play see what you come up with…be BRAVE!

Apple Crumble with a Difference!

As much as we all love the normal apple crumble, I decided to play around a bit, and see how it turned out…and this was the result..(not too shabby)

Flaky Pie Pastry (see my recipe for the perfect pastry)

filling:
8 Granny smith apples
3 tablespoons lemon juice
3/4 cup fresh or frozen cranberries, whole
3 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted
2/3 cup brown sugar, firmly packed

topping:
2/3 cup rolled oats
1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1/2 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup butter cut into 1/2-inch cubes

Pre-heat oven to 300 F. Peel and slice apples and toss with lemon juice. Add all other filling ingredients and mix. In a separate bowl, stir together all ingredients for topping. Put apple mixture in pie shell. Sprinkle topping on liberally. Dot top of pie with butter squares. Bake for 30 minutes to 45 minutes or until topping is golden and pie is bubbly.

NOTE: For a little added “zing” put a tot of brandy in the mix simply d’vine!