It just so happens that I am writing this post the day before Pancake day (the best day of the year!) but actually these kind of pancakes are better suited to the weekend when you want a yummy breakfast but still want to keep it healthy. Continue reading “Banana Oat Pancakes”
I wish I could say that I am writing this review from an unbiased perspective but I have to admit, following Ella Woodward’s book a year ago and a user of her app, I am a huge fan of hers. However, having said I am not about to rave about her new book and if anything I have found many faults with it. Sadly this book did not meet my expectations and I found the recipes to be either too simple to the point of bland, too expensive or too full of sugar. As someone who eats a low carb/low sugar diet, I can safely say that some of the food would make my blood sugars go through the roof and probably make me very sick. Here’s my main points about the book:
Continue reading “Honest Review: Deliciously Ella Every Day”
I don’t know about anywhere else but up in the North of England it has been ffreeezzzing! The combination of below freezing temperatures, the end of my pregnancy creeping up and good old January blues has meant that all I have time for is getting under a blanket, lighting a candle and reading a book (I gave up daytime television a long time ago after seeing someone on Jeremy Kyle wearing the same outfit as me…. Damn you Primark!). I’ve been taking every opportunity to get reading this month as next month I will have a very teeny person demanding all of my attention. So what have I read so far?
I did it again. I am a firm believer that cupcakes have a slight tackiness to them (I swear it’s the only thing I have a strong opinion on) but yet I can’t stop baking them. Hypocrite maybe?
Anyway I have made these carrot cake style cupcakes which are delicious might I say, although they may look slightly messy by the photo. Isla and Harry look very proud though! This recipe contains no nuts but obviously you can add them if you wish and I was forced to add cinnamon to the recipe instead of five spice as the five spice here in Germany has the most overwhelming star anise flavouring. Here’s the recipe and tweet me any photo’s if you make your own!
Cakes
175g white sugar
2 eggs
150ml oil
200g self raising flour (or if you live somewhere where it isn’t available, yep those places exist!, then add 2 heaped teaspoons of baking powder to your plain flour)
2 carrots (grated)
2 tsp of cinammon
1 tsp vanilla essence
Cream Cheese Frosting
200g Full fat cream cheese
orange zest
70g icing sugar
1tbsp of softened butter
Recipe
1) Preheat oven to 180C. Beat the sugar and eggs together until it makes a creamy, milkshake like consistency, then add the oil and mix well.
2) Add the flour, carrot, cinnamon and vanilla essence and mix together.
3) Put them in your muffin case in a cupcake tray and then cook for 15 minutes or when you can pierce the cake with something sharp and the needle comes out clean.
4) Let the cakes cool and make your icing by slowly mixing together all the ingredients and then going faster to get out any butter lumps. Sometimes it is better to make your icing at the start and then refrigerate it so it is thick and cool when it goes on your cakes.
5) Dare I say more? Ice those cakes and eat!
It is a well known fact that I have an extreme dislike for cupcakes. It’s not that I hate the taste of them because I don’t. It’s the fact that cupcakes literally went through a phase of being everywhere! They were on posters, people using them as wedding cakes, used as decor. As opinionated and miserable as I may sound, I hated it and I can’t even explain why. But since having my daughter, I am starting to appreciate the girly things in life and tolerate more things than I used to. When I saw this recipe, it was a no brainer for me. I had to eat these cupcakes. Now Please be kind about the photo of them. They are the messiest things to make but my goodness, they do taste good. For anyone who’s on a diet these have 400 calories a cake so if you’re going to have a day off from dieting, then I strongly recommend these cakes.
Recipe:
Cupcake
150g dark cooking chocolate
150g softened, unsalted butter
150g golden caster sugar
3 large eggs (free range preferably)
150g self raising flower
75ml soured cream
Topping
40g dark chocolate
Salted caramel sauce (I got mine from Marks and Spencers)
1) Preheat the oven to 180˚C/gas mark 4. Melt 150g of cooking chocolate on the hob or in the microwave. (I did it in the microwave, it’s so much easier!)
2)Beat together the butter and sugar until light and creamy and then add the eggs one by one along with a teaspoon of flour. After this add the flour, sour cream and melted chocolate and mix together.
3)Put the cakes in your cake tray and put in the oven for 20-25 minutes.
4) After they are cooked, add generous dollops of salted caramel sauce over the top and then drizzle melted chocolate over the top. Put in the fridge to set the topping.
5) Eat and enjoy!
