Lovely treats: Fairy Cakes with Nutella!

Sue, (whose blog I love, she has such super ideas) at the Quince Tree posted this wonderful recipe for Cakes with Nutella.  How much better could a cake be?  I just had to have a go, and my elder son left on Sunday with the finished products.

Luckily it is half term, and so this morning we made a further batch to take on a play date this afternoon, I'm sure the girls will love them. (I also made a dozen with Strawberry Jam, instead of Nutella, equally delicious.)

A good teaspoonful of Nutella

Swirl it around

Can we let them cool before we try one?

These have Strawberry Jam

They make a super Elevenses!

They really are tasty, and so easy to make.  Do look at Sue's blog and have a go yourself.  They are worth it.

I didn't mean to eat it!  Just couldn't help myself!  Yum! Yum! 

Two Summer Salads

This is just a quick post to show you two salads I've made recently.

Sainsbury's had some new, fresh mozzarella at the cheese counter and it looked so lovely that I just had to  taste it.

When I got home I made a very simple and very traditional salad, with the cheese, tomatoes and basil drizzled with olive oil and lots of black pepper and I served it with some wafer thin parma ham.  It was simple and would be perfect for either lunch or a light supper.

And here is my other, absolute favourite salad: a Tabouleh.

It is such an easy salad to make and is great for taking to a pot luck or shared meal.  It was my standby when I worked full time.

You need:

Bulgar Wheat (4oz)
Mint
Parsley
4-6 Peeled Tomatoes
1/2 Cucumber
Spring Onions (1 bunch)
Olive Oil
Lemon Juice
Salt and Pepper

Soak the bulgar wheat in hot water for about 15 minutes, drain.  I usually squeeze it through a clean dishtowel.

Meanwhile chop all you your other ingredients and mix together in a large bowl.

Add the wheat.

Dress with about 4 tablespoons of olive oil and the juice of 1/2 lemon.  Season with salt and pepper.

And it's ready to eat.

Tapas

Tapas is one of those perfect shared meals.  Everyone can eat the bits they like and enjoy the ambiance of a relaxed meal.  It's ideal for a family or group of friends.

My Spanish Omelette is posted above, (or possibly, given my technical excellence, below!).

The rest of this Tapas meal was simple: some Iberian ham, Manchego cheese, Membrillo (quince jelly), smoked salmon pate, smokey chorizo and pimento stuffed green olives (I cut these in half).

I put all these foods onto a wooden board, some in small glass dishes, with  warmed, quartered pitta bread, and the Spanish Omelette.

Ready for everyone to take their pick...

For a really quick meal -
You could use a pre-prepared salmon pate and skip the omelette

A selection of food to savour

Don't forget a glass of chilled Manzanilla, the perfect drink for this happy Spanish meal.

Spanish Omelette and....

Making a Spanish Omelette is one of those things... not really complicated, once you have sorted out the plate juggling!


When I make a Spanish Omelette, I use peeled and cubed boiled potatoes, and a softly fried onion.  I have them frying gently in some olive oil,in a non-stick frying pan.  To this I add some beaten eggs, in this case it was five large eggs.

The omelette cooks for a minute or two in the frying pan, and then you JUGGLE THE PLATES!

Basically you need to turn the mixture onto a plate and slide it back into the pan to cook the other side, it is actually easier then you might expect.

The omelette takes a further minute or two to cook.  Then it is ready to  slide it onto a clean plate.  You can eat it hot or cold.

I often make this  if we are having tapas, as it is a quite delicious part of the meal.  My husband and sons all say it is good with ketchup as well!

Potatoes and onions gently frying

Making sure the eggy mixture does not stick

Place a dinner plate firmly over the top, use a cloth

Make sure the pan is completely covered

Quickly flip the pan and plate over

Slide the omelette back into the frying pan

Finish cooking on the hob.

Lunch Box Cookies

Every morning I pack my little girl's lunch box with the same old things.  Like many small children she is deeply conservative (small C) in her taste.  I often think it would be nice to give her something new to try, but what would she enjoy?

So coming home from school drop-off this morning, I thought I would try to bake a new cookie.  I had a trawl through my cookery books and found (in Martha Stewart's Cookies) a banana, chocolate and walnut cookie which sounded super.

One problem though - walnuts.  Like most schools in England, my little girl's school is a Nut Free Zone.

So I decided to substitute raisins for nuts, and adapt my usual cookie recipe to include some banana.  The Martha Stewart recipe also included wholemeal flour and I thought that would be a good idea.

I do sometimes laugh at my attempts to say that a cookie is healthy!  Wholemeal flour, banana and raisins plus a teeny bit of chocolate = healthy??  May be not,  but sooo tasty!

A great way to use up old bananas, you may have lurking around!

Chocolate, Raisin and Banana Cookies.

(healthy enough for a lunch box!)

6 oz butter
6 oz caster sugar
6oz light brown sugar
vanilla essence
2 eggs
8 oz self raising flour
4 oz self raising wholemeal flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
a pinch of salt
1 bar white chocolate
1 bar milk chocolate
4 oz raisins
1 banana (mashed)

I creamed together the sugars and the butter, then added the vanilla (about a capful) and the eggs. I then sieved the flours and baking powder in  and mixed in the chocolate (which was roughly chopped), the raisins and the banana.

I divided the mixture up, and baked the cookies in the oven (180 degrees) for about 12 minutes.  They did need to be turned, but I think that could be my oven!

I wish you could taste them, there is a delightful hint of banana, without them being overwhelmed, and they have a nice chewy consistency.

I have packaged some up, for my little girl to share with her friends who are going to ballet, after school this evening.

Oh!  My Goodness, I nearly forgot the Mummies!!!  I had better get some more ready!!!

A lovely tin  full of cookies

I think two will be perfect for each of the girls

Ready for the girls to eat before their ballet lesson.

Elderflower Cordial, Elderflower Presse

Last week, Vanessa posted a recipe for Elderflower and Rose Syrup which sounded delicious, but I have been unable to find any scented roses, (I will continue to look.)

There is however, an abundance of Elderflowers just now, so I decided that instead of making the syrup, I would  have a go at making an Elderflower Cordial, and I must say I am very pleased with the results.

I'm thrilled with this delicious homemade drink.

On Saturday, when the four your old and  I took the dog out for his walk, we also took a basket and scissors with us.  My little girl  loved the fact that we had to count and make sure that we had 30 Elderflower heads!

Loads and

Loads of beautiful flowers waiting

To be collected

And counted.  Yes we have thirty!

Once we got the Elderflower heads home I separated the flowers from the stalks, and added lemon juice.  Meanwhile I had made a syrup of sugar and water, which I then added to the Elderflowers, along with Citric Acid, and half a Camden tablet.  ( I ordered the citric acid and camden tablet from Amazon, and they had both arrived promptly!)

I then left the infusion to seep for over 24 hours and strained it.  That was the most fiddly part, I first strained it through muslin (lining a sieve) into a clean bowl, and then re-strained it through double muslin, via a funnel into the clean bottles.

It was ready to drink today and I just had to have a taste.  I decided an Elderflower Presse would be perfect, it was.  The Cordial  was sensational with sparkling water, and I will definitely be using it as a non-alcoholic drink at lunches and dinners over the summer.  It is sharp, in the way that homemade lemonade can be, but has a delicious floral taste of  Elderflowers.

Just add water

Perfect!

This is the first time I've made Elderflower Cordial, and I was delighted to discover just how easy it is to prepare.  Please have a go, there are oodles of recipes both in books and on-line, and you don't need masses of kit, just Elderflowers, lemons, sugar, water , the citric acid and camden tablets.  The muslin (mine comes from John Lewis) is useful as well, as it means your cordial will not be tainted by little bits that the  sieve can't quite filter out.

It's a real taste of summer.  Please do let me know if you make some and how it goes.

I am entering this into Fabulicious Food's Simple and In Season, as you can see it is seasonal.  We picked the flowers and made the Cordial.

Cake, Cake and ... More Cake!

I've had a very busy time, eating lots of delicious cake!

On Friday we went to the Petersham Hotel for Afternoon Tea.  I highly recommend it.  The hotel is such a very lovely, gentle place, with one of the most spectacular views of the Thames that you can find in London, and the cows grazing in Petersham Meadow below.

Just lovely

And delicious.

We then had a family birthday at the weekend with Butterfly cake.

I baked a very simple Rose Water flavoured Victoria Sponge, using a four egg version of this recipe, which I sandwiched together with Strawberry Jam.

Simply heat a few tablespoonfuls of jam in a saucepan, and strain through a sieve onto the bottom cake, this give you a smooth jam sandwich.

I then decorated the top layer with fondant glace icing, using the Rose Water, for flavour, again.  I cut out various sized and coloured sugar paste butterflies and added them to the icing.  

The cake was simple but effective.

A host of butterflies

A few candles

Wonderful with Strawberries and Cream!

Then, after all that cake,  I went to the Petersham Nurseries  on Tuesday morning , for coffee (and even more cake) with one of my very dear friends.

The biggest question was... What should we chose?  We went for a (huge) piece of beetroot cake and a Chelsea Bun... both scrumptious.

A delectable selection of cakes

Muffins, biscuits and buns

A tiny huge piece of Beetroot Cake

An equally tiny huge Chelsea Bun!

Now I'm on a diet!!!!

I didn't just eat cake...

I looked around the Nurseries!

A Tasty Week Night Supper

Don't you find it tricky sometimes to come up with something new for supper during the week?  You've had a busy day and really don't feel like cooking and then washing up (what sometimes feels like) millions of dishes, pots and pans.

Last night I decided to make a Pilchard version of my Mackerel Rillettes and present them on Pumpernickel with radishes, spring onions and tomatoes.

I had bought the pilchards having read this lovely post by Liz, I thought the tins were simply beautiful and snapped some up when I saw them in Waitrose.

I drained the oil from the pilchards, and then mashed them with a fork.  I added cornichons, capers, chopped onion, lemon juice and for a depth of flavour, some finely chopped green chilli.

I then spread the mixture over a piece of pumpernickel and placed some thinly sliced radishes on top.  I added tomatoes and chopped spring onion to complete the supper plate.

It looked beautiful and more importantly,  was really tasty.  With the added bonus of only a chopping board, bowl and knife to wash!

The pumpernickel came from our local German Baker.

Aren't these tins beautiful?

The fish mixture on the bread

The completed dish, ready to eat and prepared in moments!

PS like many other people I have joined the UK Food Bloggers Association, unlike them I am finding it difficult to upload a photo, so that's my project for tomorrow!

Cream Cheese Icing

To decorate the Carrot and Banana Cake, I used the cream cheese icing that was included in the Waitrose recipe.  The only change I made was to double all the ingredients, yes that's right - twice the butter, twice the cream cheese, twice the vanilla and twice the sugar!  It made a delightful, thick and rich icing for the cake.  

It seems that the basic premise of a truly good Carrot Cake, is to make an (as near as possible) healthful cake, and smoother it in a rich dairy and sugar icing!

Icing ingredients gathered

Don't forget the vanilla

Doesn't it look yummy?

The (nearly) healthy cake!

Now not so healthy

But Oh! so lovely!