Ruby Red Apples

12 Pink Lady Smith Apples.

2 cups caster sugar

20ml vinegar

80ml water

6 drops of red food colouring

thick wooden skewers, they may need to be trimmed.

 Line a baking tray with some parchment/greaseproof paper or with a silpat.

 In a heavy pot place the sugar, water and vinegar. On a low to medium heat, stir with a wooden spoon or silicone spoon until the sugar is dissolved. 

Once the sugar is dissolved, stop stirring.

Turn up the heat and boil vigorously (do not stir) until the syrup reaches a temperature of between 150 and 155 degrees c on a sugar thermometer. However, if you don't own one, drop a small amount of syrup into some cold water. It should form hard strands instantly.

Remove the syrup from the heat and add food colouring if you wish to. Dip the apples into the syrup (now a toffee), ensuring that each apple is well coated and the excess drips off. Place the toffee apple onto the lined baking paper to cool. ( To harden the toffee quicker dip the toffees apple into a icy water for a few seconds)

If your syrup becomes to thick return to the heat. I do recommend wrapping each apple as the toffee does tend to soften a bit. Store in a cool, dry area.

Portuguese Chicken

1 tblspn garlic

1-2 tblspn chillie powder 

1 tsp chicken spice

1-2 tsp green masala

Lemon pepper 

1/4 cup oil

1/4 cup mayonnaise 

Salt to taste 

Marinate chicken for a few hours 

Place in a oven proof tray cut tomatoes, onions and pepper over 

Place a few pieces of butter around.

Roast in oven for 30-40 mins 

Broccolini

1 pkt Broccoli

2 cloves garlic chopped 

3-4 tsp Olive oil 

Salt and pepper to taste 

A little green masala 

Please broccoli in a pre heated oven on 180 degrees for 30-45mins. 

Once broccoli is roasted add 

The zest of 1lemon 

Juice of 1-2 lemons 

Olive oil 

Cheese- handful ( I use white cheese )

Pour over broccoli and place back in oven for 5-10mins 

Truffels Truffels & Truffels

Nutella Truffels

In a microwave safe bowl, at 50% power, melt 6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips (or chopped chocolate) along with 1 tablespoon of butter. Start with 30 seconds, stir and repeat until the chocolate is completely melted.

Stir the mixture thoroughly to make sure there aren’t any little chunks of chocolate. It should be completely smooth

Add to the chocolate:

3.5 ounces roasted, chopped hazelnuts

9 ounces Nutella (this is a little less than 1 cup)

1/4 cup cream (heavy cream or whipping cream is fine)

1/4 cup Frangelico. If you don’t want to use Frangelico, you can use 1 – 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract.

Stir until well combined. Then line a baking sheet with a piece of parchment paper or a Silpat. Don’t worry about the size because you’re just letting the mixture cool. But the thinner the layer of chocolate the faster it will cool.

Spread the mixture over the parchment paper. Don’t worry about making it level – it doesn’t really matter here. Refrigerate the pan with the chocolate mixture for 30 – 40 minutes or until the truffle mixture has set just enough so that it’s easy to handle. If you don’t wait long enough, it will be difficult to roll into balls. If you wait too long, the chocolate will be too set, and it will get very messy when you roll the balls out.

Using a melon baller or spoon, roll the truffle mixture into 1-inch balls. I got about 28 balls. At this point, you can roll the balls in more chopped hazelnuts, cocoa powder, powdered sugar or whatever coating you like. I prefer to dip mine in chocolate.

To dip them in chocolate, melt 6 ounces of chocolate the same way you did at the beginning. Dip the balls into the chocolate and set them on a Silpat or piece of parchment paper.

You can also place the balls on a wire cooling rack like I did but they can be tricky to remove! I recommend just placing them directly on the Silpat. After you’ve placed them on the Silpat, sprinkle the truffles with more chopped hazelnuts if desired.

Seafood Pasta

Seafood Pasta 

500g Cleaned Prawns 

2tblspn Melted Butter

1tsp chilli garlic paste

1tsp salt
1tsp lemon pepper
1tsp chilli powder
3tbls lemon juice
3tbls tomato puree
2tblsmayonnaise 

125ml Fresh Cream

1 packet linguine pasta

Boil Pasta for about 20 minutes,
While pasta is boiling marinate prawns. 
Put butter into a fry pan and cook prawns for about 4 mins on high without making the sauce burn off completely
Once done you can add chillies for heat add fresh cream and give a boil. 
Mix pasta and sauce together.
Adding cheese and chopped Corriander to Garnish 

Recipe by Sabeeha Arbee's - Adega Seafood Pasta 

Skillet Brownies

The brownies are slightly underbaked, so they're part brownie, part molten chocolate cake- and everyone will love having their own individual skillet!! 

¼ pound (1 stick) unsalted butter 

4 ounces plus ½ cup Hershey’s semisweet chocolate chips, divided 

1½ ounces unsweetened chocolate 

2 extra-large eggs 

2 teaspoons instant coffee powder, such as Nescafe 

1½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract 

½ cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar 

¼ cup plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour, divided 

1 teaspoon baking powder 

¼ teaspoon kosher salt 

1 pint vanilla ice cream, such as Haagen-Dazs

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. 

Heat the butter, 4 ounces of the chocolate chips, and the unsweetened chocolate together in a medium bowl set over simmering water just until the chocolate melts. Remove the bowl from the heat and allow to cool for 15 minutes. In a large bowl, stir (do not beat) together the eggs, coffee powder, vanilla and sugar. Stir the chocolate mixture into the egg mixture and set aside to cool to room temperature. 

In a medium bowl, sift together ¼ cup of the flour, the baking powder, and salt and stir it into the chocolate mixture. Toss the remaining ½ cup of chocolate chips and one tablespoon of flour together in a medium bowl and add them to the chocolate mixture. Spoon the mixture into four individual cast iron skillets (the skillets I use measure 5 inches on the top, 3½ inches on the bottom) and place them on a sheet pan. Bake for 22 minutes exactly. Don’t overbake! A toothpick inserted in the center will not come out clean. Cool slightly and serve warm with a scoop of ice cream. 

 

Sweet, Salty & Creamy beyond!

Salted Caramel Milkshake

This drink is mega indulgent!  

Think: after dinner sipping.  

Think: mid afternoon sipping followed by a good long nap.

This is just what I needed to kick my own butt out of an itty-bitty funk.

Because work is sometimes work, but caramel helps.  Caramel always helps.

First we make the caramel.

It’s really simple and it’s really complicated.

1 cup sugar

1/3 cup water

3/4 cup heavy cream

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 teaspoon flaky sea salt

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Add water to a medium saucepan and set over high heat. Carefully pour the sugar directly into the center so none of it splashes up the sides of the pot. Bring to a boil and cook until the sugar starts to turn brown. Do not stir the pot. If you need to, gently swirl the pot to help melt all the sugar. Once the sugar turns a deep brown color, remove from the heat and carefully pour in the cream, taking care as it will splutter a little. Add the butter, salt and vanilla. Swirl the pot until the butter dissolves completely and evenly into the caramel sauce.

2 cups (about 4 scoops) packed vanilla bean ice cream

1/2 cup milk (I prefer low fat milk)

3 tablespoons salted caramel syrup 

1-1/2tsp sea salt 

Optional Garnishes

whipped cream

chocolate sprinkles

Place ice cream, milk, caramel syrup into blender and blend on medium-high speed until thoroughly combined. If desired, top with whipped cream, caramel sauce and chocolate sprinkles. 

A bowl of cheesey goodness

New York Cheese Fries 

1 sack frozen French fries

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups whole milk

Salt & Pepper to Taste

2 1/2 cups,shredded yellow Cheddar1 cap 

Fries in oven on a cookie sheet. While fries are baking in the oven,Place a sauce pot on the stove and heat it over medium heat. Add butter and melt it. Add the flour and stir. Cook butter and flour together for 1 minute or so. Use a whisk to stir as the milk goes into the pot. Keep stirring until the milk gets thicker, add the salt and pepper. Use a wooden spoon or heat-safe spatula to stir in the cheese.

When cheese is ready drizzle over chips and To garnish cube cucumber tomato n onion finely over the cheese fries.. 

Serve immediately.. 

Easy Piping Techniques

Hi friends!  Today I'm doing something a little different. I'm going to share with you a few of my favorite piping techniques for cupcakes. 

These techniques are perfect for beginners because they are so forgiving.  

My favorite decorator piping tips!

Ateco Pastry Tube Star Size 8 -  It may be my very favorite piping tip of all because you can make the perfect soft serve ice cream swirl on top of a cupcake. If you've never ventured into piping, then this is a good one to consider buying first. 

Wilton Petal Decorating Tip 125 -This is a petal tip, which certainly makes pretty individual petals, but I love using it for piping a simple rose in one continuous icing spiral. This technique takes a little dexterity, so it's a good idea to set aside one or two practice cupcakes.

Wilton Decorating Petal Icing Tip #104 - or, ruffle tip. In my opinion, it's the best size petal tip for ruffling cupcakes. When I first tried this technique I felt like I was making a real mess of things - starting and stopping rows, accidentally smearing a few ruffles with the piping tip - but when I finished, the cupcake looked picture-perfect. So remember, if you get halfway through ruffling and things are feeling a bit chaotic, keep at it and judge the end result. This petal tip can also make daisies, like the ones on these cupcakes I made for the Etsy blog last year.

Ateco Pastry Tube Plain 808 - Icing mounds are the easiest of the easy-to-make. Honestly, you don't really even have to use a piping tip to achieve the effect. You could just use a zip-top bag with the corner snipped. That said, I really like this size piping tip to make a nice fat, even heap of frosting on top of cupcakes. 

Ateco Closed Star Pastry Tube 847 and 843 - I love to use these two piping tips together- The smaller one is used to make little stars around the edge of the cupcake and the larger tip makes a nice big swirl in the middle. 

This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to piping tips and techniques, but these are my favorite and I use them most often. And they are some of the easiest to master, too!

Video Tutorial to follow Shortly :-) 

New York Imli Fries

New York Fries  

1 Bag Shoprite potatoes. 

Wash clean cut into chips wf skin on. Soak thm in water.          

 VEGGIES.                                                         
tomatoes 

onions 

green n red peppers. 

Cucumber

Cut all in small cubes. 

Chop fresh corriander 

Keep all aside 

Take ambli chutney + lil water make a runny paste . Keep aside. 

Now fry chips till done. Set in your dish some salt n chilli powder - sprinkle tomatoes onions peppers lastly fresh corriander. Once this done. Pour ambli sauce over the hot chips. 

Serve with a dollop of sour cream and enjoy.. 

Heaven in a Bite

Choc Parcels 

1 pkt Chinese Springroll wraps ( size2)

Nutella 

Place chocolate on centre of springroll and roll. Like a Spring-roll.. 

Fry in sallow oil on high heat. 

Serve with ice cream and roasted nuts. 

One of my favorite summer desserts is also one of the easiest – EtonMess!!

It’s an old-fashioned English dessert of red berries, whipped cream, and crushed meringues - all layered into tall dessert glasses..

4 (2-ounce) packages fresh Strawberries, divided
1 ½ cups plus ¼ cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
2½ cups cold heavy cream
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
5-6 (3-inch) bakery meringue shells, broken in pieces

Pour 2 packages of the raspberries, 1½ cups of the sugar, and the lemon juice into a 10-inch sauté pan. Crush the berries lightly with a fork and bring the mixture to a full boil over medium-high heat. Lower the heat and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is syrupy. Fold the remaining 2 packages of raspberries into the hot mixture and refrigerate until very cold.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the cream, the remaining ¼ cup of sugar, and the vanilla together on medium-high speed until it forms firm peaks.

In decorative glasses, layer a spoonful of the whipped cream, a spoonful of the raspberry mixture, and then a few meringue pieces. Repeat once or twice, depending on the size of the glasses, until the glasses are full, ending with berries and a dollop of cream. Serve immediately or chill for an hour, until ready to serve.

Foccacia

Hello everyone!

I love freshly baked bread and this Foccacia pocket bread is perfect for the weekend..

Here is the recipe, enjoy!

5 cups cake flour

1 cube fresh yeast and 1 teaspoon sugar

2 teaspoon salt

2 cups water (lukewarm)

1/2 cup melted butter

1 tablespoon fresh thyme or oregano

1 tablespoon garlic slivers

1 tablespoon sugar

Salt for sprinkling over

1. Place dry ingredients in a large bowl.

2. Reserve half a cup of flour for dusting when kneading.

3. Cream the yeast with 1tsp sugar and stir into the water.

4. Make a well in the flour and pour in the butter and yeast liquid.

5. Knead into a soft dough.

6. Rub oil over the ball of dough.

7. Cover and leave to double for an hour.

    

8. Punch down and knead again.

9. Divide the dough into 8 portions.

10. Flatten each into a round and arrange on floured baking sheet.

11. Allow to rise for 25 minutues

        

12. Preheat oven 200'C

13. Brush Foccacia with melted butter and salt

     

14. Press the thyme or oregano and garlic top of each.

15. Bake for 30 minutues or until golden brown

     

Cooking is an art; baking is a science.

To bake successfully, it helps to understand the chemistry behind the creativity. So i've gathered these great tips to help you bake like the best.

Get Prepared:

Read the entire recipe slowly, that way ingredients, tools and steps aren’t accidentally overlooked. Baking is about precision, so it’s very important that you are familiar with the recipe before beginning. Its about having all of your ingredients prepped, softened, melted, sifted and measured before you begin baking. It’s a great opportunity to check out your ingredients, and make sure you have everything you need before you get started

Take a deep breath, close your eyes and imagine that delicious triple-layer chocolate cake. Honestly, what is the worst thing that could happen? Even lopsided cakes are delicious, and you’ll do better next time

Choose Your Ingredients:

The most important choice a baker can make is to use unsalted butter. Even better, use European-style unsalted butter.I do not go cheap with ingredients I use for baking. The better the ingredients, the better the end result. It might be more expensive, but the end result is so worth it.

Ingredients for cakes should be room temperature (take out of refrigerator approximately 60-90 minutes before needed) … 

To bring cold eggs to room temperature quickly, you can put the whole eggs into a bowl of lukewarm water (not hot) for 30 minutes. To bring butter to room temperature quickly, you can cut into small cubes on a plate for about 15 minutes.

Mix With Care:

I sift the flour and baking powder together two or three times when making a cake - Though this isn’t essential, it will give your cakes a very light, even texture and stop those pea-sized air pockets forming in the crumb. 

Spend time creaming your butter and sugar together.

For light and fluffy baked goods, it’s important not to over stir. First, make sure your dry ingredients are completely mixed together before you get them wet. Let the batter sit for a few minutes before pouring it into the pan. This allows the flour and other dry ingredients to fully combine with the moist ingredients. It really does make a difference in the way the cake bakes and the texture.

Master Baking Tips:

No two bakers are exactly alike. There’s no single way to do anything when it comes to baking. At the end of the day, baking is about your own individualistic relationship with the tools and ingredients; if you can come up with your own way of doing something, don’t hesitate to go give it a try. And if you change a recipe, be sure to keep notes on what you did so you can do it again..

One Last Thing: ALWAYS BAKE WITH LOVE 

Black Beauty Cupcakes

Today I made some lovely chocolate cupcakes.I decorated the cupcakes with a luscious chocolate swiss buttercream frosting…

Here is the recipe, enjoy!

Black Beauty Cuppies 

1 1/2 cups castor sugar. 

1 3/4 cups flour. 

1 1/2 tsp baking powder. 

1 1/2 tsp bicarb. 

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1 tsp salt. 

2 eggs. 

1 cup milk. 

1/2 cup oil. 

2 tsp vanilla. 

1 cup boiling water. 

Sift together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, bicarb & salt in a large bowl.
Mix together with spoon until combined. In another bowl, whisk eggs lightly, add milk, oil and vanilla and whisk again until well combined.
Add in flour mixture in small portions and whisk until well combined.
Lastly add boiling water and mix with wooden spoon lightly until smooth.
Consistency should be runny.

Fill cupcake cases until 3/4 way full. Bake for ±20 mins in pre-heated oven at 180 degrees. Cool for 10 mins before removing from pan and another 30 mins before frosting. The trick to the recipe is that everything should be done by hand and mixed lightly. Texture is so light better than that of a box mix...

Butter Cream Frosting

1 cup unsalted butter

6-8 cups icing sugar

1/2 cup fresh cream 

1/2 tsp vanilla

2-3 tblspn Nutella or Melted Cadbury (let cool slightly)

Beat icing n butter

Add milk and vanilla

Add more icing if needed

I hope you are inspired to try making these luscious chocolate cupcakes…

A lovely loaf cake

Hello everyone!

Today’s temptation is a lovely banana loaf cake, it’s definitely one of my Dad's favorites. This cake has a really rich flavor, so if you like banana you’ll love this cake.

Banana Loaf Cake

2 cups flour

1teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup oil

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 1/4 cup mashed ripe bananas (equivalent to about 3 medium-large bananas)

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

1/3 cup milk

Preheat the oven to 180 Degrees C.

Grease a rectangular loaf tin with Spray&Cook or butter. 

In a bowl, add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, sugar, oil, eggs, vanilla, milk. Mix in an electric mixer for +-2 minutes on medium to high speed. Until incorporated well- at this point I add 1 extra banana mashed. 

Bake for 50-60 minutes (I cooked mine for exactly 63 minutes and it was perfect but remember ovens vary).

Cool for approximately 20 minutes in the pan before turning it out onto a wire rack to cool down properly. 

                                 

The perfect loaf cake! It makes a lovely treat for dad to have with his coffee. 

Have a nice day everyone.. 

Sticky Buns...

These are the easiest and most delicious Sticky Buns I've ever made Filled with sweet butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, raisins, and pecans, they are oh-so perfectly crisp and gooey..


Dough:
1/4 -ounce package yeast
1/2 cup warm water
1/2 cup scalded milk
1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup butter or shortening
1 teaspoon salt
1 egg
3 1/2 to 4 cups all-purpose flour

Filling:
1/2 cup melted butter, plus more for pan
3/4 cup sugar, plus more for pan
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
3/4 cup raisins, walnuts, or pecans, optional

Glaze:
4 tablespoons butter
2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 to 6 tablespoons hot water

Heat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water and set aside. In a large bowl mix milk, sugar, melted butter, salt and egg. Add 2 cups of flour and mix until smooth. Add yeast mixture. Mix in remaining flour until dough is easy to handle. Knead dough on lightly floured surface for 5 to 10 minutes. Place in well-greased bowl, cover and let rise until doubled in size, usually 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

When doubled in size, punch down dough. Roll out on a floured surface into a 15 by 9-inch rectangle. Spread melted butter all over dough. Mix sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over buttered dough. Sprinkle with walnuts, pecans, or raisins if desired. Beginning at the 15-inch side, role up dough and pinch edge together to seal. Cut into 12 to 15 slices.

Coat the bottom of baking pan with butter and sprinkle with sugar. Place cinnamon roll slices close together in the pan and let rise until dough is doubled, about 45 minutes. Bake for about 30 minutes or until nicely browned.

Meanwhile, mix butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla. Add hot water 1 tablespoon at a time until the glaze reaches desired consistency. Spread over slightly cooled rolls.
Top with chopped pecans 

 

Brrr its Cold...

It’s been an absolutely freezing week in Standerton (though not as cold as some parts of the country!) On days like this, I love to make a big bowl of hearty soup. Today, I made my Creamy Chicken Soup, I’d love to know what kinds of soup you like to make on chilly Days.

Creamy Chicken Soup with Almonds

500g Chicken Cubed

Green Masala

Salt and Black Pepper

1 pkt white Onion soup diluted in 3 ½ Cups Water

1 pkt Vegetable Soup diluted in 3 ½ Cups Water

1 tin Cream Style Corn

3 Carrots Cubed

Mixed Veg - Frozen

1 cup Milk

½ Cup Fresh Cream

Chopped Parsley and Coriander

Braise Chicken Cubes in Ghee

Add spices and let braise.

Add Carrots and Veg - let braise

Add Soup Packets and sweet corn

Add Chopped herbs let braise

Before serving add Milk, Fresh Cream.

Garnish with Chopped Badaams & Cashews

Stay warm this weekend!

Shopping With a Cookbook..

“Shopping with a cookbook is a pretty cumbersome way to shop”


 Here are some of the lessons I’ve learned:

• Take a pad of paper and make the following headings on the page: Dairy, Shelf Goods, Meat & Fish, Produce, and Freezer. If you more of a modern shopper, make your list in the notes of your smartphone. 
• Go through each recipe you want to make and put the ingredients you need under the appropriate heading. If you’re not sure, add a Miscellaneous column.
• When you’re writing the items you need on the list, write 1 jar or 1 onion if you need less than 1”
• Take your grocery list and a pen to the store so you can cross off the things you’ve put in the basket. This way, I find I’m not re-reading the list over and over again to be sure I haven’t forgotten something.
• The way I see it, the sooner I’m finished with the shopping, the sooner I get to do the fun stuff—cooking!