Sweet Potato,Ginger and Lemongrass Muffins

I was challenged by Knorr to come up with a creative recipe using their Knorr Flavour Pots which have just won Product of the Year.  You may have seen my Butternut Chicken Thai-Style which used the  Ginger and Lemongrass Flavour Pot and the Garlic Flavour Pot and the Lentil and Vegetable Soup which used the Garden Herbs Flavour Pot.

Knorr Flavour Pots have just collected first prize in the Sauce and Seasoning category for this year’s Product of the Year awards. Knorr Flavour Pots allow you to easily infuse your cooking with the flavour of fresh herbs and spices but with the handy convenience of dried. The range features nine different tantalising flavours, including Mixed Herbs, Three Peppercorn, Curry, Garlic, Mixed Chillies, Garden Herbs, Ginger & Lemongrass, Paprika, and Mexican.  In order to inspire some creative recipes Knorr sent me a box full of vegetables, tins and packets.

Amongst the vegetables was a nice big sweet potato, you can see it at the front, it nearly went into the chicken dish, but then I suddenly thought that it would be interesting to see if the Ginger and Lemongrass Flavour Pot would work in a sweet potato muffin, I got quite excited by the idea.

The ingredients of the Ginger and Lemongrass Flavour Pot are water, ginger spirit vinegar, glucose syrup, green pepper, salt, palm oil, garlic, sugar, basil, citrus fibre, cayenne pepper, coriander leaves, cardamom, onion powder, Kaffir lime leaves, aniseed, gelling agent (xanthan gum), natural lemongrass flavouring, natural chili flavouring.  A few things in there that wouldn't normally be in a sweet muffin, but I thought I'd have a go anyway.



Sweet Potato, Ginger and Lemongrass Muffins
makes 12

150g plain flour
150g wholemeal flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 Knorr Ginger and Lemongrass Flavour Pot
450g  Sweet Potato (cooked and mashed)
125g soft light brown sugar
2 eggs
250ml orange juice
1 medium carrot, grated

1.Preheat the oven to 200C, grease a muffin tin  or line with papers.
2. In a medium bowl combine the plain flour, wholemeal flower, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice.
3. In a large bowl mash sweet potatoes.  Add brown sugar, eggs, orange juice carrot and the contents of the Ginger and Lemongrass Flavour Pot, mix together until well blended.
4. Add flour mixture to the wet ingredients, stirring until just combined and blended, don't over mix.
5. Spoon the mixture into the prepared muffin tin, filling the cups to the top.  Bake in the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.

You can leave the muffins plain or make a water icing with icing sugar and lemon juice and drizzle over the top. 

The Sweet Potato, Ginger and Lemongrass Muffins were absolutely delicious and, unlike many muffins, they actually got better the next day!  There was no hint of savoury flavour and the flavours of lemongrass and ginger came through really well and the sweet potato kept them really moist and moreish.  I didn't intend for them to Valentine's Day Muffins, but they would make a very fine treat for anyone who likes a touch of spice.


Love is in the Air is the theme for Treat Petite this month, the blog event run each month by Cakeyboi and The Baking Explorer, hosted this month by The Baking Explorer


Over at Bangers and Mash Towers, Vanesther is sitting in the Temple, well sort of, she is looking for entries to The Spice Trail that fit the bill of 'Temple Food', spicy foods that are good for you, but also comforting.  I think these Sweet Potato, Ginger and Lemongrass Muffins definitely qualify as Temple Food.

Labels: Knorr, Knorr Flavour Pot, Lemongrass and Ginger, Muffins, Sweet Potato, Valentine's Day

posted by Janice @ 20:09 32 Comments

Lentil and Vegetable Soup

It may not look particularly exciting, but this was one of the tastiest bowls of soup I have made for some time.  I usually use red lentils in my lentil soup, but this time I used Crazy Jack Organic green lentils, as they were included in my box of goodies from Knorr for the Knorr Flavour Pot Product of the Year Challenge.  


Lentil and Vegetable Soup

1 tbsp sunflower oil
3 carrots, chopped
4 sticks of celery, sliced
1 large onion, chopped
4 Knorr vegetable stock cubes
3.5 litres of water
250g green lentils, washed in a sieve
salt & pepper to taste
1 Garden Herbs Knorr Flavourpot

1. Heat the oil to a medium heat in a large soup pan (I use my pressure cooker).
2. Add the carrots, celery and onion.
3. Add the water, lentils, vegetable stock cubes and Garden Herbs Flavour Pot.
4. Cook for 20 minutes in a pressure cooker or around 40 minutes in an ordinary pan, until the vegetables and lentils are soft.

The soup improves on keeping and I make such a large pot as it provides lunch for several days after the weekend, but you could scale it down.


I'm entering this soup for No Croutons Required, the blog linky for vegetarian soups and salads run by Jacqueline at Tinned Tomatoes and Lisa at Lisa's Kitchen. Jac is hosting this month.


Knorr Flavour Pots have just collected first prize in the Sauce and Seasoning category for this year’s Product of the Year awards. Knorr Flavour Pots allow you to easily infuse your cooking with the flavour of fresh herbs and spices but with the handy convenience of dried. The range features nine different tantalising flavours, including Mixed Herbs, Three Peppercorn, Curry, Garlic, Mixed Chillies, Garden Herbs, Ginger & Lemongrass, Paprika, and Mexican.

Labels: carrots, celery, Garden Herbs, green lentils, Knorr, Knorr Flavour Pot, Lentil Soup, Vegetables, vegetarian

posted by Janice @ 18:59 19 Comments

Chocolate Popcorn, Spooky Cakes, Pumpkin Soup and Pie-tatoes for Halloween

Food is such an integral part of every festival and Halloween is no exception.  My memories of Halloween feature the Brownie Guide Fancy Dress Party for which we all had to carve a 'Turnip' lantern.  There were no pumpkins in 1960s Scotland, so we used turnips/swedes, it was really hard work carving them and many a spoon was bent in the process.

At the party there would be large dishes of  buttery mashed potato and others of peppery, mashed 'neeps' the inside of those turnip lanterns cooked and mashed!  We also had 'Treacle Scones', girdle scones dangling on strings that you had to try to take a bite from as someone swung the string so you got covered in sticky treacle.  That was soon washed off with the 'Dookin' for Apples', the only way to be sure of getting your apple was to stick your head right down to the bottom of the bowl and bite hard into the apple, you got soaked but it worked.  I always hated it when, at some parties, they made you drop forks into the bowl, it was not nearly as effective.

There were none of the fancy themed sweets and cakes to be bought in the shops, but I think it is much more fun to make your Halloween treats at home.


Chocolate Popcorn Triangles are a really fun and simple treat to make with your kids, you don't really need a recipe, just melt some chocolate in a bowl over a pan of just simmering water and add ready made popcorn until it is all covered in chocolate, then press it into a brownie pan lined with non stick paper and place in the fridge until set.  I decorated mine with some lines of white chocolate.  I have a neat little trick for melting chocolate for piping (see below).




All you do it put your chocolate, I used Hadleigh Maid white chocolate buttons, into a disposable piping bag, pop it in the microwave for 30 seconds or until the chocolate has melted, then snip off the end of the bag and pipe lines over the chocolate popcorn in lines.  Leave to set in the fridge again, then once set, cut into squares or triangles.


For some rather more spooky cakes, a Halloween themed silicon cake mould is ideal for a bit of impact, especially if you top them with chocolate set in the same moulds.

I coloured white chocolate with orange food colouring to make the pumkin colour and it wasn't too difficult to make the two coloured witchy pumpkin with milk chocolate for the hat.

Spooky Halloween Cakes

175g  Flora Buttery
175g  golden caster sugar
300g  self raising flour, sieved
3 medium eggs
5 tbsp semi-skimmed milk
100g cooked pumpkin or butternut squash, mashed
zest of an orange

150g white chocolate
100g milk chocolate
orange food gel

Spooky silicon cake mould  and 6 muffin cases in a muffin tray (if no cake mould then 12 muffin cases)


1. Place the muffin cases into a muffin tray.
2. Place the first five ingredients in a bowl and beat with a wooden spoon until the mixture is smooth.
3. Stir in pumpkin mash and orange zest and divide between the paper cases.
4. Bake in a pre-heated oven for 20-25 minutes at 200C, 180C (fan), Gas mark 6 for 20-25 minutes.

Leave the cakes to cook and then unmould.  The shapes don't come out too well with the soft sponge cake but they are the perfect shape to top with the chocolate shapes.





It's not just sweet treats that are needed at Halloween.  You need something warm to eat before going out trick or treating.  Knorr have some great recipes which will hit the spot, how about a bowl of warming Pumpkin and Butterbean Broth from a recipe created by Marco Pierre White?  Or the perfect individual 'Sheperd's Pie-tatoes' a variation on Marco's Shepherd's Pie.


Shepherd's Pie-tatoes (or Shepherd's Potato Pies)
makes 8 Pie-tatoes

4 large baking potatoes

1 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, chopped
500g minced lamb
10g plain flour
1tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1tbsp tomato puree
1 Knorr Beef Stock Pot
500ml water
1 sprig of thyme
1/4 of a pumpkin or butternut squash, peeled, diced
1 large carrot, peeled, diced
Butter, milk and 1 egg yolk, (optional) for the mash

The Potatoes
Bake the potatoes until tender (I did mine in the microwave first, then finished them off in the oven to get a crispy skin) Cut the potatoes in half while still warm, scoop out the baked potato and mash with the butter, milk and egg yolk

Labels: bonfire night, cakes, chocolate, Flora Buttery, Halloween, Knorr, Marco Pierre White, Popcorn, Pumpkin Soup, shepherd's pie

posted by Janice @ 20:38 10 Comments