Farmersgirl Kitchen

Friday, 25 September 2015

A Feast of Blackberries - The Great British Blackberry Recipe Round Up

A huge thank you to all the lovely cooks, bakers and bloggers who joined The Great British Blackberry Recipe Round Up. There are so many delicious recipes and they are really varied, everything from Spiced Blackberry Pulled Pork to Blackberry Lollipops and of course cakes, desserts and preserves. Don't take my word for it, here they all are below:

1. Blackberry Frozen Yogurt and Granola Breakfast Pops - Elizabeth's Kitchen Diary
2. Blackberry and Clotted Cream Ripple - Sudden Lunch
3. Blackberry and Apple Swirl Buns - Mint Custard
4. Blackberry Gin - Mint Custard

5. Blackberry Pear Crisp - A Palatable Pastime
6.Wild Blackberry Jam - I'd much rather bake than
7. Bramble Blackwells - Foodie Quine
8. Spiced Blackberry Jam - Farmersgirl Kitchen

9. Peach and Blackberry Galette with Lavender and Thyme Honey - A Girl and her Home
10. Blackberry and Oat Muffins - Rough Measures
11. Blackberry and Lemon Bake - Food Jam

12. Blackforest Chocolate Brownies - Sew White
13. Summer Burst Berry Cake - Belleau Kitchen
14. Simple Seasonal Blackberry Cake - Lancashire Food

15. Autumnal Blackberry and Lavender Cobbler - Lancashire Food
16. Blackberries and Rose Geranium Crumble - Lancashire Food
17. Bramble and Vanilla Cordial - Farmersgirl Kitchen
18. Baked Nectarines and Blackberry Surprise - The Peachicks Bakery

19. Summer Fruit Traybake - Sew White
20. Blackberry and Hazelnut Polenta Cake - Mainly Baking
21. Blackberry Lollipops - The Hedgecombers

22. Apple and Blackberry Chia Seed Preserve - Nutricious Deliciousness
23. Blackberry and Apple Pie - Chez Maximka
24. Spiced Blackberry Pulled Pork - De Tout Coeur Limousin

25. Double Blackberry Chocolate Gallette - Tin and Thyme
26. Blackberry, Garlic and Bay - De Tout Coeur Limousin
27. Blackberry and Apple Geranium Swirl -Lancashire Food
28. Self-Saucing Blackberry and Apple Pudding - Tales from the Kitchen Shed

29. Blackberry and Apple Cupcakes - Tin and Thyme
30. Blackberry, Lemon and White Chocolate Scones - Baking Queen 74
31.Blackberry and White Chocolate Cheesecake Cups - The Veg Space
32. Blackberry and Hazelnut Flapjacks - Chardonnay and Samphire

33. Blackberry and Apple Cake - Eco-Gites of Lenault
34. Blackberry Fairy Cake Buns (Muffins) - Lavender and Lovage
35. Blackberry, Elderberry and Damson Jelly - JibberJabber UK

I hope this inspires you to make some of these recipes, do let me know if you do.

Labels: Blackberry, Bramble, brownies, cake, cupcakes, dessert, flapjacks, gallette, ice cream, jam, Muffins, Pie, Pulled Pork, Scones, The Great British Blackberry Recipe Round-Up, vinegar

Wednesday, 17 September 2014

Chilli Lime Cupcakes - National Cupcake Week Part 2

How is your National Cupcake Week going? I hope you have managed to bake or eat at least one cupcake this week, if not you still have time to get baking. On Monday I shared Salted Caramel Apple Cupcakes with you and showed you the nifty gadget from OXO Good Grips for coring cupcakes, today I invite you to get your teeth into these gloriously festive Chilli Lime Cupcakes.

These cupcakes are also cored and then filled with Chilli Lime and Ginger jam (mild) made by my friend Sheena at Galloway Chillies. If you haven't tried Galloway Chillies Jams then you don't know what you are missing and you should get some ordered up immediately so you too can 'spread a little wildfire'.

As soon as I saw this flavoured icing sugar from Sugar and Crumbs I knew I had to have some and that it would pair perfectly with the Galloway Chillies jam.

Chilli Lime Cupcakes

For the cupcakes
125g caster sugar
125g soft butter
2 eggs
grated zest of a lime
2 tsp squeezed lime juice
150g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder

For the filling
1 tsp Galloway Chillies, Chilli Lime Ginger Jam (mild)

For the Icing
75g soft butter
150g Sugar and Crumbs Chilli Lime Icing Sugar
grated zest of 1/2 lime
1tbsp lime juice

To decorate
grated zest of 1/2 lime
Red cake sprinkles (or if you are really into chilli, finely chopped fresh chilli)

Using a stand mixer beat the sugar and butter together, then add the eggs one at a time, finally add the lime juice and beat the mixture for about 3 minutes until it is light and fluffy. Sift the flour and baking powder into the butter mixture and beat until incorporated, fold in the grated lime zest. Spoon the mixture into eight paper case. Heat the oven to 180C, bake for 20 -25 minutes until golden and when pressed on the top they feel firm. Remove from the oven and leave to cool on a wire rack.

Once cooled, core the cupcakes and fill with a teaspoon of the Chilli Lime and Ginger Jam. Cut the core in half and replace in the hole to cover the jam.

For the Icing
Beat the butter for a few minutes until light and fluffy, sift in the icing sugar, add the lime juice and zest and beat for a further few minutes until the sugar and butter is combined. Spread the icing over the top of the cupcakes.

Decorate with grated zest of lime and red sprinkles or finely chopped chilli.

These cupcakes are such a treat, the lime cuts through the sweetness of the jam and icing making the cupcakes taste really fresh and delicious.

I'm entering them for Treat Petite the baking challenge for individual sweet treats run by Mr Cakeyboi and The Baking Explorer - the theme is 'Anything Goes'.

I was provided with the cupcake corer and icing spatula by OXO Good Grips and the Flavoured Icing Sugar by Sugar and Crumbs. I was not paid for this review and all opinions are my own.

Labels: chilli, cupcakes, lime, National Cupcake Week, OXO Good Grips, Sugar and Crumbs

Monday, 15 September 2014

Salted Caramel Apple Cupcakes - National Cupcake Week Pt 1

It's National Cupcake Week 15 -21 September so if you were looking for an excuse to make or eat cupcakes you need look no further! I haven't made any cupcakes for quite a while, muffins, scones, tray bakes and sponge cakes have graced my table but not those delightful individual cups of cakey goodness topped with butter cream.

Those clever people at OXO Good Grips have sent me some natty little gadgets to help with creative cupcake construction, first up is the Cupcake Corer which with a simple twist removes a core from the centre of the baked cupcake ready for you to fill it with something delicious, jam, cream, lemon curd or in this case salted caramelised apple pieces. You then push the cakey core out of the corer, cut it in half (to leave room for the filling) and add the top piece back to the cupcake before adding your icing. It worked really well although I did dig a little deeper with a spoon to get more filling in.

Second gadget I was provided with was the OXO Good Grips Cupcake Icing Knife which is small angled spatula that makes it really easy to top your cupcakes with butter cream or other icing. I usually pipe my icing on but loved this more relaxed and rustic looking icing (also no icing bag palaver!).

To make things even easier I used Sugar and Crumbs Natural Flavoured Icing Sugar in 'Salted Caramel' flavour.

Salted Caramel Apple Cupcakes

For the cupcakes
125g soft brown sugar
125g soft butter
2 e3ggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
150g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder

For the apple filling
1 medium apple
1 tbsp caster sugar
1 tbsp water

For the Icing
75g soft butter
150g Sugar and Crumbs Salted Caramel Icing Sugar
1tbsp milk

A few pieces of fudge, chopped small to decorate.

Using a stand mixer beat the sugar and butter together, then add the eggs one at a time and finally the vanilla extract, beat the mixture for about 3 minutes until it is light and fluffy. Sift the flour and baking powder into the butter mixture and beat until incorporated. Spoon the mixture into eight paper case. Heat the oven to 180C, bake for 20 -25 minutes until golden and when pressed on the top they feel firm. Remove from the oven and leave to cool on a wire rack.

For the apple filling
Peel the apple and chop into even sized pieces, bearing in mind that they will have to fit into the cupcake. Place the apple pieces sugar and water in a pan and cook on a medium heat until the sugar melts and starts to caramelise and the apple starts to soften. Using the corer or a teaspoon, cut a core from the centre of the cupcake and fill with a teaspoon of the apple mixture. Cut the core in half and replace the top over the apples mixture.

For the Icing
Beat the butter for a few minutes until light and fluffy, sift in the icing sugar add the milk and beat for a further few minutes until the sugar and butter is combined. Spread the icing over the top of the cupcakes.
Decorate with chopped pieces of fudge.

Definitely worth making, the vanilla sponge gives way to the caramelised apples, enhanced by the Salted Caramel Icing and chewy fudge pieces.

Look out for National Cupcake Week part 2 later this week.

I was provided with the cupcake corer and icing spatula by OXO Good Grips and the Flavoured Icing Sugar by Sugar and Crumbs. I was not paid for this review and all opinions are my own.

Labels: caramel apple, cupcakes, OXO Good Grips, salted caramel

Sunday, 31 March 2013

Easter Nest Cupcakes

Happy Easter to you. I know it is nearly all over, but we still have Easter Monday Bank Holiday ahead of us and, I'm certainly glad of that additional day to get over the clock change and recover from the over-eating.

It wouldn't be Easter without some Easter baking. I've been away on holiday in the run up to Easter so there has been nothing to show. But as I had family coming round today, I whipped up some basic cupcakes/fairy cakes/ buns using Jo Wheatley's recipe in 'A Passion for Baking'. It's a rich cake mixture with 200g of butter, flour and sugar and three eggs. The bigger cakes turned out well, but some of the mini cakes went a bit oily which was a shame. I would probably go back to my Mary Berry - Fast Cakes recipe in future when doing the little buns.

I used Mary's recipe for chocolate buttercream, a simple one of butter, icing sugar and cocoa powder whipped up together in my Kenwood Chef. A bit of swirly piping with a Wilton 1M nozzle and some mini eggs for decoration.

I'm entering this for Calendar Cakes the baking challenge run by Dolly Bakes and Laura Loves Cakes
the theme for March is Easter Bakes.

Labels: A Passion for Baking, baking, cakes, Calendar Cakes, cupcakes, Dolly Bakes, Easter, Jo Wheatley, Kenwood Chef, Laura Loves Cakes, Wilton 1M

Tuesday, 12 February 2013

Mon Cherry Amour Cupcakes for Valentine's Day

Le Cookie: Delicious sweet treats designed in Paris, baked in New York

Michael Benichou

Photography by Steve Painter

Michael Benichou and his French pastry chef design cool and quirky cookies for luxury brand Moon Street. The cookies are available to buy through exclusive outlets in Paris, New York and at branches of Harvey Nichols in major cities in the UK. In this collection Michael share more than 25 recipes for cookies as well as deliciously different macarons, whoopee pies, brownies and cupcakes.

There are five chapters in this little book each illustrated with a beautifully styled photograph of the cookie or cake.

Cookies: The chapter starts with ‘Le Cookie’, the original and most traditional of the cookie recipes, these are definitely on my list of makes. It also includes Orange Crush Cookies, Praline Chic Cookies; Tres Yummy Cookies and Rebel Rose Cookies.

Brownies: There are six recipes in this chapter starting with Bonjour Brownies, Sugar and Spice Brownies with cardamom and milk chocolate (mmmm!), The Supreme which combines brownie with orange and zest and a sticky Bailey’s syrup, Coffee Lover’s Brownies (might make these for my husband’s next birthday), the Bijou Blondies contain extra virgin olive oil and white chocolate, and finally Crackling Brownie French Fries containing popping candy, cut into fingers and dipped in chocolate hazel nut spread.

Whoopies: Very Berry Whoopies look a bit like a Devon split, a sandwich of whoopie pie fresh cream and summer berries, Made in France Whoopies are a salted caramel version, Fit for a Queen Whoopies are apparently inspired by a trip to London, Wicked Pecan Pie Whoopies with pecan nougatine, are you drooling? Fit for a King Whoopies are an Elvis special: Peanut butter and banana. The final Whoopie is a Jello Whipped Cream Whoopie a sort of Jelly and cream or bite sized trifle.

Cupcakes: Good As Gold Cupcakes are a vanilla sponge with chocolate cream embellished with edible gold lustre dust, Mon Cherry Amour Cupcakes (see below), Pavlova Cupcakes don’t have any meringue in or on them, which I thought was a bit odd. Cupcakes du Jardin are an unusual combination of Lemon, Basil and strawberry which sounds very good. Dulche de Leche Cupcakes are sure to be popular.

The final chapter gives us six Macaron recipes: Flower Power Macarons include crystallised rose petals, Raspberry cheesecake Macarons are pink and swirled with darker pink, filled with a sweet cheesecake filling; Mojito Macarons have a marbled effect and a white rum, lime and mint kick! Possibly the most unusual combination is the Carrot Top Macarons which contain carrot, cumin and orange, Tea Voyage Macarons made with green tea and jasmine look very sophisticated. The chapter and the book ends with the rich and decadent After Dinner Macarons a combination of rich chocolate and mint.

Who is it for?

This is a book of special occasion bakes, for showing off or treating a friend or loved one to a very special treat. All of the bakes look like those you would get at an expensive afternoon tea. If you are a fan of Moon Street cakes and would like to try and make your own, then this book is for you. If you are fed up of the same old cupcakes and cookies, then you might enjoy trying the unusual flavour combinations.

Pros

Great photographs mean that you know what you are aiming to achieve.

Once you have mastered the basic technique for each bake, then you will find the variations are easy to achieve and might be inspired to make your own unusual combinations.
I learned a new way of making cupcake batter, I've never had a recipe which you leave in the fridge overnight, but it works!

Cons

There are only 27 recipes in this book.

I really didn’t like the way that the basic recipe, in my case for the cupcake was only written out once and as it wasn’t included in the My Cherry Amour page, I had to keep flipping back and forward. I thought that was poor and expect each recipe to include all instructions on one page.

Ease of use

The book includes both US and Metric measurements

The quantities in the recipe I made were accurate to create the number of cakes stated

As I said in the Cons, the flipping back and forth was a nuisance.

Worth buying?

There are some really nice recipes in this book, but if you already have a lot of baking books you probably have enough Cookie, Brownie, Whoopie, Cupcake and Macaron recipes to last you a lifetime.

Mon Cherry Amour Cupcakes
Makes 12

Vanilla Cupcake Mixture
1/2 vanilla bean
3 eggs
15g/1cup icing/confectioners' sugar
150g/1 cup plus 2 tbsp plain/all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
150g/1 stick plus 3 tbsp butter, melted
50g/ 1/2 cup finely chopped pistachios, plus extra to decorate
12 glace/candied cherries

Pistachio Buttercream
180g/ 2 1/4 cups icing/confectioners sugar
50ml/ 3 1/2 tbsp milk
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
2 tbsp pistachio paste*
1 tablespoon Kirsch cherry liqueur
green food colouring (optional)

cupcake pan, lined with 12 cupcake cases
piping bag, fitted with a star-shaped nozzle tip

To make the Vanilla Cupcake Mixture, START THE DAY BEFORE you want to bake the cupcakes.
Split the vanilla bean length ways and scrape the seeds out into a bowl. Add the eggs and sugar and beat with an electric whisk until tripled in volume and the beaters leave a thick ribbon trail when you lift them out of the mixture.

Sift the flour and baking powder into the bowl and whisk lightly. Add the melted butter and fold in gently with a large metal spoon.Fold in the chopped pistachios. Cover and refrigerate for 24 hours.

Divide the mixture between the cupcake cases and bake in the preheated oven for about 15-20 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely.

To make the pistachio buttercream put the butter sugar, milk, vanilla extract pistachio paste and Kirsch in a bowl and beat with an electric whisk or by hand with a wooden spoon until you get a light fluffy texture. Stir in drops of the food colouring until you get the desired shade of pistachio green, if you like.

Fill the piping bag with the buttercream and pipe on top of the cold cupcakes. Balance a glace/candied cherry on top and sprinkle extra chopped pistachios around the edge.

*To make your own pistachio paste, roast 125g/1 cup pistachios on a baking sheet in a a preheated oven at 160C (325F) Gas 3 for 10 minutes, taking care not to let them burn. Transfer to a bowl. Put 175ml/ 2/3 cup water and 60g/ 1/3 caster sugar in a saucepan and bring to the boil. When the sugar has dissolved and the liquid is boiling, cook over medium heat for 5 minutes. Carefully pour this syrup into a food processor with the roasted pistachios and 30g/ 1/3 cup ground almonds and pulse until you get a smooth paste.

I didn't bother with the pistachio paste or the green food colouring and used Vanilla Icing Sugar from Sugar and Crumbs rather than add the vanilla separately to the buttercream, I didn't have any Kirsch so used cherry brandy. I was impressed with the cupcakes, the texture is firm and not over sweet. My work colleagues were even more impressed and the cupcakes disappeared very quickly. The cupcakes look very luxurious, taste delicious and would be perfect for a Valentine's Day treat.

Published by Ryland, Peters and Small

RRP £9.99

Popular Online retailer £6.89

I was supplied with a copy of Le Cookie to review, I was not expected to give a positive review and all opinions expressed are my own.

Labels: buttercream, cherry, cupcakes, Le Cookie, pistachio nuts, Valentine's Day

Sunday, 30 December 2012

Your favourites and mine from 2012

It's traditional to have a round up of blog posts for the year and there are a lot to choose from in 2012. For each month I have chosen the recipe with the most page views, your favourite, and the one that I like best, my favourite. I've excluded those posts which had major giveaways as those do rather skew the page views! Many thanks to all who viewed and/or commented and to the hosts of all the challenges that I have entered.

January

Haddock Mornay Leek Bake

Flamiche - Flemish Leek Tart

February

Nigella's Sticky Chocolate Pudding

Slow Cooked Aromatic Pork

March

Tapas Tasting at La Tasca
My first restaurant review at La Tasca in Glasgow

Lemon Meringue Pie

April

Bulgar Wheat Salad

Turkey Saltimboca Piqante

May

Cupcake Decorating Masterclass

A fun day with Jacqueline from Tinned Tomatoes and Claire from A Kiss of Cookies

The Great Macaron Challenge

June

Rhubarb and Ginger Jam
This is the most viewed post of the year with 2612 page views

Diamond Jubilee - 'Elizabeth' Sandwich

We celebrated my mother-in-law's birthday and the Jubilee with a festive tea including this Victoria Sandwich filled with cream and lemon curd which I named an 'Elizabeth' Sandwich.

A visit to La Tasca in Glasgow for a demonstration of Paella making proved popular.

Pina Colada Cupcakes and that video!

October

La Tasca Paella de Carne Recipe

Sticky Toffee Pudding Cupcakes for Macmillan Cancer Research

November

How to Bake Paul Hollywood's Christmas Cake

Who says Vanilla isn't sexy? Salted Vanilla Chip Oatmeal Cookies

These unassuming cookies have been a huge hit with everyone who has tried them, I gave some to my sister at Christmas and she phoned me up after trying one to ask what was in them and tell me how good they were.

December

Choc-ful Christmas Muffins

Chocolate Orange Pudding

Let's raise a glass to the year gone by and salute the year to come Happy New Year

Labels: Chocolate Berry Pavlova, Chocolate Cake, Christmas Cake, cupcakes, fish, Jubilee, La Tasca, Lemon Meringue Pie, macarons, Review 2012, Rhubarb and Ginger Jam, Tapas, Turkey, Vanilla Chip Oatmeal Cookies

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