Too Many Cook Books....: September 2013

Blueberry Flavouring Frosting

I wanted to try out some blueberry flavouring so I made some vanilla cupcakes and some vanilla buttercream and added some to the frosting with a bit of blue colouring. The feedback was that it tasted processed/chemical so not to use it.

Spiced Blondies With Cream Cheese Frosting

Adapted from Raspberricupcakes:
http://www.raspberricupcakes.com/2012/08/spiced-blondies-with-chai-infused.html

Spiced Blondies with Cream Cheese Frosting

225g unsalted butter, melted

275g packed light/dark-brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste

2 tbsp Maple Syrup

250g plain flour

1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp freshly ground pepper

1 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp ground cardamom

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1/4 tsp ground coriander seed

½ tsp ground nutmeg

100g Pecans chopped

1/2 tsp salt for flour mixture

For the Frosting:

100g Unsalted butter at room temperature

100g icing sugar

100g Philadelphia

1 tbsp Maple Syrup

2 tsp Vanilla Extract

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

½ tsp ginger

Pinch coca

Preheat oven to 180°C, Brush a 8 inc square brownie tin with butter; line pan with a piece of baking paper, leaving a 2-inch overhang on two sides. Butter paper. Sift flour and ground spices together in a medium bowl and set aside. In a large bowl, whisk butter and sugar until smooth. Whisk in egg and vanilla. Add flour and spice mixture; stir together just until moistened (do not overmix) add pecans. Transfer batter to prepared pan; smooth top. Bake until top is golden brown and a knife is inserted into the center comes out clean, 30 minutes. Set pan on a wire rack, and let cool completely.

Wisk butter and icing sugar together until smoth, add vanilla, maple and spices and mix again. Add Philadelphia and mix again then refridgerate for 30 minutes. Spread thickly over the top of blondies, smoothing with a spatula. Line with a fork then dust with cocoa. Cut into 16 squares. Can be stored in an airtight container for several days.

Maple Pecan Flapjacks & Honey Sultana Flapjacks

Flapjacks
River Cottage
http://www.rivercottage.net/recipes/flapjacks/p:1/

These were really good except I used grease proof paper and not baking paper and they stuck! Managed to rescue most of them though.

Chocolate & Candied Orange Puff Pastry Swirls

After I made the cheese twisties I had some puff pastry left over so I spread chocolate spread on it, grated dark chocolate and sprinkled diced candied orange peel, rolled them up cut them into rounds and backed them for 20 minutes. Yummy!

Bacon & Mature Cheddar Cheese Twisties

Bacon & Mature Cheddar Cheese Twisties
Lorraine Pascale - Home Cooking Made Easy

I had to take a ready made starter round to a friends for the 6 of us for diner so I decided on 2 cheese twists each (wish I had made a dip too!). I followed the recipe for a few but then I decided to make a few variations and did some with pesto and mozzarella and some with chilli pesto and red Leicester with chorizo which were the ones I likes the most.

Butternut & Sweet Potato Lasagne With Sage, Toasted Pine Nuts & Nutmeg

Butternut & Sweet Potato Lasagne With Sage, Toasted Pine Nuts & Nutmeg
Lorraine Pascale - Fast fresh & Easy Food

I'm trying to eat meat free about 50% of the time now (saving money, good for you, good for the earth etc) and I'm really enjoying it. This was a big hit with the two vegetarians in my house and was again very easy.