All American Breakfast

Ever since my epicmealtime adventure I have wanted to make candy bacon without burning it to a crisp and for it to be presentable enough to share with the world. Last Saturday turned out to be the perfect time to recreate the sweety and meaty treat along with some delicious all american pancakes. It was the first Saturday I've had off work in a while and was the perfect day for a relaxed brunch with the boyfriend. I used a Nigella Lawson recipe for the pancakes that I quickly found on the internet as it was fairly simple and I had all the ingredients. The only set back I had was the lack of griddle pan which meant using my big saute pan. Annoyingly I could only make one pancake at a time but I just stacked them up and kept them warm in the oven. Serve with bacon or without but it is a must to have warm maple syrup. Enjoy!



American Pancakes


225g plain flour
1 tbsp baking powder
Pinch of salt

1 tsp sugar
2 large eggs, beaten
30g butter, melted and cooled
300ml milk 

butter for frying

Weigh out the dry ingredients and put together in to a bowl. Make a well in the middle and add your wet ingredients, making sure the butter is cool enough not to cook the eggs. Whisk from the middle outwards to ensure no lumps are missed. Leave your batter for at least 20 mins and then pour in to a jug ready to pour out your pancakes. Put a little butter on a heavy bottomed pan or if you're lucky a nice griddle pan. Make sure the pan is nice and hot, then pour out the little circles of joy. Leave to cook until the pancake starts to bubble in the middle, don't be tempted to flip too soon or your pancake will fall apart. It should only need a minute on the other side to get some colour and then you're done! Serve with warm maple syrup (if your maple syrup is in a plastic bottle don't put it in the microwave or it will melt. Luckily I realised this before the bottle totally melted.)

Candy Bacon (easiest recipe so far)

Streaky bacon

brown or muscovado sugar (caster or any light sugar won't be as good)

Preheat the oven to 170°C/Gas Mark 4. Line a flat tray with tin foil and lay out the bacon in strips. Sprinkle the sugar evenly over the bacon and then put in to the oven. Cook for about 10 minutes or until it starts to go golden. Then flip your bacon and sprinkle some more sugar on the other side. Continue cooking until the bacon has crisped up and there is a nice caramel colour to the sugar. Serve warm or wait to cool and blend to create powdered bacon sugar!

Back with a zesty bang!

I realise it has been a while since I last posted and there isn't much of a good reason other than being busy with work and now I have a week off, having a lot of fun. There has still been time for some good baking though so there will be a lot of posts coming your way. I'm going to start with the most recent and most amazing of them all. My friend from uni has been staying this week and when it comes to food and probably most other things we are soul mates. We were happily watching The Great British Bake Off (probably one of my favourite tv shows) and they were making some delicious meringue pies. We decided to make one ourselves and somewhere along, during our brainstorming, we came up with making a key lime meringue pie! We followed the recipe for a key lime pie and then I thought the best meringue to use was Italian meringue as it has become my favourite and is far superior to the french version. Its so light and fluffy as well as not being too sweet either. The key lime pie recipe we used was by Jamie Oliver and meant we didn't have to use any gelatin which is always better. The result was lovely and actually surprisingly easy. Lovely for a dessert, especially now we're having some nice summer weather.

Key Lime Pie

Filling:

4 egg yolks
400ml condensed milk
6 tbsp fresh lime juice (about 5 limes’ worth)
200ml double cream
Lime zest (optional), to serve

Crust:
12 digestive biscuits 

45g caster sugar
135g melted unsalted butter

Preheat oven to 175C/gas 3. For the pie crust, lightly grease a 22cm (across the top) metal or glass pie dish with a little of the melted butter. Blend digestive biscuits, caster sugar and remaining melted butter in a food processor until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Transfer to pie dish and spread over the bottom and up the sides, firmly pressing the mixture down. Bake for 10 minutes, or until lightly browned. Remove from oven and place dish on a wire rack to cool.
For the filling, whisk the egg yolks in a bowl. Gradually whisk in condensed milk until smooth. Mix in lime juice, then pour filling into pie crust and level over with the back of a spoon.
Return to the oven for 15 minutes then place on a wire rack to cool. Refrigerate for 6 hours or overnight.

Italian Meringue

200g caster sugar

75ml water

4 egg whites

You'll need a sugar thermometer too

Start by putting the sugar and water in a heavy bottomed pan over a medium heat. Leave to simmer while you whip up the egg whites in a big clean bowl. Whip until they make soft peaks and make sure you keep an eye on the syrup. When the syrup reaches 120°C or the soft ball stage, take off the heat and then with the electric whisk going, slowly pour in to the egg whites being careful not to hit the side or the whisk. Keep whisking until the side of the bowl is cool again and you have a nice thick and glossy meringue. That is all the cooking the meringue needs, leaving it nice a smooth and fluffy. 

We spread the meringue on to the pie and then put under the grill to get some nice colour and a bit of crunch on top. Delicious!

Summer comforts

Last time I checked it was meant to be august and we should have lovely summer weather but as I'm sure most of you have realised the weather isn't exactly matching the season. When it gets cold, wet and windy all I crave is home cooked comfort food and chicken, leek and bacon pie fits the bill perfectly in this case. When it comes to pies I think most of the time you can get away with using ready made pastry as it's just as good as home made stuff. Of course if you wanted to make special pastry like cheese pastry then i'm all for making it from scratch but in times like this then its the shop bought stuff for me. I found this recipe in Cook in Boots which has a whole chapter on comfort food which is amazing and perfect for this weather. I served the pie with some sweet potato mash and all together it was a hug on a plate that was much needed. Below is the original recipe but I added some bacon in with the chicken because everything is better with bacon.

Cock-a-leekie Pie
Serves 6

8 chicken thighs, skinned, boned and chopped into bite-sized chunks
salt and pepper
1 large knob of butter
2 leeks, trimmed and chopped into thick chunks
250g chestnut mushrooms, halved
leaves stripped from 4 bushy sprigs of thyme
zest and juice of 1 lemon
2 tbsp plain flour
1 glass white wine
200ml double cream
3 tbsp flat leaf parsley
375g ready made puff pastry


Preheat oven to 200°c/gas 6. Season the chicken and fry in the butter until sealed on all sides and it has some colour on it. Add the leeks, mushrooms, thyme and lemon zest. Once the mushrooms are nutty and brown, sprinkle in the flour and keep stirring for a minute, then pour in the wine. When the wine has nearly evaporated, pour in the cream and lemon juice, mix and simmer for 5 minutes. Stir in the parsley and put in the bottom of a large pie dish. Leave to cool.
Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface until 1cm thick and drape over the pie dish. Cut away the excess pastry and go around the edge with a fork pressing it down. Brush with beaten egg or milk and bake in the oven for 25 minutes. Serve with mash and enjoy.

My First Culinary Creation

Looking back on my posts I have realised that all of them involve recipes from other chefs or people so I wanted to try out one of my own creations. I love unusual flavour combinations and trying out new things so when I discovered a white chocolate and cardamon mousse which tasted fantastic, I immediately wanted to try making some cupcakes in the same flavour. I looked about on the internet for some white chocolate cupcake recipes but they are a little hard to come by. I eventually did some mashing together of different recipes to ensure I had the right components in, especially milk so that i could infuse the cardamon with it. I also wanted to try out a new kind of icing that I discovered and I'm really glad I did. It is the most amazing icing I have ever had and is definitely worth the effort. Its called Italian meringue butter-cream and you can find the recipe on thepinkwhisk which is a blog by one of the runners up in the first Great British Bake Off (best program ever?) I'm glad to say the cakes turned out nicely and so did the icing though it was a little runny to start with, I just added some extra butter and 70g of melted white chocolate and it stiffened up to perfection. I have yet to get feedback from people at work but the boyfriend says they are my best cakes ever (he says that about all my cakes though because he is lovely.)

White Chocolate & Cardamon Cupcakes

100g butter, softened

170g caster sugar

2 eggs

200g plain flour

1tsp baking powder

125ml milk

8 plump cardamon pods (green cardamon)

100g white chocolate

• Preheat the oven to gas mark 3/160°c. 
• Take your butter and sugar and beat together until pale and fluffy then add in your eggs and mix until combined. 
• Put the milk and cardamon in to a saucepan and gently heat through until it simmers and the milk has taken on the flavour of the cardamon. 
• Whilst doing this put your chocolate in a Bain-marie or a bowl over a saucepan of water (make sure the water isnt touching the bottom of the bowl or the chocolate will burn.) Heat until the chocolate is half melted and then take off the heat and keep stirring. The residual heat will finish melting it. 
• Strain the milk through a sieve in to the melted chocolate and stir together but make sure the milk isn't boiling or the chocolate will burn. 
• Once this is done combine a third of the flour with the egg mix and then add a third of the chocolate milk once mixed in. Repeat this until everything is fully combined. 
• Fill your cupcake cases 2/3 full and put in the oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown. Once cool, top with your choice of icing. 

Happy Birthday Next Starbucks!

On the 13th August it was my store's first birthday and to celebrate my boss asked me to make some cupcakes. She had ordered some edible cake toppers from top your cake with the Starbucks logo, for me to put on top of them and let me have creative freedom on the flavour. To suit every one's tastes I went with a pretty neutral flavour of caramel cupcakes as who doesn't like caramelised sugar? I have a lovely recipe by the hummingbird bakery which I have used before for my boyfriends birthday cakes. They went down really well the first time so I chose to redo the recipe which is always a good sign for me. The only difficult ingredient is the tinned caramel but most big supermarkets do it even if your small local shop won't. A great bake for something special or even just for a Saturday afternoon baking.

Hummingbird Bakery Caramel Cupcakes


For the Sponge:

280g caster sugar

80g unsalted butter softened 

240g plain flour

1 tbsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

240ml whole milk

1/2 tsp vanilla essence

2 large eggs

150g tinned caramel or dulce de leche

For the Frosting:

500g icing sugar

160g unsulted butter

50ml whole milk

100g tinned caramel or dulce de lech plus extra to decorate

I find this recipe a little backwards as i'm so used to beating the butter and sugar, then the eggs and then adding the dry ingredients carefully but it does work!

1.  Preheat the oven to 190 C (375 F). Gas mark 5 and line a muffin tin with muffin cases

2.  Using a hand-held electric whisk or a freestanding electric mixer with the paddle attachment, whisk together the butter, sugar , flour, baking power and salt on a low speed until crumb-like in consistency.

3.  Place the milk and vanilla essence in a jug with the eggs and whisk by hand until combined.  Pour three quarters of this mixture into the dry ingredients and mix together on a slow speed, then increase the speed to medium and keep beating until smooth and thick.  Scrape down sides of the bowl, then add the remaining milk mixture and the tinned caramel and continue to mix until all the ingredients are incorporated and the batter is smooth.
4.  Divide the batter between the muffin cases, filling each by two-thirds.  Any remaining batter can be used to fill one to four more cases in a separate tin (there will be loads left over).  Place in the oven and bake for 18-20 minutes or until well risen and springy to touch.  Leave to cool for a while in the tin, then transfer to a wire rack to cool down fully while you make the frosting.
5.  Using the electric whisk or freestanding mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the icing sugar with the butter on a low speed until combined and still powdery in texture.  Slowly mix in the milk, and once it is incorporated, increase the speed to high and whisk until light and fluffy.  Add the caramel and beat in well.
6.  Spoon the frosting on to the cupcakes once they have cooled, smoothing it on with a palette knife and swirling the frosting.  If you want to decorate the cakes, spoon some tinned caramel or dulce de leche into a piping bag with a small nozzle and pipe on to the cakes in little hearts, or whatever shape takes your fancy.

Sweet Sundays

For the last few weeks my friend and partner in crime from work have been meeting up every Sunday to bake some delicious creations. It started off with him wanting to try out a recipe for sweet potato pie which he had in America and fell in love with. It was always something on the foodie list so I said we should give it a try and my god am I glad we did. It sounds a little weird but it goes on the same principle as using carrots to make cake, sweet vegetables do work in dessert. We used ready made shortcrust pastry to save on time and effort and in fact it worked out really well. I was worried that the savoury pastry would not go with the sweet filling but it actually balanced the pie out nicely and any sweet pastry would be too much. We found the recipe here and it is so easy to follow. What you end up with is a pie with similar taste to an egg custard tart but with the lovely added flavour of the sweet potatoes. Really good little pudding which can be whipped up in a hurry or really nice if you are craving a little Christmas cheer, even if it is August.

Epic Meal Time

So since I'm a total food slut, when I discovered the youtube videos by epicmealtime I obviously fell in love with them instantly. Most of their meals include the staples; meat, cheese and bacon. A lot of bacon. Upon watching many a meaty video, my friends and I were inspired to create an epicmealtime of our own. We took our inspiration from the Meatball Deathstar but in the end it was more like a meatloaf of joy. There isn't much of a recipe list as the basic ingredients are simple. This is more of a guide and hopefully inspiration for other people to create bacon and cheese filled meat dishes.

Epic Meal Time

1kg beef mince
500g grated cheese
1 egg
Salt & pepper
1 packet of Tortellini
1 jar tomato pasta sauce
1 packet of garlic bread

Start by putting the mince, most of the cheese (hold some back to make a couple layers in the meatloaf), egg and any herbs you choose. I went with oregano. Mix up together and then add some seasoning. Put a layer of the meat mixture in the bottom of a loaf tin or big ovenproof dish. Cover the sides too. Then put a layer of cheese down. As you're doing this, you should have the pasta boiling and cook for about 4 mins. Add this next once you've drained the water. Next put a final layer of cheese and the rest of the mince to enclose your little cheesy meat package. We magically had the right amount of everything, hopefully you will have the same kind of luck. Bake in a moderate (190°c/gas mark 5) for about 45 mins or until firm to touch. Turn it out in to a serving dish and pour the heated tomato sauce over the top. Serve with the cooked garlic bread and enjoy!

We also made some candy bacon but were a little overzealous with the heat in the oven so most of it burnt. The bits we rescued were absolutely delicious and I would recommend any one who likes bacon and sugar to try it! Just put some streaky bacon on a tinfoil covered tray and sprinkle with soft brown sugar (it must be dark sugar!) Put in a medium oven (190°c/gas mark 6) until nice a crispy but not black like us!