Banoffee cupcakes

Banana cupcake mix

• 190g plain flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 115g unsalted butter
• 200g brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 4-5 mashed bananas
• 200ml buttermilk
• 1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 200 degrees (gas mark 6)

Sift the flour, soda, salt, baking powder into a bowl and mix well.

Blend the banana with the buttermilk and vanilla unti smooth.

Beat together the sugar and butter until light and fluffy, then add the egg and the buttermilk mix and beat until smooth.

Then mix in the dry ingredients.

Spoon one large dessertspoon of mixture into muffin or cupcake cases, makes about 24 cakes.

Bake in oven for 20 minutes until they spring back when pressed. Leave to cool.

Caramac frosting

• 250g icing sugar
• 80g unsalted butter
• 25ml whole milk
• 4 Caramac bars

Melt the caramac bars gently in a microwave or over a pan of hot water on the hob.

Mix together the icing and butter until combined and then add the milk and the melted chocolate. Mix on slow until combined and then on high speed for 5 minutes until light and fluffy.

Pipe or spread the frosting onto the cooled cupcakes and then grate dark chocolate over the top.

Whoopie Pies

Whoopie pies are very much like cupcakes, similar mix but made like biscuits so have a much better cake to frosting ratio and give much more scope for playing with flavours.

I'll give the recipe for the chocolate pies first, then a variation for red velvet and then some frosting ideas :)

Chocolate whoopie pies

115g unsalted butter

200g brown sugar

1 egg

5ml vanilla extract

225ml buttermilk (sainbury's or waitrose or big tescos for this one)

60g cocoa powder

5g bicarbonate of soda

190g plain flour

Preheat oven to 200 degrees (gas mark 6) and cover 3 large baking trays with greaseproof paper.

Cream the butter and sugar together and then add the egg.

In a seperate jug add the vanilla essence to the buttermilk.

In another bowl (lots of washing up!) sift the flour, cocoa powder, soda and flour together. Then add half this mix to the creamed butter mix followed by half the buttermilk. Fold in the rest of the flour then the rest of the buttermilk, do not over mix.

Either spoon the batter onto the baking sheet to make disks about 4-5cm across (leave plenty of space between), or put the batter in a piping bag and pipe rounds about 4-5cm across. I can normally make about 42 rounds out of one set of batter. Bake in oven for 10-12 mins until it forms a hard crust on top.

Red Velvet whoopie pies

Use the same measurements as for the chocolate ones except for the following:

200ml buttermilk

2 tbsp cocoa powder

2 tbsp red food colouring

Mix the food colouring with the buttermilk and vanilla in the steps above.

Frostings

I fill chocolate pies with chocolate frosting, and red velvet pies with strawberry or raspberry marshmallow frosting.

Vanilla

250g icing sugar

80g unsalted butter, soft

25ml whole milk

couple of drops of vanilla extract

Chocolate

300g icing sugar

100g unsalted butter, soft

40g cocoa powder

40ml whole milk

Cream cheese (great with red velvet)

300g icing sugar

50g unsalted butter

125g cream cheese

Marshmallow

250g icing sugar

80g unsalted butter

25ml whole milk

1 jar plain, raspberry or strawberry marshmallow fluff (can get at TK Maxx bizarrely enough or Selfridges)

Beat together the icing sugar and butter with cocoa powder if using on a slow speed in an electric mixer. Add milk slowly and cream cheese or marshmallow and mix until incorporated, then beat on high speed for 5 minutes until it is light and fluffy.

Pipe or spread frosting on one side of the whoopie pie and sandwich with another similar sized cake.

To top the pies for the chocolate ones I use nutella, and for the red velvet ones I make up strawberry icing, then decorate with various sugary treats :)

Garden week of 30th May

Greenhouse tidied out and all plants selected and potted up. Growing 2 each of the following tomatoes - Moneymaker, Roma, San Marzano, Costoluto Fiorentino, Gardeners Delight. 3 types of cucumber - cucino, gherkin and crystal apple. Cape Gooseberry, aubergines and tomatillos.

The squash and courgette bed is planted out fully now and they are all starting to take off properly.

Already had salad leaves, radishes and pak choi out of the garden and started building the cage for the brassicas to keep the devil butterflies away!

Beef Tagine

This was a Jamie Oliver recipe I used, I substituted the prunes for dried apricots, used rump steak (it was on offer at Asda!) and add the same amount of sweet potato as squash to bulk it out a bit.

Red Thai Chicken Curry

Adapted from a Ken Hom recipe

Serves 6

• 4 large chicken breasts chopped
• 2 tablespoons chinese stir fry oil, seasame oil or peanut oil
• 4 banana shallots finely chopped
• 4 cloves garlic finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons red Thai curry paste (Tesco's have a great one in the herb and spice aisle, or make own using 4 medium red chillies split in half and deseeded, 4 level teaspoons coriander seeds, 2 level teaspoons cumin seeds and dry roast in a frying pan until you can smell them then crush in pestle and mortar to powder, then put in food processor with 4 stems of lemo grass, 2 tablespoons grated ginger, 4 shallots, 6 cloves garlic, grated zest and juice 2 limes, 2 level dessertspoons hot paprika and blitz until coarse paste, freeze in 2 tablespoon portions)
• 1 tin light coconut milk
• 450ml chicken stock
• 100g fresh or tinned bamboo shoots
• selection of asparagus tips, green beans, baby sweetcorn
• 4 fresh red chillies, seeded, cut in half and sliced
• 2 tablespoons fish sauce or light soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 4 fresh kaffir leaves or 2 tablespoons lime zest
• handful fresh basil leaves

Heat wok or large frying pan over a high heat, add the oil and then once hot fry off the shallots until soft, then add the curry paste and mix in for 30 seconds.

Add the coconut milk and give it a good stir, then add the stock.

Add all the vegetables including the bamboo shoots, chillies, fish sauce, sugar and lime leaves. Finally add the chopped chicken.

Simmer for 20 minutes. Stir to mix well and finish with the chopped basil leaves.

Rosemary and Caramelised Onion Foccacia Bread

• 500g strong white bread flour
• 500g semolina flour or plain flour
• 30g live yeast or 3 sachets (7g) dried yeast
• 30g honey or sugar
• sprinkle of sea salt
• 625ml tepid water
• 1 red onion, thinly sliced
• olive oil
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon red wine
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 4 large cloves garlic, chopped into chunky slices
• 4 sprigs fresh rosemary, chopped
• maldon sea salt flakes

Mix together the yeast, honey (or sugar) and the water.

If using a bread machine put all the flour in the machine with the salt then add the water mix and switch machine on for a dough setting.

If not using a bread machine follow the instructions here

Whilst the machine is doing it's work, or the bread is rising, heat the splash of oil in a frying pan and add the onion and saute on a medium heat. Once the onion is soft, add the vinegar, wine and sugar and simmer until the onion takes on all the juices and becomes caramalised. Leave to cool.

Once the bread dough has been through the first rise, place on a floured surface and knead it back. Roll it out to a rough shape about 1/2 to 1cm thick. Place on a baking tray and pour over a good amount of olive oil and massage into surface so all is covered. Then spread the caramalised onions over the top, and sprinkle over the chunks of garlic and the rosemary. Put your fingers into the bread to form small holes all over the surface, creating little wells where oil can pool. I sprinkle a small amount of sea salt flakes over the bread at this time.

Then cover with a tea towel and leave in a warm place to rise again.

Preheat oven to 200 degrees.

Once bread has risen again, place in oven and bake for 20 mins until brown and crispy on the outside.

Sprinkle again with a little amount of sea salt flakes, then cut up into squares and serve warm.

Bloody Mary Sorbet

From the Lea and Perrins cookbook which has so many great recipes in it!!

• 1 carton tomato juice
• juice of two lemons
• 1 tablespoon Lea & Perrins (use less if you want it more tomatoey)
• Few drops tabasco sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon celery salt
• Lots of black pepper
• 1 teaspoon caster sugar
• 150ml vodka (or tequila for a Bloody Maria)
• 2 egg whites
• few sprigs of fresh mint

Put the tomato juice, lemon juice, L&P, tabasco, celery salt, black pepper, sugar and vodka in a food processor or blender and blitz until mixed and smooth.

Whisk up the egg white in another bowl until stiff and then fold the egg whites into the tomato mixture until combined (do not over fold).

Put the mixture into an ice cream maker for 30 minutes then transfer to a freezable container and freezer overnight.

OR put the mixture in a suitable plastic container and put in freezer, remove every hour or so and give the mix a good stir, do this three or four times to prevent the ice crystals forming.

Serve in martini glasses with sprigs of fresh mint.

Bresola salad

• 1 packet Bresola (or can use thin roast been if you're not keen on air dried meats)
• Rocket, watercress and spinach salad (or other peppery leaves)
• Blue Cheese (use according to your taste, Docelatte works, but so will Danish Blue or Stilton)
• 1 packet Baby new potatoes
• 250ml reduced fat creme fraiche
• 125ml reduced fat double cream (elmlea)
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1-2 tablespoons horseradish sauce (according to your taste and how hot you want it)
• Bunch of chives, chopped into 1/2 cm pieces

In a bowl, mix together the creme fraiche, cream, lemon juice, horseradish and chives. Cover with clingfilm and put in fridge to allow flavours to develop.

Put the potatoes on to cook, strain, allow to cool and chop in halves.

Add the horseradish cream sauce a spoonful at a time into the potatoes until they are well coated.

To plate up put a layer of lettuce on the plate, top with the beef, a couple of slices per person. Then add a spoon on the potato salad and spinkle with blue cheese.

Twice baked potatoes

• 4 large potatoes or 4 sweet potatoes or a mix of both ;)
• 1 onion chotpped fine
• 8 mushrooms chopped fine
• 250g cheddar cheese or feta cheese (feta better with sweet potatoes)
• 2 slices bacon chopped fine
• Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 160 degrees.

Bake potatoes as normal, for around an hour until jacket is crisp.

Whilst baking, fry the onion off in a pan until soft. Add bacon and mushrooms and fry until cooked.

Once potatoes are cooked, slice in half lengthways and scrape out potato into a bowl leaving skins in tact. Repeat for all halves and put skins to one side.

Add the onion, bacon, mushroom and 3/4 of cheese to the bowl and mix until combined. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Divide the mixture up into 8 portions and spoon back into skins, pushing into skins to reform potato shape. Once skins filled, sprinkle the left over cheese on top. Place on a baking tray and cook in oven again for 10-15mins until top is golden brown and crispy.

Cauliflower Cheese

Inspired by an idea from my mum and my sister and expanded on ;)

• 1 head cauliflower
• 250ml tub reduced fat creme fraiche
• 125ml double cream (you can substitute with semi skimmed milk to make it healthier, but it tends to split when cooking and goes watery, alternatively use Elmlea low)
• 200g grated cheddar cheese
• 3tbsp grated parmesan cheese
• 1 tsp wholegrain mustard
• 1tsp english mustard
• 1/2 tsp mustard powder (leave out if not overly keen on mustard)
• 1/4 nutmeg grated
• 1 clove garlic
• 1tsp onion granules (not salt)
• breadcrumbs
• salt and pepper to taste

Cut the cauliflower into individual florets and boil for five minutes, then place stalk down in an ovenproof dish in a single layer closely packed together.

Preheat oven to 180-200 degrees.

In a bowl mix together the creme fraiche and the double cream. Add the wholegrain mustard, the english mustard, the mustard powder, the nutmeg, garlic and onion granules. Leave for at least 10 minutes for the mustard flavour to develop.

Next taste and then add salt and pepper to adjust to your own liking.

Then add the cheddar and parmesan cheese and mix together.

Pour the sauce over the cauliflower in the dish, covering the tops of the florets.

Sprinkle over breadcrumbs to form a thin layer and place in oven for 30-40 mins or until golden brown and crisp on top.

Great with roast dinners, especially lamb.

Garden week of 2nd May

Started planting the garden out in earnest this weekend and set the irrigation system up :)

Irrigation System

The amazing 10p system bought from B&Q clearance now snakes between all 5 beds and means I only have to switch a tap on and all the beds get watered. Today purchased a 280l water butt from the clearance shop to store the water coming off the conservatory and in addition to the 200l one I have off the pagoda. Also bought a water butt pump to sink into it so I can attach a hose and power the irrigation system from rain water. Cheap :)

Planting

All seeds for the season have now been sown and the beds are being planted up. This year I am growing the following:

Peas (early, greenshaft, mangetout, asparagus peas

Celeriac (brilliant)

Swede (marian)

Turnip (snowball)

Beetroot (bolthardy)

Carrots (Amsterdam, Autumn King, Harlequin)

Parsnip (white Gem)

Beans (Borlotti, runner, broad, dwarf french, ying yang)
Leeks (Mammoth, mussleburgh, Zenith)

Onions (white, red, spring)

Pak Choi & Choi Sum

Lettuce (many varieties)

Radish

Garlic

Kale (Scarlet, Dwarf, Starbor)

Fennel

Kohl Rabi

Spinach

Cauliflower

Cabbage (primo, golden acre, savoy)

Brussel Sprouts (Red Delicious, Dakmar)

Broccoli (sprouting, marathon)

Courgette (tristar, green bush, goldena)

Squash (pattypan, scallop, cornells)

Pumpkin (Jack)

Tomatoes (moneymaker, gardeners delight, garden pearl, marmande, san marzano, costulo, roma)

Tomatillo

Cucumber (Crystal apple, gherkin, cucino)
Aubergine (mixed, bonica)

Cape Gooseberry

Sweetcorn

Its a fair bit, but looking forward to it all starting :)