What do you mean you don't like peanut butter??!

I've not exactly been showering myself in glory in terms of "mother of the year" lately.  I mean lets take last weekend as a prime example.  Instead of spending the bank holiday weekend with Madam I abandoned her (to her father obviously, I didn't leave a couple of boxes of cold Dominos in the kitchen and tell her "I wont be long") to go cover myself in glitter, don spandex and party in a field near Northampton at the glorious Shambala.  To be fair it was my birthday and at 33 years old it seemed utterly necessary to pop my festival cherry.  God that sounds so pathetic at 33...practically on the "Never Been Kissed" spectrum.  So yes, I had some time out and came back thinking I needed to step up my game this weekend to make up for it. 

Now we, like most of the country and (if Buzzfeed is taken as gospel WHICH IT SHOULD BE) the world, are completely engrossed in The Great British Bake Off.  Pose provides full commentary and critique whilst I sit thinking how I'd quite like to enter GBBO but not sure the BBC would approve of the sweet looking 33yo baker swearing incessantly in the background.  Inspiration peaked by Ugne's PB&J ice cream roll (GET IN MY BELLY NOW), Pose and I decided to do a little mummy-Pose-baking-bonding.

Peanut butter is food of the gods.  Fact.  You simply can't make me think otherwise.  I'm stunned that other than peanut butter cookies I've never really tried baking with peanut butter.  Or I'm just a purist.  I dunno.  Anyway, we thought we'd do something with peanut butter...and jam....and cake...and then wrap it all up in chocolate.  Because why wouldn't you!?

Recipe - PB&J Cake Pops from my own head

Ingredients

Cake pops:
¾ cups plain flour
½ tsp. baking powder
pinch of salt
¼ cup unsalted butter, softened
⅓ cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
¼ cup full fat milk

Filling:
Peanut Butter
Jam

Icing:
Slab of chocolate covering for cake (or chocolate,  but I had cake covering in the cupboard (as you do))

Equipment:
Cake pop maker
Cake release spray
Sticks (for the cake pops, I don't mean random sticks from the garden obvs)
Tray covered in baking parchment

(makes about 15 cake pops)

Method

1. Turn on the cake pop maker and spray the inside with a little cake release spray.
2. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl.
3. Using a food mixer (or not, your call) beat the butter until pale and fluffy, then gradually beat in the sugar until its fully incorporated. 
4. Next, reduce the speed and beat in the egg, the egg yolk and the vanilla. 
5. Reduce the speed again to low and gradually add the flour and milk (alternating) to the mix until its all blended.
6. Spoon a little of the batter into each cake "hole" (about ¾ of the way), then dollop a little peanut butter and a little jam into the centre.  Spoon a little more of the batter onto the top (so its about to go over the brim).  Close and cook for about 6mins. 
7. Once the cake pops are cooked, carefully ease them out and put on a wire rack to cool.  Make more batches.

The perfectionist in me is disappointed in the lack of roundness, but what are you going to do eh?

8. Break the chocolate covering into even(ish) chunks and melt in a glass bowl over a pan of boiling water (or microwave it - I just don't have a microwave and yes I am ok with that). Once its all melted, take it off the heat.
9. Carefully put a stick in a cake pop (its a bit fiddly as the filling makes them a little unstable) and even more carefully dump into the melted chocolate and cover the whole thing in chocolate.  Put the cake pop cake side down onto the baking parchment.  Repeat with all the other cakes and let cool.

10. EAT ALL OF THEM AT ONCE.  

Yes that's a steering wheel.  I had a cake pop for breakfast.  Don't judge me.

This was all a bit of an experiment not least because I'd never used a cake pop maker before so I was pleasantly surprised by the outcome.  Personally I think the texture of the cake was a bit close so I'll probably switch up the recipe a bit.  It could also be that the PB&J center affected the bake (ooooh I sound all Mary Berry!).  Regardless it'll need some refinement work which will mean a lot of tasting and then more tasting.
 

Damn.

Zimsterne (German Cinnamon Star Cookies)

Its Christmas!

Ok so its not. In fact it was about 3 weeks ago now (3 weeks?? How depressing).  Its snowing outside though and Le Pose announced this morning that snow meant it was Christmas, basically because every Christmas song talks about it snowing... She now believes that they are linked and I can't bring myself to burst her little bubble.  Its meant to snow again tonight and I'm praying it does.  Snow. Day. Please.

What does this all mean?  Well, in a convoluted way it means I can still post about my Christmas baking. 

I've said it before and I'll say it again.  Whilst I love the idea of giving homemade goods for Christmas (I once spent a week making truffles for all my co-workers) I still don't really get the whole cookie plate thing.  I do get cookies though.  I bloody love cookies.  My longest running cookie memories are the German spiced Christmas cookies which mum used to always buy from Waitrose, every single year, the minute they hit the shelves.  My family go through bags of them.  It seems though that we were the sole consumer of the cookies and they stopped selling them.  Bastards.  This year I decided that they couldn't be that hard so I figured I'd make some for Christmas Day.  So I did.

I did my usual research on the t'interweb and settled on this recipe because of the great reviews. 

The recipe - Zimsterne (slightly adapted from Food.com)

For the dough:

300g ground almonds

100g caster sugar, sifted

50g plain flour

2tsp cinnamon

2 egg whites

For the icing:

Icing Sugar

Water

1. In a bowl mix dry ingredients for dough.

2. Add egg whites and knead until a still sticky dough is formed.

3. Wrap in cling film and put into the fridge for at least one hour.  I left it in the fridge a good 3hrs mainly because I was trying to get other Christmas bits done!

4. Near the end of cooling time preaheat oven (170 C).

5. Line 2 baking trays with parchment paper.

6. Get the dough out of the fridge and roll it out between two layers of parchment paper or cling film. The dough should be a bout 1 cm thick.

7. Using a star cutter (mine was inherited from my ma!) cut out the stars and place them on the baking tray.

8. Bake the cookies for about 10 - 12 minutes until they go golden brown (but not texture like sun -ha!).

9. Take them out and let cool completely.

10.  While they are cooling mix up the icing as instructed on the packet.  Holding the star by the edge, dip the star flat side down into the icing and give it a wiggle (yes, that's a technical term in Kitchen Lucy).  Repeat for each cookie and allow to dry on a wire rack.

How easy is that??  They keep for a while in an airtight container apparently (and actually taste better and better the more they "age" - aged cookies, now there's a gimmick!), not that Pose let them last that long.  Even when I was making them I kept going into the kitchen to find cookies missing from the cooling rack.  To say she loved these cookies would be a gross understatement.  She's been begging me to make more since!  My little sister took one bite and said they tasted like the cookies mum used to buy.  I hadn't discussed the background to making the cookies so I took that as an almighty thumbs up.

Just one point to note - The actual recipe provides for a meringue glaze instead of the icing but I'm not going to lie, the-OCD-hate-to-throw-anything-away-nutjob-in-me couldn't bear to waste 3 egg yolks.  Plus the reviews generally criticised the meringue glaze so I figured I could do without.  I may try it next time though.

Apple-Cinnamon Fruit Bars (or how I broke my stick blender)

apple + cinnamon = love

FACT

I'm super serial. 

I really do love apple and cinnamon in pretty much any form.  Plus I can convince myself that I'm eating healthy if I opt for apple pie over chocolate cake.  Its fruit right!?

We are on a bit of a family health kick right now and I am currently a huge fan of the Eating Well website.  Its a great resource and gives easy-to-follow recipes for healthy eating, like 500 calorie dinners that are actually tasty.  So, I did a little searching on the website and found a recipe for Apple-Cinnamon Fruit Bars (at a fabulous 193 calories a bar!).

The recipe - Apple-Cinnamon Fruit Bars adapted from the Eating Well website

For the Crust:

⅓ cup chopped walnuts

⅓ cup chopped pecans

⅓ cup rolled oats

1½ cup plain flour

½ cup granulated sugar

½ teaspoon salt

4 tbsp cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

1 large egg

2 tbsp sunflower oil

1 tsp vanilla extract

¼ tsp almond extract

For the Apple Filling: 

6 cups diced peeled apples, divided (possibly extra if little fingers keep stealing it)

½ cup apple juice

½ cup granulated sugar

¼ cup cornflour

1½ tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla extract

1. To prepare crust: Mix together the nuts and oats.  Combine ¾ cup of the nuts/oats mixture with the flour, sugar and salt in a food processor; pulse until the nuts are finely ground. Add butter; pulse until well incorporated.

Or at least this is how it should have gone had my stick blender not made a popping noise, stopped and then emanated an unpleasant burning smell.  Not to worry!  We have a Cuisinart US stick blender....which hubby plugged in and blew the step-down.  So now no stick blender and Berta's out of action until I replace the step-down.  I was not (and am still not) a happy bunny.

I therefore took my rolling pin and did my best to beat the mixture and then mush the butter into it with a fork.  For the rest of the recipe then I had to improvise:

2. Whisk egg, oil, 1 teaspoon vanilla and almond extract in a small bowl. Add the egg mixture to the nuts/oats mixture and mash and the the mixture begins to come together.  Measure out 1/2 cup of the mixture and combine in a bowl with the remaining 1/4 cup chopped nuts (or oats). Set aside for the topping.

3. Preheat oven to 400°F (about 200°C). Generously coat a 9-by-13-inch baking dish with cooking spray.

4. To prepare fruit filling & assemble bars: Combine 4 cups apples, apple juice, sugar and cornflour in a large saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture is very thick, 4 to 5 minutes. Stir in the remaining 2 cups apples, cinnamon and 1 teaspoon vanilla.

5. Transfer the dough to the prepared baking dish. Spread evenly and press firmly into the bottom to form a crust. Spread the fruit filling over the crust.. Sprinkle the reserved topping over the filling.

6. Bake the bars for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350°F (about 175°C) and bake until the crust and topping are lightly brown, 25 to 30 minutes more. Let cool completely before cutting into bars, at least 1 1/2 hours.

These were pretty yummy and totally more-ish.  On the one hand you have a "healthy" sweet snack (starts well) and then on the other hand you kinda can't stop eating it (ends badly).  So as with most things it starts with good intentions and then...well you find you've eaten the entire tray...

Ooops

HOT cross buns, HOT cross buns, one a penny two a penny, HOT cross buns

So firstly, apologies galore.  I've not blogged in the last 2 weeks but that does not mean I haven't been busy in the kitchen.  I have.  But we went away for an Easter break so I have also been enjoying the cakey-bakey goodies that Paris has to offer.  In fact I rather overindulged in cheese, wine and patisserie!  We stayed in an apartment right on the edge of the 1st and 2nd Arrondissement that was literally a stone's throw from a market street filled with ice cream parlours, bakeries, butchers, wine shops, flower shops, bistros....it was an amazing location.  I'm hoping to take some inspiration from the trip so watch this space.

Saying that though.  Easter isn't complete without Hot Cross Buns, and whilst the Parisians lulled me into a food coma they didn't do Hot Cross Buns.  I however do!

I have a recipe folder filled with a ton of recipes that I have never tried.  I tear them out of magazines and file them away, never to attempt.  In fact one of the reasons I started writing the blog was to actually start making these recipes.  With the lead up to Easter the supermarkets, bakers and my mum start stocking up on the Hot Cross Buns.  I've spent a couple of weekends at the folks recently and have been loving toasted, butter smothered Hot Cross Buns for brekkie.  So, given my recent bread/dough successes I felt confident enough to give the Hot Cross Bun recipes a go.

I'm pretty certain this recipe is a Delia and certainly is seems pretty similar to the one listed on her website.

Now for this recipe I didn't have any mixed spice to hand but I did have a variety of spices in my spice/herb drawer so I searched around on t'net and made the mixed spice myself.

To make the mixed spice:
2 tbs ground cinnamon
2 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cloves

I didn't have ground cloves but had whole cloves so I started by grinding them in my trusty pestle and mortar.  Then I dumped everything else in and gave it all a good grind (wow, that sounds rather sordid.  Oh well).

Mixed Spice 

I made the recipe pretty much as directed except (as usual, I can't just stick to a recipe!) I didn't have any mixed peel and in all honesty I'm not a massive fan of my Hot Cross Bun being citrus-ey tasting.  

Ooh, frothy!

Here's a handy tip for working out what "hand-hot water is" (I mean, its not exactly a scientific statement is it??  What is lukewarm to me is hot to my little one!)  Anyway, go by this method - 1 part boiling water to 2 parts cold water.  Bosh - hand-hot water.

They smelled amazing when they were cooking.  Filled the whole house with a bready, spicy aroma.  Better than a Yankee Candle!

As you can see I didn't make the white crosses - I simply didn't have time to make shortcrust pastry as the recipe suggests. However, on the Delia website she suggests making the white crosses using "a flour and water paste made with 4 oz (110 g) plain flour and approximately 3 tablespoons water. Roll out thinly and divide into small strips, dampening them to seal" so I'd try that next time. Much simpler!

The best BEST way to serve them is cut in half, toasted and smothered in butter.  Bloody gorgeous!

I took them into work and they went down a treat.  One colleague ate 2...a second ate 3...he claimed he was doing me a favour.  Personally these are the best thing I've made yet.  I had one for breakfast all week and every time I opened the tub I got a waft of spicy goodness.  Yummers.

Pot-Age Patties

Bangers and mash.  Its proper British grub and everyone in my family loves it.  We've even converted the hubby.

Banger's are sausages.  I don't know why we call them "bangers" but this website provides quite an amusing explanation.  Strangely we also seem to call boobs bangers, in fact it was yelled at me the other day from some workmen.  "Oi luv!  You've got some great bangers!".  Yes, its every girl's dream being yelled at that she's got a good rack by the "panel" at a building site.  I have NO idea why boobs are also called bangers and I sincerely hope it bears no correlation with the sausage explanation.  Anyway...

My father looked after le Pose on Saturday night as hubby was off on a football training weekend (American not soccer) and I had been invited to an old friend's birthday party (literally known her my entire life from bump).  Just before I left he made their dinner - Bangers and mash - Posie's favourite.  Why is this important?  Simple, there was a ton of left over mashed potato and half a pack of uncooked sausages so I whipped up this little recipe...

The recipe - Pot-Age Patties with a Honey-Mustard Dressing (get it? Pot (potato) Age (sausage) well I liked it)

The patties:

5 medium sized potatoes, boiled and mashed with a little milk and butter

4 large pork sausages, casings removed leaving just the meat (you could also use store-bought sausage meat)

1 medium red onion, finely chopped

3 baby portabella mushrooms, finely chopped

1 egg

plain flour for dredging
olive oil for frying

The dressing:

1 tbsp honey

1 tbsp Bulldog Mustard (or other coarse grain mustard)

1 tbsp Dijon mustard

1 tbsp lemon juice


A salad of some description - I used a pre-bagged mix.


1. Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 6.


2. Put all the ingredients for the patties in a bowl and mash together with a fork then get it good and combined with a wooden spoon (or your mitts).

3. Grab a handful of the mix and shape it into patties about an inch thick (this recipe makes about 12 patties).  Dredge the patties in the plain flour.

4. Heat some oil (I used olive oil - my mother's close friend lives on an olive grove in Tuscany so I have an enormous can of incredible olive oil from their grove) in a large (preferably non-stick) frying pan or flat griddle.  Cook until golden brown on each side (about 5mins) then transfer the patties onto a baking sheet and cook for another 20mins.


5. While the patties are in the oven make the dressing.  Simply put all the ingredients into a bowl and whisk to combine.


6. Artfully place some lettuce on a plate (artfully place lettuce on a plate?  Seriously Lucy?!), put a couple of patties on top and drizzle (yes drizzle) the dressing all over.

Ah yes, artful salad.

7. EAT!


This was really tasty for a fairly light lunch made for my dad whilst Pose was asleep.  The sausage wasn't too overpowering but gave all the seasoning you needed (although I am always happy to add more sausage - British sausages were one of the biggest things I missed when I lived in the US and was the hardest thing to get a hold of.  The other was strong cheddar cheese.  Yes, I'm a cheese and sausage girl apparently).  To make it more brunch/hangover friendly it would be great without the salad  but with a 3min poached egg on top (cook it longer by all means, I just like my eggs nice and runny).

Enjoy :)