Lime Cupcakes! (trust me, they're awesome!)

I am uploading this recipe for my friend, Sinead, who baked us some lovely cupcakes a couple of weeks ago! I hope she tries these!


I found this recipe on goodfood.co.uk when I had a couple of limes in the fridge that I didn't know what to do with. My sister was coming home from uni for the weekend and I always make her something special to eat. She is a fussy eater but she loved these so you will to! Trust me, everyone will be begging you to make these again!


250g courgettes (seriously, go with me on this!)
125ml vegetable oil
2 large eggs (I like Happy Eggs)
Juice and zest of one lime
150g golden caster sugar
225g self-raising flour
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
200g cream cheese
100g icing sugar
Juice and zest of one lime


Preheat oven to gas mark 4.
Grate the courgette (on the large grate part) and squeeze the water out of it.
Beat the eggs, sugar, and oil until fluffy.
Sieve in the flour and add the bicarbonate of soda and baking powder. Add the courgette and mix well, work quickly to prevent over-mixing.
Grate in the zest of the lie (on the finer part of the grater) and squeeze in as much juice as you can from it. The limes I used were lovely and juicy so try to use the juiciest ones you can find. The mix will likely be quite loose when you do this but don't panic, this is the consistency I got and everything came out fine!
Divide the mixture into muffin cases (the cupcakes look so much prettier in muffin cases, I think) and bake in the oven for 25 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. Mine took slightly longer than this (about 35 minutes) so trust your instincts if you feel they need longer.
Once baked, allow the cupcakes to cool completely before frosting them.
In a bowl, mix the cream cheese, icing sugar, and lime juice together (it might be slightly runny so add more icing sugar too thicken it to the consistency you want and taste it to check you can still taste the lime. It's all about taste with this frosting so do whatever tastes good to you).
Frost each cupcake and sprinkle with some lime zest for garnish!
Delicious!

Tip: Don't forget to grate the lime zest before making the frosting!

These are my favourite cupcakes ever! Cream cheese frosting is my favourite kind and it gives all cupcakes some delicious sourness. The lime in these cupcakes gives a lovely acidity, so even if you don't have much of a sweet-tooth you will love these! I think this recipe is ideal if you are a first-time baker, the courgettes keep the cupcakes lovely and moist so there won't be a dry or dense cupcake in sight!
This recipe makes 12 good sized cupcakes and are so easy and delicious you will be making them again and again!

Enjoy!
x

Yummy Banana Oatmeal Cookies!!

These cookies are super yummy! Just the right amount of sweetness with a lovely chewy texture! *

*I found this recipe on allrecipes.com

 3 ripe bananas
tsp of vanilla extract
3 cups rolled oats
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 cup dates, chopped (about a standard pack, mine had about 26 in it)






Preheat the oven to gas mark 4. The prep for this recipe is the only thing that really takes time, and most of that is taken up by the time it takes to chop those sticky dates. But otherwise, it takes no time at all, so remember to set your oven first!
Mash the bananas (a fork works best) in a mixing bowl.
Add the rest of the ingredients and mix until combined.

On a baking tray, lay out some greaseproof paper and spoon the mixture on with a teaspoon. Cook in oven for about 20 minutes (although mine took a little longer), or until golden brown.

Serve and enjoy!

Tip: Use some of the cookie mixture on the four corners of the baking tray to help the paper stick!

Spaghetti alla Carbonara (the real kind!)

I watched this recipe on Gary Rhodes's programme, Rhodes across Italy, in the episode where he visited the Lazio Region. This recipe is, for me, much more delicious than the British version of carbonara, and feels much lighter to eat! It is also much, much quicker to make, but is also filling and delicious. Perfect for a mid-week supper!


Some Guanciale (this is pork cheek, has a very intense flavour and much more delicous than pancetta, which the Italians do not use for this dish! If you cannot find it, use pancetta, it is really no big deal. The Food Police won't be knocking at the door if you do!)
1 egg yolk
1 egg
Spaghetti (of course)
Black pepper
Roughly 3 level tablespoons, each, of Parmesan cheese and Pecorino cheese
(And no creme fraiche in this recipe either!)


Put on a pan of water until it boils and cook the spaghetti. Use a dry pan to fry the guanciale, it has enough fat that you do not need any oil. When it is lovely and crispy, remove them from the pan.
Crack one whole egg and add one egg yolk to a bowl and whisk together. (Don't worry if the mixture is thick, it is supposed to be like that).
Add both the parmesan and pecorino cheese and combine. Season with pepper.
When the spaghetti is cooked, reserve about a ladle and a half of the cooking water, drain the spaghetti but do not shake out all of the water so it sticks together.
Add the spaghetti to the pan you fried the guanciale in, and add the egg mixture. Stir, so that the mixture coats the spaghetti, you need to work quickly so you do not scramble the eggs. Use about a ladle full of the cooking water, to begin with, to the loosen the spaghetti and add more if you need to. The spaghetti should have a silky smooth texture.
Serve with the pieces of guanciale on top, and a sprinkling of parmesan cheese on top.

Delicious!

Tip: Pecorino is quite salty so you should not need to add any salt.

x

It's Chocolate Week!

So those who know me will not be surprised to see that my very first post is about chocolate! The word 'chocoholic' does not even begin to describe me because my love of chocolate goes above and beyond any human understanding. In fact, I love chocolate so much that this January, I went cold-turkey and decided to not eat chocolate for a whole year!
Why? You might ask! Because I had ballooned to an unhealthy weight and my mid-section was starting to look like a rather hideous looking chocolate cake! Not attractive! But my chocolate abstinence does not mean I cannot celebrate chocolate week, so I am sharing with you the recipe for the chocolate pots my sister makes for my mum!

This is a recipe from one of my favourite chefs, Jamie Oliver:

Ingredients:

1/2 pint of single cream
200g dark chocolate (70% cocoa)
2 egg yolks
3 tbsp brandy (we used cointreau because we didn't know my mum had some in the cupboard already)
20g butter

Gentle warm the cream in a pan.
Break the chocolate into pieces and add to the cream. Gently melt to a smooth consistency.
Add the egg yolks and alcohol and combine.
Add the butter to the mixture. (Make sure it is not too hot or the whole thing will split!)
Pour into ramekins and refrigerate to set for at least 2 hours.


Not a difficult recipe and super delicious. The pot should have a lovely smooth texture and deep chocolatey flavour, with a little warmth coming through from the alcohol. Remember to keep everything on a gentle heat or you risk either splitting the mixture or scrambling the eggs (like my sister did once, which resulted in her swearing off ever making this recipe again! It was entirely her fault for not listening to me when I told her to turn the heat down. Ssssh don't tell her I said that!)


Enjoy! x

Hello!!

I decided to start this blog on the advice of my sister and one of my friends, who, knowing how I obsessively watch food programmes, read recipes, and cook almost every day, kept asking me why I had yet to start one up! So, here I am!

I'll mostly be posting about food that I make (of which I will try and post pictures), but I will also include my thoughts on visits to restaurants, and cookery shows!

Enjoy!

Nelema! x