Most Delicious Frosting Ever!

Ingredients

• 3 large egg whites
• 3/4 cup sugar
• Pinch of salt
• 1/3 cup water
• 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla essence or strawberry

Directions 

1. In a heatproof bowl set over (not in) a saucepan of simmering water, combine egg whites, sugar, salt, and water.
2. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until sugar has dissolved, 2 to 3 minutes. 
3. Using an electric mixer, beat on medium-high until glossy, stiff peaks form
4. Reduce speed to low, add essence, and beat just until combined
5. Use immediately.

Warning, this makes quite a lot and you will most likely eat the leftover directly from the bowl! It's really good!

EASY Anything (Museli) Bars

OK, I mean it, these are easy and you can use whatever you have lying around.

Ingredients

100 grms or butter or coconut oil
1/3 cup of jam (whatever you have around)
1 cup of brown sugar
1/3 cup of golden syrup or maple syrup
1/2 cup of cocount
3 cups of rolled oats
2 cups of a mix of goodies (ie pumpkin seeds, chia seeds, sultanas, cranberries, seasme seeds, sunflower seeds, peanuts, pretzels, chips, banana chips etc) avoid anything too sweet as there is already a lot of sugar in there.
1/3 cup Chocolate chips (optional)

1. Melt butter/oil, jam, sugar and syrup on the stove
2. Combine the rolled oats, coconut and goodies in a large bowl
3. Add the melted mixture into the oats and mix well
4. Press the mixture into a 20x30cm greased tin
5. Sprinkle on some chocolate chips
6. Bake for 25 minutes at 180 degrees (160 degrees fan forced)
7. When cooled cut into squares or bars

Strawberry and Marshmellow baby cupcakes

I thought I'd start to document my recipes. I one of those people who trawl through the internet finding interesting recipes to try, make it once or twice then find the next treat that catches my eye. However, every now and then I want to go bake and make that great cake or sweet treat and can never remember the ingredients....

So, here I am documenting the recipes. I don't claim any of them on my own - I'm not that great of a baker - so I will put on credit, where credit it due!

To the baking....

The recipe of the week is from the latest Food magazine...it looked quite easy and delicious. I have made my cupcakes minis, great for the school lunch boxes.

Strawberry and Marshmellow Baby Cupcakes

Makes about 36 mini cupcakes

Ingredients

Cupcakes 

1 1/2 cups of self-raising flour
2 eggs
1/2 cup of milk
1 teaspoon of vanilla essence
125 grms melted butter
3/4 diced strawberries
1/2 mini marshmellows

1. Preheat over to 180 degrees (I have a fan-forced over so turned it down to 160 degrees)
2. In a large bowl mix flour, sugar, vanilla essence, eggs, milk and butter with an electric beater. Beat on low speed for 1 minute, then increase to high speed for another 2 minutes until the mixture is pale and fluffy.
3. Fold in the strawbs and marshmellow and spoon mixture into cupcake papers
4. Bake for 12-18 minutes until they are puffed and golden.

Frosting

100grms of butter
1-1 1/2 cups icing sugar
1-2 drops of pink/red food colouring

1. Beat the butter and icing sugar together until pale and fluffy
2. Mix in the food colouring, 1 drop at a time until you are happy with the colour
3. Pop the frosting into the fridge until it is firm
4. Spoon or pipe the frosting onto your cooled cupcakes.

Eat your cupcakes!!!! Yum, yum.

Mosit Buttery Vanilla Cake

I found this one on a forum....I'm doing a test run for a birthday cake I'm helping a friend put together.

Ingredients 

250g butter, softened
3 teaspoons vanilla essence
1-1/2 cups (330g) caster sugar
3 eggs
1-3/4 cups (260g) self-raising flour
1/3 cup (50g) plain flour
3/4 cup (180 ml) Plain Greek yoghurt
Delicious Frosting

1. Preheat oven to moderately slow (160C/140C fan-forced).
2. Grease a deep 20 cm cake tin, line base and sides of with baking paper. Make sure it comes up higher than tin by about 5cm
3. Beat the butter, extract and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer until light and fluffy
4. Add eggs one at a time, beating until just combined between additions.
5. Fold in combined sifted flours and yoghurt in two batches. Spread mixture into prepared cake tin.
6. Bake for about 1 hour and 10 minutes or until skewer comes out clean when tested.
7. Leave in tin for 5 minutes before inverting onto a wire rack for cooling.

Options:
You could add a cup of finely chopped strawberries - yum!

Lego Gummy Lollies

Yum, yum, yum

These Lego Gummies are so easy to make! 

 

 

You'll need:

Moulds - I bought my lego off Trademe

1 packet of jelly

3 tablespoons of gelatine

1/3 cold water

1. In a saucepan pop in the cold water
2. Sprinkle the gelatine and jelly into the saucepan
3. Leave it for 10 minutes or so
4. Gently heat the mixture until it's runny and smooth
5. Pour the mixture into the moulds, make sure you bang the mould a couple of times to get out all the bubbles.
6. Pop in the fridge for 10 minutes until set

That's it!

Argh - I don't have self-raising flour!

OK, so you've run out of self-raising flour....

Here's what to do, for every 1 cup of flour add 2 teaspoons of baking powder.

A little tip for fan forced ovens

A little tip for fan forced ovens.

I'm one of those unfortunate people who have a fan-forced oven and no way to turn the darn fan off. But, I have discovered all is not lost - I can still bake!

So what to do if baking in a fan-forced oven

Check to see if you can turn the fan off...some ovens will give you this option, but not mine :(
Turn your pan/tray half way through baking
Turn the heat down by 20 degrees

The fans may have a tendency to blow the tops of muffins and cakes causing an uneven cake - but I haven't found this - yet!