Winter Warmers: Red Pepper and Chorizo Soup

This is my first real soup and it turned out really well. I was very surprised at the result of this and I really recommend it.

Ingredients:

• 4 Red Bell Peppers

• 50g Chorizo Slices (Snipped)

• 1 Onion (Chopped)

• 1 Clove of Garlic (Crushed)

• 1 Tbsp Fresh Oregano Leaves (Chopped)

• 1 Tbsp Tomato Puree 

• 1 Tbsp Olive Oil

• 600ml Chicken Stock

• Salt 

• Sugar

• Ground Black Pepper

• 4 Chorizo Slices (Lightly Fried)

Method:

Step One: Preheat your oven to 200°C(400°F/Gas Mark 6) and put the bell peppers on a roasting tin and put them in the oven for 25 minutes. 

Step Two: Whilst the peppers are in the oven, gather the following ingredients - Chorizo slices, onion, garlic, tomato puree, salt and pepper, chicken stock and oregano. Put the olive oil in a large pan. Once the peppers are ready put them in a freezer bag and leave them to cool down.

Step Three: When the peppers are cool peel off the skins and removes the seeds. Heat up some oil in a pan and add the onions, chorizo and garlic. Once the onions have soften, after about 4-5 minutes of stirring, add the peppers and stir for 1 minute. 

Step Four: Add the Tomato Puree and oregano to the chicken stock and stir well, add this to the pan and bring to the boil. once boiling, turn the heat down to a low simmer and leave for 20 minutes.

Step Five: Lightly fry four slices of chorizo in a small frying pan and put to the side on a plate until later. 

Step Six: After the 20 minutes of the soup cooking, leave to cool before blending. This is CRUCIAL because if the soup is still hot it could crack the blender. Re-heat the soup once it's all blended, season and serve with a slice of chorizo on the side. 

 

I really enjoyed this although it was quite sweet and not something I would usually go for. 

Winter Warmers: Mini Cranberry and White Chocolate Muffins

I saw these delicious muffins on BBC Food and because they looked so precious I had to try them out. i must say at first I was very skeptical about the recipe and the ingredients. I was still worrying about the turn out until I ate one, they were definitely worth a try.

Ingredients:

• 200g Sifted Self-Raising Flour

• 100g Golden Caster Sugar 

• 100ml Sunflower Oil

• 75ml Milk

• 1 Large Egg

• 100g White Chocolate

• 50g Fresh Cranberries

Method: 

Step One: Preheat the oven to 190°C(375°F/Gas Mark 5) 

Step Two: Stir flour and sugar together in a large mixing bowl and make a hole in the middle. Whisk the Sunflower oil, milk and egg in a cup or small bowl and add into the centre of the flour and sugar. Mix together until a sort of doughy texture. 

Step Three: Split mixture in two bowls(optional), add broken up white chocolate to both and cranberries to only one bowl. If you didn't split the mixture just add all the cranberries and chocolate to your big mixing bowl. 

Step Four: Bake for 10-15 minutes. When cool decorate with White icing (Water and Icing Sugar--Make it quite thick and opaque) and red and green (royal or decorative) icing. 

Hope you enjoy this cute Christmas recipe, I know I did--They were delicious! Don't forget to put them in a tin as soon as they have cooled otherwise they will go stale very quickly. 

Got me in the Christmas Mood.

Winter Warmers: Gingerbread Cookies

Christmas reminds me of spices - cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger. It reminds me of baking--of cupcakes and cookies and Yule Logs. Christmas is a magical and wonderful time of year. My baking creativity is through the roof at Christmas Time, so I am going to share with you my favourite - and possibly the best - Gingerbread recipe of all time. 

Ingredients:

• 350g Plain Flour
• 1 Teaspoon Bicarbonate of Soda
• 2 Teaspoon Ground Ginger
• 1 Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon 
• 125g Butter
• 175g Light Soft Brown Sugar
• 1 Egg
• 4 Tablespoons Golden Syrup

Method:

Step One: Cut butter up into small squares and rub into sifted flour, Bicarb of Soda, Ginger and Cinnamon. If this takes too long, feel free to use a food processor. Once the mixture has turn to breadcrumbs (note, the mixture may look very fine) tip it out into a mixing bowl and stir in brown sugar.

The 'Breadcrumb'-y mixture 

Step Two: Beat the egg in a mug or cup and add the golden syrup (This will make it easier to get out the syrup out of the cup) once mixed together, add the flour mixture back into the food processor and add the egg mixture. PULSE the processor until the syrup has mixed in. If needed add another half a teaspoon of golden syrup. 

Egg and Syrup Mixture

Flour and Syrup added together

Step Three: Tip back into mixing bowl and work the dough together--It may seem a bit dry bit do not add any more to it. Once it's brought together knead it quickly, cling film it and pop it in the fridge for 15 minutes.

What the dough should look like
(Not really the photo is too dark)

That's more like it

Step Four: Preheat the oven to 180°C(350°F/Gas Mark 4). Roll out your dough on a floured surface. Roll it out as thick as you like although I recommend 1cm thickness-- Try and make all of them the same width to bake evenly. Cut them out with any festive cutters you own, I used Christmas Trees, Stars and Gingerbread women. 

Step Five: Place your cookies on a greased baking tray and bake for 10-15 minutes. Once out the oven leave to cool on a cooling rack for 10 minutes. Decorate you Cookies with White decorating icing and silver balls. 

White decorating icing -- easy to use

Using soft ones means they are easier
to munch

I hope you try out this fun and delicious festive treat for the Christmas Holidays. Recipe Courtesy of BBC food.

This Recipe deserves...

For being the best gingerbread recipe I have ever tried.

Pink and Chocolate | Cupcake Crazy

I have been making a lot of different cupcakes recently, using different recipes. The one I am showing you is different to my usual '4,4,4 and 2' recipe. I followed a recipe I found on Fabulous Moms Guide.

Ingredients:

• 125g butter or margarine
• 125g caster sugar
• 125g self raising flour, sifted
• 2 large eggs
• 30g coco powder
• a few blocks of chocolate

Method:

Step One: Preheat your oven to 180 °C.

Step Two: Weigh and measure out all your ingredients. It is important to have exact proportions.

Step Three: Cut your butter into small chunks and add it to a large mixing bowl along with the sugar. Mix well until light and creamy.Add your eggs one at a time, mixing with a wooden spoon. Put your flour and cocoa through the sift at the same time. Mix with an electric whisk until silky and fluffy.

Cutting your butter into smaller pieces
before creaming it really makes it easier.

Step Four: Place 1-2 teaspoons of the mix in each cupcake case, put in the oven for 10-15 minutes. When ready (Check by sticking a skewer stick in, if it comes out clean; it's ready.) remove from baking tin as soon as possible and onto a cooling rack.

This is what your mixture should look like
before adding it to the cases.

Step Five: I used Buttercream icing, recipe here. I added 3-6 drops of pink food colouring and used a large circular piping nozzle. Then I used a peeler to create chocolate shavings.

Add colouring to your icing or sponge to
make it more fun and interesting.

This was really yummy and chocolaty, I thought they turned out really well and I will definitely use this recipe again. 

Really Delicious, really easy and super adorable. Took a while to get the topping right. Apparently shaved chocolate is the way to go. Good Luck.

How To: Basic Buttercream Icing

It is ALWAYS helpful to have a simple Buttercream Icing recipe on hand. Buttercream is the first ever icing I learn how to make and will always have a special place in my heart. You need to make sure it isn't too sweet or too buttery, there is a very fine line of perfection.

Ingredients:

There are only 2 ingredients to a basic Buttercream, Butter and Icing Sugar. The ratio of Butter to Icing Sugar is generally 1/2:1. Meaning, for example, for 100g of Butter you will need 200g (twice as much) of icing sugar. At first this will seem like too much Icing Sugar, but if you keep mixing carefully it will turn out to be the perfect Buttercream.

Method: 

Step One: Gather and weigh your ingredients, estimate how much icing you will need to cover you cupcake and go with it. You can always make more!

Step Two: Stir carefully with a wooden spoon, we don't want the icing sugar flying across the room. It will take quite a while for it to come together.

Step Three: Once the mixture has started to come together and the texture is crumby, using an electric mixer if you want, this will help make sure there are no lumps and that your icing is creamy.

Step Four: Add flavuoring or colourings. You can add any colour or flavour to your icing to make it your own. If you don't want a flavoured icing, use a dash of vanilla essence. Use as many drops of whatever food colouring you want to.

I hope this recipe will help you in your future cupcake creations, remember you can always make it more interesting with different colours and flavours!

A simple Buttercream definatly needs 5 Spoons!