MMmmm Cupcakes

Oh what a glorious day -Sally and i spent the wildly windy day baking cupcakes and decorating to our hearts delight.... Amongst the laughter, sugar highs and delights that go along with good friends sharing a kitchen we managed to churn out chocolate truffles and gorgeous little cupcakes
where the decorating is as much, if even more fun than the joy of eating them!

Buckwheat and Blueberry Pancake Muffins

The thing that is so annoying about muffins is that nobody tells you just how much mixing is too much mixing so you end up with a tough inedible mass... So I feel the idea is maybe to just mix the dry ingredients with the dry and the wet with the wet and then mix them together as little as possible

Today I tried buckwheat flour

NOTE: never cook with buckwheat flour if you want light fluffy baking, it is tough and earth, but I like it.

fresh bluberries

dark brown sugar

eggs

self raising flour

baking powder

a dash of maple syrup

some oil and soy milk...

Lazy Sunday

As i attempted to experiment with my baking yesterday hoping for new delights, to no avail... sadly it did not turn out. So today i settle to make myself happy by making a delicious loaf of fluffy white bread (topped with crispy bacon and avocado for lunch) and a trusty ol' chocolate cake which i know, like a good friend it wont let me down, it fills the house with wafting smells of pure joy.

Scrumptious Baked Cheesecake

This recipe is so easy- the only thing thats hard is waiting for it to set! if you can bear it, your patience will be deliciously rewarded.

Base:

175g Biscuits (any kind suiting your preference-anzacs or digestives work a treat!)

50g Butter (melted)

A sprinkle of Coconut

A pinch of Cinnamon

Middle:

700g mixture of cream cheese & sour cream (3 tubs altogether)

3 Eggs

150g Caster sugar

A dollop of Vanilla Essence

Method:

If you have a whizz it makes this recipe so delightfully easy! Put the biscuits into the whizz until they are crumbs... add the melted butter, coconut and cinnamon and mix together. Press firmly into a cheesecake tin and put into the fridge to set. Into the whizz add the cream cheese, sour cream, eggs, caster sugar and vanilla- whizz away. Dollop mixture on top of the biscuit base and put into a heated oven (150 degrees) and bake for 30 minutes . Will be slightly wobbly as still hot but make sure its relatively thick in the middle by slighly shaking it. Turn off the oven and leave in to cool. Put into the fridge until it sets (this may take some patience!) Best to leave for a full day or overnight as cheesecake in my opinion tastes better after a few days in the fridge. Add a berry mixture or any fruit over the top. Sit back and enjoy one of life's little treats!

chai divine

the divine smell the warmth the big hug for the inside out are all what makes chai addictive for me. comforting and joyful to consume, and a pleasure to play around with all that spice,

soy milk
honey (creamed clover is delicious)
unperformed black tea leaves, assam tea leaves are best but green tea or rooibos work along with a whole lot of others for the more adventurous types
cloves
star anise
cardamon pods
cinnamon stick
ginger

you could also use:
pepper fennel seeds
cumin
vanilla beans
nutmeg
all spice
bay leaves
orange peel

these can be all thrown in a pot together brought to just before boiling and then turned down to simmer before you can not wait any longer...
The fresher the better, these spices all have amazing individual health benefits all of which along with the taste are almost void if you replace them with out of date powdered or synthetic ingredients.
It also works well to grind the spice with some type of machinery or by hand, then you can also use it to dust cakes, or put into baking for a nice mixed spicey flavor. It is Christmas at the moment so I will be using some of this mixture for tea and some for adding to Christmas cookies, delicious.