Tuesday, 21 February 2012

Pancake Day Recipes

It is pancake day!! I thought I would share some interesting recipes of pancakes I have found. This is a collection of some classic and not-so-classic but very appealing pancake recipes.


The Classic Pancake
From: BBC Good Food

Blueberry Pancakes with Orange Maple Butter
From: Bakerella

Fluffy American Pancakes
From: BBC Good Food


Mini Maple Pancake Muffins
From: Bakerella 
Have fun making pancakes today! Let me know if you try any of these recipes and how they turn out!

Make sure to check back and have a look out for my blogpost on my pancake escapades today!

Keep it Sweet!

Aneesa


Sunday, 19 February 2012

Baking Wishlist (Part 2)

This is the second part to my baking wishlist, which is a compilation of delicious looking recipes that I want to try and so add them to my baking list. To see the first part of my wishlist just click here. Anyway here is part two of my wishlist:

WARNING: Mouthwatering and drool worthy pictures of food ahead. Proceed with caution!

Blueberry Jamboree
From: Bake or Break
You have probably already read about my affection for berries in desserts, if not, I love them! This recipe uses blueberries, which give a rich purple colour when they cook and burst, what makes this dessert even better is the huggggeee layer of cream - what could be better berries and cream!

Bang Bang Shrimp
From: Fake Ginger
Yes, your eyes do not deceive you, it is a savoury dish! Although I love making desserts and anything sweet, I do occasionally like to dabble in the world of savoury food! Anyway, these shrimp really reminded me of Dynamite Shrimp from P.F.Changs, which we don't have here in the UK. I love Dynamite Shrimp, so I really want to try this recipe to see if it tastes anything like it. If not, my search continues!

Boston Cream Pie
From: Food Wishes
Can you see the chocolate ganache dripping down the cake with the cream inbetween? Need I say more?!

Oreo Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies
From: Very Culinary
Cookie-ception! It's a cookie within a cookie! This seems like quite a simple but genius idea - will definitely be trying this and they would do a good job at impressing people and leave them wondering how they were made! Besides who doesn't like some cookies and milk - this would be a great recipe to make in a big batch and just store them, ready for when I am craving something sweet!


Jalapeno Poppers
From: Food People Want
I have always loved eating jalapenos poppers and so thought it was time I tried to make some of my own. On my search for a good recipe to try, this would probably have to be the best looking one I came across. They look authentic, crispy and just how I remember jalapeno poppers to be.

5 minute Chocolate Mousse
From: Cafe Fernando
This is something pretty genius! All you need is water and chocolate. This is such a simple and easy recipe, you just whisk - that's it! This is something that I could try anytime, since I always have these ingredients at hand. So I know this can be made at anytime and would be perfect to entertain guests or just friends when you need to whip up something quickly.

Make sure to check back as I will be trying out some of these recipes. Also check out the links for the recipes in the captions for the pictures.

Let me know what recipes from the wishlist you liked the best and which ones you would want me to make.

Keep it Sweet!

Aneesa

Wednesday, 15 February 2012

Raspberry and Cream Pots

I have been looking for more healthy options for desserts recently and I wanted to start off with making something simple and easy to put together and so I decided to make these crushed raspberry creams, which require no baking (but no-one else needs to know that!). 

Since this recipe has cream, pieces of meringue and raspberries, it reminded me a lot of Eton Mess, another dessert consisting of the same ingredients but strawberries instead of raspberries, so if you like Eton Mess, this is a great healthy alternative with only 214 kcalories! Since it has such a low calorie count it would be great as a sweet treat if you are on a diet or even just if you want to eat something a little healthier.

Measure out the two creams and mix them together in a bowl with the majority of the sugar, leave about a teaspoon to sprinkle on the raspberries.

Next using store-bought or homemade meringues, crush them into the mixed cream. Make sure you don't crush them too fine; leave them in big chunks as they add a nice crunch to the smooth cream.

In a bowl, stir the raspberries with the rest of the sugar. Crush them slightly while you stir but leave them more or less whole.

Now it is time to construct the dessert pots! Just spoon some of the raspberry mixture into the bottom of the pots and then add the cream mixture on top of that. Just to finish off the presentation of the dish, I placed a raspberry on top of each of the desserts, bringing the whole thing together and it added a bit of colour to the top of the dessert.


Ingredients:

50g Golden sugar
250g Raspberries
200g Half-fat creme fraiche
150g 0% Greek Yoghurt
3 Meringue shells

The original recipe can be found on BBC Good Food

Keep it Sweet!

Aneesa


Friday, 10 February 2012

Raspberry Cobbler

As I mentioned in my wishlist post, I love desserts that have berries in them, so when I found this recipe on An Edible Symphony, I knew I would have to try it!


Firstly preheat your oven to 180ºC/350ºF and butter a baking dish.


In a bowl, whisk together the flour and the sugar. Pour in the milk and whisk this until it is fully incorporated. Then add in the melted butter and combine.


The batter is quite thick but still of a runny consistency.




Pour the batter into the buttered baking dish and evenly spread the raspberries over the top.


Then sprinkle 2 tablespoons of sugar over the whole thing.



Now just pop it in the oven for about 40-45 minutes. But 10-15 mins before the end of the cooking time, take the cobbler out of the oven and sprinkle it with another tablespoon of sugar. This will help caramelise the top, making it develop a golden brown top and it adds another level of flavour to the dessert. 


Once the cobbler is cooked, remove it from the oven and let it cool for about 10-15 minutes before serving. I served this with some whipped cream, but it would work just as well with some ice-cream or cream. 



Ingredients: 

1/2 cup (50g) Self-raising flour 
1/2 cup (115g) Sugar plus 3 tablespoons for sprinkling.
1/2 cup (120ml) Milk
1/2 stick (57g) Butter 

This recipe is taken from An Edible Symphony, so check out the original blogpost, to see the recipe. 



 Keep it Sweet!


Aneesa

Thursday, 9 February 2012

Baking Wishlist (Part 1)

As I continually browse the web for more recipes I can make. I come across soo many mouth-watering recipes that I end up putting on my to-bake list, I thought I would share some of the recipes and let you guys drool over these recipes as much as I have! So here is part one of my baking wishlist:

Deep Dark Chocolate Cookies
From Divine Baking

These reminded me of chocolate crackle cookies but look a lot more fudgy and chocolatey, you can't go wrong with more chocolate! I will definitely be trying these out soon, so keep an eye out for a blogpost soon!


Dark Chocolate and Raspberry Brownie Tarts
From Erinnish

I love desserts that have berries in them and especially the chocolate and raspberry combination, the contrast of flavours is just amazing! These looked impressive and I love that they are served in cute individual portions.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie
From  Love From the Oven

One of my favourite desserts to eat when I go out would have to be the chocolate chip cookie dough from Pizza Hut and I have been on the hunt to find a recipe that could help me recreate the dessert a home. This may be it! Although it is a bit thicker than the original dessert, I'm not going to complain, just means more cookie dough for me to eat!!

Brownie 'n' Berries Dessert Pizza
From Betty Crocker

As I mentioned before I love berries in desserts and so I saw this berry filled post and knew it would go straight to my wishlist and the idea to serve it as a pizza is ingenius, making the dessert unique.

Raspberry Breakfast Bars
From Smitten Kitchen

I love breakfast and definitely would not be able to function if I skipped it, but it can get a little boring having the same cereal everyday, so this recipe looked like a great idea, as I could easily make loads of them and store them, so I can just grab them and eat them everyday!

Mississippi Mud Pie
From Bake Or Break

Just look at it!! Do I even need to explain why I chose this to be in my wishlist! The chocolate, the cream and more chocolate and cake and a crumbly biscuit base!! 

Make sure to check out the blogposts that these pictures are taken from (links are in the captions), it's where you can find the recipes and more drool worthy pictures of these dishes!

Let me know which of these desserts you liked the most! I will definitely try to make as many of these as I can, so look out for the blogposts of that!

Also check back to see part 2 of this baking wishlist!

Keep it Sweet!

Aneesa

Tuesday, 7 February 2012

Lemon Drizzle Cake

This recipe is quite simple and I mainly use this when I don't really have any ingredients to make anything else. I do like the tangy taste of the lemon drizzle that is soaked into the cake after it is baked and the simplicity of this recipe makes it great for a more relaxed bake, so you still get great tasting goods without the extra effort!


Firstly preheat the oven to 180ºC/355ºF and line a loaf tin with a baking sheet


Next in a large bowl cream together the butter and the caster sugar, until they are pale and fluffy. Then add the eggs one by one, mixing well after each addition.



Sift in the flour and mix well, until all the flour has been incorporated. Next add in the lemon zest to the batter and mix well.


Carefully pour the batter into the lined baking tin and smooth out the top, making sure the batter is evenly distributed in the tin.


Transfer this baking tin into the oven and bake for about 45-50 minutes. Whilst the cake is in the oven, you can prepare the drizzle topping for the cake.


 The drizzle topping is rather simple as with the cake. Simply stir together the caster sugar and lemon juice. You can adjust it by adding more sugar or more lemon juice depending on the strength of the flavour you would like in the cake.




Once the cake is cooked (which can be tested by piercing it with a toothpick or skewer, which should come out clean if the cake is cooked), poke rows of holes into the cake using a toothpick or skewer. These will allow the cake to absorb all the drizzle topping.

After making the holes in the cake, and while it is still hot, pour the drizzle topping over the cake and leave it to soak. The juice will get soaked into the cake, giving it its flavour and the sugar should form a topping. After pouring the drizzle topping, leave the cake to cool and serve once it has been completely cooled.




Ingredients:

For the cake:

225g Butter
225g Caster sugar
4 Eggs
225g Self-raising flour
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon

For the drizzle topping:

85g Caster sugar
Juice of 1 1/2 lemons

Let me know if you try this recipe and how it worked out for you?
If you have any other suggestions for recipes I should try feel free to leave it in a comment below!


Keep it Sweet!


Aneesa

Tuesday, 17 January 2012

Mars Bar Brownies

As I browsing the internet for more recipe ideas, I found this recipe for Mars Bar Brownies on Cafe Lula. Since Mars bars are my favourite chocolate bar I knew I would have to try out the recipe! This recipe makes incredibly rich and ohhh so chocolatey brownies! 



To start off with preheat the oven to 180°C/355°F or 170°C/340°F for a fan oven.


SOOOOOO MUCH CHOCOLATE!!!


 In a pan over a low heat melt together the butter, finely chopped Mars bars and chocolate. Keep stirring with a wooden spoon and make sure to break down the nougat-y parts of the Mars by mashing them with the wooden spoon. When the mixture has melted and is smooth, remove it from the heat and let it cool slightly. 




Pour in the sugar and stir together. Then sift in the flour, cocoa powder and baking powder and mix together until it has fully combined. Next beat in the eggs, until you have a smooth mixture, then fold in the chopped slices of Mars bar.

 


Pour the mixture into a lined square baking tin and spread it evenly, making sure to level off the top of the thick mixture.



Bake this in the oven for about 30-40 mins until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out with a few sticky crumbs on it.



Let the brownies cool in the tin until they are warm. Remove them from the tin and when they are cool, you can cut them into pieces. 


The chopped slices of Mars bar folded in at the end add so much to the texture as well as taste of the brownie and as you can see there are some trails of caramel left, which adds another layer of flavour. They come out soft, goey and just delicious!




Ingredients:


Mars Bar Brownies: A Cafe Lula recipe:


2 Mars Bars (or Milky Ways) chopped small
200g/7oz/1.75 sticks butter, cut into chunks
100g/3.5oz Dark (bittersweet) chocolate, broken into pieces
100g/3.5oz Plain (semisweet) chocolate, broken into pieces
65g/2.3oz/1/2 cup+2 tablespoons Cocoa Powder
75g/2.65oz/1/2 cup Plain (all-purpose) flour
1 teaspoon Baking powder
250g/8.8oz/1 cup+2 tablespoons Caster sugar
3 Large eggs
2 Mars Bars (or Milky Ways), each sliced into about 10 pieces.


Cafe Lula recipe and instructions can be found here.


Keep it Sweet!


Aneesa