Fluffy Baked Eggs

I have heard of baked eggs but never seen a recipe or ever tried to make them before so not sure if I make them the correct way or not - if there is a correct way.

So this was my first attempt and what I will call Fluffy Baked Eggs.

This is so easy and would probably be a good way for children to like eggs as they could probably make different shapes with them.

The longest bit is waiting for the oven to heat up!

I will tell you what I did this time but it is an 'Eggs in Process' to see which way I prefer after trying out various options.

They do look good and interesting though and hubby was impressed!

OK, so I just whisked the egg whites, dolloped them in a pile on the tray, made a dip in the centre and dropped the yolk in and baked them in the oven at 180 degrees for about 8 minutes until they started to go brown.

They taste very light and airy so unlike any other version of cooking eggs.

I think I will also try putting them in a cooler oven and let the whites cook for a few minutes before I add the yolks in the centre which may make a crispier alternative with a runnier yolk.

But I think you could make these into interesting shapes for the kids and get them involved with cooking them.

Happy baking and experimenting :)

Super Easy Mushroom Soup Recipe

Here is another of my so-easy-anyone-can-do-it recipes that a few of you have asked for.

The herbs and spices can be adjusted to taste so I have just listed the ones I use.

Large box Mushrooms

3 cloves Garlic

2 Vegetable Stock Cubes (made up with water)

Glass Wine

Fresh Basil

Fresh Chives

Mixed Herbs

Red & Black Pepper

Ginger

All in pressure cooker, up to pressure, turn down for 10 mins, then off.  

Liquidise if you like smoother soup.

You can keep some in the fridge and freeze the rest J

Before serving you can also add a knob of butter and/or some grated cheese – stir to melt. 

Or you can stir in some milk or cream for a Cream of Mushroom soup.



NB.  I just made some yesterday and as I hadn't got any fresh herbs in stock I just sprinkled in some spices from my spice rack and it was still lovely.  

I always tend to add Mixed Herbs and some Black & Red Pepper from my spice rack to most soups.

The main ingredients (mushrooms in this case) and the Stock Cubes are the only important ingredients really.

Yellow Mint Sauce Indian Restaurant Style Recipe

Do you love that orangey/yellow sauce in one of the pots they put on the table with the poppadoms while you are waiting for your Indian meal to be served?

I love it and could happily eat a whole pot myself.   So I asked my favourite Indian restaurant for their recipe and this is it.  

Yellow Mint Sauce

Natural Yogurt + Milk to thin

Green Chilli to taste (approx. 2 small)

Coriander

Garden Mint

2-3 dessertspoons Sugar

Mango Chutney

Salt

Blend the extra ingredients, then add to Yogurt

These are the basic ingredients but this is one of those dishes that you can add as much or as little as you like to get the taste you like best, as some like it stronger than others.

I haven't got a photo to show you but will add one next time I make it, or visit the Indian restaurant which gave me the recipe.

Easy Coffee and Walnut Sponge Cake

As requested here is my very easy fool-proof recipe:

Sponge

8 oz Soft Butter

8 oz Caster Sugar

8 oz Self Raising Flour

4 Eggs

2 teaspoons Baking Powder

1 teaspoon Instant Coffee (enough boiling water to dissolve – leave to cool)

½ packet (approx. 4 oz Chopped Walnuts)- keep aside some to add in the middle of the sponge and large pieces or halves to decorate

Coffee and walnut butter icing (amount to individual taste) for middle

1 teaspoon dissolved Instant Coffee

Butter

Walnut pieces

Coffee icing for top and side

1 teaspoon dissolved Instant Coffee

Water

Turn oven on to 170 degrees.

Make coffee for the sponge (if you don’t mind the extra washing up, make 3 coffee mixtures ready to use).

Line 2 sponge tins with non-stick baking paper (or grease the tins well).

If the butter is still a bit hard, put it in the microwave just above defrost temperature for about 30 seconds until just soft as it makes it easier to mix.

Put all the ingredients (apart from the walnuts) into a large bowl and stir well (you can cream the sugar into the soft butter first if you want, but I find it isn’t essential). 

When it is all mixed in you can stir in the walnut pieces (I break mine up quite small – each half into about 6 pieces).

Divide the mixture into the 2 sponge tins.

Pop in the oven for about 30 minutes (until they feel springy on top – but don’t test until about the 30 minutes or they will sink in the middle).

Take them out and cool on a rack (tip - keep the one with the best rounded top upwards and the other one with the top downwards on the rack, so the 2 flat parts are in the middle of the cake to ice).

Make another coffee mixture with as little hot water as possible and when cool add it to butter and icing sugar – make as much as you like for the middle of the cake.

Make and cool the last coffee mixture so it is cool to make the setting icing for the top.

When the sponges are cool, put the bottom sponge on the serving dish and spread with the butter icing and push some walnut pieces into the icing (or you can add them to the butter icing before spreading it if you prefer).

Put the other sponge on top.

Make up the icing with the last coffee mixture and add the icing sugar, adding a little bit more water to get the amount of icing you want.

Spread it over the top of the cake (and round the sides if you want). 

In my photo I made the icing a little thinner plus more than normal and let it run down the sides and on to the serving plate (spoon up over the bits it missed on the sides until all covered).

Decorate the cake with the walnut pieces (tip – don’t put them too close to the edge if the icing is still runny as they will fall off).

If you want just the basic reminder instructions, here they are:

Put all sponge ingredients in a bowl, stir, divide into 2 tins.

Pop in the oven 170 for 30 mins, then cool.

Butter ice the middle, setting icing the top.  Walnuts to decorate.

Banana and Brazil Nut Cake Recipe - my own recipe

I had some bananas that were going a bit squidgy again and so thought I would make a cake with them. 

I decided to try making up a different recipe using brazil nuts and a few other things I had to hand.

It made a lovely cake which was totally consumed in 24 hours, mainly by my husband as I only managed to eat 4 small slices before it all disappeared – and it makes a big cake.

I was debating on icing it but never really had chance before the first chunk disappeared.  So as it was really nice just as an undecorated cake, we were happy.

So here is my recipe:

Banana and Brazil Nut Cake

This recipe is extremely easy.

Turn the oven on to 150 degrees (electric fan oven) – low/medium heat.

Into a large mixing bowl add the following, mixing after each ingredient is added:

4 large Soft Bananas, mashed

4 oz softened Butter

8 oz Caster Sugar

12 oz Self Raising Flour

1 ½ teaspoons Baking Powder

4 XL Eggs (or 5 medium eggs)

4 oz Chopped Brazil Nuts

6 oz Seedless Raisings

1 tablespoon soft Honey

1 teaspoon Cinnamon powder

1 teaspoon Mixed Spice powder

Stir well to mix all the ingredients.

Pour into a large greased circle tin (with the hole in the middle) or a large cake tin.   

(It would probably work in sponge tins if you cooked for only approx.. 30 minutes or bun cases for 15 minutes).

Cook for approx. 70 minutes (until a knife comes out clean).

Best to cover with foil for the last 15 minutes to stop the top burning.

The cake can then be either left as it is or iced, whichever your preference.

Enjoy J

(I have some more recipes on my blog – just look for Recipes down the right hand side).

A Variety of Scrambled Egg Recipes

I often have scrambled eggs for breakfast or lunch and friends have said to me “Don’t you find them a bit bland?” or “You had scrambled eggs yesterday – don’t you get bored with them?”.

Well to be honest – I rarely have them the same way twice (or certainly not in the same week).

I make them with lots of different ingredients with the eggs just being the basic ingredient really.  Scrambled eggs are a bit like having an omelette.  You can put all sorts of different things in them to make them taste totally different every time.

I usually use 2 large or extra large eggs.

Sometimes I add a little milk but not always.  Milk makes it softer but if you like a firmer omelette consistency then leave the milk out or adjust it accordingly.

I melt a little bit of butter in the bottom of the saucepan first (or you can use oil).

Put the saucepan on a low heat.

Then I add all the rest of the ingredients as well as the eggs and just give it a really good stir and then keep stirring once they start to set.

For best results take them off the heat just as they are starting to set as they continue setting on their own. 

So if you don’t like them soft then just leave them on for a bit longer.

I like mine set but nice and soft still.

Have them on their own, on or beside buttered toast or I sometimes have mine with buttered Ryvita (crispbread) on the side.

Of course you can have them alongside all sorts of other things too – bacon, sausages, mushrooms, tomatoes etc. or as part of a full English breakfast.

The extra ingredients I have often used for mine are:

½ teaspoon Marmite

½ tsp Whole Grain Mustard

1 tsp Cheese Spread – lots of flavours in these alone

1 tsp Tomato Sauce

1 tsp Brown Sauce

1 tsp Tabasco Sauce

½ tsp Soy Sauce

½ tsp Sweet Chilli Sauce

½ tsp Oyster Sauce

½ tsp Worcester Sauce

½ tsp any of your favourite pastes

½ tsp any dry herb in your collection, turmeric, basil etc.

As much cheese as you like – grated or cut into small pieces to melt quickly

Diced cooked bacon

Diced ham or any cooked meat

Mashed tinned tuna, salmon, or any favourite fish

Mushrooms - chopped small (cook in the pan slightly before you add the eggs)

Peppers - chopped small (cook in the pan until soft before adding the eggs)

Spring Onions – chopped small (cook in the pan until soft before adding the eggs)

Of course you can add more than one of any of these ingredients for even more choices.

I am sure there are many more savoury things you can think to add to your scrambled eggs to make them different each day.  I have probably forgotten some even in writing this.

Let me know if you have a particular favourite that I have not mentioned here.

You can also make them look interesting and appetising by adding a swirl of cream on top, a sprinkle of herbs or chopped meat or vegetables.

They make a great Starter for a dinner party if decorated.  Try popping them into vol au vent or other pastry cases.  They also make a great alternative to anything you would normally use hard boiled eggs for, if you leave them to cool first.

Of course you can also mash quite a few of these ingredients into a hard boiled egg mixture but some mix a lot better when cooked as scrambled eggs as they incorporate right into the mixture.

My current favourite scrambled eggs are Marmite and Chilli Cheese Spread with buttered Ryvita on the side. 

My favourite hard boiled eggs mix is with blue cheese salad dressing and cress.

So next time you have scrambled eggs try adding something extra rather than just having plain scrambled eggs, which are a bit boring.  You will find them much more interesting and tasty.

LOL – my photo is just a quick snap of some scrambled eggs made with Marmite on a slice of toast one day as a post on Google Plus, so rather a basic untouched, without frills, photo I am afraid J 

But I am sure you know what a plate of scrambled eggs look like without me tarting it up to look like a restaurant delicacy for a photo J

I hope you enjoy your experimenting and don’t forget to let me know if you already have anything different or come up with some other ideas.

‘No Cook’ Chocolate and Coconut Truffles Recipe

This recipe was in a friend’s town magazine and was a suggestion for children to make for Mothers Day.  Well as I was dying for some chocolate today and had none in the house I could resist temptation no longer and decided to give the recipe a try.  It is extremely easy, although it is a bit mucky to roll it into balls – but that’s only because I hate getting my hands messy, kids and dads will probably love it.

They taste absolutely gorgeous, sort of chocolatey and chewy – very like chocolate macaroons I have had in the past.

All you need is a mixing bowl, scales, spoon and something to lay them flat in the fridge to set properly (although I shouldn’t think they will stick together if you pile them up).  The only slight ‘cooking bit’ is melting the butter if it isn’t a warm day.  Just pop it in the microwave with the milk in the mixing bowl (for about 30 seconds – depends on how soft the butter already is – just try for 30 secs and if not long enough, for a little longer until runny or almost runny – if you stir it round the rest will go runny but you don’t want it to start bubbling – you only need to melt it, not cook it).

'No Cook' Chocolate and Coconut Truffles

Ingredients

50g (2 oz) butter (or margarine)

60ml (4 tablespoons) milk

75g (3 oz) caster sugar

25g (1 oz) cocoa powder

100g (4 oz) oats

100g (4 oz) desiccated coconut

25g (1 oz) chopped nuts

15ml (1 tablespoon) milk

To make

1.    Melt butter and 4 tbsps milk together until runny

2.    Add all the rest of the ingredients and mix well

3.    Allow to cool (if still warm)

4.    Form into small balls

5.    Place on baking tray or plate

6.    Put in fridge for a couple of hours to allow them to set firmly

If you want to make them look professional or for a gift you can roll them in coconut, chocolate powder or vermicelli after rolling them into balls and / or put into sweet cases.  Then you could tuck them into a box or basket to give as a present.

They can of course be made without nuts – just replace with more coconut instead.

Other suggestions are to add ground almond instead of the nuts, add a couple of drops of almond or vanilla essence.  You could probably use coffee (mixed with the milk and cooled) instead of the cocoa powder for coffee truffles instead.  I am sure there are many slight alterations that can be tried.  This is the first time I have used this recipe so I haven’t yet tried playing around with alternatives.  

Enjoy J

Ooh one thing I meant to add – it makes more than shown in the photos – some had already been nabbled by the time I got the camera!

Easy Fake Cheese Bread Recipe

Now don’t switch off now if you don’t like marmite as there are alternatives below.  But I mentioned the marmite scone/bread in my last blog and I was going to tell you about it and give you the recipe.  I did manage to get a photo of the last little bit of the 1^st loaf to show you and I took the 2^nd one out of the freezer for you to see (but I did cut it into slices before I froze it as seen in the baking tin photo).  I never think to take pictures of anything as I haven’t really got quite into that “take photos of everything” scenario, probably because I don’t make a Smartphone and although my mobile phone does take photos I can only keep them on the phone itself and can’t transfer them because I don’t pay a monthly fee for my phone, so I have no way of transferring them to the computer or even sending them to anyone. 

This is the background of the recipe.  When the next door neighbour went on a breadmaking course he came back with all these recipes and one of them was to make cheese and marmite bread.  Anyway he made two of the marmite and cheese loaves and gave one to me – well it was nice but it would have been better to have just made a plain loaf and let me spread the marmite on it as usual.  The marmite hadn’t mixed in with the bread so it had big holes in as he had spread the marmite on and rolled it into the bread.  Consequently when you cut it the slice looked like a jam roly poly or swiss roll.  But it also left a gap in the bread presumably where the marmite didn’t adhere to the other side.  Well I obviously set him a challenge because he has now found it works better if he mixes the marmite in with the water in the recipe before making the bread.  So this is how we came to adapt this recipe.

My husband has been trying his hand at breadmaking too (after a one day course with the next door neighbour showing him his newly learned skills) and he happened to see this recipe that doesn’t follow the usual method as it has no yeast so doesn’t need to rise.  He made it with cheese, ham and chives as per the recipe and it was lovely – but I would call it more of a scone taste than a bread taste.  It’s like scone loafJ  Well he decided to try this recipe by dissolving some marmite in the water (as in next door’s bread recipe) but he also substituted marmite cheddar for the mature cheddar.  It came out really nice but the taste was still quite mild so next time he will try 2 teaspoons of marmite dissolved in the water instead of just one and go back to the mature cheddar cheese instead to make the whole taste stronger. 

So depending upon how strong you want the marmite and the cheese taste, you can just adapt the recipe with stronger or milder cheese and with more or less marmite dissolved in the water.  But if you are one of those people who can’t stand marmite you can still make the recipe with just cheese or with the other flavourings.  I know marmite is one of those things that people either love or hate with a vengeance (my husband hates it so the marmite version will be made only for me). 

Fake Cheese Bread          (see below for alternative flavourings)

425g Self Raising Flour

150g Grated Mature Cheese (save ¼ for the topping)

1 teaspoon Baking Powder

½ teaspoon Fine Sea Salt

1 teaspoon Mustard Powder

1 teaspoon Paprika

½ teaspoon Black Pepper

200ml Warm Water (dissolve at least 1 teaspoon of Marmite – add more to taste)

Pre-heat oven to 200c / 400f

Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl, saving ¼ of the cheese for the topping.

Form into 2 long rolls and deeply slash the tops 4 or 5 times.

Push remaining cheese into the slashes and spread over the top.

Place in 2 medium pre-greased baking tins and cook for a full 30 – 40 minutes.

Cover with foil or greaseproof paper if top browns too soon.

This recipe can also be adapted by adding these for a savoury bread:

6 slices of Ham chopped into ½” squares.

½ bunch Chives chopped into ½” lengths.

Here is today’s trivia snippet:

In a pack of cards did you know the King of Hearts is the only king WITHOUT A MOUSTACHE?

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Lastly, we have todays chuckles:

The teacher asked Little Johnny, 

"Can you tell me the name of 3 great kings who have brought happiness and peace into people's lives?

Little Johnny answered:
"Drin-king, smo-king, and bon-king".

My Blackberry & Apple Cake Easy Recipe

This is the 2nd cake recipe I just made up as I went along that I promised to blog.  If you saw my Banana Cake recipe I said I would try to work out how much is actually in 1/3 of a Chinese Chow Mein carton to give a more accurate recipe.  Sorry, for those who didn’t read the other blog, my blackberry and apple was just stored in the take-away tub and I just tipped about 1/3 of it in the cake mix so had no idea how much I used at the time.  As this was discussed only a couple of hours after I made it, I took a quick photo before it all disappeared – not a good or thought-out photo as I had only expected to send it to my friend Julie but I have included it here anyway.

You can also use most other fruits instead I presume – and most definitely stewed apples on their own if you don’t like the blackberry pips.  I know I am probably lucky but I make lots of recipes up as I go along – especially for dinners so if it was a particularly tasty stir fry / casserole etc. I do try to write it down afterwards so I can try to replicate it, as I would never remember what I had put in by the time I came to make it again.  I also like to make things easy – some great tasty meals are just so quick and easy to make.  I love tasty meals rather than plain ones so I love to experiment and I just add things as I go, especially different herbs and spices.  Whenever I have ever looked at recipes, there are ingredients involved that I just don’t have so I have had to improvise anyway.  But if the recipe looks too complicated and long-winded I just can’t be bothered.   Anyway back to the cake recipe so here it is.  It is almost a sponge mix really so you could make it in 2 sponge tins if you wanted.  It couldn’t be any simpler so give it a try. 

SUZY’S  BLACKBERRY  &  APPLE  CAKE

Put oven on (fan 160 degrees) – medium heat
In a mixing bowl put in all the ingredients and mix together, then put in a tin and cook for about an hour. I put some castor sugar on the top for the last 10 mins and foil loosely over the top to stop it burning at that point. It's ready when the knife comes out clean. 

For the metric cooks – 8oz is about 250grams.

Ingredients:
6 oz castor sugar
6 oz soft butter
6 oz self raising flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 XL eggs
1 dessert spoon Mixed Spice
1 dessert spoon Cinnamon
10oz (approx.) Stewed blackberry and apple

This is almost my foolproof sponge recipe really except I made it into a cake.  The sponge mix is just the same apart from I split it into 2 sponge tins and cook it a bit hotter but for only half an hour.  I vary the taste of the sponge by just adding different things - coconut, lemon juice, chocolate powder, ground almonds & almond essence, coffee, walnuts, mixed fruit, cherries etc.  Favourites seem to be coffee & walnut, cherry & coconut, lemon & coconut, almond.  Absolutely foolproof.   Just follow the 6/6/6/1/3 ingredients rule or for a thicker sponge 8/8/8/1.5/4.  Unless it is a Victoria Sponge I usually put flavoured butter icing in the middle and flavoured normal icing on top and basically decorate with whatever is in the cake – walnuts, cherries etc.  With lemon cake I often spread lemon curd in the middle as well.  Another popular recipe I have is for Date Loaf – I’ll post that another day.

If you try either of these recipes I hope you enjoy them – and remember if they don’t come out quite right just use them as a dessert with custardJ

Banana Cake - very easy but my own recipe so don't get too excited!

I mentioned to some friends the other day about how I made 2 cakes recently without recipes and just added ingredients as I went along and they turned out great.  I just went along with the supposition that if they didn’t turn out well and look like cakes, then we could just put custard on them and eat them for deserts.  I have had so many people asking for the recipes that I thought I may as well put them on my blog.  The first one was a Banana Cake to use up some past-their-prime bananas (soft but still white inside but had dark spotty skins outside – just a bit too squidgy to want to eat normally) and the 2^nd one was Blackberry and Apple Cake to use some stewed apples and blackberries as we had loads.  The cakes turned out great and so I wrote down as near as I could the recipes for both of them.  It is a bit of a problem though in working out what a “splodge” of butter and a sprinkle of spices were so I made the Banana Cake again to check the ingredients.  But I will have to work out how much 1/3 of a carton of Chinese Chow Mein is because that was how much stewed blackberry and apple I used, as it was stored in one of those at the time – although I don’t think it will matter too much as to how much a 1/3 is for the recipe.  So I will add that one on another blog.  These cakes are very very simple and easy to make.  I don’t believe in complicated recipes.  Apologies in advance that the ingredients are in ounces for those who only use grams now.  I think 250grams is about the same as 8oz.

SUZY’S  BANANA  CAKE

Turn oven on to 150 degrees (electric fan oven) – low/medium heat.

Put all ingredients in a large mixing bowl - put bananas in first and mash.

6 overipe bananas – mashed

1 tablespoon runny honey

12 oz self raising flour

2-3 teaspoons baking powder

8 oz castor sugar

4 oz soft spreadable butter

4 XL eggs    (probably 5 medium sized, if that is what you use)

2 teaspoons mixed spices

2 teaspoons cinnamon

Mix well and put into a greased cake tin – I used a circle one for this (with a hole in the middle) but I don’t suppose it matters what tin you use.  Or you could put it in 2 sponge tins and cook a bit hotter but for half the time (I make sponges on 160 degrees).

Cook for approx. 1 hour until a knife comes out clean.

Check after 45-50 minutes and if the top is browning too fast, loosely cover the top with foil.

You can at this point sprinkle some castor sugar over the top as well.

I expect you know this already but don’t take the cake out until it looks ready on the top (at least ¾ of the way through the cooking time) or it will sink.  Just like Yorkshire Puddings do.