Sunday 26 April 2015

Keep Calm and Eat S'more Cupcakes

A good chocolate cupcake can't be beaten... and this recipe makes a pretty good one! It is basically a  Hummingbird Bakery recipe but I have added a few things here and there to make it better! (If that was possible)

Enjoy!

Ingredients:

... for the cake
100g Plain flour
20g cocoa powder
140g caster sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
a pinch of salt
120ml whole milk
1 egg
1/4 teaspoons of vanilla extract

... for the icing
300g icing sugar, sifted
100g unsalted butter, at room temperature
40g cocoa powder, sifted
40ml whole milk
2 chocolate digestive biscuits
mini marshmallows for decoration

1. Preheat the oven to 170 C (325 F) Gas 3.
2. Put the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, salt and butter in a freestanding electric mixer with a paddle attachment (or use a handheld electric whisk) and beat on a slow speed until you get a sandy consistency and ever thing is combined.
3.Whisk the milk, egg and vanilla extract together in a jug, then slowly pour about half into the flour mixture, beat to combine and turn up the speed to get rid of any lumps.
4. Turn the mixer down to a slower speed and slowly pour in the remaining milk mixture (scrape any unmixed ingredients from the side of the bowl with a rubber spatula). Continue mixing for a couple more minuets until the mixture is smooth. Do not overmix.
5. Spoon the mixture into the paper cases until two-thirds full and bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minuets, or until the sponge bounces back when touched.
6. While the cupcakes are in the oven, make the icing. Beat the icing sugar, butter and cocoa powder in an electric mixer with a paddle attachment on a medium speed. Mix until the ingredients are well combined. Turn the mixer down to a slow speed.
7. Briefly break up the 2 digestive biscuits into a pestle and mortar. Keep crushing until the biscuits and mostly crumbs with the odd chunk.
8. Add the milk to the butter mixture a couple of tablespoons at a time. Once all the milk has been incorporated, turn the mixer up to a high speed. Continue beating the frosting until light and fluffy (approx. 5 minutes).
9. Remove the cupcakes from the oven once cooked. Leave the cupcakes to cool slightly in the tray before turning out onto a wire rack to finish cooling.
10. When cupcakes are completely cool, frost them with the icing. Decorate them with whatever you like, but to complete the S'more cupcake, top them with mini marshmallows.

I LOVE these cupcakes! They are so delicious, I especially like the crunch you get from the digestive biscuits in the icing! I hope you like them as well, let me know in the comments below!

LittleMissBlogger

Bye! Xxx




Sunday 19 April 2015

Pork Roll

                                                         This recipe will sound crazy, but trust me... it's good!
It is a sushi style, meat roll made up of minced beef, bacon, cheese and onion! It's LUSH!

Ingredients:
-500g minced beef
-Salt & Pepper
-A splash of cream
-Additional spices (optional)
-6 rashers of streaky bacon (smoked or unsmoked)
-2 1/2 cheesy strings (or any other kind of cheese, cut into a long, thin strip)
-1/2 tub of Danfood onion salad crispies ( or similar)
-BBQ sauce

Equipment:
-Sushi style rolling mat
-Basic kitchen tools (knifes, bowl etc.)
-BBQ or grill
-Cling film/ silver foil

Method:
1. Lay out your sushi rolling mat with a rectangle of cling film on top.
2. Place down the rashers of bacon, going away from you and slightly layered over one other.
3. Put the minced beef in a bowl, add salt and pepper, cream and the optional spices.
4. Once combined, pat the minced beef mixture over the bacon, in an evenly thin layer.
5. Then, lay down the cheese strings at the bottom of the rectangle, closest in front of you.
6. Now, tightly roll the rectangle from the bottom, in a sushi style, releasing the cling film and mat as you go.
7. Prepare the BBQ or grill for about 180 C/350 F.
8. Place the roll on a sheet of silver foil. Put onto the BBQ or grill, not over direct heat.
9. Leave to cook for 25 minuets.
10. After the set time, leaving the roll on the BBQ/grill, smother in BBQ sauce.
11. Cook for a further 10 minutes, and once again smother on more BBQ sauce.
12. Again, cook for 5-10 minutes and smother in BBQ sauce.
13. Remove from the heat and place on a board which can collect juices.
14. Grab a handful of onion crispies and rub into the roll, top and sides.
15. Move on to the serving board.
16. Slice into desired portions. And ENJOY!



 So, there you have it! A great BBQ recipe that everyone (except vegetarians) will adore this summer! I had great fun making this pork roll, and I will surely be making it again in the future!

It's delicious and reasonably cheap! This 1 roll, fed 4 hungry people, and with some homemade chips, roasted peppers and salad, it made for a great meal.

Price per roll:
£2 - minced beef
£1.05 - bacon
46p - cheese strings
69p - onion crispies
50p - BBQ sauce
50p - others aprox.

Total per roll - £5.20 aprox.


Please do go ahead and experiment a bit, with different spices and sauces, if you are vegetarian then conjure up some amazing vegetarian version! Make one from chicken, lamb or any other meat you want!

LittleMissBlogger

Bye! Xxx


Friday 17 April 2015

Nutella


Nut-ella, Noo-tella, however you say it, it's delicious!
For me it is best when smothered on lightly toasted white bread.. it's a great way to wake up in the morning.

But plain Nutella does get a bit dull from time to time! So here are a few of my favourite Nutella combos... Enjoy!

Fruit! This is my favourite topping! Either on toast or pancakes, it gives it a nice sweet, juicy kick!
- Strawberries are the best as they are sweet and flavoursome, but also keep their shape and don't go everywhere when you bite into it.
-Bananas are also a good choice. Once again, they hold their shape, and will keep you going for much longer than just regular toast.
-Pear is TOO  juicy and doesn't actually have that much flavour, so this one isn't great, but still makes breakfast a bit more adventurous!
-Apple is OK! However, the combination of crispy toast, smooth Nutella and crunchy apple is a little bizarre!
-Orange, I haven't tried, but could potentially be quite good. It would probably be a bit like eating a nutty chocolate orange! I expect that the juice may shoot across the room when you bite into the chunks but... Hey!

Butter is the biggest no-no in my opinion! I'm sure many of you already know this but, I'm just reminding you!

I like Nutella with scotch pancakes and crepes, and I've heard that nutella sandwiches are good too... I'm not sure about the last one!

I found some cool Nutella facts on the website:
  • You could circle the world 1.4 times with the amount of Nutella produced in one year.
  • You could cover the great wall of China 8 times with the number of jars of Nutella sold in a year.
  • If you were to use the amount of Nutella consumed in one year as clay, you could build Big Ben 22,000 times.
Go check out the website, it's got some cool stuff on there! http://www.nutella.com/en/

By the way, I am not a well known blogger so this is not sponsored in any way... I just genuinely LOVE Nutella!

I would love to hear your favourite Nutella combos and if you used any of the ones I mentioned, please comment down below with your thoughts!

LittleMissBlogger

Bye! Xxx

Sunday 12 April 2015

Greetings Internet!

Greetings Internet!

I'm starting this blog in an attempt to venture out into the internet! I'm not exactly a great writer, or have anything to teach you, I just wanted a secret place were I can spill out everything I want to say.

This blog will be about cake, food, reviews and possibly DIY's.  I want it to be anonymous and for this blog to be a positive place.So NO NEGATIVE COMMENTS please!

This part is super cliché, so prepare yourself....
I was inspired by Zoella and after reading GirlOnline I thought 'why not?!' I thought her book was really thoughtful and one of the deepest books I've ever read! (which isn't hard, considering, before I read it my favourite books were David Walliams!)

So, yeah!

I was thinking of uploading weekly, probably on Sunday's, but given I'm not the best with technology (and deadlines) it may waver!

I honestly will be amazed if anyone ever finds this blog, let alone read my posts and if, if you followed...... I would be SO overwhelmed!!!!

LittleMissBlogger

Bye! Xxx