Goood morning beauties!

It has been a long January filled with a few days of 'feeling bad' blues.  I'm ready for February (the month of love) and moving forward with my years travel plans and New Years resolutions...

I'm planning on going to America twice this year to Orlando and Vegas, but I've also been fortunate enough to be in Germany over Christmas.

This morning to celebrate the fact that it is FINALLY payday, the end of January and the end of the snow?! - I decided to make some pancakes.  American Pancakes for our breakfast.

Here is the recipe:

 

Ingredients

• 135g/4¾oz plain flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp salt
• 2 tbsp caster sugar
• 130ml/4½fl oz milk
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 2 tbsp melted butter (allowed to cool slightly) or olive oil, plus extra for cooking

To serve

• Maple syrup
• Butter

Preparation method

1. Sift the flour, baking powder, salt and caster sugar into a large bowl. In a separate bowl or jug, lightly whisk together the milk and egg, then whisk in the melted butter.
   
2. Pour the milk mixture into the flour mixture and, using a fork, beat until you have a smooth batter. Any lumps will soon disappear with a little mixing. Let the batter stand for a few minutes.
   
3. Heat a non-stick frying pan over a medium heat and add a knob of butter. When it's melted, add a ladle of batter (or two if your frying pan is big enough to cook two pancakes at the same time). It will seem very thick but this is how it should be. Wait until the top of the pancake begins to bubble, then turn it over and cook until both sides are golden brown and the pancake has risen to about 1cm (½in) thick.
   
4. Repeat until all the batter is used up. You can keep the pancakes warm in a low oven, but they taste best fresh out the pan.
   
5. Serve with lashings of real maple syrup and extra butter if you like.
   

Sizzling!  Haha

I hope you enjoy making these beauties and banish those January blues...enjoy your breakfast because these are really worth making!

Recipe: Spicy cumin and pumpkin soup

Halloween is over and you might feel a little bit deflated....but not to fear I have a recipe to use up you old pumpkins!  That's right, you don't need to throw it away, because I've found a great heart-warming recipe to tantalise your tastebuds.

It is a soup...but just think of the delicious fresh bread roll you could eat along with it.  This recipe comes straight from Slimming World and is very low in fat, but it tastes brilliant.

 information

Serves: 4
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 35 minutes
Syns per serving:

Green: FREE

Original: FREE

Extra Easy: FREE

ingredients

Fry Light (Spray and cook)
1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
1.2kg/2lb 11oz pumpkin, peeled, deseeded and roughly chopped
1 tbsp ground cumin
salt and freshly ground black pepper
750ml/26fl oz vegetable stock made with Vecon
2 tbsp finely chopped coriander leaves

To serve
4 tbsp fat-free natural yogurt
roasted cumin seeds
paprika

method

1. Spray non-stick saucepan with Fry Light and place over a medium heat. Add the chopped onion to the pan and stir-fry for 3-4 minutes until softened.
2. Add the pumpkin and ground cumin and stir-fry for 2-3 minutes. Season well, add the stock and bring to the boil. Cover, lower the heat and simmer gently for 20-25 minutes until the pumpkin is tender.
3. Allow the soup to cool slightly, place in a food processor and blend until smooth. Stir in the coriander and ladle the soup into warmed bowls. Garnish each bowl with a spoonful of yogurt and a sprinkle of roasted cumin seeds and paprika.

Recipe: Mini Banana Split

Morning beauties!

I'm loving the kitchen again lately and decided to share another great little easy recipe that I found on the internet lately.  It is something that anyone can make, even if you are not really great at cooking or baking!

 

These mini banana splits look soooo delicious!  My family love having desserts, but forking out for cakes and frozen desserts can cost sooo much!  Not only that, but it is definitely not healthy.  These mini banana splits are offering you the best from both worlds, being sweet and delicious but small in calories (only if you eat one or two!). 

Follow this easy picture tutorial to make your own:

 

Using a melon ball scooper, carefully scoop out middle of a banana - avoiding scooping out the sides or bottom.

Spoon in your favourite flavour of ice cream (my favourite is rum and raisin).  Carefully remove the skin of the banana.

Dip the bottom of the banana into melted chocolate and sexy sprinkles!  Haha

Top off with a small squirt of cream on the top and a gorgeous red glazed cherry to finish the look.  Et voila!

I hope you've enjoyed this little recipe and share it with your friends.  It is great for entertaining friends and family but also fab for those naughty moments when you just fancy something sweet.

xoxo,
Angelique

Recipe: S'mores Fudge

Hello beauties,

This friday I fancied a change, and thought I'd share one of my recipes that I found online.  The darkness is drawing in quicker in the evenings and mornings are really dark when I'm getting up.  It is also getting MUCH chillier, which means we've had to put the heater on for a couple of hours to take the chill off.  And not only that but my favourite new TV programme is back on, called Wartime Farm.  It's basically all about how farmers lived during the 1930's and 1940's when the Second World War was in full sing.  The historians that recreate the stories have also covered Victorian and Edwardian Farms.  But back to what I'm posting about.

Fudge to me means Autumn. It means cool weather and brisk afternoon walks in the leave strewn streets. It reminds me of the holidays and giving out gifts of homemade candies to the neighbors and friends. …obviously I have a serious case of Autumn Fever. It’s bad, really bad.

I've already planned my Autumn/Winter wardrobe and what I'll need to be wearing, what I'll be doing during Halloween, where I'll go for Guy Fawkes AND how I can make Christmas time extra special.

While I may consider fudge to be an Autumn favorite, this S’mores Fudge could not be any more perfect for chilly weekends. It is a great make ahead dessert that combines all of my favorite flavours of Summer. It takes under 15 minutes of actual work from you and will impress your guests who don’t know how easy it really was….that’s a win-win in my book!

S'mores Fudge

Yield: 16 pieces of fudge

Ingredients:

1 (7 ounce) jar marshmallow creme
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2/3 cup evaporated milk
1/4 cup butter
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups milk chocolate chips
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 graham crackers, chopped (plus a few crushed for top)
1 cup mini marshmallows

Directions:

Line an 8x8 inch pan with parchment paper. Set aside.
In a large saucepan over medium heat, combine marshmallow cream, sugar, evaporated milk, butter and salt. Bring to a full boil, and cook for 5 minutes, stirring constantly.
Remove from heat and pour in semisweet chocolate chips and milk chocolate chips. Stir until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth. Remove from heat, stir in vanilla. Gently fold in graham crackers and pour into prepared pan.
Top with mini marshmallows and some crushed graham cracker. Chill in refrigerator for 2 hours, or until firm.



If you are living in the Northern Hemisphere, I hope that you can keep warm and cuddly.  For those lucky enough to live in the Southern Hemisphere, I hope you enjoy the warmth creeping in.  I'm personally loving the cooler weather, especially because I can legitmately drink Hot Chocolate without looking silly!

Have a fantastic weekend!

xoxo,
Angelique

Recipe of the Day: Lemon and Strawberry Ice Pops

Hi lovelies!

Today is a bit of a blue monday for me, as it feels like summer is ebbing away faster than you can say go!

So really I wanted to cheer myself and everyone that reads my blog up with a healthy, fun way to clutch onto those last dregs of summer.  So thus I've decided to give you a recipe for making your own ice pops.

Makes about 10 lollies

150g/2oz strawberries, hulled
3 egg yolks
75g/4oz caster sugar
a pinch of salt
150ml/5fl oz milk
100ml/31/2fl oz double cream
6 fresh mint leaves
finely grated zest of 1 large unwaxed lemon

 

 

Slice half the strawberries very finely and arrange on the sides of 10 x 80ml ice pop moulds. Immediately freeze for 30 minutes. Finely chop the remaining strawberries and set aside.

Using an electric whisk, whisk the egg yolks, sugar and salt together in a bowl until creamy and the sugar has dissolved.

Place the milk, cream and mint leaves in a saucepan and gently heat (do not boil). Remove from the heat and leave to cool slightly, then stir in the egg mixture. Return to a low heat and cook for about 1 minute, stirring all the time, until slightly thickened.

Remove from the heat and stir in the chopped strawberries and lemon zest. Pour into the moulds and freeze for at least 6 hours.

You could even make ice cubes from these delicious little devils.  Add cucumber, lemon, lime and all manner of fruits to your ice cube tray and pour it water for a refreshing take on your water.

 

Hope you enjoy!

 

xoxo,

Angelique

Cake Batter Martini's

Good morning beautiful stars!

It is nearly the bank holiday weekend...and also nearly time to celebrate my first wedding anniversary.

The actual anniversary is on Monday 27th August, but my husband has booked us a table at a really fancy little restaurant in Warwickshire!  I'm totally excited and can't wait to have a grown-up evening of decadence.  I'll be sure to post lots of pictures come monday.

Bank Holiday made me think of way to funk up the weekend to make it more fun but also different, and I found the most amazing little recipe online.  The actual recipe is from The Novice Chef blog, this blog is run by Jessica who loves cooking and comes up with some amazing ideas to try out.  She takes beautiful pictures of all the food she cooks, and also describes the food and gives you super easy recipes to follow.

So with no further ado, I'm giving you her recipe for Cake Batter Martini's:

Cake Batter Martini

Yield: 2 martinis (or 1 BIG one!)

Ingredients:

3 ounces Three Olives Cake Vodka
3 ounces white/clear creme de cacao
2 ounces amaretto
2 ounces heavy whipping cream
1 ounce Godiva white chocolate liqueur
sprinkles (I used nonpareils)

Directions:

Place sprinkles on a shallow plate that is a little larger than the mouth of your martini glass. Dampen a paper towel with whipping cream (or water) and wet the rims of the martini glasses. Dip glass into sprinkles to coat the edges.
Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice and shake for about 30 seconds. Strain into martini glasses and drink!
Make ahead: For a big party, mix up a big bath of these martinis and store in a large pitcher in the fridge. Shake a glass at a time over ice whenever ready to serve!


I'm loving this recipe and can't wait to give it a go over this weekend.  Let me know what you think of it.

I hope you all enjoy the bank holiday  weekend in the UK, and for those who are just having a regular weekend with a monday start, just kick back, relax and take it easy!  Have fun whatever you do or if you are going away, you are sooo lucky!

Lots of fun-ness
Angelique

Coconut Ice Clusters

I felt like something different on the blog today, and decided to share my recent prowess as 'sweet-maker' with you.  I've been craving something with a bit of coconut in it for ages, and what better than these simply delicious coconut ice clusters?

These remind me so much of my childhood and I always enjoyed munching on them especially when it seemed like it was going to be a drab day.

Coconut Ice

500g (1lb 2oz) Powdered Sugar
2 cans Sweetened Condensed Milk
400g (14oz) desiccated coconut
pink food coloring

Line an 8 inch square pan with plastic wrap.

Sift the powdered sugar into a bowl, then add the sweetened condensed milk. (The mixture will be really thick and will get thicker as you add the coconut. I used a wooden spoon.)

Add the coconut gradually, and stir until all is combined. Next, divide the mixture in half, pressing one half into the pan. Add your pink food coloring to the remaining half. (I used a liquid neon pink food color, at least 4 drops)  Now you're going to place the pink mixture over the white mixture by taking "globs" of it and sort of flattening it a bit in your hands before placing it on top of the white mixture. (I took a tiny bit of butter and greased my hands a bit so that it wouldn't stick so much). After you get all the pink mixture added, press it all down a bit with your (lightly greased) hands to even it out. Now the hard part - Let it set for a few hours, and preferably overnight. Then cut into squares. It's that easy!

You can be super creative and add coloured sprinkles afterwards and even edible glitter.  Let your imagination take shape!

I'm off to munch on these beauties, enjoy your weekend!

xoxo
Angelique