Wonk's Recipe Box

Under Construction...

2009-06-20T10:11:00.000-07:00

I still have in mind a few things to do with my recipe box - mainly how I'm going to index it and possibly even adding in a pdf or word document option so they can be downloaded.

So if you're looking in and thinking 'geez, this place is a mess'...why yes, yes it is!

It's still very much a 'work in progress' so don't abandon me yet - when I'm done and happy I'll be posting on Land of Wonk to let everyone know so be sure to watch out for info there.

Thankee!

Strawberry filling/sauce

2009-06-13T03:46:00.000-07:00

For photo's and more details of when I made this sauce as part of another recipe, check out my original blog entry on Land of Wonk.

150g of Strawberry jam
4 large fresh Strawberries, diced in various sized chunks
1 tablespoon of water
Dash of Lemon juice

Place the jam, water and lemon juice in a small pan and mix well over a low heat until it becomes more fluid. Add the Strawberries and keep stirring constantly until the fruit softens and the sauce starts to gently foam. Remove from heat and transfer to a bowl to chill or freeze.

Chunky Apple Buttermilk Muffins

2009-06-12T14:29:00.000-07:00

For photo's and more details of when I made these, check out my original blog entry on Land of Wonk.

165g light brown sugar
115g melted butter
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp vanilla essence
190g wholemeal flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
130g/1 apple (I used a Braeburn), cored, peeled and chopped
125ml buttermilk
35g walnuts, chopped
1/2 tsp mixed spice

1 Set aside a quarter of the brown sugar (around 40g) for the crumble topping. Combine the remaining brown sugar with the melted butter, egg and vanilla essence.

2 Slowly add in the flour, baking powder and salt and fold in until smooth.

3 Add buttermilk and chopped apple and mix well until there is no sign of milk left 'sitting' on the mix.

4 Divide mix between 12 muffin cases. Mine are cupcake size so you'll get less if you're making the bigger type of muffins.

5 In another bowl, stir together the remaining brown sugar, the chopped walnuts and the mixed spice, making especially sure the spice is well dispersed. Sprinkle evenly over the top of each muffin - for me it worked out at about 1 heaped teaspoon of topping.

6 Bake for 30-35 minutes on Gas mark 3 or 325 degrees.

7 Enjoy the smell of warm spices wafting throughout the house while they cook!

Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars

2009-06-12T14:23:00.000-07:00

Adapted from a recipe at Cookies on Friday.

70g butter
110g caster sugar
1 egg, beaten
340g crunchy peanut butter
210g Plain Flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
200g Jam of your choice

1 Beat the butter and sugar together in a bowl until light and fluffy

2 Add the egg until mixture is smooth again, then add in the peanut butter and about a third of the jam. Mix well.

3 Gradually add in the flour, salt and baking powder and combine until the sides of the bowl turn 'clean' and you are left with a dough.

4 Set a third of the dough to one side and using the back of a spoon, press the rest down evenly over the bottom of your tray. I used a 10x6 pan lined with foil and greased. Spread the jam over the top of flattened dough.

5 Sprinkle small pieces of the remaining dough over the top like a crumble - I did this just using my fingertips.

Note: I expected the dough to spread and fill the gaps when cooking however it didn't really do that. Fortunately I'd sprinkled it pretty evenly anyhow but it's something to bear in mind - what you put in the oven is pretty much what you'll get out.

6 Place in a pre-heated oven on Gas mark 4, or 350 degree's for 45-50 mins. It did start to brown quite fast so I covered with foil after about 20 mins so that it didn't turn too dark or burn.

7 Remove from oven and leave to cool in tray. When cool, cover and place tray into fridge and chill overnight. Remove from tray the next day and slice in to squares or fingers. Store in an airtight container. The one I tried tasted delicious chilled so I put mine back in the fridge but I suspect that's a question of taste.

My original blog post plus photo's can be found at The Land of Wonk.

Chocolate cupcakes with Strawberry filling and white chocolate Mascarpone ganache

2009-06-12T14:14:00.000-07:00

Adapted from a recipe at Going Coastal, Sedgefield.

Chocolate Cake
2 eggs
125g Sugar
1 Tablespoon Butter
125ml milk
160g Self Raising Flour
1 tsp Baking Powder
4 tsp Cocoa Powder
1 tsp Vanilla essence

Beat the eggs until they turn light and fluffy, add in the sugar gradually and stir well until the mix becomes thick and slightly frothy.

Add butter to the milk and heat gently until it melts, I just put it in the microwave for a minute. Add the vanilla essence and stir.

Sift the dry ingredients and then alternatively fold it in to the egg mix along with a little splash at a time of the hot milk. Be sure to start with the dry ingredients first then add the milk in slowly as you don't want to risk curdling the eggs.

Place a spoonful of mix into the bottom of the cupcake papers then gently spoon in a little of the Strawberry sauce, making sure you include some lumps of fruit. Cover sauce with another spoonful of cake mix.

Place in a pre-heated oven on 180C or Gas mark 4 and cook for 12-15 minutes. Allow to cool throughly before frosting - if you do want to nibble on one while warm be careful, the sauce inside will be very hot!

Strawberry filling
150g of Strawberry jam
4 large fresh Strawberries, diced in various sized chunks
1 tablespoon of water
Dash of Lemon juice

Place the jam, water and lemon juice in a small pan and mix well over a low heat until it becomes more fluid. Add the Strawberries and keep stirring constantly until the fruit softens and the sauce starts to gently foam. Remove from heat and transfer to a bowl and place in the freezer for several hours/overnight.

Remove from freezer right before you start making the cake and it should be soft enough to spoon by the time you need it.

White chocolate and Mascarpone ganache/frosting
60g White Belgian Chocolate
60g Mascarpone
1 teaspoon of butter
1 teaspoon of strawberry sauce

Melt the chocolate with the butter in the microwave for 45 seconds or so, stopping mid-time to stir well.

Allow to cool for a couple of minutes then gently blend in the Mascarpone until smooth and all the lumps are gone. Stir in a teaspoon of the Strawberry sauce taking care not to include any fruit, you just want to make your frosting have a hint of pink with some flecks.

Place in fridge or freezer until the frosting firms up before spooning or piping on to the cup cakes - you want it to be spreadable but not runny.

My original blog post plus photo's can be found at The Land of Wonk.

Welsh Cakes

2009-06-12T13:24:00.000-07:00

Adapted from Mary Berry's Complete Cook Book

Welsh Cakes

250g Self Raising Flour
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
125g Butter
90g Caster Sugar
90g Currants (or similar dried fruit)
1/2 teaspoon Ground Mixed Spice
1 egg, beaten
about 2 tablespoons milk

1 Sift flour and baking powder into a large bowl. Add the butter and rub in with finger tips until the mix comes together as breadcrumbs.

2 Add the sugar, currants and mixed spice and stir well. Add the egg and milk (I do this splash by splash rather than all at once) to form a soft but not sticky dough. If you overdo the milk and it is a bit 'gloopy' just add a sprinkle of flour back to it until it stops sticking to the sides of the bowl.

3 On a floured surface, roll out the dough to a thickness of about 5mm (1/4 inch) and cut out rounds with a cookie/pastry cutter. Failing that, anything round, I've used the top of a glass or cup in the past when I've not had the right shape cutter around!

4 Heat a griddle or heavy frying pan and grease lightly. Cook the cakes on a hot griddle over a low heat for 3-4 minutes then flip to brown the other side for a couple more mins.

5 Leave to cool on a wire rack and sprinkle with sugar if desired. Stored in an air tight container they last for up to a week - well, I'm sure they would, mine don't usually last that long ;)

My original blog post plus photo's can be found at The Land of Wonk.