Spiced Pumpkin Muffins
As we all know, 1st October is National Pumpkin Spice Day so what better way to celebrate than to look at making spiced pumpkin muffins. As we get into Autumn, or Fall, spicy flavours accompany sweet flavours. In this recipe cinnamon is added to pumpkin puree, in the form of "Pumpkin Pie Spice". I don't recall seeing that in Sainsbury's so cinnamon it is. The muffins in Renee Conner's video bake in a pre-heated oven in just 15 minutes.
Making Pumpkin Spice
There's a whole host of recipes and ideas round this time of the year and pumpkin spice can be applied to all sorts of recipes as this video shows us:
Get The Recipe
If you need more information pay a visit to https://sugarspunrun.com/homemade-pumpkin-spice-recipe/ but the main ingredients are ground cinnamon, ground ginger, ground nutmeg and ground allspice. You can use cloves too but it can change the flavour.
All this talk of seasonal spices has got me thinking about mulled wine but we're a bit early for that yet. If you're done with baking spiced pumpkin muffins maybe take a look at Delia's Creole Christmas Cake though.
Credit: Main photo by Marco Verch on Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/30478819@N08/37144793505/ using Creative Commons licence.
Portuguese Custard Tart Recipe Video
These little Portuguese custard tarts look so intriguing and they're so delicious. They go so well with a strong coffee after a nice healthy lunch. Curious about how they're made, I found a recipe on the Anti-Chef channel on YouTube. He's got a great friendly style and is great at improvising kitchen tools he doesn't have, like a rolling pin, in this episode. Take a look at the video below to see a Portuguese custard tart recipe in action.
If you didn't see the page on YouTube, the recipe roughly followed the one on the Leite's Culinaria website. I also found a version of this Portuguese custard tart recipe (the Pastel de Nata), that contained raspberries. Honestly? It wasn't any improvement on the classic.
This next video, showing Jamie Oliver's "Quick Portuguese Custard Tarts" caused some controversy with Portuguese baker, Sofia Bicas. First watch Jamie's video, then see what Sofia had to say!
Got any suggestions for a little cake to go with afternoon coffee? Let me know :-)
Photo credit: Jose Luis Hidalgo R. on Flickr
Jamie Oliver’s 4th July NYC Cheesecake
From the FoodTube series, Jamie Oliver shows us how to bake a New York style cheesecake. If you're looking for info on FoodTube it does seem to have disappeared from the internet somewhat. But why not check out these cookbooks at World of Books: https://www.wob.com/en-gb/category/all?search=foodtube (not an affiliate link)
Cheesecake Recipe Video
From the video, the ingredients in order of being added are as follows -
For the "super crunchy base":
- 350g Digestive biscuits
- 70g good quality dark chocolate (combined with biscuits in mixer)
- 125 butter, melted and added the mixture
For the filling (mixed together in a bowl):
- 900g of really good quality cream cheese
- 5 whole free range eggs
- 150g sugar
- Vanilla
- Juice of 6 limes
Put the filling on top of base mixture in a round baking tin. Bake in oven at 160 degrees celsius / 310 F for 40-50 minutes.
In the video Jamie Oliver also creates a meringue topping using coconut which is then baked on top of the cheesecake. The whole cheesecake is then put in the fridge for 3 hours.
To get all the details on how to make this delicious recipe, watch the Jamie Oliver's 4th July Cheesecake video below.
If you want even more recipes, hop over to: https://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/cheese-recipes/my-nyc-cheesecake/
Happy baking!
How To Make Cinnamon Rolls
Our local bakery in Hackney does a variety of buns and rolls including kanelbullar (cinnamon bun in Swedish) - which are a delicious treat. They use regular baking ingredients, including flour, sugar, butter, eggs, salt and of course... cinnamon!
My visit to the bakery got me thinking about how to make cinnamon rolls and how they vary from the "Danish pastry" shape to the twisted knotted bun. So here's a selection of videos about making cinnamon rolls, starting with this wonderfully easy to follow video from Bex Massey, posted this week. You can find the recipe here: "Hygge Baking – Kanelbullar Cinnamon Rolls Recipe"
There's a gluten-free cinnamon roll option here from My Bodies Health which was posted recently. A very enthusiastic delivery too!
Donal Skehan's video from 2014 is ever-popular. His cinnamon buns come out very much the same way as the ones we buy from the Beulah café in Walthamstow which are super yummy. Donal's recipe can be found at http://www.donalskehan.com/recipes/swedish-cinnamon-buns/
This Jamie Oliver recipe has a great animation showing how to create the distinctive knotted shape of the cinnamon roll. https://www.jamieoliver.com/features/beautiful-vegan-swedish-cinnamon-buns/ and includes another version of the recipe.
Whichever recipe grabs you the most please leave a comment and tell us your favourite.
Happy baking!
Photo credit, Maria Eklind via Creative Commons on Flickr
How To Bake A Lemon Ricotta Cake from Tasty
There wasn't even enough time to get to the shop to buy the ricotta (we always have loads of lemons in the kitchen) so we'll just have to take pleasure in how great this lemon ricotta cake turns out, and imagine how tasty it is.
Hop over to Tasty for the full recipe, and if you find this recipe so irresistible you had to make it, leave us a comment to say how it went.
More lemon cake ideas
- Nigella’s Lemon Polenta Cake video with Martha Stewart
- Make a Lemon Drizzle cake with Caroline Mili Artiss
- Chris & Jasmine Bake Gluten-Free Lemon Poppyseed Loaf
- Baking Raspberry and Lemon Madeleines with Rachel Khoo
Happy baking!
Gluten-Free Coconut Flour Zucchini Bread
A long time ago I had to come up with an unusual cake for a "bake-off" and found a recipe for a courgette / zucchini cake. It was really quite moist and naturally sweet, though followed a fairly conventional cake recipe. I just found this recipe that uses some nice alternative ingredients, made with coconut flour is gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free, nut-free, refined sugar-free, and it's also a great way to get your kids eating more vegetables (I fell for the Rhubarb Fool trick as a child)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGY2XxnTp18
For top tips for making this recipe and all the ingredients, head over to https://www.moonandspoonandyum.com/blog/zucchini-bread
Easy Vegan Blueberry Muffins with Sara Kidd
Top vegan ingredient tips in this video, including using the right sugar and soy milk for vegan buttermilk, adding vanilla and dealing with extra moisture.
The recipe for Easy Vegan Blueberry Muffins can be found at: https://www.sarakidd.com/recipe/veganblueberrymuffins/
Chris & Jasmine Bake Gluten-Free Lemon Poppyseed Loaf
Spring inspired baking Sweet Simple Vegan recipe for gluten-free lemon poppyseed loaf. The video is easy to follow and has an easygoing funky soundtrack. You might need a bigger bowl than you expect!
Check out the whole recipe here: https://sweetsimplevegan.com/2019/03/lemon-poppyseed-loaf/
Anna Olson Bakes Perfect Fluffy Vanilla Cupcakes
In this video from the Food Network, Anna Olson shows us how to make perfectly fluffy cupcakes with a buttercream frosting.
More Food Network videos can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzYZk4bZ07yJeK7Zd_z37Cw?sub_confirmation=1
Hummingbird Bakery Carrot Cake
Who doesn't love a slice of carrot cake? We found this speedy video demonstrating how to make and decorate a carrot cake from the Hummingbird Bakery. You can of course decorate it how you like, and while it's available at the their bakeries, why not try this carrot cake recipe yourself? Scroll down for the video and carrot cake recipe.
Watch The Video
They say that, smothered in cream cheese frosting, this sweetly spiced, walnut-studded wonder sponge is one of their customer favourites. Watch this Hummingbird carrot cake video then take a look at the hugely popular recipe for carrot cake. Scroll down for the recipe.
Carrot Cake Recipe
by The Hummingbird Bakery
Ingredients:
300 g soft light brown sugar
3 eggs
300 ml sunflower oil
300 g plain flour
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, plus extra to decorate
½ teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
300 g carrots, grated
100 g shelled walnuts, chopped, plus 75 g extra, chopped and whole, to decorate
1 quantity Cream Cheese Frosting (Scroll down for the recipe and method)
Related Links
Cream Cheese Frosting
For the method and cream cheese frosting we used the version from Good To Know:
- 300g icing sugar, sifted
- 50g unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 125g cream cheese, cold
Beat the icing sugar and butter together in a freestanding electric mixer with a paddle attachment (or use a handheld electric whisk) on medium-slow speed until the mixture comes together and is well mixed.
Add the cream cheese in one go and beat until it is completely incorporated. Turn the mixer up to medium-high speed. Continue beating until the frosting is light and fluffy, at least 5 mins. Spoon or pipe the cream cheese frosting on top of a cold cake(s).
More about Hummingbird Bakery (external link).
*New! Check this post with The Hummingbird Bakery's video for Pumpkin and Cream Cheese Roulade
The Origins Of Carrot Cake
Recipes for carrot cake date back to the 1500s with carrot puddings eaten by Europeans in the Middle Ages. They contained ingredients including cream, eggs, raisins, sweetener (dates and sugar), spices (clove and mace), scraped carrot, and breadcrumbs (in place of flour). It became popular in European cookbooks of the 1800s and the popularity in the UK came about because of rationing during the World War II. (Source: Wikipedia Carrot Cake)
About Hummingbird Bakery
The Hummingbird Bakery is an American-style bakery founded in 2004 to bring the authentic taste of American home baking to London. The company opened its first branch on Portobello Road in Notting Hill in 2004 and has since launched a further five branches across London in South Kensington, Soho, Spitalfields, Islington and Richmond. It also has a franchise presence in the Middle East with two branches already operating in Dubai.
More From The Hummingbird Bakery
*New! Check this post with The Hummingbird Bakery's video for Pumpkin and Cream Cheese Roulade
Follow the Hummingbird Bakery on YouTube.