Monday, March 21, 2011

Spring Onion & Parmesan Cornbread

In a couple of weeks I will be going to Asturias. Yeah!!!!!! I have not been in my house for a while now …. I know I know …. I should have go. But the weather, Switzerland, the new job …..

So, very soon I will be at home2!! I am so excited to think about my garden produce. At the end of the summer I planted rhubarb and I hope a decent amount of plants have survived the winter. I am thinking rhubarb pie …. Yum!

Asturias has many faces, smell and flavors for me. But there is one among all of them that takes me to my grandmother’s kitchen: Corn.

This time I am bringing you a super easy and yummy cornbread. Let me tell you something: You have one piece of this bread and you can not stop!!

The recipe is from “The Photo Cookbook” application for IPad.

I hope you like it!

Serves 16

Ingredients

140 gr fine cornmeal

140 gr plain flour

4 tsp baking powder

2 tsp celery salt

55 gr Parmesan cheese, grated

2 eggs, beaten

400 ml milk

55gr butter, melted

1 bunch Spring onions, chopped

Ground black pepper

Directions

Preheat the oven to 190º/375F. Grease a 23cm/9 inch Squire baking tin.

Sift the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, celery salt and pepper into a bowl and stir in 40 gr of the Parmesan cheese.

Beat together the eggs, milk and melted butter. Add the egg mixture to the dry ingredients and stir well to mix evenly. Stir in he chopped spring onions and spread the mixture evenly into the tin.

Sprinkle the remaining Parmesan over the mixture. Bake in the preheated oven for 30-35 minutes, or until firm and golden.

Cut the cornbread into squares and serve warm.

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Maple Syrup and Cinnamon Cupcakes

Last weekend my sister celebrated her birthday. She organized a dinner at home for her closest friend in which I was the cook.

The menu was fun and easy! When my sis and I spoke about the birthday cake, we came to the conclusion that cupcakes were better alternative. Personally I though that if they were cupcakes left I could give them away to the guest.

Don´t get me wrong! Not that I don´t like my cupcakes. The issue is that I love what I bake and if I have it home I eat it! All!! Baking every week … imagine if I don´t control myself.

The B-cupcakes were cinnamon (from Martha S.) and the frosting (my own recipe) is a maple syrup buttercream. The cake is moist and soft and the buttercream delicious! They worked perfectly!!

I hope you like it!!

Makes 2 dozen cupcakes

Ingredients

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, sifted

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1 1/2 cups sugar

3 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 cup milk

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two standard 12-cup muffin pans with paper liners. Into a large bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon; set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar on medium speed until creamy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs and vanilla, and beat until combined. With the mixer still on medium speed, add the flour mixture in two parts, alternating with the milk and beginning and ending with the flour. Stir in walnuts with a wooden spoon.

Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups, filling each three-quarters full. Bake, rotating pans halfway through, until cupcakes are golden and a cake tester inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean, 18 to 20 minutes. Transfer the cupcakes to a wire rack to cool.

Maple Buttercream

Serves 2 dozen cupcakes

Ingredients

2cup butter, room temperature.

1 cup confectioners sugar

2/3 cup

Directions

Beat the butter until fluffy. Ad sugar and Maple Syrup and continue beating.

Frost cupcake tops.




Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Feta Cheese and Sun-dried Tomatos Scones and Frustations

I have been seriously thinking about weather I should upload this post or not. We always speak about the pleasure of cooking this, baking that and eating all! The creative process of creating a picture is, at least for me, fun and challenging.

This time I want it to share with you my frustrations. That I am going through a creative –photographic crisis is obvious. You just need to take a look at the pics. And to prove that this is not some kind of self-suggestion-drama I wanted you to “enjoy” this post.

Since in my apartment the light is not great, I decided to get all my food and gadgets and go out to find a place to take the pictures. I though that the club where I ride was a perfect place.

So there I was ready with my camera. I take one picture …. And the camera dies. I have to admit that for a second I freaked out. Me in the middle of a paddock taking pictures to my scones and he camera dies!!! What did I do? I took my phone. Which, by the way is not last generation, and took the pictures you see here.

The only thing I can say, apart from sorry for the pics, is that the scones are delicious. The recipe is from the “The Baking Photo Cookbook” application for IPad.

I will post the recipe very soon!!!