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Lemon meringue cupcakes

Posted on September 19, 2012 by TheGingerbreadMum

We’re in the middle of National Cupcake Week and I haven’t eaten nearly enough cupcakes!

When I was thinking about some different cupcakes to experiment with for this week, I kept thinking about the desserts I like and whether I could make a cupcake version of them. Lemon meringue pie was one of those at the top of my list. Doing some quick online research (I try not to do this very much when I’m experimenting to avoid being influenced too much rather than going with my own ideas), people were making lemon flavoured cupcakes with some kind of meringue on top, or spreading lemon curd on top of a cupcake. I was thinking something different.

My cupcakes have a surprise – a gooey centre of lemon curd under the fluffy meringue. In an ideal world (where I can spend as much time as I like experimenting in the kitchen while someone else does the day-to-day cooking) I would make my own lemon curd. But living in the real world, I used ready-made lemon curd from the supermarket.

My meringue topping is a fluffy airy meringue rather than a stiffer marshmallow texture as I prefer my cupcake toppings to melt in your mouth. I also like seeing other people with my food all around their mouths! And anyway, cupcake eating should be messy. Did you ever see Carrie Bradshaw in ‘Sex and the City’ eat a cupcake without getting the icing all over her fingers and sometimes also on her chin?!

The vanilla cupcakes are the same recipe I used to make my lamington cupcakes. There’s no need to reinvent the wheel.

I’ve used an Italian style meringue (using a sugar syrup rather than mixing sugar directly into the egg whites) because it holds its shape much more easily. I’ve erred on the side of being very generous for the amount of meringue topping. I would hate to think of anyone running out or a twelfth cupcake being left with a meagre amount, and you can always use any leftovers to bake mini meringues.

LEMON MERINGUE CUPCAKES

Prep time: 25-30 mins
Cook time: 20 mins
Makes 12 cupcakes
Unfilled cupcakes without the topping can be frozen for up to a month

Vanilla cupcakes with lemon curd filling

125g self-raising flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
125g butter, softened
125g caster sugar
2 tsp vanilla essence
2 eggs
2 tbsp milk
150g lemon curd

Preheat the oven to 200C (180C fan).

Sift the flour and baking powder together.

Beat the butter and sugar with a handheld mixer, or in a food processor, until creamy and a paler colour.

At a slower speed, add the vanilla, eggs (one at a time) and milk.

Put the creamy mixture into a bowl and carefully fold in the flour mixture, being careful not to overmix it.

Divide the mixture between 12 cupcake cases (the mixture should fill the cases about two thirds full).

Bake for 12-15 mins until cooked through when tested with a skewer. Cool on a wire rack.

Once cool, with a sharp knife cut a small circle in the centre of each cupcake. Use a teaspoon to take it out, keeping the extra piece of cake (no, you can’t eat it).

Dollop one teaspoon of lemon curd into each hollowed out cupcake. Cut off the bottom of the extra piece and place it back on top to close the cupcake up. (If your top no longer completely covers the hole, you can crumble the extra piece you cut off and lightly press the crumbs in.)

Meringue topping

3 egg whites, at room temperature
150g caster sugar
75ml water

In a small saucepan, dissolve the sugar and water over a low heat.

Whisk the egg whites until they’ve doubled in volume and have soft peaks (2-3 mins).

Very slowly pour in the sugar syrup while you keep whisking, avoiding pouring the syrup over the beaters. Keep whisking until the mixture has turned glossy and thick and has firm peaks (about 5 mins).

Using a large metal spoon, dollop the meringue mixture on top of the cupcakes (you can use a piping bag if you want it to be less free-form).

Place the cupcakes under a grill until the meringue has just started to turn brown (keep a close eye on them) or use a blow torch to lightly brown the meringue.

Lamington cupcakes

Posted on September 17, 2012 by TheGingerbreadMum

Today is the first day of National Cupcake Week! Yes, a whole week devoted to celebrating those morsels of cakey goodness. What better excuse to get into the kitchen and then relax with your baked efforts?

I’ve been experimenting with cupcakes for the last couple of weeks to try to come up with some different ideas. Some of my experiments haven’t worked, but mistakes are the best teachers. I came up with the idea for these ones after feeling disheartened by an idea I just couldn’t make work and had to give up on. I wanted something that definitely wouldn’t fail and would be very simple.

Australia doesn’t have a lot of unique cuisine. When people ask me what dishes are particularly Australian, I usually find it difficult to give a good reply. But one of the things I most love about my homeland is its eclectic mishmash of cultures and cuisines.

Lamingtons are definitely uniquely Australian. They make me think of my childhood and are perhaps one of the reasons I love coconut so much. Their simplicity is probably their biggest selling point – cubes of light vanilla sponge, covered in runny chocolate icing and finally dipped in desiccated coconut. Sometimes they’re cut in half and cream (sometimes also jam) is spread inside, but it tastes much better in its original form.

My cupcake version of lamingtons omits the messy dipping into chocolate icing stage. What could be better? You still have the wonderful taste combination, but without all the fiddly work!

LAMINGTON CUPCAKES

Prep time: 20 mins
Cook time: 15 mins
Makes 12 cupcakes
Uniced cupcakes can be frozen for up to a month

Vanilla cupcakes

125g self-raising flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
125g butter, softened
125g caster sugar
2 tsp vanilla essence
2 eggs
2 tbsp milk

Preheat the oven to 200C (180C fan).

Sift the flour and baking powder together.

Beat the butter and sugar with a handheld mixer, or in a food processor, until creamy and a paler colour.

At a slower speed, add the vanilla, eggs (one at a time) and milk.

Put the creamy mixture into a bowl and carefully fold in the flour mixture, being careful not to overmix it.

Divide the mixture between 12 cupcake cases (the mixture should fill the cases about one half or two thirds full).

Bake for 12-15 mins until cooked through when tested with a skewer. Cool on a wire rack.

Chocolate buttercream icing

140g butter, softened
250g icing sugar
30g good quality cocoa powder
1-2 tbsp milk
1 cup desiccated coconut

Sift the icing sugar and cocoa powder together.

Beat the butter in a large bowl until soft and creamy.

Add half the icing sugar and cocoa powder mixture and beat until smooth.

Add the remaining icing sugar and cocoa powder, and the milk, beating until creamy.

Once the cakes are cool, spread the buttercream icing liberally on top. Sprinkly generously with coconut.

Variations:

use 30g of melted chocolate instead of the cocoa powder in the buttercream for extra decadence

Spinach muffins

Posted on September 14, 2012 by TheGingerbreadMum

Yes, you read correctly, spinach muffins. And they’re sweet. I’ll let you have a minute to get your head around that.

…

Still can’t imagine what they’d taste like? Don’t worry, neither could I when I came across the recipe by Weelicious. I’m still on my mission to get more vegetables into Nicholas, so I thought I’d continue my attack from a sweet angle too.

I’ve made two batches of these now, modifying the original recipe both times. Honestly, they’re a strange taste sensation and I certainly won’t be waking up any time soon thinking ‘Mmmm, I fancy a spinach muffin.’ But I made them for Nicholas not me.

Reading the numerous comments for the original recipe, many people who’ve made them say you can’t taste the spinach and that they taste like plain vanilla muffins. For me the spinach taste is strong, and its metallic flavour in combination with the vanilla is probably what confuses my taste buds. But I made them for Nicholas not me.

The original recipe has applesauce and sugar. I replaced the sugar with honey to be healthier (I honestly can’t see the point in packing a muffin with spinach goodness if you then add sugar, sorry). I also left out the salt, as just reading that in the ingredient list made my taste buds apprehensive, and again why add it to your munchkin’s food if you probably don’t need to (after tasting them I think adding the salt would make the clash between sweet and savoury too much).

For my second batch I also left out the baking soda (bicarbonate of soda) as I really don’t like the taste of it in muffins. It didn’t affect the texture and the taste was better. Yes, for me, but I made them for Nicholas not me!

Nicholas has eaten them but without gusto, however he hasn’t been completely well this week. We’re going to the joint first birthday party of Nicholas’ best friend at the weekend. It’s a party with all the babies from his antenatal group, so I will go armed with my spinach muffins and see how they go down with a pack of one-year-olds.

SPINACH MUFFINS

Prep time: 5 mins
Cook time: 15 mins
Makes 12 small muffins
Freezable

1 cup fresh spinach, packed tightly
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce (apple puree)
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp honey
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
Extra vegetable oil, for greasing muffin tin

Preheat oven to 175C and grease your muffin tin with a little vegetable oil.

Put the spinach, applesauce, egg, vanilla, honey and vegetable oil in a food processor, and puree until the spinach has broken up into small pieces and the mixture has combined.

Sift the flour and baking powder into a medium-sized bowl.

Pour the spinach mixture into a large bowl and carefully fold in the flour mixture, mixing just enough to combine the ingredients (mixing too much will make your muffins heavy).

Divide your mixture evenly between the 12 muffin holes.

Bake for 12-15 mins until a skewer comes out clean.

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Posted in breakfast, recipe, snack, toddler and tagged applesauce, breakfast, dairy-free, finger food, freezable, freeze, muffins, recipe, snack, spinach, sugar-free, toddler, vegetarian, Weelicious. Bookmark the permalink.

Spinach lasagne

Posted on September 12, 2012 by TheGingerbreadMum

Nicholas is a big meat eater (not surprising if you know his parents!). He usually happily shares his food when asked, but if it happens to be some meat he’s particularly enjoying, then he’s more likely to shovel everything into his mouth as quickly as possible then gesture with his hands it’s all gone (what a shame!).

During our holidays it was easy to feed him meat, but less easy to get him to eat a good amount of vegetables. And with the nice weather at the weekend, we had two days of barbecues at friends’ with Nicholas happily devouring hamburgers and chorizo sausages. Vegetables? Not interested mummy, more MEAT.

So my objective for this week was to get as many vegies in him as possible!

My vegetarian lasagne is just a simplified lasagne that’s not too time-consuming to prepare or cook. Looking for a dish small enough to fit just one sheet of lasagna, I had the brainwave of using a loaf tin and mine was the perfect size. Any ovenproof dish would be fine though.

I used spinach, yellow pepper (capsicum), mushrooms and onion in my vegetable layer to pack in lots of nutrients (and don’t you just love the bright yellow and green colours?). You can use pretty much whatever vegetables you like or have on hand.

I remember my first attempts as a uni student making lasagne… not great. I didn’t understand the concept of the dry pasta sheets needing moisture to soften and cook. I thought the edges I didn’t cover with sauce would get nice and crunchy. Well they did, but they were also raw! It’s not rocket science, just make sure when you’re spooning the sauce over the pasta that the sheet is completely covered.

SPINACH LASAGNA

Prep time: 30-35 mins
Cook time: 20-25 mins
Makes 4 toddler servings (or 2 toddler servings & 1 adult serving)
Freezable

1/2 onion, diced
100g mushrooms, chopped
1 small yellow pepper (capsicum), diced
75g fresh spinach, roughly chopped
1 tsp olive oil
50g butter
2 tbsp plain flour
2 cups milk
A pinch of salt (optional)
A pinch of nutmeg
3 uncooked lasagna sheets
100g mozzarella di bufala (or any fresh mozzarella)
A handful of grated parmesan

Heat your oven to 220C.

In a medium frying pan, heat the olive oil over a medium heat. Add the onion and cook for 2-3 mins.

Add the mushrooms and pepper. Cover the pan and turn the heat down a little to med-low. Cook until the onion is transparent and the vegetables are soft, stirring occasionally.

Add the spinach and stir until it just starts to wilt. Take the pan off the heat.

Melt the butter in a small saucepan over a med-low heat. Add the flour and stir with a wooden spoon for 1 minute (this cooks the flour to avoid having a raw flour taste in your sauce).

Add about 1/4 cup of the milk to the flour paste and use a whisk to stir to get rid of any lumps immediately. Turn the heat up to medium and gradually whisk in the rest of the milk. Keep whisking until the sauce thickens to a runny custard consistency (not too thick), making sure it doesn’t boil.

Take the white sauce off the heat and add a pinch of salt (if using) and a good pinch of nutmeg. Mix and taste, adding more salt and/or nutmeg if necessary.

In a loaf tin, big enough to hold one lasagna sheet, spoon a few tablespoons of sauce into the bottom (just enough to cover it). Place a sheet of lasagna on top. Cover with half of the vegetable ‘sauce’ and then about one third of the remaining white sauce (making sure the pasta sheet is completely covered). Pull apart one third of the mozzarella into chunks with your fingers and sprinkle it over.

Add another layer of pasta, vegetables, white sauce and mozzarella.

Finish with the third sheet of pasta, top with the last of the white sauce, the remaining mozzarella and sprinkle over the parmesan.

Cook for 20-25 mins until the top is lovely and golden and the pasta is cooked (a knife or skewer will easily pierce through from the top to the bottom). If the top is getting too golden, cover with foil and continue cooking.

Variations:

use any combination of vegetables in the vegetable sauce
add long slices of lightly fried courgette (zucchini) or aubergine (egg plant) under your vegetable sauce
use dollops of ricotta instead of the mozzarella

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Posted in dinner, family, lunch, recipe, toddler and tagged dinner, family, freezable, freeze, lasagna, lasagne, lunch, mushroom, pasta, recipe, spinach, sweet pepper, toddler, vegetarian, white sauce. Bookmark the permalink.

Back to school breakfasts

Posted on September 11, 2012 by TheGingerbreadMum

Here are a couple of teaser photos of my fun breakfast ideas over on Mindful Mum.

2 Comments

Posted in breakfast, recipe, toddler and tagged breakfast, children, French toast, Mindful Mum, recipe, toddler. Bookmark the permalink.

Spicy salmon parcels (adult recipe)

Posted on September 10, 2012 by TheGingerbreadMum

Ever since I discovered cooking salmon in foil parcels, I’ve pretty much never cooked it any other way. I love minimising clearing up and washing up, and there’s something about opening a ‘present’ (even if I wrapped it myself!) at the dinner table that puts me in a good mood.

Hubby came across this recipe a number of years ago on an Italian cooking site and I haven’t managed to find it again. You’re supposed to cook the parcels in the oven (at 180C for 10-15 mins) but I always cook them over a grill pan; you could also cook them on a barbecue. It’s one of my ‘go to’ recipes we eat regularly. Maybe it will become one of yours?

SPICY SALMON PARCELS

Prep time: 10 mins
Cook time: 10 mins
Serves 4 adults

4 salmon fillets, with or without skin
1 tsp ground cumin
1 pinch chilli powder
1 tsp garlic salt
1 pinch paprika
1 tsp ground coriander
Extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup white wine
salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 slices lemon

Heat the grill pan over a high heat.

In a small bowl mix all the spices (cumin, chilli, garlic salt, paprika and coriander) together with a good pinch of salt and pepper. Add the white wine and mix well.

Cut 4 pieces of foil and drizzle olive oil in the middle of each. Place a piece of salmon on top of the oil (skin-side down if it has skin).

Fold in the sides of the foil and fold up the front and back of the foil. Ease out the sides of the foil a little to create a ‘box’.

Evenly spoon the spice mix over the four pieces of salmon and place a slice of lemon on top. Drizzle with olive oil again.

Bring the front and back of the foil ‘box’ together and fold them over a few times to create a parcel.

Place the parcels on the hot grill pan and reduce the heat to med-high. Cook for 8-10 minutes until just cooked through. Serve in the foil parcels.

Tip: use extra strong foil or use two pieces of foil on top of each other for each parcel, to avoid leaks and therefore save you from cleaning the grill pan 🙂

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Banana and butternut squash loaf

Posted on September 6, 2012 by TheGingerbreadMum

One of the last things I did before running out the door before our holidays (amazingly the first time I wasn’t running like a lunatic due to being so late) was to throw the remaining (very ripe) bananas in the freezer. It gave me a (silly) sense of pride to know we weren’t wasting them. It’s the little things after all!

While we were away I came across an unusual recipe for banana bread from Simon Rimmer with the added ingredient of butternut squash. I’m always looking for different ways to use up bananas and this recipe definitely piqued my interest.

I made some changes to the original recipe. I reduced the sugar and used chopped walnuts instead of pecans. I also reduced the amount of nuts as hubby isn’t a huge fan and it seemed an excessive amount also for me too. The original recipe is topped with a cream cheese icing which would work wonderfully, but I wanted to keep my loaf dairy-free and simple so just drizzled the cooked loaf with honey. It also means I feel no guilt eating it for breakfast 😉

The end result is a lovely dense and very moist cake with a subtle taste of banana. If anyone guessed this cake has a vegetable ingredient, I’m certain they’d never guess butternut squash. Another way to sneak some veg into your children’s diets perhaps? And if you have any pureed butternut squash in the freezer leftover from your munchkin’s earlier weaning days, I can’t think of a better way to use it.

BANANA AND BUTTERNUT SQUASH LOAF

Prep time: 20 mins
Cook time: 50-60 mins
Makes 1 loaf
Freezable

120g sugar
1 egg
150ml vegetable oil
2 bananas, mashed
225g butternut squash, cooked and mashed
275g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
50g walnut pieces
drizzle of honey to serve

Preheat the oven to 180C and line a loaf tin with baking paper.

In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the sugar, egg and vegetable oil. Fold in the mashed banana and butternut squash.

In a separate bowl, sift the flour, baking powder and cinnamon. Fold this dry flour mixture into the wet banana mixture. Stir through the walnuts.

Pour into the prepared loaf tin and bake for 50-60 minutes until golden brown on top and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Leave to cool.

Drizzle honey over the top of the loaf before serving.

Variations:

add sultanas or raisins for added sweetness
omit the walnuts if putting into a child’s lunchbox

Tip: If you have the time, it’s much better to peel your bananas before freezing them, as peeling a frozen or defrosted banana takes some skill. Just peel, throw in a ziploc bag and freeze.

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