Strawberry Bundt Cakes with Lemon Drizzle

So my last strawberry inspired recipe, I promise! These are gorgeously moist, perfect to take as part of your picnic or as thank you for a favour. Food makes a great present, as people appreciate the time and effort you have put in to say thanks, or get well or well done.

These are great with blueberries too or raspberries.

100g Butter (soft at room temp)
3/4 Cup Caster Sugar
11/4 Cups Plain Flour
1 Tsp Baking Powder
1/2 Tsp salt
2 Eggs
1/2 Cup Buttermilk
Grated zest of 1 lemon
1 Cup strawberries chopped and tossed in a little sugar

1. Preheat oven to 180 c. Beat the butter and sugar until light and pale. Add the eggs on at a time beating well between each.
2. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt and add to the mixture along with the butter milk and lemon zest ( I ran out of lemons so put a few drops of lemon juice -from Lemon Fresh NZ made in a handy pkt I store in the fridge)
3. Beat slowly until just combined, don't over beat the mixture or you will have heavy cakes.
4. Fold in the strawberries and divide the mixture between your bundt tins, I used 6 , 1 cup capacity tins, you only fill 3/4 of the way. If you are using smaller tins you will get 8 cakes.
5. place on a baking tray and bake for 18-20 min turning the tray  half way though for even cooking.
6. Leave in the tins for 5 min before turning out on to a wire rack to cool completely.

For the Lemon Drizzle

1 Cup Icing sugar
2-3 Tsp Lemon Juice
Strawberries for garnish if desired.

Stir through enough lemon juice into icing sugar to make a thick smooth icing. Place a sheet of baking paper under the wire rack (to avoid a sticky mess) Spoon the icing onto the centre and let it drizzle down the sides. The sweetness of the strawberries and the tang of the lemon is a perfect combination. Yum!

Enjoy!

Till next time.

Ashia

Semi-freddo with Strawberries

This was a firm family favourite back in the UK.  When ever there was a family get together, and there were many, it was always requested as one of the desserts I took along.

So this is it, my semi freddo adapted from good old Jamie Oliver.

55g Sugar
4 Large free range eggs, separated
500 ml Fresh cream
Salt
1-2 Tsp vanilla essence or 1 vanilla pod

This is a very quick recipe, you need three mixing bowls as everything gets whisked separately and then combined in a large bowl.  I use a  large rectangular earthenware dish (I purchased 12 years ago from Temuka Pottery) which I then place covered with clingfilm in the freezer until it is ready to be eaten.

1. Whisk the vanilla, sugar and egg yolks in the largest bowl until pale

2. In a second bowl, whisk the cream until soft peaks form (it is important that you don't over whip it, it will ruin everything and you will have to start over)

3. In a third bowl whisk the egg whites with the salt until stiff, this means when you pull the egg whites into different directions they will stay  like it.

4. At this point you can add any flavouring you choose or leave it plain. I stirred a little freshly made strawberry jam through and then decorated with strawberries. Its quite rich so doesn't need too much with it, some fresh summer berries would suffice.

5. Add the cream and the egg whites to the egg mixture and  quickly scoop it all up into your desired container, and freeze until you are ready to eat. Give it at least 6-8 hrs.

You can decorate it with praline, or roasted nuts, or toffee & caramel, or just drizzle with your favourite chocolate sauce!

Perfect for those summer BBQ's.

Enjoy!

Till next time

Ashia

Strawberry Jam

Jam is a great way to preserve the taste of summer, and then you can use it in different aspects of cooking and baking.

This strawberry jam has to be the simplest way to preserve your summer strawberries.

1 kg Strawberries (rinsed and hulled)
1 kg Jam setting sugar (you can now buy this in most supermarkets)
10g Butter
That's it!!

1. Crush the strawberries roughly with a potato masher, you can use a blender, but I like the chunky bits of strawberry.

2. Place the strawberries and sugar in a large heavy based pot.

3. Heat the mixture over a low heat until the sugar is dissolved, but do not boil.

4. Add the butter and increase the heat bringing it to a bubbling boil (you cant stir it down)

5. Boil for 4 min only. Remove any foam from the top and then test for set.

6. To test, place a spoon full on a cold plate, wait a few seconds and then run a line through the middle if it wrinkles it is ready

7. Bottle in pre sterilised jars

For bottling and sterilising please refer to my Tamarillo chutney recipe on my blog.

Enjoy!

Till next time

Ashia

Strawberry Fields

I love summer... and I love strawberries, in fact I love all berries. But  blueberries, raspberries and strawberries are my favourite . They are so versatile, you can cook them, bake them, freeze them and use them in all sorts of lovely summer recipes.

We decided to go strawberry picking at the weekend, it reminded me of summer back in England and Wimbledon and strawberries and cream (I know what you are going to say....what summer in England!) We have been known to have some lovely summers there....and strawberry picking was one of the things I loved doing with my family.

We headed to Kumeu and it was a gorgeous sunny afternoon, and I had strawberry jam in mind amongst other things, so off we went with our buckets, although a little late in the season, the strawberries were still sweet and juicy!

We ate and picked, savouring the warm juicy flavour of summer, until we had picked 3kg!  I think this should be enough for strawberry jam and a whole lot more besides!  We ended the afternoon with divine fresh strawberry ice cream made at the farm.  So back home I had already decided what I would be making with my strawberries, so the next few blog entries will be dedicated to the 3 kg's of the juicy berries, starting with my strawberry jam.

Enjoy!

Till the next strawberry blog!

Ashia

Cookies and Milk Moustache

We headed into the City again yesterday. My children love going to the Wynyard Quarter in Auckland. We go for a long walk (me...walking... the kids ...on their scooters) and we walk along the Viaduct and admire the yachts, and then head back to the silos and have a picnic that I have packed or sometimes stop at a cafe for a treat.
We decided to check out the new little ( the emphasis on little) cookie and milk bar in Wellesley Street called Moustache. Based on the old fashioned  concept of dunking your cookies in milk and then getting a milk moustache after. My children thought this was highly amusing. With 3 seats at the counter an 2 outside and a menu of coffee, milkshakes,  dunking milk and cookie galore, we ordered our cookies and proceeded to get our mo's.  After alot of giggling  we ended up with passable mo's, although I must admit with skim milk it's alot harder to get moustaches the like the good old days!
This inspired my kids to do some baking in the afternoon and create their own cookie and milk bar for their dad.  This was the result.  I have tried alot of cookie recipes and this is by far the best, given to me by my good friend Fran.

Choc Chip Cookies

125 g Butter (at room temp)
1/2 Cup Soft brown sugar
1/2 Cup Castor sugar
1 Egg
1/2 Tsp vanilla essence
1 1/2 Cups Self raising flour
1 Cup choc chips (you can replace with white chocolate if you want)

1. Cream together butter and sugars until pale

2. Add vanilla and egg and beat well

3. Add flour and mix to a soft dough

4. Add the choc chips and mix through, although don't over mix

5. Place round spoonfuls of mixture onto lined baking trays ( I had run out so I  used foil instead)

Bake at 190 for 8-20 min, watching them carefully as it wont take long for them to go very dark, you are aiming for a light golden colour, cool on a wire rack.

And then dunk away!!

Enjoy!

Till next time

Ashia

Kiwi Christmas

 

Well, this year ( our 2nd in NZ) we decided to have a quiet kiwi Christmas camping. as it's summer in the southern hemisphere and our long summer holidays.  The big family get together was last year (our first Christmas back for about 9 years) with the whole Singer clan.( My husband's)  A big Christmas meal with all the trimmings.

This year we pared it right down, there is only so much you can take with you when you are camping. With a bbq and some creativity we ate really well.

It was important to us to take the children camping, for them to experience a different style of holiday. They have travelled all over the world, staying at fabulous hotels and villas in France, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, Dubai, USA and the UK, over the past few years.

The children made lots of friends at the camp and just played, making up games and just being kids, they loved it!
We spent the days, reading, walking, swimming and playing board games, precious family time. Priceless!

I decided on keeping it really simple on Christmas day, BBQ butterfly lamb with honey glazed carrots and pan fried potatoes, and mini pavlovas to finish off. Perfect!

Butterfly Lamb
500-750 g (butterflied)
Juice of 1 lemon
Good sprinkling of salt & pepper
1-2 cloves crushed garlic
1 tbl honey
Olive oil, mix it all together
Marinate the lamb with the mixture, and leave refrigerated for a few hours or overnight.
Wrap in a double layer of foil like a parcel and cook on the BBQ for about 40 min, let it rest for 10 min and carve.

The meat was so beautiful and tender. I served it with pan fried potatoes, I par boiled 6 potatoes and cut them into wedges, and then shallow fried them in a little oil. For the carrots, I boiled them for 5-7 min and then drained them, added a tsp of honey and put them back on the heat for a couple of min. You can serve with gravy, ( I forgot to bring some, so served it with tamarillo chutney instead!)
For the mini pavs ( store bought) with some whipped cream and fresh strawberries and blueberries. Perfect camping Christmas lunch.

Enjoy!

Happy holidays, until next year.

Ashia

Gifts from my kitchen

I love giving foodie gifts anytime, whether it is birthdays, religious festivals or weddings. I grew up with food gifts being exchanged at weddings and celebrations. Food celebrates all aspects of life.

People appreciate that you take the time and effort into creating something for them, I love giving, I enjoy the appreciation I get from friends and family when I gift them something that I made.

I decided way back in July that I would make a whole load of my special tamarillo chutney and bottle it to give away in the year. I also set aside a dozen bottles to give away as gifts to those special people who spend everyday teaching and nurturing our children. So I have been busy the last couple of days packaging my gifts and also baking some Christmas shortbread stars. This is my mother in laws shortbread recipe and is so easy to bake, thanks Wendy.

For the shortbread stars

250 g Butter
3/4 Cup icing sugar
1/2 Cup cornflour
2 Cups plain flour
1/4 tsp salt

1. Cream butter and sugar until pale

2. Add cornflour and plain flour and salt, knead well and place in the refrigerator to chill

3. Using half the dough roll out and use a cookie cutter of your choice and cut out the biscuits.

4. Place on baking trays and bake for 20 min in a preheated oven (160)

5. Cool and dust with icing sugar.

Well I hope you have enjoyed reading my blogs so far, I have loved writing them. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I am hoping to blog while we are camping over Christmas.

Enjoy!

Till next time

Ashia