Blueberry Waffles For A Sunday Morning, Or Any Morning

I love waffles.

For my last birthday I received a Cuisinart Waffle Maker from my mom, making waffles a breeze!

I’ve been experimenting with different waffle recipes I found across the web – mostly from Pinterest – such as egg nog or pumpkin waffles. These are more autumnal and christmas seasonal recipes, so I have been on the look out for something to tide me over until spring arrives. Enter the blueberry waffles.

I found a recipe on Pinterest from Pass The Sushi blog that piqued my interest. However, I altered her recipe slightly using buckwheat flour instead of wholewheat pastry flour and plain yogurt instead of sour cream giving them a slightly savoury quality, which acts as a nice foil to the sweet/tart blueberries.

This recipe yields 14 regular sized square waffles.  Since I’m the only one who eats waffles in my household, I bag them up in twos and pop them in the freezer, keeping in breakfasts for a whole week! When I’m ready to eat, I just stick them in the toaster and serve with plain yogurt.

Et voila! Waffles for any morning.

Heavenly Chocolate Cupcakes For Valentine’s Day

For those of you with reservations about baking something special for loved ones this Valentine’s Day, Kenwood Chef have put together some video tutorials to show you how easy it is. Chocolate cupcakes are a favourite in my house and always a winner no matter the occasion.

Follow along to the video to make your own delicious chocolaty treats.

And here’s the recipe:

Makes: 12

Preparation Time: 5 minutes

Cooking Time: 30 minutes

Difficulty: Level 1

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180°C/Fan 160°C/Gas 4
2. Ensure that your ingredients and equipment are at room temperature to reduce the risk of the mixture curdling.
3. Place the butter and sugar into your mixer bowl and using the creaming beater cream on medium speed until it becomes thick and creamy.
4. Beat the eggs to together, reduce the speed of the mixer and gradually add the eggs. Ensure that each addition of the eggs is properly incorporated before adding the next amount of the eggs.   Add a teaspoon of the flour after each amount of egg is added.
5. Once the eggs have been incorporated add the flour, cocoa and baking powder and continue to mix together
6. Place twelve paper cases into a muffin tray then divide the mixture evenly between them.
7. Bake for approximately 12 – 15 minutes until they spring back when lightly pressed.

For the chocolate Icing:

1. Melt the chocolate in a bowl over a pan of hot water; ensuring the base of the bowl doesn’t touch the water.
2. Place the butter into your mixer bowl and using the creaming beater cream the butter on medium speed until it becomes paler in colour.
3. Add the icing sugar slowly and mix to combine.  Ensure your splashguard is in place to avoid the icing sugar escaping from the bowl.
4. When the icing sugar and butter are combined, mix in the melted chocolate until it is an even colour.
5. Spoon the icing into an icing bag, and pipe onto the cooled cupcakes.
6. Decorate with your chosen decorations.

And if you’re feeling a bit more adventurous, why not try Tiramisu to complete a romantic Italian inspired meal.  Kenwood Chef makes it easy!

*Disclosure: This is a sponsored post. I have not personally tried this recipe, however I do use a Kenwood Chef mixer and kMix hand mixer that I purchased myself.

 

Happy baking!

Pancakes on a Saturday

It’s sunny.

It’s Saturday.

It’s time for pancakes.

Silent Sunday 14 July

Silent Sunday 7 July 2013

The Gallery – Green

It’s been a while since I posted as part of ‘The Gallery’, but I am making an effort to balance my life and that includes balancing my blog, too.

I had grand intentions of documenting my California adventures over the Christmas holidays, but due to one thing and another my grand ideas faded away. When I saw the theme for this week’s Gallery I knew I had to showcase our trip to Muir Woods, one of the greenest places I know.

The Redwoods are one of California’s natural wonders and the lush climate of the coast keeps everything green. If you are ever in the San Francisco Bay area, Muir Woods is definitely a place to visit.

Silent Sunday 16 June

Silent Sunday 9 June 2013

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Silent Sunday 2 June 2013

Ready For Cybher? The BadgeLady Is Here!

Cybher is in a few days and I, like many other ladies in the blogosphere and Twittersphere, cannot wait.  My blog has been severely neglected due to a lot of unexpected things taking precedence this year, but Cybher is just the thing to give me the inspiration and the much needed kick up the butt to get back on track.

I’m really looking forward to seeing the lovely ladies of The High Tea Cast, whose Twitter banter makes me laugh on a daily basis.  I’m not sure they can top the cupcake headgear they sported last year though! Additionally, we’ll be celebrating the launch of Mario Cacciottolo’s tour as he takes ‘Someone Once Told Me‘ across the world… And these are just two of the highlights you can expect from Saturday!!!

If you’re going to Cybher, do say hello.  I’ll be the one dressed like Peggy Olson and shouting about badges, trying to keep them organised while you go through registration.

**File under: bring me a margarita or my log saw something that night**