Snickerdoodle Cookie recipe.

These delightful cookies are a real favourite with friends and family, they are crunchy, chewy, cinnamony, sugary biscuits from heaven. Easy to make and will not stay in the biscuit barrel for long! When cooked they look quite a bit like a babies rusk, but are so much more naughty!
The vanilla sugar gives an extra hit of flavour that works so well, but caster sugar also works fine. I usually half the dough, keep one half in the fridge or freezer and use as needed. This recipe will make around 20-24 cookies. This recipe is based upon one I found in the Hummingbird Bakery cookbook, a book well worth getting.

Ingredients
60g unsalted butter, softened
160g Vanilla sugar, or caster sugar
1/4 tsp vanilla essence
1 large egg
275g plain flour
3/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
Pinch of salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Coating
1 1/2 tablespoons of caster sugar
1 tablespoon of ground cinnamon.


1. Cream together the butter, sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy.
2. Add the egg, mix well and scrape down bowl, mix again to ensure all ingredients are combined well.
3. Sift the remaining ingredients into the mix, you are looking for a soft dough, that doesn't stick to your hands. Add a little more flour if needed, it will not harm the cooking process . 
4. Place the dough in the fridge to rest and firm up, for around 40 minutes. Meanwhile preheat oven to 170°c or 325°f.
5. Mix the coating ingredients into a small bowl.
6. When the dough is firm, break off walnut size pieces, and make into a ball, roll these balls into the coating, make sure they are completely coated. Place the balls of dough onto a tray lined with baking paper, 2 inches apart, as they will spread during cooking.
7. Place in the preheated oven and bake for about 12 minutes, or until they are a light golden brown. They will crack, this is fine. You can add more of the coating after cooking if you wish. Allow to cool on the tray for a couple of minutes, then remove to a wire rack. 

Rabbit Ragu with Spaghetti Recipe

Rabbit is a very underestimated meat, its very low in fat, tasty, and most of all, relatively cheap to purchase. Most people are put off from eating this delicious gamey meat, by the fact that they think of rabbits as fluffy, hopping, children's pets, not a food to be eaten. Wild rabbit has a very rich game taste to it, and some people prefer the flavour of a farmed rabbit, I like both. It has similar texture and cooking methods to chicken.

This recipe is inspired by a dish that I tried at Jamie's Italian in Covent Garden. I used one whole rabbit, which I de-boned and filleted myself, (see gory image above!) it easily fed two adults, and there was enough left over for a snack the next day. I would love to hear your experiences of eating and cooking with Rabbit, and please don't be scared to try this, it really is one of the best dishes I have ever cooked.
Ingredients
1 Small red onion, finely chopped.
1 Carrot, peeled and chopped.
1 Thin stick of celery, chopped.
1 Sprig of fresh rosemary, leaves picked and chopped. 
1 tablespoon of chopped fresh thyme leaves.
1 bay leaf.
1 clove of garlic, crushed or finely grated.
1 level tablespoon of flour
1 Whole rabbit, boned and cut into 1cm pieces. (ask your butcher to do this, if you prefer)
1 glass of white wine (as good as you can afford).
250ml of chicken stock.
50g of freshly grated parmesan, or similar hard italian cheese.
Small knob of butter.
Zest of one small orange or a lemon.
Extra virgin olive oil.
Handful of fresh flat leaf parsley.
Spaghetti, enough for two people. 
Salt.
Fresh ground black or mixed pepper.

1.Preheat your oven to 180°c/350°F or gas mark 4.
2. Add a nice glug of the olive oil to a casserole pan, (one which can also be used on a hob) place onto your hob to heat, then add the onion, carrot, celery, rosemary, thyme and bay leaf, and finely add the garlic. Cook these ingredients gently for about 10 minutes, until softened slightly.
2. Stir in the rabbit, sprinkle with the flour, then add the white wine. Season well with the salt and pepper. Pour in the chicken stock, which should just just cover the meat, and bring to a slow boil.
3. Put the lid on the pan, and place in the oven, for around 1 hour 15 minutes, the meat should fall apart when checked. If it doesn't, then cook for a further ten minutes.
4. Add the spaghetti to a pan of rapidly boiling salted water, and cook to the packets instructions.
5. Whilst the pasta is cooking, remove the bay leaf from the stew, add the butter, half of the cheese, and half of the orange or lemon zest. Check the seasoning, and alter accordingly. Place the lid back on, to keep warm.
6. Chop the parsley.
7. Drain the pasta, drizzle it with some olive oil, and place onto two plates. Spoon the Ragu over the top, add the remaining cheese, zest and sprinkle over parsley. I also like to add a few fresh thyme leaves to the plate for decoration too.

A simply delicious Green Tea Ice Cream recipe.

I first tried Green Tea Ice-cream when I visited my father in Brisbane, Australia, he had taken me to his favorite Sushi Bar, called Sushi Train and he recommended that I try it, I have been searching for a recipe that came close to the amazing taste of the Sushi Train version. After a bit of trial and error, and research, this is what I have come up with:
Ingredients
100ml Double cream
500ml Full fat milk. (UHT works great)
3 Medium egg yolks
110g Castor sugar
8-10g Organic green tea powder (Matcha) (I find eBay a great place to buy this)
Spring of fresh mint to serve. (optional)

1. Pour the cream and the milk into a saucepan and place over a medium heat, whilst stirring, slowly bring just to the boil, then quickly remove from the heat.
2. In a large bowl cream together the egg yolks, sugar and green tea until it has thicken, then slowly add this mixture into the hot cream/milk mixture.
3. Pour the mixture back into the saucepan over a lowish heat and cook for around 12 minutes, continually stirring with a wooden spoon, until the mixture thickens enough to coat the back of the spoon. Do not over cook this mixture as it with curdle and ruin.
4. Sieve the mixture into a clean bowl and allow to cool completely.
5. Place into an ice-cream machine until frozen.
Alternatively if you do not have a machine, place into a freezable container and freeze for two hours then blitz it in a food processor and repeat this process 3-4 times.
6. Remove from freezer/machine, place in a food processor and blitz until smooth and refreeze until needed. This process really smooths the ice-cream and gets rid of any ice crystals that may of appeared.

3 Summer Smoothie recipes

Hi, all sorry for the delay in new posts, been a little hectic this end, but i have got a long list of updates to upload, so keep an eye on the page over the next few days/weeks.
As the Spring weather seems to have been more suited to summer, over here in the UK, I have dusted off my Smoothie machine, and been creating a few new drinks. Heres a few quick and easy recipes for a some smoothies, delicious and filling, and a great start to any day, or just as nice when your unwinding on your patio in the evening. Best drank with a thick straw and immediately.


CocoNapple Smoothie (pictured)
TOP TIP: to check if a pineapple is ripe, hold one of the leaves, and if it comes out easily, it'll be ripe. Also, if you give it a good sniff, you should be able to smell the sweetness.
Ingredients
1/2 a very ripe pineapple, core removed and roughly cubed.
120ml of Coconut Milk, the thick stuff from the top of the can is best.
100ml Full fat milk
3-4 Ice cubes
1. Add the Pineapple and ice cubes to a blender or smoothie machine, blitz with the milk.
2. Pour in the coconut milk and wizz away, until smooth and creamy. Decorate with a slice of pineapple or a pineapple leaf. Drink immediately.


The Nutty Banana Smoothie
TOP TIP: for extra smoothness, peel the bananas and place in freezer for a few hours in a freezer bag.
Ingredients

2 tablespoons of smooth peanut butter

2 Ripe bananas (best if been frozen first)

500ml Semi-Skimmed milk

3-4 Ice cubes

Optional: A sprinkle of cinnamon 

1. Add the Bananas and ice cubes to a blender or smoothie machine, blitz with the milk.

2. Drop in the peanut butter and wizz away, until smooth and creamy. Decorate with a sprinkling of cinnamon. Drink immediately.

The Mmmmmango Smoothie

Ingredients

1/2 a very ripe Mango, stone removed and cubed.

1 Ripe banana (best if been frozen first)

200ml Plain yoghurt 

200ml Full fat milk

3-4 Ice cubes 

1. Add the mango, banana and ice cubes to a blender or smoothie machine, blitz with the yoghurt.

2. Add the milk and wizz away, until smooth and creamy. Drink immediately.

Scone in 60 seconds . . . . . . well, 20 minutes actually.

Scones, pronounced however you feel, are a small bread of Scottish origin, but eaten all over the world. Famous as a component of Devonshire Tea. Otherwise known as "Rock Cakes," "Fat Rascals," and "Singing Hinnies".

They can be awkward to get right, overcook them and they are more stone than scone, undercook them and they fall to pieces and taste yuck. I'm certainly no expert at making the perfect Scone, far from it, more disasters than successes. This is a recipe that seems to work for me.

As a variation, throw in a handfull of raisins, before adding the milk.

Ingredients

225g Self-raising flour

35g Castor sugar

Pinch of salt

30g Butter (extra for greasing, but I prefer to use a baking sheet)

up to 150ml Full fat milk (you may not require the full amount.)

1 egg, lightly beaten to glaze.

Serve with:

A quality clotted cream

A good jam of your choice. Strawberry is a favourite.

1. Pre-heat oven to 210c

2. Place flour, sugar, and salt into a food processor, and quickly mix. Add the butter and mix again until it looks kinda like small breadcrumbs.

3. Slowly pour in the milk, whilst mixing, until a dough forms, it needs to be quite moist, but not so it sticks to the side of the bowl. You may not need the full amount of milk, so go slow.

4. Heavily flour a clean work surface, make the dough into a ball, and flatten until about 2cm thick.

5. Using a 4-5cm round cutter, cut out the scones, this mix should make around 9-11 scones.

6. Place the scones on a lightly greased tray or I prefer to line one with a baking sheet, lightly brush the scones with the beaten egg, and bake for around 12 minutes, or until they have risen and turned a light golden brown. Remove from oven and slightly cool on a wire rack.

7. Best eaten warm, cut in half, then add a spoon of clotted cream, and a good spreading of jam.

Scrumptious Chocolate cup-cake type thingys

I have been through a bit of a baking experimental stage, of late. Cookies, cakes, bread, pastries and cup cake type thingys. "What is a cup cake type thingy?" I hear you all say. Well I keep forgetting to buy cupcake cases, so i improvised at little, by using a silicone muffin tray/mould, and no cases. This was the pleasant result I got. This mix makes around 10-12 cakes.

Ingredients 

5oz Self raising flour

1 1/2oz Drinking chocolate

1 1/2oz cocoa powder

6oz Castor sugar

3oz Sunflower margarine
3oz Unsalted butter (softened) 

3 Large eggs

3 Tablespoons of hot water.

1. Preheat oven to 140 degrees.

2. Lightly butter the muffin tray, it does not have to be silicone. Place in fridge to chill the butter. (This will help prevent the cakes from splitting when removing from mould.)

3. Gently mix together all the ingredients, except the water. Do not over mix as this will make the cakes stodgy.

4. Slowly add the water, whilst mixing, until a smooth paste is formed.

5. Pour the mix nearly to the top of the moulds.

5. Place in the pre-heated oven for around 35 minutes, or until the cakes feel springy to the touch.

6. Remove from oven. Leave to cool in the tray for a few minutes, then gently prise from tin/mould and leave to cool completely on a wire rack.

Coconut and Vanilla Frosting

Ingredients

4oz softened butter
6oz icing sugar
2 tbsp Coconut milk or coconut cream
Seeds from one vanilla pod, or 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract.

1. Beat the butter and half of the icing sugar until smooth.
2. Add the rest of the icing sugar, beat again until smooth. Scrape the sides of bowl to make sure all is mixed well.
3. Add the Vanilla and coconut milk/cream, beat until very smooth.

Constructing the cakes
1. Once the cakes are cooled, using a sharp bread knife, carefully cut the tops off, creating a nice flat surface. Using cookie cutters/shapes cut stars, hearts, circles or whatever takes your fancy, from the cake tops.
2. Place frosting into a piping bag, or a freezer bag with the corner cut off, and generously pipe onto the cake. Then add your cut out shapes, dust a few with icing sugar and impress your friends with the finished pieces of art!


You can also use the cut-off tops sandwiched together with the frosting, as shown.

Many thanks to Julia England (@wannabefoodie76 on twitter, who also has a great blog A wanna be foodie!) for providing me with the basis of this recipe, general advice and all-round-good-banter!

Lollytastic!

Some of my twitter followers may be aware that I have recently purchased some vintage 1950's ice lolly moulds, especially Julia England (wannabefoodie76 on twitter), as Julia kindly bought my attention to the ebay auction, also the fact that she had forgotten her password and username, helped my cause no end!
These moulds are great, easy to use and the kids love them! So over the coming months and especially when Summer arrives I will be experimenting with flavours, textures and techniques, and hopefully bringing to you some amazing lollies!
Lolly moulds in all shapes and sizes are easy to find in most homeware shops, go get some!

Apple 'n' Cinnamon Ice Lolly.
A nice healthy easy one to start, and just three ingredients!
Ingredients
200ml of Pure Apple juice (as always, get the best that you can afford)
Pinch of ground Cinnamon 
A squirt of honey.

1. Place the ingredients in a jug, and mix well. (You may need to heat a little to get the honey to dissolve)
2. Carefully pour the mixture into moulds.
3. Place in freezer, being careful not to spill, and leave to set, around 3-4 hours.

Please adjust quantities to suit your moulds.