EASY EASTER & EASTER NESTS

Oh my goodness, I just love these.  They are the easiest treat to make for Easter, and perfect for making with children.  They take no time at all so can be made and eaten within 1/2 an hour.

The only tricky bit is getting hold of the kataifi pastry.  It's a Greek pastry made from shredded filo pastry and looks like shredded wheat.  I usually find it in Mediterranean supermarkets in the freezer section but you can also buy it on line.

150g Kataifi Pastry

20g Butter

20g Sugar

Pinch Mixed Spice

Nutella

Chocolate Mini Eggs

Melt the butter and sugar in a pan and stir in the mixed spice.  Pull apart the pastry and stir it into the melted butter to coat as much as you can.

Now use the pastry to form nests in a muffin tray.  Make sure you push them firmly against the sides and leave a dip for your eggs in the centre.

Bake for 10 minutes at 180C Fan.  They will be crisp and golden.  Leave them to cool slightly in the tray then remove to a cooling rack.

Now put a teaspoon of Nutella in the centre and finish with mini eggs.

HAPPY EASTER

PUMPKIN BREAD

I'm loving Halloween and Autumn and crunchy leaves and orange and gold and soup and snuggling in my dressing gown.  Autumn was always my mothers favourite time of year and I never really got it, but it was the colours she loved and the low sun you get now makes them look spectacular.

Soon we shall have the aroma of bonfires, I love that smell, like incense filling the air but first we have halloween and all the excitement that comes with it.  

We all enjoy carving pumpkins in our house so with 5 of us we end up with a lot of pumpkin to eat.  There is the usual pie and soup, then we have it fried with shrimps and spices and now we have bread.  

I have to admit that the flavour wasn't particularly strong but it does give it a warm yellow ochre colour.

Pumpkin has a very high water content so you need to avoid adding anymore to it.  I steam mine to cook

it before I puree it in the blender.

Wash the seeds, dry them and use them on your bread or stick them on a baking tray sprinkled with a little peri peri seasoning and roast at 180 C for 20 minutes.  Once they are cool they will be crisp and a good snack.

BREAD

600g Strong Bread Flour

30g Butter

10g Salt

15g Yeast

200g Pumpkin Puree

100g Water

100g Milk

Add the Butter to the flour and rub it in as you would with pastry, once it has disappeared into the flour stir in the salt and yeast.

Next add the wet ingredients.  You can do this by hand or in a mixer.  I tend to start it off in the mixer and once it's all combined I knead it by hand.  You should have a fairly wet but manageable dough.  To help it stop sticking when kneading, drizzle a little oil onto the surface.  Try not to add flour as this will give you a tougher dough.  The softer your dough, the softer your bread will be.

Dust your hands with flour and knead, stretching the dough, for a good ten minutes.  You will feel it become more elastic as you work.

Leave your dough to prove in a large bowl covered with a  t-towel for 1-1 1/2 hours somewhere warm and draft free.  It will double in size, I always get so excited when I go back to it and it has grown to fill the bowl.

Now knock the dough back by punching the air out or kneading it back to it's original size.  Form the dough into the shape you want your loaf on a baking sheet or stone.  I made a small loaf with half and 10 rolls in a brioche tin.  Leave it to rise again for another hour.  Use a sharp knife to score a pattern on your loaf then bake at 200 C for 30-40 minutes.

To check if it's cooked, you can tap the underneath of your bread, if it sounds hollow it is done.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN X

Teacup Pin Cushion for the Cheshire Show

The Cheshire WI have a huge marquee at the annual Cheshire Show held in Knutsford and for many it's the main even of the year.  WI members are asked to compete in different categories, ie Baking, Craft, Flower Arranging, Preservation etc.  You can enter as an individual or as a group.  I decided to enter into the spirit and have a go at craft and baking.  This years theme is 'Books Books Books'

My Craft entry is this pin cushion which took for ever but I found I had lots of time recently traveling up and down to london on the train so that helped.  The title of this category was 'A Modern Classic' and hopefully I've interpreted the title well.  I shall find out tomorrow how I've done, let's hope they're not too critical! 

Here's how I did it......... 

First I had to make the flower layers.  I drew each flower onto 'Bondaweb' from a template then ironed it onto felt.  Next each flower was cut out and the "Bondaweb backing removed, I used nail scissors to cut them out as they were so small and fiddly.  Then began sewing each flower together.

 Once the flowers were complete I made a cushion from wadding and muslin to fit inside the tea cup.

I then had to sew the flowers onto the cushion and fixed the cushion into the cup with hot glue.  I also used hot glue to fasten the cup to the saucer

UPDATE - I scored 14 out of 20 and they made the comment that I should have used "More technique, more points"........Well I love it.

Baking for The Cheshire Show

The baking categorie was titled 'Sugar, Spice & All Things Nice' and I made my friend Katrina's apple cake.  I've been looking for a good apple cake recipe for about a year and then whilst at Katrina's one evening she appeared with just what I 'd been searching for.  It's so moist and has big chunks of apple running through it with a few sultanas thrown in for good measure.

I'm sure the WI experts will have something to say about it not being very neat or the fact that they can see marks from the parchment lining the tin but I'm happy with it and like it's rustic-ness.  Everyone who eats it loves it too, including a couple of people I met in London recently!

APPLE CAKE RECIPE

150g Butter

150g Sugar

3 Eggs

250g Self Raising Flour

1 tsp Mixed Spice

4floz Milk

100g Sultanas

2 Bramley Apples peeled, cored and chopped into chunks

Cinnamon

Demerara Sugar

Throw everything apart from the apples, cinnamon and demerara sugar into a mixer and combine.  Fold the apples through and transfer to a 10" x 8" roasting tin lined with parchment.  Sprinkle over some cinnamon and enough demerara sugar to cover it.  You want a nice crust when it's cooked.  Bake for about 45-55 minutes @ 180C or 160 fan oven / 350F / Gas 5.

I've drizzled over a little lemon icing but it's also great left plain and eaten with custard

UPDATE - I scored 15 1/2 out of 20 for the cake.  They don't explain how they score unfortunately, it would be helpful.

Wirral Belles at The Cheshire Show

My WI, Wirral Belles also entered two group categories.  The first was titled 'A Travelers Tale' and it's the largest category you can enter needing six different items to display.  Everyone thinks we've been "very brave" as first timers to enter such a comprehensive class but it's a bit all or nothing with us and we thought if we were going to do it we may as well do it big time.

Our chosen book was 'The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe' and We are all so pleased with what we came up with, especially for first timers.  We had The Snow Queens tiara, A chocolate log, forest fruits jam and a knitted lion

My contribution was a box of turkish delight - what a nightmare to make, I shan't be doing that again in a hurry and some meringue snowballs.  Oh, I also made those papier mache rocks that will be featuring in Archie's school play on Thursday.

The second category was smaller with just three items to display and was titled 'Holiday Guide'.  We of course chose Wirral and had a mini beach to exhibit everything.  I made the ice-cream cupcakes and we also had a shell charm bracelet and a fabric picture.

UPDATE - We did so well and are very proud with the results.  The Narnia piece scored 120 1/2 out of 160 and the Wirral piece scored 52 out of 80.  They really loved the staging and interpretation and we got full marks for both, infact we were in contention with another WI for the special staging award.

Can't wait till next year, we'll be more sussed about it all and they won't be able to stop us.

White Loaf

Chelsea Buns

First attempt at chelsea buns with my new love of bread making.  It was 2 hours in the making and 10 minutes in the eating.  I had to make one row without raisins for Archie, just not the same though.  Next time I'm going to try it with coconut like my mother used to, that should stir up some memories.

Ishihara Plate- Painting

I can't believe how long it took me to paint this but I love the finished piece.  I had to draw each circle individually in 3 different sizes then painted each one making sure that there were no 2 colours the same next to each other the same size....does that make sense?

Most people get the number straight away but there have been a couple who can't see it and my Father thought he could see a rabbit!  Some have asked why 45, I just liked the shape.

Take the ishihara color vision test HERE 

Lemon Cake [gluten free]

The Blues

Carrot Cake