I adored this cake. It was easy to make (only one bowl!), and easy to decorate. The cake itself was perfectly chocolaty and deliciously moist. I think this is the kind of cake best described visually, so here are a whole load of photos!
Sunday, 31 August 2014
Chocolate Overload Cake
A while ago my good friend Michaela from An Affair From The Heart created a fantastic Chocolate Espresso Cake which I instantly loved. My honey had his birthday coming up, of course I had to make him a cake, and of course Michaelas cake was the first thing that came to mind. Here is my adaptation - Chocolate Overload Cake.
I adored this cake. It was easy to make (only one bowl!), and easy to decorate. The cake itself was perfectly chocolaty and deliciously moist. I think this is the kind of cake best described visually, so here are a whole load of photos!
I adored this cake. It was easy to make (only one bowl!), and easy to decorate. The cake itself was perfectly chocolaty and deliciously moist. I think this is the kind of cake best described visually, so here are a whole load of photos!
Monday, 25 August 2014
Grilled Chicken and Pesto Sandwiches
I'm super excited to share with you all the first ever guest post on PicNic today! These delicious Grilled Chicken and Pesto Sandwiches come from the very talented Kecia of Kecia's Flavor Breakthrough.
Here's what Kecia has to say:
Here's what Kecia has to say:
I was sooo excited that Nicole asked me,
little ole’ me to create a guest post for her! PicNic blog is one of my favorite!! I mean FAVORITE sites!
I love her wonderful cheesecake recipes among other things! I really wanted to
share something truly delicious with her so I decided after making this
sandwich; this had to be the one to send her! Thank you so much Nicole for
having me!
I had this sandwich in the airport on the
way home from Colorado Springs that was really good, but I knew I could really
rev it up and totally rock it! See it had chicken, cheese and pesto! OK, I
know… what can be at all bad about that! Nothing!! But, it was cold and I
though wow! Use a nice crusty bread, heat up the chicken on the grill, make
some homemade pesto from the herbs in my garden and melt the cheese on
top! Yes!! That is what I want to make
tonight! I grilled a bunch of extra chicken last night to put in soup and had
two fantastic ideas on what to do with the left overs! Honey picked Italian, so
here it is! Enjoy!
Thursday, 21 August 2014
Easy Homemade Garlic Naan Bread
An Indian curry isn't complete without a nice warm naan bread, easily made in your own kitchen! By making your own you can also customize to suit your tastes - whether this means extra garlic, fennel, cumin, you can really get creative!
Tuesday, 19 August 2014
Caramel Apple Pie
Apple pie has always been one of my favorite desserts. When I was young I always got so excited when our Sunday night roast dinner was followed with delicious hot apple pie and cream. And now I have discovered how to make the humble apple pie even more amazing - caramel!
Sunday, 17 August 2014
PicNic-Style Jerk Chicken
My variation of Jerk Chicken reduced the chili and spice to create a meal that the whole family can enjoy - of course this doesn't make it any less flavor-packed! I have left a perfect little hint of spice, not so spicy so children will still enjoy it as well. It's really easy too!
Thursday, 14 August 2014
Raspberry White Chocolate Cheesecake
I was delighted to be invited by Kecia to do a guest post for her blog, Kecia's Flavor Breakthrough. This is one of my favorite blogs, especially for riced-based dishes.
Kecia and her family love my cheesecake recipes so it was a real no-brainer when it came to deciding what to create. This no-bake Raspberry White Chocolate Cheesecake uses beautiful summer flavors, and works just as well with fresh or frozen fruit.
Kecia and her family love my cheesecake recipes so it was a real no-brainer when it came to deciding what to create. This no-bake Raspberry White Chocolate Cheesecake uses beautiful summer flavors, and works just as well with fresh or frozen fruit.
Tuesday, 12 August 2014
Swedish Meatballs
Meatballs are just one of those dishes that you can make a million different ways and each and every one is deliciously satisfying in it's own way. But I must say, this is one of my favorites.
Swedish Meatballs are a simple dish and a wonderful comfort food. I adore the hint of nutmeg in the meatballs, and how this combines beautifully with the creamy sauce. This is a dish that I can see becoming a regular in our household!
Sunday, 10 August 2014
Chocolate Mousse Pie
This Chocolate Mousse Pie is the true definition of a decadent dessert. I originally made the mousse filling as just a regular mousse, then after eating (far too much) of the dreamy chocolate, I decided that it would be a fantastic pie filling. It really was.
Serves 8-10
Base:
350 g (12 oz) vanilla cookies (shortbread cookies would work well too)
100 g (3.5 oz) butter, melted
Filling:
200 g (7 oz) dark chocolate (50% cocoa)
70 g (2.5 g) butter
200 mL double cream (thickened cream)
2 Tbsp sugar
2 eggs (separated)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1. Make the base by processing the cookies to a fine crumb. Add the butter and process until mixed well. Press into the base and up the sides of a greased pie dish and refrigerate.
2. Melt the butter with the chocolate in a heat proof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Set aside to cool. Stir in the egg yolks.
3. Whisk the egg whites with the sugar and vanilla until stiff and they can hold their shape (if you can hold the bowl over your head without getting egg through your hair, you're done!).
4. Fold in the double cream and chocolate into the whisked egg whites.
5. Spread over the chilled base and refrigerate until set.
What makes this pie even more perfect? It's no bake!! This is a really easy dessert, and sure to please the whole family.
Chocolate Mousse Pie
Serves 8-10
Base:
350 g (12 oz) vanilla cookies (shortbread cookies would work well too)
100 g (3.5 oz) butter, melted
Filling:
200 g (7 oz) dark chocolate (50% cocoa)
70 g (2.5 g) butter
200 mL double cream (thickened cream)
2 Tbsp sugar
2 eggs (separated)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1. Make the base by processing the cookies to a fine crumb. Add the butter and process until mixed well. Press into the base and up the sides of a greased pie dish and refrigerate.
2. Melt the butter with the chocolate in a heat proof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Set aside to cool. Stir in the egg yolks.
3. Whisk the egg whites with the sugar and vanilla until stiff and they can hold their shape (if you can hold the bowl over your head without getting egg through your hair, you're done!).
4. Fold in the double cream and chocolate into the whisked egg whites.
5. Spread over the chilled base and refrigerate until set.
Tuesday, 5 August 2014
Lemon and Raspberry Loaf
Lemon loaves are simple to make and taste fresh and delicious, and they taste wonderful with this burst of added raspberries.
Sunday, 3 August 2014
Irish Brown Bread
Irish Brown Soda Bread is right up there as one of my favorite breads. It's perfect for soups and stews, makes great garlic bread, and is lovely for breakfast simply smothered in strawberry jam.
Wednesday, 30 July 2014
Strawberry Shortcake
I orignally made this cake back in May for dessert on our anniversary. I really loved the way the strawberries lent a fantastic moisture to the shortcake mixture, and just the overall freshness of the cake. I love that this cake is just a little bit different. I find it to be somewhere between a shortbread cookie and a proper cake
Serves 10
250 g (8.8 oz) butter, softened
1 Cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/2 Cups plain flour
1/2 Cup cornflour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 410 g (14 oz) cans of strawberries, drained and chopped (about 250 g fresh would be perfect if they are in season!)
1. Preheat oven to 180C (350F) and line a 23 cm springform cake tin with baking paper.
2. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs 1 at a time and add vanilla.
3. Fold in the flour, cornflour, and salt. Spread 2/3 of the mixture into the base of the prepared cake tin. Spread the chopped strawberries over top.
4. Sprinkle the remaining mixture over the top (I did it kind of like a crumble). Bake for 40-45 minutes, until golden brown on top and set.
5. Cool in the tin. Dust with icing sugar prior to serving. Serve with cream, custard, or ice cream.
This was then one of the last recipes I photographed with my old point and shoot camera. At the time I thought the photos were lovely, but then before I got around to posting this lovely wee dessert I got a camera that took AMAZING photos and I just simply couldn't post the recipe anymore!
I made this cake again a few days ago, to make sure I had cake on my birthday. After all, what's a birthday without cake?!
Strawberry Shortcake
Serves 10
250 g (8.8 oz) butter, softened
1 Cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/2 Cups plain flour
1/2 Cup cornflour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 410 g (14 oz) cans of strawberries, drained and chopped (about 250 g fresh would be perfect if they are in season!)
1. Preheat oven to 180C (350F) and line a 23 cm springform cake tin with baking paper.
2. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs 1 at a time and add vanilla.
3. Fold in the flour, cornflour, and salt. Spread 2/3 of the mixture into the base of the prepared cake tin. Spread the chopped strawberries over top.
4. Sprinkle the remaining mixture over the top (I did it kind of like a crumble). Bake for 40-45 minutes, until golden brown on top and set.
5. Cool in the tin. Dust with icing sugar prior to serving. Serve with cream, custard, or ice cream.
Monday, 28 July 2014
Seafood Chowder
Being winter, I love creating new winter warmer and comfort food dishes. And there's not much that beats a nice chunky chowder.
When I was young, whenever we would go out for a meal as a family my Mom would always jump straight to the seafood chowder. It was always her favorite thing to eat. I am always more weary about seafood. I only like it if it's cooked perfectly, always think I don't like most shellfish until I actually eat it, then remember "oh yeah, this is good." Because of these silly little habits I only ordered my first seafood chowder a few months back while Emmet and I were on the road, headed on a weekend trip away. I ordered a seafood chowder from a cafe at a small fishing village. It was delicious. I loved every mouthful of the thick, creamy chowder, packed full of seafood, fresh from the ocean. I knew then that I needed to create my own recipe.
I wanted to keep my recipe to the bare basics. I know a lot of chowders call for diced potato. If you want to add this too then by all means chuck that potato right on in.
Serves 4
1 onion, finely diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
4 Cups fish stock
1/4 Cup plain flour
1 dozen scallops
100 g prawns/shrimp
100 g mussels
300 g Hoki fillets (or any white fleshed fish), diced
1 Cup cream
1 tsp chopped thyme
1 tsp chopped dill
1. Heat a dash of oil or butter in a large saucepan over a medium-high heat. Fry the onion and garlic for about 5 minutes.
2. Add the fish stock and slowly whisk in the flour, making sure the broth is lump free. Bring to a simmer.
3. Add the seafood and cook for about 6 minutes (if the mussels are precooked, add these in the final minute or two).
4. Add the cream, thyme, and dill and stir until the chowder returns to a simmer and is thick. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and a dash of lemon juice if desired.
5. Serve with crusty bread.
I wanted to keep my recipe to the bare basics. I know a lot of chowders call for diced potato. If you want to add this too then by all means chuck that potato right on in.
Seafood Chowder
Serves 4
1 onion, finely diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
4 Cups fish stock
1/4 Cup plain flour
1 dozen scallops
100 g prawns/shrimp
100 g mussels
300 g Hoki fillets (or any white fleshed fish), diced
1 Cup cream
1 tsp chopped thyme
1 tsp chopped dill
1. Heat a dash of oil or butter in a large saucepan over a medium-high heat. Fry the onion and garlic for about 5 minutes.
2. Add the fish stock and slowly whisk in the flour, making sure the broth is lump free. Bring to a simmer.
3. Add the seafood and cook for about 6 minutes (if the mussels are precooked, add these in the final minute or two).
4. Add the cream, thyme, and dill and stir until the chowder returns to a simmer and is thick. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and a dash of lemon juice if desired.
5. Serve with crusty bread.
Sunday, 27 July 2014
Chocolate and Banana Brownies
I have a weakness for anything chocolate based. I just can't get enough. So when we had bananas that needed to be used up of course I needed to incorporate these into a chocolate fix.
Wednesday, 23 July 2014
BBQ Steak and Onion Ring Burgers
I've been on a bit of a BBQ sauce kick lately. I hadn't used it much in years. Now I am remembering that it tastes great with almost anything. Especially this steak and onion ring burger.
This was the ultimate man food burger. Emmet was absolutely delighted with his big, thick steak filled burger topped off with onion rings, cheese, and lashings of BBQ sauce.
Steak cooking tip: Always allow your steak to reach room temperature before cooking. Cooking a steak straight from the refrigerator is more likely to cook unevenly. It's also important to rest steak after cooking (cover with aluminum foil) to allow all of the juices to run out from the center of the steak and give a nice, tender, juicy steak.
Makes 4 burgers
400 g rump steak, seasoned with salt and pepper on each side.
1 - 2 Onion, sliced into rings
1 Egg, lightly beaten
1 Cup milk
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 Cup plain flour
Oil for frying
BBQ sauce
Lettuce
Cheese
4 x Burger buns
1. Make the onion rings by combining the egg and milk together in a bowl and mixing in salt and baking powder. Coat each piece of onion in flour then coat in the egg batter mixture. Set aside.
2. Heat a dash of oil in a large fry pan over a high heat. Cook steak to your liking (for medium-rare about 3 minutes each side). Set steak aside to rest for about 10 minutes.
3. Heat oil in a small saucepan (or turn on your deep fryer if you have one), once very hot add the onion rings a couple at a time and fry until golden brown, remove onto a plate with a paper towel on it.
4. Slice the steak into strips. Assemble burgers with lettuce, cheese, steak, onion rings, and BBQ sauce.
This was the ultimate man food burger. Emmet was absolutely delighted with his big, thick steak filled burger topped off with onion rings, cheese, and lashings of BBQ sauce.
Steak cooking tip: Always allow your steak to reach room temperature before cooking. Cooking a steak straight from the refrigerator is more likely to cook unevenly. It's also important to rest steak after cooking (cover with aluminum foil) to allow all of the juices to run out from the center of the steak and give a nice, tender, juicy steak.
BBQ Steak and Onion Ring Burgers
Makes 4 burgers
400 g rump steak, seasoned with salt and pepper on each side.
1 - 2 Onion, sliced into rings
1 Egg, lightly beaten
1 Cup milk
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 Cup plain flour
Oil for frying
BBQ sauce
Lettuce
Cheese
4 x Burger buns
1. Make the onion rings by combining the egg and milk together in a bowl and mixing in salt and baking powder. Coat each piece of onion in flour then coat in the egg batter mixture. Set aside.
2. Heat a dash of oil in a large fry pan over a high heat. Cook steak to your liking (for medium-rare about 3 minutes each side). Set steak aside to rest for about 10 minutes.
3. Heat oil in a small saucepan (or turn on your deep fryer if you have one), once very hot add the onion rings a couple at a time and fry until golden brown, remove onto a plate with a paper towel on it.
4. Slice the steak into strips. Assemble burgers with lettuce, cheese, steak, onion rings, and BBQ sauce.
Tuesday, 22 July 2014
Snickers Muffins
Snickers are my favorite chocolate bar. I just love the combination of chocolate, caramel, and peanuts. Snickers are also great in all sorts of baked goodies. Here I've turned them delicious chocolate muffins.
Makes 12
2 1/4 Cups plain flour
3/4 Cup sugar
1/4 Cup cocoa powder
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
70 g (2.5 oz) butter, melted
1 Cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs, lightly beaten
3 Snickers bars, 2 roughly chopped and 1 divided into 12 chunks
1. Preheat the oven to 200C (400F) and grease or line the wholes of a muffin tin.
2. Combine the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Combine the milk, butter, eggs, and vanilla in another. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry, add the roughly chopped snickers bars and mix until ingredients are just combined.
3. Spoon into the prepared muffin tin and bake for 20 minutes. Half way through cooking, place a piece of the snickers chunks onto the top of each muffin and continue baking.
4. Cool on a wire rack before storing in an airtight container.
What I loved most about these muffins was the crunch of the chunks of snickers bar within the muffin itself. The caramel from the pieces of snickers bar on top of each muffin also seeped down towards the center of the muffins spreading the chocolate bar deliciousness even further.
Snickers Muffins
Makes 12
2 1/4 Cups plain flour
3/4 Cup sugar
1/4 Cup cocoa powder
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
70 g (2.5 oz) butter, melted
1 Cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs, lightly beaten
3 Snickers bars, 2 roughly chopped and 1 divided into 12 chunks
1. Preheat the oven to 200C (400F) and grease or line the wholes of a muffin tin.
2. Combine the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Combine the milk, butter, eggs, and vanilla in another. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry, add the roughly chopped snickers bars and mix until ingredients are just combined.
3. Spoon into the prepared muffin tin and bake for 20 minutes. Half way through cooking, place a piece of the snickers chunks onto the top of each muffin and continue baking.
4. Cool on a wire rack before storing in an airtight container.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)