My Pumkin pie

It's official when it comes to festivities I'm your only man for as long as I can remember  I just love the celebrations at the end of seasons...like HALLOWEEN.

When we moved to Canada earlier this year the thing that excited me was the thought of Fall all the gorgeous leaves in those multitude of jewelled shades. Then there's the pumpkin picking where you actually go and pick your own in Pumpkin farms not just from a giant box in Lidl {that still excites me by the way}

I had visions of my new front porch filled with all kinds of pumpkins in there crazy shapes and sizes. Anyway we are back home in good old Ireland + thanks to my obsession iv also found a pumpkin picking farm we can go to not far from ours so happy days.

So here we are in October so it's obvious this cake girl is gonna bake a pumpkin pie, for this recipe you will need:

9 inch short crust pie blind baked {in my blog}

1 can of Libby pumpkin purée

1/2 cup light muscavado sugar

1/2 cup caster sugar

1/4 teaspoon of salt

1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon of ginger

1 teaspoon of cinnamon

1/2 tablespoon of flour

2 organic eggs

1 teaspoon of vanilla bean paste

1 cup of condensed milk

In a large bowl add your pumpkin purée, sugars, salt , flour + spices then mix together. Next beat in your two eggs + vanilla paste. Then lastly mix in the thick condensed milk, at this point the smells are making you salivate but hang on in there my lovelies in less than an hours you'll be tucking in :).

By now your pie crust will baked so pull out the shelf in the oven + simply pour in the pumpkin filling making sure not to flood it.

Bake for 15 minutes @200' then turn down to 170' for 30 minutes, this will be gorgeous with vanilla infused whipped cream or even some yummy ice cream

Enjoy

Rebecca

Lavender honey rice pudding

As long as I can remember my family have been a clan who love their rice pudding, we didn't even need an excuse to make it there was always a big dish of the creamy stuff out on the table with the dark skin shielding it from busy fingers.

I myself much prefer making rice pudding in a pot than in the oven you get longer out of the dessert not that it will be allowed hang around long enough to check its freshness.

During the summer I ransacked my dads lavender garden + took bags of fresh lavender home to dry out for future recipes, there's something about lavender that puts a smile on my face my front door is surrounded by the purple stuff, nothing nicer when you walk out that door +  this is the first breath of fresh air you take in mmmmm.

So for this recipe you will need:

500ml of milk( whole or low fat your choice)

125g of short grain rice

2 tablespoons of sugar

1 1/2 tablespoon of lavender honey

Toasted flaked almonds

Firstly pour your milk in a pot and bring to the boil. Add your rice + sugar in and reduce the heat + turn your timer on for 25 minutes. Don't go far from your hob as you will need to stir this oozy goodness every now + again.

Once you are coming up to the time have a wee taste + if the bite from the rice has gone take it off the heat. While the pudding is still hot drizzle in the fragrant honey + then stir, taste again + add more honey if the flavour is to subtle.

When serving I like to add an extra drizzle of the lavender honey + then sprinkle with the toasted flaked almonds, these give a fantastic texture to the creamy pudding. I just hope you can control yourself when it comes to sharing lol

Enjoy

Rebecca

Chocolate, cream cheese + blackberry brownies

I love when a recipe slaps you in the face right out of the blue. I gave myself yesterday to concentrate and enjoy the task of recipe writing, the hubby pottered off to our local insomnia coffee shop with his Mac book to send off a few cvs + brought Lottie-daisy with him. I put lillie-b down for her snooze and away I went on my baking tangent.

Like anyone who is juggling a thousand things in their daily life when a notion hits I have to write it down quickly as it flithers off just as smart, in the full knowledge that a window will arise that I get to give it welly in the kitchen.

It could be one ingredient that sparks a whole idea or it would have to take a few jotted down notions to compile to one eureka moment. It just so happened it snowballed with me yesterday, half way through one recipe test another popped in so that got made + then written down. And sure here we all are  for this ridiculously good baked goody you will need...

100g butter

200g 70% chocolate

250g caster sugar

4 eggs

70g gluten free flour( or normal)

50g cocoa

Cream cheese layer

175g cream cheese room temp

3 tablespoons of butter room temp

50g sugar

1 egg

3 table spoons of Flour

1 cup of fresh blackberries

Firstly make your brownie batter. Over a double boiler melt the chocolate + butter, while that's melting beat the eggs until light in colour + then add the sugar. Whisk this until all the sugar is dissolved.

By now the chocolate and butter should be completely melted so take it off the boiling water + leave to the side. In another bowl sift together the dry ingredients then add to the eggs. Once fully folded in pour in your melted ingredients.

Now in another bowl add your cream cheese + butter and cream together thoroughly until smooth. Add the egg + sugar in next + mix well. Lastly add your flour.

So lets put this altogether, firstly line your shallow brownie pan with baking paper this makes it so easy to take out the brownies. Pour in the brownie batter first next pour over your cream cheese batter evenly over the chocolate you can even spread it slightly with a spatula. Lastly evenly place your fresh blackberries on top of all this gooey goodness, pop it all in the preheated @180' for 30 minutes + I mean 30 minutes don't even check it when the timer goes take it out any longer + the whole thing loses its gooey ness...

Once out of the oven let it sit for a few minutes before cutting into slices you should easily get 18 squares out of this recipe.

Now this can be devoured on its own or you can up the anty by pairing it with some of my country creme fresh{ you will find this in my blog}

Enjoy

Rebecca xx

My orange cake with fresh Raspberries

Well if you liked my last blog about my orange + poppy seed cake you are going to love this other version of that cake. It is still the amazing mouth watering orange cake but with juicy fresh raspberries instead of the dinky wee poppy seeds

For this recipe you will need:

2 cups of butter

2 cups of sugar

4 eggs

1/2 cup of orange zest

Juice of 1 1/2 oranges

3 cups of plain flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon

3/4 cup of buttermilk 

125 g of raspberries

Firstly cream your butter + sugar until pale in colour, next add in your 4 eggs one at a time what I actually like to do is beat the eggs together in a separate bowl + add that to the mixture I find its less likely for the eggs to split.

Once their all combined add the juice + zest of your oranges well. In a separate bowl sift together all your dry ingredients + by hand fold it in to your wet mixture along with the buttermilk .

Grease and flour your two loaf tins and pour in your cake mixture mankins sure their even. Lastly pop in your raspberries evenly throughout the cake mixture pushing them down slightly.

Pop in the oven for 45mins @ 160'

Once out I also drizzled these cakes with an orange simple syrup. Then when cooked I drizzled over an oozy orange drizzled which I included crushed fresh raspberries so the drizzle would take on the crazy pink colour...

An absolutely gorgeous cake to serve for any occasion

Enjoy

Rwbecca

Caramelized pears with cinnamon swirls

Sometimes in life all you need is a ridiculously decadent dessert but without all that prep and major stress...well look no further below is the recipe for my swirly cinnamon cups filled with caramelised pears and toasted almonds...

For this recipe you will need:

1 roll of puff pastry

6 pears

100g of dark chocolate

2 tablespoons of cinnamon

2 tablespoons of brown sugar

2 tablespoons of ground almonds

1/2 cup of toasted almond flakes

Butter

Extra brown sugar 

So lets gets started firstly unroll your pastry out flat then evenly sprinkle your cinnamon, sugar + ground almond onto your pastry.

Next roll up your pastry like it was in the beginning + cut into 8 pieces. At this point you will see the cinnamony swirls beaming back at you they look divine. 

With your rolling pin or with a glass tumbler which ever comes to hand  gently flatten each swirly section like a saucer. Once their all flattened sit each of them in to a cupcake tray + pop into your preheated oven @ 160' for 20minutes or until lightly golden.

While your cinnamon swirly cups are baking away peel + roughly dice your pears then pop them in a pot with with the smallest nob of butter. Once your pears have began to bubble + soften sprinkle in 1/2 a table spoon of light brown sugar this will help caramelise the pears. Gently test the pears with a cake tester to see if they are fully cooked the last thing you want is your pears to resemble baby mush, that would be a major fail!!!

Ok so your cinnamon swirly cups are baked and out of the oven cooling on a baking tray, your pears are ready for take off. So the last things to prepare before you assemble this magical dessert are to toast the almonds on the pan + melt your plain chocolate over a double boiler.

On your dinky serving dish place out your swirly cinnamon cups, spoon in a small amount of the pears into each cup. Next drizzle over the melted chocolate + lastly sprinkle on the toasted almonds YUM!!!

This dish will get you major brownie points for really very little stress at all

Enjoy

Rebecca x