Follains no need to knead brown bread

From time to time I am given the opportunity to try out recipes and share my thoughts on them. And If it's something that tickles my fancy I'm up to the challenge...

Last week I received this fab recipe for Follains preserves  brown bread. The emphasis on this recipe is there is very little elbow grease required when making this bread, and let's be honest that's music to everyone's ears.

For this recipe you will need:

225g wheat flour

225g white flour

1 teaspoon of baking soda

1 teaspoon of salt

1 teaspoon of brown sugar

2 tablespoons of oil

235ml of buttermilk

Start by preheating your oven to 190". Then in a large bowl add in all the dry ingredients and mix together with a whisk.

Next pour in your oil and buttermilk and with your hand combine lightly until your dough has gathered into a sticky ball. 

Pour your mixture into your lined loaf tin, score it with a knife and bake for 45 minutes.

I found this recipe ridiculously easy to follow, super quick with maximum gratification at the end.

Enjoy

Rebecca x

Escape to The Elms....

The Elms is a mere five minutes from Naas yet it's nestled in the tranquil country side and once i saunter up their drive a feeling of calm comes over me. 

It's no secret Iv always had a love affair for all things gorgeous when it comes to interior deign and as time goes by my style has definitely matured along with me. My colour pallet for one has mellowed dramatically and that is where my {low key} obsession with The Elms comes into the picture.

Their retail space is amazing it has an easy natural flow to it so your not second guessing where to walk first. They display their products nonchalantly, but effortless chic is the way to go in my books.

The Elms stock a wide range of lifestyle and furnishing brands to suit everyones style. if I had to pick two of their labels they would be Riverdale and Mathilde M. They compliment each other in style so well but are quite distinctive in their own right. 

As a baker and a food blogger Riverdale's kitchen range definitely floats my boat I just love all types of trinkets for the kitchen. This brand is not afraid to mix mediums such as glass and enamel and even wood all done in beautiful subtle tones.

Mathilde M is quintessentially French it is romanticism at its best. For me it's all about the ambience perfumes they have a fragrance like no other. I would actually drive to the Elms solely to stock up on their scented hanging decorations I could eat them {not really but you get my point}.

But it's not all about retail therapy at the Elms thankfully VDC cafe is on the first floor, extremely open and airy with a killer view but let's get down to the important stuff the coffee and scones are divine and if you know me at all that's heaven on earth.

A berry berry super smoothie

{this blog is from my sister blog 2girlswithafoodblog.com}

So for three days this week I took a deep breath a delved into the world of JUICE DETOXES, morning noon and night all I was allowed to have was colourful juices packed with vitamins, minerals and anti oxidants.

Why did I decide to try this extreme health kick, well I just felt zonked like I was wondering around all doomy and gloomy just going through the motions. Which is not a good thing for anyone especially when I'm chief in charge of our two gorgeous girlies while the hubby is working away. You gotta be on top of your game or they'll gang up on you and take control ha ha.

One of the smoothie/juices that was by far my fave and one that I shall have on a regular basis is this berry jam packed smoothie

For this recipe you will need

1 cup of whole milk organic yogurt like Glenisk

1 cup of blueberries

1 cup of blackberries

1/2 a pineapple

1/2 a cup of ice

Firstly I cut the skin off the pineapple and pop in the juicer. Next in your blender add the yogurt, berries, pineapple juice and ice and whizz until smooth. It's a simple and quick as that my little ones adored the colour and flavour of it. This recipe made two big glasses of the purple stuff...

Enjoy 

Rebecca x

Easy peasy lemon curd

I needed luscious lemon curd a few weeks ago for a tart I was making so instead of buying a jar of the sunny stuff I said I'd be dedicated to the cause and make some myself and I was actually shocked at how easy and also how amazing it tasted lol

My sister from another mister laura who's also my blogging buddy on our sister blog has always had a mad obsession with it I still have visions of her sitting at her counter at home eating from the jar with a wee spoon....

For this recipe you will need

5 egg whites

2 whole eggs

130ml of lemon juice

130g of golden caster sugar

70g of cold diced butter

1 zest of a large lemon

Start by popping a glass bowl over a pot of boiling water and then gently whisk all the eggs together in the bowl. Next pour in the sugar, juice and zest of the lemon and continue to whisk for around 5 minutes.

After 5 minutes take the bowl off the heat and bit by bit add in the butter. Keep stirring until all the butter has melter. 

Have a little feel of the mixture with your fingers and if it feels silky and not grainy then it's perfect to pour into your jar and gobble up however you please :)

Enjoy

Rebecca x

So this morning I found myself trying to russle up brekky for myself and the girls which would be quite easy on a normal morning, except this morning I was running extremely low on the Bainne. 

But to my delight there in the fridge was a golden coloured carton of buttermilk to me that only means one thing, and that's pancakes.

For this fruity selection of  buttermilk pancakes you will need...

1 cup of plain flour

1 teaspoon of baking powder

2 egg

1 cup of buttermilk

1 tablespoon of poppyseeds

1/2 the juice and zest of a lemon

1 strawberry per pancake 

Vanilla bean infused sugar

5 blueberries per pancake

Icing sugar

So firstly make your bubbly pancake mix then, heat your pan then drizzle with a little oil one that is flavourless. Next dollop your batter onto the pan, I usually make 2 pancakes at a time.

Once your pancakes are on the pan start adding your fruit, for the strawberry pancakes I like to thinly slice the strawberries but only use one per pancake as they are so juicy you don't want to make a soggy pancake ;) once your pancakes are all cooked then lightly sprinkle them with your vanilla bean infused sugar...a match made in heaven.

For the blueberry pancakes once the pancakes are in the pan I like to scatter the blueberries evenly over the batter but again after much "testing" I find 5 is plenty especially for the juniors in the house you don't want to overwhelm them with flavour. Once you flip them that's when the berries go from a beautiful blue to a gorgeous deep purple. Dust with icing sugar then serve.

Lastly on my colourful crusade are my lemon and poppyseed pancakes I will literally use this flavour combination where ever I can and today it was in pancakes. 

With the batter left over I sprinkled in the poppyseeds then added the zest + and some of the juice of the 1/2 lemon. When I turned the pancakes in the pan I squeezed the rest of the juice over et voila c'est manifique...

From this recipe I made 2 pancakes of each fruity flavour 

Enjoy

Rebecca x

Seville orange + lemongrass{optional}Marmalade

Well it's definitely that time of year again...Seville orange marmalade time that is, and like an obsessive foodie that I am Iv been looking forward to this since the end of the summer last year .

Myself and my blogging buddy laura {we are 2girlswithafoodblog.com} decided that instead of going on the razzle  like normal humans we'd stay at home on a Saturday night have a few glasses of the vino {very important} and make way to much marmalade, in the end we made 20 jars of the sticky stuff between us.

And I don't mind bragging that it felt so satisfying to have made my years supply from scratch and to my delight it tastes so more'ish and indulgent that the shop bought marmalade.

So this recipe will make you 10 jars enough for yourself and friends and family and maybe the teacher lol.

I also added 1 stick of fresh lemongrass to one of my pots {so say half your batch} to kick the lemon flavour to another level and it is amazing the marmalade is very aromatic  but without been to tart and zingy if you get my drift ;)

For this recipe you will need:

{this recipe makes 10 jars}

9 Seville oranges

3.6 kilos of golden unrefined sugar

2 lemons

7 litres if water

A nob of butter

2 large pots

Muslin clothes

Firstly cut all your oranges and lemons in half and squeeze the juice out into your pot you will use to boil the oranges in. Once that delightful task is complete scrape out all the pulp including any pips you come across and tie them all up in a muslin clothe. 

Next with a sharpe knife cut your peel into long thin shreds and divide that into your pots along with the water, orange juice and the pulp in the muslin clothes. Bring this to the boil then reduce to a gentle boil for aprox 2 hours.

When you come to the last half hour of boiling you will gently heat your sugar in the oven do this by spreading the sugar on baking paper on a tray then heat through for 7-10 minutes on a low heat.

Once the 2 hours are up take the pots off the heat and remove the muslin let them cool then give them a good squeeze into the pots this will release the pectin into the juice. 

Next pour in your sugar and continuesly stir until the sugar has dissolved then bring them back up to the boil. This is when I bruised a long stick of lemon grass and added it to one of the pots. Add the butter at this stage it will reduce the froth that could appear when boiling.

We had to rely on the old fashioned method of testing the marmalade . You do this by putting a saucer in the fridge for a few minutes to chill. Take it out and spread a small thin amount of the marmalade across it, wait a moment then touch it to see if it has set. If it has the marmalade is ready if not boil a little longer.

Meanwhile you will wash your jars and then pop them in the oven @110" for 10 minutes to sterilize them. 

Next is the tricky bit if you do not have a funnel to pour your marmalade into the jars use a jug like we did. Once all the jars are sealed give yourself a high five you have just made yummy marmalade well done you...

This will definitely be an annual event for myself and laura...

Enjoy Rebecca x

White chocolate, cranberry + crystallised ginger cookies{gluten free}

I recently posted this yummy recipe on my other blog I share with my bestie laura we are taking the month of Feb to share some gorgeous gluten free recipes that we love ourselves. The blog is called www.2girlswithafoodblog.com 

These are an amazing chewy more'ish cookie + unlike some gluten free goodies you can buy in the shops these taste fantastic.

For this recipe you will need:

1 cup of butter

1 cup of unrefined caster sugar

2 egg

1 cup of ground almond

1 cup of dove gluten free flour

1 teaspoon of gluten free baking powder

2 teaspoons of vanilla bean paste

1 cup of chopped white chocolate

1 cup of chopped cranberries

1/4 cup of chopped crystallised ginger 

Firstly Cream together your butter and sugar until pale in colour. Next add in your eggs one at a time making sure they are thorouly mixed through then add your vanilla bean paste.

In a separate bowl add in all your dry ingrediants and gently whisk them together, then combine them into your wet mixture.

Lastly add in all your yummy flavours and mix together until you feel everything is evenly incorporated. You should easily get 20 cookies out of this recipe. Spoon out your mixture onto your baking trays that you've lined with grease proof paper, leaving enough space between each cookie as they will expand. 

Bake in your preheated oven at 160" for 15minutes, they will be quite gooey when they come out but leave them cool on the trays for a few minutes before transferring to the cooling rack....

This flavour combination is gorgeous the crystallized ginger is definitly a welcome addition to your cookie works ha...

Enjoy

Rebecca x

My jazzed up panettone bread + butter pud...

This dessert is an oldy but definetly a goody my granny "Nanos" made a fab bread+ butter pud. And as a consequence my dad is obsessed with the dish I told him I would make this for him over crimbo + he said "now make sure you add plenty of raisins"..

Iv jazzed up this oldy a touch, check it out.

For this dish you will need...

880mls of creamy warm custard

1 large panettone loaf 

1 cup of cranberries

1 cup of raisins

1/2 cup of sliced almonds

1/3 cup of caster sugar

You can either bake one large bread pudding or do what I did + make two Puds in two 2lb loaf tins!!!

Firstly cut the panettone into long slices + then cut them in half. Next start placing them in your tin {which I lined with loaf tin liners} around the sides to begin with and then in the centre.

Once all the panettone is tucked in snuggly in the tins sprinkle in your raisins, cranberries + almond slivers all over the the panettone { don't be to concerned about sprinkling the raisins etc between the slices as the panettone has raisins in it already...

Now it's time to pour over your warm creamy custard, onced it's all covered don't be afraid to squish it all down to make sure all the panettone soaks up the custard...

Pop the loaf tins in a pre heated oven and bake for 55mins @160" and not a minute more...

This is my last blog for 2013 and also the last dessert iv eaten for 2013... Happy New Years my lovelies...roll on 2014

Wonder what my first blog if the year will be....

Enjoy

Rebecca xx

160 55mins

Buttermilk chocolate chip waffles

Anyone that has been to America or Canada over the years will have experienced "the diner". With their gigantic laminated menus, and everything on the menu comes with a side of bacon or can whipped cream.

For me it's always a toss up between the all American pancake or the whopper sized waffles {topped with freakily glazed strawberries and cream}. My obsession with waffles started way back when I watched this movie called Don't tell mom the babysitters dead {I love odd movies}.

So iv been on the hunt for a waffle iron for the past year and to my surprise I couldn't find one..and then two months ago lidl had them for sale JACKPOT..

For this recipe you will need:

A waffle iron lol

1 cup of plain flour

1 cup of buttermilk

1 teaspoon of bicarbonate soda 

1 free range egg

1/4 cup of plain choc chips

1 teaspoon of vanilla paste

In your bowl beat your egg and pour in the buttermilk and vanilla paste. Next sift in the four and bicarbonate soda. Once your batter is smooth and frothy.

Slowly ladle in a small amount of the batter into each waffle section and close the iron down. When its ready the light will go off on your iron, I was able to get six waffles from this mixture which is amazing and extremely cost effective!!!

I dusted these bad boys with some icing sugar...DELISH...

Enjoy

Rebecca x

Lottie's favorite cookies

When it comes to your children you automatically wantfi  the best in life for them and that includes nutritionally too. My eldest Lottie-daisy is not big on sweets or crisps (thank god) but she does have a soft spot for cookies, iv mentioned this in past blogs. This is her little treat she loves to go to the press take out the cookie tin then ask for a cookie + now her mini me Lillie-b does the same (il have to find a better hiding place).

Now I have no problem with cookies as a treat everything in moderation but its frightening when you actually look at the back of the pack + see the amount of "ingredients" that go into a little chocolate chip cookie or a custard cream. 

So as my blogging buddy Laura always encourages us all to do I decided to get the girls involved in making their own cookies. And what's a bomb proof cookie that everyone can't resist  a chocolate chip cookies, the chewy gooey jammed full of chocolate chips kind!!!!

For this recipe you will need:

2 1/2 cups of plain flour

1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder

1 cup of butter

1/2 cup of caster sugar

3/4 cup of light muscavado sugar

1 teaspoon of salt

2 teaspoons of vanilla bean paste

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups of chocolate chips(1/2 dark, 1/2 white)

Firstly cream the butter and sugar together until light in colour next add in the vanilla bean paste and when combined add your eggs one by one.

In a separate bowl sift together your dry ingredients add the chocolate chips then mix into your wet bowl, it's a good idea to add the chocolate chips to the flour as it coats them and prevents them from sinking to the bottom of the mixture. 

Once the mixture is ready lay out some baking parchment onto your baking trays and one by one scoop out the cookie dough with two small spoons and plop them down on the trays. I spaced them 4 down and 3 apart as they ooze out when in the oven.

Now pop your trays in the oven and bake @160" for 10 minutes they need to be soft to the touch when they come out and left ALONE to cool completely other wise they will fall apart, as Lottie found out. 

This recipe will easily make 32-36 cookies and they freeze really well but also keep fantastically in the fridge or even sandwiched around a blob of Ice-cream lol

Enjoy

Rebecca x