Today my day started very very early for me! 4am to be precise. This is very unusual for me as I love my sleep and think it should be illegal to be awake at that time of the morning! The reason why I was awake and up at this time was because I agreed to start work at 5am! Luckily I live near my work so can leave it pretty late to get up and leave. Weirdly although I was up unusually early I felt quite awake and full of energy all day. I finished work at 1.30 which is great because it meant I could go home and have a nap for a little while and still have the afternoon to enjoy. As I felt so awake I decided not to have my nap and to do a bit of cooking. I have recently created a folder full of recipe that I want to make and this was one of them. The recipe was from the Good Housekeeping website and for home made FAB lollies. If you don't know what a fab lolly is, it is a fruity strawberry lolly half topped with a white sweet lolly, dipped in chocolate and covered in sprinkles. I love the idea of making these and when I put them in my folder we were going through a heat wave. Unfortunately today the weather is awful! Very wet and windy in Devon. And more wet weather and thunderstorms are due over the weekend. Not the perfect weather for enjoying an ice lolly but luckily once made I can keep them in the freezer ready for some hot sunny weather! This recipe involves whisking coconut milk which I love and sugar together and pouring the mixture into a 2lb loaf tin covered in cling film then leaving until almost set in the freezer for 2 1/2 hours. Meanwhile you put more sugar, vanilla and fresh strawberries into a saucepan and heating until the sugar has dissolved then boil for a little bit (creating a kind of jam) the pureee and cool. Then you poke your lolly sticks into the frozen white mix and pour over the strawberry jammy goo and put back into the freezer to freeze completely. Once it is solid you slice the frozen mixture into lollies with a sharp knife. Finish the lollies by dipping the tops into melted chocolate and sprinkling with sprinkles. Place back into the freezer onto a baking tray covered in more cling film until you want to eat them. Oh my god! I have finally tasted one of my home made fab lollies (after a week of rain and thunderstorms) and my gosh they are absolutely delicious! The strawberry layer is my favourite part because it taste just like a fresh summer strawberry. The coconut layer is lovely and smooth with a hint of coconut and I love sprinkles.
I honestly think everyone should try making these! Although they have a few steps and freezing processes can fit this perfectly around your lifestyle. The only thing I would change is that the shape of the lollies are irregular and slightly rounded, from the shape of the tin. So next time I would like to try it in an ice lolly mould. Repeating each step in the same way but on a smaller scale. I would then take the lolly out of the mould and dip in chocolate and sprinkles.
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This Blueberry Muffin recipe is a little weird for me. It is very easy to make as you start by creaming the butter and sugar together then adding the eggs and beating for 3 whole minutes!! This make the batter go really strange! It curdles loads and I began to think that something was very wrong but hoped that when I add the dry ingredients in it would come back together. My gut instinct to try Paul Hollywood's recipe was right as I added the dry ingredients into the curdled mess and mixed to combine and it looked more normal now. It was very thick, not like a cupcake batter and was quite dough like. The next step was to cover and put the batter into the fridge overnight or as long as you can keep it in there. I made my batter then went and did some housework and had my dinner so it must of been in the fridge for about 4 hours. Because this recipe is better the longer you leave the batter in the fridge, it is perfect to make in the evening before bed, ready to bake muffins in the morning for breakfast. In the morning simply scoop the batter into the muffin cases, poke about 8 blueberries into each muffin and bake in the oven for 20 minutes until risen and golden brown. I love a recipe that means you can do it in stages, as I work full time and usually try to bake on my day off but sometimes this is impossible. I love that you could make this if you have guests coming over or staying at your house because you will look like such a domestic goddess by whipping up a batch of freshly baked muffins ready for breakfast time! I decided to bake these muffins today because this year is the fist year our blueberry tree has actually produced fruit! Not only fruit but gorgeous purple plump blueberries. This makes me so happy! I love nothing more than going out into the garden and picking something we have grown then cooking with it! Our garden also has pears, all kinds of tomatoes and varieties of herbs at the moment. The only thing I have noticed about my blueberries is that they are a little bit more Tart than the shop bought ones. This is fine when they are baked into a slightly spiced muffin batter as it is a good contrast to the sweetness of the muffin.
Although I love Paul Hollywood and trust his recipes I think these muffins are a little dense. I would prefer a muffin with some vanilla in and more moist and fluffy. But I am by no means saying that I do not like these muffins and they are yummy, but I have used a different recipe in the past (which I need to find) which I personally prefer to these muffins. |
Welcome!Hello, I'm Laura and I am a 25 year old foodie with a passion for baking! When I'm not thinking, blogging about food, reading cooking magazines, searching Instagram for food porn I am usually cooking it!
This Blog started a few years ago now as a place for me to store recipes that I like and that work! I love to take pictures of food and I am on all of the social network site as polkadotcooking. I hope you enjoy my site and give me any feedback if you make anything :) Archives
February 2018
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