Date Archives April 2013

Passionfruit Curd Filled Muffins

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More stuff in the mail! The lovely people from Beyond the Square has sent me more interesting product to try, and this time I’ve got fruit curds from Anathoth! Now I’ve already blogged about their amazing jams, and I’m a big supporter of preserves, because it gives you a little taste of summer when the fruits are no longer in season!

So with the passionfruit curd I thought it might be interesting to make a filled muffin, because I think that provides the best muffin-to-curd ratio with every bite!

Basic Muffin Recipe
Makes 12 regular muffins or 24 mini muffins

1 egg
1/4 cup vegetable or other bland oil
1 cup milk
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups self raising flour

Preheat your oven – 180C for regular sized muffins, 200C for mini muffins

Simply pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, and mix till a batter forms. The batter will be a little lumpy, so don’t succumb to the temptation to keep mixing it till it’s smooth! It’s better to have a slightly lumpy better but a muffin with a beautiful soft crumb.

Simply partially fill the muffin tray with batter (about 1/2 full), then add a heaped teaspoon of passionfruit curd (1/2 tsp for the mini muffins) in the middle – it will sink slightly – and cover with just a little bit of batter to bring the muffin cup to 2/3 full. It may seem lopsided, but the muffin batter will rise around the filling, and the filling tends to sink, so it’s better to have more batter underneath it methinks.

Bake till golden brown on top.

With these filled muffins you can’t exactly do the skewer test, but at those temperatures, I got a crispy top, fluffy insides, with a gooey filling. I much preferred popping the whole warm mini muffins into my mouth, but be careful, because it’s really hot!!

I think it’s great having products like these around during the colder months because I absolutely hate shopping out of season if I can help it, and this gives me the opportunity to have summer flavours, like passionfruit and lemon, during the winter months. And there are so many recipes out there that can provide winter comfort! =)

What are your favourite recipes to use fruit curd in?

Once again, a big thanks to Beyond the Squareand Anathoth for giving me some inspiration for some weekend baking.

What I ate: Brussel Sprouts

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It’s that time of the week again, where I look in my fridge and wonder what I’m going to do with the random things that are in my fridge and pantry. This time it’s the great winter veg: the brussel sprout!

Brussel sprouts get such a bad rep because of the possibility of them being bitter, but that’s also because many places that sell brussel sprouts tend to boil them to death, like the ‘steamed veg’ option in a bad steak restaurant. But they actually taste really lovely when done right, and are really not that hard to cook.

So, as with the other recipes that involve me clearing out my fridge, there aren’t any quantities, but feel free to use as little or as much as you like. Also feel free to include or omit whatever you’d like, and get creative with it!

Roasted Brussel Sprouts

Brussel Sprouts
Bacon
Parmesan
Olive oil
Cumin
Honey

Preheat your oven to 180C. Halve the cleaned brussel sprouts (click the outer leaves off if they’re a bit raggy and give them a quick wash) and toss them with olive oil, ground cumin, salt and pepper.

Roast them in the oven till lightly browned, then sprinkle the chopped bacon over the top. Once the bacon starts browning and the brussel sprouts look lovely and golden, drizzle with honey and pop back to the oven for a minute.

Finish with grated parmesan.

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It’s great as a side or as a light, healthy lunch, especially when it’s cold and rainy outside, like it was today. Hearty and satisfying. =)

Kiama, Part 1

I haven’t forgotten you, I promise! How has your long weekend been? It’s been a great Easter for me, and it all kicked off with a short holiday to Kiama.

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I’m not quite the outdoorsy kind of girl, but I must say that Kiama has been idyllic. I’ve had a fantastic time strolling by the water, sampling the local cafes, and trying out some night photography!

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What do you think?

I also really liked the quaint Scoops Ice Creamery, even if the service was slow. The ice cream though, was delicious!!! Just what I needed on a hot day.

How about you? What did you get up to over the Easter long weekend?

black Rock Cafe on Urbanspoon

Scoops Ice Creamery and Cafe on Urbanspoon