Sunday 10 March 2013

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY




Mother's Day cake with crystallised flowers





“Happy Mother’s Day” came the chorus of teens this morning as they arrived bearing this gorgeous looking cake.

It had been baked and decorated last night when we were out and was a real work of art with its crystallised flowers.






carrot cake with flowers




So if any of you have forgotten mother’s day, or are looking for inspiration for desert, this delicious carrot cake is very special. As I have already posted the carrot cake recipe in an earlier blog, here is how you make the flowers, according to the teens in the house.





Crystallised flowers





CRYSTALLISED FLOWERS

Serves-This can do loads of flowers
Time minutes to make but a few hours to dry



INGREDIENTS:
1 egg white
1 tbsp water
3 tbsp of caster sugar

WHAT TO DO:
1.      Mix one egg white with a tbsp of water.
2.     Then paint the egg mixture gently onto the petals with either your fingers or a paintbrush. Then sprinkle on the sugar all over and gently shake to remove the excess.
3.     Leave them to dry for a few hours or overnight.



Then arrange on your cake. 



Crystallised flowers


Have fun and Happy Mother’s Day to all the Mother’s out there.




Tuesday 5 March 2013

EASY CHOCOLATE FLAPJACKS




Delicious chocolate flapjacks




I was chatting with my friend and author Linda Chapman, writer of children’s and young teenage fiction, about the joy of finding reasonably healthy snacks for the young and not so young, after a busy day.



For those of you who don’t know Linda she is the author of numerous series of fantastic books including from My Secret Unicorn, Super Powers, The Skating Stories and many more, see the link below for her website.




The children in Linda’s books have busy outdoor lives, sounds not too dissimilar to us here at NOT JUST FOR RABBITS, although sport keeps Teen 2 outdoors, not horses.




Consequently I am always in search of healthy snacks for hungry people. Something that appeals to the chocoholics in the family, but aren’t just full of sugar.

A recipe that has become a firm favourite here is chocolate flapjacks. My other friend Linda introduced me to the wonderful Green and Blacks recipe that we now use and adapt with nuts, coconut, raisins or whatever takes our fancy.  

It is a great recipe as it’s packed with oats, so after a healthy walk, like we had last weekend in the weak winter sunshine, or a busy day at school or work it is just delicious.




Winter walks in Hampshire, England.


Snowdrops



CHOCOLATE FLAPJACKS

Preparation time 10 minutes
Baking time 20-25 minutes
Makes about 20 pieces


INGREDIENTS:

350g (12oz) unsalted butter
3tbsp golden syrup
175g (6oz) soft brown sugar
175g (6oz) muscovado sugar
450g (12oz) porridge oats
6 tbsp cocoa powder
A handful of desiccated coconut, raisins or mixed nuts works really well, depending on what you fancy.


WHAT TO DO:

1.     Pre heat the oven to 150 degrees c
2.     In a saucepan melt the butter, syrup and both the sugars. Then mix in the cocoa and then the oats. Then add your extra nuts or coconut and stir again.
3.     Press the mixture into a lined baking tin, I use a 20 by 30cm tin. Then cook for about 20 minutes, until the flapjacks are cooked in the centre.
4.     Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tin for about 20 minutes.








Winter walks

Snowdrops in Hampshire




As you can see it is a very simple one pan recipe. The joy of it is that they taste so chocolaty but you don’t actually have to use any chocolate.





Awesome chocolate flapjacks