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Carrot Cupcakes with a maple cream cheese topping

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As I haven’t posted anything for a while, I thought I’d post 2 recipes this month. I don’t often make cupcakes, preferring muffins.This recipe was given to me by a lovely Australian lady I met. We were chatting about how we both loved baking. It’s an easy recipe with a delicious topping. 225g sr flour, 230g brown sugar, 2 tspn mixed spice, 125ml vegetable oil, 3 eggs, 480g finely grated carrot (about 4 medium carrots), 90g chopped pecans and 6 pecans halved Preheat oven 180C/160C fan/gas4 Grease a 12 hole muffin tin or use paper cases.  In a bowl mix together the flour, sugar, spice, oil and eggs. Add the carrots and nuts and stir in. Divide the mixture between the muffin cases or muffin tin. Bake for about 39 mins. Leave in tin for 5 mins then put onto a wire rack. Topping - 30g soft butter or spread, 80g softened cream cheese, 2tbspn maple syrup and 200g icing sugar Beat butter, cream cheese and syrup together in a bowl with a hand beater till fluffy and gradually beat in the icing s
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Apple Custard Cream

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Sorry I haven't posted for a couple of months. I've not been well, and had family problems too, so have spent time in London.  I was given a bag of apples and wanted to make something different. Browsing through my recipe folder I found this recipe. It's an egg custard over apples, but the custard is made with cream. Lovely to have as a pudding as we're now into Autumn. For the apples:  50g butter, 1 kg cooking apples, 50g sugar and the zest of 2 lemons For the custard topping: 825ml double cream, 50g sugar, 4 eggs plus 2 yolks, 50g demerara sugar and 1/2 tspn cinnamon Heat a frying pan and add the butter and apples, peeled cored and sliced.  Cook for 6-7 mins till soft but still keeping shape. Add the sugar and zest and cook for a further 2-3 mins. Pour into an ovenproof dish. Beat the eggs, yolks and sugar together; warm the cream over a gentle heat then add to the eggs and gently mix in. Pour over the apples. Mix the brown sugar with the cinnamon and sprinkle over th
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Chocolate Tartlets

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I've been told that today is a special day for Chocolate. I don't need an excuse to make anything using it , (or eating it!) so made these little tartlets. The recipe is from a French book simply called 'Les Tartes'. The recipe makes 8 tartlets. 250g  shortcrust pastry [your own or bought] 175g dark chocolate, broken into pieces 2-3 tbspn water 1 tbspn butter - softened 1 tbspn cognac or cointreau [opt!] 3 eggs, separated chocolate shavings or grated chocolate to decorate Preheat oven 200C/gas6 Roll out the pastry and line eight 10cm tartlet moulds. Then put them in the fridge for about 15 mins.  Line them with parchment and fill with beans and bake them 15mins; take out the beans and paper and cook them for another 5 mins; leave to cool. Melt the chocolate over a bowl of hot water or in the microwave and leave to cool. Add the butter and mix till it's melted then add the egg yolks. Now's the time to pour in the cognac or Cointreau. Mix it all together. Beat the
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Triple Tomato Tart

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  Sorry, missed out on May! I had some soft tomatoes to use up and a pack of puff pastry lurking in the freezer. I remembered this recipe my friend gave me. It uses a few store cupboard ingredients and a few extras. It’s really good with salad and is very easy to make. 250g puff pastry 3 tbspn tomato paste, 150g cherry tomatoes halved, 250g ripe sliced vine tomatoes, 2 sprigs fresh rosemary, 2 tbspn olive oil, 1 tbspn balsamic vinegar, 1 egg yolk, S&P and a few thyme sprigs.  Preheat oven 190C/gas5  Baking sheet Roll pastry out to a rectangle 35x25 cm and lift onto the baking sheet. Spread the tomato paste over the pastry leaving a 3cm border round the edge. Put the vine tomato slices carefully over the paste, then sprinkle the halved cherry tomatoes over them. Top with the rosemary and drizzle with 1 tbspn of the olive oil and the balsamic vinegar. Brush the edge with the beaten egg yolk then bake for 15-20 mins till golden. Take out of the oven and season with S&P, sprinkle o
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My favourite Plum Tart

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 I found a punnet of ripe plums lurking,  so made my favourite plum tart recipe with a few tweaks. I didn’t have the correct amount of plums so couldn’t pack them in, but it still tastes delicious. It has a layer of pastry, then cinnamon sugar, plums and a delicious topping of brown sugar, egg and crème fraîche. Pastry- 250g plain flour, 175g butter cut into pieces, 1 medium egg yolk Filling- 1/2 tspn cinnamon mixed with 2 tbspn soft brown sugar, 750g of plums, halved then quartered. Topping- 1medium egg and 1 yolk, 125g crème fraîche, 45g soft brown sugar Oven 200C/gas6.  28cm flan tin   Rub fat into flour.,Add yolk and 1-2 tbspn water to make a firm dough. Roll out and line the tin. Prick the base and put in fridge for 30 mins. Filling- Sprinkle cinnamon sugar over the pastry. Arrange the plums cut side up, packing tightly. Any left over cut in half again and make a pattern on top, cut side down.  Topping- mix all the ingredients together and spoon over the plums.  Bake for 25-30 min
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Coconut Tart

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 I needed a quick dessert for my family and remembered this one which used to be a great family favourite. It uses bought puff pastry, some jam, dessicated coconut and a few other ingredients, but is very simple and quick to make. Preheat oven 200C/gas6                  a 23cm tart tin You need: a pack of butter puff pastry, 80g caster sugar, 4 beaten eggs, 125g dessicated coconut, 1 pot of jam of your choice, 1 tspn vanilla extract, 100g butter. Roll out the puff pastry and fit into the tart tin. Prick the bottom with a fork. Melt the butter, then in a bowl mix together the caster sugar, eggs, melted butter, coconut and the vanilla extract. Spread the jam over the pastry in the tin, then cover this with the coconut mixture. Bake in the oven for 30-40 mins. Sprinkle some more coconut over the top and leave to cool. I like the combination of textures - the pastry, soft jam, coconut mixture then the extra coconut topping. It would work just as well with shortcrust pastry, but I had some
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Whipped Cream Cake with Caramel Topping

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 This is an unusual cake as it’s made with cream, which is used instead of the usual butter and milk. So the cake is quite firm, tho’ you make it like a sponge cake. You need: 600ml whipping cream, 3 eggs, 1 tspn vanilla extract, 275g light brown sugar, 300g sr flour Topping: 60g butter, 110g soft brown sugar, 2 tbspn milk and 80g icing sugar. Preheat oven 180C/gas4/fan160C Grease and base line a 22cm deep tin. Beat half of the cream with hand mixer till soft peaks. Beat the eggs and vanilla in another bowl till thick and creamy. Gradually add the sugar, beating well between each addition. Spoon egg mixture into a large bowl and fold in 1/4 of the remaining cream, then the flour. Make sure it’s all mixed together. Spoon into the tin and bake for about 50 mins. Leave in tin to cool for 5 mins then put in wire rack.  Beat the remaining 1/4 of the whipped cream into soft peaks. Make the caramel topping : melt the butter in a small pan , add the sugar and milk. Bring to the boil and immedi
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