Banana, Cinnamon & Honey Muffins YUM!

Banana, Cinnamon &Honey Muffins

Ingredients

2 cups self raising flour

1tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp bicarb soda

1tsp cinnamon

pinch of salt 

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup milk

2tbs honey

1tsp vanilla essence

2 eggs

1 cup of mashed banana (2 bananas)

Method

1.Sift flour, baking powder, bicarb, cinnamon and salt into a bowl. Stir in sugar.

2.In a separate bowl, mix eggs, milk, honey, vanilla and mashed banana.

3.Make a well in the flour mix and add milk mix, stirring until just combined.

Bake in muffin cases at 180c for 20 minutes.

I iced mine with a simple cream cheese frosting and then froze them for hubby to take to work. They are just as nice served warm, with some butter or marge.

Fathers Day Pressie's

Father's Day is nearing, and I wanted to find something personal that Riley could give to Josh. With our anniversary, Josh's birthday and Father's Day coming up, I really didn't know what we could buy for him!

 We need to all remember that the gifts that don't cost anything are often the best and most treasured!!

So after I did some google searching for ideas, I found this fantastic recipe for a dough you can use to make handprints. It's simple, and most would find all the ingredients in the cupboard already. 

Ingredients:
2 cups of flour
1 cup of salt
2 cups of water
food colouring (optional)

Ribbon or twine to hang (optional)

Method:
All you do is combine all ingredients, mixing to form a pliable dough (we did have to dust with a little more flour while kneading because the mix was slightly too sticky). Add food colouring if desired. Make print, and using a skewer create a hole in the top through the dough to hang later on. Bake at 180c for 2 hours or until firm.

The original recipe said to bake at 200c but it was far too hot and discoloured the dough. It also dried it out too much which caused cracks. The second print was on a lesser heat and turned out perfectly, no cracks or discolouration. I used blue food colouring, and the picture below doesn't do it justice.

The hardest part was getting Riley to put his hand on the dough and not try to squash it!! :) Riley had a great time making it, he had his own bowl and spoon and was pretending to mix when I was. If you had older kids it would be a great project for them to do themselves.

                                                           cute.cute.cute.cute.cute

Its not edible, but still :)

Teddybears Picnic & Profiteroles

My boys and I have had a great Sunday at the Teddybears Picnic today with my friend Frances, her partner and their gorgeous bub. We had a delicious lunch and I brought along some profiteroles for dessert and thought i'd share the recipe.

                                                          yum.yum.yum.yum.yum

Choux pastry

• 1 cupwater
• 80g butter, at room temperature, chopped
• 1 cup plain flour, sifted
• 3 eggs, at room temperature, lightly whisked
• 
  Creme patissiere
• 1 3/4 cups milk
• 1 vanilla bean, split lengthways, seeds separated
• 3 egg yolks
• 1/3 cup caster sugar
• 1/3 cup plain flour, sifted

Method

1. Place the water and butter in a saucepan. Bring just to the boil. Remove from heat and use a wooden spoon to beat in flour until combined.
2. Cook, stirring, over medium heat for 2-3 minutes or until the mixture forms a ball and comes away from side of pan. Set aside for 5 minutes to cool.
3. Gradually add egg, beating well after each addition, until the dough is thick and glossy.
4. Preheat oven to 200°C. Line 2 baking trays with non-stick baking paper. Place heaped dessertspoonfuls of dough, about 3cm apart, on trays (or pipe using a piping bag)
5. Use wet hands to pat down any peaks of dough. Sprinkle trays with water to create steam. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until puffed and golden.
6. Turn off oven. Use a knife to pierce the base of each profiterole. Place profiteroles in oven for 20 minutes to dry out. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
7. For the creme patissiere, warm milk and the vanilla seeds in a saucepan. Whisk yolks and sugar in a bowl until thick. Whisk in flour, then milk mixture.
8. Return to pan and cook, whisking, over low heat for 5 minutes or until mixture thickens. Cover surface with plastic wrap. Place in the fridge to chill.
9. Spoon creme patissiere in a piping bag fitted with a 5mm nozzle. Push nozzle into the base of each profiterole and fill with creme patissiere.

This was the recipe I used, but did a few things differently. I piped my choux pastry (I find its quicker and also makes the profiteroles a more consistent shape).  I also left my cooked profiteroles out on a wire rack overnight covered in a tea towel to dry out. You could leave them in the oven for 20 min like the recipe says of course, but I have always had a better result when theyve had a night to dry out properly. 

*Its very important to smooth over the tops of the buns with a bit of water to smooth out any peaks, as they will definitely be first to burn!!!

Give them a go and let me know what you think :)

Mini Red Velvet Cupcakes

• I decided to treat my son's playgroup to some delicious Mini Red Velvet Cupcakes today. After spending the morning getting them ready, it turned out playgroup had been cancelled!! 

 yum.yum.yum.yum.yum

• 
  
• 
  
• Mini Red Velvet Cupcakes
• 
  
• Ingredients:
• 
  
• 2 cups plain flour
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1 tsp bicarb soda
• 1 1/2 cups caster sugar
• 1 cup milk
• 200g unsalted butter, melted
• 2 eggs, lightly whisked
• 1 tbs white vinegar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1-2 tsp red food colouring
• 
  
• Icing:
• 250g cream cheese
• 1 cup pure icing sugar
• 120g butter, at room temperature
• 1 tsp vanilla essence, extra

1. Preheat oven to 170°C. Sift flour, cocoa powder and bicarb soda into a bowl. Stir through the sugar. Whisk the buttermilk, butter, eggs, vinegar and vanilla until combined. Make a well in the centre of the flour mix and add the buttermilk mix. Stir until just combined- then add the food colouring.
2. Divide the mixture among the lined pans. Bake until a skewer inserted into the centres comes out clean (10 minutes for mini, 20min for regular size). 
3. Use an electric beater to beat the cream cheese, icing sugar, butter and extra vanilla until smooth. Spread over cupcakes once they have cooled and decorate as you please!!

These are really yummy and so easy to make!! The original recipe calls for buttermilk, but I never ever have that so I have substituted it for normal cows milk with 1tbs of white vinegar. Turns out just as nice :) I made a heaps of mini's and a couple normal sized muffins for my partner to take to work- looks like we'll be eating them for a while!!

Introduction to YMC's

Yummy Mummy Cakes is a new and exciting venture!                                                                                     

Before having my son (my first child), I was a chef. I was lucky enough to work in some amazing places with some extremely talented chefs who inspired me to get involved in pastry cooking.

I am soooo passionate about food and cooking and I LOVED working in the hospitality industry.My priorities have completely changed since becoming a mummy, and being around to look after my son and watch him grow absolutely comes first on my list.

           

I wanted to somehow be able to continue to do the job I loved without missing out on a second of my son's life, and I'm fortunate enough to have a very supportive partner (soon to be husband!) who suggested I start a business from home.

So Yummy Mummy Cakes was born!!

I'm really happy to be able to express my creativity again through food and to see the reaction people have to the cakes I make for them. I aim to provide cakes of the highest quality and most importantly, I make them realistically priced!

 It's so fulfilling to be able to have a job I love to do without having to sacrifice any time with my beautiful little family.

The idea of this blog is to create a portfolio of the cakes that I have made and also to share hints, tips and recipes with like minded people interested in baking. I hope you enjoy it, find it helpful and that it inspires you to create some beautiful cakes of your own!! :)