Chocolate and Ginger Cupcakes

I think I went a little mad on Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning.

The baking bug got a hold of me and wouldn’t let go easily.

I ended up with banana bread, choc. Ginger cupcakes, rocky road biscuits, ginger and date scones and a gluten free sponge cake with cream and jam. Madness I tell you, but oh so much fun.

Everything ended up going to my mum and dads for Sunday lunch. What a feast.

I’m still not done baking though. Hot Cross Buns I think. Yeah I’ll be making some today.

In the meantime enjoy these lovely rich cupcakes.

For 12 cup cakes you need:-

65g butter

150g golden syrup

80g castor sugar

2 eggs

160g plain flour

10g baking powder

40g cocoa

5g bicarb.

10g ground ginger

3Tbls finely chopped glacé ginger

Chocolate Fudge Icing

70g butter

3Tbls water

80g castor sugar

180g icing sugar

3Tbls cocoa powder

To make the cake place the butter, golden syrup and sugar in a medium saucepan and stir over low heat until the sugar has melted. Leave to cool about 5 minutes.

Stir in the rest of the ingredients until well combined and spoon evenly into patty lined muffin tins.

Bake for 15-20 minutes. Leave to cool completely before icing.

For the icing combine the water, butter and castor sugar in a small saucepan over low heat until the sugar has dissolved.

Sift the icing sugar and cocoa together in a bowl and stir in the water and butter mixture until smooth.

Refrigerate until set.

When you’re ready to ice your cakes simply beat the icing mixture a little to make it easier to spread.

I was feeling a little fancy so I piped the icing but spreading it on the cake is very acceptable.

These went down a treat after Sunday lunch at my mum and dads.

Enjoy…

Oven Roasted Spiced Chicken

So many recipes, so few days in the month.

With over 800 recipes to choose from, Charmaine Solomons – The Complete Asian Cookbook – is proving to be quite the challenge as  The Cookbook Guru book of the month.

Lucky for me, a friend tagged a few of her favourite recipes. Thanks Sue S.  This was definitely a fine recipe to tag.

 

A simple yet amazingly tasty meal to prepare.

I ended up using a whole chicken instead of pieces. Just cut out the backbone and flatted the bird by pushing down on the breast. It cooks faster and more evenly  than leaving it whole.

I added a couple of other ingredients too.

Oven Roasted Spiced Chicken.

1 free range whole chicken (or 1.5 kg chicken pieces)

3 cloves garlic – minced

2 tsp grated fresh ginger

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

4tsp five spice powder

1 red chilli – finely chopped (optional, we love chilli)

4 Tblsp light soy sauce

3 Tblsp peanut oil

1 Tblsp dry sherry

2 large potatoes cut into slices 5mm thick (optional but delicious)

In a bowl mix together the garlic, ginger, salt, pepper, five spice, chilli, soy sauce, peanut oil and sherry. Pour over your chicken and leave to marinade in the fridge for at least 1 hour.

Spread the potato slices in a roasting dish (which I cover with foil or baking paper for easy cleaning). Lift the chicken out of the marinade and lay it, skin side down, on top of the potatoes. Pour the marinade over the chicken.

Roast in a pre heated 180 c oven for 30 minutes, turn the chicken over (skin side up) and cook for another 30 minutes.

The skin will be crispy and the potatoes will have soaked in all the delicious juices and be cooked to perfection.

Scones….

My my parents-in-law love these scones. And what’s not to love???? They’re full of dates, ginger and honey….yum. Made these ones fresh this morning and they are on their way to my in-laws place as I write this. Chop 1/2 cup dates and 1/4 cup of glacé ginger into small pieces. Put them in a bowl with 2 cups of sifted self raising flour, 1 teaspoon ground ginger (less if you don’t like too much ginger), and 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon. Mix well. In a small saucepan, gently heat  1 tablespoon honey, 1/2 cup milk (I use soy), and 1/4 cup cream till just hot enough to melt the honey. Add to the flour and lightly mix with a flat bladed knife until it all comes together to a soft dough. Tip it out onto a lightly floured surface and squash it down to about 2 cm thick. Cut out rounds and place them on a greased baking tray. Bring leftover dough back together and continue cutting out rounds until the dough is finished.  Heat 1 tablespoon milk with 1 teaspoon honey and brush this over the top of your scones. Bake in a preheated oven, 210 degrees, for 15 minutes or until they are a lovely golden brown. Let them cool down for a few minutes before you try and shove them all in your mouth at once. Enjoy……