0 Prawn, aubergine and green bean curry

After all that rich festive food, has you got a craving for something a little different, well I have just the recipe for you. A delicious prawn, aubergine and green bean curry, rich in tasty vegetables ideal to serve with rice for an informal supper.

Its so darn easy as well, and can be on the table in about 30 minutes start to finish, if you want to impress your guests why not whip up some roti or naan to serve alongside this dish.

What you need

• Bag of frozen raw king prawns - defrosted or fresh prawns
• 1 onion - peeled and roughly chopped
• Good handful of chopped green beans (I used frozen homegrown)
• 1 aubergine - topped tailed and cut into chunks
• 2 tomatoes- chopped
• Squirt of tomato puree (or you could use passata)
• Fish stock or coconut milk if you like a creamy finish (I do)
• Salt and Pepper
• Curry paste (from a jar or make your own)
• A little coconut oil or vegetable oil

What you do

• Heat the oil in a frying pan, add the onion and fry until softened and translucent
• Add the curry paste to the pan and cook for a few minutes to release the flavours, add the aubergine to the pan, stir fry adding a little more oil if necessary.
• Once the aubergine is starting to soften add all the other ingredients to the pan except for the prawns
• Cook until the sauce starts to reduce and the vegetables are cooked, add the prawns and simmer until they are cooked through.
• Serve strewn with fresh coriander and the accompaniments of rice and roti
• Enjoy

Detail: Prawn, aubergine and green bean curry

0 Ice cream cupcakes in association with Baking Mad

Those lovely folks at Baking Mad have sent us a goody parcel and asked us to have a go at one of the recipes off their website. As you know I love experimenting in the kitchen and fancied having a go at making their recipe for ice cream cupcakes. The easy cake recipe is a doddle to follow and the results  speak for themselves, my only comment would be that the buttercream quantity is way to much for the number of cakes you are creating. The recipe is here .

Rather than wrapping the cones in foil as in the recipe I didn't bother and just placed them on a baking sheet, this seem to work fine. I also couldn't locate any ice cream flakes so improvised and used sprinkles I had in the cupboard and had a go at creating a swirl effect in some of the buttercream topping with gel food colours.

What you need 

For the cupcakes

• 12 flat based ice cream cones - wafer type
• 170g caster sugar - I used Billingtons Golden Caster Sugar
• 170g butter - unsalted
• 3 eggs - free range
• 170g Self Raising flour - I used Allisons
• 1tsp vanilla extract - I used Neilsen Massey

For the buttercream icing 

• 125g butter - softened
• 250g icing sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• Sprinkles of your choice, mini flakes, fudge sticks, chocolate sauce, etc

What you do 

• Preheat the oven to 160c fan / 180c normal oven
• Place the ice cream cones on baking tray
• Cream the butter and sugar together, whisk until fluffy and light.
• Add the eggs one at a time and beat well, add the vanilla, if the mixture looks like splitting then add a little of the flour. 
• Fold in the flour until you have a smooth mixture, divide between the 12 cases, do not fill to the top
• Bake in the preheated oven for 20 mins or until tested cooked with a cocktail stick, they will be golden brown and well risen
• Leave to cool fully before decorating
• To make the buttercream, whisk the butter, icing sugar and vanilla extract together until you have a smooth fluffy buttercream
• Place in a piping bag and pipe swirls on top of the cupcakes, decorate with sprinkles or flakes
• To make ripple buttercream, using food colouring gel, paint the inside of a disposable piping bag with your choosen colour and pipe as before.

The cupcakes proved very popular with some friends little ones who thought they were great fun and thoroughly enjoyed licking the buttercream off the top before devouring the cake and cone. 

                             

                                                                                                              

Detail: Ice cream cupcakes in association with Baking Mad

0 Kiwi fruit cupcakes

I have never made Kiwi cupcakes before despite this being a fruit I often enjoy eating, I like the combination of juicy fruity almost opal fruit flavour and bright green flesh. They are however not a fruit that immediately springs to mind when you fancy baking.

I think kiwi fruit are cute, like little furry creatures that live in the fruit bowl and there are numerous ways of accessing the bright green flesh, my preferred method being slicing and I have made kiwi fruit jam in the past with great success.

For this recipe you can dress with butter cream and a kiwi slice or just leave plain and sprinkle with demerara sugar for some crunch. Its an easy tasty bake which works with gluten free flour as well as normal wheat flour.

What you need

• 2 large kiwi fruits or 4 small kiwi fruits, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch chunks
• 2 cups of plain flour 
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 egg - free range
• 1 cup skimmed milk
• 1 tsp vanilla paste
• 1/4 cup coconut oil - melted
• Demerara sugar - for sprinkling
• Buttercream (optional)
• Slices of Kiwi for decoration
• Large muffin cake cases

What you do

• Pre heat the oven to 200c /180c fan
• Line the cupcake tin with the case cakes
• Beat the eggs, oil, milk and vanilla together in a large bowl, I used my mixer. 
• Sieve the flour,baking powder, cinnamon, sugar and salt into the bowl and mix together quickly
• Fold in the chopped kiwi fruit
• Spoon the mixture into the cake cases - this mixtures makes approximately 12 large muffins / cupcakes.
• Sprinkle the tops with demerara sugar if using
• Pop into the oven and bake for 20 minutes or so until well risen, golden and cooked through when tested with a cocktail stick
• Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack
• When fully cool, decorate with buttercream if you wish

I'm entering this post to this months Alphabakes hosted by The More than the occasional baker , the letter this month being K - for Kiwi fruit in this case.

                                                       

 And to Bake of the Week hosted by Casa Costello

                                                            

And also to Treat petite over at Cakeyboi, the theme this month being "Anything Goes"


                                            

Love Cake Jibberjabber - the theme this month is Back to School - Something new. As I said earlier in the post I haven't baked with Kiwi fruit previously.

                                     

Detail: Kiwi fruit cupcakes