Carrot & Courgette Flowerpots

Carrot and Courgette Flowerpots 
I'm a HUGE fan of Lakeland. Its quite possibly my favourite shop (along with Cath Kidson) but it basically has everything you could possibly need in your kitchen, plus more. But anyway, during a trip to Edinburgh a few weeks ago I dragged my other half into Lakeland and it was like I'd stepped into heaven! I spent far too long looking at all the cooking and baking tools and gadgets and in the end i left with some pretty sugar paste flower cutters, a new rolling pin and the amazing silicone flower pot cases you can see in the picture above. I'm pretty sure I've never seen anything so sweet and so I had no choice but to buy a pack. I mean, a pack of 6 was only £5.99 and they're reusable so as far as I am concerned, they were an investment. 

I had recently made a delicious carrot and courgette cake that had gone down very well with friends and work colleges but I decided it would be way more fun to bake them in the little flower pots. The recipe as you can see below, is pretty simple. There isn't a huge amount of skill involved but the main cause for problems will depend on how much moisture comes out from the veg and into the cake. The more you get, the moister and tastier the cake. If you do feel the mix isn't as wet as you like then just add a teaspoon or two of water. 

As most people are aware, both carrots and courgettes are very nutritious. Both are full of fibre and vitamin C as well as being high in potassium. Carrots are also high in vitamin A. Each of these nutrients have their own health benefits and I could no doubt bore you by going into great detail, but I won't. But if you do want to know more, I have made a small table with some nutritional information. So whilst your sitting there eating your freshly made carrot and courgette flowerpot cake you can read this and feel good about it!

                 

So yeah, there are loads of reasons as to why you should bake these cakes, so here goes...

Ingredients for the cakes...
(makes enough mix to fill all six flowerpots)

250g butter, room temperature

200g caster sugar

3 large eggs

250g self-raising flour

1 tsp bicarbonate soda

1 tsp mixed spice
100g carrots (grated)
100g courgettes (grated)

6 flowerpot cases

ingredients for the icing...
250g butter, room temperature
600g icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
a drop of green colouring
a piping bag
piping nozzle (I use a star tip)

sugar paste of your choice to decorate

To make the cakes...
Preheat oven to 180°c/ gas mark 4

Beat the butter and sugar together then add the eggs and continue to beat.
Sift in the flour,bicarbonate soda and mixed spice and fold until fully mixed.

Stir in the grated carrots and courgettes and mix fully.

Divide the mix between the 6 pots and bake on a tray for around 20 mins or until golden brown.

Allow to cool before decorating.

To make the icing...

In a large bowl cream together the butter and vanilla.

Blend in the sugar, a quarter at a time, beating well after each addition.

Beat in the green colouring and continue mixing until light and fluffy.
Spoon the icing into a pipping bag, with the nozzle attached. 

The decorating...

Pipe the green icing onto each cake. The good thing about this recipe is we want it to look like grass so the messier the better. You want to pipe the icing almost like rosettes, but just not as neat!  

You can decorate them whichever way you like. I used sugar paste cutters to make little flowers and stuck them on top.
In most cook shops you can also buy pre-made sugar flowers so that's an option as well. It really depends how much time you have. 

Cupcake Rose Bouquet

Cupcake rose bouquet

Cupcakes (or fairy cakes as we still call them in my family) have always been something I have loved making.  I love experimenting with loads of flavour combinations or if I am being lazy I troll through cook books looking for the tastiest recipe. Then, once they're baked and out the oven you have delicious cakes to decorate - I like to think of them as little blank canvases ready to be made into something amazing.  I love both piping icing and making decorations out of sugar paste. There’s just something so relaxing about working away, letting your creative juices flow.

For this recipe I decided I would try lowering the sugar content, as we all know the implications of too much sugar in the diet…  I started off trying out one of the sugar alternatives available online (Sukrin)  but they didn't taste sweet at all. So in the end I tried using half golden caster sugar half granulated sweetener and they worked perfectly. As you will see in the recipe below I say to add both rose water and lemon juice to the mix so this adds a lovely fruity, fresh taste. I mean, yes they still have plenty of calories in them, but they would have had even more if I had used all brown sugar and as far as I’m concerned it’s all about the little changes.

For the silver flower pot, I bought a set of three out of my local gardening centre which were in the sale for £1 and decorated one of them with some cute ribbon I had lying around and a heart shaped earring that had broken. It’s all about making the most of what you have around you. I then put oasis in the centre of the pot to hold the cakes in place when skewered in.  It really is that simple. If you don’t have the time or just be bothered with all the extra work, the cupcakes look lovely piped and sitting on a pretty plate.

This recipe is pretty straight forward. I guess it’s just all about getting the best cake mix. So make sure your butter is room temperate and just beat it loads with the sugar- the more the better really. Then when you’re adding the egg, do what it says and add it slowly.

Another thing - if you have the time, get your hands on some green paper cases as although you can’t really see them I think they would look great and it’s nice to pay attention to detail. 

For the icing, you need one of these nozzles. It will give you the rose effect you need. It’s totally up to you if you want to colour the butter icing. As you can see in the picture I used both cream coloured and pink- but go for whatever you like!

To make around 8 cupcakes

125g soft cooking margarine

60g golden caster sugar

6g granulated sweetener

2 medium eggs

zest of one lemon

125g self raising flour

5ml rose water

paper cupcake cases

cupcake tray

wooden skewers

flower pot

oasis

For the icing

250g butter (which should be room temperature)

1 tsp vanilla extract

600g icing sugar

2 tbsp milk

piping bag and nozzle

to make the cupcakes...

Preheat oven to 180°c/ gas mark 4

Cream the margarine and sugar together until light and fluffy.

Beat the eggs and gradually add to the mixture, along with the grated lemon zest, beating well between each addition.

Sift the flour into the mixing bowl then fold into the mixture using a metal spoon, then add the rose water.

When fully mixed, use two teaspoons fill the paper cases 2/3 full with mixture and bake for 8-10mins or until golden.

When removed from oven, allow to cool on a wire rack before decorating.

to make the icing...

In a large bowl cream together the butter and vanilla.

Blend in the sugar, a quarter at a time, beating well after each addition.

Beat in the milk (and colouring if being used) and continue mixing until light and fluffy.

Spoon the icing into a piping bag, with the nozzle attached.

To put it all together...

Pipe the icing onto each cake using a slow circular motion to create the rose look.

Do this with all the cupcakes.

Spear each cake onto a wooden skewer and assemble neatly into the oasis.

If you have any edible glitter or sprays then this is the perfect time to use them to give the cupcakes that extra sparkle.

Blackberry and hazelnut brownies

     sadly not my picture. It's taken from here

What’s better than brownies? Especially when they are full of good quality chocolate and delicious hazelnuts. I find brownies can be either a hit or miss when bought from shops of cafes as you never know if they are going to be soft, gooey or as dry as a couple of crackers. But with freshly, homemade brownies you can’t go wrong (well not normally).

For this recipe I decided to try lowering its fat content. I decided to do some reading on the internet and I kept coming across the same technique- use apple sauce instead of butter or oil. I'd never heard of this but the more I thought about it the more I could see it working so decided to give it a go.  I decided to try using a 50/50 apple sauce and oil combination and it turned out better than I’d expected! The brownies turned out lovely and soft, and it had the perfect gooey inside that I love. The one thing I felt it needed more of was chocolate so I noted that down and upped it and it tasted perfectly second time round.

Ingredients:
to make around 9 good sized brownies

75ml olive oil

50g of good quality dark chocolate

2 large eggs

120g Caster Sugar

60g light muscovado sugar

15ml of Greek-style natural yoghurt

5ml vanilla extract

150g plain flour

40g cocoa powder

40g hazelnuts- crushed 

150g fresh or frozen blackberries

75ml apple sauce, made from: 

2 large apples

teaspoon of caster sugar
a 22cm square baking tin

To make the apple sauce…

Peel and chop the apples into small chunks.

Place the apple in a pan of hot water and sugar and boil for 5/10mins or until a skewer can easily go through the apple. 

Remove from water, drain and blend until smooth. 

Allow to cool.

To make the brownies… 

Preheat oven to 190oc/ gas 5. Line a 23cm square baking tin with baking paper.

Over a low heat gently melt the chocolate and add in the oil and apple sauce stirring occasionally and keeping a close eye on them. Allow to cool for 10mins.

Meanwhile whisk the eggs, caster sugar, muscovado sugar, yoghurt and vanilla in a large bowl until pale and fluffy. Do this with an electric whisk on full speed for a good 5mins.

Pour in the melted chocolate, apple sauce and oil and mix gently until combined.

Sift the flour and cocoa powder together, and then fold into the chocolate mixture with half the hazelnuts and blackberries.

Pour into the prepared tin and sprinkle the rest of the blackberries and hazelnuts on top.

Bake for 20mins and check with a skewer. 

Cool for half an hour.