Mindy Belle

French Dinner Party

Table setting

Shirley Temple Cake

Ingredients

1.5 cups of unsalted butter softened.

3 cups of raw sugar

5 eggs

3 cups of plain flour

2 tablespoons of lemon juice

3/4 cup of lemonade

1 jar of maraschino cherries, drained and juice reserved

maraschino cherries for serving.

Glaze.

2 cups of icing sugar

1 tablespoon of Lemon juice

3 tablespoons of milk

Method

1. Preheat oven to 160 degrees fan forced
2. Beat Butter and sugar until well combined and becoming smooth.
3. Add the eggs and beat until well blended
4. Add the flour and beat until a smooth batter
5. Pour in lemon juice and lemonade and mix by hand until smooth.
6. Fold in cherries.
7. Spread mixture into the base of a greased and floured bundt pan and bake for 1 hour 20 minutes or until a skewer is clear when you test.
8. Turn cake straight from the oven onto the serving dish, and cool slightly, then skewer poke holes all over the top of the cake and pour over all of the cherry juice. Making sure the juice gets soaked up.
9. Let cool completely.
10. Make your glaze and drizzle over the top of the cake. Leave to dry completely before serving to form a hard glaze.
11. To serve fill the middle of the cake with cherries and place others on top of the cake and around the base.
12. Enjoy 🙂

Apple Bread Pudding

Our little apple tree has been very busy this year. We have a huge harvest of 80 apples.

I needed to find some recipes for my beautiful Red delicious Apples.

Ingredients

6 Wholemeal Cafe sliced bread (cut into cubes)

3 Red Delicious Apples (Peeled and cut into cubes)

1 Cup of Brown Sugar

2 Teaspoons corn flour

6 eggs

2 cups Almond Milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Maple syrup  about 1/4 cup or less.

Whipped cream or Icing sugar

Preheat oven to 180 degrees

Cut the bread and  apple in cubes and mix in a large bowl with sugar and corn flour.

In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs, milk, vanilla and cinnamon and pour egg mixture over the bread bowl

Give the ingredients a good stir and pour into a butter greased and lined deep baking tray.

Sprinkle the tray with maple syrup before placing in the oven.

Bake for 25 mins or until golden brown

Remove from the oven, cut a square slice and sprinkle with icing sugar and serve with cream.

Enjoy ! 🙂

Blueberry Parfait

Ingredients

300g Greek yoghurt OR  whipped coconut milk (cream only)

1 tablespoon of icing sugar ( for coconut cream )

1 teaspoon vanilla

50g flaked almonds toasted

20g sunflower kernels  toasted

10g chia seeds

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

200g blueberries ( frozen thawed for a few minutes)

To make coconut cream : Whip the cream only part of the can of coconut milk with vanilla & icing sugar.

OR  Greek yoghurt stir in vanilla only.

Toast the almonds and sunflower until golden in a fry pan stir in spices and chia seeds.

Layer cream  OR yoghurt then the nut mixture with blueberries on top. Continue layering finishing with blueberries.

Serve !

Enjoy:)

Slow cooked Chicken & Chorizo

8 skinless chicken thigh fillets (whole)

4 tablespoons plain flour

sea salt and black pepper

olive oil

250g chorizo sliced

250 mls white wine

2 tablespoons  tomato paste

3 – 4 teaspoons paprika

500ml chicken stock – warmed

1 small onion cut into 8

3 cloves of garlic

4 X 20 cm pieces of celery sliced

1/4 cauliflower broken into pieces

3 bay leaf

1 tablespoon of parsley

400g tin of chickpeas

20 Spanish olives

Preheat oven to 140 degrees

1. Coat chicken with flour and season ( in a zip lock bag or freezer bag )
2. Heat oil in fry pan and cook the chorizo for 5 mins until brown and remove.
3. Cook the chicken pieces in the same pan add more oil if required until golden and rich in colour.
4. In a large roasting pan cook the tomato paste add the wine and paprika cook for a few minutes at boiling add the chicken stock heat to simmer.
5. Place the chicken into the roasting pan with the vegetables & onion, herbs, chickpeas, olives, garlic, and chorizo.
6. Stir all the ingredients and cover with the roasting pan lid.
7. Slow cook for 2 hours in the oven until chicken is tender and breaking apart.  Serve with rice. Prep 20 mins cook 2 hours

Enjoy a nice winter meal 🙂

Chocolate Coconut Cake

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups plain flour
• 3/4 cups cocoa powder
• 2/3 cup raw sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• 400ml can coconut milk
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Method

• Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl.
• Stir in the wet ingredients (whisked egg, coconut milk, melted butter and vanilla)
• Place the mixture in the bottom of a greased 25 cm diameter bundt pan.
•  Bake in a preheated 170 degree fan forced oven for 30-35 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean.
• Cool completely.
• Enjoy 🙂

Spiced Pumpkin Pie

4th of July – Celebration Pie

This is a pie I have always wanted to make, I found a spiced version so here we go !

• Ingredients
• 250g (1 2/3 cups) plain flour
•  2 teaspoons caster sugar
•  160g butter, chilled, chopped
•  2 tablespoons cold water
•  345g (1 1/4 cups) pumpkin, cooked, mashed, cooled (see note)
•  2 tablespoons maple syrup
•  250ml can Nestle Reduced Fat Cream
•  60g (1/3 cup, lightly packed) brown sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
•  1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
•  1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
•  Icing sugar, to dust
• Double cream to serve

• Step 1

  Preheat oven to 180°C. Spray a 4.5cm-deep, 23cm pie plate with oil. Process the flour, sugar and butter in a food processor until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add the water. Process until the mixture just comes together.

• Step 2

  Turn the dough onto a lightly floured sheet of baking paper and roll to a 4mm-thick disc. Line the base and side of the dish with pastry and trim any excess. Pinch edges to crimp. Place in the fridge for 15-20 minutes to rest.

• Step 3

  Line the pastry case with baking paper and fill with pastry weights or rice. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove paper and weights or rice and bake for a further 10 minutes or until light golden. Set aside to cool completely.

  

• Step 4

• Combine the pumpkin, maple syrup, cream, sugar, eggs, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and ginger in a bowl. Whisk until smooth. Pour over the pastry. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until just set. Set aside to cool completely.

• Step 5

  Dust the pie with icing sugar. Cut into wedges and serve with double cream.

Enjoy 🙂

Recipe from Taste.com.au

Fig Marsala Cake

Wagon Wheel slice

Ingredients

300g Granita biscuits

150g Melted unsalted butter

1/4 cup water

3 teaspoons Gelatine powder

3/4 cup caster sugar

1/4 cup of water ( 2nd one)

1/3 cup Sour cherry Jam

200 g 70 % cocoa chocolate

Method

In a food processor crush the biscuits, then slowly add the melted butter.

Press into a slice pan lined with baking paper ( leave enough paper over the edge of pan)

Leave to stand on the bench.

In a small glass jug blend the gelatine powder and 1/4 cup of water, place in a small pan of water to simmer and dissolve.

Meanwhile place 1/4 cup of water and caster sugar in a mixing bowl and whip for 4 mins

Slowly pour in the dissolved gelatine mixture and beat for another 6 mins.

Fold in the Sour cherry Jam

Pour over the biscuit base and smooth off the top.

Melt the chocolate in a bowl over a pan of water, pour over the marshmallow layer

smooth the top and refrigerate for 30 mins before cutting into slices.

Enjoy 🙂

Ginger Wine Lamb shank

Ingredients

Finely chop the onion add to a heated large pan with olive oil.

Cook over a medium to high heat, stirring as you go, until the onions start to caramelize season with salt and pepper. Add the sultanas and jam , then add the tomato sauce, worcestershire sauce and ginger wine. Give it all a good stir, then leave to gently simmer.

In a fry pan lightly fry the shanks until brown add the fresh rosemary for the last 5 minutes.

With tongs move the shanks to the pot add the chicken stock.

Simmer for 45 minutes to 1 hour.  Turning every 10 minutes.

Serving 2  ( large )

Serve with cottage potato & vegetables.

Enjoy 🙂