Tag Archives: Cinnamon

Christmas Muffins

Posted in baking, Christmas, Food, Home, inspiration, Kitchen, Uncategorized by

 

Christmas would not be complete without Mince Pies. This year, I had an idea to make these Christmas Muffins. Perfect for Breakfast on Boxing day.

I love their freshly baked scent of Cinnamon filling the house. A lovely way to start the day with a fresh muffin and coffee.

Very easy to make. Just follow the recipe for the fresh Blueberry Muffins and substitute the Blueberries with Mincemeat.

Rather than adding the mincemeat and mixing it into the bake, add little dollops into the muffin tins alternating between the batter and the mincemeat until all the mincemeat has been added into the Muffin mix. Bake as normal.

Merry Christmas!

 

 

Sunday Spa Feature – Orange, Cinnamon and Ginger Cellulite Smoothing Skin Polish

Posted in beauty, Health & Wellness, inspiration, lifestyle, Skin Care, Skincare, spa treatment, Uncategorized, Wellbeing by

Orange, Ginger and Cinnamon cellulite smoothing skin polish (2)

I’ve been baking with Oranges and Cinnamon this week and the delicious scent gave me an idea for a cellulite smoothing skin polish which is easy to make at home, packed with ingredients that will help firm, tone and smooth skin which might be looking a little bumpy because of cellulite.

Whilst there are many commercial products available, most health and skincare experts would agree that a healthy diet, combined with exercise to stimulate the circulation will help eliminate toxins from your system and therefore improve skin and muscle tone.

Now, I’m not what you call a gym bunny, so to help improve skin circulation, I’ve created a cellulite smoothing skin polish that can be used once or twice a week as part of a spa experience.

The Ingredients that made it into this Cellulite Smoothing Skin Polish:

 

Dried orange peelOrange Peel

Orange Peel has excellent antioxidant property, containing Vitamin C an antioxidant found in many expensive skin care products, it also contains Calcium, Potassium, Magnesium, minerals which is great for skin. The citric acid in the orange peel that will help to exfoliate and brighten skin.

Root Ginger

Contains powerful antiseptic and cleansing properties, it increases blood circulation. With the heat from the Ginger grated into the skin polish it will gently warm and stimulate circulation to the skin.

Cinnamon

Cinnamon has been used in Asian and Chinese cultures both in food and herbal remedies for centuries.  Cinnamon will boost circulation when applied to the skin and has been shown in recent studies to rid the body of toxins and boost the immune system.

Coconut Oil

Known in it’s ability to moisturise, it’s packed full of antioxidants which work to increase skin elasticity and firmness.

Argan Oil

Rich with Vitamin A and E, Argan Oil is mainly composed of fatty acids (80%) and antioxidants such as linoleic acid. It will smooth, add moisture and rejuvenate skin, no wonder skin care and cosmetic companies have been using this in many of their products.

Dead Sea Salt

The waters of the dead sea are renowned for their therapeutic benefits. Containing lots of minerals such as Magnesium, potassium, calcium chloride and bromides, it increases circulation and helps skin to retain moisture. It has been proven to be effective for easing muscle aches and pains. As the grains of this salt are fine, it can be used as the basis of the skin scrub.

If you don’t have Sea Salt to hand, then soft brown sugar can be used as an alternative.

How to make:

This is so simple to make, as Coconut oil is solid at room temperature, I have put a tablespoon of the coconut oil in a glass jar and in a jug of hot water to melt.

Once melted, combine the Orange Peel powder with the Coconut oil. (I have dried the orange peel first before putting it into a food blender and then blitzing it so it becomes a fine pebbly mixture which will mix better with the oils.) If you don’t have the time to do this, simply grate the orange peel.

Add one teaspoon of ground cinnamon. You can either use the pre-ground powder or grate some cinnamon sticks if you have this.

Grate some fresh root ginger, about a teaspoon or more if you are feeling brave as the heat of the ginger will be very stimulating.

Combine all these ingredients and make into a paste. Add 5-6 tablespoons of Dead Sea Salt and mix together so that the paste of coconut oil, orange peel, grated ginger and ground cinnamon is mixed thoroughly into the dead sea salt.

At this point the mixture will be a little dry and crumbly. Add a teaspoon or two of Argan Oil so that the mixture is soft to the touch but remaining granular for the scrub mix.

You can either use this scrub in the bath, or in the shower, apply a little at a time, rubbing and massaging the mixture in small circular motion into your skin.

You’ll notice not only does it smell great as the scent of oranges, ginger and cinnamon is released into the warmth of a shower or bath, but your skin will get a little pink and and you may tingle all over*, this is from the heat of the spices boosting your circulation and improving lymphatic drainage. The granular salt works to polish and improve the appearance of any cellulite, lumps, bumps and skin blemishes.

The mix can also be used as a bath soak. Just sprinkle into warm running water. It is particularly great for sore aching muscles or as a treatment for the symptoms of a cold or flu.

Once you’ve finished in the bath or shower, if you want to go all out and complete the spa experience, why not try making and using the pampering body oil to lock in moisture to your skin.

*Before trying this recipe, please do a patch test first in case of any skin irritation.

 

Smells and tastes better than it looks – Orange Chocolate and Cinnamon Cake

Posted in At home, baking, Food, Home, lifestyle by

Orange, Cinnamon Chocolate Cake

This rather messy looking cake, smells and tastes so wonderful because it is full of the warming scents of Orange, Cinnamon Spice and Chocolate.

Having found two 20cm spring form cake tins, this would make a simple sponge layered cake with a thickly indulgent butter cream icing.

Ingredients for the Orange Chocolate cake:

200g Caster Sugar

200g softened butter

4tsp Orange Juice

5tsp Coca Powder

1 tsp Ground Cinnamon Powder

3 Beaten Eggs

200g Plain Flour

2 tsp Baking Powder and the Zest of 2 large Seville Oranges

Orange Marmalade (for the filling)

For the Butter Cream filling:

(I have made this using a Sunflower Margarine as my hubby doesn’t get on well with Cows Milk, and used a dash of Orange Juice)

Icing Sugar (about twice the volume to the butter)

Butter or Marge

Pinch of Salt

Orange Zest

1 tablespoon of Milk/Orange Juice to taste and loosen the consistency of the filling to your desired consistency

To make:

Preheat oven to 180 degrees

Mix together the softened butter and sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy. I mixed it together with a spoon rather than used an electric whisk.

Heat orange juice and then mix in 4 tablespoons of the Coca Powder to form a paste and add to the Sugar and Butter mixture, add the rest of the Coca Powder into the mixture and mix until all the ingredients are combined.

Beat in the 3 whisked eggs a little at a time until the mixture has combined to form a batter like mixture.

In a bowl add in the Strong Flour, Baking Powder Cinnamon and Grated Zest of Orange and combine. Sift this mixture into the batter like mixture and gently fold into the mixture until the two have combined into a thick cake mix.

Divide evenly between 2 Cake Tins (20cm wide). I have lined these with Grease proof paper, to help ease the cake out of the tins.

Bake in the oven for about 25-30 minutes. You’ll know the cake is ready when you put a skewer through and it comes out clean.

Cool the cakes on a baking rack.

I found a tip in one of Delia’s recipe books about how to remove cakes from a spring form cake tin. Put the cake on top of a tin can and push the side of the cake tin down, it should slide off the cake, leaving the cake on the base. Use a pallet knife and gently remove from the base of the tin.

Put a tea towel over the baking rack so that you don’t get lines on the cake. (I didn’t do this bit as I thought the lines would be inside the middle of the cake.

It will take about 20 minutes for the cake to cool completely.Slice of Orange Chocolate Cake with Cinnamon

For the Buttermilk filling – I made this orangey by grating the zest off another orange and adding this to the marge. Combine in Icing sugar and keep mixing/adding icing sugar until you get the consistency you want for the cake. I added a splash of orange juice as well as some Soya Milk to make the consistency a little gooey.

Once you have the filling made, spread a thin layer of Marmalade on each side of the cakes and spread the buttermilk filling on top. Sandwich the cake together, dust icing sugar on top and the cake is ready to serve.

For people who like to decorate, the cake would look great with butter icing on top and some of those jellied orange segments or fresh oranges to decorate. But I was too eager to eat the cake, so were the kids, so it just got a coating of icing sugar before being served for last night’s tea.

Hmmm delicious!

Banana Loaf with Sour Cherries and a Cinnamon Crunch topping

Posted in At home, baking, Food, inspiration, Kitchen, lifestyle by

Banana Loaf with Sour Cherries and a crunchy topping

I’ve been clearing out our grocery cupboard. Every few months, I make an effort to purge our groceries to make sure there is nothing lurking in the back of the cupboard that is going out of sell-by date.

It sometimes reveals some interesting finds.

Today, I found these dried sour cherries. I don’t remember buying these, so it must have been my hubby. At any rate they are about to reach the end of their shelf life. Rather than waste them, I decided to put them to use in a cake.Sour Cherries, bananas, dried apricots

Since I also had some bananas which were going very brown, they were now not so great looking in the fruit bowl but would be perfect for this Banana Loaf.

Ingredients:

75g Dried apricots (dried squishy fruit such as apricots if you have them)

75g Sour Cherries

Zest of 1 lemon

100g Unsalted Butter (softened but not melted)

125g soft brown sugar

2 large eggs (free range if possible)

2-3 large ripe bananas

200g self raising flour

Loaf tin (13x23x7cm)

Loaf tin paper case (optional)

For the crunchy topping: (this is optional)

1 tablespoon soft brown sugar

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon of Rolled Oats

1 teaspoon of Ground Cinnamon

To make the cake:

In a bowl, mix together the Sugar, Butter and eggs. Combine them until it is a soft batter. Add the chopped fruit (apricots and sour cherries) along with the zest of 1 lemon.

Mash the bananas until they are gloopy and runny and add these into the bowl and stir gently.

Add sifted self-raising flour gently, I tend to put the sieve over the bowl and gently tap in the flour, folding in the flour into the mixture. It should look a little lumpy, (making sure that there are no pockets of flour in the mix).

Spoon into the loaf tin as evenly as possible (it will spread out as it cooks).

My eldest made the crunchy topping at school during one of the cookery lessons and she showed my how to make this delicious topping.

To make the crunchy cinnamon topping:

In a Saucepan, gently melt the soft butter and soft brown sugar, add in rolled oats and ground cinnamon, making sure you coat all the oats with the cinnamon and buttery sugar. Once golden brown take off the stove and add small dollops of the mixture over the top of the cake mix that is in the loaf tin. As it cooks the small dollops of oats mixed into the butter and sugar will turn cook with the loaf and give a wonderfully fragrant cinnamony crunchy texture to the cake.

In the pre-heated oven, bake on 160c for about an hour (check around 50 mins to see if the cake is ready). It’s ready when you can put a skewer into the cake and pull it out clean.

This cake can be eaten hot from the oven but can be stored for a couple of days in an air-tight container to keep it moist.

Banana Loaf with sour cherries
Crunchy rolled oat cinnamon topping
Melted butter, oats and brown sugar with cinnamon
Cake mix in loaf tin
cake mix with mashed bananas
lemon zest
dried fruit added to cake mix
Chopped soft dried apricots with sour cherries
brown sugar and butter creamed
Loaf tin cake cases
Over ripe bananas, apricots and sour cherries

Cinnamon Muffins with Fresh Blueberries and Walnuts

Posted in At home, baking, Food, Fruit, Home by

Cinnamon Blueberry Muffins with Walnuts

I’ve been wanting to make something that brings the sweet warm smell of Cinnamon into our home, now that the nights are drawing in and Autumn is showing it’s first signs of arrival.

Yesterday, (Wednesday) it rained so much that even though  both my kids were wearing their rain coats, when they arrived home it was two wet and soggy girls who needed something cheerful to chase away the dreary weather.

Taking a rummage around our cupboard, we have a very small amount of plain flour and some wholemeal flour. In our fridge was a fresh pack of blueberries that we had to put into our youngest’s lunch bag as a snack.

These ingredients will make one of my favourites – Blueberry Muffins.

I first tried this recipe in the early 90’s when Delia Smith shared the recipe and how to bake them on telly.

The recipe and they way they were baked were a revelation, not only did she use fresh berries, (The cakes I had been taught at school had been sponge cakes, or fruit cakes usually made with dried fruit, so weren’t exactly inspiring or tasty) she showed us how easy it was to make American style muffins and most importantly they looked so yummy.

I hadn’t really thought much about baking until that is I made these muffins and realised how easy they are to make and the way they make a home smell so warm and so delicious.

The fresh blueberries burst as they cook and when you bite into these muffins, because some of the blueberries haven’t quite exploded, they’ll do so as you bite into them, so you get the hit of the warm tangy flavour of the berries, along with the sweet taste of the muffins.

Fresh Blueberries bursting in a muffin

Fresh Blueberries bursting in a muffin

I’ve adapted the recipe slightly because I want to combine the fresh blueberries with walnuts and bring in the scent of Cinnamon.

For an extra kick of Cinnamon, I’ve added a caramelised brown sugar topping that gives the muffins a lovely crunchy texture to bite into.

You can of course make these into smaller sized cupcakes, (this recipe will make approx 12-14) but since we’re eating these for our desserts tonight, they’re being baked in our “Man Sized” muffin tin to serve warm straight out of the oven with a dollop of whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

The ingredients below will makes approx 6-7 large man-sized muffins

Ingredients for the muffins (Adapted from Delia Smith’s American Muffin recipe)

2.5 oz plain flour (75g)

2.5 oz wholemeal flour (75g)

half level tablespoon baking powder

quarter teaspoon salt

1 large egg

one and a half ounce soft brown sugar (40g)

4 fluid ounces milk (110ml)

2oz butter, melted (slightly cooled)

half teaspoon pure vanilla extract (optional)

quarter teaspoon ground Cinnamon

4 oz small blueberries

2 oz Walnuts (Pecan nuts work as well) finely chopped

Muffin mix in tin before baking

Muffin mix with crumble topping in tin before baking

For the crumble topping:

1.5 oz brown sugar

1.5 oz self-raising flour

1.5 oz butter

1 oz walnuts (chopped finely, any nuts if you prefer a different type)

Half teaspoon Ground cinnamon

How to make the muffins:

Sift the flour (You can of course just use plain flour, but we had wholemeal, so I used half and half) with baking powder, Cinnamon and salt into a large bowl.

In a separate bowl whisk the sugar, eggs and butter (melted) and milk together. This time I remembered to put the sugar in!

Fold the dry mixture very gently into the wet batter mixture, the consistency should look lumpy and well, wrong as there should be lumps and bumps everywhere. (Sifting the flour is important to make the muffins light and airy)

Spoon in the blueberries and the finely chopped walnuts. I like pecans with this recipe too, and I think they will work just as well if you like Pecans instead of walnuts. Very gently again, to maintain the light texture of the batter.

Spoon the mixture into the muffin tins. I’ve used these foil muffin cases as it’s easier to get out of the tins and less mess to wash-up.

To make the topping:

Ingredients for the crumble topping

Ingredients for the Crumble topping

This is really simple to make, it’s basically a crumble mixture. Mix the flour, cinnamon and butter and crumble together with your fingers, add sugar and hazelnuts and mix together so that it looks like a very fine crumble mix. Sprinkle over the muffin mixture in the muffin tins before putting them in the oven.

Bake in the oven for approx 20-25 minutes (if you’re going for the Man size versions), 15-20 minutes for the smaller cupcake versions.

Take muffins out of the tins – (they are cooked if you can put a knife/skewer through and it comes out clean). Serve immediately if you want to eat them hot. or let them cool on a baking rack. They can be enjoyed for a day or two afterwards, but really I think they’re yummy straight out of the oven.

Enjoy!

Blueberry Muffins
Muffin mix in tin before baking
Wet mix of sugar, butter, eggs and milk
Dry ingredients in a bowl for blueberry muffins.
Some of the ingredients for Fresh Blueberry Muffins
Walnuts for the muffins
Ingredients for the Crumble topping
Fresh Blueberries in Muffins
Mansized muffin tin filled with baked muffins

How to use Star Anise with Coca Cola and Gammon

Posted in At home, Food, Kitchen, Uncategorized by
Star Anise

Star Anise used to flavour Gammon

These wonderful starshaped hard seeds have been used by the Chinese for generations. It was always a go to spice that my parents would use to make any ordinary piece of meat, chicken or pork transform into something that we would find irresistibly tasty.

The smell of Star Anise is as the name suggests similar to aniseed or fennel and has been used by the Chinese for cooking. It is the major ingredient in Chinese five spice and it is also used for medicinal purposes.

A few years ago, we came across a recipe from one of Nigella’s cookbooks – I think it is from Feast, where she writes and provides recipes from all over the world and explains some of the cultural relevance of special events.

Whenever we cook with Star Anise, the smell of the cooking transforms the kitchen and instantly transports you to somewhere exotic, even with everyday ingredients. Just one Star Anise will do the trick used with any meat and even Tofu. When combined with Soy Sauce, Star Anise is going to instantly conjure up the smell of a Chinese feast.

Nigella’s recipe is one which steeps a piece of Gammon in a can of coca cola. The combination of sweet sugary cola along with the saltiness of the Gammon combine beautifully. Best of all it’s as simple as putting a piece of Gammon into a pot along with the cola, a stick of celery, an onion and carrot stick if you have these to hand and letting it all cook on a low gentle simmering heat for as long as possible. The longer you cook the Gammon, the more it takes on the sweetness of the Cola and all the other ingredients in the pot.

To be honest, we didn’t even look at the cook book to start cooking the Gammon. I think that’s a sign of a good recipe, one that you can remember and don’t have to worry about measuring out anything. The basic principals of the dish allow you to be creative and experiment.

Gammon with Coca Cola, Cinamon and Star Anise

Gammon with Coca Cola, Cinnamon and Star Anise

We added our twist by including one Star Anise and a stick of Cinnamon. The result, the most wonderfully fragrant meat, soft and tender. The cola, along with the star anise and cinnamon stick has combined to make a liquor that can be poured over the meat and any accompanying side dishes.

For an everyday Saturday afternoon meal with the kids, it was as easy as putting the Gammon on the stove to simmer away.

To accompany this dish, this week’s organic veg box included broad beans which arrived still encased in their pods and the potatoes looked as if they had been given to us with their mud still on to protect them.

It was only right to cook them as simply as possible to let as much of their natural flavour to come through.

My youngest helped shell the lovely broad beans and once the muddy new potatoes have been washed, they revealed tender skin beneath so we left them on, I think the skins make the potatoes fuller in their flavour, which simply means you just cook them until they are tender and add a little knob of butter just before serving.

I think when you have the quality of freshly picked vegetables, whether they are from your own garden or carefully sourced from an organic farm, they taste best when you do as little as possible to them.

Our Saturday tea which was originally just plain Gammon, with chips from the freezer and peas, turned into something else, we couldn’t resist using the vegetables from the organic box (we usually try and stretch to last two weeks). and used up most of the box this weekend.

What was going to be an ordinary meal ended up being a little more exotic – best of all, there were no left overs, which means it was a hit with the kids.

Sliced gammon that has been cooked with Star Anise, Cinamon and Cola
Broad Beans still in their pods
Cooked Broad beans with Carrots
Organic Muddy New Potatoes
Organic New Potatoes, gently cooked
Organic carrots trimmed