Oh So Delicious Chocochino Puddings

I do not have a very sweet tooth and try to avoid sugary treats where possible...but...every now and then I see no harm in enjoying a delicious something or other that is just a little bit unhealthy and indulgent!

These sweet little chocochino puddings were on the menu for our special Valentine's meal and oh!  Were they ever so good...{{Smiles}}

Although our original idea was to have a delightful picnic birthday/Valentine's celebration, our plans had to be altered somewhat due to unforseen problems with our cars...  But...we still had a wonderful day, and made some sweet memories!

Now...for an incredibly simple recipe...I know you will enjoy indulging in these delicious chocolate puddings...perhaps you have a special occasion coming up and would like to try something new and scrumptious...

Chocochino Puddings...
 {Recipe Courtesy...Ideas Magazine, September 2014...slightly altered} 

15ml freshly brewed strong coffee, cooled
 85g (90ml) soft butter
85g (95ml) castor sugar
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
85g (155ml) self-raising flour, sifted
50g dark chocolate, chopped
30ml cocoa powder, sifted

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius.  Beat the butter and sugar together until light.  Add the eggs, one at a time.  Add the coffee and beat well.  Fold in the sifted flour and the chocolate.  Divide mixture equally between 6 greased ramekins.  
Bake for about 15 minutes until just done...you don't want to dry the puddings out.
Just before serving, top with a dollop of whipped cream and dust with cocoa powder.
Serve and and...enjoy!

With love and blessings...

  ~

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Overberg Baked Cheesecake with Chocolate Crust...

 

This delicious baked cheesecake is one of our favourite desserts, and we usually just make it for very special occasions...

One cheesecake goes very far as it is quite rich and decadent...thus, one only needs a small piece...hmmm...❤

I like to make a strawberry coulis to pour over the top...it makes the cake that little bit extra special and pretty...

This recipe is very simple and quick to prepare...just be careful that you don't bake it for too long as the cake will crumble when you slice it...  I like to cut my cheesecake into small blocks and place them in cupcake wrappers...

Overberg Baked Cheesecake with Chocolate Crust

1 packet chocolate biscuits, crushed

100g melted butter

750 cream cheese

2 tins condensed milk

125ml lemon juice

60ml custard powder

30ml vanilla essence

250ml fresh cream

Mix crumbled biscuits and butter together and press firmly into a loose-based cake tin.  Mix remaining ingredients except cream together.  Whip cream and fold into mixture.  Pour into prepared cake tin.  Bake in an oven pre-heated to 180 degrees Celsius for 30 minutes.  Remove and cool.

~

We served our cheesecake at Nancy's sixteenth birthday high tea...  

I love sipping  tea and enjoying a little slice of this as a treat whilst chatting with special friends...the perfect combination, don't you think...?

~

I have a special surprise coming for you this Friday {hopefully}, dear friends, so do stop by again...you don't want to miss it!

Blessings to you!

~

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Moroccan Style Spicy Meatballs

 This deliciously spicy recipe for meatballs is just perfect for a chilly evening this week...

Meatballs are simple to make and oh so good, so make enough to freeze for use later on when you need a quick dinner after a busy day...  ❤

Meatballs 

500g lamb or beef mince

50ml each chopped fresh parsley and coriander

3ml ground cumin

1 small onion, finely chopped

2-3 fresh chillies, seeded and chopped

olive oil, for frying

Sauce

2 cloves garlic, crushed

2 medium onions, finely chopped

1 green pepper, chopped

2 cans whole tomatoes, chopped 

OR 8 fresh tomatoes, peeled and chopped

5ml each ground cumin and cinnamon

30ml fresh lemon juice

10ml dried apricots, halved

10ml honey

1-2 fresh red chillies, seeded and chopped

50ml chopped fresh parsley

couscous, to serve

Meatballs

Combine all the meatball ingredients and season to taste with salt, and roll into little balls.

Heat a heavy-based sauce pan and add a little olive oil.  Fry the meatballs in batches until browned.

Alternatively, line a roasting pan with foil and grease with a little butter.  Brown meatballs in the oven at 180 degrees Celsius.

Sauce

Heat a little more oil and add the garlic, onion, green pepper and 3ml freshly ground black pepper

and saute until soft.  Add the remaining sauce ingredients except the parsley.  Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer, covered, for 30 minutes.

Return meatballs to the sauce and simmer for a further 10 minutes.  Stir in the parsley and season to taste.  Serve on a bed of couscous.

~ Blessings, dear friends...❤  ~

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Simply Scrumptious Apple & Cinnamon Muffins

For years I have been searching for the perfect apple muffin recipe...

 A muffin that is neither too dry, nor too moist...  Not too sweet, yet just sweet enough to excite the tastebuds with the first tiny bite...  ❤

...And I have finally found it!

This apple muffin is so very delicious...a hint of cinnamon, a lovely apple tang...  And the drizzle icing gives it the perfect finish!

As I love sharing my favourite finds with you, I have given you the recipe below ~ I am certain your guests, family or whoever you serve will be greatly impressed....

  

For the muffins 

125g butter, softened

125g castor sugar

2 large eggs

1 1/4 cups cake flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 tsp cinnamon

100g apple sauce *

* Instead of using apple sauce, we peel, cut and steam fresh apples, and then puree them with a blender.

For the icing

200g icing sugar

About 5 tbsp milk

1 tsp vanilla essence

1/2 cinnamon

1 apple

2 tbsp lemon juice

 Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius.  Line an 8 hole muffin pan with paper muffin cases.

Put the butter and sugar in a large bowl and using a hand-held electric whisk, beat together until light and fluffy.

Add eggs to the mixture, one at a time, beating thoroughly after each addition.

Sift flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and cinnamon.  Add apple sauce and stir everything together until just combined.

Divide the mixture equally between the muffin cases.

Bake in the oven for 25 minutes until form or a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean.

Leave to cool on a wire rack.

To make the icing, sift the icing sugar into a large bowl.  Add the millk and vanilla essence and mix until smooth.  

Spoon the icing on top of the muffins, allowingit to drizzle on the sides.

Quarter, core and slice the apple and toss the slices in the lemon juice.

Sprinkle the cinnamon over the muffins and top with apples pieces.

I do so hope you enjoy these simply scrumptious muffins!

~ Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.  Proverbs 16:24 ~

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Hearty Lamb & Butternut Curry

 This delicious butternut and lamb curry is the perfect meal for a chilly winter’s evening...

A fire to warm the house and the aroma of gently cooking curry makes for a pleasant and comforting atmosphere in the home…

~

The flavour of this curry is just excellent; mild and just a little spicy… 

The addition of fruit chutney makes it pleasingly sweet, with a tang which the dried apricots and lemon juice add...

The lamb is perfectly soft, and the butternut gives this dish a soft, buttery taste…

And fresh coriander leaves add a lovely finishing touch!

  

 Lamb and Butternut Curry

45ml olive oil
6 cardamom pods, bruised
1 cinnamon stick
1kg lamb knuckles
2 onions, chopped
8ml crushed garlic
8ml grated ginger
10ml each ground cumin and coriander
paprika, to taste
2 cans whole tomatoes or 
8 tomatoes, peeled and chopped
300g butternut pieces
100ml dried apricots
10ml lemon juice
50ml hot chutney
50ml chopped fresh coriander
rice, to serve

Heat 30ml of the oilve oil in a saucepan.  Add the cardamom and cinnamon.  
Stir, then add some of the lamb.  Cook until browned on both sides.  
Remove from the pan and set aside.  Repeat with the remaining lamb pieces.
Heat the remainng oil and add the onions.  Saute until soft, then add the garlic, ginger and spices.  Cook for a few minutes, then add the tomatoes.  
Bring to the boil, then return the lamb to the saucepan.
Cover and simmer for about 1 1/2 hours until the lamb is almost tender.  
Add the butternut and dried apricots and continue to cook for 30 minutes or until tender.
Stir in the lemon juice and the chutney, and season to taste.  Garnish with coriander and serve accompanied with rice. 
 Bon Apetit!

Recipe Courtesy:  Ideas 365 recipes for every day of the year 

Dear friends, thank you so much for visiting me today...I truly appreciate the extra time you take to leave such sweet words that bless and encourage me!
And I warmly welcome my lovely new readers and hope that you will enter as a stranger and leave as a friend!

Have a blessed, beautiful week!   
   

"She is like merchant ships.  
She brings her food from far away.  
She wakes up while it is still dark and 
gives food to her family..."

~  Proverbs 31:14-15

   ~

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Vennison Casserole...

Winter is most definitely here...  Although it isn't my favourite season, I am enjoying some delightfully cosy days pottering about the kitchen...

Recently we were blessed with some lovely venison, but as this particular cut of meat can be a bit tough, I decided to cook it slowly in a wonderful gourmet casserole...

   
Venison Casserole
 
 45ml olive oil
1kg venison shank cut into pieces
1 leek, finely chopped
8 baby onions, peeled
8 cloves garlic, peeled
4 whole cloves
1 carrot, chopped
1 cinnamon stick
2ml each grounf nutmeg and cumin
25ml red wine vinegar
300ml red wine
200ml tomato juice
1 sprig rosemary
4 bay leaves
30ml tomato paste
60ml chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
 
 Heat a layer of olive oil in a casserole dish or saucepan.  
Brown the meat in batches over a medium to high heat.  
Remove from the pan.  Add a little more oil to the saucepan. 
Saute the leek, baby onions, garlic, cloves and carrot for a minute.
Add the spices and stir until fragrant, then add the vinegar.
Stir for a minute before adding the wine, tomato juice
rosemary sprig, bay leaves, tomato paste and 250 ml hot water.  
Bring to the boil.  Transfer to an ovenproof dish.
Cover and bake in a preheated oven (180 degrees Celsius) for 2 1/2 hours until tender.  
Add the parsley and serve with rice, pasta, mashed potatoes or couscous.

~
 I do hope you enjoy this delicious casserole as much as my family did!
I actually cooked up all the venison in this way and froze it for future use...:)

Blessings on your Wednesday, dear friends!
 

~

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Afternoon Tea…

 Hello dear friends and a happy July to you!

I am delighted to be back in the lovely world of blogging...as I mentioned to a very sweet blog friend the other day, I miss ‘my home on the web’ so dearly when I am absent!

This week has been quite an industrious one, for we have had quite a lot of fresh produce come in which needed to be preserved, and I also spent two afternoons babysitting a precious little one year old boy…

In just a few days’ time I will be visiting a very dear friend of mine to help her celebrate her eighteenth birthday!

She will be having a lovely high tea, so I am busy preparing for being away by making sure I have enough stock for the market…

 

But…today is a beautiful, sunshiny winter’s day, and we are enjoying some much needed peace and quiet at home after all the frantic activity of the last few days…

~

One of our favourite things to do on a day like today is to bake a special tea time treat, and these

delicious scones were just perfect…

I love using my heart cookie cutter to make heart shaped scones…something a little different and special…

Our scone recipe is a simple one which we have used for many years now. 

I don’t even know where or when we first discovered it, but I do know I have made several changes to the ingredients and method over the years…

“Rubbing the butter into the sifted flour gives the scones a shortbread texture which is absolutely sublime when served with the homemade raspberry jam and fresh cream…”

Buttermilk Scones

3 tbsp buttermilk

225g cake flour

2 tsp baking powder

Pinch salt

75 butter

40g castor sugar

1 egg, beaten

Sift together the flour and salt. 

Rub in the butter till the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.

In a separate bowl, combine the beaten egg, castor sugar and buttermilk.

Add to the dry ingredients.

Mix and knead lightly to form a smooth dough, then roll out to about 5cm thick.

Use the rim of a glass dipped in flour or a cookie cutter to cut out shapes and place

on a tray lined with baking paper.

Brush a little buttermilk over the tops of the scones and bake at 180 degrees Celsius for

About 15 minutes, or until golden brown and done.

If like me you are watching your intake of sugar, how about using a drizzle of raw honey instead of jam…honey and whipped cream is a delightful combination!

…Finely grated cheddar is also scrumptious on these scones, and is perfect if you are serving these as a light lunch…

I made the jam just a few minutes before serving as my method is a very simple one…

I used two cups of raspberries (fresh or frozen will work) and just half a cup of sugar. 

I put the berries and sugar in a small pot and brought it to a boil over a medium heat…

I then boiled the fruit and sugar together, stirring almost constantly to keep it from sticking to the bottom of the pot, until the mixture had a jam like consistency and a lot of the liquid had evaporated…

   
As this jam is more fruit to sugar, it would be advisable to store it in the fridge.

Be aware that it also won’t gel as regular jam would…  Using a lower quantity of sugar means your jam hasn’t got a sickly sweet taste, but rather a gorgeously rich and fruity flavour…

 Serve scones warm with a pot of freshly brewed tea of your choice…

Set your tea table in a simple yet elegant fashion using tea cups and a pretty tablecloth…

A vase of wildflowers set in the centre of the table adds a graceful touch to the scene, and place freshly baked scones in little baskets around the table…

Invite a dear friend to join you, or simply enjoy as a family…

What is your favourite tea time treat...?

Wishing each of you a beautifully blessed month of July!

   ~

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