Ham, cheese and chive bread

This is a Lorraine Pascale recipe (from her 'Home Cooking Made Easy' book) and it turned out amazing. It's a really quick loaf to make - it doesn't have yeast in it so doesn't need time to rise etc. so my expectations weren't too high - I thought it would be a bit dense and dry. But thankfully it was delicious, especially hot out the oven with butter mm mm. I made it to dip into baked Camembert (see previous post for recipe) and it was probably the best lunch I've ever had! I don't know what this bread would be like the next day - probably dry but I'm sure it would be fine toasted. I would recommend making it when you know the whole loaf will be eaten for lunch or brunch straight from the oven though, since that's when home-made bread is always best. It has a lovely crispy outside but is still soft in the middle. Don't be afraid to try baking bread because this really is super easy!

Makes 1 loaf
- 425g self raising flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 150g mature cheddar cheese, plus extra to sprinkle on top
- generous handful of fresh chives, finely chopped
- black pepper
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 6 slices of ham, chopped
- 200 - 225ml water

1. Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees.
2. Put all of the ingredients in a large mixing bowl except for the water and extra cheese. Mix well until combined.

3. Gradually stir in the water - add about 200ml water first. The dough needs to be soft but not sticky. Once the mixture is coming together, use your hands to gently knead it, adding more water if necessary.

4. Shape the dough into a ball and then flatten slightly. Slash the loaf three times vertically then sprinkle over the remaining cheese.

5. Place on a baking tray and bake in the oven for 35-45 minutes or until golden.
6. Serve warm with lots of butter or dip in baked Camembert!

Enjoy :)

Jam butterfly cakes

 I think these are so cute, and I love making cupcakes where you don't have to then make a buttercream or other frosting after - less washing up! These are perfect if you want something a bit more special than just a plain vanilla cupcake, and, like the smartie squares, these would be brilliant to bake with kids. With it being spring, and the summery weather emerging, the butterfly design is very fitting - make sure you use pretty, coloured cupcake cases! You can use any flavoured jam you like and fruit or sweet to decorate, so these are versatile as well.

Makes 12-14 cupcakes
- 125g soft margarine
- 125g caster sugar
- 2 medium eggs
- 1/2 tsp vanilla essence
- 125g self-raising flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- spoonfuls of jam (e.g. raspberry or strawberry - I used damson)
- fruit, to decorate
- icing sugar, to dust


1. Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 5/190 degrees.
2. Cream together the butter and the sugar. Gradually stir in the egg and add the vanilla essence.
3. Sift the flour and baking powder and fold into the micture.
4. Spoon into cupcake cases on a baking tray, filling half of the case.

5. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes or until golden. Place on a wired rack to cool.

5. Once cool, carefully cut the tops of with a knife and spoon jam into the centre. Cut the top in half to make butterfly wings and place on top of the jam.

6. Repeat until all done, place a raspberry, or another fruit or sweet, on top (optional), then dust with icing sugar!

Enjoy :)

Blueberry pancakes

These American-style pancakes are a perfect breakfast treat, or make a great brunch. I had never even eaten blueberry pancakes before today, so I was a little weary about making them, but everything went fine and they were delicious. The blueberries poking out of the batter in the pan makes it harder for the pancake to cook through, but if you squash them down it isn't a problem and the blueberries go warm and jam-like mmm. This recipe made about 10-12 pancakes so I heated the oven to keep them warm as the stack got higher and higher. I am ashamed to say that my boyfriend and I ate all of these between us with no struggles (food blogging is stretching my stomach!) I served them with a drizzle of honey and topped with some extra blueberries. We also had blueberry jam and crème-fraiche - the cold cream went perfectly with these warm fluffy pancakes, and it was the Sainsbury's 'be good to yourself' version yay. I definitely recommend making these! 

 Makes 10-12 pancakes
- 250g plain flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3 tbsp sugar
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 250ml milk
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 50g butter/margerine, melted - plus extra for frying
- 100g blueberries

To serve:
- honey or maple syrup
- blueberry jam
- blueberries
- crème fraiche

1. Sift the flour, salt, sugar and baking powder into a mixing bowl.

2. Combine the milk, eggs and melted butter in a jug. Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients and whisk together. Stir in the blueberries.

3. Heat a frying pan and add a small knob of butter. Ladle some batter into the pan and flip when the underside starts to go golden brown. 

4. Repeat until all the pancakes are done; keeping them warm on a plate in the oven until you have a huge stack of them.

5. Drizzle with honey or syrup, top with blueberries, and serve with crème fraiche.

Enjoy :)

Soured cream, cheddar and chive muffins

I have just bought a new baking cookbook (yay!) by love food - the same company that produced my comfort food cookbook shown in my post on spaghetti alla carbonara. I can't find a link for this new book online, but I got it in Debenhams for only £2.50 (half off!) and it seems really good so far, with different sections for cakes, small bites, desserts, baking with yeast and savoury nibbles. I couldn't wait to try something out and these muffins looked delicious. They were really quick and easy to make, but be careful because like with all savoury muffins, they do go quite dry the next day after baking them. They taste best warm out the oven either on their own or spread with butter for extra flavour, so make sure you bake them in the morning for lunch, a buffet, or a picnic. Having said that, you can heat them in the microwave up to a few days after baking to warm them through and retain some of the moisture - they were just as yummy when I did this!

For 12 muffins
Ingredients:
- 280g plain flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 25g cheddar cheese, grated (although I would recommend using more for a stronger flavour)
- 35g fresh chives, finely snipped, plus extra to garnish
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
- 200ml soured cream
- 100ml plain unsweetened yogurt
- 4tbsp butter, melted (I used unsalted, but I would recommend using salted for more flavour - or just add a pinch of salt instead)
1. Line a muffin tin with 12 muffin cases. Sift the flour, baking powder and baking soda into a large bowl. Add the cheese and chives and mix together well.

2. In a separate bowl, mix the egg, soured cream, yogurt and melted butter together. Add this mixture to the flour mixture and gently stir together until combined. Do not over-stir the batter - it doesn't matter if it is a bit lumpy.


3. Divide the muffin batter evenly between the 12 muffin cases - they should be about two-thirds full. Sprinkle over the remaining snipped chives to garnish and transfer to a preheated oven; 200 degrees/gas mark 6. Bake for 20 minutes or until risen and golden. Remove the muffins from the oven and serve warm, or place on a wire rack to cool.

Enjoy :)