3 ways with pizza dough

You know those cravings that won't leave you. The ones that creep up at in appropriate times. Cravings that whisper in your ear "that just doesn't taste right" when you eat something that isn't what you crave. Fill your mind to the point where not even your favourite series, your child's laughter or your husband's loving words can penetrate the thoughts of making or eating that which you crave? 

I see you nodding and so you will understand when I tell you about my pizza dough craving. It wasn't about what was on top, that didn't matter. It was the flavour and texture of what makes a pizza a pizza that took residence in my head and would not leave. 


So I paused Lost Girl, got up and made the dough. I had no idea WHAT I was going to put on it but the dough was made. Next I went foraging in the fridge, freezer and cupboards for something to use. No, going to the shop was not an option....because...stop it! No! aaaaanyway. In the freezer I found a beautiful piece of beef fillet which I had trimmed off a larger piece I made a few weeks back, some roasted red pepper and tomato soup and a couple of sausages. In the fridge a tiny bit of cheese and in the cupboards onion and spices.

So I went about creating these 3 tasty snacks for us, never having to leave the house or dress in anything but slippers and PJs (see why the shop was not an option). I turned the sausages into cows in blankets (beef sausage see), the meat I fried up with some onions, caramelising it a little then made balls of meaty goodness. The roasted red pepper and tomato soup was cooked down and thickened and made a beautifully rich base for the pizzas I made with cheese and some onion and the rest of the dough was mixed in some caramelised onions to make little dinner rolls (that never made it to dinner)

Pizza Dough

1/2 cup warm water
1 sachet activated dry yeast
2 + 1 cup 00 flour (or half white bread flour half cake flour)
1 tbs olive oil
1/2 tsp salt


Put the yeast in the warm water with a pinch of flour and allow it to bloom. Mix it in with the 2 cups of flour and knead adding the 3rd cup as you knead the dough. Kneed in the olive oil and salt. Place ina oiled bowl and cover and allow to rise. 
Once the dough has risen, knead it to knock out or the air bubbles and divide it into the number of portions you need. (If you are freezing the dough this is when you do it)

Canderel Yellow - The experience

There is much bandied about in the blogesphere about freebies. Some love them, others hate them, some get to many and others sulk for lack of any. For me a freebie are welcomed like any gift, as long as the giver understands that I will be honest in my review (if they expect one). Canderel didn't expect one when they invited me to cook up a storm at The Cook's Playground. All they wanted was feedback.

Sneaking a bit of tuna sashimi before putting it in the pan

For me the best event invitation is one where I get to cook. Sure, sitting at a beautiful restaurant, enjoying magnificent food is great but it makes my night to be able to participate in the making of that food and to learn, teach and experience every step.

On this night we got to do it all. Drink bubbly, eat good food and too many lots of chocolate coated almonds. Old friends got to chat, new friends were made and near future invitations were extended (more on that in the next post)

Myself, polkadotcupcake and ninatimm preping the tomtoes for the Tart Tartin

Canderel teamed up with Jenny Morris to create 2 mouth watering, savoury dishes using the Canderel Yellow product, a sweetener designed specifically for cooking. We baked gorgeous tomato Tart Tartins and succulent tuna steaks with tangy sweet and sour salsa. We finished off with a bright fruit soup, that Jenny made for us with seasonal fruit, young coconut and coconut water, flavoured with almond extract and Canderel Yellow.

As soon as a nice warm, not so wet, day comes along I plan to attempt meringues with Canderel Yellow. If I succeed I know of a lot of very happy sugar free people.

Mini Tomato Tart Tartin

This makes a stunning starter or could be served as a main course with salad. For ease it can be made ahead if required. The tomatoes turn wonderfully sweet and caramelised once cooked.

1 Serving

15 minutes preparation time 

30 minutes cooking time

Save 40 calories

7g fat (per serving of which saturates 3g)

144 calories (per serving)

19g carbohydrates (per serving – of which sugars 9g)

INGREDIENTS

3 tomatoes, cut in half

2 tsp granular Canderel Yellow

A few fresh thyme leaves (optional)

25g/2oz ready bought light puff pastry

Fresh basil leaves for garnish

YOU WILL NEED A 10CM ROUND FRYING PAN

METHOD

1 Preheat the oven to 200C/Gas 6

2 Add the tomatoes to a roasting tin and sprinkle over 1tsp of Canderel Yellow and season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Cook in the oven for about 15 minutes until they just start to soften and wilt a little. You want them to retain their shape.

3 Whilst the tomatoes are cooking, roll the pastry out on a lightly floured board to a 10cm round. Put to one side.

4 Now spoon the tomatoes out and sit them cut side down in a small pan along with the thyme if using, then add the remaining Canderel Yellow. Cook for a few minutes until some juices run then remove from the heat.

5 Sit the pastry over the tomatoes, tucking it in and around them. Put in the oven and cook for about 15-20 minutes until the pastry is golden.

6 Remove and leave for a few minutes then invert onto a plate, be careful as the pan handle will be very hot. Garnish with basil leaves.

Tip: If you haven’t got a mini pan, you can transfer the tomatoes to a mini tart tin or oven proof dish before covering with pastry

Sicilian style swordfish

This meaty fish is griddled and served with a sweet and sour mix of herbs and sultanas. Protein rich swordfish is filling so a lightly dressed salad or spinach is all that is needed.

2 Servings

15 minutes preparation time  

20 minutes cooking time

Save 10 calories

18g fat (per serving of which saturates 3g)

285 calories (per serving)

9g carbohydrates (per serving – of which sugars 9g)

INGREDIENTS

2 swordfish steaks

2 tsp olive oil

For the sweet and sour sauce;

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Juice of 1 Lemon and zest of ½ of the lemon

Handful of fresh flat leaf parsley, leaves only, finely chopped 

2 cloves garlic, grated

Few stalks of fresh oregano, leaves finely chopped or use dried   

25g/2oz sultanas

1 tsp granular Canderel Yellow

METHOD

1 Lightly brush the swordfish steaks with olive oil and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

2 In a bowl add all the sauce ingredients, season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, taste and adjust as needed. Put to one side. 

3 Heat a griddle pan until hot then add the swordfish steaks one at a time and cook for about 3-4 minutes each side, depending on their thickness, you want the inside to remain still pinkish. If you overcook they will become dry.

4 Serve the swordfish on a plate and spoon over the sweet and sour sauce and serve with baby spinach leaves or a salad.

Tip: If you can’t find swordfish use fresh tuna steaks instead (which is what we did)

Note: Images and recipes were supplied by Canderel. I was not paid to do this post, only shown a really good time and a product that is easy to work with.

Truffle Salt Risotto

I was never very good at physics, in fact I was shocking (no pun intended). Even if I memorised the rhymes till I turned blue in the face, when it came down to a test or making something work I didn't know my positives from my negatives and failed every time. On the other hand, when it came to chemistry I was "Queen of the Lab", I loved the way things worked and how 1+1 did not always =2. Unfortunately at my school we just had "science" as a subject and so, although my chemistry scores were FANTASTIC, my physics scores were so flat I had to drop "science" as a subject.

Flapjacks & The Green Pan - Recipe & Review

I was never built to be a full time slave. I run out of steam way to quickly and concentration is not my strong suit. So when I was given the opportunity to work at a job which kept me busy for only 5 hours out of the day I was ready and waiting. Of course a full time job pays better and longer hours at the office mean less chance for me to spend money but it also means spending every hour after lunchtime wishing I was home or finding way to keep my eyelids from shutting on me. 

The other problem with being stuck at an office is following people on twitter who do things like go out for lunches or, as @rethavs did today, make yummy things for lunch. Then you are stuck staring at pictures, coming up with escape schemes until it's time to go home and by then all your energy is sapped and you make hot dogs for supper or go out instead. 

I was already home when the offending image was posted onto twitter and decided that this would be the perfect time to do a long overdue test of my Green Pan. 

Everyone who has ever made flapjacks or their daintier cousins know that these are some seriously sticky things before they are cooked. If you don't get the right amount of oil in their you don't get a good result. Too much and they soak it all up, too little and you'll be scraping your pan for days. So what better way to test this seemingly amazing pan? I used no oil, butter, grease, spray&cook, suntan lotion or any other kind of lubricant, just the pan...face to face with the sticky and delicious flapjack batter. 

The result? Perfect flapjacks! I will admit now that this is not the first time the pan was used, it gets used often for scrambled eggs and omelettes, so this was not just because it's brand new. As for the flapjacks, this recipe is a keeper.

(Adapted from cookbook.co.za's recipe)

What you need:

1 1/2 cups cake flour
4 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
Pinch salt (about 1/4 teaspoon)
1 1/4 cups milk
2 jumbo eggs 2 teaspoon of vanilla extract1/4 cup melted butter

What to do:

Sift or whisk dry ingredients together. Add the milk and mix well. Add the eggs one at a time, whisking well between each addition. Add the vanilla extract. Lastly whisk in the melted butter. Heat the pan on a medium heat and pour on a measure of the batter (all depends how big or small you want the flapjack to be) and cook on one side till bubbles form, pop and don't refill with batter. Flip over and cook till golden brown underneath. Serve warm with anything you like. mmm Nutella.

Disclaimer: The Green Pan was a prize I received at the Food Blogger's Indaba but my review is honest and nothing was left out

Roasted veg with Walnut & Rocket Pesto

Winter has come for a quick educational* before it's arrival in a month or so and with it come the visions of warm comforting food and snuggling up with a hot drink while watching TV or reading a good book. It brings to mind the Afrikaans saying "Maagies vol ogies toe" meaning when the tummy is full the eyes want to close. This is all well and good if you hadn't had a pig-out weekend like mine.

Hummus im Basar on Sunday night, Romanian Kebabs with wedges on Monday (forgive me, it was a public holiday and I had forgotten it was meant to be meat-free) and then all-you-can-eat sushi on Tuesday night. I was looking for something comforting and warm but still light and healthy.

I first thought about what I would consider "Light & Healthy" and vegetables came to mind. Then the "Warming" aspect and roasting sounded like a grand idea. Next it was about what to serve it with and cous cous just was naturally at the top of the list. Relaying my idea to my father (who was also a little fed up with the heavy eating) I came up with the last minute idea of adding a little bit of feta to the mix. Viola!

Popping into the shop I looked around for some nice roasting veggies and was about to head downstairs for some more veggie hunting (after picking up some Willie's Cocoa for next to nothing" when I saw it was almost FOUR. Why is this a problem? Well see, we are currently living with my parents and the domestic worker leaves at 16:00 but some one has to be home when she leaves. So off I rushed with what ever I had, which in the end proved to be plenty.

When it came to assembly I realised that as much as I enjoy the olive oil + rosemary combination on roast veg, I felt like something a little different. I recalled a jar of Walnut and Rocket pesto sitting in my fridge and from there a star was born.

What you need:
1 Packet carrot balls (or chop up some carrots)
4 or 5 baby peeled onions (the kind that are perfect for pickling)
4 small mixed sweet peppers, sliced into quarters
1 small brinjal, cut up in cubes, salted and rinsed
2 cups mushrooms, sliced
4 or 5 cloves of garlic, peeledA
1 jar pesto princess walnut and rocket pesto (or make your own if you can't get any)
1 packet vine ripened cherry tomatoes, on the vine
2 cups instant cous cous
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups boiling water
1 cup crumbled feta (we used a combination of black pepper feta and Fairview's no-brine feta)

What to do:
Preheat oven to 200°C. 
Throw all the vegetables, except the tomatoes into a baking dish. 
Coat with the pesto and pop into the oven.
Set a time for 20 minutes.
At 20 minutes take the veg out and give them a stir, pop in the tomatoes.
Roast for another 10-15 minutes then turn the oven off but leave the veggies inside.

In a large bowl pour the 2 cups of cous cous.
Sprinkle the salt over the top and then pour in the boiling water.
Cover with a tea towel.
After about 5 minutes use a fork to break up the cous cous.
Cover and leave until ready to serve.

Serve the vegetables on top of the cous cous and sprinkle some (or lots) of feta to finish.

The verdict? 3 out of 5 people said it hit the spot. Of the other 2 the one doesn't eat roast veg (she got roasted butternut and loved it) and the other is TheHusband who complained that it wasn't meat :)


*An educational is a fact-finding trip that companies make before using a service provider


Disclaimer: Pesto Princess did give me the pesto for free but I was under no obligation to write a favourable review.

Hot water crust pie

Pie, I think there is a version in almost every culture. Short crust, puff or none at all the crust vary and some are easier then others. I have always used store bought *ashamed* and sometimes, for sweet pies I made short crust. I was about to pop some puff pastry out the fridge for a chicken pie when my sister gave me a "look". See the whole family is on a health drive and well, puff pastry if full of that heavenly evil "butter". 

We both concluded that if I made my own pastry, even if it had butter in it, it would have a lot less than the store bought puff pastry. 

I remembered seeing, on one of those in between sections on Food Network, something about "Hot water crust pasty" and googled around till I found a recipe I was happy to work from and then promptly changed it completely. Those that bake will know, changing a recipe before even trying it is like playing with fire but I figured what the hell. I had a really tasty filling and back-up puff pastry in the fridge. 

Hot water crust pastry (makes 2 pies)

What you need:225g Whole brown bread flour
225g Whole rye flour
2 tsp salt (the stone ground flours need a little more salt then regular flour I find)
200g butter
225ml chicken stock (My filling was made with shredded chicken which I boiled so I used the stock from that)

What to do:In a mixing bowl whisk the flours and salt together (whisking adds air that you would normally get from sifting, but since I used whole flours sifting wasn't an option). Make a well in the centre. Melt the butter in the stock. Pour into the well and mix immediatly until combined. Knead the dough a little. 

From this point use however you want. The hot water crust pastry is worked with warm, unlike shortcrust that must be chilled. 

Note: Any fat can be used where the butter is used so you can replace it with margarine to create an equally great vegan crust.

Spinach and Mushroom parcels - Meat Free Monday

The last 2 weeks have been rather tedious. I was helping my dad out answering phones while his receptionist was away on annual leave. I spent many an hour playing facebook games and wishing I had uploaded some images for blogging. I was not on my own computer so had no pictures with me and so you didn't get any new recipes to try. Sorry :(

However you did get a new look and feel, like a new space to visit. They say a change is as good as a holiday :)

So it is Monday again and with it comes the dulcet sounds of my family moaning at me that they don't understand how 1 day a week can make a difference. With it also comes me ignoring them. Some weeks I just quietly make my own little meal to eat, others I make a dish with several components so those who choose to can eat Meat-free and other days I make something so delicious, they don't care if there is meat or not.

Such was the case with these little phyllo parcels. With the meatiness of the wild mushrooms and the creaminess of the spinach, these edible presents ticked every box in the house.

What you need:

3 bags baby spinach

1 box mixed wild mushrooms

1 tub fat free smooth cottage cheese

1 onion

1 medium potato

½ fairview single salad serving feta (or 1 wheel)

garlic

smoked paprika

olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Phyllo pastry

What to do:

Wash the spinach very well (rule of thumb is at least 7 times, no one likes sandy spinach)

Chop half the onion finely, do the same with the potato (the pieces should all be roughly the same size and very small). Heat up some olive oil in a wok or large pan. Saute the onions and potatoes then add the spinach and mix till wilted (depending on the size of your wok/pan you made need to add the spinach in stages). When all the spinach has wilted add the garlic ad stir well. Then add the cottage cheese and crumble in the feta. Turn off the heat and stir well. Slice the other half of the onion into slivers. In another pan toss the onion and the smoked paprika in some heated olive oil, then add the mushrooms and fry until browned. Add the mushrooms to the spinach mixture, mix well then season to taste.

Cut your phyllo into long strips (I use scissors). Brush one piece with olive oil and stick another piece on top of it. Spoon some filling into it and fold as you wish, using a little more olive oil to seal it. Heat up the oven nice and hot and turn on the grill  and grill until golden brown and crispy (you filling is cooked and should be warm, if the filling has cooled then place the parcels into the oven at 180°c for a few minutes and then pop them under the grill)

You can serve them steaming hot, or even instead of sandwiches for school or work the next day

Meat free Monday - Parmesan Pancakes with Blue cheese mushroom filling

I have another meat free monday post waiting in the wings and while it was super tasty I just couldn't help it and had to post this one first. 


For some unkown reason I decided to browse my old food24 blog, I think I wanted to check when my blogaversary is supposed to happen but I got caught up in reading my old posts. There I found a recipe I really enjoyed and completely forgot about and the cheese-slut in my rejoiced at the find.


What to fill it with though? The first time I served it with a beef stew but I wanted this for meat free monday so narrowed it down to 2 choices. Mushrooms or Cheese

What was I thinking?!?! Some twitter friends put me right and reminded me that I can must combine the two. Things happened, people were late so I had to rush my shopping. 1 box mixed button and wild mushrooms and then for the cheese...what cheese? Originally I wanted to get some ricotta but the cheesegods did not will it so there was none in the shop. First I picked up a block of haloumi, went to get another can of Dr Pepper and decided Haloumi would not work. I went back and had a brainwave while staring at the contents of the cheese fridge. BLUE!! I grabbed a triangle of the strong and creamy cheese and I was ready for a Meat Free Feast

Wholewheat parmesan pancakes with a mushroom and blue cheese filling

What you need (feeds 2): 

For the mushrooms:

1 box mixed mushrooms, chopped but not finely (or any mushrooms)

1 triangle blue cheese (I used Blue Rock from Fairview)

1 small onion, sliced

3 cloves of garlic, sliced

1 cup milk

Salt and pepper to taste

Olive oil

For the pancakes

2 cups whole wheat flour

2 cups milk

4 jumbo eggs

1 cup parmesan, grated (or to taste)

Olive oil

What to do:

Suatee the onions and garlic in some olive oil till they start to brown. Throw in the mushrooms and stir fry until that lovely smell of cooked mushrooms wafts from your pan (I used a wok) and the mushrooms are about ½ the size. Crumble in the blue cheese and lower the heat so it melts slowly, then pour in the milk and simmer till it all thickens up.

In the meantime mix all your pancake ingredients until smooth, the batter must be slightly watery so if needed add more milk. Heat up a pan nice and hot and coat with olive oil (I pour in a little oil then use a kitchen towel to spread it evenly). Pour enough of the mixture in to make a nice size pancake and swirl around the pan to spread it evenly. When holes appear on the top and don't close up, loosen the ends and flip over. Repeat as needed.

To assemble: 

Pop a pancake on a plate. Put some of the mushroom mix on the one side, then roll that side over, fold up the 2 ends and roll again till the end.

Suggestion: Add some chillies or mix up some herbs for more complex flavours 

Veggie soup with homemade gnocchi - Meat free monday recipe

My mom has recently decided that meat free mondays is not a bad idea. So I was happy to discover when we went shopping that what she had in mind was a heart vegetable soup which we packed full with everything from peas, to spinach, baby corn and more (no potatoes).

Something didn't sit right with me and I was sure it was missing something but I just couldn't place my finger on it. Then, while browsing through Meeta's "What's for Lunch Honey" archives I came across this recipe. I immidiately called my mom and asked her to buy some gnocchi to add in. She agreed but first had to rush home so the domestic worker could go home and then she would go shopping. I got home shortly after her and while discussing things I decided that it would be quicker and tastier to make our own gnocchi.

This was the perfect opportunity to go to my list of "recipes I have to try" and one of them was JamieWhoSA's gnocchi recipe. I didn't have sweet potatoes but loads of lovely woolworths organic potatoes.

The soup was my mom's creation but its a basic vegetable soup, flavoured with louvage and parsley, below though is my slight variation on JamieWho's recipe. I was so lucky to have some really awesome ingredients on hand.

What you need:
6 small organic potatoes
1 jumbo free range egg
2 cups stone ground white bread flour
pinch of nutmeg
salt to taste (the stone ground flour has no salt in it)

What to do:
Peel the potatoes and boil in some salted water until soft. Mash well. In a large bowl mix together all the ingredients until you get a warm soft dough.Cover with a tea towel and leave for 5 minutes. Roll the dough out into a sausage shape (I did it in batches), then with a sharp knif cut pices from the sausage. I then rolled them into blobs (very technical I know) and pressed them gently with a fork. In the meantime boil up some salted water and put the gnocchi in. When they are ready they float to the top.

To add a little edge to mine I grated parmesan on them as they came out of the water instead of adding it directly to the soup.

Stuffed pepper

Sometimes I forget to post the pictures that I take. I get so lost in the taste and then I get lost on the internet and then I forget about the pictures. I get so excited when I find them as the bring back floods of tastes and smells and experiences. Unfortunately they don't always bring back exact recipes. This one is one of them and I am apologising in advance for the vagueness of the following recipe.

To be honest though, stuffing peppers is a pretty easy endeavor, you really can put anything in them and it should taste fantastic, especially with sweet red peppers. This was a meat free Monday meal.

What you need:
Red peppers (1 or 2 for each person depending on size and hunger)
2 cups rice
1 cup lentils
1 large onion (sliced)
a couple of zucchinis (sliced into thin strips)
cumin
smoked paprika
1/2 cup mozzarella
olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

What to do:
Boil the rice and the lentils. Preheat the oven to 180°C. In a large pan fry the onion in some olive oil, add the spices, fry a bit more then add the zucchini. When the rice and lentils are done mix everything together and stir  for about 30 seconds then remove from the heat. Cut the top off the peppers and empty them out. Stuff with the filling , sprinkl some grated mozzarella and pop the top back on. Place on a baking tray and into the oven for about 15 minutes.

The Shopping List

Guest Post - Nicola George - Wots for Lunch

I feel kinda bad about this one as I had asked Nicola over at Wots for Lunch for a post 2 weeks ago and have only just gotten around to it. @ weeks ago my world collapsed a little as my work computer crashed hours before deadline and the Friday after that I was frolicking with goats at Fairview.


I didn't want to do a rushed post because Nicola deserves more then that. another Food24 original, Nicola has always impressed me with her beautifully packed lunches. No matter how much I try I can never replicate and mine always look like a sad mockery of hers. As a designer I really appreciate creativity in every day things and Nicola really brings that into her food. If I had to open a lunch box with her creations at work every day my days would be filled with smiles. So without further ado, I bring you the Bento Master :)

Lady Raven has been asking me if I would like to do a guest post for her for awhile and every time she has extended the invitation I've chickened out. But this week when she asked I couldn't say no and so a mad scrambled began as I tried to figure out what to post about. Luckily I found something in my archives that thought might be fun to revisit, home-made pickled ginger. Making it yourself is so easy and the flavour is much fresher and not as sweet as the commercially produced kind.

It's a really simple process, all you need are four ingredients

• fresh ginger - about 5cm long
• salt - enough to sprinkle over slicked ginger
• 1 cup rice wine vinegar and
• 2/3 cup sugar

Method:

1. Peel the ginger and thinly slice using a mandoline or vegetable peeler.
2. Sprinkle slices with salt and leave in a bowl for an hour or so.
3. Drain the slices of ginger and pat dry to remove any excess salt.
4. Gently heat the vinegar and sugar together until the sugar is dissolved.
5. Pour the vinegar and sugar solution over the sliced ginger and leave to cool.
6. Once cooled store in an airtight container in the fridge until needed.

You don't have to limit yourself to eating pickled ginger as an accompaniment to sushi either. Here I've used it in a salad (you can't really see it, but it is there) with some sliced chicken breast, avocado, orange, cucumber and mint. It's a really refreshing meal for those warmer days that are heading our way. 

Red Velvet Cupcakes

When I first discovered this recipe I was completely taken aback. I thought I could never get it right but I decided to try them anyway. While the resulting images were no where near as good as they could be the taste was phenomenal and I have made red velvet cupcakes and red velvet cake several time since. I love red velvet cake so much I had it as my wedding cake (although it was "blue" velvet for that occasion) and even TheHusband has a great fondness, I know this because he only requests 2 things by name, "Hummus im basar" (Hummus with lamb) and these beauties

The first couple of times I made them I used a chocolate buttercream icing. It wasn't bad but these babies were made to go with a cream cheese icing (and also apparently boiled icing which I haven't yet tried to make...yet). They are essentially chocolate cup cakes but with so much more decadence. Fun to make to as you throw the baking powder into the vinegar and watch it all fizzle.  

If ever you need to start sifting your dry ingredients it's with these beauties. The more air the batter has the more velvety it is and trust me you want them as velvety and light as possible. This however also means that the cake is a delicate one and doesn't do well will too many layers (perfect for cupcakes though).

What you need for the cupcakes:

½ cup butter

1 ½ cups sugar

2 eggs

2 tbsp cocoa

2 tbsp red food colouring

1 tsp salt

2 ½ cups flour

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup buttermilk

1 tsp baking soda

1 tbsp vinegar

What to do:

Preheat oven to 180°C and line your cupcake tray. Cream the butter then beat in the sugar gradually.  Add the eggs - one at a time -beating well after each addition.  Make a paste of the cocoa and food colouring and add to the creamed mixture.  Add the salt, flour, vanilla extract and buttermilk, beating well after each addition.   Sprinkle the baking soda over the vinegar and then pour the vinegar over the batter.  Mix well. Bake for about 20 minutes or until the cupcakes bounce back.

What you need for the icing:

• 448g cream cheese, softened
• 115g butter, softened
• 250g sifted confectioners' sugar
• 5ml vanilla extract
• 
  

What to do:

In a medium bowl, cream together the cream cheese and butter until creamy(I gave me a hearty mix so that it got as white as possible). Mix in the vanilla, then gradually stir in the confectioners' sugar. Store in the refrigerator after use.

I decoreated mine with some Vanilla Man Vanilla Coco Grinder