The Hummingbird Bakery: Strawberry Cupcakes

I know I have my own cookery blog, but the cupcake is well and truly in vogue right now. Everyone wants them, and there even healthy vegetables ones available! So after a tough morning at university, I was sat in bed watching Julie and Julia for possibly the 10th time since I bought it on Thursday, and was like "get your ass out of bed and do something!". Which of course meant cooking, and the pink glowing spine of Cake Days by The Hummingbird Bakery was just waiting for me. This excellent birthday present from my dear friend Becky, had yet to be explored and my first venture from this book at their Strawberry Mini Cupcakes. 
YOU WILL NEED:
150g caster sugar
strawberries
40g unsalted butter (softened)
120 plain flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
1 large egg
120ml milk
1/2 tsp vanilla essence (I had none so I used vanilla powder) 
and for the icing
80g unsalted butter
250g icing sugar
4 tsp milk

• Preheat the over to 170C and lay out the cupcake cases
• Using a freestanding mixer, slowly mix together butter, flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Mix until the mixture forms a breadcrumb like texture

• Whisk the egg, milk and vanilla in a jug. Slowly add this to the dry mixture until fully combined.

• Drop a few slices of strawberry into the bottom of each cupcake case. Then spoon over enough mixture to fill 2/3rds of the case. Bake these for 15 mins

• Allow these to cool completely before icing. For the icing whisk together the butter and icing sugar slowly. Then add the milk and whisk until smooth.

• Add sprinkles to the mixture to give it some crunch, and evenly spread over each cupcake

• Add sprinkles to the top and ENJOY!

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My Favourite Vegan Foods

Oh how Youtube delights in giving me quite possibly the worst cover image for my videos! This film is about three of my favourite Vegan foods, that I continue to eat even when I am not being Vegan. They are good replacements for dairy products, as meat isn't a problem for me to cut out; milk and yogurt however are such staples in my nutrition that before finding these products I did struggle to remove them. Enjoy watching! For more food related posts, restaurant reviews and recipes visit my food blog here. Love,

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Recipe: Coley Kedgeree with Boiled Egg

Hello everyone, it's recipe time again. Today I cooked one of my all time favourite dishes, Scottish Kedgeree, but with a twist. I am not really a spice fan, so the Indian version of kedgeree doesn't really appeal to me but the Scottish version, which is usually served as a breakfast, is a really easy and yummy dish to make. The original recipe uses salmon or haddock, but as a poor student salmon is well and truely off the menu. As an alternative, I have used coley, which is a white fish very similar to cod. I also added a few new ingrediants to the mix, so read on if you want to find out more!

You will need:

1 piece of coly

75g rice (any type you like, I used Brown Basmati)

1/2 a leek

1 egg

lemon juice, salt and pepper

parsley

Oil spray

Method:

1)Okay, so first of all you want two pans of boiling water on. One for the egg, one for the rice. Also heat some oil spray in a frying pan. Fish in the oven at 200c for 30 mins

2) Brown half a leek in the frying pan, and then add to the rice water.

3) Measure out 75g (1/2 cup) of rice, and add to two cups of water (with the leeks in). Bring to the boil then simmer for 10-15 mins

4) Boil the egg for 9 minutes

5) Remove the egg and fish, and smashed up together in a bowel.

6) Add this to the cooked rice, mix. Serve in a bowel with parsley and grated cheese. Oh, and a large glass of white wine! You've got yourself a super yummy and relatively healthy meal. Serve with mixed veggies or salad.

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New Website Love: EatPost

Earlier this week, my housemate Sasha sent me an email about a website called eatpost.com. Now I will be honest, I jumped on this like beauty blogger to a MAC sale. Eatpost is similar to a forum, in that you create an account and you write quick reviews about each restaurant you visit. You can invite people to have dinner with you, share a drink or two with your mates, or simply enjoy a complimentary dish on a blind date, all through their buddy system. You can make new friends who enjoy similar cuisines, or add your current friends and use Eatpost to organise meet ups. Just post an invite and select the people you would like to eat out with. You can also RSVP to other people's invites, this way you can meet up with anyone! 

You write reviews of each meal you have at a certain resturant. You can read my review of the Teriyaki Chicken Donburi which I had at Wagamamas on Sunday here. 

As I have opened my own Eatpost account, I would love to invite you guys to join in the social network, and we can do meet ups!

Speak again soon, 

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