Marian's White Choco Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Icing

Marian Keyes' venture into cookbook writing was a wise move! The recipes contained in Saved By Cake are varied and interesting, and the advice accompanying each one is simply helpful. What caught my eye were the Wasabi and White Chocolate Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Icing- doesn't this strange combination sound delicious! Unfortunately, having no wasabi in the house, meant my version lacked the essential flavour. BUT I (and Marian) highly recommend you try it, as I will for my next round.

Don't forget to check out the blog's Facebook page: Ginger. Love. Care.

White Chocolate Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Icing

For the cupcakes:
100g white chocolate
100g butter, chilled and cut into cubes
110g caster sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 eggs
75g plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt

For the icing:
100g butter
75g light brown soft sugar
75g golden syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon coarse sea salt

Preheat oven to 180C and line 12 hole cupcake tray.
Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pot of boiling water (double boiler method). Be sure to heat up slowly as white chocolate has the tendency to burn.

Add the butter to the bowl and stir until melted.
Remove from the heat and stir in the sugar. It will look clumpy at this stage but do not be worried.
Let the mixture cool for 10 minutes then stir in the vanilla essence.
Beat in an egg at a time with an electric mixer until each one is well combined.
Double sift the dry ingredients. (I actually triple sifted as Marian recommends to get as much air in there as possible). Gently fold into the wet mixture. It will look very liquid at this stage. I was a bit concerned but they still turned out well!
Divide mixture among cupcake tray. Bake for 20 minutes. Mine were in there for 22 minutes. Result: slightly browned cupcakes.

To make the icing, place all ingredients into a saucepan and melt over a low heat.  When butter and sugar have melted, raise the heat. Whisk briskly until mixture starts to bubble, but do not let it boil. Keep it at this point for 5 to 8 minutes, until it thickens. Be careful as it will be very hot!!!
When the mixture has cooled down but is still liquid, spread over the cupcakes. The mixture I produced as quite runny so take this step slowly so it doesn't all spill down the sides.
Once iced, sprinkle with a little coarse sea salt- and voila! The soft sweet cupcake goes so well with the salty toffee. And feel free to adjust amount of salt in the icing depending on your taste.

How do these compare to the original?

Best of... Sunday Roasts

The week and consequently the weekend have come to an end. It always gives me a comforting feeling to have a warm, hearty meal to start the new week that will fly by in no time.  These roasts easily satisfy and are ideal for the upcoming winter months (one of the few perks of the season). 

This first piece of meat comes with a bonus- hard and crispy crackling. Although I am conscious of where the pork I eat is coming from, I found it a lot easier to pick up something from the supermarket- while going for the self proclaimed cruelty free sticker. This recipe has been adapted from Jamie Oliver’s Pork Belly Roast recipe. I considered attempting the gravy but thought it a waste to mash up such beautiful roast vegetables. 

Roast Pork Belly

Serves 2

500g pork belly
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 red onions, halved
2 carrots, peeled and halved lengthways

2 parsnips, halved lengthways

1 bulb of garlic, broken into cloves

1 medium kumara

6 small potatoes

Dried thyme

Preheat oven to 220°C.
Place pork skin-side upwards. Using a small sharp knife
and make scores about a centimetre apart through the skin into the fat, but not so deep that you cut into the meat.

Rub salt into the scores. Season the underside of the meat with salt and black pepper.

Place your pork, skin side-up, in a roasting tray big enough to hold the pork and the vegetables, and place in the hot oven.
Roast for about half an hour until the skin is turning into crackling.

In the meantime, par boil kumara and potatoes for 10 minutes in boiling water.

 

Turn the heat down to 180°C.
Take out of the oven and baste with the fat in the bottom of the tray.

Transfer pork to a chopping board. Add all the vegetables, garlic and thyme to the tray and stir them into the fat.

Place the pork on top of everything and pop the tray back in the oven.

Roast for another half an hour until vegetables look browned and meat cooked through. 

The cooking time for this recipe will change with the weight of the meat, so refer to packet instructions or Jamie Oliver’s recipe as found on his website.

 

Lamb is the next choice. It cannot be beaten on popularity, especially with a good mint sauce/jelly. I came across this recipe while scanning the NZ Beef and Lamb website- worth a visit if you’re into that. I can’t recommend a way to keep your piece of meat succulent- just be sure not to overcook it.

Roast Lamb with Homemade Mint Sauce

Serves 4

 

1kg leg of Lamb

6-8 cloves Garlic, peeled and cut into slithers

Fresh Rosemary sprigs

2-3 Tbsp Olive Oil

Salt and pepper

Bunch of Mint

Pinch of Salt

4 tablespoons boiling water

3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1 tablespoon caster sugar

Preheat the oven to 170ºC.

Pierce the lamb with a sharp knife and add slithers of garlic and rosemary sprigs. Brush with oil, season and place in a roasting dish.

 

Remove from the oven and rest 25 minutes in a warm place before carving. 

For the mint sauce, finely chop the mint. Add mint, sugar and boiling water to jar, and shake. Leave to cool before adding vinegar to taste.

And we like to save the best ‘til last- desert! You can’t go past an anything Crumble- made of well anything. This one consists of apples, pears and rhubarb- all picked up from the Christchurch Farmers’ Market.