Just in Time for Winter

Winter will always be the season of soups. They prove to be an easy meal when you have a cold and really don't have the energy to do much more than lie in bed wishing it was over.

The classic soup- pumpkin can be a drag to peel and chop so I went to for a less physical alternative- carrot!

And another good thing about soup is that it is not necessary to chop the vegetables all 'nicely' because in the end it all gets blended up anyway. The important thing is making sure the vegetables are cooked through and soft.

And my goodness, you end up with a sweet, moreish soup. Maybe it was because I used half of the proposed 150g of butter...

The original recipe also contained 1 bouquet garni but who has time to sort that out! For those of you who aren't aware of what this is; sprigs of thyme and parsley, and a bay leaf are tied together with non coloured string which gets placed in the liquid so the flavours diffuse and is then removed at the end. An alternative is to tie up the dried versions of the herbs mentioned in some muslin cloth.

SO do have a try of this simple, budget conscious recipe and let me know what you think!

Curried Carrot Soup

75g butter

1 onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, crushed

6 carrots, peeled and chopped

1 tsp cumin seeds

½ tsp curry powder

500ml chicken stock

A sprinkle of dried coriander, to serve

Melt the butter in a saucepan and sweat the onion, garlic and carrots until softened.

Meanwhile toast the cumin seeds in a separate saucepan until fragrant. Add the toasted cumin seeds and curry powder to the vegetables and cook a further 2-3 minutes.

Add the chicken stock and 100ml water and bring to the boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes.

Once the vegetables have cooled down, blend the soup until smooth. Delicious!

Red Velvet Cupcakes

I'm always constantly seduced by baking that looks pretty... and these cupcakes are pure eye candy! This recipe is from Made From Scratch. It's not the traditional method (doesn't use buttermilk) but is a great substitute when you don't have any at home.

Tweaked Red Velvet Cupcakes

1 bottle of red food colouring

2 tablespoons cocoa (the first time using my packet of Valrhona cocoa... ohhh la la)

1/4 cup milk

125g butter

3/4 cup white sugar

2 eggs

1 tablespoon plain flour

2 teaspoons vanilla essence

1 cup self-raising flour

Butter icing:

125g softened butter
1 cup of icing sugar
2 teaspoons of vanilla essence
A few drops of red food colouring

Preheat oven to 180C

In a small bowl make a paste out of the food colouring and cocoa, and mix until smooth.

Combine all other ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Add cocoa paste to the cake mixture and beat  until light  and well combined. Spoon mixture into cupcake molds.  

Bake for about 10-15 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. Allow to cool completely before icing.

For the icing, whip butter until white and add the rest of the ingredients. Mix until smooth. Spread over cooled cupcakes.