RECIPE - 3 INGREDIENT PANCAKES

I often post recipes for cakes and yummy treats so I thought I'd share something a little less indulgent but just as tasty. These are my 3 ingredient pancakes packed with protein, nutrients and yumminess. 

All you need is a banana, 2 eggs and a sprinkle of chia seeds.

The chia seeds aren't essential but I think they help with the consistency of the mixture!

Place all the ingredients in a blender and blend in to a smooth batter like consistency. 

Melt a little butter in a pan on a medium heat and pour in a ladle of batter.

Cook for a minute or so, flip and repeat.

Continue until all the mixture is gone.

I like to serve them with fresh fruit, my raspberry coulis and a sprinkle of dark chocolate.

I was so excited the first time that I made them that I was taking an unprecedented amount of snapchats! 

You really won't believe how tasty they are until you try them so get flipping! If you want to stick to traditional pancakes I have a great recipe here.

RECIPE - MUSTARD CHICKEN

If you fancy a delicious meal in, this is the dish for you! I've slightly adapted Jamie Oliver's Recipe and swapped his dauphinoise for my own recipe to make the meal perfect! Take a look at the recipe below...

Ingredients

1kg Maris Piper Potatoes

A Knob of Butter

3 Cloves of Garlic

225ml Single Cream 

Salt & Pepper

4 Chicken Breasts with the Skin On

4 tsp of Mustard Powder

A few Sprigs of Thyme

Olive Oil 

2 Cloves of Garlic

2 Leeks

A Splash of White Wine

75ml Single Cream

1 tsp Whole Grain Mustard

A Bag of Swiss Chard/Spinach or other Greens

Method

Preheat the Oven to 180°c

Dauphinoise

First get the Dauphinoise on the go...

Peel the potatoes and slice as thinly as you can (I use the slicing attachment on my food processor to speed up the job!)

On a low heat, melt the butter in a large pan and add the garlic and some seasoning 

Next add your sliced potatoes and stir until they're all coated

Tip them out in to a baking dish and pour over the cream

Make sure the potatoes are flat and evenly arranged and pop them in the oven

I would say you need to leave them in for 1 1/2 to 2 hours to make sure they're soft and delicious but just keep an eye on how browned the top is!

Chicken & Greens

Season the chicken with the mustard powder some salt and pepper

Pull off the thyme leaves and sprinkle them on. Add some olive oil and massage in the seasoning

Place a pan on a medium heat with a glug of olive oil and place the chicken in skin side down

Cook for about 10 minutes and then flip the chicken and cook for another 5

Crush the garlic in to the pan and cook for a couple more minutes before you add the leeks

Pop the greens in a boiling pan of water for a few minutes and once drained add butter and seasoning

When the leeks begin to soften add the wine and cook the leeks down

Add your mustard and the cream and simmer for a few minutes longer

You're all ready to serve so take out the chicken and pour the sauce on a platter

Slice the chicken place on top and tuck in!

BIRTHDAY BAKING

This weekend I got busy in the kitchen and made a birthday cake for my Grandad. Perhaps more style over substance(!), I topped the lemon and raspberry sponge with fresh flowers, meringues and fruit. I also used some straws and coloured paper to make a DIY bunting topper to add a special touch! I adapted several recipes from across pinterest to get just what I wanted so take a look below if you want to recreate this cake.

Ingredients:

Sponge:

375g Unsalted Butter

375g Golden Caster Sugar

375g Self Raising Flour

6 Eggs 

Rind from 1 Lemon

A Splash of Milk

Filling:

Lemon Curd (I used this one)

1 Punnet of Raspberries

1 teaspoon of Icing Sugar

Buttercream:

500g Icing Sugar

250g Butter

Juice from 1 Lemon

Additional Toppers:

Fresh Flowers

Fresh Fruit (Raspberries and Cherries)

Meringue Kisses

Cake Bunting

Sparkler Candles

Method:

Sponge:

Prep - Line and grease three 20cm cake tins and preheat the oven at 180°C.

1) Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

2) Add the eggs one at a time mixing well between.

3) Fold in the flour and lemon rind until smooth.

4) If necessary, loosen the mixture with a splash of milk.

5) Divide the mixture between the tins and spread it to the edges.

6) Put in the oven for 20-25 until the cake springs back when touched.

Buttercream:

Whilst waiting for the sponges to bake you can prep the fillings. 

1) Soften the butter and mix together with the icing sugar and the juice from 1/2 a lemon.

2) Adjust the consistency using lemon juice and icing sugar and set aside until the cakes have cooled.

Fillings:

You also need to prepare the Raspberry Filling.

1) Simply place the raspberries in a small pan with 100ml of warm water and simmer for 5-10 minutes.

2) Once they have a thicker consistency, remove from the heat and pass the mixture through a sieve.

3) Use the back of a spoon the squeeze all of the juice from the raspberries and make sure all of the pips are removed.

4) Add the teaspoon of icing sugar to the raspberry coulis and set aside.

Assembly:

1) Once the sponges have cooled layer your first sponge on your plate or cake board.

2) Add a layer of the lemon buttercream and smooth it across the top (I'd recommend leaving a space around the edge so it doesn't spill out).

TOP TIP: make the edges of your buttercream a little higher than the centre so it acts as a well for your other fillings!

3) Spread a tablespoon of lemon curd across the buttercream and top this with a layer of the raspberry coulis.

4) Repeat these steps until you've got all three layers. I then popped my cake in the fridge for 20 minutes or so to let it firm up before I covered it. 

5) Use the remaining buttercream to cover your cake. It's best to use a palette knife for a smooth finish but a spatula also works. 

6) Top your cake with all of your wonderful toppings and you're ready to go!

This cake is wonderful for a celebration and is really fun to make. I hope you have a go yourself and let me know what you think!

RECIPE - FLIPPING GOOD PANCAKES

Pancakes are my favourite weekend breakfast treat so I thought I'd share my simple recipe with you all! This recipe is for basic English pancakes so they're more like crepes than American pancakes.

Ingredients:

110g Plain Flour

2 Eggs

200ml Milk

75ml Water

Ingredients of your choice to serve (I would recommend Lemon and Sugar)!

Method: 

Add the flour and eggs to a bowl and stir to create a thick mixture. I would recommend using a fork rather than a whisk as it just seems to combine the two better!

Then measure the milk and water in to the same jug and begin to add the liquid to the flour and egg mixture. Do this bit-by-bit stirring in between to make sure you don't get any lumps. Continue until all of the liquid is incorporated and you should have quite a runny batter

Now put a frying pan on a medium heat and grease it with a little vegetable oil or butter using kitchen roll. This will ensure there isn't too much oil in the pan. 

Once the pan is hot add around half a ladle of batter and use the back of the ladle to spread the batter in to a circle. Once the pancake is golden brown (you will see bubbles forming) flip it over and cook the other side. The pancakes should take a few minutes to cook.

Continue to cook the pancakes until you've used all of your batter. Keep the cooked ones warm in the oven! I would recommend serving them the English way with sugar and lemon but they're also really tasty with mixed fruit, chocolate and maple syrup toppings! They make the perfect weekend treat so enjoy!

RECIPE - THE ULTIMATE BROWNIES

I searched the internet for the perfect chewy chocolate brownie recipe and have latched on to this recipe at Inspired Taste. I've made these brownies several times and, as you can see, this time I made quite a big batch! I trade the nuts for white and milk chocolate chips to make the ultimate chocolately treat. You can also try adding a bit more salt to make them perfect with ice-cream for dessert. If you love fudgy brownies then these are definitely for you!

Helpful Hint - If the mixture looks split at any time don't panic! Once you add the flour you'll have the perfect gooey batter. 

Head over to the website for full details and a really helpful step-by-step photo guide.