I'm guest posting over at the wonderful Laura Ashley today. Go have a spy and see why Afternoon Tea doesn't have to break the bank!
Chipotle Chicken Soft Tacos
Hi, my name is Katie and I'm a Mexican food addict! I'm not ashamed to admit it, I think Mexican food is the bees knees! Upon hearing this confession you'd probably expect me to tell you I whip up huge feasts of burritos, enchiladas and crème caramel all washed down with a margarita or two, frequently. Well, I'm sorry to say it's just not true! I never really had the time to throw myself into the mouth watering, slow cooked dishes I've come to love. Often recipes instruct you to pop a shoulder of pork in the oven and leave it there for 8 hours. Well, I don't know about you but I'm a bit of an ants in the pants Annie! Tell me I have to stay put and watch pork roast for 8 hours and I'll want nothing more than to run through the fields chasing butterflies. Screw the pig, I want to frolic! How did I rectify this conundrum I hear you ask? Easy, I bought a slow cooker!
Best investment ever! I really can't recommend these little contraptions enough. I always thought slow cookers were for mams and stews, I was so wrong. Plus, if you get a slow cooker, you can make this totally kick ass chipotle chicken. I'd do it if I were you!
Chipotle Pulled Chicken
4 large chicken breasts
1 large onion, diced finely
2 chipotle chillies in adobo sauce chopped (get these in a can from bigger supermarkets or if you're from Newcastle, Mmmm.. stock a fab range of Mexican ingredients)
1tbsp honey
2tbsp dark brown sugar
1tbsp smoked paprika
1tbsp sweet paprika
1tbsp chilli flakes
50ml white wine vinegar
2tbsp tomato puree
1 tin chopped tomatoes with chillies
2tbsp worcestershire sauce
1tsp salt
Method:
Add all the ingredients, apart from the chicken, into your slow cooker. Stir until smooth. Add the chicken and stir again to cover. Place lid onto your slow cooker, turn to low and cook for 8 hours.
After 8 hours remove the chicken from the sauce and shred the meat with two forks. Add shredded meat to the sauce, stir until coated and serve with homemade guacamole, soft tacos and crumbled feta cheese!
This recipe is so versatile, you could use it to make enchiladas, fajitas, burritos, quesadillas or even just slapped in a floury bread bun. You won't be sorry!
Turkish Delight Vodka
Remember this...
Wanna know how I turned this innocent bottle of vodka into something special, like this?
It's so simple, a child could do it. A child probably shouldn't, but you get the drift!
So, you have turkish delight and you have vodka. Why not put them together and make something so deliciously naughty with next to no effort?! All you do is wash the sugar from 100g pink turkish delight chunks and pop the little blighters into your voddy! Dissolve 1tbsp caster sugar in 2tbsp rose water and add that too. Pop the lid on, nice and tight, give the bottle a bit of a shake and find it a home in a little dark cubby hole. Shake the bottle once every few days until the turkish delight has dissolved and strain the rosey vodka through a sieve lined with muslin. Decant into a pretty bottle and there you have it!
No need to buy flavoured vodka ever again. Fancy something fruity, pop some berries in there. Something sweet, how about a crushed up Dime bar? How about bubblegum?! The possibilities are endless. Just don't drink it all at once.....
Gin and Tonic Cupcakes
Last year, for my Birthday, I received five bottles of gin. Yes, that's right, five! One bottle of Hendricks, two bottles of Tanqueray 10, one bottle of Gordons and one bottle of pink gin. That's a whole lot of G&T's, in fact, it's enough to keep a girl in G&T for almost a whole year. With my Birthday fast approaching I'm down to my last bottle of Tanqueray and readying my cocktail cabinet for this years onslaught. So, you should know by now, I'm just like every other cliched blogger in the world, I'm a G&T kinda gal. With ice and a slice, of course. I came to gin early in my life, at the ripe old age of 18. My local student club night, Get Ya Skates On, served a double G&T for £1.50. My poor student bank balance enjoyed this deal and thus, a lifetime relationship was born. Here's to ten more years.
I can't actually believe it has taken me this long to include my favorite tipple in a cupcake recipe. Maybe I thought it too sacred or maybe I didn't want to waste good gin on what could turn out to be a rancid failure, I don't know, but five bottles of the stuff means I can afford to be a little dangerous. I used the premise of my Margarita cupcakes to create this recipe, they turned out amazingly so surely it should work with gin. It does!
Gin and Tonic Cupcakes
Ingredients:
175g unsalted butter
175g golden caster sugar
175g self raising flour
25g plain flour
2 large eggs
2 large eggs
1tsp baking powder
1tsp vanilla
3 tbsp tonic water
2tbsp gin
zest of 1 lime
Method:
Preheat the oven to 180C - 160C fan and line a cupcake tray with 12 liners.
In a large bowl sift together the flours and baking powder. Set aside.
Place the butter and sugar in an electric mixer and mix until light and creamy. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well between each addition. Add the flour mixture in one go ensuring all the ingredients are thoroughly combined. Stir in tonic water.
Fill the cupcake liners to 2/3 full and bake for 20 - 25 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean. Pierce the top of each cupcake five times and using half of the gin, brush over each cake. Leave to cool.
For the frosting mix the butter and icing sugar together until pale and creamy. Add the remaining gin to the frosting and mix to combine. Pipe a generous swirl upon each cake, grate over some lime zest and top with a marshmallow ice cube and a wedge of lime.
In a large bowl sift together the flours and baking powder. Set aside.
Place the butter and sugar in an electric mixer and mix until light and creamy. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well between each addition. Add the flour mixture in one go ensuring all the ingredients are thoroughly combined. Stir in tonic water.
Fill the cupcake liners to 2/3 full and bake for 20 - 25 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean. Pierce the top of each cupcake five times and using half of the gin, brush over each cake. Leave to cool.
For the frosting mix the butter and icing sugar together until pale and creamy. Add the remaining gin to the frosting and mix to combine. Pipe a generous swirl upon each cake, grate over some lime zest and top with a marshmallow ice cube and a wedge of lime.
Margarita Cupcakes
When it comes to eating out we're faced with quite a choice of cuisines. We have Itallian, Chinese, Indian, Japanese and even Mongolian but for me there's only one choice, Mexican! I adore Mexican food, give me a taco over a pizza any day of the week. One of the big attractions to Mexican food has to be the cocktails, more specifically an ice cold Margarita. To me, there is nothing better than a frozen Margarita on a hot day, actually there is, five frozen Margaritas on a hot day ;)
When I received an order through Pet Lamb for some cocktail themed cupcakes for a hen party I just knew it had to be Margarita! Tequila, lime and cupcakes, you just know that's gonna be a good night! Sadly I didn't have any Tequila handy (I may or may not have killed my last bottle at Christmas, oops) so I grabbed a bottle of ready made Margarita mix, poured myself a glass and set about making some boozey cake.
The sponge is really quite subtle, I used a vanilla base brushed with tequila but boy does the frosting have an amazing kick. Laced with tequila, lime juice and zest you could just eat it with a spoon.
Margarita Cupcakes
Ingredients:
175g unsalted butter
175g golden caster sugar
3 large eggs
3 large eggs
175g self raising flour
25g plain flour
1tsp baking powder
1tsp vanilla
3tbsp milk
2tbsp tequila
juice of 2 limes
125g butter
250g icing sugar
2tbsp tequila
125g butter
250g icing sugar
2tbsp tequila
Method:
Preheat the oven to 180C - 160C fan and line a cupcake tray with 12 liners.
In a large bowl sift together the flours and baking powder. Set aside. Mix tequila and lime juice in a small cup and place in the fridge for later.
Place the butter and sugar in an electric mixer and mix until light and creamy. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well between each addition. Add the flour mixture in one go ensuring all the ingredients are thoroughly combined. Stir in milk.
Fill the cupcake liners to 2/3 full and bake for 20 - 25 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean. Pierce the top of each cupcake five times and brush your tequila and lime over each cake. Leave to cool.
For the frosting mix the butter and icing sugar together until pale and creamy. Add the remaining tequila and lime to the frosting and mix to combine. Pipe a generous swirl upon each cake, grate over some lime zest and top with a wedge of lime.
In a large bowl sift together the flours and baking powder. Set aside. Mix tequila and lime juice in a small cup and place in the fridge for later.
Place the butter and sugar in an electric mixer and mix until light and creamy. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well between each addition. Add the flour mixture in one go ensuring all the ingredients are thoroughly combined. Stir in milk.
Fill the cupcake liners to 2/3 full and bake for 20 - 25 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean. Pierce the top of each cupcake five times and brush your tequila and lime over each cake. Leave to cool.
For the frosting mix the butter and icing sugar together until pale and creamy. Add the remaining tequila and lime to the frosting and mix to combine. Pipe a generous swirl upon each cake, grate over some lime zest and top with a wedge of lime.
