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| Coconut + Vanilla Yoghurt Tartlets with Lime |
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This is the recipe for the cute little tartlets that I made & featured last week. I had these mini tart cases in the pantry for a good while now & was thinking of something fun to do with them. At first I thought that they would end up as miniature quiches but then my sweet tooth took hold & I altered an old recipe to fit. Because the recipe is so small I’ve measured everything out in grams. I used a handy electronic kitchen scale & the tare/zero function to measure everything out perfectly. I don’t have mad food-photography skills like Luxirare (mostly because my hands were covered on sugar) so without photos I hope my instructions are clear!
Coconut + Vanilla Tartlets with Lime
- 35 miniture pre-baked tartlets cases
- 30 grams dessicated coconut
- 30 grams softened butter
- 40 grams vanilla yoghurt
- 90 grams caster sugar
- 1 egg (at room temperature)
- 2 teaspoons lime juice
- 1 teaspoon lime zest
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence
Beat the butter & sugar together & then beat in the egg. Add the juice, zest, vanilla yoghurt & vanilla essence & mix well. Gently fold in the dessicated coconut & use a teaspoon to scoop into pre-baked miniature tartlet cases. Bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees Celsius for fifteen minutes (or until puffed, golden & delicious). They will deflate a little when removed from the oven. Serve sprinkled with vanilla sugar. I think these are best eaten while warm from the oven but they will keep pretty well for a couple of days, provided you can resist them for that long!
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Afternoon tea is one of my favourite indulgences. It’s one of those rituals that can be as simple or as complex as you want it to be. Do you like your tea in a mug & with a choc-chip cookie or with silver service & hand cut sandwiches? After water, tea is also the most widely consumed beverage on the planet. Here’s my guide to making the perfect cuppa. I’ve been making tea & coffee in cafes for five years now & it still gets confusing & freaks me out sometimes. Hopefully these tips will help.
The Tea Leaves
One of the first things to take into consideration is the tea itself. Tea is harvested from the Camellia plant & cured & oxidised to yield black tea, oxidised for green tea & left alone for white tea. Red tea (or Rooibos) is derived from an entirely different plant altogether. The quality of tea will also effect the taste of your end product. Good quality loose leaf tea free of artificial flavourings is best. If you drink decaffeinated tea make sure you buy a leaf that has been decaffeinated using CO2 rather than methylene chloride (or an acetate, both of which taste a bit off). If they don’t state which method used on the label then methylene chloride has most likely been used, so ditch it quick!
Tea bags are a convenient way to brew tea but not many people know that the tea contained in them is the tea-dust from the bottom of the shipping bins. The flavour & quality of loose leaf tea is superior & when combined with a tea-infuser or tea-egg is just a little more environmentally friendly; it cuts out all that excess packaging. When brewing tea in a pot the general rule of thumb is one teaspoon of tea per person plus an extra teaspoon of tea ‘for the pot’. From experience this works out nicely :)
Milk & Sugar?
White, green & herbal teas aren’t generally served with milk while black & red teas are. The tea I chose to make today is a beautiful loose leaf Earl Grey (those blue flecks are bits of dried cornflower, yum!); a black tea flavoured with Bergamot essential oil. Bergamot is a species of citrus & so it doesn’t make sense to serve a tea like this with milk. Traditionally Earl Grey is served with a thin slice of lemon.
If you like your beverages nice & sweet then by all means use sugar or honey. Sugar cubes are a really cute way of serving & displaying sugar with your tea set. Otherwise Demerara sugar is best for sweetening up your cup! I will add though, that the flavour of unsweetened tea is subtle & delicious & those of you with a constant sweet tooth should definitely try it out sometime!
Service
Traditionally all tea services were made out of porcelain. However these days you can buy tea pots, cups & saucers, milk jugs & sugar bowls in glass, ceramic, earthenware, wood, stainless steel & precious metals like silver & gold. I say variety is the spice of life - so go for whatever piques your interest.
Brewing Times
Each type of tea will require a different brewing time & if you’re really professional, different water temperatures.
- Black tea can be brewed for up to four minutes (at 100 degrees Celsius),
- Green tea for up to three minutes (at 70 degrees Celsius),
- White tea for up to six minutes (at 80 degrees Celsius)
- Red tea for up to five minutes (at 100 degrees Celsius).
How to Brew a Pot of Tea
1. Boil enough fresh, cold, filtered water for one pot of tea.
2. While you’re waiting for the water to boil, fill the tea pot with hot water form the tap & let sit. This keeps the tea pot nice & warm. Pour this out once your water has boiled.
3. Fill a tea-infuser or tea-egg & place in the pot. If you don’t mind tea-leaves in your cup then just spoon the loose leaves right on into the tea pot. This is great for tea leaf reading!
4. Pour the boiled water into the pot leaving about 2cm of room at the top. (The tea leaves will expand making an already full pot will overflow!)
5. Let the tea sit & brew. Relax. Eat a sandwich, have another tart or sing a song while you wait.
6. Pour into cups & enjoy!
| Banana & Walnut Loaf with Cinnamon Butter |
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Breakfast is one of my favourite meals of the day. It’s when I get to sit by myself enjoying the (hopefully) quiet morning & think through my day before things get busy. A healthy & filling breakfast is very important. This is one of my favourite recipes. It fills you up, it’s not too sweet & it’s delicious! It also freezes particularly well. Bananas are a good source of potassium, vitamin B6 & vitamin C (though this last one is probably lost during cooking). Walnuts are a wonderful vegetarian source of omega-3 fatty acids & have been known to lower cholesterol. Bonus!
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Banana & Walnut Loaf
- 3 Bananas (the very ripe ones are best)
- 2 Free Range Eggs
- 3/4 cup of Soft Brown Sugar
- 2 cups Plain Flour (go for the organic kind!)
- 1 cup chopped walnuts (I buy ones grown in Australia as opposed to those shipped from California)
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon bicarbonate soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- pinch of salt
In a large bowl combine the peeled bananas, oil & the two eggs & mash to your hearts content. Sift in the flour, bicarbonate soda, cinnamon & salt. Add the walnuts & sugar & mix till combined. Pour the mixture into a greased 21cm x 11cm baking tin a bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees celcius for one hour. Remove from the oven an cool out of the pan. Or alternatively, eat it straight away because it tastes best when fresh ftom the oven! Serve warm with butter or cinnamon butter.
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Cinnamon Butter
- 2 table spoons Soft Butter or table spread (Nuttlex anyone?!)
- 1 tablespoon Soft Brown Sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Mix together till smooth & creamy. Enjoy!
| The Gossip Girl Grilled Cheese Sandwich |
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I first saw this delicious sandwich on the pilot episode of Gossip Girl. It’s a delicious twist on the traditional grilled cheese sandwich, the twist being truffle oil! The famous New York restaurant Gilt serves up their own version using fresh sliced white truffles, which sounds decadent enough, but is difficult for us everyday gourmands to put into practice. Truffles are notoriously expensive & definitely won’t keep as long in your pantry as a small bottle of truffle oil will. Besides, the Gilt grilled cheese sandwich will set you back $50! So not only is this sandwich fairly cheap by comparison, it is also easy to put together & is delicious! I think that at 3am it would make a perfect ending to a big night out!
In this recipe, I have used sliced grain bread, which is chewy & dense, is low in carbohydrates & has a low GI. I also used Nimbin Natural cheese, an Elbo style cheese that is free of animal rennet & one of the best tasting cheeses I have come across. You can find small bottles of truffle oil at most delicatessens’ but expect to pay as much as thirty dollars for 100ml.
Gossip Girl Grilled Cheese Sandwich
- half a cup of good quality freshly grated cheese
- two slices fresh grain bread
- butter
- truffle oil
- salt & pepper
Heat a small spoonful of butter in a frying pan over a medium heat & preheat your griller (broiler) or oven. Brush both sides of the bread with truffle oil using a pastry brush & then top both slices with the grated cheese. Season with salt & freshly cracked pepper & place each slice into the frying pan face up. Let the bread fry for one to two minutes & then transfer the frying pan to the grill or oven to melt the cheese. This shouldn’t take too long! Carefully remove the frying pan when done. Sandwich the two cooked slices together (cheese facing inward of course!) & cut in half. Enjoy while still warm & gooey!
| Tasty Tequila Temptations |
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Last night my beau & I went to a Herradura Tequila Mixology Master-class held by a local chain of boutique liquor stores. I was terribly excited & a little bit nervous, as I’ve always heard nasty things about drinking tequila. My experiences in the past have been the usual lip, sip & suck kind so I was interested in learning more about tequila, its origin & how to serve it. Plus, we were promised food & drink!
A friendly & experienced bar tender by the name of Shay led the presentation & told us all about Herradura tequila, where it is from & how it is made. He also told us what to look for on the label of the bottle when buying tequila & the differences in taste & quality between brands. We tried three types of tequila, Herradura Anejo, Herradura Reposado & Herradura Silver. My favourite is the Silver! At the end of the night we were given a little bottle of el Jimador tequila to take home with us as well. Awesome! We also tasted a new cocktail, created by Shay. It is a variation of The Bramble, which was created by Dick Brandsell in the eighties. The original bramble is made with Gin, lemon, sugar & double crème de mure garnished with berries. I hope he doesn’t mind me sharing the recipe!
Photo by nerdling
Shay’s Herradura Bramble
- 45ml Herradura Silver Tequila
- 20ml fresh lemon juice
- 20ml simple syrup
- dash of Chambord liqueur
Pour the tequila, lemon juice & sugar syrup into a cocktail shaker half filled with ice. Shake Shake Shake! Serve in a glass filled with ice & top with a dash of Chambord. Enjoy responsibly, & hopefully with friends!
In this cocktail the bitter cherry notes found in the Herradura Silver tequila apparently marry very nicely with the modest addition of Chambord. I think its rather tasty & has sparked my new-found appreciation for tequila.
| Tasty Afternoon Treats; Tea-sandwiches & Pink Lemonade |
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Amidst the lazy spring afternoons we’ve been enjoying, not much can beat deliciously light sandwiches and refreshing lemonade.
Cucumber Sandwiches
- Cucumbers
- Sliced sandwich bread
- Vinegar or lemon juice
- Butter or margarine
- Salt & pepper
Use a vegetable peeler, or a fork, to mark the sides of the cucumber. Finely slice & arrange in layer in a container. Sprinkle with white wine vinegar (or lemon juice if you prefer) & lightly season with salt & pepper. Let the container of cucumber slices sit in the fridge for several hours.
Remove the crusts from sliced sandwich bread. Purists argue that the bread must be white & must be sliced ever so thinly. I’m not that fussed, I like my sliced organic wholemeal thank you very much! Thinly butter the inward facing side of each slice of bread - this stops the bread from becoming soggy. Arrange the cucumber slices on one slice of bread, top with another & slice into tiny triangles or fingers. Enjoy immediately!
Watercress Sandwiches
- Fresh watercress
- Spreadable cheese (cream cheese, cottage cheese, neufchâtel etc)
- Sliced sandwich bread
When buying watercress, look for a healthy green plant. The roots should still be attached & submerged in cold water.
Remove the crusts from sliced sandwich bread & spread neufchâtel, cottage cheese, or cream cheese on the inward facing sides of each slice. Because of the peppery flavour if watercress, I like to spread one side with cream cheese & the other with a mild mustard. Roughly chop the watercress & arrange on one slice of bread & top with another slice of bread. Slice into dainty tea-triangles. Eat these as soon as possible!
Home Made Pink Lemonade
Mix the juice of one lemon (about 100ml) with 50ml of simple syrup. Add no more than a teaspoon of grenadine or raspberry cordial & top up with 400ml of soda water stirring gently. Serve in tall glasses with lots of ice & a paper umbrella!
What are your favourite afternoon treats?
| Pondering Pancakes |
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My brother & I had a hankering for pancakes, so I whipped some up & we devoured every single one. Just like the Walrus & the Carpenter in Alice in Wonderland! Those poor tasty pancakes! Would you like some of your own? I’m sure you do, so here’s the recipe.
Bella’s Tasty Pancakes
1 cup flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 tablespoons sugar
2 eggs
3/4 cup milk
pinch of salt
Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder & salt into a large bowl. Crack the eggs & add to the bowl with the milk & whisk vigorously! Let the mixture sit for about half an hour to let the eggs & the baking powder react. Whisk again & then cook in a frying pan (or proper pancake pan if you can afford one!) over a medium heat. Serve with all things delicious & share with a good friend. Makes about eight pancakes.
This is in my opinion, the best pancake recipe I have come across. I don’t like recipes that make you add melted butter, because the whole thing separates and gets messy & I don’t like recipes that make you wait a whole hour while the batter sits! I like my pancakes with raspberries & maple syrup. How do you like yours?
| Threads of the day + yummy recipe! |
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- Grey Librarian Skirt
- White Ruffle Blouse & black ribbon
- Black Cardigan
- Black Schoolboy Socks
- Mary Jane Shoes
- Big-White-Bow Headband
- Peter Rabbit Book Bag
My Noggin!
- Notes: This bow reminds me of Blair Waldorf, but I think it’s sometimes more reminiscent of Dolores Umbridge when I wear it! I had a few errands to run at my local bank & at the supermarket so off I trundled with my trusty umbrella only to be drenched within minutes! Tres dépassé! My umbrella was so tiny it left me with soggy socks, squishy shoes & a damp skirt. So to avoid the same mistake on the way back I caught a business-class taxi home. (how naughty!)
When I arrived home I was in need of some warmth, so I whipped up a little treat - delicious hot chocolate - Bella style! Here’s the recipe for all you chocoholics.
Bella’s Hot Chocolate
Put 250ml (1cup) full cream milk, 125ml (1/2 cup) pure pouring cream, 45ml Frangelico Liqueur & 50g chocolate pieces into a small saucepan over a low to medium heat. Stir gently with a whisk until hot. If you like, you can whisk it up till its frothy and full of bubbles. Have a warmed coffee or chocolate pot ready and waiting. You want your hot chocolate to be between 65-70 degrees Celsius. Any hotter and the sugars in the chocolate & milk will burn (& perhaps your tongue!). Makes enough for one big mug or several small cups. Enough to share, or spoil just yourself. (you devil you!)
I had my hot chocolate with some miniature angel cakes & then I stretched out on the couch & had a nap - delicious! How do you enjoy your hot chocolate?
| Hello world indeed! |
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What better time for the birth of a new blog than the very first day of spring! So just as Colleen from Fresh Blog Tips suggested, I decided to finally put fingers to keyboard. & boy does it feel good! I have lots of ideas for future posts & I’m really looking forward to working on them. This is place for me to discuss thoughts on style, fashion, adoration, aesthetic & all the wonderful glittery, opalescent & exquisite thoughts in-between.
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