I made these cupcakes already several weeks ago. I was inspired by a piece of orange poppyseed cake I ate in a little coffee shop in the lovely town of Dalesford, Australia. I was doing a yoga retreat not very far from Dalesford, and on our day off, we headed into Dalesford to indulge in some coffee and cake. I had never heard of orange poppyseed cake before, but was pleasantly surprised by the fresh taste.

Ingredients
125ml milk (I used soy milk)
1/3 cup poppyseeds
180g softened unsalted butter
220g caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 eggs
Finely grated zest of 3 oranges
125ml freshly squeezed orange juice
375g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder

For the syrup
125ml freshly squeezed orange juice
55g caster sugar
20g unsalted butter
Zest of 2 oranges

Preheat oven to 200°C. Grease a muffin pan or line base with papercups.
Place milk in a bowl and stir in poppyseeds. Let stand for 20 minutes.

Beat butter, sugar and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer until light and pale. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each. Gently fold in zest, juice and poppyseed mixture. Sift flour and baking powder over top and fold in. Spoon mixture into pan and bake for about 30 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.

Meanwhile, place syrup ingredients in a pan over medium heat and stir until sugar dissolves and butter melts. Turn heat to high and simmer for 2 minutes. While the cupcakes are still warm, pierce holes in the top with a skewer and pour over the hot syrup and zest. Serve warm or cold.

yep, it has happened again. I’ve been too lazy to update my blog lately, even though I have loads of recipes I still want to share with you guys. But I’ll try to make it up to you. My 3 week holiday has started so I should have plenty of time to put everything online

First of all I want to share this amazing Lemon Mint Sorbet recipe that I tried yesterday, it’s soo good and easy to make (no ice cream machine needed), I think I’m already addicted to it. I found the recipe on Jamie Oliver’s website. I had some leftover lemons that urgently needed to be used, and this was perfect, especially with the hot weather. I only made a small batch since I only had 3 lemons and no limes, but it was still so good, and I ate almost all of it already. I think I’ll have to buy some more lemons and limes today

***UPDATE***: I made a new batch yesterday for the pictures today. This time I made it with the limes and it was again soooooooooo good. Seriously, the glasses for the the pictures were empty in less than 30 seconds :-p

Ingredients (for 4 portions)
200g sugar
275ml water
zest and juice of 5 limes
zest and juice of 5 lemons
a small bunch of fresh mint

Place the sugar and water in a pan, bring to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes, until the sugar has dissolved. Remove from the heat and allow to cool for a while. Zest and squeeze your limes and lemons and chop your mint. Mix everything together in a plastic or earthenware container and place in the freezer.

Generally a sorbet takes 2 hours to set. Try to stir it around every 30 minutes if you remember



Ingredienten (voor 4 porties)
200g (riet)suiker
275ml water
zest en sap van 5 limoenen
zest en sap van 5 citroenen
een bosje verse munt

Doe het water en de suiker in een pan, breng aan de kook en laat ongeveer 5 minuten koken tot de suiker helemaal opgelost is. Haal van ‘t vuur en laat eventjes afkoelen
Zest en pers het sap uit de limoenen en citroenen en snij de muntblaadjes fijn. Meng alles te samen in een plastieken doos en plaats in de diepvriezer.

Normaal gezien duurt ‘t ongeveer 2 uur eer ‘t sorbet genoeg bevroren is. Probeer er om ‘t half uur eens door te roeren.

Broccoli, I don’t eat it nearly enough as I should. But it’s such a great vegetable and extremely healthy, so this weeks A-Z recipe is one with Broccoli.
This is what Wikipedia has to say about the nutritional value of broccoli:

“Broccoli is high in vitamins C, K, and A, as well as dietary fiber; it also contains multiple nutrients with potent anti-cancer properties, such as diindolylmethane and small amounts of selenium. A single serving provides more than 30 mg of Vitamin C and a half-cup provides 52 mg of Vitamin C. The 3,3′-Diindolylmethane found in broccoli is a potent modulator of the innate immune response system with anti-viral, anti-bacterial and anti-cancer activity. Broccoli also contains the compound glucoraphanin, which can be processed into an anti-cancer compound sulforaphane, though the benefits of broccoli are greatly reduced if the vegetable is boiled more than ten minutes. A high intake of broccoli has been found to reduce the risk of aggressive prostate cancer. Broccoli consumption has also been shown to be beneficial in the prevention of heart disease.”

Wow, isn’t that amazing, it’s like a super vegetable!

The recipe I’m making this week is Pasta with Broccoli Pesto. It’s a delicious recipe I found on one of my favorite food blogs 101 Cookbooks. I like this recipe because it uses broccoli in a way I wouldn’t have thought of myself. I added a good handful of fresh basil leaves, cause I love basil

Ingredients (for about 4 servings)
1 medium head of broccoli (about 3 cups), cut into very small florets, you can also use the stems, since they will be processed anyway.
50 g walnuts, toasted
50 g Parmesan, freshly grated
1 clove of garlic
juice of 1/2 a lemon
1/4 teaspoon + fine grain sea salt
100 ml extra-virgin olive oil
250 g dried pasta (bite-sized – fusilli, penne, etc)
a handful of fresh basil leaves
a handful of oily black olives, pitted
more Parmesan for serving

Bring two pots of water to a boil, one large, one medium. In the medium pot you’ll cook the broccoli, the large can be used for the pasta.

To cook the broccoli, salt the boiling water and add the broccoli. Cook for just twelve seconds. Drain immediately and run cold water over the broccoli to stop the cooking. Reserve a few of the small broccoli trees and puree the rest in a food processor along with the walnuts, Parmesan, garlic, basil leaves, lemon juice and salt. Drizzle in the olive oil while still blending. Taste, adjust with more salt or lemon juice if needed and set aside.

To cook the pasta, salt the boiling water generously and add the pasta. Boil until just barely tender. Drain, transfer the hot pasta to a large bowl. Gently stir in about half of the pesto. Taste, add more pesto to your liking. Served topped with olives, the reserved broccoli florets, and a dusting of Parmesan cheese.



Ingredienten (voor ongeveer 4 porties)
1 medium krop broccoli, gesneden in hele kleine roosjes, je kan ook de stronk gebruiken aangezien de broccoli toch gepureerd wordt.
50 g geroosterde walnoten
50 g Parmesaanse kaas, vers geraspt
1 teentje look
sap can een halve citroen
1/4 theelepel zeezout
100 ml extra-virgine olijfolie
250 g gedroogde pasta (fusilli, penne, etc)
een handvol verse basilicum blaadjes
een handvol ontpitte zwarte olijven
nog meer Parmesaanse kaas om te serveren.

Breng 2 potten water aan de kook, een grote en een iets kleiner. In de kleinder pot ga je de broccoli koken, in de grotere de pasta.

Zout ‘t water in de kleinere pot en voeg de broccoli toe. Kook voor slechts 12 seconden. Giet onmiddellijk af en hou onder koud water om ervoor te zorgen dat de broccoli niet verder kookt. Hou een aantal broccoli roosjes opzij en pureer de rest in de keukenmachine samen met de walnoten, parmesaanse kaas, look, basilicum blaadjes, citroensap en het zout. Giet d olie erbij terwijl je de pesto pureert. Proef, en voeg meer citroensap of zout toe indien nodig.

Kook de pasta al dente. Giet af en doe de pasta in een grote kom. Voeg ongeveer de helft van de pesto toe. Proef, en voeg eventueel nog meer pesto toe. Dien op met de olijven, de opzij gezette broccoli roosjes en nog wat extra parmesaanse kaas.

With the whole cupcake experiment I’ve been neglecting my general cooking skills a little bit, somehow ending up cooking the same old fare. So to shake it all up a little bit I decided to start another little project. Every week I’ll try to use an ingredient starting with a letter from the alphabet, try out a new recipe and share it with you guys

This weeks ingredient has to start with an ‘A’. At first I wanted to do something with artichokes, but I have to admit that the recipe didn’t turn out that well, ooops. So I decided to make something with avocado instead. Avocado is perfect to add to salads, or making sushi with, or as I will do here to make delicious dip with. I know, a dip isn’t exactly like a real dinner kind of recipe, but on the other hand if you’re going to eat some not-so-healthy chips in front of your telly or at a party, might as well balance it out a little bit with this super healthy and easy to make avocado & lime dip

Really, I didn’t know much about avocados, but reading up on it, I discovered avocados have so many health benefits:
- It protects cholesterol related heart diseases. It reduces the risk of cardiovascular diseases.
- It is used both in prevention and treatment of prostate and breast cancers. Scientists have proved that a toxin in avocado kills the cancer cells. So-called toxin has a great effect on the tissues, particularly heart muscle tissues.
- Avocado includes necessary minerals like potassium, calcium, vitamin C and K, folic acid, copper, sodium and dietary fibers. These are used to provide the mineral necessity of the body. People who live in hot climates have great mineral and water loss. So, avocado is suggested strongly by the medicals.
- Oleic acid in avocado can be used to lower cholesterol level in the blood.
- Potassium in avocado regulates pressure of blood.
- Sodium reduces the risk of high blood pressure and stoke.
- It improves the ability of the body to absorb carotenoids.
- Avocado is used to help people who have sexual problems.
- It is a good antioxidant.
- It can be used in the treatment of skin disorders
- It is used to heal people who suffer from digestive and circulatory problems.



Ingredients (this make about 3 times the amount shown in the picture)
3 ripe avocados
2 tbsp fresh lime juice , that’s about 2 juicy limes
1 tsp Tabasco sauce
1 garlic clove , crushed
½ tsp sea salt
olive oil for drizzling
natural tortilla chips or other chips or crackers

Cut the avocados in half lengthways, remove the stones and peel. Put the avocado in a food processor with the lime juice, Tabasco, garlic and sea salt. Blend until you have a light, elegantly pale green cream. If your avocados were not very ripe yet, the dip will be a little bit lumpier, but still very tasty.
Transfer the cream to a bowl, cover and chill until ready to serve. To serve, drizzle with a little oil. Serve as a dip with tortilla chips or other crackers.

I’ve been wanting to try out vegan cupcakes for a while now. Not only do they have the advantage of being dairy free (for my colleges who are allergic to dairy), but they’re also egg free, which is great ’cause with all the cupcake and pie baking I’ve been doing lately I feel like I’ve been eating way too many eggs.
I found a great looking website with lots of vegan cupcake recipes and I’m sure I’m going to try out many of these recipes. The first one I’ve tried is the Vegan Cappuccino Cupcakes recipe. And they are absolutely delicious . You wouldn’t know they’re vegan if you didn’t know it. I love the texture, and they’re very moist. There’s the hint of coffee, but it’s not overwhelming, mmm…

Ingredients (for about 13 cupcakes)
250 g all-purpose flour
250 g organic unbleached sugar
65g unsweetened cocoa powder
1 ts baking powder
1/2 ts salt
60 g butter (melted)
120 ml apple sauce
60 ml soy yogurt
3 Ts instant coffee granules — (espresso powder)
120 ml warm water
2 ts vanilla extract

Frosting
100 g powdered sugar
110 g butter, softened
60 ml vanilla soy milk
1 1/2 ts vanilla extract

Heat oven to 180°C.
Lightly coat 13 standard-size muffin cups with nonstick cooking spray.
Dissolve coffee powder in warm water and set aside.
Whisk together flour, organic unbleached sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt in a small bowl.
Stir together butter, apple sauce, soy yogurt, dissolved espresso and vanilla in a large bowl.
Stir in the flour mixture just until blended into a thick batter.
Spoon batter evenly into prepared muffin cups, filling each cup about 3/4 full.
Bake in the oven at 180°C for 17 to 20 minutes or until tops spring back when lightly touched.
Let cool completely.

For the frosting mix butter (at room temperature or even a little bit softer), soy milk, and vanilla with an electric mixer. Blend in the powdered sugar and mix for a few minutes.
Just before serving, frost each cupcake with a tablespoonful of whipped topping.
Sprinkle with cocoa powder through a fine-mesh sieve.




Ingredienten (voor ongeveer 13 cupcakes)
250 g bloem
250 g ruwe rietsuiker
65g ongezoete cacaopoeder
1 tl bakpoeder
1/2 tl zout
60 g plantaardige boter (gesmolten)
120 ml appel compot
60 ml soja yoghurt
3 el instant koffiepoeder — (espresso poeder)
120 ml warm water
2 tl vanille extract

Crème au beurre
100 g bloemsuiker
110 g plantaardige boter, zacht, maar niet helemaal gesmolten
60 ml vanille soja melk
1 1/2 tl vanille extract

Verwarm de oven voor op 180°C.
Vet 13 muffin cups lichtjes in met boter.
Los ‘t koffiepoeder op in warm water en zet aan de kant.
Klop de bloem, suiker, cacaopoeder, bakpoeder en zout samen in een kleine kom.
Meng de gesmolten boter, appelcompot, soja yoghurt, koffieoplossing en vanille extract te samen in een grote kom.
Roer het bloem mengsle er doorheen tot je een mooi dik beslag hebt.
Verdeel het beslag gelijkmatig in de cupcake vormpjes, zodat elk vormpje voor ongeveer 3/4de vol is.
Bak in de oven op 180°C voor 17 tot 20 minuten of tot het midden terugspringt wanneer je de cupcake lichtjes aanraakt.
Laat volledig afkoelen

Voor ‘t maken van de creme au beurre mix je de boter (op kamert° of zelfs een klein beetje zachter), de soja melk en ‘t vanille extract met de elektrische mixer. Voeg de bloemsuiker er aan toe en mix enkele minuten.
Versier de cupcakes met ongeveer een eetlepel creme au beurre vlak voor ‘t serveren. En sprinkel er nog wat cacaopoeder over heen.

recipe will follow…