Butterfly Cupcakes

Who doesn't like cream and strawberry jam? Combine them with cupcakes and it's a party in your mouth. The combination makes me extremely happy in life. It also reminds me of when I was a child these would be THE cupcakes  to have! Sometimes, you have to remind yourself of the simple life. That when you have massive decisions to make, constant pressure and bad news, that you can make these cupcakes sit outside in the fresh air and remind yourself that these decisions are only a moment, and that's it. So, what did I do with the majority of these.Well, I am very fortunate to help out with a High tea for some lovely elderly ladies every month for St. John. It's great to listen to their wonderful stories, their knowledge and wise advice. I made these at the first high tea and I was asked to bring these again. A sign that these are a hit!

So eat a cupcake, and smile.  

This recipe is from Exclusively Food: Butterfly Cupcakes (Click on the link to get the recipe).

 I did not change the recipe one bit, the website also provides very detailed instructions on how to make and construct them. The only slight bit of difference is that I used fresh strawberries to create the body of the butterfly and they used jam. 

Wholemeal Banana Bread

If you are from Australia, you would know that banana prices have been around the $12 a kilo mark, something that makes me want to cry. Bananas and I are like lovers. I used to eat them everyday, twice a day. My favourite fruit without a doubt. My boyfriend hates them, which makes me love him more as I get to eat the whole bunch! He likes banana bread though...

Imaging my excitement, when I saw in the fruit shop mushy bananas reduced....rapidly reduced!

This banana bread is incredibly moist and light, however it fills you up and is bound to get you over the three-thirty blues. The great thing about this recipe is that it can be changed to suit your dietary requirements or likes. For example, you could add nuts or even chocolate chips. Today, cause I could I added passionfruit.

This banana bread has been changed from the original recipe which can be found here. As I said this recipe is incredibly versatile and can be adapted to include anything you like. Below is the basic recipe.


INGREDIENTS
2 cups of wholemeal flour
1 tsp baking powder
2 eggs
3 lg very ripe bananas mashed
1/2 cup of orange juice
1/2 cup of Honey
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1 cup of natural yogart
zest of a lemon or an orange (optional)

Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Butter a loaf tin.
Combine all dry ingredients in a bowl together, mix till combine.
Add all the wet ingredients (This includes the banana and Honey).
Fold all the ingredients with a spatula.

Pour the mixture into the loaf tin (It should go close to the top of the tin- don't worry it should go up and not over the tin).
Put it in the oven for 50 minutes.
To check if it is cooked insert a knife and if it comes out clean it is cooked, if not continue to cook for 5 minutes.
BEWARE: Because there is banana in this recipe, the knife may not come out completely clean.

Eggplant Chips

Procrastination I wish you were a degree, I would be getting HDs throughout. Many people when faced with a major assignment worth 50% of your grade due in ten days might just do some research on said topic. Not me, I  procastibake, it is where cooking becomes more important than studying. I think my family would wish I would clean when I'm procrastinating, honestly, I would much rather study if that's the case. 

These eggplant chips are amazing, extremely crispy on the outside and soft and gooey on the inside. 

The perfect chip! They are baked and some say healthy, I say that they are so delicious that even when I was full to the point that my jeans were about to pop, I kept eating them.

Recipe sourced from All Recipes: Eggplant Chips

RECIPE

1 Eggplant (Sliced into strips)

A good splashing of oil

30grams of fresh breadcrumbs

1 clove of garlic (Crushed)

2 sprigs of fresh parsley (Chopped finely)

1 teaspoon of oregano

3 tablespoons of parmesan

1 egg

1 tablespoon of milk

Preheat oven to 180degrees.

Slice the eggplant into thick chips. 

Combine the breadcrumbs (I used stale rye bread and blitzed them). Throw in the parsely, garlic, oregano, and parmesan in a bowl and combine.

Get a bowl and crack the egg. Stir to break the egg up, add the milk and stir again.

This is the messy part: Dip the eggplant in the eggwash and then place it into the breadcrumb mixture. Now, the breadcrumbs might not hold onto the eggplant that well, but as long as there is some on then you should still get that nice crispiness to the chips. Once crumbed place them on an oven tray, or if you have a pizza crisper tray that works wonders!

Splash some olive oil over the chips, don't toss them as the crumbs will go loose

. 

Cook for around 25 minutes. You want the middle to be nice and soft and the outside crispy

Enjoy and serve with a burger!