a couple of weeks before christmas, i hurt my knee pretty badly. someone jumped on my leg while i was sitting down and my knee locked. i experienced crazy pain and swelling, and after trying a few things and not easing it much i went to see a dr. a few days after christmas. he basically told me to take painkillers and to get an mri done if the situation didn't clear up.
well, things didn't clear up. the swelling eventually went down, but i still can't put much pressure on my leg, walk for long distances, run or climb stairs without causing myself pain. last friday i went to another dr. and things finally got sorted out. she thought i could either have a fracture or swelling, so i had a very uncomfortable x-ray done. the x-ray showed that thankfully it wasn't a fracture, but instead fluid building up behind my kneecap.
so now i'm on anti-inflammatories, have to wear a knee strap and am going to see a physio in two days to strengthen my leg again and help me with movement. i just hope it gets sorted before i get back to uni. am really tired of the pain and of not being able to do things. but in the meantime, just have to grin and bear it =)
Monday, February 6, 2012
Thursday, February 2, 2012
The Way To The Heart
it was my brother's seventeenth birthday yesterday. he's a very difficult person to organise presents for, and so at the start of the week i was still digging around for a possible gift. then eventually i had a glorious idea: BAKING! my brother loves food (i mean, who doesn't, right?) and i love baking. it seemed like a match made in heaven.
i ended up making him three things: CUPCAKES, ALMOND BISCUITS and A BIRTHDAY CAKE. the cupcake recipe is taken pretty much entirely from Anthony Telford's Basic Cookbook; as is the birthday cake. and the almond biscuit recipe came from my grandmother. enjoy :-)
cupcakes
i always believed that cupcakes were little muffins. The recipe says it makes 24, but when I baked these I got about 60 :-o I ended up freezing some.
mini cupcake tray (If you want 60, that is. Otherwise, I'm sure using a regular muffin tray will be fine)patty pan cases
300g self raising flour
200g unsalted butter, softened
200g caster sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
2 tablespoons milk
chocolate buttons (I added these)
***
preheat the oven to 180C (fan forced: 160C). line the cupcake moulds with the patty pan cases, or simply place the cases on a baking tray.
sift the flour into a mixing bowl and add all other ingredients. use an electric mixer (you can just use a spoon; i did, and they turned out fine) to slowly incorporate the ingredients. beat for five minutes until light and fluffy. (it is VERY, VERY important NOT TO UNDER- OR OVERBEAT. if the mixture is underbeaten, it will be crumbly in texture, and if it is overbeaten the cupcakes will rise too much, making icing difficult).
spoon the mixture into the paper cases until three-quarters full. place in the oven and bake for 20 minutes or until golden on top and the cakes spring back when lightly pressed.
remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack. when cold, top with icing (if desired).
icing
i didn't use a recipe for this, and made quite a large quantity of icing (though i didn't ice all the cupcakes, only the 17 i gave to my brother and a few more for school lunches). so i ended up using the rest for the cake.
250g icing sugar
50g butter, softened (not melted. the butter should be soft enough to stir with ease)
dash of milk
cachous (those little coloured balls you find in the cooking aisle of supermarkets)
***
sift the icing sugar (very important! you do NOT want lumps in your icing)
add the butter and milk and combine until you have formed a smooth paste. you may need to add more milk along the way, though you don't want it to be overly runny.
dip the cupcakes in the icing and sprinkle with cachous or any other decoration you desire.
NOTE: if making the cupcakes a day ahead, you can ice them the night before and keep them in a cool place. the book says to ice the cupcakes just before serving, but as i planned to give my brother the cupcakes in the morning i chose to ice them at night and stored them in a cupboard. they turned out fine.
almond biscuits
i wasn't intending to make these for my brother, but while hunting through my pantry i found some leftover almond meal and decided to use it. i didn't have enough almond meal to make a full batch and the biscuits turned out a bit small, but they were very delicious :-)
200g almond meal
200g sugar
2 eggwhites, lightly beaten.
slivered almonds, to decorate (optional)
***
preheat the oven to 180C (fan forced: 160C, or, like i did, you could just make them at the same time you make the cupcakes!) line a baking tray with baking paper.
mix the almonds, sugar and eggs together.
roll the mixture into balls and place on the tray. top each biscuit with a slivered almond (if using)
bake for about 20 minutes or until golden. leave on tray to cool slightly before transferring to wire rack.
hummingbird cake
i was looking for recipes that didn't have butter in them and came across this one. this cake is so deliciously moist, and the combination of banana and pineapple is definitely a great one. the recipe says to make two cakes and sandwich them together with a filling, but as my ingredient stockpile was limited i decided to only make one cake. it turned out really well, i'm happy to say. i'll include the original ingredient list as well as the measurements i used in italics. this cake is a beautiful one to make and definitely worth a go on a rainy day. plus, i FINALLY got to use the beautiful cake stand i got for my birthday!
2x springform cake pans, if wanting to make two cakes
baking paper
375g plain flour, sifted (200g)
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
450g soft brown sugar (200g)
1 teaspoon ground cinammon (really, don't measure this. i love cinammon so much and am very liberal with my helpings. just chuck as much as you want in)
250mL canola or safflower oil (roughly 200mL. i used vegetable oil, and it tasted fine)
3 large eggs, at room temperature, lightly beaten (2)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (again, don't bother measuring. be as liberal or as stingy with it as you want)\230g canned crushed pineapple (i had 400g of pineapple chunks. i drained the can and reserved the juice, and added all the chunks to the mix)
4 large ripe bananas, mashed or chopped (2, chopped)
leftover icing, see above recipe (optional. Anthony Telford uses passionfruit frosting - if you want the recipe, i can include it.)
walnuts, for topping (optional)
cinnamon, for dusting (optional)
***
preheat the oven to 170C (fan forced: 150C). grease two round cake tins, dust with flour and line the bases with baking paper. (as i was only making one cake, i used one tin, greased it with vegetable oil and lined the bottom)
combine the flour, bicarbonate of soda, sugar and cinammon in a large bowl.
add the oil, eggs and vanilla and mix with a spoon until well combined. do NOT beat. (the eggs really must be at room temperature, as if they are too cold they will split the mixture. beating the mixture will overwork the gluten and make the cake tough; this cake should be dense and moist, rather than light and fluffy)
stir in the pineapple and banana and pour into the prepared tin(s).
bake for 45-50 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. (the cooking time really does depend on your oven. my cake was done in about 30 minutes).
cool in the cake tin(s) for 10 minutes before turning out on a wire rack.
if making two cakes (which you will need the passionfruit frosting for, as the icing i made is not enough): when cold, ice one cake with frosting, top with the second cake and ice the other cake with the remaining frosting, decorate, if desired, with extra crushed pineapple or simply dust with ground cinammon.
my version: when cold, ice the cake with above icing. top with walnuts and dust with ground cinammon.
i ended up making him three things: CUPCAKES, ALMOND BISCUITS and A BIRTHDAY CAKE. the cupcake recipe is taken pretty much entirely from Anthony Telford's Basic Cookbook; as is the birthday cake. and the almond biscuit recipe came from my grandmother. enjoy :-)
cupcakes
i always believed that cupcakes were little muffins. The recipe says it makes 24, but when I baked these I got about 60 :-o I ended up freezing some.
mini cupcake tray (If you want 60, that is. Otherwise, I'm sure using a regular muffin tray will be fine)patty pan cases
300g self raising flour
200g unsalted butter, softened
200g caster sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
2 tablespoons milk
chocolate buttons (I added these)
***
preheat the oven to 180C (fan forced: 160C). line the cupcake moulds with the patty pan cases, or simply place the cases on a baking tray.
sift the flour into a mixing bowl and add all other ingredients. use an electric mixer (you can just use a spoon; i did, and they turned out fine) to slowly incorporate the ingredients. beat for five minutes until light and fluffy. (it is VERY, VERY important NOT TO UNDER- OR OVERBEAT. if the mixture is underbeaten, it will be crumbly in texture, and if it is overbeaten the cupcakes will rise too much, making icing difficult).
spoon the mixture into the paper cases until three-quarters full. place in the oven and bake for 20 minutes or until golden on top and the cakes spring back when lightly pressed.
remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack. when cold, top with icing (if desired).
icing
i didn't use a recipe for this, and made quite a large quantity of icing (though i didn't ice all the cupcakes, only the 17 i gave to my brother and a few more for school lunches). so i ended up using the rest for the cake.
250g icing sugar
50g butter, softened (not melted. the butter should be soft enough to stir with ease)
dash of milk
cachous (those little coloured balls you find in the cooking aisle of supermarkets)
***
sift the icing sugar (very important! you do NOT want lumps in your icing)
add the butter and milk and combine until you have formed a smooth paste. you may need to add more milk along the way, though you don't want it to be overly runny.
dip the cupcakes in the icing and sprinkle with cachous or any other decoration you desire.
NOTE: if making the cupcakes a day ahead, you can ice them the night before and keep them in a cool place. the book says to ice the cupcakes just before serving, but as i planned to give my brother the cupcakes in the morning i chose to ice them at night and stored them in a cupboard. they turned out fine.
almond biscuits
i wasn't intending to make these for my brother, but while hunting through my pantry i found some leftover almond meal and decided to use it. i didn't have enough almond meal to make a full batch and the biscuits turned out a bit small, but they were very delicious :-)
200g almond meal
200g sugar
2 eggwhites, lightly beaten.
slivered almonds, to decorate (optional)
***
preheat the oven to 180C (fan forced: 160C, or, like i did, you could just make them at the same time you make the cupcakes!) line a baking tray with baking paper.
mix the almonds, sugar and eggs together.
roll the mixture into balls and place on the tray. top each biscuit with a slivered almond (if using)
bake for about 20 minutes or until golden. leave on tray to cool slightly before transferring to wire rack.
hummingbird cake
i was looking for recipes that didn't have butter in them and came across this one. this cake is so deliciously moist, and the combination of banana and pineapple is definitely a great one. the recipe says to make two cakes and sandwich them together with a filling, but as my ingredient stockpile was limited i decided to only make one cake. it turned out really well, i'm happy to say. i'll include the original ingredient list as well as the measurements i used in italics. this cake is a beautiful one to make and definitely worth a go on a rainy day. plus, i FINALLY got to use the beautiful cake stand i got for my birthday!
2x springform cake pans, if wanting to make two cakes
baking paper
375g plain flour, sifted (200g)
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
450g soft brown sugar (200g)
1 teaspoon ground cinammon (really, don't measure this. i love cinammon so much and am very liberal with my helpings. just chuck as much as you want in)
250mL canola or safflower oil (roughly 200mL. i used vegetable oil, and it tasted fine)
3 large eggs, at room temperature, lightly beaten (2)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (again, don't bother measuring. be as liberal or as stingy with it as you want)\230g canned crushed pineapple (i had 400g of pineapple chunks. i drained the can and reserved the juice, and added all the chunks to the mix)
4 large ripe bananas, mashed or chopped (2, chopped)
leftover icing, see above recipe (optional. Anthony Telford uses passionfruit frosting - if you want the recipe, i can include it.)
walnuts, for topping (optional)
cinnamon, for dusting (optional)
***
preheat the oven to 170C (fan forced: 150C). grease two round cake tins, dust with flour and line the bases with baking paper. (as i was only making one cake, i used one tin, greased it with vegetable oil and lined the bottom)
combine the flour, bicarbonate of soda, sugar and cinammon in a large bowl.
add the oil, eggs and vanilla and mix with a spoon until well combined. do NOT beat. (the eggs really must be at room temperature, as if they are too cold they will split the mixture. beating the mixture will overwork the gluten and make the cake tough; this cake should be dense and moist, rather than light and fluffy)
stir in the pineapple and banana and pour into the prepared tin(s).
bake for 45-50 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. (the cooking time really does depend on your oven. my cake was done in about 30 minutes).
cool in the cake tin(s) for 10 minutes before turning out on a wire rack.
if making two cakes (which you will need the passionfruit frosting for, as the icing i made is not enough): when cold, ice one cake with frosting, top with the second cake and ice the other cake with the remaining frosting, decorate, if desired, with extra crushed pineapple or simply dust with ground cinammon.
my version: when cold, ice the cake with above icing. top with walnuts and dust with ground cinammon.
 |
| cupcakes and almond biscuits |
 |
| and the cake is complete! |
 |
| the cake, un-iced |
 |
| a couple of cupcakes, lazing about |
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