Courgette Muffins

Two posts in a week! Whoa what's going on here? I guess I'm feeling inspired.

At my first photo assignment this morning I was given some courgettes (aka zucchini) and I felt I could try to make something I'd never made before. I have been making sugar-free ice cream and raw treats over the past few months but I've never baked anything. I've also never baked without eggs.

I use ground flax seeds mixed with water, which is known as vegan eggs, to make a gelatinous liquid. I've used it to bind dishes like my spicy bean burgers and it works great. I don't think I will ever go back to baking with eggs again and the best part is that I can like the spoon without fear of food poisoning!

Now, just because something is sugar-free doesn't mean it is low calorie. There are a lot of sweeteners on the market but I don't used anything refined or filled with crazy chemicals (hello Splenda). For this recipe I used Agave. There is a lot of criticism of Agave as a natural sweetener but I usually avoid it for its high calorie content. I usually opt for Truvia, which is a form of Stevia.

The muffins came out okay. The texture was perfect. It was moist on the inside and crunchy on top. The problem was with the olive oil. I don't know if the recipe (which I adapted from this one) called for any kind of olive oil. Maybe there was too much in it or maybe my olive oil is super strong but that is what the muffins mostly tasted like. You could barely taste the other ingredients. So this is pretty much a fail, though my husband has just come home and is eating them so maybe not. I will try to make these again sometime will less/different oil.

Baked Project #11

Okay, yes marshmallows aren't baked but that's okay. I guess they are boiled and whisked but that makes for a bad section title. I made these bad boys a few days ago and they are all gone. Billy ended up taking half of them to work to save us from a sugar coma. I would categorize these as not so easy. It took me FOREVER to get them off the baking paper. So next year I think I will make up some hot chocolate and give out that with the marshmallows for a nice pressie.

We actually don't give out many presents because our first year married I had only been in the country for a month and a half, the second year we went to Florida and this year we are skint. Boo. And The Gap is having a %50 off sale and I am so sad. Billy and I are only doing stockings this year. I have his all done but I can't write about it because he is my most devoted reader.

His birthday is the 23rd so he usually gets the "Oh this is for your birthday and Christmas." I however am big on birthdays and even if we can't afford much I try and make the day all about him.

Baked Project #10

Victory at last!! I have attempted making Yorkshire Puddings so many times and each time ending with us throwing away a burnt eggy mess. I was told that in order to make Yorkshires, the oil in the cupcake tray had to be smoking and that I need to let the mixture sit for at least half an hour before using it.

God bless Delia because she says the oil needs not be smoking nor that you have to let the stuff sit. So finally my Yorkshires came out perfect! I also tried baking one big one in a tray and that came out perfect too! Yay to success.

So now I have to wait for my husband to finish the rest of the Sunday roast so we can eat them. For anyone not in the UK, Yorkshire Puddings are a crispy bread-like roll that has an indent in the middle for gravy.

My husband's granny used to make a roast every single Sunday and he started not to appreciate them. Now we have them occasionally and on Christmas so its a bit of a treat. MMM roast potatoes, roast parsnips (the best root veg ever!) and Yorkshires. The actual roast beef is my least favorite part of the meal funny enough. But the gravy that comes from it is amazing. I am in fact hungry while writing this so hence the major food love.

I am working on non baking things at the moment too. I haven't been to a sewing class in a month due to my and my sewing teacher's time conflicts but I'm due to go to class on Wednesday with people I haven't met yet. And for my cotton anniversary (which was on Monday) I am knitting my hubby a pair of socks. I'm at the heel on the first one so I've got ages to go.

But most of my spare time has been spent on redesigning my actual website! Every time I think I'm done something goes terribly wrong. Boo. Anyways that is a long-winded blog post. Hurry up dinner!!

Baked Project #8

I finished another week off work by baking some cookies to keep my sanity. The recipe says the last chocolate chip cookie you'll ever make. I'm not convinced. It is not a bad recipe by any means but it is not the best. I've made it twice, the first time using the chocolate called for. It was far to bitter and I ended up throwing away the whole batch.

This time I used milk chocolate with a bar of white chocolate thrown in and it came out much better. I grew up making chocolate chip cookies based on an old aunt's (that I never met) recipe that was sneakily similar to the one on the back of the nestle tollhouse chocolate chip bag! To be fair to the aunt her small changes do make a big difference.

Anyways, I live in Scotland and I can't get nestle tollhouse here. And if by chance I do find it, it is usually in places like Harvey Nicks where you have to mortgage your place to buy anything. So I used Sainsbury brand chocolate and its just not the same.

So I think I will continue looking for a chocolate chip (or chunk like this recipe is) recipe.

Baked Project #7

I made cheesecake!! It was my first ever attempt at the cheesy goodness and it was really successful. I didn't even like cheesecake until I got married and then my husband extolled its greatness upon me.

It is made with strawberries in it and with a strawberry syrup on top. It was supposed to be raspberry but the shop didn't have any today. I am going to try it again with raspberries or maybe blackberries next time.

I haven't had much time lately to make anything due to a redesign of my website that is taking ages. But I did start a sewing class and am making my first dress! I have been to two classes thus far and I already have most of the bodice made. I bought gorgeous Liberty fabric and I want to wear it on my anniversary on the 27th. We are going to Amsterdam and I think the dress will be perfect for a night out.

Baked Project #6

Billy and I decided to make a three course meal tonight. Billy made the appetizer and the main (which were amazing) and I made the dessert. I opted for a shortcake with cream cheese frosting and fruit topping. I was going to make a blueberry pie but the timing for the main course and the pie wouldn't have worked out very well. And well we are in Scotland and shortcake is quintessentially Scottish.

I made the tarts in normal size cupcake tins which only made twelve. I had so much frosting left over it was such a waste. But overall it was a really nice recipe.

Baked Project #5

I love blueberry muffins!! But what I love more is when there is a sugary crumble top and a soft and moist bottom. Enter the perfect recipe. The top bit is a cinnamon crumble that compliments the blueberries amazingly. I have never made muffins from scratch before and I am super pleased with the results. Best yet, my husband loved them and said he was impressed. Coming from him that was a great achievement for me!

Baked Project #4

One of my favorite baked good ever is Zucchini Bread (or courgette bread if you're British). My mom's coworker used to make one for me every time she did a batch. I didn't used to like zucchinis though I didn't like ANYTHING when I was a kid. I wouldn't eat anything that I didn't know but somehow this treat snuck through my tasteless barrier. And thank goodness for that. I know eat EVERYTHING! Well maybe not everything. I won't eat Lamb because they are cute or bunny rabbits.

Anyways, I love this bread and I have made it with several different recipes trying to get it right. I'm not in love with the recipe I used as the mix was quite dry and I had to add milk to it. I also was low on ground cinnamon so it wasn't as tasty as it usually is. I think I will continue on my quest to find the perfect zucchini bread recipe.

Baked Project #3

Billy and I went to Cairnie Mega Maze in Fife today to pick strawberries and raspberries. We did venture into the Maize Maze and it was fun (though the fuddy duddy didn't think so). I even got to go on a huge trampoline!!

We came back with a ton of fruit and my first attempt to use them up came in the form of Strawberry Bread. It is very similar to Zucchini Bread but the strawberries basically melt. It was an interesting attempt and tasty but I'm just not sure how long the cake will last.

There are more photos of our day on my Flickr site.

Baked Project #2

I had to make something to go into the toiletry bag to give as a present so I made brownies!! I love brownies!! And I do make pretty darn good ones if you ask me. It's an old recipe and I think it has the perfect amount of gooeyness. mmm

Baked Project #1

Today is my niece's 19th birthday. Though she lives in America I decided to celebrate her birth with some cupcakes that I think she would have loved to eat if she were in Scotland. I'll just have to tell her how good they were!

They are yellow cupcakes with chocolate icing from this recipe. I love the Joy of Baking website. The cake bit wasn't as moist as I would like though I'm not sure if its because the sour cream is different in this country.

They were still good.