Mini Cheese & Onion Quiches [and an update]

It's been a while.. almost six months in fact and although this place reeks of abandonment and neglect, worry not for I am here! (albeit briefly, most likely). 

It has been a busy few months but it feels like I've blinked and half the year is gone and time just seems to be whizzing by at bottleneck  speed. We had a good summer this year, to the extent that people cancelled their holidays abroad to sun it up in England of all places. There was lots of ice cream, suncream and day-trips oh and it was World Cup season, meaning an abundance of flags, a trashed Ikea and a semi-final viewing party in the hospital lab.

I also did a lil something that I've been hoping to do for quite some time now, drumroll please, I passed my driving test first time around back in April and I bought my first car! Alhamdulillah a million times over.  My parents also went to Hajj this year which is a huge blessing, they returned from Saudi Arabia about two week ago and since then we've been inundated with bouquets, chocolates, gifts, cake and many a visitor. 
And although this year they weren't home for Eid, we preserved and made it work; there was presents, a family visit and a roast chicken dinner cooked by yours truly. Other firsts of mine include climbing a mountain (Ingleborough, which is the second highest in the Yorkshire Dales), descending down a cave, adopting a cat (not really, but its a matter of time), walking up the cliffs of the Great Orme, trying archery, sampling blood and making quiche. 

Yep, I've never made quiche before, but I did a few weeks ago after my sisters insistence that we buy one at the supermarket, only this quiche was outrageously small and ridiculously overpriced and I thought we could do better. Lo and behold, a little search on one of my favourite food blogs unearthed a gem of a recipe that I've made multiple times since. 

I'm talking buttery flaky shortcrust, sweet caramelised onions and a soft, cheesy filling. The flavour payoff is amazing and the ratio of pasty to filling is spot-on, need I say more.

So to make these Mini Cheese and Onion Quiches you will need the following ingredients:

Shortcrust pastry
Onions
 Eggs
Cheddar cheese
Soft cheese
Double cream
Butter / oil
Worcestershire sauce
Malt vinegar
Soy sauce

Stage 1: The Onions
We begin by slicing up around 2 and 1/2 large onions and although this seems like a crazy amount, its akin to the spinach scenario where it cooks down completely.

In a large pan heat up 1 and 1/2 tablespoons of salted butter and some oil to stop it burning.

Add in your sliced onions along with 1/4 tsp salt, 3/4 tsp black pepper, 3/4 tbsp soy sauce, 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce and 3/4 tbsp malt vinegar. Stir to ensure everything is well coated and cook on a medium flame for a few minutes.

Cover the pan with a lid and leave to cook on a low flame for around 15-20 minutes or until the onions have cooked down. Uncover the pan and cook on a high heat for a few minutes to further caramelise and darken the onions slightly. Set this aside until needed.

Stage 2: The Filling
In a jug crack in 5-6 eggs depending on their size, pour in 150ml of double cream, 150ml of milk, 1 tbsp of soft cheese, 1/2 tsp salt and 1/2 back pepper. Grate up some cheddar and sprinkle a little into the egg mixture and give everything a good whisk together.

Stage 3: The Pastry
We are using shortcrust pastry for this base, this can be the store-bought frozen kind that needs time for defrosting or you can make your own! Either way roll out your pastry on a lightly floured surface, make sure that its not too thin that it tears or too thick that it doesn't cook through (no soggy bottoms here).

Then using a cutter, plate or other random kitchen item cut out around 12 (or more!) pastry circles.

Lightly grease your muffin trays and pop the circles into there allocated spots, overlap and press the dough slightly to create the right shape.

Stage 4: The Assembling
Into each pastry casing add a generous spoonful of caramelised onion, top with with some grated cheddar then pour in the egg mixture until it almost reaches the top, sprinkle on some more cheese if desired and finish with some mixed herbs.

Stage 5: The Baking
Cook the quiches (is the plural or quiche even quiches??) in a Gas Mark 6 oven for around 25 minutes or until golden brown and the pasty is cooked. 

Stage 6: The Consuming
Serve with sides of your choice, I went with curly fries and a fresh salad. The quiche taste great fresh from the oven when the pastry and filling is all bubbly and golden, but it also tastes nice cold (I can attest to this having packed some for my lunch today).

😋

Enjoy!

A few pictures for those who stayed to the end (or just for me when I'm looking back on this!)

Al-Masjid an-Nabawi, the Prophet's Mosque in Medina

The rolling hills of the Yorkshire Dales 

Our summer harvest of plums 

Fresh hot doughnuts by the waterfront  

The view of Llandudno bay from the cliffs of the Great Orme 

Pink summer peonies  

Conwy Castle and its exquisite gardens  

Hajj Mubarak, an abundance of gifts

A giant amongst men / my little brother towering over the trees

Q x

Easy No-Bake Strawberry Cheesecake

Easy, no-bake, strawberry and cheesecake, oh what a lovely collection of words amirite? 

Truthfully I have a bit of penchant for cheesecake and there are certainly times when I think it is the most delightful dessert in the world. One such moment was yesterday morning, when I shoved down a few spoonfuls of this strawberry cheesecake before rushing out the door because I was almost late for work. Now I know that cheesecake for breakfast it slightly toeing the line, but in my defence I was concerned that by the time I'd get home late in the evening, the dessert loving residents of my house would have scoffed the whole thing.

I suppose the silver lining in that sordid scenario would be that this cheesecake is ridiculously easy to make - I whipped it together at 11pm at night when I was undeniably exhausted, but it was worth it because I got delicious homemade cheesecake for breakfast.

 Lil' life update - I started an extra job at the start of Feb working for a charity organisation and although I'm enjoying it الحَمْد لله  my schedule has become a whole lot more hectic. I'm still wanting to find time to bake and blog but it will definitely be more intermittent than ever. 

Now back to more important matters such as this delightful cheesecake, it is velvety smooth, creamy and indulgent. Sweet yet slightly tangy, made with whipped cream and soft cheese swirled with a strawberry conserve and spread on a crumbly, buttery biscuit base. Oh and decorate it with pink heart shaped jellybeans if you want because you deserve all the love, just saying (the jellybeans were actually part of a wedding favour - the bride made the cutest little sweet mason jars).

So to make this easy, no-bake strawberry cheesecake you will need the following ingredients: 

- Digestives biscuits

- Butter

- Brown sugar

- Double cream

- Soft cheese

- Icing sugar

- Strawberry conserve

 Begin by putting 100g of digestive biscuits (or other crumbly biscuit of your choice) and 35g of brown sugar into a ziplock bag. Using a rolling pin or other heavy item bash the biscuits until they resemble crumbs. An alternative option is to use a food processor. 

Melt 45g of butter then pour in the biscuits crumbs and sugar - mix until well combined.

Press the mixture into a 20cm circular cake tin with detachable base, lined with baking paper. Use the back of a spoon or you fingers to ensure that the mixture is compact. Place this is the freezer to set whilst you prepare the topping. 

For the topping whip up 250ml of double cream and 85g of icing until stiff. To this, beat in 80g of soft cheese and 6 tblsp of good quality strawberry conserve. Taste and adjust as you see fit i.e. add in more strawberry or icing sugar if necessary. If you want you can also reduce the cream to 200ml and use 130g of soft cheese for a tangier flavour.

Spoon the mixture over the cold biscuit base and smooth the top using a palette knife, then leave in the refrigerator to set overnight until firm, this step is required as we haven't used any gelatine or thickening agent. 

Once the waiting game is over, decorate with whatever you like (within reason!) - fresh fruit such as sliced strawberries or flowers like sprigs of lavender and baby's breath.

Or even jellybeans and love hearts! (p.s. this copy of Dracula from Roads is my absolute fave).

😋

Enjoy!

 Q x 

Red Velvet Cupcakes with Butter Cream Cheese Frosting ♥

Without fail every time I have checked my Instagram feed this past month I've seen at least one red velvet recipe and so I felt inspired to venture into red velvet territory. Now I'm not one to go into uncharted waters unprepared so I did a bit of research, turns out that traditionally the red colour of the cake was due the reaction between acidic vinegar and buttermilk which reveals the anthocyanin in cocoa, nowadays we also add in red dye to enhance the colour (and ensure red velvet remains the international Valentines day dessert, obviously). 

I imagine the Queen of Hearts loves a red velvet cake or two, must be tiring work screaming 'off with their heads' multiple times a day. That's one of the reasons why I want to throw an Alice in Wonderland themed tea party, just so I can feature my red velvet cupcakes on a little stand centre stage, dress up in an eccentric costume, put up elaborate decorations and consume tea party food to my hearts content. That or a 1930s themed party (the good bits, notwithstanding the Great Depressions); art deco decor similar to the salons of the Waldorf Astoria, glamorous dresses and lots of red velvet, only apt considering the Astoria made this cake iconic. 

Now I'm not much of a party planner or thrower but what I do know is that this cake needs to made in abundance and shared and loved. 

These cupcakes are wonderfully soft, moist and flavourful with just a hint of cocoa. 
As for the frosting, most people go for a full-on cream cheese extravaganza but I personally don't like the taste of that so instead I made a buttercream frosting with a touch of cream cheese. I've also upped my piping game, check out those roses! they are nowhere near perfect but still look very pretty, especially with the white contrasting against the red cake and the subtle gold glitter. With the tiniest bit of effort and skill you can create a delicious cupcake, the type you would purchase at a fancy bakery in a hipster neighbourhood for an extortionate price and eat with a fork because etiquette.

So to make these Red Velvet Cupcakes you will need the following ingredients:

- Plain flour
- Caster sugar
- Baking powder
- Bicarbonate of soda
- Cocoa
- Salt
-Buttermilk
- Vegetable oil
- Egg
- Apple cider vinegar
- Red food dye
- Hot water

Begin by combing the liquid ingredients together in the bowl of your stand mixer - 2 fl oz of vegetable oil (or other flavourless oil), 1 egg, 1 tsp apple cider vinegar (or white vinegar), 2 1/2 tsp red food colouring (I used a powder but if using gel dye amend amount as you see fit) and finally 4 fl oz buttermilk (can be purchased or alternatively mix together 4fl oz milk and 1 tblsp of lemon juice and let stand for 5 mins). 

Next add in your dry ingredients - 163g plain flour, 207g caster sugar, 1 and 1/8 tsp bicarbonate of soda, 1/4 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp salt and 2 heaped tsp of cocoa. 
Stir mixture on low speed and pour in 3 fl oz of hot water, less may be required so just keep an eye on the consistency of the mixture.

Pour the mixture into a tin lined twelve lined cupcake cases and bake in a preheated Gas Mark 4 oven for 15-17 minutes or until cooked and springy to the touch. I prefer to use muffin tins as it offers better support.

In the meantime to make the butter cream cheese frosting, beat 110g of butter until pale then add in 250g of icing sugar and beat until well combined. Pour in 2 1/2 tsp of milk and 15g of soft cream cheese and mix to incorporate. To make the frosting more cream cheese based, alter the amounts e.g. 90g of butter and 35g of cream cheese but ensure that it is always double the amount of fat to sugar.

Once the cakes are out of the oven leave to cool of a baking rack to ensure that air gets underneath the cakes.

Fit a piping bag with a 1M tip, fill with the frosting and pipe on rosettes - starting from the centre and swirling outwards. Sprinkle with edible gold glitter if desired.

These cupcakes can be eaten immediately (most likely) or stored in an airtight container for up to two days. 

😋

Enjoy!

 Q x 

Cinnamon Pancakes with Caramelised Apple and Walnut

Today I woke up from the morning light coming through my window, the sun was up and I had weird shadows in my room. I dozed for a few more hours and had the strangest dreams but when I woke I could barely remember them, it was like trying to hold water in your hand but it just trickles out from between your fingers. This actually reminds me of a book I bought last year from the little bookshop under the bridge, it was called IQ84 by Haruki Murakami and it certainly helped me to while away a couple of spare hours between lectures. A particularly apt quote from it is 'time flows in strange ways on Sundays', I find this to be very true and its probably one of the reasons why I don't really like Sundays. Take today for example, its nearing the evening now and all I've done today is sleep, clean, watch the Winter Olympics (with awe and a little bit of jealousy) and brunch. This has included pancakes and copious amounts of tea in my London 2012 mug (does this count as vintage yet?).

Now at the risk of tooting my own horn these pancakes were niceee, fluffy and cinnamon-y with lashings of golden syrup and sweet caramelised apple and walnut. 

The recipe is simple enough with ingredients you most likely have to hand, perfect to make on a slow Sunday morning in your pyjamas. Or even a recipe to try on pancake day, yay for appropriately themed blog posts. Speaking of, I shared another pancake recipe this time last year (double yay for overcoming commitment issues and actually blogging for this long!).

To make these Cinnamon Pancakes begin by whipping up a simple batter:

Start by whisking together 1 cup of plain flour, 4 tblsp of sugar, 2 tsp of baking powder and 1 tsp of cinnamon.

Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and crack in 1 large egg, followed by 1 and 1/2 cups of milk and a dash of vanilla extract. Whisk together until well incorporated.

Meanwhile dice up one large apple, I opted for a 'Golden Delicious' for a sweet flavour but a tart Granny Smith is also a great option.

Add this to a saucepan along with 2 tblsp of salted butter, 2 tbls of soft brown sugar, and 1 tsp of cinnamon. Place this on a medium high heat and cook for a few minutes until the apples have softened slightly, don't overdo it as we want to retain some crunch and to not reduce the apples to turn to mush. Nearing the end of the cooking time stir in the desired amount of chopped walnuts. 

To cook the pancakes, in a small saucepan melt 1 tsp of butter then add in your pancake batter.

Wait until bubbles appear and the underside of the pancake is cooked, then flip. 

Cook up your stack of pancakes and plate up with a heaped pile of the caramelised apple and walnut.

Drizzle on a generous amount of golden syrup or maple syrup to serve.

😋

Enjoy!

 Q x