Tag Archives: Halaal

Cream Cheese Frosting

As mentioned in my Red Velvet Cupcakes post, cream cheese frosting just simply perfects the taste and provides the perfect balance to the richness (if that’s a word) of the cupcake with its sweet and tangy (the good type of tang) and oh-so delectable flavour.

I’m not going to ramble too much…here you go 🙂

Ingredients:

– 100-120g softened butter

– 1 tub cream cheese

– 2 cups icing sugar

– 1 tsp lemon juice

– 1 tsp vanilla essence

 

Method:

– Simple….just whip it all together until well combined and voila!

Enjoy!

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Red Velvet Cupcakes

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Oh how I love these little rosy-red cupcakes of love. When I first heard about Red Velvet Cupcakes and Cakes, I was completely sold by the concept. Firstly, red is my favourite colour and who could resist any cake which has a velvet texture?? The first RVC I ever had, was one from my very own homemade batch. It was at that very moment that I decided to hunt down a shop-made version to compare and really get to grips with what it should taste and look like. After testing quite a few recipes and sampling about a dozen of different versions, I finally found a recipe which I personally love, although I think the best part of any Red Velvet Cupcake is the delectable cream cheese frosting. Honestly, that must be the epitome of a “match made in heaven”. The cream cheese frosting brings the perfect tangy balance to the rich cupcake.

To all those fabulous ladies who ever asked me for the recipe, here you go lovelies!

Ingredients:

– 485g flour

– 1 1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda

– 1 1/4 tsp salt

– 1 1/4 tsp cocoa

– 1 1/2 cups oil

– 1 2/3 cups sugar

– 1 1/4 cups buttermilk

– 3 eggs

– 40g red food colouring

– 1 1/4 tsp vinegar

– 1 1/4 tsp vanilla essence

– 1/8 cup water

Method:

– Preheat oven to 175 degrees

– Sift flour, bicarb, salt and cocoa – set aside

– Using a cake mixer, combine oil, sugar and buttermilk. Add eggs, food colouring, vinegar, vanilla essence and water.

– Add dry ingredients to mixture, a little at a time, mixing on low and scraping down the side of the bowl to ensure that the mixture is well combined.

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– Spoon the mixture into cupcake holders within a cupcake tray and bake for 20-30 minutes.

NB: Allow the cupcakes to cool before frosting them 🙂

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Just playing around with the camera setting...

Just playing around with the camera setting…

Cinnamon Sugar Roll Cookies

It’s been ages! With Cape Argus Pick n Pay Cycle Tour and the Two Oceans Marathon just a few weeks away our office has turned into a manic station of late nights and sugar-highs. As the PR agency of record for both these major events, to say we’ve been busy is an understatement, luckily it’s the good kind of busy. I’m thoroughly enjoying every bit of it, the hype leading up to these events are phenomenal – the world of cycling and running is just another realm on its own.

Enough about me…on to the yumminess! I’ve been meaning to post this recipe for the past  month along with my Red Velvet Cupcake recipe, which I will post soon…I promise! I’m a huge fan of cinnabons and when I stumbled upon this recipe, I was sold by the concept. If you’re a fan of cinnamon-sugar pancakes and cinnabons, you’ll love these!

Without further ado…here’s the recipe:

Ingredients:

2 Cups sugar

1 Cup butter, softened

3 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

1 Cup sour cream

6 Cups flour

2 teaspoons bicarbonate of soda

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

12 tablespoons softened butter, (slice 2 Tablespoons 6 times totaling 12 tablespoons)

1 1/2 Cups light brown sugar, divided into 1/4 Cups

1 1/2 Tablespoons ground cinnamon, divided

Frosting:

8 oz softened cream cheese

1/2 Cup icing sugar

2-4 Tablespoons milk, to thin icing

Method:

1. Cream the sugar and butter using an electic mixer. Add eggs, vanilla and sour cream and mix well. Slowly add in the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt until well combined.

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2. For best results separate the dough into 2 batches, place in plastic wrap in a disc shape and chill for at least 2 hours.

3. Once chilled, cut each disc into thirds and roll into a 1/8 inch thick oval, about 12 inches X 5 inches.  Spread each rolled pieces of dough with 2 Tablespoons softened butter, 1/4 Cup brown sugar and 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon.  Start rolling from the long end closest to you, rolling into a log shape.  Using a sharp knife, cut 1/2 inch pieces of dough then placing onto a silpat or parchment lined baking sheet.  Bake at 175 degrees for 9-11 minutes. Remove and let cool for 5 minutes before removing from baking sheet.

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4.  For the frosting, beat the cream cheese until softened and smooth, slowly add icing sugar and milk until desired consistency.  Frost cookies then place in fridge until ready to serve.

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Rainbow Cupcakes

Happy 2013 to all!!! Hope each and every one of you had a lovely break and was able to spend quality time with loved ones whether it was going away on vacation or simply staying at home and enjoying good company. My wish for my family, friends and readers is a 2013 filled with memorable moments, side-splitting laughter, happiness, contentment and success. Remember…if your day or year isn’t going as great as you’d hoped or you just feeling low on “happy hormones” you have the power to change it. I completely believe that your happiness is completely up to you (and our creator of course). It’s quite simple…if you want to be happy, you will be. Learn to appreciate what you have instead of dwelling on what you don’t. Continue reading →

Baked Vanilla Cheesecake

A belated Eid Mubarak to all! It was my second Eid-ul-Fitr as Mrs Hendricks *happy dance* and what a busy yet exquisitely beautiful day it was. The only problem is, there’s simply not enough hours in the day to get to everyone I’d like to see – I’m sure most of you with large families would concur. Nonetheless, I had a lovely day with both my families (Marks and Hendricks) and glad I got to see some of my dearest friends.

On Eid, it’s tradition to get together with the rest of my siblings and have lunch at my parents place and thereafter supper with my husband Raaziq’s, family. For lunch, I took what seems like the easy route and made two desserts, a Pavlova and a baked cheesecake 🙂
When making cheesecakes, I usually opt for the classic refrigerated version and therefore decided to attempt a baked vanilla cheesecake.

With it being my first attempt, I thought it would be best to follow the recipe quite diligently and to find the best ingredients. I found it quite difficult and somwhat aggravating to get my hands on a premium cream cheese which was both halaal and not low-fat/fat-free – but after running around the manic mall (day-before-eid, last-minute shopping) I finally found my saviour – the Lancewood Superior Cream Cheese. This recipe also requires a vanilla pod – this I found at Simply Spice in Kenilworth Centre for only R6 and my oh my did this just transform the recipe. Vanilla pods are magical!

Ingredients:

Base:

Melted butter, for greasing
250g plain sweet biscuits
125g butter, melted

Filling:

3 x 250g tubs cream cheese, at room temperature
250g caster sugar
1 vanilla pod
1/2 lemon, juiced
6 eggs
3/4 cup cream

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 150°C. Brush a springform pan with the melted butter to lightly grease.

2. Place the biscuits in the bowl of a food processor and process until finely crushed. Add the butter and process until well combined.

3. Press the biscuit mixture over the base of the greased pan. Place in the fridge while making the filling.

The magical vanilla pod

4. For the filling, beat the cream cheese, castor sugar and vanilla in a medium bowl until the mixture is light and creamy. Add the lemon juice, eggs and cream. Beat until well combined and the mixture is light and fluffy.

5. Pour mixture into prepared pan. Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes or until golden and just set in the centre. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely.

6. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and place in the fridge overnight to firm. Remove from the fridge 10 minutes before serving.

NB: The great thing with this recipe as that you can go wild with the filling  (add chopped chocolate, nuts, etc.) and the decoration…

Shukran for reading and enjoy!

Sadie xxx

Chocolate Brownies

These chilly wintery days and nights have me constantly craving chocolate and I’m sure I’m not the only one.

Something that always manages to hit the spot is a piece of warm chocolate brownie topped with a thick and silky layer of chocolate sauce and two scoops of vanilla ice-cream (it’s never too cold for ice-cream! 😀 )

This recipe always produces a winning batch of brownies, because seriously…who can resist that much chocolate?! 🙂

This is dedicated to everyone who has ever asked me for this recipe and to everyone looking for a quick and easy dessert to entertain guests or something to spoil yourself after a long day or week. Enjoy and let me know how your brownies turned out!

Sadie xxx

PS: Sorry to all my colleagues for bombarding you with these brownies all week 🙂

Ingredients:

125g butter

1 cup water

1/2 cup oil

2 cups cake flour

1 1/2 sugar

4 heaped Tbsp cocoa

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla essence

1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1/2 cup buttermilk

Topping:

125g butter

4 heaped Tbsp cocoa

3/4 cup caster sugar

1 tsp vanilla essence

75ml buttermilk

Method:

Heat butter and water on stove  till melted.

Remove from heat, stir in oil and allow to cool.

Sift flour, sugar and cocoa.

Add cooled oil mixture and mix thoroughly.

Add eggs, vanilla essence, bicarbonate of soda and lastly buttermilk and mix.

Grease and line flat pyrex dish with wax paper.

Bake at 180ºC for 25-30 minutes.

Domingo licking the bowl instead of taking pics…tisk tisk 😀

Remove from oven and pour topping (method below) over cake.

Optional: Sprinkle with almonds

Topping:

Melt butter, cocoa, sugar and vanilla essence in a pot over medium heat.

Whisk with hand whisk till mixture is very thick

Still on heat, add buttermilk and stir till mixture is thick and runny.

Butter Chicken

One of my favourite dishes of all time is Butter Chicken. This is a dish I frequently crave along with a hot-from-the-pan roti….this is not the easiest thing to think about while you fasting *wipes drool*

There are so many butter chicken recipes out there, some include cashew and fresh cream whereas others include plain yoghurt or sour cream and tomato paste. Definitely on my bucket list is to learn to make authentic Pakistani butter chicken, preferably by a Pakistani 🙂

Yesterday I had my best friend, Tasneem AKA Domingo and her husband Waseem over for iftaar (meal eaten by muslims to break their fast). Domingo and I were on a mission to find Eid clothes Saturday morning and while driving we took about 2minutes to decide on the menu for our iftaar together the next day – I find it incredibly easy to decide what to make during the fast, as each day comes with its different cravings.

Yes, the obvious choice was the heavenly combination of butter chicken and roti and for dessert, Domingo requested I whip up a batch of chocolate brownies.

The blog is definitely tickling my adventurous bone, pushing me to try new recipes, so I thought because I was sticking to my old-faithful choc brownie recipe I should definitely be audacious with the butter chicken. I remember seeing Deena Naidoo’s (winner of MasterChef SA) butter chicken recipe in the MasterChef and You magazine collaboration. With baking being my passion, majority of the posts would fit under that category but due to special requests, I will be including some “foodie recipe”. With that said, please see below (and try out!) my first “foodie” recipe:

Butter Chicken – (MasterChef winner Deena Naidoo recipe)

Ingredients

20ml oil

1/2 tsp mustard seeds

1 stick cinnamon

1 medium onion chopped

300g chicken fillet (cubed)

1/2 tsp whole jeera (cumin)

1/2 tsp bori (turmeric)

1 tsp chilli powder

1 tsp coriander powder

2/3 cup liquidised tomatoes

1 1/2 tsp garlic & ginger

4tsp ground cashew (I used ground almond)

1/2 tsp salt (to taste)

1/2 cup fresh cream

Method:

Fry mustard seeds and cinnamon stick in oil until seeds start popping.
Add onions and cumin seeds, heat until onions become translucent.
Add remaining dry spices.


Add tomato, garlic & ginger and cashew (I used ground almond simply because I had no ground cashew) then simmer for 2-3 minutes.
Remove from heat and remove cinnamon stick.
Blend this mixture with a hand blender.
Add cubed chicken and simmer for 5-7 minutes.
Add salt to taste and pour cream in pot allowing to simmer over very low heat for 3-4 minutes or until cooked.

Serve with rice, roti or naan.

Enjoy and please feel free to share your butter chicken recipes in the comments section below or drop me a line via email.

PS: will be posting my flaky roti recipe tomorrow

Happy cooking!

Sadie xxx

Classic Cupcakes

Happy belated Women’s Day to all you fabulous ladies out there!

I spent my Women’s Day the stereotypical way…in the kitchen 🙂 On Wednesday I bought a few piping nozzles, eager to try them out I decided to whip up a batch of cupcakes.

I’m sure, like me, you’ve all seen and tried your fair share of cupcake recipes. In the quest to make the perfect cupcakes, I browsed the web and found some useful tips to do so:

1. The weight of the sugar must be equal to or less than the flour

2. The liquids (eggs and milk) must equal the flour

3. The butter must equal the eggs

4. Add 1 teaspoon of baking powder per cup of flour – South African baking powder is quite strong so I’d recommend using a bit less

5. It’s best if all ingredients are room temperature (butter, eggs, milk)

With that in mind, I gave the recipe below a try…

Ingredients:

3 cups flour

2 cups sugar

240g butter

3/4 cup milk

4 extra-large eggs

2 tsp baking powder

a pinch of salt

Method:

Pre-heat your oven to 180 degrees. Prepare muffin tins with cupcake liners (makes about 40 cupcakes).

In a relatively large mixing bowl, cream the butter until it’s smooth. Add the sugar gradually and beat until the mixture is fluffy.

Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each one.

Add the dry ingredients in three parts, alternating with the milk.

Spoon the batter into the cupcake liners (Using a disposable piping bag, I opted to pipe the batter – much neater and safer, spooning can get quite messy). Each one should be about 3/4 full.

Bake for 20 minutes (or until a cake tester comes out clean)

See my next post for the White Chocolate Buttercream frosting…

Creamy Oreo Pie

This weekend I invited both mine and Raaziq’s families over for iftaar. I’m kind of weird in that I get a thrill in cooking under pressure (although I do prefer to take my time in the kitchen), makes me feel like I’m on Ready, Steady, Cook! With Raaziq obviously attempting and executing the Ainsley Harriot pan-flip-hip-wiggle perfectly 🙂

On the menu was mushroom soup (my mother-in-laws bowl-lickingly divine recipe), butter bean and mutton curry with the choice of rice or flaky rooti (uh uhm…made from scratch…), prego steak and potato, roasted chunky veggies finished with a creamy sweetcorn topping and chicken fettuccini.

To treat my fabulous guests, I decided to give the Nabiscus Creamy Pie a swing…

Decadently Creamy Oreo Pie

Ingredients:

39 Oreo Cookies, divided
1/4 cup melted butter
240g Plain Cream Cheese, softened
1/3 cup sugar
2 cups whipped cream

Method:

Crush 26 of the cookies and mix with butter until well blended. Press this cookie mix firmly onto bottom and up the side of 23cm pie/tart dish. Pop this into the fridge while preparing filling.

Set aside 9 of the remaining cookies. Beat cream cheese and sugar in a medium bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Thereafter combine chopped cookies and the whipped cream; stir gently until well blended. Spoon into prepared crust.

Spooning the creamy oreo mixture onto the refridgerated base

Refrigerate at least 2 hours or until firm.

Decoration ideas: Halve remaining 4 cookies, place them upright on cut edges around center or edges of pie.

Tips: – To sweeten the cream, add 3/4 tsp vanilla essence before whipping it

– Pipe the mixture into the dish instead of spooning it to give it a neater presentation

The final product

Also when serving the pie, I would suggest adding a few strawberries or your choice of fruit to give bring another flavour to the plate or if you really have a serious sweet tooth you could even add some caramel. The great thing about the Creamy Oreo Pie is that you can play around with it in terms of additions and presentation.

Being a total strawberry addict – it was a no-brainer to opt this route. The burst of colour also added to the presentation

This recipe is definitely one to add to the recipe file as it is quite versatile – the perfect addition to any occasion from a simple dinner party to a kiddies birthday. I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this recipe and for you to give it a go.

Sadie xxx

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