Emo's famous Carrot Cupcakes

I have always loved carrot cake. Its one of those traditional cakes great for all kinds of occasions. In an attempt to recreate a carrot cake cupcake I bought once I came up with this recipe, its an amalgamation of about ten different recipes and after a couple of attempts this is the final recipe. It always works and everyone loves it. It ends up very moist, so you can reduce the amount of oil added if you prefer.

Eman's Carrot Cupcake recipe

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups brown sugar

1 cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 eggs

2 cups self raising flour

1/2 tablespoon cinnamon

1 teaspoons bicarb soda

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1 teaspoons salt

2.5 cups peeled grated carrot (about 3 big carrots)

1 cup walnuts

Zest from 1 orange

Zest from 1 lemon

For the frosting:

125g cream cheese, at room temperature

125g unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

450g icing sugar

1 handful fine chopped walnuts

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 180C.
2. Sift together the flour, cinnamon, cloves, bicarb soda, and salt.
3. In another bowl, beat the sugar, oil, and vanilla together (use an electric mixer).
4. Add the eggs, 1 at a time.
5. With the mixer on low speed, add 1/2 of the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients.
6. Add the grated carrots, and walnuts to the remaining flour, mix well, and add to the batter.
7. Mix until just combined.
8. Line muffin pans with paper liners.
9. Scoop the batter into 12 muffin cups until each is 3/4 full.
10. Bake at 180C for 20-25 minutes. Do this until a toothpick comes out clean.
11. Cool on a rack.

Frosting:

12. Cream the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer.
13. Add the sugar and beat until smooth.
14. When the cupcakes are cool, frost them generously and serve with a little touch of walnuts on each.

Enjoy!!

Eman xoxoxox

Spanish Paella

Spain is my favourite holiday destination. One day we hope to retire there!! Its hard for me to say why I love the country so much... It may have all begun from a school project that I did on Barcelona. They were hosting the Olympics that year and it was exciting to see the country on TV. I just remember thinking, one day I will visit that place and true to my word I have been there multiple times.

I have to mention a couple of memorable trips to Spain. The first was on my honeymoon, we stayed right on La Rambla in the ‘heart’ of it all. The trip involved a visit to the islands, Menorca and Mallorca. We had the best Paella in Menorca, made with love from the woman in the hotel next door from where were were staying Sant Tomas in Menorca.

View from the cliff between Macarella and Macareletta beaches, Menorca, Spain.

The second memorable trip was for my friend Yasmine’s 30th birthday, we only had two days but we stayed right off Placa Cataluyna in a fantastic hotel. We even had one of those little balconies - I love them! We went to Moo, a michelin star restaurant and had amazing food, did a tour and saw Sagrada Familia.

My friend Yasmine while we walked around the streets of Barcelona, 2010.

So yes, I am obsessed! I own more Spanish cook books than any other cuisine and have attended two hands-on cooking classes here in Melbourne, one was at Queen Victoria Market (Walter Trupp, http://truppcookingschool.com/) and one at The Essential Ingredient (Matt McConnell, http://www.barlourinha.com.au/). Both had handy hints which Ill put in a future blog, tapas...

Spanish food is easy to cook and I love Tapa. Paella is a rice dish for those who havent eaten it before. The rice itself is not as starchy as long rice and so it is not washed, its used straight from the bag - it is known as ‘Paella rice’ or ‘Bomba’ rice. In Melbourne it is available at any major market or good cooking store like The Essential Ingredient. The also sell Spanish saffron. Another place to visit is Casa Iberica, found on Johnston St Melbourne it is a Spanish & South American supermarket. They sell the best Chorizo, Cheese and salted cod.

For my 30th birthday I received my second Paella pan (serves 6-8) from my good friends. It is the perfect size for a dinner party. The recipe which I have perfected is adapted from Movida Cocina, Frank Camorra’s most recent book (http://www.movida.com.au/). I add calamari to my recipe (using freshly caught calamari, courtesy of the fisherman).

HINTS:

1. You can adapt this recipe to be vegetarian, just seafood etc. Just remember to add more spices and great vegetables to ensure you get a rich flavour.
2. Cut all of your ingredients and have them ready. Make sure your pan is nicely seasoned before starting.

Prepare:

Every step should look vibrant and appealing.

I always heat my stock in a pot and have a ladle ready to add to my pan.

Presentation is important.

It shouldn’t stick to the bottom but be sticky like Jam texture- the rice should not be soggy.

Trust me - you’ll be surprised how easy it is.

Emo’s Party Paella Recipe...

500g chicken thighs, diced into chunks

200g cleaned calamari, cut into 3cm squares

1 chorizo sausage, sliced thinly

6 prawns, devein them keeping the head and tail in tact

6 mussels, steams in water for 5 minutes until they open

100ml extra virgin olive oil

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 onions brown onions, roughly chopped

6 garlic cloves, finely chopped

Good pinch of saffron threads

3 bay leaves

1 tablespoon of sweet paprika

1 red capsicum, seeds removed and cut into 1cm dice

1 green capsicum, seeds removed and cut into 1cm dice

3 large tomatoes, peeled, seeds removed and grated (or chopped)

1L chicken stock, heated on stove

900ml hot water from the tap

80ml fino (dry) sherry, manzanilla is what I use

8 handfuls of bomba rice, usually a handful per person

2 lemons, cut into wedges

1. Prepare all the ingredients as described in the list above.
2. Place the 60cm diameter (45cm at base) paella pan over high heat and add 75ml of the olive oil. Add the calamari and season with a good pinch of salt and pepper. Cook, stirring continuously, for 1.5 -2 minutes or until firm and caramelised. Remove from the pan, cover and set aside.
3. Add the chicken, season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring continuously for 3-4 minutes or until lightly browned. Push the chicken to one side, cook the chorizo on both sides and set to one side with the chicken, reduce the heat to medium-low, add the remaining oil, the onion, garlic, saffron and bay leaves, season with a little salt and cook, stirring continuously, for 5 minutes or until the onion is golden.
4. Add the capsicum and cook for 10 minutes until soft and a jammy consistency. Mix the chicken in with the onion and capsicum.
5. Drain any liquid off the tomato and add to the pan. Add the sherry, increase the heat to medium-high, season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, for 15-20 minutes, scraping the pan to deglaze as the sofrito cooks (sofrito = capsicum, tomato, onion mix). At this stage the liquid should have reduced and the paella should look like thick, chunky jam. Cook the prawns on both sides until golden being careful to keep the heads intact. Remove from pan and set aside.
6. Add the chicken stock and hot water (1.9 litres), stir and continue cooking until it comes to a simmer. Return the calamari to the pan and cook for 5 minutes.
7. Sprinkle in the rice and stir evenly through. Do not stir again. Add in the prawns and the cooked mussels, arranging them neatly.
8. Continue cooking for 15 minutes, then remove from the heat and cover with 2 clean tea towels.
9. Set aside for 15 minutes to steam.
10. Divide among plates and serve with the lemon wedges.

Invite me over if you try this!

Pavlova

Pavlova's are an Aussie tradition. For all my non-Australian friends you must try this.

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pavlova_(food) for more information, where they talk about the origin (apparently originating in New Zealand) and the difference between a pavlova and a meringue. The main difference is the addition of cornflour.

This is one of my father in law's favourite desserts. We started out buying the meringue base from the Supermarket and just whipping cream and adding the fruit to the top but then one day I found a recipe which I thought I would try. I tested it at home first and then it was his birthday and we presented it to the family. They absolutely loved it and since then even though my husband never liked it (based on bad experiences before) he changed his view and its one of his favourites too. It is a constant on our menu for any family gatherings especially my father in law's birthday.

The difference in making the base at home is BIG. Store bought meringues last for weeks on the shelf, which means there must be preservatives and usually a lot more sugar than necessary.

Since I made it the first time I've become really quick at putting it together and now it takes about 10 minutes preparation time. I always have spare egg whites around. I freeze them when Ive used yolks for other recipes. I freeze them in ice block trays, an egg white per hole. When they are frozen I crack them out and put them in a larger container and when its time to use them I just pull out enough for my recipe. Its a little bit harder to freeze yolks but ill explain this in a future blog.

I also love the fact that you can use light thickened cream or the good stuff if you like. And even better its covered in fresh fruit. My favourites are strawberries and passionfruit, but there are many variations. Choose whatever topping your family love.

Delicious...

Trust me you'll never buy another pavlova again...

Hint 1- You can use a different tray, some people use quiche trays, pizza tray, cake tin (one where the sides come free) or just a plain flat tray.

Hint 2- Remember to put vegetable oil (or other non fragrant oil) on the baking paper when preparing your tray to help stop the meringue sticking to the paper when you go to serve it. Also a good hint is to put oil in between the tray and baking paper so it doesn't fly up during the cooking process if you are using a fan-forced oven.

Pavlova

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cooking Time: 1 hour

Ingredients.

Base:

4 egg whites

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup castor sugar

2 teaspoons cornflour, sifted

Topping:

1 1/2 cups cream

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

fresh fruit (e.g. strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, kiwifruit, passionfruit pulp)

Method:

Preheat oven to 150C. Line a baking tray with baking paper (See Hint 2).

Beat the eggs whites, cream of tartar and vanilla extract in a clean, dry bowl until stiff peaks form. Gradually beat in sugar until thick and glossy. I add one tablespoon at a time. Beat in the sifted cornflour.

Spoon mixture onto prepared tray and use a palette knife to shape it into a circle about 3 cm high and flat on top. Bake for 1 hour, until pale cream, risen and crisp. Cool in the oven with the door ajar or on a wire rack.

Whip cream with vanilla extract and keep cold until the meringue is cool to touch.

To serve, top with whipped cream and decorate with fresh fruit.

Voila!