Mita Coco Lollies

 

 ♬ 'Magna Carta...Holy Grail' by Jay Z

Saw Jay Z last week in Stratford and he was on top form as per usual. The guy is always musically evolving and looking very healthy these days. Maybe coconut water might be a favourite drink of his!

 

 

I've gone completely COCO and now blogging about an ICE LOLLY.

 

It all started off last Thursday morning after a gruelling Bikram yoga session, as per usual I wanted to jump into a big pool of ice instead of facing the heat outside. I eyed up the coconut water in the fridge before I left the studio and knew I needed something colder to cool me down. When I got home, I found some ice lolly moulds and filled them with coconut water and fresh watermelon chunks. A few hours of freezing and BOOM I have refreshing Mita coco lollies!

 

Think about it...

Coconut water is expensive, freeze them as lollies and they will last longer. Perfect for post workouts and for children.

 

Here's a short video persuading you to make your own, sorry about the close up!

 

Next time in the lolly mix:

 

Bananas

Strawberries

Blackberries

Pineapple

 

 

 

Favourite Song:

 

'Tom Ford'

 

Enjoy.x

Christmas Samosas

♬ 'The Best Of BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge' by Various Artists

On video - 'Halo' by Florence & The Machine

Well well another GREAT video might I add, really pleased with this one, I hope you like it as much as I do.

Here is a recipe for short crust pastry:

From BBC Good Food. Everywhere else online and in my cook books were getting way too technical. This one is clear, simple and not fussy.

350g organic plain flour

225g cold unsalted butter

Jar of mincemeat

2-3tbsp water

100g caster sugar

Method:

: Preheat oven 170°c.

: Rub all the butter into the flour.

: Mix in sugar and a pinch of fine sea salt.

: Add a tablespoon of water at a time until you form a dough. At this point I tipped everything out on a table and started working into the dough.

: Chill in the fridge for 20 minutes then take out and grab small handfuls and roll out into circles, making sure you don't roll too thin.

: Cut down the middle of one circle and spoon mincemeat in one corner, pinch to seal and form a triangle. Brush with egg or milk if you want a golden look.

: Place on greaseproof paper and bake for 30 minutes, leave to cool until hard to touch. If some have opened or leaked out the sides during baking - don't stress. Try again. The first two I made opened and I rolled the pastry out too thin, I gave it a second shot and they turned out amazing.

I only made five and had loads of pastry left over, so I put that back in the fridge for more experimenting. I might be bragging on about glorified pastry in a triangle shape, but they sound and look fun! Also so much better to hold these than an actual mince pie, imagine dipping one of these in custard..yummy.

X

Beet this Pud!

♬'Halcyon' by Ellie Goulding

When soup won't do these cold afternoons justice and your at home resting your back against the oven, try putting a twist on a yorkshire pudding recipe. I once made breakfast yorkshire puddings back in April and had to revisit the classic for lunch. What fuzzy warming images! Every time I blog and look at images above text I feel like picking the dish off the screen! I've been wanting to rant, blog, type, express the love and hate relationship I've been having with food recently, hence the big silences. Putting all that aside I figured todays lunch was definitely worth a mention and a paragraph or two.

I had to give baking a break, well maybe for a few days until I get back into bikramyoga and boxing. This ripe age of 28 means I feel the wrath of keeping up with fitness and not over indulging on desserts. Oh the pain! Don't stress I have a hefty bunch of over ripe bananas that look ready to whisk, blend and bake into something Mita-tastic.

Right if you want to and I suggest you SHOULD try these, here are the magical tips and lists:

▶ Ingredients for 2/3 large puddings.

Use small casserole dish for 2 or muffin cake tin to fill 3 holes.

125g plain organic flour

75ml milk

2 large eggs

75ml cold water

salt 

pepper

Small red chilli deseeded and chopped finely.

1 garlic clove crushed and chopped.

With the rest of the ingredients, it's up to you how much you prefer..

Fresh spinach (I can finish a whole bag)

Broccoli florets (I think 2 count as your 5 a day)

Cooked beetroot (super amazing and is messy)

Small spring onion chopped. (was £1 a bowl, how could I resist?!)

Ricotta cheese (laters cheddar)

Olive oil

Method:

: Sieve the flour in a bowl.

: Add 75ml of cold water in a jug, add the milk and mix.

: Make a well in the centre of the flour and pour in whisked eggs.

: Then pour in the milk mixture, add a little at a time.

: Whisk until it has a smooth consistency, season and pour this into a large jug and leave in the fridge for 20 minutes.

      : Meanwhile in a frying pan add olive oil and fry off the garlic, chilli, spinach, broccoli and spring onions on a slow heat for 10 minutes.

      : Preheat the oven to 200°c and put the tin/dish you will be using with a teaspoon of olive oil for a few minutes. Pour an equal amount of batter in dish/ each hole, it should sizzle then add everything from the frying pan and top with slices of beetroot.

:  Bake for 25 minutes, do not open the door at all during this time. Don't worry if they haven't risen yet, they will and when they do it will be beautiful. Have faith in your cooking!

:  After 25 minutes, they should be golden brown and quite tall, take out the oven and touch the tops to see if they are crispy.

: Top with ricotta cheese and consume immediately!

Obviously if you are turning your nose up at this and not loving the creation, that's cool - but don't judge it until you have tried it!

Have a great day.x

Favourite Song:

ê 'Anything Could Happen'

Banoffee Cake Bars

♬ 'Annie Mac Presents 2012'

An album to invest in.

I have no excuse. I haven't even been on holiday or left you with a random video to let you know what's been going on in the MixitCookit world. Truth is - life in London can be a bitch. Finally I am in a new flat and this means a fresh start, so for all you budding fans out there I cannot express how sorry I am if you have been refreshing this page and nothing had changed since the start of the month. That's the thing with blogs, they represent the person typing. In this month's case - temperamental.

Meanwhile I exhausted the cupcake phase to the point of exasperation, so I am creating my own range of cake bars. Who for? I'm not sure! All that needs to be typed is something new and creative has to be piped and whisked. Cupcakes are every where and yes mine are amazing and super fun looking but I'm done with them for a while. In a strange way they seemed an easy option to blog about. The first cake bar I created is the one that is booming in your face saying "eat me now or just email Mita and she will make me!". Let me give you a quick reminder that banoffee pie is a super classic indulgent pudding which has bananas, toffee sauce or dulce de leche, cream and looks incredibly mouth watering. By brainstorming and incorporating some of the features of the pie in a cake bar I had to dig out the candy thermometer. This is my new partner in crime, bye bye cupcake tin! I'm going to try my hand at all things screaming confectionery. 

This banoffee cake bar is made with a banana cake sponge, dulce de leche (made from condensed milk) and covered in dark chocolate topped with a walnut. Monitoring and tempering both the dulce de leche and chocolate was a challenge I enjoyed. First the oven was used to create dulce de leche, that was a disaster. Finally after a few hours of dancing around the hob to Annie Mac's compilation I finally achieved the desired consistency.

Right I better get back to planning brand spanking new products for you lovely lot to set your eyes on.

Let me clear a few things up...

Dulce de leche is a sauce by slowly heating condensed milk until it is browned and caramelised. A popular sauce used in banoffee pie.

Butterscotch is made with brown sugar and butter and boiled to the soft crack stage, 270°F, 132°C.

Toffee is butterscotch that has been cooked to the hard crack stage, the maximum temperature being 310°F, 154 °C.

Caramel is basically heating sugars to a temperature around 170°C, 340°F.

Lovely jubbly.

Favourite Songs:

ê 'Higher Ground' by TNight

'The Don' by Nas

Salted Chocolate Crispies

♬ 'Mylo Xyloto' by Coldplay

So very far from paradise this morning. To block out everything on the bus I put my headphones on and did what's best on public transport - people watch, and kept the volume at a reasonable level.

I was unfortunate to witness two people snacking on a Mars bar and a packet of ready salted crisps at 10am. Exactly. There is a time and place for this sort of snack-age behaviour, munching with your mouth open on the 253 to Finsbury Park at this time is not cool. Obviously this created a small spark in the sweet brain cell and I started to note down sweet and salty combinations, a nibble which didn't require baking. As soon as I passed a shop I bought loads of crisps and a bar of dark chocolate, together they were going to make the classic version of Rice Krispie cakes crumble with fear in a dark corner. I'm not going to lie to you and say this is better than what I witnessed this morning, in spite of that occurrence these Crispies are pretty amazing and you should give them a go or spread the word, I'm a big fan of Flipz and the salty and sweet marriage.

Recipe for 12 bite size chunks:

2 bags of ready salted crisps (each 32.5g), I suggest non crinkled because you will need to smash them into smaller pieces. OR if you're feeling a bit funky mix it up with chilli crisps!

150g dark chocolate

Method:

: Melt chocolate in a bowl over boiling water, or microwave. Leave to cool for 5 minutes.

: Squeeze and scrunch crisp bags, then empty in a bowl.

: Pour over the chocolate and stir well.

: Either in cupcake cases or on greaseproof paper spoon about a dessertspoon out  and leave out to cool for about an hour. 

DO NOT BE TEMPTED TO PUT THEM IN THE FRIDGE. 

Once hard remove from paper or leave in cases to serve. 

Easy, quick and an indulgent snack (definitely not to be eaten at 10am!)

Favourite Song:

ê 'Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall'

Gold Medal Rhubarb and Custard Cupcakes

♬ 'Tongue N' Cheek' by Dizzee Rascal

Here I am again! This time my exuberant behaviour is about the cupcake below, and Dizzee contributed some extra energy! 

Rhubarb and custard is quintessentially British and I've always wanted to put my own twist on the pair, shame I couldn't find mini custard creams they would have been extra cute. I think next time a sprinkling of pink dust and home made custard creams will be in order. 

▶ CUSTARD BUTTER CREAM

Covers 12 muffin size cupcakes

Ingredients:

250g unsalted butter

400g icing sugar

4tsps Instant custard powder

1 tbsp warm water

Method:

: In a food mixer first soften the butter.

: Add the icing sugar in batches.

:Once soft add custard powder and water.

: Keep the mixer on for a further 2 minutes.

: Fill piping bag or use a small palette knife.

I think this has been the shortest post to date! The blog will be a bit quiet for a while because I am off to NEW YORK! WAAAAAAAAAA!

A trip that will induce even more crazy ideas, let me know if you try the custard buttercream. Trust me you will LOVE it.

xxx

Biscuit Themed Cupcakes

You are looking at jammie dodgers, hobnobs, chocolate digestives, cookies and mini oreos. All on their own signature sponge and my rather dodgy home made usherette tray.

Watch and don't judge the frizzy state of my hair!

                               

♬ '21' by Adele

Aren't these cupcakes just to die for! This is not a long post as the video with my chunky swept fringe explains everything. Mini versions of biscuits are available at large supermarkets and are normally used in lunch boxes, they are perfect to put on cakes, this way you can scoop butter cream without getting your mouth dirty. I would suggest to put them on last due to some of them getting a tad soft. Also in the video I showed you this:

I struggle and stress all the time packing cakes BUT this plastic fruit thing (will look into proper term soon) has been my saviour. I would recommend this in a box and the cupcakes fit and stayed securely(even muffin size) A fantastic and economical way instead of buying cake boxes just to transfer, obviously these are just pretty for transportation, still invest in cake boxes for customers.

One of my favourite images so far.

Favourite Song:

ê 'I'll be waiting'

Honeycomb Cone

♬ 'Dare' by The Human League

These are the things dreams are definitely made of, a crunchy candy cone which can be made at home in less than ten minutes. There comes a time when I do doubt if I can still pull something creative out the bag in todays food industry, and this my friends is a lesson. Never doubt yourself! So far this month has been about testing, applying generous amounts of sun cream, eating ice cream every second day and pushing boundaries in all aspects of my crazy life.

Right I bet you are wondering how to make the above? I'm smiling and in fact wish I made a video, unfortunately at the time my outfit was one of those never to be seen by anyone else apart from housemates. You know the tracksuit bottoms and stripey t shirt that only should be worn indoors or maybe a quick two minute sprint (Usian Bolt style) to the corner shop. Basically videos can only be made if I look good! Clearly this paragraph has gone off course and I will have to start a new one more linked to the matter in my hand...

Honeycomb CONE

Bees build it, humans steal honey from it and I will tell you how to make it without getting stung. Still this post is about how to manipulate the honeycomb when it is nearly setting, not so much the recipe. There are loads of recipes online that say add water, many teaspoons of bicarbonate of soda etc. Personally science was never my strongest subject at school but I do know that bicarbonate of soda is pure sodium bicarbonate and used because it creates carbon dioxide in the mixture and expands when at a high temperature, whereas baking powder contains cream of tartar and acts as a drying agent, best to use in biscuits than honeycomb. There you go science lesson over!

Honeycomb to make 4 cones the same size as above.

▶ Ingredients:

80g soft butter

160g brown soft sugar

2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

2 tbsp golden syrup

Melted dark chocolate

Sprinkles

Ice cream

Flake

You will need:

Pizelle cone roller (not that important I first twirled them by hand)

Greaseproof paper

Extra butter

1 removable cake base 18cm.

Method:

: Cut out 4 circles from greaseproof paper, the same size as cake base.

: On a large baking tray line them up and brush a bit more butter on top of the circles.

: In a saucepan with a pouring tip add the butter, sugar and syrup.

: Boil on a constant high heat for 4-5 minutes until there are no sugar lumps and bubbles are golden brown.

: Take off the heat and add bicarbonate of soda and stir until mixture expands and gets frothy.

: Pour onto each each circle and spread with a  small palette knife, making sure to work quickly!

: Then leave them to set in the kirchen for 2 minutes. Be careful when touching to see if they are soft.

: Next put the cone roller on top of one circle and slowly roll into shape, pulling away the paper and pushing slowly. Squeeze the end tip so there won't be a hole for ice cream to escape.

: Once all four are done, dip in melted chocolate and other decorations and refrigerate until chocolate has cooled and honeycomb is hard. 

: Store in an airtight container for two days only, to hold cut a square piece of greaseproof paper and wrap around the bottom.

To display use a spice rack, or alternatively if you do have a test tube holder get that involved.

ENJOY!

Favourite Song:

ê 'The Sound Of The Crowd' 

Team GB Sundae

♬ 'Tongue N' Cheek' by Dizzee Rascal

A classic dessert dedicated to the fine Olympians smashing world records and everything else at the moment, I randomly made this while there was a short break on TV, you know just as a quick treat. Usian Bolt among Jessica Ennis and Michael Phelps have made it into my legend list (next to Delia Smith). Clearly there is not an excuse to watch anything else on TV, totally feels wrong watching the Hairy Bikers this month!

The space in which I inhabit in my messed up and annoying shared house is resembling a mini bakery! I don't believe I now own cans of lustre gold spray then found some chocolate Oreo's hiding behind the condensed milk. Seriously watch this space for exciting baking developments!  Anyway this was the outcome -  a sort of gold medal sundae with colours representing the union jack. Totally delicious. Really quick to prepare.

An ice cream worth raving about is Yeo Valley (and NO I am not working with their PR!) I genuinely love this company and love the Greek style yeogurt with honey ice cream. Buy it, I swear you will tut-tut at other ice creams after one glorious scoop. 

 ▶ Get Dizzee on..

You will need one gorgeous sundae dessert glass, worth investing in and they look too cute.

First grab a few raspberries and blueberries, press down in glass then add one scoop of ice cream on top and one crushed Oreo. Repeat then decorate with gold Oreo (which I sprayed before) and edible glitter on the ice cream. Obviously I was side tracked and had a biscuit upside down for one of the images, this was resolved by consuming it quickly and spraying another one.

Present to someone who works hard and deserves a gold medal for just being amazing. Yes the Olympics are a celebration of passion, commitment, focus, skill and talent, and there are people who do that on a daily basis and get no recognition. Represent and show some love.

Enjoy the rest of the games, I might be inspired to rustle up another golden selection of something fabulous. Good luck to your home country, as for mine we are unstoppable and shining through and through.

Favourite Song:

ê 'Dance Wiv Me'

Simple Roast

♬ 'Radio 1's Live Lounge Vol.5' by Various Artists

This is all I can stomach today - music easy on the ear and a simple meal, steady food full of protein and minimal flavour which is not a gastronomical headache. Having a roast is clearly a Sunday ritual, as you can see I didn't go haywire by adding Yorkshire puds and gravy into the mix! It's a nice meal for two while the Olympians show us what they are made of, and as you probably know the talent that is being displayed is unbelievable. I couldn't get over Zoe Smith aged only eighteen lifting 121kg! Pure shock and amazement as I watched her with awe, the girl made it look so easy. At 18 I swear I was only lifting cans of beans. 

Moving on I invested in courgettes, yes they are in season but I really had no idea what to do with them. They are so boring and every recipe book I flicked through dismissed them like they were a bad smell. I chopped them along with carrots and potatoes, drizzled olive oil, lime juice, snuggled in some chicken thighs and hey presto, job done. Partnered with the other vegetables they worked really well and the tangy lime made them taste lovely. Of course the leafy beauty that is coriander had to be involved, which accompanies lime incredibly well. 

 ▶

Ingredients for two:

2 chicken thighs

2 medium carrots, peeled and sliced thickly.

2 large potatoes, same as above.

1 large courgette, not peeled but vertically chopped.

Olive oil

2 limes

Bunch of coriander, coarsely chopped.

Method:

: Preheat oven to 150°c.

: Parboil the potatoes and carrots, for about 15 minutes.

: Drain and tip in a medium roasting dish with courgette.

: Place thighs in the middle, drizzle olive oil and squeeze one fresh lime over the whole lot.

: Pop in the oven and increase temperature to 200°c. Bake until chicken is done, which should be after 30 minutes.

Add extra lime, and sprinkle coriander.

Great, now time for ice cream!

Favourite Songs:

ê 'Little Lion Man' by Taio Cruz

'Telephone' by Roll Deep

'Better Than Love' by Hurts

'Underdog' by Kelly Rowland