weezl and friends Phase 4 - recipe testing christmas treats!

domesticgoddess789

aless02 wrote: »

katkin - carrot cake is my very favorite cake on the planet. You are seriously missing out. If you want to try and indulgent non-CFR style one first, go to any local bakery. THe cream cheese frosting is THE BEST. *nomnomnom* but the CFR one is very good for everyday eating.

I definitely agree about cream cheese carrot cake frosting, Aless. I wonder how you could make it at home?

nopot2pin

pinkhayley789 wrote: »

I definitely agree about cream cheese carrot cake frosting, Aless. I wonder how you could make it at home?

I use marscarpone cheese to make mine, as I find cream cheese too runny.
What ever quantity of marscarpone you use, use double the amount of icing sugar.
I seen recipes that make it with more icing sugar, but the above ratio is fine for my taste
I normally make up a 250g tub of marscarpone, and 500g icing sugar.
Then freeze what I dont use, as it does make loads.

domesticgoddess789

shanks77 wrote: »

Ex is cooking again tonight so no dishes for me :j. We are having mince, tatties and skirlie so not a CFR recipe but been quite frugal making the mince last a few meals for a change.

Hurrah for no dirty dishes Shanks Enjoy!

Sami_Bee

nopot2pin wrote: »

I use marscarpone cheese to make mine, as I find cream cheese too runny.
What ever quantity of marscarpone you use, use double the amount of icing sugar.
I seen recipes that make it with more icing sugar, but the above ratio is fine for my taste
I normally make up a 250g tub of marscarpone, and 500g icing sugar.
Then freeze what I dont use, as it does make loads.

My hubby likes the topping with a splash of orange juice in it, I can't stand carrot cake _pale_

Its incredibly windy here tonight, I hope it calms down otherwise I forsee me running around the main road collecting the contents of our bins until the bin men arrive, we've already lost half the recycling and the public street bin has rolled down the hill :eek:

Boodle

Thanks for that, Lesley. Sounds lovely! I will save it for Xmas as I am really want to stay on straight and narrow for a bit :P

katkins78

Lesley_Gaye wrote: »

heh heh, we'll get you into our evil cake making ways Katkins

my DP loves the carrot cake, we don't use the spice tho

Can't taste the spice even nearly as strongly today, and OH said he enjoyed it today at work.
Bizarrely I always tell people I am not that into desserts and don't have much of a sweet tooth, but I have recently become addicted to baking, and then I push my goods on poor OH!

shanks77 wrote: »

Ex is cooking again tonight so no dishes for me :j. We are having mince, tatties and skirlie so not a CFR recipe but been quite frugal making the mince last a few meals for a change.

At the risk of sounding stupid; what is skirlie? Is it a regional thing? I've never heard of it!

shanks77

At the risk of sounding stupid; what is skirlie? Is it a regional thing? I've never heard of it![/QUOTE]

Not stupid at all it is a regional dish very common up here. Basically you fry off an finely chopped onion in fat of some kind traditionally lard but oil/butter/marg all works then add oatmeal and a large pinch of salt and mix together until mixture resembles wet sand. Cook for about 10 mins and serve normally with mince or roast chicken but anything with a gravy is good.

Lesley_Gaye

went to DD's yesterday and did some cooking with DGD who will be 3 next week

we did cfr christmas brownies, cfr sweetcorn fritters and some granola that I do. She loved it and couldn't wait for breakfast the next morning

DD loves peas and corn, always has, and still, as a grown up, would have peas and corn as her veg with dinner EVERY DAY given the chance

so we were talking about how sweetcorn fritters with peas and wedges was a great meal for her, and then we thought that you could swap the veg around and have pea fritters and sweetcorn as the veg.

I tested a pea fritter just now and I must say, it was delicious. I will def be including these on my meal plan in the future. Had the fritter with a little spoon of pumpkin and apple chutney - yum

VenusFlytrap_2

Hey all

Firstly big thanks to Lesley for the choc and ginger pudding recipe, will be using that when my mum visits at Xmas, she loves ginger and dessert is her favourite course, should be a definite winner! :beer:

Also thanks to Potty for the tip on how to make cream cheese frosting for carrot cake - have some soft cheese in that needs using up and haven't made CFR carrot cake yet so think I'll be giving it a try, am drooling at the thought! :drool:

Have been a bit under the weather all week so not done any cooking of note but today for lunch had the spaghetti aglio e pepperoncino from the Christmas planner. So simple to make, tweaked it slightly by using fusilli pasta and butter instead of oil and added a sprinkle of mixed herbs at the end. With plenty of S+P it was tastier than I expected, would give it 6.5 out of 10 which is pretty good for an everyday sort of meal in my book. Was a bit bland though, think chilli would be a good addition with the garlic and next time would probably serve it with a couple of slices of 'pizza toast' - bread/pitta topped with tomato puree/ketchup and grated cheese, then toasted - to give the meal as a whole a bit more flavour. Would def have it again though, would make a very nice, filling, quick and easy supper.

domesticgoddess789

Just dashing in to say that the Christmas Cranberry and Cashew Nut Roast is AMAZING! Thank you Weezl! :T

I am testing the Christmas dinner menu tomorrow and have been doing lots of the preparations today. I made the tomato and basil soup and lemon cheesecake this morning and have just made the cranberry and cashew nut roast tonight. Had some of the nut roast for tea tonight and the remainder is for the vegetarians at dinner tomorrow. It's lovely!

Will be making the roast pork and the trimmings tomorrow. Wish me luck!