Chocolate, Toffee and Pear Mug Cake and Fruit Bow Review

The Dot Com Gift Shop is one of my favourite online retailers as they have such a broad range of gifts and so many of them are themed around cooking, baking and kitchenware - I have a few gifts earmarked to purchase this Christmas!

They recently sent me a fruit bowl to review, that I think would make a great Christmas gift. It comes in two parts but it's very easy to screw on the base - you don't even need a screwdriver. It's a large bowl so would be good for people with families or who eat a lot of fruit - though it's also a good way to encourage people to get their five a day!

I love the design; the white wire work would fit in almost any kitchen décor and it looks both modern and a bit vintage at the same time, if such a thing is possible! It costs £19.95 which I think is a good price for the size and quality.

I filled my fruit bowl as soon as I received it, leaving me to wonder afterwards what to do with all the fruit! I recently came across a lovely little cookery book called Mug Cakes by Mima Sinclair - I knew you could make cakes in a microwave as I remembered a girl called Kate doing it at university as we didn't have an oven in halls - and a while back I made my own chocolate mug cake. It never occurred to me there could be a whole book of recipes dedicated to microwaving cakes in a mug or that so many flavours and ingredients would work!

I love pears and bought a few for my fruit bowl so when I saw a recipe for chocolate, ginger and pear cake in a mug I decided to try it. I changed it though as I left out the ginger and added toffee sauce instead; the original recipes uses both ground and stem ginger but I had all the other ingredients in the house and liked the idea of just throwing the cake together from what I had. I also used milk chocolate instead of plain which I think gave a more fudgy taste. So this is what I did:

You need:
1 tbsp. softened butter
20g milk chocolate, finely chopped
1/2 an egg, lightly beaten
1 tbsp. semi-skimmed milk
2 tbsp. caster sugar
2 tbsp. self-raising flour
pinch of salt
1 ripe pear, peeled
1 tbsp. toffee sauce

You need to make sure your mug is big enough - the recipe book recommends a 350ml mug. The easiest way to check is to fill a measuring jug with water, pour it into the mug and you will see if it holds 350ml!

Place the butter and chocolate in the mug and microwave for 10-20 seconds until melted.

Add the egg and milk and beat together with a fork.

Add the sugar, flour and salt and mix carefully with the fork until smooth.

Slice the base off the pear so it will sit in the mug and press down gently so it is in the middle of the cake mixture.

Microwave for between 1.5 and 2 minutes depending on the power of your microwave (2 mins for 700 watts, 1 min 50 seconds for 800 watt, 1 min 40 for 900 watt etc). Leave to cool before you eat! To serve, spoon a little toffee sauce over the top - I used a jar of ready made toffee sauce I found in Lidl or you could use the squeezy toffee sauce you can buy to go over ice cream, or Carnation caramel, or make your own.

I wasn't expecting  much from a cake made in a mug in a microwave but this was amazing. The cake was just the right consistency and the pear softened beautifully; the flavours worked well together and this is definitely something I would make again.

 

 

I'm sending this to Cook Blog Share, hosted by Lucy at Supergoldenbakes.

Chicken and Bacon Crumble

I made this to go alongside the vegetarian winter crumble I served when I had my parents and my boyfriend's mum over for dinner. The vegetarian crumble was the starting point of the menu, which I found in a recipe book, so I wanted a meat alternative to go with it. I liked the idea of a savoury crumble topping to the pie, rather than mashed potato or pastry, and found this recipe online on Recipe Adaptors, which I then adapted myself as some of my guests don't like mushrooms.

Serves 4
500g diced chicken breast
2 tbsp plain flour
salt, pepper
1 tbsp oil
1 onion, finely chipped
150g bacon, chopped
1.5 cups chicken stock
200ml sour cream or Carnation Cook With It Cooking Cream
1 tsp wholegrain mustard

for the crumble topping:
1 cup plain flour
90g butter, diced
1/2 cup grated parmesan

Preheat oven to 175C.
Toss the chicken pieces in 2 tbsp flour until evenly coated. Heat the oil in a large frying pan, and fry the chicken until cooked through. Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside.
In the same pan, fry the onion and the bacon until cooked.

In a small saucepan, bring the chicken stock to simmering point, stir in the cream and mustard and remove from the heat.

Spoon the chicken, bacon and onion into a casserole or oven-proof dish and pour the sauce over the top.

To make the topping rub the flour and butter between your fingertips in a large bowl to make a crumble. Then stir in the parmesan. Mix well, and spoon over the top of the meat.

Bake in the oven for 30 minutes until the top is golden brown.

This a lovely wintery recipe and the crumble topping is a little bit different!

 

The Funniest Restaurant A-Boards

A-boards are a mainstay of the catering industry. Cafes, restaurants and pubs all tout their food and drinks using these handy advertising aids. You might find these objects handy if you’re on the lookout for a tasty snack or beverage when you’re out and about. They often promote special offers or highlight delicious sounding dishes.

Catering businesses certainly aren’t stuck for options when they’re on the lookout for A-boards. Firms such as Display Developments offer a range of professional looking boards that are more than up to the task. Of course, exactly what cafes, restaurants and pubs choose to put on these items of display equipment is a completely different matter. Sometimes, companies go distinctly off-script when they are marketing their meals. Here are some of the funniest examples.

 
Giving the critics a taste of their own medicine

 

Thanks to social media, anyone can express their thoughts to the world when they’ve dined or drunk in an establishment. Whether they are shocked by sandwiches, delighted by doughnuts, bowled over by burgers or repulsed by ratatouille, they can leave their comments online. Usually, catering firms bend over backwards to respond to any criticism, but sometimes they take an altogether different approach.

One cafe registered its displeasure with a negative review by posting on an A-board: “Come in and try the worst meatball sandwich that one guy on Yelp ever had in his life.” Perhaps the owner felt better after venting his frustration. Whether or not he enticed many customers through his doors that day is another matter.

 

Unusual attempts at poetry

 

The phrase ‘don’t give up your day job’ springs to mind with the following unusual attempts at poetry. One restaurant publicised its culinary creations with the message: “Bacon is red, steaks can be blue, poetry is hard, eat here.” Let’s just hope their cooking was a little better than their somewhat dubious attempts at word play!

Another restaurant owner who seemed to have been in an expressive mood when writing on his A-board took a classic Eurythmics song and came up with the following statement: “Sweet dreams are made of cheese, who am I to dis a brie?” Well, quite.
 

The guilt trip

 

 

 

Taking a different tack entirely, one firm decided to guilt trip its customers into making an impromptu pit stop for food. The eatery, which was located by the side of highway in America, exclaimed on an A-board: “Eat here or we will both starve.”

 
Saying it like it is

 

Sometimes it seems restaurant and bar workers just have to say it like it is. One individual took it upon himself to write: “Something witty and thought provoking (that’s what my boss told me to write on the chalkboard).”

In a somewhat sombre tone, another stated: “Today’s special: No it’s not.” Meanwhile, a message left on a pub A-board read: “I am a bar. I have many flat surfaces for you to sit on. Once sat, you can drink see-thru tasty liquids from conical vessels.” At least we all know where we stand with that one.

 

Fighting talk

Some display boards take a decidedly confrontational tone. For example, one stated: “No matter how angry you are, no flicking over tables.” It even featured a pictorial representation of this banned activity with a big red line through it.

In a play on the common saying, another remarked: “An apple a day keeps anyone away if you throw it hard enough.” Meanwhile, one eatery seemed intent on striking fear into the heart of its younger patrons. It stated: “Well behaved children welcome. The rest will be made into pies.”

Next time you’re walking through town, keep a look out for the A-boards outside bars and restaurants. You might be surprised by what you see.

 This is a sponsored post.

Vegetarian Winter Crumble

Recently my parents came to stay for the first time since I moved house and we invited my boyfriend's mum over for dinner for the first time as well. She's vegetarian so I turned to a book called the Creative Vegetarian I picked up recently in a charity shop, in the hope that it would have some more interesting recipes. It's not illustrated so it's hard sometimes to imagine what a particular dish might be like, but this one caught my attention - it's basically a root vegetable pie, but instead of a pastry or mashed potato topping, it has crumble - like you'd have on an apple crumble, but savoury. It turned out to be really nice; the root vegetables are perfect for this time of year. It was filling and the cider sauce had a lovely flavour.

I did make one significant change from the recipe, as it called for a tin of black eyed beans which I just didn't think went with the English root vegetables, so I left it out. I also adjusted the quantities for the sauce as it didn't seem quite right. Finally, the last stage of the recipe after you have done the root veg and made the sauce - before you spoon over the topping - is to add some sliced tomatoes and I completely forgot! But I don't think the recipe needs them at all (you may disagree), so this is what I did.

To serve 4-6, you need:
90g butter or marg
120g flour
60g rolled oats
120g vegetarian cheese, grated
280ml cider
175ml vegetable stock
1 tsp sugar
2 tsp cornflour
2 parsnips
2 carrots
1 head broccoli
1/2 head cauliflower
1 stick celery

Preheat the oven to 175C. Make the topping by rubbing the butter into the flour to make breadcrumbs then mix in the oats and the cheese. Put to one side.

Peel and slice the parsnips and carrots, place in a pan of slightly salted water and bring to the boil. Add the broccoli, cauliflower and celery and parboil until slightly softened but not fully cooked.

In another pan bring the cider and stock to simmering point and add the sugar. Mix the cornflour with a little water and stir into the pan; keep stirring the liquid as it simmers until it has thickened. Remove from the heat.

Spoon the vegetables into a large casserole dish and pour over the liquid. Spoon the crumble topping evenly over the top and place in the oven for half an hour until the topping is crisp.

I served this with potato wedges but really it's a one-pot meal in itself, which you can prepare in advance and finish off in the oven later.  It's great for a winter's day!

I'm sending this to the Vegetable Palette challenge, hosted by Shaheen at Allotment2Kitchen, as the chosen colour this month is white vegetables and parsnips and cauliflowers are white.

She is also hosting the Eat Your Greens challenge which asks for recipes using green veg which this also includes.

Meal Planning Monday - Week 46

In a bit of a rush as we've just got back from holiday and there's no fresh food in the house!

Monday – choir rehearsal

Tuesday – out at a charity quiz night

Weds- salmon and veg for me, gammon and chips for him

Thurs- chicken in some sort of sauce TBA, with mashed potato

Fri- burger and chips

Sat – originally thought my boyfriend was going to be working today but he's not any more (which is good) but it means I hadn't thought of anything to do for dinner yet (which is bad). I will have to come back to this!

Sunday

Lunch- bacon sandwich as it's my boyfriend's favourite

Dinner – roast chicken and all the trimmings

Spiced Pumpkin Soup

I bought a pumpkin at Halloween mainly to display these cake pops. But I also wanted to use the pumpkin in a recipe afterwards, and thought soup would be a nice and easy recipe. I found a recipe on the internet but unfortunately wasn't that impressed; I found it very bland. My mum added paprika and said afterwards she might have added curry powder as well to spice it up a bit. So if you use this recipe I recommend experimenting with some spices, and please let me know in the comments if you found a way of giving pumpkin soup more flavour - or if you like it just as it is.

Simply cut out the flesh of your pumpkin. I tried and failed to scoop it out, so cut the pumpkin into large sections, used a potato peeler to remove the skin and chopped the flesh.

Chop and onion and fry in a little butter in a large pan then add the pumpkin. Cook for a few minutes then add enough vegetable stock to cover the pumpkin. Bring to the boil and simmer until the pumpkin is tender. Add salt, pepper, cinnamon and nutmeg, and any other spices to taste.

Shortly before serving, add a couple of tablespoon of low fat natural yogurt, or single cream, or Carnation Cook With It cooking cream, stir in and heat through.

 

I'm sending this to Tea Time Treats, hosted by Janie at the Hedgecombers, and on alternate months Karen at Lavender and Lovage, as the theme is bonfire night. I love the idea of a bowl of warming spiced pumpkin soup waiting for you when you come back from watching the fireworks.

I'm also sending this to No Croutons Required, hosted by Lisa at Lisa's Kitchen and on alternate months Jacqueline at Tinned Tomatoes. The challenge is for any vegetarian soup or salad.

Meal Planning Monday - Week 45

 

Monday – with my parents (skipping choir rehearsal) - my mum will cook dinner so it's ready when my boyfriend and I get home from work, as it's a lot later than they usually eat. So I'll go with something simple: scampi and chicken goujons and chips.

 

Tuesday – with my parents; sausage and mash

 

Weds-Sun: on holiday in Vienna 

Sunday dinner - something quick from the freezer as we won't be back until the evening

Christmas Advent Calendar

Hands up if you're already getting excited about Christmas? As a child I loved the countdown to Christmas that was marked by opening a window in my advent calendar every day. My sister and I had advent calendars with bright, jolly pictures behind the windows, and as we got a bit older we were allowed to have chocolate advent calendars, which felt like such a treat! Now of course you can buy some amazing advent calendars - he got me the 2013 version of this Ciate advent calendar last year which had a pot of mini nail varnish behind each window! And I have a feeling that he is after the Lego advent calendar this year....

But you don't have to spend a lot on advent calendars - you can pick them up in the poundshop including branded children's cartoon character ones, which should keep most kids happy for under a quid.

Sometimes though it's nice to add the personal touch and give something home made. Last year I found this cardboard Santa in Ikea's January sale for only 50p, and kept it right through until Christmas. It stands about two feet tall and has little cardboard boxes that you can slide out and open to place a treat inside. It's freestanding which means you could place it anywhere around the house.

I filled the boxes with all sorts of things. I bought a box of Cadbury's Miniature Heroes and spread them throughout the boxes, making sure he wouldn't find the same thing on consecutive days. I then hunted high and low in shops and on Ebay, to find little gifts that would fit inside the boxes. The treats ranged from a key ring to a mini magic puzzle to some tiny Lego figurines. If you were giving this to a woman, you could use the boxes for jewellery (either costume jewellery from Claire's Accessories or something more expensive), lipgloss, nail varnish, and so on.

The beauty of these boxes is that the recipient won't know what is inside - if indeed there is anything inside. So you could also give some baked treats, either homemade or shop bought, but place them inside the relevant day's box nearer the time. Just make sure you get there first so they don't open an empty box in the morning!

Last year I baked some advent cookies with cookie cutters from the Dot Com Gift Shop;  you could make smaller versions of these or bake something like these Hershey's Kisses thumbprint cookies. 
Women and children would love these homemade bath fizzers, which can also be made small enough to fit inside an advent calendar.

The Dot Com Gift Shop, one of my favourite online shops, has some brilliant advent calendars. There are traditional ones with picture windows to open, featuring Santa or their cute character Rusty the Fox, but I particularly like these advent gift bags - they are a really good size so you would have a lot more options for things to put inside, and you could hide them all around the house and make it into a treasure hunt. This house advent calendar is more in the style of the Santa one I used, and would look great on the mantlepiece above the Christmas stockings. And finally, this one is really innovative - a string of advent pegs, all numbered, which you could combine with the gift bags mentioned above, or use to peg on some IOUs or Christmas wishes.

Whatever you do, marking advent - whether it is with a calendar, or a candle, or something else, it's a great way to build the anticipation for Christmas and to make your home feel festive. I can't wait for Christmas now!

Restaurant Review: Ikea Croydon

Everyone has a horror story about it (I once arrived at midday and didn’t leave until midnight).  Couples enter hand in hand and leave barely speaking to each other. Shopping here means we live in identikit houses with the same furniture, the same pictures on the walls and the same cheesegrater in our kitchen. There are websites dedicated to how to survive a trip there and how to get out quicker (be a rebel and don’t follow the arrows on the floor). On the other hand, where else can you buy such good value furniture, with everything you’d possibly need under one roof, choosing between plain and simple or colourful and trendy, and pick up a packet of Swedish meatballs on the way out?

 

I am of course talking about Ikea. The first sentence above is true – when I bought my first house with my ex in Hampshire, we were on a budget and drove all the way to London which was our nearest Ikea at the time (there is now one in Southampton which would have been a heck of a lot easier). We hired a van if I correctly recall, arrived at midday and had lunch in the Ikea cafeteria then walked very slowly around the entire shop, writing down the codes of where we would find everything in the warehouse. When we came to pick everything up, we found that the wardrobe doors we needed were out of stock – we decided we lived too far away to come back, so would buy a different wardrove. Which meant buying a different chest of drawers and bedside table as we wanted them to match – so back on the shelves went the boxes we had already put in the trolley, and round the shop again we went. By the time we had finished, grabbing a quick snack of a hotdog at the checkout, I looked at my watch, and was amazed to discover it was midnight. We can’t be the only people who have spent 12 hours in Ikea, surely… on the plus side, we managed to furnish an entire house for less than £1,000 other than sofas and dining table and chairs, which we bought elsewhere.

 

This time around, that figure seems amazing when I look at what we have spent on the ‘must have’ TV stand and matching coffee table, the super king size bed, the reclining leather sofas… but even though we have upgraded and most of our furniture has come from more expensive shops, we have still found ourselves doing multiple trips to Ikea. There’s nothing like the Billy bookcase – I have what I’ve always wanted, an entire wall of books in one of the spare rooms, and a bookcase in the kitchen for my cookery books, with glass doors to protect the books from smells or dust. We’ve also picked up a Malm chest of drawers for the spare room and a Kallax unit – what was the iconic Expedit – to display some ornaments and bring a bit of colour in the living room.

 

My boyfriend was adamant that we would avoid the crowds and go to Ikea at the least busy time, which we decided was a couple of hours before closing on a Tuesday night. I had fond memories of Swedish meatballs from my last visit eight years ago and thought that if we were going straight from work we may as well have dinner there. As we only needed a few things and knew exactly what we wanted from researching online, the shopping trip didn’t take too long. The cafeteria or restaurant is located after the main furniture section and before the ‘marketplace’ – the area where you can pick up anything from a tin opener to a set of bed linen. I had told my boyfriend that they did Swedish meatballs, salmon, all sorts of things – having seen adverts for both those dishes previously – but we were quite dismayed when we got to the hot food counter and found the choices were literally Swedish meatballs, salmon, or macaroni cheese, with sides of mashed potatoes or chips – nothing else. We had been expecting a little more choice, and unfortunately my boyfriend is a very fussy eater and doesn’t like salmon, doesn’t really eat pasta and eyed the meatballs with a degree of suspicion, asking what they were made of (a mixture of minced beef and pork, I believe). So he made do with a slice of cake and the intention to stop at a drive-through Burger King on the way home!

 

I was too hungry to wait and didn’t really want BK so did order the meatballs, though they were a bit disappointing and tasted very mass produced with a suspiciously smooth texture (I always think mince should look like mince, even when it’s formed into meatballs). The meal was filling and good value, and did taste OK, just not great. At £4.80 for 15 meatballs – which is a pretty big portion – or £5.80 for 20, with mashed potatoes and optional lingonberry sauce on the side, you can’t really fault the value for money. I had a piece of krokant cake to follow (again quite reasonable at £1.85) – a sort of chocolate cake which I think had crushed nut brittle on the top. It was OK but nothing special.

 

While Ikea does not fill me with dread and, unlike a lot of people I know, I actually enjoy going there, next time we might just stop at Burger King on the way home.

Spooky Halloween Cake Pops

Today is Halloween so there's just time for one more quick spooky recipe. These are great fun to hand out to trick or treaters or to make at home with the children.

First I made some Frankenstein cake pops, which take just moments to make. All you need are some marshmallows, green candy melts (eg Renshaw or Wilton), black writing icing or Dr. Oetker's black gel food colour, some cake pop or lollipop sticks and something to stand your cake pops in - I used a piece of polystyrene.

Melt the candy melts in the microwave following the instructions on the packet. Push a cake pop stick into a marshmallow and dip in the melted candy melt. Stand in the polystyrene or your holder and leave to set- this will only take a few minutes. When set, use the gel colour or writing icing to draw on a jagged mouth, eyes and ears.

The idea for the ghost cake pops came from Dr Oetker, who sent me some of the ingredients needed for the recipe below. You can also use any leftover or shop bought madeira cake crumbled up and mixed with buttercream to make the cake pops.

This Halloween, Dr. Oetker has teamed up with Juliet Sear as part of the Even Better Baking Team to create an exclusive and fun Spooky Ghost Cake Pops recipe. A full video tutorial can be viewed via: http://bit.ly/1vKDMBk

 

SPOOKY GHOST CAKE POPS

Preparation time: 2 hours plus cooling and chilling
Cooking time: 40 minutes plus 10 minutes to melt 2 lots of chocolate

​Ingredients:

For the cake balls:

• 120g Dr. Oetker 72% Cocoa Extra Dark Fine Cooks Chocolate
• 150g soft unsalted butter at room temp
• 200g Light Muscovado Sugar
• 3 medium free range eggs, lightly beaten
• 2 tsp Dr. Oetker Madagascan Vanilla extract
• 125g Plain Flour

For the cake pops:

• 2 X 100g bags of Dr. Oetker White Chocolate Chips melted for sticking the balls onto the sticks & coating the cake pops
• Teaspoon of vegetable oil

To decorate the ghosts:

• 1 x  pack of Dr. Oetker White Regal Ice
• Icing sugar for rolling out
• Dr. Oetker White Designer Icing for sticking the regal ice to the cake pops
• Dr. Oetker Jet Black Gel Food Colour

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 140°C (275°F, gas mark 1). Grease and line an 18cm (7 inch) square cake tin
2. To make the fudge brownie mix melt the extra dark chocolate in a microwave on medium power for 30 seconds at a time, stirring each time until melted,  or in a heat proof bowl on a gentle heat over a bain marie. Leave to cool.
3. Beat the butter and sugar together in a stand mixer with paddle attachment or electric hand beater for approx. 2 minutes until pale and fluffy. If you haven’t got an electric mixer you can do this with a wooden spoon in a bowl .
4. TIP: if you are in a rush or the butter is quite cold, the addition of a couple of tablespoons of boiling water at this stage, beaten on slow until mixed will speed up this process.
5. Add your eggs on a slow speed about a third at a time, mixing until combined.
6. Add your cooled chocolate stirring continuously.  Add the vanilla Extract and stir. On slow speed mix in the flour until just combined. Do not over beat. Alternatively fold in by hand.
7. Pour the mix into your cake tin and bake for approx 40 mins. Check it with a sharp knife or metal skewer. You want this to be slightly under baked, so the knife should come out pasty, with a nice paste on the knife.
8. Leave to cool, then turn out into a bowl and crumble with your hands to fine fudgy crumb.
9. To make the cake balls, take a handful of fudge cake mix and squeeze together tightly - you are aiming for little balls about the size of a large walnut, approx. 30g each. If the mixture is dry, the addition of a little chocolate or vanilla butter cream will help the mixture stick
10. Once you have all of your balls ready, dip the end of your stick into the melted chocolate chips  and push the stick into each ball, about half way in. Hold the ball to stop it splitting open when the stick goes in
11. Once all the cake pops are ready, refrigerate them for 1-2 hours before dipping them, or pop into the freezer for 30 mins, so the balls are firm enough to hold when dipping in the coating
12. To coat the cake pops melt Dr. Oetker Fine Cooks White Chocolate on low power in a microwave bowl until just melted -  stirring occasionally or over a bain marie on a gentle heat
13. Plunge each cake pop into the chocolate coating until completely covered. Tap the cake pop gently on the side of the bowl to shake off the excess. Once all are covered, dip each cake pop again
14. To decorate the ghosts roll out half the white regal icing into a large rectangle using plenty of icing sugar and a large plastic rolling pin. Roll fairly thinly – 2 to 3mm thick. Squeeze a little Dr. Oetker White Designer Icing onto the tops of the cake pops or brush with some melted white chocolate, to aid sticking of the sugar paste
15. Using a cake cutter or small bowl, cut out circles of regal icing and place on each of the pops, smoothing down with your fingers to create the white sheet effect. Allow a little wavy movement by using your fingers to create smooth waves.

I stood my cake pops inside a pumpkin for a particularly spooky Halloween effect!

Happy Halloween!

Thanks to Dr. Oetker for providing me with some of the ingredients to make the ghost cake pops.

 

 

 

Alphabakes Roundup October 2014 - I

There are certain letters that I know will stump even some of our best Alphabakers, and this month it was one of those letters. With 'i' you could enter anything with a bit of icing on the top but I know many of you want something more challenging than that, and to be honest there aren't a million different things you could make beginning with i! It hasn't been all bad that the roundup is shorter this month as I am still in the middle of decorating and unpacking - the house is looking very good now (I will share before and after photos if anyone is interested!) but I haven't had as much time for blogging.

Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to make something this month and send it in their entry.

First up we have Kim at Cakes from Kim who made these Isle of Man cupcakes. Read her post to see the reason why she bought some Manx-themed cookie cutters; and why she is now being haunted by triskelions. I think the cupcakes look very professional!

 Laura at I'd Much Rather Bake Than sent these chocolate chip iced latte crumble muffins, using a carton of iced coffee she'd been given as a promotion - I love it when random ingredients inspire you to bake! I'll leave Laura to describe the muffins in her own words as her description made my mouth water: "cushiony soft and tender, obligingly moist from the homemade buttermilk and substantial enough to give you the satisfaction of a proper bite of cake each time without being stodgy or weighty. The hit of coffee floats around the whole muffin riding on the wave of creaminess initiated by the iced drink, ricocheting off each little chunk of chocolate and complemented by the crunch of crumble topping".

I made a savoury dish as I was a bit pushed for time this month so I made a dinner that doubled as my Alphabakes entry. It's called Island Chicken, though I'm not sure which island - the recipe calls for marinaded chicken coated in breadcrumbs, accompanied by a sauce made using vinegar, soy sauce, paprika, celery salt, cloves and rosemary. It sounds a bit odd but did taste very good!

Who says it's too cold for ice cream? Not Kate at the Gluten Free Alchemist, who sent us this rhubarb, blueberry and honey ice cream. She used the last of the rhubarb from her own garden and it's a 'no churn' recipe which means it is quick and easy to make. Sounds like my kind of ice cream!

Suelle at Mainly Baking was looking for a traditional recipe from a country beginning with I for her Alphabakes entry, which I think is a really good way to approach it! She came up with these klaicha, which are date-filled pastries from Iraq. She found the soft dough quite difficult to shape but not knowing what these are supposed to look like, I think they are perfectly fine!

My co-host for Alphabakes, Ros at The More Than Occasional Baker, also picked a country as her starting point and made these beautiful Italian espresso cupcakes with hazelnut centre. She used a Giotto - a nutty chocolate similar to Ferrero Rocher - in the centre of each cake as a hidden surprise, as well as one on top for decoration.

My mum Jacqueline stuck to something simple and traditional - iced sponge, which she cut into squares, to go into my dad's lunchbox at work no doubt!

Cushiony soft and tender, obligingly moist from the homemade buttermilk and substantial enough to give you the satisfaction of a proper bite of cake each time without being stodgy or weighty. The hit of coffee floats around the whole muffin riding on the wave of creaminess initiated by the iced drink, ricocheting off each little chunk of chocolate and complemented by the crunch of the crumble topping. - See more at: http://idmuchratherbakethan.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/chocolate-chip-iced-latte-crumble.html#sthash.9WVTX8Tf.dpuf

Cushiony soft and tender, obligingly moist from the homemade buttermilk and substantial enough to give you the satisfaction of a proper bite of cake each time without being stodgy or weighty. The hit of coffee floats around the whole muffin riding on the wave of creaminess initiated by the iced drink, ricocheting off each little chunk of chocolate and complemented by the crunch of the crumble topping - See more at: http://idmuchratherbakethan.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/chocolate-chip-iced-latte-crumble.html#sthash.9WVTX8Tf.dpuf

Alexandra, the Lass in the Apron, has a challenge with her family where they make a recipe from a book, and this time it was CS Lewis' Voyage of the Dawn Treader, from the Chronicles of Narnia series. I don't think there's a lot of food in that particular book which is why Alexandra decided to make strawberry ice cream, even though the fruit is out of season: it looks like it turned out really well!

More ice cream, this time from Sarah at School of Balance. She sent us this 'monkey nut' ice cream, so called because it contains banana, hazelnuts and chocolate. It's vegan so dairy free, which would also be good for lactose intolerant people. This was my first visit to her site, which is full of healthy recipes.

Finally we have these green goo iced buns for Halloween from Vaesther at Bangers and Mash. They are fluffy bread rolls filled with rhubarb jam and covered in black lemon-flavoured icing. They are perfect to make with the kids for a Halloween party!

Thanks to everyone who took part this month as we had yet another difficult letter... let's hope that Ros chooses something easier for November - though it's random so who knows? She will be announcing which letter we are baking with over at The More Than Occasional Baker on Nov 1.