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Raisie Bay

Raisie Bay's Kitchen

Sweet Treats for Everyone to Enjoy

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We love making sweet things here in the Sweet household, it wouldn’t be right if we didn’t. I’ve made some real sweet treats with my younger ones over the years and shared on this blog. I recently posted a round up of some biscuit posts.

Today I’d like to share some of my sweet recipes as well as a few from other blogs.

As it’s October and the month of pumpkins I’ll start with this delicious Pumpkin and Orange Cake that I made with the help of my children.

Pumpkin and orange cake on a plate

Sweet Puddings

Not all my recipes go to plan. These chocolate molten puddings which were inspired by the Great British Bake Off, tasted better than they looked. I don’t think I’ve tried to make them again….that’s a challenge!

sweet chocolate molten pudding

Cakes

I’ve made so many cakes, too many to mention! But I will. First up, enjoy my Toffee Apple and Pecan Cake, again inspired by GBBO.

toffee apple and pecan cake

I’ve made celebration cakes since my eldest children were small, so we can go back over 30 years! I also made my friends wedding cake which was a huge privilege, but so much hard work. One of the fun cakes I’ve made in recent years was this ‘drone cake’ for my brother. He loves his drones and this cake not only had a drone on it, it worked. We took it to the pub where he was having his birthday meal and he was flying the tiny drone around like the big kid he is.

Sweet Fudge

I only recently discovered slow cooker fudge which works amazingly, but I started making fudge many years before I even owned a slow cooker.

fudge
fudge we made in 2015…don’t worry, we ate it all back then!

Then today I found this recipe on how to make the best Chocolate Orange Fudge…..oh yummy! I definitely want to try this one now.

Christmas Sweet Treats

Christmas is a great time for sweet treats and I loved making these Christmas pudding biscuits with my kids.

christmas pudding biscuits

I also love these lovely stained glass biscuits that you can hang on your Christmas tree or give as little gifts to your guests.

These Pretzel Christmas Trees are another lovely Christmas treat you can make with your children.

Are you a baker or sweet treat maker? I hope you have enjoyed my recipes. If you are thinking of making a gingerbread house this year you may consider the alternative chocolate one like the one we made last year.

sweet chocolate gingerbread house

Perfect Recipes for You to Enjoy with Your child.

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My kids have always loved cooking and when they were younger we used to cook regularly and put our recipes here on the blog. Lately, they prefer to just get on with it and are not so keen to share which is a shame but I always respect their wishes. Over the years we have tried a few things to encourage them to learn more about food and cooking and one of these was a Little Cooks Subscription. They provide perfect recipes for you to enjoy with your child.

I am an affiliate for Little Cooks so if you decide to purchase from their site I may earn a little money at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting my blog.

You can read my detailed review on Little Cooks in another post here.

Little Cooks Recipes

Little Cooks are a subscription box service that offer a box of goodies each month that will teach your child about cooking and nutrition, along with some fun little extras. The box is well packaged and arrives through your letterbox addressed to your child. If any other ingredients are needed you are sent an e-mail to let you know so you can be ready to cook as soon as the parcel arrives.

In the meantime, you can check out the Little Cooks Website for some lovely recipes to try.

Dairy Free Chocolate Mousse

Photo from Little Cooks

You can make these gorgeous looking deserts by blending all the ingredients in a food processor and pop them into pots to put in the fridge.

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 large ripe avocados or 2 small ripe ones
  • 60g raw honey
  • 50ml milk (or dairy-free alternative)
  • 25g raw cacao powder (or cocoa powder)
  • 2 teaspoons of vanilla essence
  • 1 tbsp cream – optional (it will make it taste more like milk chocolate)

Tray Bake Pancakes

Do you ever get fed up of flipping pancakes? Well, why not make them in a tray in the oven? I’m definitely going to try this one. You can find the complete recipe here on the Little Cooks Website.

Little Cooks Tray bake Pancakes.

Do you have a little cook in your house. Would you like to teach your child how to cook and learn about nutrition? We really enjoyed our subscription until the Little Man got a little bit too old to want to cook with Mom. 🙁

Little Cooks also has a shop where you can buy certain ingredients, cooking utensils, recipe packs and party packs. If you want some perfect recipes, you’ll find them at Little Cooks.

Chicken Kiev Recipe and Win a Garlic Crusher

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Today I’m bringing you two wonderful things. My recipe for our favourite Chicken Kiev and the chance to win a Garlic Crusher from Oliver’s Kitchen.

The competition prize is being provided from Oliver’s Kitchen and you can enter at the end of this post. It’s the best Garlic crusher I’ve ever had, as soon as I took it from the box I knew it was built to last. It’s heavy, smart and does the job beautifully.

garlic crusher from Oliver's Kitchen.

You can win one of these too in my latest competition. It’s currently out of stock on the website but you can buy one on Amazon for £14.99.

Chicken Kiev Recipe

My favourite garlic based recipe is Chicken Kiev and I like to make it at home. It’s a lot easier than you think.

Ingredients:

  • 4 Chicken breasts with skin removed

For the garlic herb butter

  • 3-4 tbsp freshly chopped flat leaf parsley
  • 3-4 tbsp freshly chopped chives
  • 115g soft butter
  • 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
  • salt and pepper

For the Kiev coating

  • 50g/2oz plain flour
  • 4 eggs, beaten
  • 175g/6oz natural breadcrumbs
  • oil for frying

Method

First make the garlic butter filling. Add the herbs to the butter along with the garlic and a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Mix together with a fork.

Divide the butter into four and using cold hands (run them under the cold tap) roll them into bullet shapes. Wrap in cling film and place in the fridge for about 30 minutes.

Take your chicken breast and lifting the fillet part up, cut through about two thirds of the breast.

Unwrap your butter bullets and place them inside your chicken breast, pulling your fillet part down to fully seal the butter.

Put a pan of oil on to warm up.

Beat the 4 eggs up in a bowl. fill another bowl with the flour and a third bowl with the bread crumbs.

Take each breast and place in the flour bowl until coated, then place in the egg until coated and finally in the breadcrumbs. Make sure each piece is completely covered.

Gently put the chicken into the fat until golden then remove and place on a baking tray.

Pop into the oven on 170 degrees for a further 15 minutes (keep an eye on them and take them out if they start to leak.) Let them rest.

We serve our chicken kievs with pasta, when you cut open the chicken the garlic, herb butter sauce dribbles all over the pasta. You can also serve them with rice or potatoes.

What do you serve your Chicken Kievs with?

Win an Oliver’s Kitchen Garlic Crusher

Now you can own an Oliver’s Kitchen Garlic Crusher yourself by entering my competition using the widget below.

garlic crusher and garlic bulb

Oliver’s Kitchen is a family run website that promises to bring you the best kitchenware, sourced with love with fast hassle free delivery and loved by their customers with over 2000 five star ratings. Go to the site and join the club for some fantastic offers in your e-mail.

Now before the competition here’s a few

TERMS AND CONDITIONS:

  • The competition prize is a Garlic Crusher from Oliver’s Kitchen
  • The winner must be living in the UK
  • No information is collected other than for contacting the winner
  • The prize cannot be exchanged for cash
  • The competition starts on 7th July and finishes on 9th August
  • Prize winner will be selected from the widget.
  • Not all parts of the competition need to be completed, but you need to have completed the part you have been selected for if you win.
  • Winners will be contacted by e-mail
  • Oliver’s Kitchen is responsible for the prize

Here’s the widget to enter:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Have you seen my recipe for Mapo Tofu Curry?

Little Cooks – Learning to Cook

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When I started my blog I had three young children who were really keen on learning to cook, they were my Little Cooks. I even did a weekly link up called Kids in the Kitchen where we would post what recipes we’d cooked up together that week. I’d have signed up to a subscription box like Little Cooks in an instant back then. Most of my kids cook independently now, but I do still have one little cook in the house.

Learning to cook, kids in the kitchen badge
My children loved learning to cook

What is Little Cooks?

Little Cooks is a monthly box of ingredients and a recipe to bake something healthy with your little ones. If you’ve been reading me for a while, you’ll already know how much I love subscription boxes. I love the convenience and inspiration that they can provide.

So What is inside a Little Cooks Subscription box?

  • All the dry organic ingredients to cook healthy, tasty bakes
  • Easy to follow recipes with step-by-step instructions
  • Additional child-friendly recipes for family meals
  • Collectable stickers
  • Table talk cards to spark fun and laughter at the dinner table
  • Fun activities, games and extras

Everyone’s first kit will include an annual record book so that little cooks can record their fun, learning and stickers.

Every 3 months your little cook will progress to a new level, earning a badge and certificate at each stage. A very special gift awaits little cooks who complete their whole record book!

How Much Does Little Cooks Cost?

The costing depends on how many boxes you order, so you have a choice.

You can choose to pay monthly for £12.99 and cancel at any time, or you can pay £35.99 for 3 months subscription which saves you 8%. Or if you wish you can prepay £59.99 for a 6 month subscription saving 23%, or 12 Months for £99.99 a massive 36% saving, making each box only £8.33.

There is also a Little Cooks Shop where you can purchase single boxes, one off recipe kits and cooking utensils.

Click on one of the links in this post and you may even get a special offer on your first order 😉

Recipes for Learning to Cook

If you want an idea of some of the recipes that Little Cooks offer, then do check out their recipe page. It really is fantastic.

The rainbow pizza looks amazing and I would never have thought of making one with a quinoa base. I’m going to try this for myself seeing as I can’t eat regular pizza, it’s a fabulous gluten free way to enjoy it.

I also really want to make the banana bread, it’s made from gram flour (chickpea flour) so also gluten free. In fact my mouth is watering just thinking about it. And it’s so simple I can let the kids make it themselves.

Have you tried Little Cooks? Would it be something you and your children would be interested in?

Disclosure: I am an affiliate for Little Cooks and the links in this post are affiliate links. This means that if you click them and go on to purchase something, they will not cost you anything more but may earn me a little money, so thank you in advance.

My Favourite Curry Recipe – Mapo Tofu Curry

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The prompt for today’s post is Vindaloo or Korma? Well, I’m from Birmingham the home of the Balti! If we have Indian curry it’s usually home made by Graham with his madras curry powder mix. Or it’s the Chinese restaurant we get our take away’s from. If I eat out I love to go to a Japanese restaurant and have my favourite Chicken Katsu Curry, but if we are making a curry at home then my favourite has to be Mapo Tofu Curry.

Mapo Tofu Curry

What is Mapo Tofu Curry? Well, it’s a Chinese dish that is very popular in Japan. It’s made from pork mince and tofu and is very spicy, but very tasty.

If you want to try something new here is the recipe. The photo isn’t mine though (Despite having the dish for dinner many times, I’ve not actually ever taken a photo of it!)

Ingredients:

  • 500g minced pork
  • 350g firm tofu
  • 250 ml of chicken stock
  • 1 tbs Red Miso paste
  • 1 tbs Oyster Sauce
  • 1 tsp of harissa paste
  • 1 tsp dark soy sauce
  • 1 tsp sesame oil
  • 1 tsp cornflour
  • 1 inch of fresh ginger, chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
  • 3 spring onions, chopped
  • boiled rice to serve

Method:

Prepare the sauce by mixing the cornflour soy sauce, harissa paste, oyster sauce, miso paste, chicken stock in a bowl.

Prepare the tofu by slicing into 1 inch squares

put the sesame oil in the pan and gently fry the garlic and ginger for about 1 minute then add the mince, stirring until brown.

Add the sauce and mix well, bringing to the boil. 

Turn down the heat and add the tofu, stirring gently to coat without breaking it up.

Serve with boiled rice and sprinkle with the spring onion pieces.

a plate of mapo tofu, a reddish brown minced pork curry with cubes of tofu and decorated with spring onions.
Mapo Tofu

So if you ever fancy something a little different then why not give this a go. It really is easy to make and takes about 1/2 hour including preparation. I buy all the ingredients from Sainsbury’s and they are slightly different from the original recipe because we adapted it ourselves.