Ode aan die Sandveld - Rooibos White Chocolate Fudge

You'll need

2 cups of sugar

1 1/2 cups of cream

1 Tbs Rooibos Espresso (you could use less if prefer)

2 Tbs syrup (we used Maple Syrup)

1 Tbs butter

80g white chocolate

A candy thermometer

Place all the ingredients in a large saucepan, bring to boil, stirring often to let the ingredients combine.  Leave to boil on medium heat, stirring occasionally for about 40 min - 60 min, or until the temperature reaches 118 degrees Celsius on the thermometer.  (In the meantime prepare a 20cm x 20cm tin or baking dish with spray and cook as well as wax paper.)

This is the fudge stage, remove form heat stir continuously 

until luke warm then beat well until a pale colour is achieved, pour the fudge mixture into the prepared tin, place in fridge to cool and set.  Cut into squares.

Serve with a cuppa RED Cappacino!

It has a very creamy texture, pure indulgence for any

tea lover...

As a gift

Re-use a old coffee container, crochet a thin ribbon with chain stitches, wrap it around the lid, finish it off with a printed tag...

x

Tag: blackPEPPERcollective the Delft beetle

Straight from the oven

My oh so eager little helper!

Recipe

1 1/4 cup flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 cup muscovado sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup raisins

3 tbs oil

1 cup oats

1/3 cup milk

1 jumbo egg

4 medium carrots, finely grated

1 ripe banana, mashed

Combine all the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl, add the raisins, banana and carrots.  Mix well.  Add the oil, egg and milk.  Mix till just combined.

Scoop 1/4 cup fulls in a prepared 12 hole muffin pan.

Baked at 190 degrees Celsius for 25 min or until a toothpick comes out clean from the middle of each muffin.

Serve warm with a knob of butter and drizzled honey.

A cuppa Rooibos serves as a great companion!

Homemade!

Recipe

Serves 2

500g potatoes

salt

125g flour + extra

olive oil

400g minced beef

2 carrots, grated

1 garlic glove, finely chopped

1 onion, grated

1/4 green pepper, finely chopped

tomato & onion relish

brown sugar

coriander, cinnamon, blackPEPPER

For the Gnocchi

Boil the unpeeled potatoes in salted water for 20 min, drain, peel and blend coarsely.  Leave to cool slightly.

Sprinkle flour on a work surface, knead the lukewarm potato with the flour, we had to add a little extra flour, until it no longer sticks to your hands.

Divide into portions, roll into long tubes, cut into rectangles approximately 2cm long, press with a fork.

Meanwhile;  In a frying pan, fry the carrots, garlic, onion and green pepper in olive oil for a few minutes, add the mince and spices, cook on medium heat.  Stir occasionally.  Add the relish and brown sugar to taste, simmer until done.

Bring salted water to boil, add a few drops of oil.  Cook the gnocchi in the boiling water until they rise to the surface, scoop out and keep aside.

Serve the mince on top of the gnocchi, finish with garlic chives.

Yummy!  

Blueberry Pancakes

Ideal weekend breakfast!

Homemade Berry Smoothie

Recipe

Serves 2

Freeze two handfuls of strawberries overnight,

In a blender, add the strawberries, a handful of fresh blueberries.  Four tablespoons plain yogurt.  Three tablespoons Vanilla ice cream and milk to find the desired consistency.

Blend well!

Serve in a 'frozen' recycled Dough Egberts coffee jar

Super summer cooler - Yummy!

Packaging ideas

We were all for homemade goodies this Christmas, and it made it so much more fun!  Here was some of our packaging ideas...

The Sourfig Preserve recipe will follow soon!

Handmade Wholesomeness

My mom, soon-to-be sister in law and I decided to give each other a recipe book for Christmas, it had to contain tried and tested recipes that we've assembled in the past or during the year!

This was our handmade version:

I've decided to make the books from scratch using a Pinterest tutorial.  It came in very handy!

The cover was a hand painted ink and bleach design. On the inside of the cover I decided to podge a interesting piece of fabric!

I've assembled fourty or so recipes, to include with a few extra pages to add your own during the year...

The bookmarks was a sheet of balsawood that I cut in rectangles, and from one cut a heart shape, and drawn a ink heart on the other...

Overall we wanted the book to have a handmade look and feel to it!

Enjoy!

Second Bithday Part I

We've been away from home for a month!

Thus, way-far-behind in posts, but we'll try to make up as the year comes to an end...

Our little girl turned two, while we've been away, so there wasn't a major 'opskop' like we held on her first year.  But we had so much fun, being at the beach, baking her Fishy cake, going to the aquarium, having friends over for dinner, and giving her presents a whole week long, with that I think we made up for all off it!

Inspired by the beautiful coastline of SA!

THE FISHY RED VELVET BIRTHDAY CAKE:

Sift together 350g cake flour, 300g sugar, 1tsp cacao and 1tsp salt.

Blend together 1cup buttermilk, 1tsp bicarbonate of soda, 2 eggs at room temperature, 375ml of oil, 1tsp vinegar, 25ml red food colouring and 1tsp vanilla essence.

Combine with Flour mixture to form a dough, cast in three prepared individual 18cm diameter round baking tins, bake for 40min at 180 degrees Celsius.

Icing:

Mix together 250g cream cheese, 250g butter at room temperature, 2cups icing sugar and 1tsp vanilla essence.

Spread in between to layers of cake and cover the top.

For our aquatic friend, we placed two circular layers on top of each other, sliced it in half leaving a strip of approximately 6cm to form a rectangle through the center of the circle.  Then we iced the two halves back together, cut four triangles from the rectangular piece and used them for the fins.  Decorations were smarties, waver biscuits with a marshmallow and shortcake tumble as the eye. 

Yummy!

SUPER Balls - Toddler Entertainment

Did you know?

Quinoa is considered a complete protein because it has 8 essential amino acids, it is also higher in unsaturated fats and lower in carbohydrates than most other grains.  It also provides a rich balanced source of vital nutrients!

NOW THAT IS SOME FOOD FOR THOUGHT!

Veldkoolbredie

Last Weekend we decided to pick a bowl full of veldkool (wild asparagus) also known as varkslaai or hotnotskool around the West Coast.  It grows wild in the veld, around late winter and early spring their flower buds are ready to be picked.  (Be sure to pick them well before the first white flowers appear, as it then becomes inedible) 

As it is similar in texture to waterblomme, we've decided to use our waterblommetjiebredie recipe.

See this post

The basic ingredients you'll need is 

veldkool - 5 to 6 per person

lamb shin or neck - portions per person

atleast two onions

quartered potatoes

1/2 lemon + zest

chicken stock

salt & blackPEPPER

My taste buds was a little screwed because of the flu, but I am pretty sure there was a hint of figs coming through...

Don't know, forward your notes! 

Dinner rush

A quick super easy yummy recipe!

Serves 4

You'll need:

1/2 packed Fusilli Pasta 

1 x can chopped mushrooms in brine

2 x cans shredded tuna in salt water

1/2 lemon + zest

2tbs Mayonnaise

2tbs Greek Yogurt

A squirt Sweet Chili sauce

Grated Parmesan Cheese

salt + blackPEPPER

Cook the pasta till al dente, pour through strainer,

keep 1/4cup of the remaining water.  Place pasta and water

back in saucepan.

Chuck the tuna and mushrooms (brine removed) in.

Add the lemon juice, zest, Mayonnaise, Yogurt and sweet chili sauce.

Mix through.

Season with salt + blackPEPPER

Top it off with a handful of grated Parmesan Cheese. 

One for the mommy's

Finger Paint

1/2 cup cornflour

3 tbs sugar

1/2 tsp salt

2 cups water

Add all the ingredients into a frying pan, stir on low heat

until mixture becomes thick.

Scoop into small containers, add food colouring to your desire,

mix, leave to cool!

Apply to fingers of all sizes,

paint away!

I am sure this is a antique?

Wish we still had prices like this!