Red Velvet Ruins

Red Velvet Ruins

Well, these are called Red Velvet Ruins, because it was supposed to be Red Velvet Cupcakes, but the cupcakes got ruined by my very old muffin pans, so we turned them into Ruins… Turned out decadently sweet and moist and yummy!! My biggest hang-up with cupcakes is that the cake is normally dry and the icing too much and too sweet. Well, this is the best of both. In one.

Cupcakes

Ingredients

½ cup butter, soft

1 ½ cup sugar

2 eggs

2tbs cocoa

4tbs liquid red food colouring

1t salt

1t vanilla essence

1cup buttermilk

2 ½ cup flour

1 ½ t baking soda (bicarbonate of soda)(koeksoda)

1tbs white vinegar

Method

Preheat the oven to 175degrees C. Cream the butter and sugar together.

Add the eggs one by one. 

 Mix the cocoa and the food colouring to form a paste...

 ...and mix that in with the egg mixture. 

Whisk together the salt, vanilla essence and buttermilk until well combined. Sift the flour. 

Taking turns, add the buttermilk and flour to the egg mixture. 

Mix well. 

Until smooth and shiny...

Combined the baking soda and vinegar. Add to the dough and gently fold through, avoiding too much mixing. 

Spray cookie/muffin trays with non-stick spray. Scoop in to fill it just to the half way mark. 

Bake in the oven for 30-35 minutes, and test with your tester needle to confirm. Remove from the oven.

(Credit: Allrecipes.com)

Icing

Ingredients

500g icing sugar

125g cream cheese  (I used cottage cheese….)

125g butter

1t lemon juice

Method

Whisk the icing sugar using a hand blender. 

Add the cottage cheese and mix until thoroughly combined. 

Add the butter and mix until creamy. 

Add the lemon juice and mix until creamy and smooth and glossy.

(Credit: Nigella.com)

NOW…

Take the cupcakes and crumb them into the icing, mixing with the hand blender at first. 

When it gets too thick, use a wooden spoon and blend well.

Place in freezer to cool. Once cooled or frozen (your preference) scoop with ice cream scoop, add some sprinkles and enjoy!!

Yours in oil and veggies

Risch

Tenderised Steak, cheesy broccolli and butter-cinnamon apple

Just another simple every day meal for today. Tuesdays are meat-nights. Have to be meat: stew, steak or tjops. And decentt veggies goes well with decent meat.

Tenderised steak: I marinated it in a sauce made up of: soya sauce, balsamic vinegar, soda water, red wine and chutney. It did not come out  softer than without marinating, so I am not impressed. And I used too much balsamic vinegar. That is really strong stuff, remember: start with rather too little, and add, than too much. Fried it in a pan on the stove.

Broccolli: Cooked it until very soft. Added salt & Pepper. Added margarine to the last bit of water and cooked through. Added grated cheddar cheese and mixed and mashed. The cheese disappears, but you taste it.

Apple: Sliced the apple. Sifted icing sugar to cover the bottom of a dish. Arranged the apple on top in a layer, icing sugar, apple, icing sugar, cinnamon, added butter pieces all over and baked in oven 140degrees C until soft. Scooped some cream cheese over.

This meal is free of all your "white refined carbs", and except for the sugar over the apple, should fit nicely into a low carb diet.

Yours in oil and veggies

Risch