P is for Pampered Chef

Pampered Chef...what is it? 

Let me be very clear, it isn't me standing in the kitchen with a face mask on whilst I cook.

It is a lovely range of kitchen ware and gadgetry that can make cooking and baking and doing what you do in the kitchen much easier. If not a lot more fun.

I first discovered the pampered chef products about 4 years ago whilst still pregnant with The Bug. My sister had become a Pampered Chef consultant and I dutifully hosted a party at our wimbledon flat, describing it to my friends as like an Anne Summers party but with stuff for the kitchen and a bit cooking to see how things work.  This was the first of 4 parties that I would end up hosting and I enjoyed every one of them.  In fact, by the last party my sister didn't even have to bring any of her demo kit as I had about a third of the catalogue in my kitchen cupboards already. 

Admittedly I didn't have to buy EVERYTHING that I had, some I got free as a bonus for the amount spent at my party and some bought with the points I earned from hosting the party or bought with the host discount.

Out of the various bits and pieces I have, I do havea few favourites and have listed them (complete with links to The Pampered Chef website) so you can pop over and have a nosey.

• My stoneware, in particular the pizza stone and medium bar pan get used pretty much every day. And for all sorts, I can cook meat on there then do some pizza or chips and then fish and there is absolutely no residual smell. They are amazing and naturally non stick so you don't have to cook with much oil, for example, the muffin pan I also turns out the most perfect and tall yorkshire puddings with only a brush of oil under the batter. I have five stoneware pieces, the three I have already mentioned along with the square baker and the large rectangular baker. In the states they also do a stone bunt tin which looks fantastic but they don't have that over here yet.
• The food chopper. I don't have time to finely dice ingredients for some recipies, and others i just want to cram as much veg in without The Two Monkeys paying much heed. The chopper is a great way of chopping up veg quickly and into really fine pieces...and its child safe too. The bug loves having a go with it.
• The knives. My dear husband got a large Santoku knife for Christmas about 3 years ago and he loves it. I don't use it as it is rather large for me but I do have the utility knife which I wield every day. It is so comfortable and comes with a life time guarantee but the quality is so good that I doubt we ever will have to use it.
• The large scoop. When it comes to baking cupcakes or muffins or individual cakes, there is nothing like the scoop to ensure that the batter makes it into the case without making a mess AND the final cakes are identically sized
• Prep pots. I have a set of 6 little glass prep pots that all come with plastic lids. They can be frozen, they can be heated (without the lids) and are just the bees knees for storing left overs for The Two Monkeys. 
• The brownie pan. Now I don't know about you, but to me when you make (and eat) brownies or banana bread the corners are the best bit. This little piece of magical bake ware means that you can  have 4 corners all to yourself with every piece you make. Also, the cooking time for your brownie is shorter as its in smaller portions...so you get to eat it faster. Win/Win situation all round really.

There are lots more products that I could rave about (the garlic crusher is just brilliant) but I thought I would stick to the ones that have proven them selves most useful and do get used everyday.

I have to admit there are a few items and gizmos that have barely been touched but mostly because I got them as a gift or because I bought them in order to use up the points...the egg slicer springs to mind, but I am thinking of reviving it for the boys to use with playdough. 

However, the biggest white elephant has to have been the trifle bowl. It was a free gift for achieving so many sales at one of the parties I had  but it sat unopened and unused for 2 years after I got it...in fact I first used it one weekend not so long ago after our move. It also happened to be the first trifle I had ever made but that is mostly because it has never been my favourite dessert. However, this particular weekend was fathers day and I had promised my dear husband that I would make him a trifle (with extra love mixed in) and not only did it look great in the stunning bowl that FINALLY got used but it tasted wonderful too.  Now since that weekend it has only been used a further two times BUT it is getting out of its box more frequently and I have no doubt it will put in a regular appearance during the Christmas season when we will have a full house of family visiting from South Africa.

I also have to add that along with such fabulous products The Pampered Chef team also produce some fantastic recipes to go with them.  One of our favourites  is the Mexican Chicken 'Lasagne' that we make in our square baker (more stoneware), it's a  total genius recipe that is always great to do when we have guests but can also be made mild enough for the little ones to eat too.

And that about wraps it up for this post.

The only thing I have left to say is that I was not paid for this post or given any products for it and I am not a sales consultant for Pampered Chef. This post is totally my own opinion of the products and I totally agree that what may work for me might not work for someone else.  If you want to find out more about The Pampered Chef you can find them on twitter and facebook or if you want to have your very own cooking show go and take a peek at this page to find your local consultant. 

N is for Nutella

Nutella.

Other chocolate spreads are available.

Mmm.

Like Homer in The Simpsons; Mmmmmm.

 

It is the forbidden jar of spreadable yumminess that, when I was a child, was never allowed by my Mother to go in the shopping trolley. And to be honest, now I have children it rarely makes it into the shopping basket as I see it more as a luxury rather than a must have and (if we are being totally honest) The Two Monkeys barely get a look in as they don't have toast for breakfast...Mummy does!

Now I thought about writing about cooking without certain items...like No Wheat or No Gluten or No Fat (not sure I agree with that concept any way) but these topics didn't really strike a chord with me. And whilst I have made the odd gluten free bake, it was always at the request of someone else and not something that I would go for myself. 

In fact for a while this letter of the alphabet had me stumped, I had to turn to my friend (and super duper blogger) Lucy over at The Pie Patch to sound off ideas. In doing so I was reminded of Nutella and to be fair that took less than 5 minutes.  I had (once upon a not so very long ago) baked some delicious cupcakes using this must delicious of ingredients, and as this blog seems to be full of the more chocolatey side of cooking it seemed like a fitting thing to write about. 

But first a confession about why I really don't buy Nutella.

It isn't because of the sugar content or that it is a luxury that I can really do without. It is because I cannot resist it, especially around about 3pm in the afternoon when there is still two hours before my dear husband comes home and I need a little sugar hit to go with my cup of tea. I grab a tea spoon out of the cutlery drawer, open the cupboard where the jar of chocolatey goodness resides, remove the lid and dig out a heaped spoonful before licking the spoon clean.

And its not just my own cupboard either. I will do this when I go to my parents house too...although I just want to say I find the fact they now have chocolate spread hugely unfair. How is it ok for grandchildren to eat but not your own? Anyway, before any of you go eeeewwww, i am never having chocolate spread when I visit your house again. I never go for a second dip with the same spoon! On the rare occasion that one spoon isn't enough, I do actually get a clean spoon and take the jar back out of the cupboard and indulge for a second time.

So there you have it, the truth is out, I am a secret Nutella spread stealer. To my parents I can only apologise, maybe you need to hide the jar when I am around.  To my sister I can say don't worry I have never done this at your house and to my sons...well you're both still too young to understand but I will try and stop so we can have a jar that actually lasts longer.

So back to the cupcakes I mentioned earlier, this was one of the many bakes that I had the where with all to photograph as I went. And looking at the date on the image (March 2012) it can only have been a session of what I like to call naptime baking.  Please excuse the photos aren't as clear as I would like but they were taken on my old HTC sensation and are not a dot on what my Samsung Galaxy now takes.

This recipe uses a very basic chocolate sponge which I haven't copied out here because that is against the rules.

As with all cupcakes I use an scoop to make sure that a) all my cupcakes are the same size which means I wont have to alter the bake time for bigger/smaller ones, and b) that no mess is made on the side of the cases which prevents an even rise.

I always aim to make the amount that the recipe says, if you still have a bit of cake batter left at the end, either use a teaspoon to top up each case or discard it. Don't be tempted to make one extra large cupcake!

 Leave to cool in your tin for about 5 minutes before removing, this will allow any batter that has gone over your case and onto the tin to slightly shrink back and not get stuck. I use a stone muffin pan by Pampered Chef (more about them when I get to P) and it really does produce great results.

 Now here comes the fun bit. Once your cupcakes are completely cooled, cut out a hole in the middle much as you would for fairy cakes, if not a bit smaller. Fill with a chocolate hazelnut spread. Then over the top of the cake and spread filling, add a  chocolate butter cream icing and whole hazelnuts (your own preference as to if they are blanched or not).

As to what to do with the cake bits you cut out...completely your call. I would suggest eating them before someone else does! Or make mini trifles in ramekins for pudding later

So there you are, a tray of  Hazelnut and Chocolate Cupcakes from The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook, my most favourite cupcake book and it also has the best banana bread recipe too.

A little bit about the Hummingbird Bakery itself; I first discovered their perfectly iced morsels whilst working in South Kensington and fell in love with their red velvets and black bottoms. I even wrote about over here way back in 2009 at my other blog.. In fact, it was the Mary Poppins of cake shops; practically perfect in every way...the only downside was that the venue in question could get quite crowded if you were eating in. When I went on maternity leave and became a stay-at-home-mum it was one of the things I really missed, and now we have moved out of London I miss it even more.