Monday 20 July 2015

RECIPE | CHOC CHERRY MUFFINS

The last time mum and I tried to bake muffins it went pretty badly, they were tough and didn’t look the part at all! We were put off the idea of baking any more for a while after that. This BBC GoodFood recipe for ‘Choc-cherry muffins’ had really good reviews and looked really yummy so we thought we’d try again (and we really wanted to use our Mary Berry/GBBO muffin cases).
It only took about 30 minutes from start to finish and made 12. It’s a really easy recipe to follow and they were absolutely delicious!
Ingredients: 250g self-raising flour 1tsp bicarbonate of soda 140g dried sour cherries 100g bar white chocolate, cut into chunks 100g bar dark chocolate, cut into chunks 100g golden caster sugar 2 eggs, beaten 150ml pot natural yoghurt 100g butter, melted
Method:
  • Heat the oven to 200c/fan 180c/gas 6 and line a 12-hole muffin tin with paper cases.
  • Sift the flour and bicarbonate of soda into a bowl.
  • Add the cherries, chocolate and sugar.
  • Add the beaten eggs, yoghurt and butter, stir to combine. It doesn’t matter if the mixture is lumpy, it’s more important not to over-mix!
  • Fill the cases.
  • Bake for 20-25 minutes until risen and golden.
  • Transfer to a rack to cool.
We found that we had to turn the oven down to 160c (fan) and even then they only took 16 minutes to cook! Taste wise, the dark chocolate is quite over-powering so when making them again we’d use milk chocolate instead.

Give them a try and let me know what you think of the recipe?

Friday 10 July 2015

CARDA BEACH KOS

At the end of May, I jetted off to Kos, Greece for a much needed holiday of sun, swimming and plenty of food! My friend and I booked a week at Carda Beach, a highly recommended all inclusive resort just outside Kardamena town.
We’d been to the resort before, back in 2013, but as a group of 11. So it was a very different holiday. The staff were all really friendly and spoke decent English too. We got up for breakfast everyday but one, it was a buffet style and there was a great range. Lunch and dinner were buffet style too, with different things every day ranging from traditional Greek to your standard fish and chips! There were 2 a la carte restaurants within the hotel, an Italian and a Chinese. We went to the Italian when we visited in 2013 so we booked to eat at the Chinese this time and it was wonderful. The food was lovely and the restaurant itself was really nice, with very attentive staff.
We were a stones throw from the beach, but with neither of us having much interest in going for a swim in the sea we spent the whole week sunbathing, reading and enjoying plenty of afternoon naps. Our evenings were spent in the all inclusive bar which again was lush, it had plenty of comfortable seating, inside and out – we ventured into town 2 nights during the week but being the beginning of the season it was still relatively quiet.
It was exactly what we both needed, stress-free and relaxing. I’d recommend it to anyone looking for a luxury resort paired with great weather and beautiful views.