Pina Colada Squares

Seaneen's Sunnyside KitchenLeave a comment

Pineapple and coconut are a marriage made in heaven, and though there is no booze in these, they are still yummy.

These are amazing for a special teatime treat or for dessert with ice cream. You can make the sponge 2-3 days in advance and wrap in cling film, then just add the topping before you’re read to serve. You can even freeze the sponge if you’re super organised (just remember to make sure the sponge is fully defrosted before applying the cream cheese frosting).

I’ve added some toasted coconut as a topping and take a few minutes to toast it, this adds a whole extra element.

Toasting the coconut will make all the difference

I used margerine for the sponge, Mary Berry uses this in her sponge recipes. Since nobody probably knows more about cakes than her, so I’ll go with her advice, but feel free to use butter if you prefer.

Makes 18 squares

Ingredients

For the sponge

Large tin of pineapple junks (drained weight 340 Grams), roughly chopped

350 Grams Caster Sugar

350 Grams Margerine

275 Grams Self Raising flour

100 Grams Dessicated coconut

5 Eggs

For the frosting

25 Grams Icing sugar (if you prefer a sweeter frosting you can use more)

200 Grams Cream cheese

25 Grams Dessicated coconut (toasted)

Method

  1. If you have a stand mixer I would recommend using it, but an electric hand whisk is fine too.
  2. Pre heat your oven to 180 degrees (Celsius), and line a 9 in x 12 in baking tin with baking parchment
  3. In a bowl, add the margerine and sugar and whisk together until light and fluffy.
  4. Whisk in one egg at a time, along with a tablespoon of flour. Whisk the remaining flour when they eggs have been added along with coconut (don’t panic if it looks curdled)
  5. Fold in the roughly chopped pineapple, and transfer the mix to your prepared baking tin
  6. Bake for 40-45 minutes
  7. Allow to cool in the tin
  8. For the toasted coconut topping, you can spread the coconut on sheet pan and bake for 5-10 minutes while the sponge is baking. I prefer to do it in a pan, as its easier to check that it’s not going to burn. Once toasted set to one side and allow to cool
  9. Add the icing sugar to the cream cheese and mix well. When the sponge is completely cool spread with the cream cheese frosting and sprinkle with the toasted coconut
  10. Cut into squares

Double Chocolate Chip Pancakes

Seaneen's Sunnyside KitchenLeave a comment

Do you have a chocoholic in your life, then this is the recipe for you?

If you want to do something special serve them with creme fraiche or fresh cream and fruit for the perfect breakfast or brunch dish.

White chocolate chips add a little bit of contrast.

They also make a great dessert, served warm with ice cream and you could even spread them with Nutella if you want to make them even more indulgent.

When bubbles appear on your pancake it’s time to turn it over.

These pancakes freeze well if you want to make a batch and freeze.

Makes 12-15 pancakes

Ingredients

225 Grams Self raising flour

100 Grams Chocolate chips (I used white chocolate chips as I like the contrast)

50 Grams Cocoa powder

1 Tbsp Caster sugar

1 Tsp Baking powder

Large pinch of salt

2 Eggs

400 mil Milk

Oil and butter to fry

Method

  1. Add the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, sugar and salt to a large bowl and combine
  2. Crack the eggs into the bowl and start to whisk, gradually add the milk and whisk until the mixture is smooth and lump free
  3. Add the chocolate chips and mix well
  4. In a non stick frying pan, add a small knob of butter and a teaspoon of oil and heat over a medium to high heat
  5. Ladle in 2-3 tablespoons of the mixture in to the pan and wait until bubbles start to appear on the pancake. This will be the sign that the pancake is ready to turn, cook for a further minute or two. Repeat until you have used up all the batter (I always give it a stir as the chocolate chips will sink to the bottom and you want some chips in every pancake)
  6. Serve with some butter or syrup, or ice cream if you’re making this for dessert

3 Ingredient, Condensed Milk and Fruit Squares

Seaneen's Sunnyside KitchenLeave a comment

We’re currently getting battered by storms and I couldn’t face going out, so I had to work with what I had. 

I love this recipe as it takes minimal effort and can be made with ingredients you normally have in your cupboard.  I recommend everyone always has a tin of condensed milk in the cupboard.  It can be used for everything from making ice cream, sweets and baking.

These are perfect with a cup of tea or coffee on a miserable day (they also freeze well, just freeze before you decide if you’re going to sprinkle with icing sugar)

Ingredients

390ml Tin of condensed milk

160 Grams Self raising flour

350 Grams Dried fruit (you can use any fruit you like or a combination)

Icing sugar for dusting (optional)

Makes 15 squares

Method

  1. Preheat your oven to 180 degrees (Celsius), and line a 16cm x 24cm baking tin with baking paper
  2. Add the flour, fruit, and condensed milk to a bowl and mix well
  3. Transfer the batter to the baking tin and bake for 25-30 mins
  4. Cool in the tin for 30 minutes, and then add a dusting of icing sugar if you want to make it look pretty. Cut into squares and store in an air tight box for up to 2-3 days

Feta and Vegetable Slice

Seaneen's Sunnyside KitchenLeave a comment

Vegetarian main courses can be a bit Meh.  This yummy mix of vegetables, lentils and creamy feta cheese wrapped up in delicious flaky pastry makes great quick weeknight dinner and packed with protein.

You can change up the vegetables you use depending on what you have (it’s a good way to use up left over veggies).  You can also used canned lentils, and I always use shop bought flaky pastry (because who really ever makes it from scratch).  You can also make the filling the day before, so all you have to do is assemble and bake if you’re short on time.

I made one large pastry parcel that can sliced up, but you could also make 4 individual ones if you prefer.

Ingredients

1 Sheet of shop bought puff pastry (pre-rolled)

1 Tbsp Olive oil

2 Leeks (sliced)

2 Peppers (sliced)

150 Grams Cooked green lentils

150 Grams Mushrooms (sliced)

200 Grams Feta cheese

1 Tsp Dried Thyme

2-3 Cloves of garlic (finely chopped)

Salt and pepper

1 Beaten Egg (for brushing)

Method

  1. Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan and cook the vegetables over a medium heat for 10 minutes. Add the garlic and thyme and continue to cook until the vegetables are soft
  2. Remove from the heat and allow to cool completely, stir in the cooked lentils and feta cheese
  3. Pre-heat your oven to 180 degrees (Celsius)
  4. Place your pastry on a sheet of baking parchment. Leaving a border of 2cm, place the vegetable mix on on half of the pastry sheet. I use a slotted spoon to drain off any excess liquid from the vegetable mix
  5. Lightly brush the edges of pastry with beaten egg and fold the pastry over to cover the filling. Press the edges of the pastry together with a fork (or you can crimp it if you’re feeling fancy)
  6. Brush the pastry with some beaten egg, if you want to make things look pretty you can lightly run a knife across the pastry in a criss Cross pattern (be careful not to go too deep and pierce the pastry)
  7. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes or until golden brown

Fake Away Orange Chicken

Seaneen's Sunnyside KitchenLeave a comment

On the days when I’m not in the mood for cooking I enjoy a good Chinese take away.

This can be expensive, and not especially healthy. One of the dishes I enjoy is orange chicken. Sometimes it can be overly sweet and the chicken is deep fried, making it high in calories.

My version is a bit healthier, but still delicious. It’s perfect for a week night dinner if you want something a bit different and is pretty quick to make. I don’t like this dish too sweet (I think there is enough sweetness from the orange), but if you prefer you can add a tablespoon of honey to the sauce if you have a sweet tooth.

Ingredients

500 Grams Chicken breast (cut into bite sized pieces)

2 Oranges (finely grated zest and juice)

250 ml Chicken stock

1 Tbsp Rice wine or cider vinegar

1 Tbsp Garlic (finely chopped)

1 Tbsp Ginger (finely chopped, or 1 Tsp of ground ginger if you don’t have any fresh)

1 Tsp Salt

1 Tbsp Oil

1 – 2 Tbsps Cornflower (mixed with a small amount of water until its a smooth thick liquid)

Seseme seeds and finely sliced scallions/spring onions (optional) to garnish

Method

  1. Heat the oil in a large frying pan and add the chicken. Cook for 5-10 minutes until nearly cooked
  2. Remove the chicken from the pan and add the garlic and ginger, cooking for 1-2 minutes
  3. Add the stock, salt orange juice and zest and the chicken to the pan and simmer
  4. When the liquid has reduced by about a third, add your cornflour mix to the pan stir well.
  5. Simmer for a further 5 minutes until the sauce has thickened
  6. Garnish with toasted sesame seeds and thinly sliced spring onion and serve with rice or noodles

Chicken and Gnocchi Traybake

Seaneen's Sunnyside KitchenLeave a comment

On cold days you want eat something wholesome and delicious with very little effort, and this is perfect. Roast chicken veggies and potato dumplings mmm.

What’s even better is that everything is cooked in the same tray, so you have fewer dishes to wash.

I use shop bought gnocchi, as most of us don’t have time to make them. This helps make this a really easy dish, that just needs to be assembled and then the oven does the work.

Ingredients

8 Small or 4 large chicken thighs

1 Leek (cut into chunks)

1 Red pepper (cut into chunks)

100 Grams Spinach

1 Tsp Smoked paprika

1 Tbsp Olive oil

1 Tbsp White wine or cider vinegar (I promise you won’t taste vinegar, but it will help bring out the flavours)

500 Grams Bag of Gnocchi

Salt and pepper

Method

  1. Preheat your oven to 200 degrees (Celsius)
  2. Sprinkle the olive oil on the base of a large roasting tray
  3. Place the chicken, Leeks, peppers and gnocchi in the tray and sprinkle with smoked paprika, salt and pepper
  4. Bake for 30 minutes, and remove from the oven. Sprinkle the vinegar over vegetables and add the spinach and mix through the contents of the tray
  5. Bake for a another 15 minutes and the serve. Double check that the chicken is cooked (the juices should run clear, cook for longer if they aren’t)

Blackberry Muffins

Seaneen's Sunnyside KitchenLeave a comment

When it’s cold and wet outside its nice to have a recipe that you can rustle up something yummy out of what you have in the cupboards. These are great for brunch, lunch boxes, or just because you want something nice with a cup of tea or coffee.

I’ve used frozen blackberries and orange zest to flavour these. This can be swapped for blueberry and lemon, which is also delicious. Dried fruit works well too.

Makes 12 Muffins

Ingredients

300 Grams Self raising flour

100 Grams Sugar

100 Grams Butter

2 Eggs

150 Grams Blackberries (defrost first if using frozen)

1 Tsp Vanilla extract

1 Tsp Baking powder

Zest of one orange

Method

  1. Preheat your oven to 180 degrees (Celsius), line a muffin tin with paper cases
  2. In a mixer or with an electric whisk, cream the butter and sugar together
  3. Add the eggs and mix well before adding the flour (set aside 2 Tbsps of flour), baking powder, orange zest and vanilla and mix until combined (it might look a bit lumpy, but that’s OK)
  4. Toss your fruit in the flour you set aside (this will stop it sinking to the bottom of your muffins). Gently fold the fruit through your muffin mix
  5. Spoon the mix into your muffin cases as evenly as possible and bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown

Tayto Sandwich The official taste of a Belfast childhood. It has to be Nutty Crust bread, real butter and Tayto crisps. Perfection in simplicity.

Seaneen's Sunnyside KitchenLeave a comment
Site icon
Tayto Sandwich The official taste of a Belfast childhood. It has to be Nutty Crust bread, real butter and Tayto crisps. Perfection in simplicity.

Ottolenghi’s Cauliflower Cake

Seaneen's Sunnyside KitchenLeave a comment

I love Yotam Ottolenghi’s recipes, he does some amazing things with vegetables. He’s able to avoid the usual criticisms of vegetarian food, that it can be a bit rabbit foody and uninteresting.

While a lot of people are vegetarian for health reasons, there are times you still want something rich, unctuous and indulgent.

I’ve filed this under Pure Filth due to the amount of cheese involved. The original recipe calls for just Parmesan cheese. I didn’t have enough, so I used half strong Cheddar. This recipe would probably still work well as a way to use up cheese you have hanging about the fridge. The original recipe recommends that it should be served cold or room temperature (I’ve also eaten it hot, as I couldn’t wait on it cooling and it was yummy). I used a mix of nigella (onion seeds) and sesame seeds on the outside, but you could swap out this for just sesame seeds (I think using just nigella seeds would be too much)

Line the bottom of the cake tin and then coat the sides with nigella and sesame seeds

Ingredients

1 Cauliflower

2 red onions

1 Tbsp Olive oil

7 Eggs

1/2 Tsp Rosemary (optional)

15 Grams Basil

120 Grams Plain flour

1/2 Tsp Baking powder

1/2 Tsp Turmeric

Salt and pepper

Melted butter (for greasing)

1 Tbsp Nigella (onion) seeds

1 Tbsp Sesame Seeds

75 Grams Parmesan (grated)

75 Grams Cheddar cheese (grated)

Method

  1. Break the cauliflower into florets and simmer in hot water until soft (but not mushy), drain well and allow to cool
  2. Peel the onions, slice half the first onion into 1/2 cm thick rings and set to one side. Coarsely chop the remaining onions.
  3. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan and fry the onions over a medium heat for 10 minutes, allow to cool
  4. Preheat your oven to 180 degrees (Celsius), and line the base of a 24cm x 24cm spring form cake tin with baking parchment. Brush the sides of the tin with melted butter and sprinkle with the nigella and sesame seeds
  5. Transfer the cooked onions to a large bowl, add the eggs, herbs, and turmeric and whisk in the flour and baking powder
  6. Stir in the cheese, and then add the cauliflower and mix until the cauliflower is coated in the batter (be careful not to break up the florets, as you want to keep some texture)
  7. Add the batter to your prepared cake tin, making sure you spread it to the edges. Top with the onion circles you set aside earlier and bake for 45 minutes

Almondina

Seaneen's Sunnyside KitchenLeave a comment

After Christmas many of us want a break from big heavy sit down dinners. With cheese and grazing boards becoming popular, almondina are the perfect addition to lend some interest if you’re bored of crackers.

This is also a great recipe to use up any left over nuts or dried fruit. I actually think it’s better to have mix of fruit and nuts.

Ingredients

175 Grams Nuts (I used a mix of almonds, walnuts and pecans, but any mixture will work)

125 Grams Plain flour

25 Grams Brown sugar

125 Grams Dried fruit (I used roughly chopped apricots and dates, if you are using smaller fruit like raisins or sultanas, keep an eye in them during the second bake as they can catch quickly)

1/4 Tsp Baking soda (bicarbonate of soda)

1/2 Tsp Salt

175Ml Milk

Method

  1. Pre-heat your oven to 180 degrees (Celsius). Grease a loaf pan
  2. Add all the dry ingredients to a large bowl and combine
  3. Stir in the milk with a wooden spoon and when thoroughly mixed transfer to the loaf tin and bake for 60 minutes
  4. Remove from the oven and allow to cool
  5. Wrap in cling film and freeze for 1 hour. This will help you slice the almondina thinly. Do not freeze for longer than this
  6. Pre-heat your oven to 200 degrees (Celsius) and line a baking sheet with parchment
  7. Take the almondina out of the freezer and remove the cling film
  8. With a bread knife, slice the loaf into 1/2 cm thick slices and place on the baking sheet for 12-15 mins (until they brown around the edges), before cooling on a wire wrack
  9. These will last in an airtight container for up to a week