Water Buffeltjies (Souskluitjies in a chocolate sauce) Diabetic-friendly

This recipe was created over a fire in Moremi, Botswana in 2009. We were camping and roughing it. Being a foodie family “roughing it” is no excuse for bad food. We decided to make souskluitjies with a twist for dessert one evening and it worked out better than I expected. my mother-in-law is diabetic so the recipe was adjusted to have less sugar in it.

(Serves 4 – 6)

Ingredients:
500 ml self-raising flour
60 g butter or margarine
2 ml salt
2 extra large eggs
60 ml milk
750 ml water

Sauce
about 1l water
8 tablespoons of Nomu sugar free hot chocolate powder
30 ml butter or margarine
2 ml salt

1. Sift dry ingredients together. Rub butter into mixture, until mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
2. Whisk egg and milk cut into dry mixture, to form a stiff dough.
3. Heat water in a heavy-based saucepan and bring to the boil. Take spoonfuls of dumplings and spoon into water. Place lid on. Boil for 10 – 12 minutes, without removing lid.
4. Take dumplings out of and place in bowl. Repeat with remaining dumplings in saucepan.
5. Sauce: Mix all sauce ingredients, add to heavy-based saucepan and bring to the boil. Add the dumpling to the sauce and boil for a futher 10 min or pour the sauce over the dumplings and leave for 20min in a warm oven.
(the souskluitjies can be made ahead of time and warmed up before serving. The longer they sit in the sauce the better)
6. We made diabetic friendly souskluitjies but if you have more of a sweet tooth then you can add a couple tablespoons of sugar to the sauce.

Left overs freeze well but must be covered completely with sauce to stop them drying out.

Happy first birthday little boys – a year in photographs

Warm Milk Sponge Cake

This is a recipe that was handed down from Dear Wife’s ouma. Somewhere along the line the recipe was lost. My brother-in-law found the recipe and there was much singing and rejoicing.

Makes 1 large cake. I made a double batch for the boys’ teddy cake and still had enough batter for 24 cupcakes. The boys finished a cupcake each as did DW, Angel Nanny, myself and a friend who came to visit. I haven’t even had a chance to ice them even.
 
Ingredients:
4 extra large eggs
260g caster sugar
280g cake flour
15ml baking powder
2ml salt
250ml milk
125g butter or margarine
5ml vanilla extract / essence
 
1. Beat eggs and sugar until light and airy
2. Sieve the cake flour, baking powder and salt together. Then fold into the egg/sugar mix.
3. Heat butter and milk (BUT DON’T BOIL) then add the vanilla essence. Mix this into the flour/egg mix.
4. Fill two 20cm pans (greased)
5. Bake at 180 degrees in a preheated oven for 25 – 30 min (in a large teddy Wilton pan I found the cake needed 10 more minutes to be done). Allow cakes to cool down slightly and then remove onto a wire rack
6. Ice once cool
 

Peanut-butter fudge cake

This is my go-to cake recipe and it is alway a crowd pleaser (unless the crowd has a peanut allergy, in which case it willstill knock ’em dead).

I almost feel like I am giving away my greatest cullinary secret by posting this. I hope you all enjoy it.

 

Makes 2 x 22cm cakes

 

Ingredients:

2 cups sugar

1 3/4 cups flour

3/4 cup cocoa

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

1 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted

1 tbsp vanilla extract

1 cup hot coffee

4 heaped tbsn peanut-butter

 

Peanut-butter Chocolate Fudge Frosting

1/2 cup smooth peanutbutter

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

2.5 cups icing sugar, sifted

3/4 cup cocoa powder, sifted

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

3 tbsn milk/cream (I use a lot more)

Salted peanuts, for topping

 

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180°c. Grease 2x22cm cake tins.
2. Combine all the dry ingredients.
3. Mix together the eggs, buttermilk, melted butter and vanilla and combine with the dry ingredients.
4. Place the hot coffee and peanut-butter in a bowl and allow the peanut-butter to soften/melt slightly and incorporate into the batter. Mix thoroughly.
5. Pour the batter into the prepared cake tins and place in the oven.
6. Bake for 35-40 minutes until a skewer inserted comes out clean. (If you feel that the cake is browning too quickly, turn the heat down half way)
7. Remove the cakes from the oven and allow to cool on a wire rack.
8. To make the frosting, beat the peanut-butter and the butter until well combined and fluffy.
9. Slowly beat in the icing sugar and cocoa powder until the mixture is quite stiff (it ends up looking like breadcrumbs when i make it). Add the vanilla and the milk/cream and beat until glossy and creamy.
10. When the cakes are completely cooled, frost them using the peanut-butter frosting. Sprinkle over the salted peanuts and serve.

 I usually decorate it with chopped peanut brittle and crushed Flake chocolate.

Dear Santa…

Charlotte from The Stiletto Mom has been amazing and organised a blogger secret Santa. About 100 people are taking part. Soon we will be getting our name of who we’ll be getting a pressie for and I am so excited I could pop.

Dear Secret Santa

Here is the low down on the fabness that is me.

Once upon a time I had free time and in that free time I liked to read. Reading is one of my true pleasures in life, anything with pages and I’m happy. I prefer epic fantasy novels but I will read absolutely anything. We joined Audible.com and have bought a whole bunch of audiobooks which we listen to after the boys are asleep and we are doing housework.

I also love food. Eating it, cooking it, talking about it. I love kitchen gadgets. I have a draw full of bits and bobs. Some are well used favourites like my lemon zester and my parmisan grater, others are complete white elephants like the mini mandolin for garlic and that stupid spiral cutter that seems like a good idea in theory but never really works properly or leaves your food looking like a 70’s kitch explosion. I seldom use recipes and mostly make them up as I go along unless I’m looking for something specific in which case I turn to google. Baking is my newest favourite hobby. We have a baker’s speciality store close to our house that is enough to make me dream of cupcakes and cake pops all night. I can’t wait to start trying my hand at decorating with fondant and fancy cutters.

In the distant past I was a very artistic and crafty person. I haven’t had much time to work on projects for a while as I’m in the last stages of completing my master’s degree and working my tail off to get it done by the end of the year, add to that being a twin mommy and there is little time for fun stuff at the moment. I’m still wanting to do a scrapbook for the boys first year and am nowhere near starting even though the boys are a year old.

I love scarves, and seldom wear jewellery other than necklaces. Dear Wife got me a beautiful pearl ring and matching earrings so I might have to start dressing up more often to have an occasion to wear them.

Following how other ladies have done their wish lists here is some things I would like:
Any kitchen gadgets especially for baking
Anything handmade by my secret Santa
Dark chocolate
Surprises!
A book (but please not 50 Shades or Twilight)
A cook book
I seldom use body products of any kind but when I do I like more spicy or earthy scents like sandalwood, almond and cinnamon. I prefer body wash or scent spray, I never use hand creams.
Something to keep my twins from pulling the toilet paper off the roll. Has something like that been invented yet? I hope so because it is driving me nuts.
Wind chimes
A hat for the beach preferably black and white
Jewelry: brooches in any colour especially felt, wood, clay, perspex
I love quirky things so anything from Big Blue, The Space or Poetry is good.
Seeds for my garden, veggies and herbs. Especially if you can find heirloom seeds.
I love discovering new things so if you want to add something that is your favourite of anything please do.
I also love art and photography so if you are arty, something to hang on the wall would also be great.

Hope this helps Secret Santa.

Love,
Fab Mom