Fairy Cakes

I cheated and used red velvet cake mix for half of these ^

Easy and delicious! Great for baking with kids.

Prep time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

100g self-raising flour
100g butter, softened
100g caster sugar
2 small eggs
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla essence

Butter cream:

100g butter
300g icing sugar

Method:

1) Preheat oven to 180C. Sift flour and baking powder into mixing bowl. Add softened butter (stick cubes into microwave for twenty-forty seconds - careful not to melt!), sugar, eggs and vanilla essence, and mix with wooden spoon until all gooey and smooth. Try not to eat.

2) Spoon into paper cases in tin. Fits twelve. Place in oven on middle rack for fifteen-twenty minutes or until golden brown and cooked through. Check with toothpick. Let cool before icing.

3) Make butter cream while kitchen fills with aroma of freshly baked treats. Mix butter and icing sugar until smooth and creamy. Use piping bag to load up cooled fairy cakes with sugary goodness.

Peach Cobbler

I watch way too much American television, so of course I've heard about this amazing desert called Peach Cobbler again and again, and last month I got to making it. I used this recipe from user aeposey on my favourite recipe site (do check out the site - it has such a gorgeous variety and loads of helpful tips in the comments!)

As it was the first time I made this recipe, I found shoes58's comments really helpful on how to peel peaches: soak in boiling water for one minute, plunge in cold water and peel off with fingers.

However when removing the peach from the seed it did break apart. I chucked it in the dish as was, not bothering to slice it up, which actually added to the fruity part of the desert. I also used five large peaches instead of eight.

As for the mixture, it may seem like it is not enough but if you drop it spaced out it expands to cover the entire dish. A lot of comments mentioned that the dish was quite sweet, but being British our peaches are not as sweet as American peaches, so I would recommend you stick with the recipes original sugar suggestions unless you prefer less sweet dishes.

I also kept a few cubes of butter out of the batter/topping mixture and stuck them on top of the mix when I placed the dish in the oven a second time, which worked really well - there was no overwhelming taste of butter.

And definitely use butter not margarine!

Sweet Lassi

Nancy's been making us sweet lassi, and it's been awesome! So, here you go - the most delicious and basic sweet lassi recipe ever.

Serves 4/time 5 minutes

Ingredients:

500g/1 pot natural yougurt
250ml/1 cup milk
6-10 heaped tsp sugar
1 tsp cardamon powder
1 cup ice

Method:

1. Stick it all in blender and blitz until frothy.

2. Enjoy and stay cool - these one-step recipes are brilliant, aren't they?!

Notes:

Top with a pinch of saffron if you have it.

There are also some great fruit variations of the basic lassi recipe. Here are a few easy-peasey exotic ones for you to try.

Papaya Lassi
Mango Lassi
Banana Lassi

And also a fabulous savory lassi recipe!

Heart Attack S'mores

These are literally the greatest thing ever to come of out of any kitchen. Ever. No graham cracker in sight. No cooking. Just pure, unadulterated bliss.

Simply:

Reese's peanut butter cup
Roasted marshmallow (grab a barbeque skewer)
Strawberry, sliced
Oreo top/bottom

Perfect for rainy days and movie nights, and we are in the middle of summer storm!

Easiest Smoothie Ever

Strawberries, banana, yogurt. Blitz. Done.

For those needing more direction (and if you are like me where even pouring milk goes wrong) never fear!

Ingredients:

Handful of strawberries
1 small/medium banana
200g natural yogurt

Method:

1. Add all ingredients to a blender, and blend.

2. There is no step two.

Notes:

If you don't have yogurt, you can substitute milk with a splash of orange juice. Just be careful to add the orange juice last - curdling and whatnot.

Chunky Vegetable Soup

This is a simple and healthy recipe that can be adjusted to be vegetarian and vegan. You only need one or two of the optional ingredients, and most, if not all, of the core ingredients can be found at home.

Serves 4/prep time 15 minutes/cooking time 1 hour

Ingredients:

1 white onion, thinly diced
4 cloves garlic, sliced
2 carrots, diced
2 sticks celery, sliced
1 tin tomatoes, chopped
1 pint stock (veg or chicken)
2-4 tbsp olive oil (or sunflower/vegetable)
salt and pepper

Optional (see notes at bottom of recipe for pairings):

1/2 tin butter beans
1/2 tin kidney bean
1 small sweet potato, diced
1 small potato, diced
1 cup pasta (fusilli is best)
Cured chorizo slices (ready to eat)
2-4 tbsp Worcester sauce

Method

1. Heat oil, add onions on a mid heat. Add garlic after a minute and allow to soften together. About 5 minutes.

2. Add carrots and celery, and allow to soften for about 5-8 minutes. Just be careful not to burn the onions and garlic. Add salt and pepper to your taste (about one tsp of both normally do it here).

3. Add tomatoes and stock. On a high heat, stir occasionally for about 5-10 minutes.

4. Add Worcester sauce (omit for vegetarian/vegan). If you are using potatoes or sweet potatoes add and allow soup to simmer, covered, for 45 minutes. Stir occasionally, and add more stock if needed.

5. If you are using pasta, add after 10 minutes of simmering. Kidney beans and butter beans can be added after 35 minutes (with 5-10 minutes left of simmering) as the tins are always cooked.

6. Serve on two chorizo slices (the spices add a lovely piquancy).

Notes:

Optional ingredients pairings: sweet potato and butter beans; sweet potato and pasta; kidney beans potato; butter beans and potato.

If you are adding pasta but like your soup very liquid, add an extra half tin of tomatoes and half pint of stock.

If you are going for the vegetarian/vegan recipe but like spice, add cumin seeds and chilli powder (1 tsp each) when the oil begins to heat.

Falooda

To start you off we've got a popular Indian summer drink that will keep you cool and happy all summer long. It is a tried and tested summer staple, and can be adjusted for sweetness and thickness.

Prep time 30-45 minutes/cook time 45 seconds

Ingredients:

2-4 tbsp rose syrup
Handful white sev (vermicelli)
2 tsp tukmuria seeds (basil/sabja seeds)
2 scoops vanilla ice-cream
Milk
Ice

Method:

1. Soak the tukmuria seeds in cold water for half an hour to forty-five minutes to let them swell up (they will look like they are covered in jelly).

2. Cook the white sev according to package instructions (normally about 5 minutes in boiling water should do). As soon as the sev is cooked, drain the water and add ice. Let the sev cool, and break up with a knife or fork into smaller pieces.

3. Add the rose syrup, sev and tukmuria to a glass, with a little ice if you like. Add two scoops of vanilla ice-cream and top up with milk. Stick a straw in. Enjoy.

Hello!

Hey guys! Welcome to Food & Drink Things, a blog exploring the recipes and strange concoctions going on in our kitchens. We are offering our own recipes, as well as trying out recipes we have found around the web and in cookbooks. There is no theme - it is whatever we feel like eating/drinking or trying our hand at. If you've got suggestions, questions or tips feel free to contact us!