Strawberries and Cream Shortbread Slices

It's strawberry season and of course Wimbledon so I decided my next recipe would of course be strawberry related....but I have a confession to make, I'm not the biggest fan :( I know how could this be, I actually don't know many people that don't like strawberries but I've never been a big fan, I can quite happily take them or leave them, I'm not that fussed. I have recently tried a couple of recipes with strawberries and I have enjoyed them but I much prefer some

Pineapple or melon :)) but I decided that what the hell lets get into the english summer vibe and do a strawberry treat and this really is such a lovely recipe that even for a short while im a convert...of course you can substitute for raspberries and it tastes just a nice, trust me I've done both hehe :))

So here it is, this is a great snack and fab for picnics and if you really wanted to go all out why not add some custard....not like I've ever done it....ummmmm :/

Strawberries and Cream Shortbread Slice

250g butter softened

90g caster sugar (and extra for sprinkling) 

1 tsp vanilla extract

250g plain flour

140g semolina

8 tbsp strawberry jam

12 tsp mascarpone 

Pre heat the oven to 180/170c fan

Lightly butter a 20cm square tin, loose base or shallow or a foil tin which works really well with this.

In a bowl add the butter, sugar and beat until light and fluffy.

Ad the vanilla extract and mix well

Add the flour and semolina and mix in, use your hands to bring the dough together

Split the dough into two and take one half and put this into the bottom on the pan and pat down to cover the bottom.

Spread over the strawberry jam being careful not to move the shortbread dough

Spoon on the mascarpone

Roll out the other piece of dough and careful place on top of the jam and mascarpone, the dough is quite crumbly so don't worry if it breaks just join the pieces and smooth over 

Prick the top with a fork all over and pop into the oven for 30 minutes until it starts to go golden round the edges

Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely and then sprinkle with some caster sugar and cut into squares :))

Please feel free to use any other flavour jam such as raspberry which also works really well in this recipe or even some gooseberries :))

Adapted from a good food recipe 

Healthy Carrot Cake Flapjack Squares

As a kid i didn't really like cakes and the only thing in a bakery I would eat were flapjacks, they really were my favourite although it was always a treat to have one. I still like flapjacks now but gone were the days of enjoying the shop or bakery bought ones as I now prefer to make them myself and use lots of nuts and seeds and sometimes some citrus zest...ohh and now I'm feeling hungry! I don't really make them as often as I would like, purely for the fact of the high sugar and butter content so although they are packed full of oats, nuts and seeds I still always feel a tad guilty after I eat several slabs...oops, so following on from my healthy sweet recipes, I decided to try and make the good old fashioned flapjack healthy...not that easy hahaha! After much experimenting I've developed the closest I could without the use of sugar and large amounts of butter... This results in a moist flapjack and is a little more cakey but tasty never the less and ever so good for you :)) This healthy version would work well as a snack on the go, a late breakfast snack or something to eat after a workout...I'm happy with that :)!

Healthy Carrot Cake Flapjack Squares

180g (1 1/2 cups) rolled oats

100g (1/2 cup) banana

50g carrot grated

Handful of walnuts (broken into bits)

Handful of pumpkin seeds

25g butter

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 tbsp honey

1 tbsp oil

Pre heat the oven to 150/140c fan

Add the oats, cinnamon, grated carrot, walnuts and seeds to a bowl

In a jug melt the butter in the microwave and add the mashed banana, honey, vanilla extract and oil and mix well

Add the banana mixture to the dry ingredients in the bowl and mix well

Spoon into lightly oiled or buttered 8" square cake tin (loose bottomed or springform would be best) and bake in the oven at 150/140c fan for around 35 minutes 

You can of course use a smaller tin (foil tin) and they will be deeper and more cake like which I have done before 

Mini Meatball Pizza Muffin Cups

I love it when new ideas come to me, especially when the work haha and this really was a winner! I had been thinking about fun foods for kids and parties and taking something oridinary and putting a little spin on it and I came up with this...at first I wasn't sure whether it would work and crazily I attempted it for the first time on the morning of the Easter party, but thankfully it worked and they went down a storm, everyone loved them and were raving about them...so here's the recipe

Mini Meatball Pizza Muffin Cups

Pizza dough (please refer to my pizza dough recipe)

Meatballs
500g beef mince
35g pancetta or bacon (I used smoked bacon)
2 tbsp mascarpone
1 tbsp grated Parmesan
Salt and pepper

Tomato sauce
1 Onion
2 garlic cloves
1/2 tsp rosemary
1/2 tsp oregano
Plum tomatoes
1/2 tsp tomato purée
Salt and pepper to taste

Make up the pizza dough and leave to rise.

Mix all the meatball ingredients together in a food processor and then roll into small balls and place on a plate. Place in a fridge for about half an hour if you can but don't worry if you can't.
Heat a small amount of oil in a pan and fry the meatballs until browned all over and set aside

In the same pan heat some more oil and cook the onion until soft and golden.
Add the garlic, oregano and rosemary and fry for a minute more.
Add the tinned plum tomatoes and stir through and add the tomato purée and stir through with some salt and pepper.
Bring to the simmer, add the meatballs and simmer for around 20 minutes. If the sauce becomes too dry, add some water as you will need a little sauce to fill the pizza muffin cups.

Pre heat the oven to 200/180c fan

Once the dough has risen and has about doubled in size, knock back and divide into 10 balls

Oil a deep muffin tin and place the balls into each hole

Spread the dough into the cup and spread up the sides. Spoon a few of the mini meatballs and sauce into the middle and continue with all the dough balls and meatballs

Place into the pre heated oven for about 15-20 minutes

Remove from the muffin tin carefully (if the tin was oiled well they should come out quite easily) and enjoy :)))))