On the 11th Day of Christmas, we made some simple Sugar Cookies, Courtesy of Pembe Flour.
There’s nothing easier and quicker to make than cookies. They are so versatile and suitable for all number of occasions.
This Christmas period, cookies are definitely a welcome treat and a fun activity to do with the little ones. They are quite easy to make and can be decorated quite simply to make it enjoyable for the kids.
Ingredients
187g (3/4 cup) melted butter/margarine
2 eggs
¾ cup sugar
2 & ½ cups Pembe All-Purpose flour
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
Method
In a large bowl, add the melted butter, sugar and vanilla essence. Mix with a spatula to combine.
Add the flour, a little at a time to mix up.
Add one egg at a time, to bind the cookie dough
Once it comes together, wrap the dough in cling film, and let it sit in the fridge for 15-20 minutes
Pre heat your oven at 180C
Line a baking tray with greaseproof paper, set aside.
Take the chilled dough and roll it to desired thickness.
Cut into shape and place on the prepared baking tray
On the 10th Day of Christmas, we made a mango mousse.
Well, it is mango season here at home and we all know those coastal mangoes are going to be in our fruit baskets and meals all through the year. So what better time than this festive season to start playing with them?
If you’re afraid the mangoes may be a little tart, add the Pradip mango flavour, and trust me, the tartness is definitely going to go away.
This is quite a light dessert that will definitely go with the summer season.
Ingredients
1 teaspoon Pradip Gelatin
1 tablespoon room temperature water
1 tablespoon warm water
2 Cups diced mango
½ teaspoon pradip mango flavour
½ cup whipped cream – stiff peaks
8 tablespoons water
Method
Stir the gelatin in the room temperature water,
Let it sit for 5 minutes to bloom the gelatin. Once the gelatin is bloomed, it will not move from the bowl.
Add the bloomed gelatin into the warm water, and stir to dissolve
In a blender, add the mango, pradip flavor, the dissolved gelatin and the water.
Blend until smooth.
Add the puree mix into a bowl and fold in the whipping cream.
Add extra diced mango.
Pour the mousse into serving glasses and let it sit in the fridge for at least 3 hours before serving.
On the 9th Day of Christmas, we made some Lemon cupcakes.
These things are all the range. They are super moist and so flavourful. Literally takes no time to prep and are baked in no time. You can literally whip these up in the morning and not only have a house smelling so yum but also have them right up for breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack, just any time!
Using Pembe Home Baking Flour, the cupcakes came out so light and fluffy thus making them the perfect treat especially if you’ll be having guests over for Christmas.
Ingredients
125g melted margarine/butter
1/4 cup milk
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 eggs
1 & 1/4 cup Pembe all purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon lemon zest
Method
Preheat your oven to 180C
Line a 12 hole cupcake tray with cupcake papers, set aside
In a large bowl/jug, mix all the wet ingredients together
In a second bowl, add all the dry ingredients and mix them together with a whisk
Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and add the wet ingredients
Mix together with a whisk and ensure everything is well combined
Pour the cake batter into the cupcake tray and bake for 15-18 minutes, or until the cupcakes are done.
On the 8th Day of Christmas, we made a fruit cake!
It’s almost Christmas! Yay! I love all things Christmas. From the albums that are released by artists, I love carols and as a kid, it wasn’t Christmas without us decorating the living room (this would last well on to February), and watching our church host a Christmas play. Technically, I start singing carols as early as June because Christmas is never long enough.
The beauty about Christmas is that we all get to relax, spend time with loved ones and best of all, there is no traffic, (Nairobi people understand this well). We also get to eat a lot of desserts since no one is judging, and there’s no better dessert that screams Christmas than a fruit cake.
The best thing about this recipe is that, if you didn’t have ample time to prepare the cake, you can serve it when it cools, though it genuinely tastes a lot richer the longer you let it mature.
Pradip has a wide range of products that can be used to make a good fruit cake, which include (but are not limited to):- dried and candied fruits, spices, colour caramel (molasses)
At least 6-24 hrs earlier, soak your fruits in rum. Ensure the fruits are fully covered by the rum. This will ensure the fruits are full of moisture and will not dry out the cake.
Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
Grease and dust your desired baking tin (I’ll be using a loaf pan).
In a bowl, sift together the flour, spices and baking powder.
In a second bowl, mix together margarine and sugar, until light and fluffy.
Add the colour caramel. It acts as a substitute to sugar giving the cake a sweet taste.
Add the eggs and once well incorporated, add the soaked fruits. Adding the soaked fruits at this point ensures that they don’t sink to the bottom when the cake is baking.
Next, add the flour mixture alternately with the rum, starting and ending with the flour.
When your batter is well combined, pour into the prepared cake tin and bake for 50-60 minutes, or until the cake tester comes out clean.
When the cake is ready, let it cool for 30-60 minutes before removing it from the cake pan. Let the cake cool completely.
(The next steps are optional especially if substituting rum with water)
Using a fork or a skewer, gently poke the cake and brush it with a little rum. Wrap the cake with aluminium foil and let it sit in a cool and dry place until you’re satisfied with maturity. You can opt to brush the cake with rum every week or every three weeks but it’s at this point optional.
Serve the cake as breakfast, snack or dessert. Everyone’s guaranteed to enjoy.
On the 5th Day of Christmas, we made a White Forest Cake.
Sponge cakes are literally my sister’s go-to cake and she always gasses me up to make her one or recommends everyone to try the white forest.
When I partnered with Pembe Flour for the Christmas period, I knew I wanted to share recipes that would be easy to make and would go well with family members. Something my sister would make for her guests basically. So I went with the white forest cake.
It’s pretty easy to make and always makes for a wonderful dessert that is loved by most, if not all.
Ingredients – make an 8″ cake or 1 kg cake
For the cake
7 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 cup pembe flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
For moistening
Simple Syrup
For filling and garnishing
White Chocoalte for garnishing
2 cups whipping cream
Strawberries or Cherries
Method
Preheat oven to 180C
Grease and line baking sheet with greaseproof paper
Sift the flour and baking powder together and set aside.
Separate the egg whites from the yolks. Place the egg whites in a large bowl and the yolks in a smaller bowl.
Whisk the egg whites until fluffy and stiff peaks form. Use a metal spoon to test if ready by scooping the whites and turning the spoon upside down. If the eggs don’t fall, it’s ready.
Add the yolks and whisk thoroughly
Add the sugar and whisk thoroughly
Add the flour mixture a little at a time using the folding in method to ensure a lot of air is in the cake batter.
Pour into the prepared baking pan and bake for 40 minutes or until knife test is clean
Once ready set it aside to cool for 1hr before decorating
To Decorate
When cake is cool whisk the whipping cream until stiff peaks.
Cut the cake into two or three layers and moisten each layer with the juice until the cakes are well moistened.
Pour some whipped cream onto one layer and smoothen it. Then place some chopped strawberries on top.
Then place the other layer and decorate with remaining whipped cream. Use the white chocolate to garnish and place some of the strawberries to finish up the look
On the 5th Day of Christmas, there was a Black Forest Cake. If you could check my Instagram DMs, I get asked for this recipe more times a week than expected. I have been requested and begged for it and although it was planned for to be posted eventually, I caved sooner than I had expected. Probably because the Christmas Spirit was in me!
I kid you not when I say the Pradip cocoa powder bring this Black Forest to life so quickly, considering how little cocoa powder is actually required to make it. All you need is 1/3 cup of cocoa for a kilo of cake and this makes the cake quite rich. You can, however, use 1/2 cup Pradip cocoa powder and 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, (instead of 2/3 flour) to make it even richer.
Ingredients – makes an 8″ cake or 1kg cake
For the cake
7 eggs
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup flour
1/3 cup Pradip cocoa
1 teaspoon Pradip baking powder
For moistening
Simple Syrup
For filling, deco and garnishing
Dark chocolate for garnishing
2 cups whipping cream
Strawberries or cherries
Method
Preheat oven to 180C
Grease and line baking sheet with greaseproof paper
Sift the flour cocoa and baking powder together and set aside.
Separate the egg whites from the yolks. Place the egg whites in a large bowl and the yolks in a smaller bowl.
Whisk the egg whites until fluffy and stiff peaks form. Use a metal spoon to test if ready by scooping the whites and turning the spoon upside down. If the eggs don’t fall, it’s ready.
Add the yolks and whisk thoroughly
Add the sugar and whisk thoroughly
Add the flour mixture a little at a time using the folding in method to ensure a lot of air is in the cake batter.
Pour into the prepared baking pan and bake for 40 minutes or until knife test is clean
Once ready set it aside to cool for 1hr before decorating
To Decorate
When cake is cool whisk the whipping cream until stiff peaks.
Cut the cake into two or three layers and moisten each layer with the juice until the cakes are well moistened.
Pour some whipped cream onto one layer and smoothen it. Then place some chopped strawberries on top.
Then place the other layer and decorate with remaining whipped cream. Use the dark chocolate to garnish and place some of the strawberries to finish up the look
On the 4th Day of Christmas, there was a swiss roll, a swiss roll that had been requested for all year. This was one of the most requested recipes since the beginning of the blog and even more after starting out the youtube channel.
Christmas seemed like the best time to post this up as it is not only a simple dessert to make but also something wonderful to try out.
We all know Pembe flour is a household name and during the Christmas period, we get to stock up on all-purpose flour, so why not try making a swiss roll and having our families enjoy. It’s bound to be a hit and an excellent surprise as you can customise it however you’d like to suit your families desires.
Ingredients
To make the swiss roll
5 Eggs
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup Pembe all purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
To moisten the swiss roll
Simple Syrup
For filling and garnishing
Strawberries
Whipping cream
Other necessary items
Damp towel slightly bigger than baking sheet
Method
Preheat oven to 180C
Grease and line baking sheet with greaseproof paper ensure it hangs on the sides
Sift the flour and baking powder together and set aside.
Separate the egg whites from the yolks, adding the whites to a large bowl and the yolks into a small bowl.
Whisk the egg whites until fluffy and stiff peaks form. Use a metal spoon to test if ready by scooping the whites and turning the spoon upside down. If the eggs don’t fall, it’s ready.
Add the yolks and whisk thoroughly
Add the sugar and whisk thoroughly
Add the flour mixture a little at a time using the folding in method to ensure a lot of air is in the cake batter.
Pour into the prepared baking pan and bake for 15 minutes or until knife test is clean
Once ready set it aside to cool for 5-10minutes then remove from the sheet using the greaseproof paper, peel of the greaseproof paper, place on the damp towel and roll it up using the damp towel. If you wrap the swiss roll when it’s too hot or completely cool, it may break, so it is necessary to just allow it to cool a bit.
Let it sit for 10 minutes then unwrap the towel.
Brush it with juice apply whipping cream and place your fruits and roll it up again. garnish the top with cream and fruits
On the 2nd Day of Christmas, we made some trifles.
I had been thinking about trifles for a couple of weeks, to be fairly honest. I was lucky enough to get sponsored by Skypex Supplies during the December workshop, and all I could think about since picking up the Pristine whipping cream was making some trifles for dessert.
The Pristine Whipping cream is so light and fluffy and literally tastes like ice cream, so it made for the perfect recipe for the trifles. Another plus with this cream is that it is completely dairy free thus perfect for Vegans and anyone with any dairy dislikes or allergies.
Ingredients
1 cup Pristine Whipping Cream
1 punnet strawberries, some sliced, some whole
Cake to cut into slices
Method
Whip the Pristine whipping cream to stiff peaks
Use a cookie cutter to cut the cake into desired size. You can also cut the cake into cubes as desired.
Place the cut pieces into your serving glasses.
Using a spoon or a piping bag, add the Pristine whipping cream.
Add some sliced strawberries. This will be dependent on how much you’d like to have.
It’s been a minute, I know, I’ve said this quite a couple of times. But I truly needed a break, a break from writing mainly, cause I was overwhelmed with work, thesis, Youtube and basically all aspects of life. I tried my best to keep the Youtube channel going as much as possible without quitting and it went really well. The channel has been growing really well and I couldn’t be more grateful than I already am for the growth it has experienced.
All I can say is thank you once more.
It’s dessert season and time to fill ourselves up with good things without getting guilty about our life choices this holiday season.
So, on the 1st Day of Christmas, we made some Oreo Cheesecake Cups. Teamed up with Pradip to bring you some wonderful treats during this Christmas season.
If you’re not a cheese or dairy lover, then worry not, adding the Pradip Vanilla to the mixture adds such a good flavour to the mixture and transforms them into these yum dessert with just a bit of tang lingering in your mouth.
Ingredients
250g Cream Cheese
1/3 Cup Caster Sugar
2/3 Cup Plain/ Natural Yoghurt
1 Teaspoon Pradip Vanilla Essence
Desired amount lightly crushed oreos
Desired amount finely crushed oreos
Whole oreos for garnishing
Method
Soften the cream cheese with a whisk or a hand mixer until it’s smooth.
Add the caster sugar, natural yoghurt, Pradip vanilla and mix them in until everything is well incorporated and blended together. Scrape the bowl when necessary.
Add the lightly crushed Oreos into the mixture and gently fold them in.
Serving
In your serving glasses, add the desired amount of finely crushed Oreos, then scoop the desired amount of the cheesecake batter into the mixture.
Sprinkle some finely crushed Oreos and then garnish with whole Oreos.
Chill the cheesecake cups for at least an hour before serving.
Pastry Pleasures 