Lazy Baking

I am not, and never will be, a good baker.

I am not a domestic goddess who can whip up cakes and biscuits and muffins that look like they belong in a shop, I'm a good cooker of meals, but not sweet treats!

If I ever get a sudden crazy urge (and the time) to make cakes I usually reach for the old packaged pre-made stuff... you're always guaranteed a good, moist, sponge and pronto!

Betty Crocker is always a reliable old gal to go for, simply follow her instructions of

'add water, oil and eggs'

and you've got yourself some cakes.

 Decorating, however, takes longer... especially if you eat half of your decorations whilst waiting for the sponge mix to cook and cool.

This is what you will need!

I went for an Easter-style theme, lots of brightly coloured eggs and lovely spring wafer Daisies give the cakes a very seasonal look!

I love the new design for Betty Crocker's packaging! It looks so much better than the plain red they were sporting before. I think they're embracing the retro throw-back sort of look, which goes well with my kitchen, so no complaints from me there...

After following what Betty says to do in her instructions (I'm not going to tell you how to read instructions) you're left with a beautiful, spongey cupcake that is as light as air!

The next, and more fun part, is to decorate them! 

Decorating them took FOREVER.

I think I'll only make one type of cake rather than two next time, decorating that many became boring and monotonous after the first four cakes.

I did see quite a lot of my Husband at this point though, who 'helped' by eating half of the Popping Candy.

After roughly about THREE HOURS from start to finish I've concluded that I neither have the time, nor the patience for baking.

Yes, the cakes came out lovely, and I shall enjoy putting on the 5lbs from eating them all, but I much prefer cooking dinners, where measurements are not certain and you can throw caution to the wind.

I shall leave the fancy cakes to the professionals and part with my money that way instead!

Love, 

Laura xxx

Accidental Discovery!

So this is actually a post about laziness and accidents.

I firstly wanted to make mini-quiches... but couldn't be bothered to make pastry.

So I then decided to make 'No-Pastry-Quiches' and try to fob it off as being healthy and calorie-conscious rather than me being a LAZYBONES.

Then they actually turned into delicious fluffy souffles. All's well that end well I suppose, but here's how I achieved it, without the all the cheating and failing it took to get there!

I'm getting quite good at using up my leftovers, you could chuck anything into this mix as long as it contained eggs. I had Mozzarella, Tomatoes and Pesto leftover from dinner with a friend the night before, and the two eggs from the night before that, so everything pretty much needed using up fast!

Firstly, I beat two eggs into a bowl, added salt and pepper then chopped my chives and tomatoes into the gloopy mix. So simple, so quick. Two minutes = Done!

Next, I grated the leftover Mozzarella into the mix, which was surprisingly difficult, I would have saved more time and washing up if I'd just torn it into little strips with my hand. 

Good to know for next time though!

Once your ingredients are all combined, grease your little individual pots with butter, or margarine and fill with the mixture.

Bake in a tray, in an oven pre-heated at 200 degrees for (roughly) 20mins.

I don't know why I was so surprised to see that these had risen to such a great height (the photo doesn't do them justice) and why, for all of the yolk they contained, they had ended up so fluffy and light... but I wasn't going to complain!

Not a gourmet-looking souffle but a damn tasty and simple supper that kept me full for ages! I struggled to finish one.

(I managed to eat the second one in the morning though!)

Light but filling, delicious with any ingredients plonked in it and only half an hour to make and cook; this is such a lovely supper, especially with salad, chips and a dollop of coleslaw!

Enjoy!

Love,

Laura xxx