Cupcakes for Mother’s Day

Spring came early today in the Panasonic test kitchen. We had great fun creating Mothers day recipes. Something for the kids to surprise you with. Hopefully dad will surprise you even more by clearing up the mess! Here is a sneak preview. The recipe will be in the seasonal recipe section shortly.

The Kitchen Team x

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Lopsided loaves of bread

Today we have had a few customers call us because their bread is lopsided.

A lopsided loaf is caused by the dough being too stiff a mix.  This happens as the flour absorbency changes throughout the year.  Add another 20ml more water.  The dough gets thrown around in the pan and ends up on one side.  It then has to stretch and prove to fill the pan.  If the dough is a bit stiff it won’t be stretchy enough to reach the far corner.  This is more apparent on small loaves or loaves made with wholemeal or organic flours which absorb a lot of water.

The Kitchen Team

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Microwaved food retains vitamins

Microwave cooking retains micronutrients including vitamin C which is an anti oxidant. All the B vitamins and Vitamin C are water soluble. This means that if you put foods containing these micronutrients in water for long enough the vitamins will leach out into the water. Heat also destroys these vitamins. This means the micronutrient content of boiled veg would be inferior to that of microwaved veg which is cooked for a shorter period of time and in just a few tablespoons of water.

The Kitchen Team

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Golden or seeded top crust

Would you like a golden or seeded top crust to your loaf? Would you like it a little crispier?

Add a glaze.

Milk, oil or a whisked up egg all will give a good colour to the top crust. Why not add some seeds too if you have them.

A salt water glaze will not add colour but it will add a crispness to your top crust.

Lift the lid when the display shows 1:00 remaining. The bake time is 50mins so this will give you a moment to add the glaze of your choice. If you are baking on the rapid cycle then lift the lid 40mins before the end of the program.

Happy baking!

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Fruit and Nut Flapjack

Do you have bits and pieces of dried fruit and nuts left over from Christmas? This is a tasty way to use them up…

Fruit & Nut Flapjack Recipe

Oven: CF778S

Accessory: Wire shelf

Dish: Rectangular baking tin (11″x7″, 29×18.5cm) lined with parchment

Oven Temp: 180C Convection

Ingredients:

50g butter

75g soft brown or golden caster sugar

3 tbsp Golden Syrup

50g nuts roughly chopped (walnuts, brazils, hazelnuts)

4 dried figs or 8 dried dates, roughly chopped

30g sour cherries or glace cherries or cranberries

30g apricots, roughly chopped

30g Pumpkin or sunflower seeds

1 tbsp ground almonds

200g oats (rolled or porridge mixed with left over muesli, crushed crunchy oat clusters also work well)

Method:

1. Melt the butter, sugar and syrup in a large bowl on HIGH power for 1min 30secs to melt. Stir.
2. Preheat the oven to 180C with the shelf on the lower level.
3. Add the oats, fruit, nuts and seeds and mix well.
4. Spread the mixture evenly in the lined tin and bake for 18-20 minutes until golden.
5. Allow to cool slightly then remove from the tin and cut into bars or squares.

These flapjacks are not too greasy, not too sweet and freeze well. Pop one into your lunch box or ruck sack for a healthy high energy snack!

The recipe is great for using up small amounts of dried fruit, nuts and seeds you may have left-over in the store cupboard.







The Kitchen Team

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Spicy fruit loaves in the breadmaker

A customer phoned the advice line today. She was making a spicy fruit loaf and her bread maker did not have a fruit and nut dispenser. She wanted to know how long it would be until her bread maker beeped to tell her to add the fruit. When using the Basic Raisin Bake programme it is around 47 minutes into the cycle and for the Wholewheat Raisin Bake it is around 1 hour 17 minutes.

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Covering your food

Mrs Hardy phoned the advice line today with a query about what to use when covering her food in microwave cooking. We advised her to cover food with pierced cling film suitable for microwave use. She then asked how would she know if it was microwave safe? Most manufacturers do state on the box whether the cling film is suitable for microwave cooking. Do not line dishes with cling film or use when cooking by combination, convection or grill. Alternatively a self fitting lid with a vent can be used.

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A tip for your breadmakers

Had a lovely phone call on the advice line this morning thanking us for our advice yesterday! A lady phoned up convinced that her faithful SD 253 bread maker had given finally given up as it was producing small, lop sided loaves. She was delighted to find she produced a perfect loaf when she tried our suggestion of increasing the water by an extra 20 ml. She was so pleased that she hadn’t rushed out to buy a new one and had saved her pennies for another day!

The Kitchen Team

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Stocking up with marmalade

 It seems a lot of you are keeping out of the snow and using the time wisely to stock up the store cupboard with marmalade. We have had a couple of calls asking whether the pith is left on the fruit before liquidising. The answer to this is yes as the pith helps the jam or marmalade to set. Don’t worry the pith is sieved out at the end.

Jam jars can be sterilised by microwave, ready for your jam, marmalade or preserves. Half fill the jars with water and heat them on HIGH microwave power until the water boils (approx 4mins for two jars). Empty and drain upside down on kitchen paper. Fill the jars while they are still warm.

Do not cover preserves while they are cooking unless it is specifically recommended in the recipe.

The Kitchen Team

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