Baking & Breakfast in Bed

Not being a great cook but getting braver by the day in the kitchen, I have decided that we need to bake more. I say we, being me and the toddler, with the husband, aka chef of the house on standby, in case I manage to set fire to anything or can’t find the blender (It’s his kitchen!).

Spot of baking anyone?

Timed to perfection, I was contacted about Bacofoil having teamed up with Ella’s Kitchen, whose new recipe book ‘Ella’s Kitchen: The Big Baking Book’ for kids came out on April 2nd. In time for Mothers Day (I am a bit late to the party) Bacofoil provided some breakfast tips, which as a big fan of breakfasts in bed (take note husband!), I very much welcomed, citing that it doesn’t need to be Mothers Day to get breakfast in bed!

• Use Bacofoil Non-Stick Foil with the dull side facing upwards, to ensure your food doesn’t stick (Didn’t know that).
• Don’t use cold ingredients – Cold ingredients just don’t combine as well as room temperature ones when mixing with dry ingredients (Didn’t know that either).
• Muffins freeze wonderfully, so if you can’t enjoy them all on the day they’re made, wrap them in Bacofoil EasyCut Cling Film and freeze for later (You guessed it, didn’t know!).

As a big fan of eating baking, I was excited to hear about Ella’s Kitchen Baking Cook book for kids. It is most definitely a book I can see getting some use in our house. Watch this space for a giveaway on the blog soon.

As an introduction to the book, Bacofoil & Ella’s Kitchen have released a couple of recipes, one of which is below for Golden Treasure Muffins. The secret ingredient in these little beauties, butternut squash. Love it! So if you don’t want to tell your little beauties, they will never know! *wink wink.

Golden treasure muffins –   Makes 12         Prep: 20 mins           Cook: 30 mins

Not My Son!

What you need: 

400 g/14 oz butternut squash, peeled, deseeded and cut into small chunks

4 unsmoked streaky bacon rashers, finely chopped

125 g/4½ oz self-raising white flour

50 g/1¾ oz cornmeal

1 teaspoon baking powder

2 teaspoons finely chopped thyme

1 egg

75 ml/3 fl oz buttermilk

3 tablespoons mild olive oil or sunflower oil

What To Do

1 – Preheat the oven to 220°C/425°F/Gas Mark 7. Line a 12-section muffin tin with paper cake cases that measure 9 cm/ 3¾ inches in diameter when flattened out.

2 – Cook the squash in a saucepan of boiling water for about 10 minutes until softened but not mushy. Drain well and return to the pan. Crush the squash until broken up but not puréed. Leave to cool.

3 – Heat a dry frying pan and fry the bacon for about 5 minutes until crispy. Transfer to a large bowl and add the flour, cornmeal, baking powder and thyme.

4 – Beat together the egg, buttermilk and oil in a separate small bowl. Add the egg mixture to the dry ingredients with the squash and mix together until only just combined.

5 – Divide the mixture evenly among the cake cases and bake in the oven for 15 minutes until slightly risen and pale golden. Transfer the muffins to a wire rack to cool and serve warm or cold. They are best eaten on the day you make them.

Enjoy!

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