National Pumpkin Day!

One of the best things about Autumn is celebrated around the world tomorrow  - Pumpkins! Whether you love to eat, carve or decorate yours, there's so many ways to enjoy them.

As well as being part of a recipe for several different foods such as soup and pie, pumpkins can be used in ways you might ever have imagined!

Why not try a a Pumpkin face mask? Whisk together 150g of Pumpkin and one egg, then add a splash of honey, mix all together and its ready to slather on. Leave for 15 minutes then rinse. The results will be a refreshed and healthy complexion!

Pumpkins can come in handy too - they can be used as an alternative flower pot! Lovely for autumnal flowers and they make a great decoration during Halloween.

Have you discovered any unusual ways to use a pumpkin?

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Make your own simmering Potpourri!

As we approach Autumn and the weather gets chillier, it's nice to feel warm and cosy! We've found a great activity to get in the mood for the season.

Firstly, think about some of your favorite scents during autumn, whether it be fresh apples, oranges or cinnamon. With these, you can easily make your very own delightful simmering Potpourri!

Here's a sample recipe to make a lovely blend of fragrances:

- the peel of one orange 
- one thinly sliced apple

- 2 large cinnamon sticks 

- 1 tablespoon of cloves 

- 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract 

- 1 tablespoon of almond extract 

- 1.5 cups of water plus plenty more for refill 

Simply mix together your chosen ingredients to a saucepan with some water and simmer throughout the day, spreading a lovely seasonal scent through your home. You can reuse the mix for three days, storing it in the fridge in the meantime!

You can also make a dried Potpourri to display all the colours and textures of the ingredients. Mix together some dried fruit, cinnamon sticks and pine cones (maybe go on a family nature walk with the kids to pick the best ones!) and add a splash of essential oils. It's then ready to sit in a bowl or jar as a decoration and for you to enjoy the heavenly smells!

Have you made your own Potpourri? We'd love to hear your recipes!

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Happy Banana Bread Day

We love a food inspired celebration day at Ellie Ellie, and today is Banana Bread Day! What better way to celebrate and dig into some well earned treats than making your very own (and very simple) banana bread!

There are all types of different additions to the basic banana bread, and having tried chocolate chip banana bread, we highly recommend it! As well as other flavours we have yet to try, such as blueberries, nutella and carrot.

Here's an easy recipe for you to follow:

1. Preheat your oven to 180c, 350F, Gas mark 4 and sift the flour bicarbonate of soda and salt into a large mixing bowl.

2. In a separate bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.

3. Add the eggs, mashed bananas, buttermilk and vanilla extract to the butter mixture and mix well. Then fold into the flour mixture.

4. Grease a loaf tin and pour the cake mixture into the tin

5. Back for about an hour, or until well-risen and golden brown.

6. Remove from the oven and cool in the tin for a few minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely before serving.

Happy Baking!

Celebrate British Pie Week!

British Pie Week starts tomorrow and it’s the perfect chance for pie lovers to celebrate the great British classic food. There are a million and one recipes available to make the perfect pie and we are giving you one of Ellie Ellie’s favourite recipes. The Traditional Apple Pie!

What are your favourites?

Traditional Apple Pie:

Ingredients: 

• 1 pack Jus-Rol Sweet Dessert Pastry 375g
• 500g cooking apples
• 1 lemon
• 1tbsp flour
• 2tsp ground cinnamon
• 75g caster sugar (plus a little extra sugar for sprinkling 

 

1. Divide pastry in half and roll out one half to line a 18 cm shallow pie plate and chill whilst you prepare the apples.
2. Peel, core and thickly slice the apples, toss with grated rind from the whole lemon and juice from half, flour, sugar and cinnamon. Pile into the pastry base.
3. Roll out remaining pastry and use to top the pie, using trimmings for decoration as desired
4. Brush with water and dredge lightly with remaining sugar, bake for 20-25 mins until pastry is golden brown. 5. Serve warm with either cream or ice cream.

Visit the website for more pie recipes! 

What pie will you be making to celebrate British pie week? 

National Banana Bread Day!!

Today marks another great day, this time dedicated to a popular fruit. It's National Banana Bread day and a Sunday evening is the perfect time to get some simple ingredients for a great cake that will last you all week for lunches and tea.

It's so easy to make, and uses simple ingredients you may have in your cupboard anyway!

1. Mix together 8 tablespoons of butter and 1 cup of sugar
2. Stir into the mix 2 beaten eggs and 3 mashed bananas
3. Slowly mix in half a teaspoon of salt and 1 teaspoon of baking soda
4. Slowly mix in 1 and a quarter cups of all purpose flour
5. Fold in gently a third cup of walnuts for an extra taste
6. Pour in a greased loaf tin
7. Bake at gas mark 4 or 180 degrees C
8. Wait to cool, add dried banana or icing for that finishing touch and serve

Christmas Cupcakes!

There is nothing better than getting creative in the kitchen at Christmas and there are loads of ways to cook up a storm with the family this festive season. A great way to involve the kids is to make some Christmas cupcakes. They can decorate the cupcakes how they like, using Christmas coloured icing and Christmas cake toppers. Ellie Ellie’s Vintage Christmas Cake Toppers are perfect for this.

You can use your normal cupcake recipe and decorate with lovely ideas!

Here are just a few ideas to give you some inspiration!

 

 

 

 

Enjoy your Christmas baking!

Halloween Treats!

A great way to get the kids involved with something fun and creative this Halloween is by getting in the kitchen and cooking up a storm!

You can't go wrong with a spooky Halloween cupcake, which are bound to delight the little kids as well as the big kids! Decorating the cupcakes are a fun afternoon activity for the kids to keep them entertained!

These spooky spider cupcakes are easy to make and fun to decorate! Find the recipe for the cupcakes here.

 

And to decorate the cupcakes you will need:

 

2 packs of liquorice Catherine wheels

12 tbsp. Nutella or other chocolate spread

Liquorice allsorts (the black ones with the white centre)

tube of black writing icing

1 length of red bootlace

 

To decorate the cakes: unravel the liquorice wheels and cut into lengths to make the dangly legs, let the kids get creative and stick the legs onto the top of each cake.

 

Spoon the chocolate spread on top and spread lightly within the liquorice legs to make the spiders body! Now cut the allsorts to make the eyes and the red bootlaces to make mouths! Let the kids stick everything onto the cupcake and make different spooky creations they will love to eat!

Another great Halloween treat is these Eerie Eyeballs, which are a healthy option for kids this Halloween! Made from apple rings, dried apricots and raisins they will be a fun addition to Halloween and the kids can have fun making them. Find out how to make these here!

Have fun this Halloween creating fun and exciting treats for the family!