Wise words of warning!!!!

Please can you all make sure that you do not turn into a blonde!!! I say this only because it can be my only excuse for what happened at my cooking show this week.

For the first time ever I tried to make 2 recipes at a show as I wanted to show off my new yorkshire puddings baked in the pampered chef stoneware. Well the show started well with lots of people joining in and chatting about the products. I whisked up the batter ingredients, only slightly confused when I had to ask for more milk as the pudding batter was quite thick, but no worries I carrried on. I did my neat trick with just spraying the cold stoneware with a little oil before I put in the batter and put them in the oven. That was it, I could forget them for the minute while I carried on with making the Banana & Toffee Bottom (It's a gorgeous cakey pudding, I'll take photo's next time and put the recipe on here.)

So we slice the banana's and make the tofffee then I start to add the ingredients for the sponge to the mixing bowl but I can't find the flour, where is the flour. I'm sure I measured it out into one of my square white bowls. I know I did. I remember quite clearly that I put the pudding batter ingredients in the small prep bowls and the cake ingredients in my square bowls. Then it hits me and I pick up the small prep bowl that still has some flour in it. Oh no, Instead of the 3 oz of plain flour I had prepped for the puddings, I actually added the 6 oz of self raising flour I prepped for the cake. No wonder I needed more milk!!!!!

All this is going through my head as I am facing a room of 10 people eagerly watching what I am about to do next. I step back, take a sideways glance at the oven and my spirits then become as flat as the yorkshire puddings baking in the oven. What to do? All I can do is face the audience laugh and explain everything. Fortunately they were a good bunch and soon we were all in hysterics together. I soon redeemed myself as I weighed out more flour for the cake, mixed it up and put it in the oven. Fortunately the cake was a triumph and the crowd loved it, they even loved the yorkshire's after the hostess, Jayne, made some gravy and they all tried them. The fact that I was trying to illustrate that the stoneware was non stick got a little lost even though that part did work.

Amazingly I still had good sales for the night, who knows I may now be one of those silly little water cooler stories people tell at work, "You'll never guess what happened at my pampered chef show last night......"

Don't you just love muffins?!?!?!?!

I really love muffins, that's why one of the first things I bought from Pampered Chef for myself was a stoneware muffin pan. Now if you know me you probably know that I am usually on a Weight Watchers diet so hearing me talk about muffins you'll be sat there asking yourself how many points are in muffins?!?!?!? Well I have a low fat recipe for muffins that works out at just 3 and half points per chocolate muffin, not bad eh?

So I bought this muffin pan and so far I have not made muffins in it, instead I got way too excited about the neat trick I was told about for the pan. See the yorkshire puddings in the picture? They were made in the stoneware pan. For me that is an achievement, I am inconsistent to say the least with my puddings and about 50% of the time they fall flat when I take them out. Since using the muffin pan I have had 100% success at getting perfect puddings to rise this high and not collapse. I am so pleased. But the most staggering thing is the fact that no oil or fat was used when making these and the muffin pan was stone cold when I put them in the oven. I kid you not!! This is a trick that the great Houdini would be proud of, and one I will be using in my shows in the future.

So the large muffin pan was such a success that I got really excited when I achieved my first sales bonus and recieved the mini muffin pan and tart stamper. I thought at least I would start making muffins, but then again I was sidetracked. Instead I made these gorgeous little jam tarts which came out of the tin like a dream and are so scrumptiously cute, and these are just the rejects where I added too much jam!

So for all those watching their weight, here is a recipe for gorgeous chocolate muffins for just 3 and half points each.

Chocolate Chip Muffins

9oz or 250g SR Flour
1/2 tsp or 2.5ml Bicarnonate of Soda
1/2 tsp or 2.5ml Salt
5 tbsp or 75ml Unsweetened Cocoa powder
1 Egg
5 oz or 110g Muscavado sugar
1 tsp or 5ml Vanilla Essence
3oz or 85g Melted butter/margarine
9floz or 260ml Milk
4 oz or 100g Chocolate chips

1. Sift the flour, bicarb, salt and cocoa together
2. Beat the egg and add the sugar, milk, vanilla and then the melted butter
3. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix until no dry ingredients are left
4. Add the chocolate chips and mix well
5. Bake for 20-25 minutes on 190 C/Gas 5/375 F

Enjoy!