#Recipe Mozzarella stuffed Meatloaf Cupcakes

Posted on April 1, 2016 by Crumbs In My Beard

Mozzarella stuffed Meatloaf Cupcakes

So at first glance these may seem like I’m pulling your leg in the spirit of April Fool’s Day. However I jest you not! Think of these a mini-meatloaves and they’ll make all the more sense. A cupcake counterpart for those of you more enamoured by the Umami side of life they’re also a nifty little party food to have in your reportire- although make sure you have napkins to had!

Meatloaf has always been THE signature comfort food for me and one of my favourite dishes. No fuss, no muss with maximum impact this American mainstay has found a fond place in my kitchen (and my belly!) It’s a great family meal, large enough to serve my husband and I and our two children. Served with warming mash and gravy it’s the ultimate culinary “warm blanket” for the soul (only rivaled by Chicken Soup- maybe an upcoming post?). And it gets even better! Any leftovers (is there such a thing?) can be kept in the fridge and sliced for a top-notch sarnie, slathered in BBQ sauce and served in a crispy roll, meatloaf is defeinatley the gift that keeps on giving.

As you can tell I have a soft-spot for this particulat dish so in a meeting of two worlds I present to you my Meatloaf Cupakes- stuffed with melting mozzarella, topped with cheesy truffle infused mash and drizzled with BBQ sauce. Are you drolling yet?

Ingredients

For the “Cupcakes”

800g lean mince beef

200g chopped onion

125g breadcrumbs

2 tsp. wholegrain mustard

2 tsp. Worcestershire Sauce

1 tsp. mixed herbs

¼ tsp. salt

½ tsp. black pepper

1 egg, beaten

12 strips pancetta

12 mozzarella pearls

For the “Frosting”

6 medium potatoes, boiled

2 tbsp. butter

50ml milk

2 tbsp. strong cheddar, grated

1 tbsp. parmesan, grated

¼ tsp. truffle oil

To finish (optional)

Crispy onions

Good Quality barbecue sauce

Umami sprinkle

Method

Fry and soften the onions in an oiled pan over a medium heat. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt to stop them catching.
When soft and lightly browned remove from the heat and set aside to cool
In a large bowl, combine the mince, breadcrumbs, mustard, Worcester sauce, mixed herbs, salt and pepper. Mix with your hands until well combined.
Add in the cooled, chopped onion and beaten egg, continue to mix with your hands until fully combined.
Preheat your oven to 180 degrees.
Line the sides of the holes in a 12-hole (or 2 x 6-hole) muffin time with a strip of pancetta, pressing it each strip firmly so it sticks to the sides.
Taking a golf ball size of the meat mixture, press it into the bottom of each tray hole.
Place a mozzarella pearl into the meat mixture in each tray hole, and continue packing with the remaining meat mixture until each hole is filled. Press to make level with the surface of the tray.
Transfer the filled trays to your preheated oven and bake for 10 mins.
Whilst the “cupcakes” are baking, add the boiled potatoes, butter, cheeses, truffle oil and half the milk to a bowl and mix until well combined. Add in the reminader of the milk bit by bit. Using a potato masher or ricer, mash the potatoes until smooth and creamy. Place in a piping bag fitted with the nozzle if your choice. I use a Wilton 2D.
After the 10 mins remove the “cupcakes” from the oven and pipe on the potato “frosting”. Return to the oven and bake for a further 10-15mins. The “cupcakes” should be firm and shrink away from the sides. They’re now are ready to serve at this point. (You can toast the “frosting” a bit more if you prefer by using a cook’s blowtorch). If you prefer you can read on as to how I like to finish them.
Once ready remove the “cupcakes” from the oven, leave to cool for 2-3 minutes then remove from the tray(s) and place on a wire rack. Drizzle them with the barbecue sauce and sprinkle with umami dust and crispy onions flakes and serve.

#BakeMumsDay with Dr. Oetker

Posted on February 23, 2016 by Crumbs In My Beard

As a child I remember Mother’s Day was pretty much like every other day apart from two things. One – my father bought my mother flowers. This never normally happened. Two- I would rather unsuccessfully try to bake my mother something whilst keeping her completely in the dark. “Baking Incognito” if you will. This in itself was no mean feat given that my mother was (and still is despite her ailments) one of those archetypal Gaelic matriarchs who perpetually inhabit the kitchen, who know the correct oven temperature despite the dial markings having been eroded from years of use, and who insist that portion sizes are too small if you can still see the plate you’re being served on. Think Mary Berry meets Mrs. Brown. Yeah- there you have it.

Before I go any further I feel it only right I should clarify that by saying, “ …bake my mother something…” what I in fact mean is raiding the kitchen cupboard for what usually turned out to be a Green’s cheesecake packet mix and adding my own “special touch” to it. Yes, even as a nipper I was gustatorily experimental! A box mix enfant terrible! Said special touches ranged from grated chocolate topping to a hidden banana filling to that time where I added so much Baileys (I told you it was Baking Incognito!) that the final cheesecake was not as much sliceable as it was pourable.

Fast forward 30 years and now I’m the Gaelic “matriarchal” figure in my household, even down to intuitive temperature skills, but with added facial hair. People often ask me where I came up with the name “Mr. Mom’s”. It was actually whilst scrolling through my social media feed a couple of years ago on Mother’s Day that I noticed a post. It was from a woman wishing, “A Happy Mother’s day to all the Moms, Grandmas, and let’s not forget the Mr. Moms (in reference to gay male parents). I liked it, it resonated with me as a gay dad and it stuck. The rest, as they say, is history.
History that has led to my children being the first wave of my “tasting panel”. Even when their critique is not required it is doled out in precocious abundance. Baking with them is like looking at the world from an angle askew. Ingredients are suddenly wondrous and methods appear mystical- yet it all happens with a déjà vu tinged familiarity.

Mother’s Day for us is about the female influences and role models that our children have in our family. A chance for Granny and Auntie to step into the spotlight, and for me to step into the kitchen with the kids. Food gifts are something I completely endorse. To me a food gift is more than just the gift itself. It’s about the time taken to think how suitable it may be, the time taken to create it, and make sure it’s worthy of its recipient. Knowing that every step of the way the creator had the recipient in mind. And in the case of Mother’s Day in their heart as well.

To celebrate this Mother’s Day, Dr. Oetker has teamed up with GBBO finalist Ian Cumming to create a recipe book that encourages kids to get in the kitchen to create some tasty treats for Mum. Brimming with fun recipes and tips, it’s a great way to introduce your little ones to the wonders of the kitchen. All with adult supervision of course!
Dr. Oetker wants to encourage children to bake with their dad, grandma or auntie and create a special surprise gift for mum. To do this, they have created a fun and engaging Mother’s Day-themed recipe book especially for children, featuring illustrations of four simple recipes from Ian Cumming, GBBO finalist and dad of two.

One of the recipes are these adorable chocolate flowerpot cupcakes-

Developed by Ian Cumming, the man who showed a flair for innovative interpretation of bakes, gives a suitably endearing twist on the traditional chocolate cupcake. Whether they’re for mums or grandmas, these adorable “flowerpot” cupcakes are certain to charm on Mothering Sunday. Using some delightful touches from the Dr. Oetker range lends that extra special touch for that extra special mothering influence in your life. Because the Dr. Oetker decorating range is so easy to use they’re ideal for little hands in helping out. If your children are anything like mine you may find it a struggle to actually have a full batch of completed cupcakes without some “disappearing”!

The Bake Mum’s Day recipe book can be downloaded here www.oetker.co.uk/mothersday The team at Dr. Oetker asked me to lend a hand in providing some tips for you whilst making the recipe. After all there’s always room for a little Mr. Mom’s twist on things!

– Make sure all your ingredients are at room temperature. This saves so many problems- from lumpy cupcake batter to possible splitting.

– If you’re using silicone flowerpot moulds (available from quality bake shops) I find it best if you “grease the mounds” beforehand with butter. For ease I just pop on a disposable glove, grab a finger-full of butter and apply. Using your finger makes it a lot easier than trying to use a brush or any other method to get into those fiddly crevices.

– When you remove the cupcakes from the oven, leave to partially cool (about 5 mins) remove from the flowerpot molds and leave to cool completely. While the cakes are cooling clean, rinse, and dry the molds. Then before you serve pop the cakes back into the molds. This means it’s so much easier for guests to get the cakes out nice and neatly upon serving.

– For some added texture I trim any domed top from the cakes, spread with a layer of Dr. Oetker chocolate cupcake icing, sprinkle on some crushed Bourbon biscuits (soil) and top with a swirl of Dr. Oetker cupcake icing as per the recipe.

– When you do have your children helping out, I find it saves so much mess and cleaning up if you have everything weighed out and in plastic bowls; plates; beakers. That way the little ones can actively enjoy getting the ingredients together and you don’t have to worry about them spilling heavy bags of flour, or breaking shells into the mixture.

Dr. Oetker Twitter Competition
For more family friendly recipes, head over to www.oetker.co.uk

They are also running a competition on Twitter to win a copy of the book as well as some baking goodies. To enter, just RT their competition tweet and follow @DrOetkerBakes

This post is in collaboration and sponspored by Dr. Oetker.

Coming up on Mr. Mom’s

Posted on June 13, 2015 by Crumbs In My Beard

It’s been quite some time since I’ve posted anything so MA-HOOSIVE apologies to you all. However fret not I have been far from idle! If you’ve been follwing my social media feeds on Twitter and Facebook you will have seen posts about two BIG pieces of news concerning Mr. Mom’s.

Photo courtesy of Kitchen Table Projects

Firstly you may remember back in July of last year my post about a group called Kitchen Table Projects. These rather fab bunch of people are championing emerging artisan foodies and providing a much needed source of advice and interaction. In fact they provided Mr. Mom’s with some of my first PR coverage (thanks guys!). If you missed it you can read all about it here. Way back then their founder Tara Sundramoorthi explained the long-term vision of setting up a hub cafe where artisan foodie producers/ makers could showcase their wares. She also expressed interest in stocking Mr. Mom’s bakes there (evidently Tara knows a good thing when she sees it or rather tastes it!). Fast forward nearly a year and it is with great pride (and a little trepidation) that I can say Tara has stayed true to her word and Mr. Mom’s cupcakes and brownies will be stocked in the Kitchen Table Projects Artisan Springboard Pop-up cafe at Old Street Tube Station. The cafe will run from June 22nd until September 13th. Not only will the cafe stock produce of Mr. Mom’s but also some other fantastic artisan food people – Black Sheep Coffee; The Tea People; Knead; and Hush Hush Chefs. For full details of all the suppliers check out the Kitchen Table Projects website here. I can’t tell how grateful I am to Tara and the Kitchen Table Projects team for seeing something in what I do at Mr. Mom’s and be willing to showcase it in their venture. All the way from my humble kitchen to the bustling populous of a London pop-up. Why not come along and try out one (or more!) of my wares?

Photocourtesy of Kitchen Table Projects

Photo courtesy of Simply Good Food TV

My other big piece of news is that you’ll soon be able to see me online, on Simply Good Food TV, baking up a storm. “Mr. Mom’s- The Bearded Baker” will be creating delicious treats from the classic to the quirky. Simply Good Food TV is the brainchild of chef Peter Sidwell. As if filming numerous TV series (ITV’s Britian’s Best Bakery) ; doing demos on the foodie show circuit; and running a restaurant and cookery school weren’t enough, Peter has now set about creating a new online TV station, Simply Good Food TV, showcasing food videos from established chefs and new original content from a range of upcoming chefs and bakers- including yours truly! I can’t begin to tell you how chuffed I am to be part of such a fantstic venture. For more information on this fantastic online TV food channel why not check out the Simply Good Food TV Twitter and Facebook pages. You can download the free app for Apple here , or for Android here. As well as being chuffed to bits about it I’m also slightly in awe in being featured along Peter and the other fabulous chefs and bakers- all of us who go to make up the rather gorgeous bunch fetured below!

Photo courtesy of Simply Good Food TV

On the home front I’ve also been busy doing what I’m know best for. A friend’s recent birthday saw a blitz of brownies; cupcakes and a celebratory birthday cake from Mr. Mom’s Kitchen. Cupcakes included Chocolate Cherry Cola: a baked twist on the classic childhood drink; Salted Caramel Popcorn: something to appeal to the grown-up in us and a rather indulgent Classic Chocolate. Brownie flavours included Classic chocolate; a Gluten Free Banana & Pecan and a nutty caramel affair packed full of toasted nuts and oozing salted caramel.

Along with these there was also a birthday cake comissioned. I decided to go with a naked cake featuring the recipient’s favourite bloom- the cornflower. Sized at 2 layers, to suit the attending guests, I went with vanilla genoise with vanilla buttercream and Sicilian lemon curd to the lower layer and vanilla buttercream and strawberry jam to the top layer. As well as using cornflower blooms I also festooned the layers with roses and eryngium (purple thistle) blooms, and scattered darker berries.

Speaking of birthday cakes, I also had the recent pleaseure of providing the birthday cake for Twitter friend ‘Little Pink Kitchen‘ . To be honest I was rather nervous about doing this as it was the first time I’d ever produced something for a fellow baker – would it stand up to the challenge? As it was a particularly special birthday something particularly special was called for- I didn’t want to do a run of the mill sponge cake. Only two pieces of criteria were given – something on the “light” side and maybe hazelnut flavoured. So I got my thinking cap on. Then it came to me- “Dacquoise”!!! Well…at least that was the starting point! What I ended up with was the closest I’ve got to patisserie in anything I’ve ever baked.

From concept to reality. Inital ideas of strata to the finsihed cake.

I created a layered cake of genoise sponge with a thin layer of chocolate ganache, filled with hazelnut flavoured creme mousseline, with a middle layer of hazelnut merignue (the dacquoise influence). The assembled cake was then finished with chocolate ganache and toasted hazelnut nibs. Very proud to say that my final bake went down well and seemed to be enojoyed by all.

Nothing better than having my bakes enjoyed! Photo courtesy of @TheLittlePK

So that’s it for now. I hope you’ve enjoyed catching up with all the goings on in Mr. Mom’s Kitchen. There’s lots of exciting developments on the horizon and I’ll update you all soon.

In the meantime,

“Remember Mom’s the word- that’s Mr. Mom’s!”

Living in the Black

Posted on February 6, 2015 by Crumbs In My Beard

If you follow my social media feeds (Twitter; Facebook and Instagram) you’ve probably noticed I’ve been posting a lot of recipes lately featuring the little known ingredient that is Black Garlic. Whilst it might conjure up not so pleasing images (and not to mention smells!) believe me it’s completely unfounded.
Courtesy of the team at Balsajo Original Black Garlic I’ve been experimenting on both the sweet and savoury fronts with some very tasty results indeed.

If you haven’t heard of Black Garlic yet please, please don’ tbe put off by the name. Yes- it is garlic “…but not as we know it Jim“. Forget the hard, pungent, opalescent nuggets that give us one of the cornerstones of cooking. Black Garlic is instead a case of Kitchen Alchemy made true. By process of heat and humidity (and probably some trade secret) familar white garlic bulbs are transformed into dark, fragrant, nuggets of molasses-like jelly. Again I say stick with me here! Whilst some people might be quick lable it shrivelled and black (well I guess it is black- there’s no fighting nature there!) what you can do with this is practically limitless. I’ve tried using it as an ingredient in sweet and savory dishes (and some in between). Thus far it’s prooved to be a very versatile ingredient indeed. Soft and jelly-like in texture with a flavour which brings to mind treacle, molasses, truffle, and balsamic I definitely recommend getting some of this into your kitchen. Its available in some selected supermarkets and artisan food stores. The guys over at Balsajo Black Garlic have included a handy stockist locator on their website.

I’ve been wanting to experiment with Black Garlic for a while in order to test the full breadth of it’s uses and here’s what I came up with:

Fennel Seed & Black Garlic Toffee

Originally this came about as some Twitter banter between myself and the wonderful Miss Kitty Hope (yes indeed, she of Hope and Greenwood – purveyors of all things fantastical and sweet!)- but more about that later. We nattered about bacon in sweets/ bakes and somehow ended up challenging each other to creating something with a none-too-common ingredient and so black garlic was suggested. The resulting Black Garlic & Fennel Seed Toffee is a sweet, creamy toffee with a subtle hint of anise from the Fennel Seed and the treacley flavour of the black garlic adding to the creaminess. Surprisingly moreish- even if I do say so myself!

Blueberry, Balck Garlic & Corriander Traybake

I needed to try the dark beauty of black garlic in a bake. Well- I wouldn’t be Mr. Mom’s without baking something now would I? Blueberry and corriander is a little known combo that works really well. The citrus notes of corriander seed boosting the flavour of the fruity blueberries. Topping the traybake with a limoncello buttercream frosting added an indulgent alcoholic kick (okay I’ll admit it I thought they were sounding just a little too healthy!). The addition of some chopped black garlic baked into the sponge mellows what otherwise might have been citrus overload and layers in nicley with the graduation from mellow to citrus kick.

The adapted recipe in cupcake form was featured in my stint on the Mel & Sue show and you can find the recipe here.

Black Garlic & Chilli Oatcakes

So enough with the sweet things I thought. How about a savoury bake? My husband and I are chalk and cheese; oil and water; Yin and Yang when it comes to tastes. Whilst I am a complete an utter sweet-tooth advocate, he’s marches firmly to be beat of the Umami drum. I’ll have pudding and he’ll have cheese. Ah hah! And so I had my next experimental idea for black garlic. The treacley earthiness of the black garlic combines well with the mellow oatiness of these biscuits, before a subtle kick of heat comes in from the chilli. I tried them with a fabulous Epoisses cheese, while my other half couldn’t get enough of them with a mature cheddar. They’ve definitely been added to my “Must Bake Again” list!

Black Garlic & Matcha Green Tea Cupcakes

As I mentioned earlier on, this trip through the looking glass into the Land of Black Garlic happened because of some rather impromptu Twitter banter between myself and my new BFF Miss Kitty Hope. We challenged each other (I rather foolhardily) to create a bake, or sweet….or something (?) with an unusual ingredient. I threw black garlic into the ring and Miss Hope picked up the gauntlet. The “competition” was facilitated by the team at Taste PR and kindly judged by the incredible Lily Jones (of Lily Vanilli). My black garlic & Matcha green tea cupcakes draw inspiration from the Asian background of black garlic and combine a number of Oriental flavours. The complete offering was a Matcha green tea & black garlic sponge, with Plum Wine spiked frosting, topped with a Matcha green tea, black garlic & black sesame seed marshmallow, and a candied black garlic clove “dart”. Rather incredibly (and very much to my surprise!) Lily decided on my cupcakes as a winner. I do however have to give kudos to Miss Kitty for providing some rather excellent and challenging competition (not to mention some hilarious Twitter “reading”!)

So enough preaching the wonders of black garlic. As they say, “The proof is in the pudding”…or rather in this case- the toffee. I in no way intend to compete with the skilful mastery of confection that Hope & Greenwood have but I will freely admit to Miss Kitty Hope being the inspiration behind my Black Garlic & Fennel Seed Toffee. After all without her initial challenge in my Twit-stream I’d never have ventured into the realm of boiled sugar at all. So if you’re feeling up for it and fancy a little black garlic experimentation why not try you’re hand at making…

Black Garlic & Fennel Seed Toffee (aka Miss Kitty’s Challenge)

Ingredients:

500g caster sugar

125g salted butter

1 tbsp treacle

3 tbsp golden syrup

1 tsp vanilla extract

397g tin condensed milk 90ml water

1 tbsp fennel seeds

5 cloves black garlic, chopped

You’ll need:

A deep sided pan

A sugar thermometer

A silicone tray, or a baking parchment lined & greased tray

Method:

– In a deep pan, place the butter, sugar, treacle, golden syrup and water into a pan and heat, stirring constantly.

– Once all the ingredients are well mixed and melted, add the condensed milk slowly, stirring occasionally until it boils.

– Continue at a steady boil until the mixture reaches the “Hard crack” stage on a sugar thermometer, again stirring occasionally. Test that the toffee is ready by dropping a spoonful into cold water – if it turns solid, it is ready.

– Remove from the heat and carefully stir in the fennel seeds and black garlic. (Note: The black garlic may clump together as it’s quite sticky. Separate into smaller pieces as you as you add to the toffee mixture.)

– Pour into the prepared tray. Allow to cool for about 6-7 minutes then score into regular sized pieces with a sharp knife.

– Once fully cooled break along the score lines into pieces.

– The toffee can be wrapped in baking parchment or greaseproof paper and stored in an air-tight container.

If you try my toffee recipe I do hope you enjoy and meantime,

“Remember Mom’s the word- that’s Mr. Mom’s!”

Crumbs In My Beard

The bearded baker of unexpected flavours

Category Archives: Cupcakes

#Recipe Mozzarella stuffed Meatloaf Cupcakes

Mozzarella stuffed Meatloaf Cupcakes

#BakeMumsDay with Dr. Oetker

This post is in collaboration and sponspored by Dr. Oetker.

Coming up on Mr. Mom’s

Living in the Black

Mozzarella stuffed Meatloaf Cupcakes

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