Bacon Cheeseburger Chicken

Bacon Cheeseburger Chicken
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp butter
6 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, split
1/4 cup teriyaki sauce
1/2 cup Ranch dressing
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
1/2 lb bacon (or bacon bits)



Original recipe

Ham and leek macaroni cheese

Ingredients
Olive oil
4 leeks, finely sliced
600 ml semi-skimmed milk
1 tsp English mustard
75g blue cheese
2 tsp cornflour
130g ham
300g rigatoni pasta
50g Vintage Farmhouse Cheddar



Put a splash of olive oil in a medium saucepan over a low heat, add the leeks and sweat until softened. Pour in the milk and bring to the boil, add the mustard and the blue cheese and simmer for 5 minutes.

Mix the cornflour and 2 tsp water in a bowl then whisk into the milk mix. Stir until thickened and season to taste. Chop the ham into pieces and stir through.

Cook the pasta according to the pack instructions (until firm to the bite) then drain off and run under cold water. Mix in with the sauce.

Pour the pasta into a large ovenproof dish and top with grated cheddar cheese. Grill under a medium grill until golden.

Lavender cupcakes

Makes 12

1 tbsp dried lavender flowers

2 med free range eggs

160g caster sugar

220g peeled and finely grated courgette

1tsp vanilla extract

100g white rice flour

120g ground almonds

2tsp baking powder

¼ tsp salt

For the icing

140g icing sugar

3tbsp water

A little purple food colouring paste

You will need:

A 12 hole muffin tray

12 cupcake cases

1.      Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C/350 degrees F/Gas mark 4 and line the muffin tray with the paper cases

2.      Using a pestle and mortar, bash up the lavender flowers

3.      Whisk the eggs and sugar in a bowl for 5 mins until they are pale in colour and quadrupled in size. Mix in the crushed flowers, flour, ground almonds, baking powder and salt

4.      Spoon the mixture into the paper cases aiming for it to come four fifths of the way up each case. Place in the oven for 20 mins until risen and cooked, Don’t be alarmed if they are flat on top.

5.      Whilst the cupcakes are cooking, make the icing. Sieve the icing sugar into a bowl. Add the water and colouring, a tiny bit at a time. Stir with a fork until you are looking at lavender coloured paste.

6.      Once cooked remove the cakes from the oven and cool them in the tin for 15 mins. They can be iced once cold.

200 cals each cake and 6.6g saturated fat

Cream-cheese frosting for cupcakes

This is really a buttercream icing, made with cream cheese rather than purely butter, which cuts the sweetness a bit.

• 11oz/300g cream cheese
• 2oz/60g butter at room temperature
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 12oz/340g icing sugar

Whizz all the ingredients together in a food processor. Chill for an hour or so before using.

Cupcake fillings ~ Variations

Ideas for fillings
Lemon curd (Homemade or Duchy Originals do a good one) Chocolate Spread (Marks and Spencer's Fairtrade Chocolate Sauce is to die for)
Raspberry Jam
Whipped cream, lightly sweetened
A cherry soaked in Kirsch (from a jar)

Top tips for cupcake making

TOP TIPS FOR MAKING CUPCAKES

Use paper cases that fit the cake tins snugly, or they'll either spread too much or wrinkle up. Annoyingly, sizes aren't standardised, so measure your tin's cup size before buying cases.

Use butter and eggs at room temperature for lighter cakes.

Don't get any mixture on the edges of the cupcake case: it will burn and may stop the cake rising evenly.

Turn the tin round after 12 minutes or so if your oven has hot spots.

If all else fails, buy ready-made and ice them yourself. (Best cheat: ready-made cupcakes that are not filled too high look most homemade when flooded with fondant icing - try Asda's cakes with Tate & Lyle fondant icing mix.)

Lemon meringue cupcakes

LEMON MERINGUE CUPCAKES

These little cakes are squidgy and intensely lemony. They are very good with or without the frivolous meringue topping. If you do decide to gild the lily, be sure to use the shiny foil cake cases, since paper ones may singe when the meringue is being browned. Baked in tiny petit four cases, these are delicious after dinner with coffee.

• 4oz/110g butter, at room temperature
• 4oz/110g caster sugar
• 2oz/60g ground almonds
• Grated zest of 2 lemons, juice of 1
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 2oz/60g self-raising flour
• 4oz/110g icing sugar

To decorate:

• 2 egg whites
• 4oz/110g caster sugar

Preheat the oven to 170C/325F/gas mark 3. Line a 12-hole cupcake tin with foil cases.
In the food processor or by hand, beat the butter and sugar together until pale and light. Beat in the almonds and lemon zest, followed by the eggs a little at a time. Add the flour and pulse until just combined.
Divide the mixture between the foil cases. Bake for 20 minutes, until springy and touched with brown (they won't rise as much as regular cupcakes). Meanwhile mix the lemon juice and icing sugar to make a syrup. Spoon the syrup over the hot cakes, then leave to cool in the tin.
To decorate: beat the egg whites until stiff, then beat in the sugar a little at a time until stiff and smooth. Use this shaving foam-like mixture to fill a piping bag, and pipe over the cupcakes. Brown with a blow torch or under a preheated, fiercely hot grill.