FOOD, My recipes, Uncategorized BEEF & GUINNESS BEER STEW, HONEY CUPCAKES 3 August 2007

Was working from home yesterday and cooked some of my colleagues lunch. Did my Beef & Guinness Stew since it’s 1) easy to cook and can be prepared early and 2) it’s great comfort winter food. You’ll find the RECIPE here in a previous post since I made it before. The beef could’ve been softer this time and I need to figure out a way to bring out the flavour of the Guinness beer more.


All the required ingredients

First I coat the beef with flour and pepper, then fry to brown

Then I cook all the veggies and add in tomato paste and some crushed tomatoes

In goes the Guinness beer and beef stock

Pop in some bay leaves for more flavour

Then let simmer for around 2 hours

Serve with buttery, creamy mash

And since I’ve been baking quite a bit recently, I decided to make some nice Honey Cupcakes with Vanilla Icing. These take ~15 mins flat to make – 5 mins to mix the ingredients, and just over 10mins to bake. Too easy! I made a big batch so I could share them with colleagues – it’s a really cheap and tasty little treat. They’re actually meant to be perfect and round with icing drizzled over evenly, but I’m just too lazy so I just whacked them in closely together, which is why they’re a bit funny shaped πŸ˜‰


Just a handful of ingredients is all you’ll need

Drizzling the vanilla essence in

Then pop in the eggs and beat

Fold in the flour and custard powder

And whack it in the oven

Voila!

Honey Cupcakes with Vanilla Icing


Honey Cupcakes with Vanilla Icing (makes 15)

2 tbsp honey, warmed
120g butter
1.5 tsp vanilla essence
1 tbsp brown sugar
2 eggs
1 cup self-raising flour, sifted
1/4 cup custard powder
For icing:
20g butter
1 cup icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
4 tsp hot water

1) Beat butter and honey in a bowl until creamy
2) Add vanilla, sugar and eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition
3) Gently fold in flour and custard powder
4) Spoon into cupcake wrappers and bake approx 12 mins at 180c until lightly golden. Cool.
5) To make icing, combine all ingredients and gradually stir in hot water to a smooth consistency. Spread over cupcakes when cool.

Let’s Chat!




Let's Chat!

hi! i’ve been lurking your LJ for awhile and just wanted to come out and say THANK YOU! i made your beef & Guinness beer stew tonight and it was divine! i couldn’t believe the rich flavor of the stew despite there not being a lot of added seasoning. please continue to post up your recipes :]

hi! i’ve been lurking your LJ for awhile and just wanted to come out and say THANK YOU! i made your beef & Guinness beer stew tonight and it was divine! i couldn’t believe the rich flavor of the stew despite there not being a lot of added seasoning. please continue to post up your recipes :]

Hmm.. when I make my stews I simmer it for about 4 hours and the beef turns out really tender! Maybe if you want to bring the guinness flavour and help tenderise the beef, you could marinade the beef in the beer for a couple of hours beforehand? πŸ™‚ Either way that looks really, even the mash. And those cupcakes look scrumptious!

Yeah this can be stewed for hours.. just makes it softer πŸ™‚ Good idea to marinade it before hand though, I’m gonna try that!

I forgot it’s winter out there. Meanwhile, it’s blazing hot this summer in Hawaii! So humid and sticky! Yuck! *^^*

Hmm.. when I make my stews I simmer it for about 4 hours and the beef turns out really tender! Maybe if you want to bring the guinness flavour and help tenderise the beef, you could marinade the beef in the beer for a couple of hours beforehand? πŸ™‚ Either way that looks really, even the mash. And those cupcakes look scrumptious!

Yeah this can be stewed for hours.. just makes it softer πŸ™‚ Good idea to marinade it before hand though, I’m gonna try that!

I forgot it’s winter out there. Meanwhile, it’s blazing hot this summer in Hawaii! So humid and sticky! Yuck! *^^*