That's what I thought when I first found out about the cooking bags by Ready Chef Go. Why would I steam in the oven? Well they have their reasons for thinking it's a good idea. Watch the video and find out!
Ok. Now that you've watched it, what do you think? Will this be a useful novelty to add to your cooking utensils or will it be another half used box that sits on your shelf?
I will definitely use this for soups and stocks, but not in the microwave and not to save time, that's for sure.
And to be honest, another thing that bothers me about this is the one time use of the bags. You know I don't like to waste, and this is a lot of plastic (or whatever these bags are made out of) that they are releasing in the environment!
So I'll give it a solid 2/5, because the quality of the steamed food is outstanding, but it looses stars when it comes to being environmentally friendly and for daily use.
Yes, yes, I know cupcakes are not an italian dish, but my friend Robyn Muse makes the most amazing ones and I just had to learn how to make them! Here is the full list of ingredients.
For 24 cupcakes:
2 1/2 cup flour with 2 tsp baking powder
1 stick of butter (8 tbsp)
2 cup sugar
2 eggs
4 large Gala apples
1tsp vanilla extract
1tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
3/4 cup butter milk
For the Syllabub
4 tbsp caster sugar (normal sugar will also work)
1tbsp Calvados (I did a variation with Gran Marnier and it turned out delicious)
1/2 cup apple cider or the juice of the apples used for the cupcakes
300 ml heavy cream
the juice of one lemon
1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon
For the step by step instructions you can watch the video recipe here
CUPCAKES
1. Mix all the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ground ginger).
2. In a separate container cream the butter with a hand whip
3. Add the sugar, the eggs, the flour slowly and mindfully on at the time
4. Grate the apples with a cheese grater and with the help of a pinch of salt squeeze all the juice out of them. We don't want too much moister in the batter because that would make it soggy. Keep the juice, we'll use it for the topping. Add 4 cups of the squeezed grated apples.
5. Put the cupcakes cups in the cupcakes tin and 3 tbsp of batter in each one of them.
6. Place in medium/low rack in the oven set to 350 F/180 C for about 20 minutes.
SYLLABUB
1. Mix all the ingredients together except for the heavy cream and whisk till sugar is dissolved.
2. Add the heavy cream and start whipping it until the cream is dense and firm
3. Place in the fridge and let it cool for about 30 minutes.
LET'S PUT THEM TOGETHER!
Once the cupcakes are cold you can top them with the Syllabub. If it seems like it's too liquid, put the cupcakes with the syllabub topping in the fridge for another 10 minutes. With a flat knife make some ripples in the syllabub (watch the video for a better sense on how to do this).
Decorate with cinnamon powder, cinnamon sticks and your choice of sugar sprinkles!
