Super Easy Homemade Crumpet Recipe (Thermomix Recipe Too!)

Who doesn’t love a warm, toasted crumpet with lashings of butter and jam on a lazy Sunday morning?

 

The only thing better than this, is a crumpet that you made yourself – no preservatives – no nasties – with ease.

 

With the weekend almost on our doorstep, I thought that I would share this delicious and oh so easy recipe for you to enjoy on your breakfast tables.

 

For my fellow Thermomix friends, I have included the Thermomix version of this recipe as well as a recipe for those with simply a blender. It has been adopted with pride from the Thermomix recipe community.

You’ll need:

• 1 Tbs of Caster Sugar (or if using Thermomix, 1 Tbs  raw sugar)
•  ½ cup or 120 g self raising flour
• ¼ teaspoon baking powder
• 1 egg
• 2/3 cup or 160 g milk 

Method:

 

Preparing the Batter -Thermomix:

• If using a Thermomix weigh in raw sugar and mill for 3 seconds on speed 9 to make caster sugar
• Add remaining ingredients and mix for 5 seconds on speed 3-4
• Check you have a smooth consistency- if not, scrape down and repeat 

Preparing the Batter – Non Thermomix

• Place all ingredients in a blender and mix until all ingredients smooth and combined 

To cook:

• Add a little butter to a pan and also around egg rings and heat pan on low heat for 1 minute (hint: make sure heat is set to low, as you don’t want your crumpets to burn on the bottom without cooking through)
• Add approx 2 Tbs of batter to each egg ring and cook without turning for around 8 minutes

Speed up the process by putting multiple egg rings in the pan at once

• Crumpets are cooked when the bubbles stop rising to the surface
• If you like the ‘top toasted’ flip to the front and cook for 20 seconds
• Top your beautiful crumpets with your favourite toppings and enjoy – you’ll never buy again!

Sweet or Savoury toppings - the crumpet is so versitle!

 Hope you have a fabulous weekend and enjoy these tasty crumpets!

Finding love in unexpected places…..

No, no, no. I am not talking about the cute guy or gal that you have been checking out when you recently picked up your dry cleaning, or visited your local supermarket. I am talking about the kind of ‘love’ that comes with finding something utterly fabulous, for next to nothing, at a spot where you would least expect it….

Like an exact copy (but better looking) of this year’s Prada Boots reduced to $10 at your local Target store.

Now before you log off and get to Target pronto – this was just an example – sorry to get you so excited. But if you happen to find ‘said’ boots, do let me know, I would be down to the shops as quick as a flash!!

This week I found my unexpected love at K-mart….

The perfect Office organising set - at the perfect price!

With starting my own little business, my little home office was looking in dire need of a bit of organising to cope with the extra paperwork going on, so finding this little set above came at a perfect time.

The cost? A measly $7!!!! Amazing - you cannot even get a glass of cask wine for that these days!

With 6 pieces in this set including:

• A large storage box (as you can see, perfect size for ribbons and craft)
• Magazine File
• In-tray
• Pen Cup (sadly pen not included, but hey what can you expect for this price!!)
• Letter/Note pad holder (note pad not included)
• A memo cube with paper

This works out at just $1.15 a piece – such a bargain and it is very stylish too - even if I do say so myself!

Not only did it come in the classic black and white above, but it comes in a gorgeous colourful aqua/green and white combo pictured below.

I purchased a couple in this colour combo as well to use the storage boxes in Mr B’s room.

My hubby is on holidays for the next few days, so I am going to use this time to get stuck in to putting this gorgeous little set in to action and tidy and organise my study nook.

Have you found ‘love’ in an unexpected place this week?! Would love to hear details of your bargain!

Once you’ve popped, can you stop?! Easy Tim Tam Cake Pop Recipe

First it was the cupcake faze that had us all donning our aprons in a baking frenzy. Then it was the macaroon craze that saw us tearing our hair out trying to perfect these difficult French delicacies, and now it seems that the cake pop is the baking fad of the year – or was that last year?! I spent 2011 in a pregnancy nauseated state so excuse me if I am a year late on this one…..

I have wanted to try my hand at these teeny treats for quite some time and a cold Wintery day provided the perfect excuse for a lazy day inside baking today.

Now I thought being my first attempt that I would try the much reveled Tim Tam Cake Pop recipe that was featured on the Not Quite Nigella website. This recipe only requires 3 simple ingredients, so I thought it had to be the easiest for a cake pop virgin like myself.

You’ll need:

• 1 Packet of Tim Tams (200g pack is perfect or you could be like me and purchase the 365g value pack, use 200g and eat the rest!!)
• 100g Cream Cheese at room temperature (or softened)
• Melted Chocolate to cover the balls (your choice – white, dark or milk)

Yes really only 3 ingredients!

Method:

• Crush Tim Tims in a blender/food processor/Thermomix. If you have a good set of biceps and no blender, you might want to flex your muscles crush these by hand
• Add your cream cheese and pulse until the mixed is combined and starts to come together (or stir with those muscled arms of yours!)

• Refrigerate mix until set (approx 30-40 minutes)
• Roll in to balls and place in fridge to set for a further 10 minutes (try and be patient and resist popping a few in your mouth - the wait will be worth it, trust me!)
• Start preparing your ‘pops’! Melt a small quantity of your chocolate (either by stove or microwave) and dip the end of the lollipop stick in to the melted chocolate and push in to the cake ball which should be firm at this stage

• Return pops to  the fridge for a further 15 minutes
• Prepare your chocolate to coat the pops by melting on stove top or microwave. Chocolate should be smooth and silky, so consider adding a little bit of copha or vegetable oil to achieve this ‘glossiness’
• Place cake pop in the melted chocolate (hold the stick), shake off the excess chocolate and allow to set
• Now for the fun part – decoration!!  Consider chocolate swirls, hundreds and thousands, cachous or anything else you can stick on!!
• Enjoy and don’t blame me when you eat the entire lot.

The finished product! Not as pretty as I'd hoped, but oh so yum!

My Cake Pop Tips:

• Don’t do this on a day where you are not feeling particularly patient, the process of applying the chocolate is much more difficult than I anticipated (hint: try and do when the little ones are tucked up in to bed and out of earshot of your frustrated swearing when the chocolate seizes/sets too quickly/goes lumpy/doesn’t look like the pros - or all of the above)
• The chocolate definitely needs to be runny and smooth, mine wasn’t as ‘liquid’ as I would have liked (still tasted delicious!)
• Next time I will be adding copha as the vegetable oil tends to give the chocolate that ‘oily taste’ and so I didn’t add too much to get the desired consistency
• The pops definitely need to be ‘firm and set’ for the chocolate to set, consider a short period in the freezer. Just not too long, otherwise when you try to apply the chocolate on, it might crack as I experienced
• I used 4 inch lollipop sticks, I think for parties and special occasions the longer 6 inch sticks look better
• If you don’t have a stand, consider placing your pops face down and presenting on a beautiful platter or plate, or place in styrofoam covered with gorgeous paper for parties

For some decorating inspiration, feel free to check out my Pinterest board dedicated to these petite delights:

http://pinterest.com/UttOrganised/cake-pops/

Have a go and baking these and let me know what you think! Happy Baking all.

Slightly obsessed with Cube Storage…..

As I found myself at the Target checkout yesterday afternoon with not one, but two storage cube units that I had purchased that day, I wondered if I had a condition that could only be described as mild obsession with cube units?!

What is not to love about these compact yet utterly attractive units that disguise and house one million Fisher Price toys in to one organised space?! You can go from disaster site to organised house in a matter of seconds by stuffing items in these fabulous things! I have to date 4 storage cube units in my home and as the number of toys continue to breed and multiply so are the number of cube units that I seem to be acquiring!

If you are short on storage space in your house or simply like me and wanting to regain space on your floor to actually make it to your kitchen without breaking a limb, then look no further than the humble cube unit. These can house all matter of objects and are perfect in the kids playroom, bedroom, office or living area and for all your storage needs from books to dvds, shoes and clothing and just about anything that you can manage to shove in to one!

Now we all know just have fantastic the Ikea Expedit unit is (we also have one of these too!), however if you are after something a little lighter on the purse strings then Target might have the answer for you….

Exhibit A below is a Target 9 cube unit that retails for $59.00. Target regularly has these discounted at 40% and sometimes 50% off. We managed to snare one for $29.00 which was such a bargain! This unit is perfect for our lounge area where Mr B and I currently do most of our play time.  On the assembly front, this rates at 5 stars. Hubby managed to put this together with no dramas or swear words – definitely a record.

Exhibit A - Source: Target

Exhibit B below is the fabulous fabric storage cube boxes also from trusty Target. They retail for $10 but keep your eye out as Target regularly discount these too (we picked them up for $5 last week). They also come in blue, red, purple and pink – so you are sure to find a hue to suit your color scheme. For kids, I think that these are great labeled to encourage kids to pack away their toys or belongings after use in to the right spot (well we all can dream can’t we?!).

Exhibit B - Source: Target

We have the white unit with green fabric cubes and I must say that in our grey/white living area it looks lovely and fresh. The white unit would be fantastic for you to unleash your creative skills on, by decorating with paint and stencils.

Now I know that there are countless cube units out there on the market, but at such a pretty price I thought it would be criminal not to share this little one with you all.

Are you slightly cube obsessed as well?!

Note: For all my readers in the States you are in luck! These units are also stocked at Target in the States for $51.99. Why do you always get things so much cheaper than us ‘down under’?!

I Heart Pinterest

Now I think that I might be a bit slow on the up take of this fad as well, but I am utterly in love with Pinterest!! I know - where have I been hiding for the past year?

For those who are not familiar with this fabulous tool (I only discovered it last week!), Pinterest is a virtual pin board that allows users to share and organise all of their ideas, information and inspiration that they find on the internet.

Users are also able to search and browse ‘boards’ from other members and share their inspiration and add these to their own boards – genius!!

If you are embarking on a new project – wedding, new baby, renovation or redecoration anyone?! – then this will be your new best friend too!  This tool is just fabulous as it allows me to share some ideas with one of my fabulous clients on the project that we are working on together.

There are some amazing ideas to be found for organising your home on this Site and I will be sure to try and capture these on my 'boards' to share with you.

I could honestly spend an entire day on this thing if it was not for a 6 month old little man that needs my attention….

If you are interested in checking out or following me on Pinterest, please follow the link below:

http://pinterest.com/UttOrganised/

In love with Pinterest too? Would love to hear your thoughts!

Look for the Pininterest Icon!

The ‘Huggable Hanger’: Space Saving Coat Hangers

Once upon a time there was a little (not so old, thank you!) lady with so much closet space and oh so many clothes. With a cupboard full in each of her 3 bedrooms and a free standing clothing rack, she was in no shortage of space to hang all of her wonderful garments and store all of her beautiful shoes. However one child, copious amounts of toys later, this has all changed…..

Now although I would never change having Mr B in my life, I do miss the days of having a whole 3 bedroom house acting like a dedicated shrine to all my clothes/shoes/coats/bags and believe me there are plenty of them!

I like to think that my bedroom wardrobe is quite organised, however since having a baby I must admit that things have started to slide. No longer does my colour coordinated paradise present itself to me when I throw open those doors of a morning and to my utter disgust I actually noticed a top on the floor today (oh the horror!). Hmmmm what can I do, I pondered….

In a quest to save some space in my wardrobe, without the need to cull too many of my clothes (I did have a big cleanup post summer, I promise!), I started my research. I quickly stumbled across somewhat of a huge fad in the States that I don’t think has reached our shores in Australia– the huggable hanger!!

Now for those readers like me that are not aware of these marvelous contraptions, they claim to virtually double your wardrobe space and the velvet flocked material prevents clothes from slipping off the hanger. Oh and they look oh so pretty too….

I did debate calling on my American friends to post these beauties to me, however the price of posting the 400 odd hangers that I will need (yes really) was probably going to be a tad over the top even for someone like me (one wage, must remember that mantra!). So I decided to source a local alternative here in Australia and give these a try.

I am pleased to report that these are ordered and on the way for review very, very soon. I decided to start off small with 200…..

I really hope that they can restore my utterly organised wardrobe to its former glory and save me some space (not for more clothes, I promise – one wage, one wage, one wage…).

Look forward to reporting back on this project soon.

Have you tried the huggable hanger? Worth the hype?

Carrot & Apple Crumble Muffins - Oh My!

What is not to love about the smell of freshly baked muffins wafting through the air on a cold, grey, wintery Melbourne day? Mmmm…..

I try to make DH (darling husband) at least one batch of muffins, a cake or a slice each week for him to take to work. Sometimes I find it difficult to do during the week, so I use the opportunity of using Sunday when he is home to get organised with my baking and meal preparation for the week. We are fortunate that today was a public holiday in Australia to celebrate the Queens Birthday, so I had an extra baking day – yay!!

Today I tried and adapted a reader’s recipe from the “That’s Life Reader Recipes book 8” and these muffins were so easy and fabulous that I had to share it with you. I seem to have been riding a ‘chocolate high’ since Easter (yes I know, month’s ago now!), so these were a sweet treat without the guilt and only contain around 1.4grams of fat.

Now if you have a fabulous Thermomix it will really take the work out of grating and making the crumble for you, so I will give you those instructions as well.

You’ll need:

Makes approx 12 large or 20 smaller/patty sized muffins

Muffin Base: 

• 1 ½ Cups of Self Raising Flour
• 1 Cup Rolled Oats
• ¾ Cup brown sugar (or you could use Rapadura)
• 1 Tbs Mixed spice
• 1 Green apple grated
• 1 Carrot grated
• 1 Cup Vanilla Yoghurt (I used Jalna Vanilla & Honey – yummo!)
• 1/3 Cup Vegetable Oil (or you could use Macadamia Oil too)
• 1 Egg, lightly beaten 

Crumble Topping

• 2 Tbs Plain Flour
• ¼ Tsp Mixed Spice
• 1/3 Cup Rolled Oats
• 1Tbs Brown Sugar (or you could use Rapadura)
• 2 Tbs Coconut 

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees (160 degrees if using fan forced). Lightly grease muffin pans, or simply line with muffin cases (I personally find this so much easier and much easier for washing up!)
2. Sift self raising flour in to large bowl and add oats, sugar, mixed spice, grated apple and carrot. If you have a Thermomix, I simply popped the carrot chopped in to 3rds and an apple quartered and zapped on speed 5 for around 15 seconds until all grated
3. Pour in yoghurt, oil and beaten egg and stir until combined (do not overmix)
4. Spoon mixture in to prepared tin or patty cases
5. Prepare crumble by mixing flour and mixed spice in bowl
6. Rub in butter to make a crumbly mixture
7. Add oats, coconut and sugar, stir to combine
8. Now if you have a Thermomix, you just pop all of the crumble ingredients in the bowl and zap on speed 6 for 5-7 seconds – simple!
9. Sprinkle each muffin with crumble topping
10. Bake for approx 20 minutes, or until golden brown

Handy Tips/Tricks:

• When cool you can dust with icing sugar, but these are so tasty I found I did not need to! 
• I actually made extra crumble topping, steamed some granny smith apples and made some apple crumble for later on in the week.

I hope that you enjoy these as much as I did, would love your feedback.

What’s was cooking in your kitchen today?

Delicious for a Wintery Day with a Cuppa, enjoy!

Thermomix: A Thermo What?!!

How can you not love a single kitchen device that has the capabilities of over 10 kitchen appliances in just one compact machine?

First of all I must preface this post by saying that I am in no way affiliated or bring paid to comment on the Thermomix, I just wanted to share my thoughts on this little appliance with you all.

In the quest to being ‘Utterly Organised’ with a little one, this machine goes a long way…..

For those that have no idea what I am talking about, Thermomix claims that their machine is “the most advanced kitchen appliance on the market today. Thermomix unites the functions of over 10 appliances in one compact unit”. 

I purchased this machine a little over 4 months ago now and I have to admit that it has completely changed my life. Gone are countless jars, tins and packets of preservative laden foods and in their place is a load of fresh and raw ingredients that are instantly turned in to the most delicious, quick and easy meals and snacks.

Want sorbet in 20 seconds – done. Custard in 7 minutes – done. Butter in one minute – done. Cake mixed in 30 seconds – done, done, done!

Today I made porridge, crumpets, banana muffins, apricot cookies, baguettes, peanut butter, satay sauce, vegetable lasagne and two batches of puree for Master Brodie. All from scratch and all using one bowl! How long do you think that it took me for this lot? 9 hours? 16 hours? All day? I kids you not that all of this was done in less than 2 hours and that is with a grizzly baby in tow!

It does sound all too good to be true doesn’t it?!

Well the only catch to this machine is the price tag and at just shy of $2000 – this little baby is not cheap! But for those that love the idea of being able to iron or play with your baby whilst having a healthy homemade risotto cook itself in under 15 minutes, then I definitely suggest that you contact Thermomix for a demo of this machine (qualms about the price aside!).

There is no end to this machines capabilities and talents and in my quest to try and eliminate a few nasties from the families diet, this machine reigns supreme. It cooks everything to perfection and even the most novice cook will have a very hard time burning or ruining a dish!

Tomorrow is pizza scrolls, veggie soup, carrot and apple muffins, cape seed bread, pancakes, smoothies and an apricot chicken risotto to boot…..

I will be sure to feature more on the Thermomix on the blog.

Have a Thermomix? Would love to hear your thoughts and favorite recipes.

Thermomix: Kitchen Wonder!

Welcome to Utterly Organised!

Welcome!

My name is Allison and I am the face behind Utterly Organised. 

I simply love to organise and be organised!  

I live in Melbourne, Australia and operate and manage my own small business ‘Utterly Organised’ which focuses on Lifestyle and Business Organisation, Event Design and Styling.

http://www.facebook.com/UtterlyOrganised

I have many years of varied work experience including working as a Travel Consultant and a Sales and Marketing Executive in the Tourism industry. I have extensive experience as an Executive Assistant to various high profile Directors in large global organisations such as BMW, Nestle and ABB. 

I have also worked as an Event Manager in London. This amazing opportunity allowed me to create and manage large scale events for Hollywood Film Premieres and events for Royal and Celebrity clients.  

In late 2011 my life changed when I became a first time Mum to a gorgeous little boy, this has been my most exciting job to date!  

My loves include organising (of course!), my family, friends, my business, shopping and I have a real weakness for baking sweet treats.

My blog will cover all of my loves, my life and along the way I hope to inspire you to be Utterly Organised!

To get that Utterly Organised feeling, simply send me an email and let me know how I can help.

Utterlyorganised@gmail.com

I would love to hear from you!