I don’t know why I do it to myself, but every year I decide to make something homemade for Eid gifts. This year has been especially tough, with all of us being sick at one time or another throughout the month. And for one week we were all sick at the same time.
I don’t know why, there’s just something about a home baked treat and despite the craziness, illness, and all the general busyness that is Ramadan I still wanted to make something. I found super cute mini round paper baking pans at Aldi – they actually had these in their store a little while ago. I was lucky to find the last few floating around their store. They make the perfect size for a gift. I wish I had found more cases and was having a better run, I would have liked to gift these to more people. But I kept it simple and easy and only ended up gifting them to family and close friends.
Let’s talk about these cakes, they’re sticky date cakes. I mean come on, it’s Ramadan, what better way to finish than with date cakes. They’re sticky, they’re moist, they’re delicious, they’re full of flavour and they’re drenched in butterscotch sauce.
I wrapped them in a cellophane bag and added a simple Eid Mubarak Tag, you can download yours here free.
Pre heat oven to 160c and prepare your pans. I used 10 x 12cm paper liners. This would also fit into 2 20cm pans.
Pit your dates and roughly chop them, measure out 3 cups after chopping Place you dates, water and bicarb soda in a food processor. Make sure all the dates are covered. Leave to steep for 10 minutes.
While waiting for the dates, beat sugar and butter in a mixer on a medium speed until thick and creamy.
Process date mixture and add to the butter and sugar. Beat till the dates are mixed through.
Add in eggs and vanilla and mix till incorporated.
Add in flour and beat until just combined.
Pour ¾ cup of your mixture into the prepared pans. Place in the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes. Your cakes will be ready when a skewer pierced through comes out clean.
Butterscotch Sauce
In a saucepan over medium heat, combine your sugar, cream and butter. Stir occasionally until the sugar is dissolved. Turn to high heat and let mixture come to the boil. Once boiled set aside to cool.
Pierce holes through the cakes and pour over the sauce. Best served warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
I know, I know! Fried Chicken!! I pride myself on being healthier than most in Ramadan, we barely veer off our usual dinners and just add in a savoury starter here and there. Even our added starters are healthier, I bake things that should be fried. I go all out to ensure we don’t go overboard. But… Fried Chicken! Who can resist fried chicken?
My Pasta and Bean Salad was featured in this Buzzfeed Community Round Up of Healthy Iftar Ideas recently. Of all the delicious looking things on the list, I knew the baked chicken tenders would be one of the first to try. And try it I did, the only problem was a lack of time and planning (need to work on that) forced me to fry the chicken instead of bake it. Needless to say, the fried version was amazing. I’m sure it would be just as good baked, I’ll have to try it someday. If you’d like to try it for yourself, check out the full recipe on My Ninja Naan.
I have to admit, things have been super busy lately, but when Henna asked me to guest post on her blog I couldn’t refuse. It’s the least I could do for such a good friend. It’s amazing the connections we can make while miles apart. Be sure to check out Henna’s Blog, she has amazing makes and bakes sure to tantalise your taste buds.
Things have gotten a little quiet around here and I wanted a way to still be able to share all the amazing things I come across, from products to recipes and anything else interesting along the way, hence the start of a monthly favourites post. My hope is that these monthly posts will let me have a space to share some of my ideas and finds with you without me having to go through the effort of writing full-length blog posts, which I don’t have time for these days. I’ll also include links to recipes, where to purchase or just for viewing where necessary. Some of these links may be affiliate links.
Cakes and cupcakes
I had gone a little cupcake crazy in April. The month started with a woodland themed baby shower for my cousin in law, I made lilac coloured blueberry cream cheese vanilla cupcakes and chocolate mint cupcakes. The mint was an absolute hit. I used a few drops of peppermint oil (I used Oil Garden Aromatherapy from Go Vita Myer Centre, Brisbane) in the buttercream instead of essence which contains alcohol. The mint themed continued with mint cupcakes for my sister in law and my in-laws as they have birthdays close together in April. The cupcake theme was rounded off early May with my mum’s birthday, again another lot of choc mint cupcakes with a rose buttercream piped top. It was the first time I used this rose piping technique. The effect is so beautiful yet so easy to achieve
It didn’t stop there, my in laws offical birthday cake was a piece of luggage since they travel often and for Mr Munchies I made a chocolate covered superman logo cake filled with coffee cheesecake and a surprise inside. April is a seriously crazy month with baking, way too many birthdays!
My favourite chocolate cupcake recipe is a one bowl wonder by Sweetapolita.
Muslim Kids Guide
One of the reasons I’ve been so busy lately is because of my work on Muslim Kids Guide. It’s a new site founded by Peter Gould, co-edited by myself and Razeena of READ Little Muslims. It really is a one-stop shop for finding all the great things out there for Muslim Kids (or at least it will be insha Allah). It’s only in the beginning stages but we’ll get there.
Books
I have been reading a little more than I should lately, I had forgotten how much I had enjoyed reading. I’ve been using an app called Borrow Box which allows you to borrow books via the app using your library membership. There are different types of apps used with library memberships, Borrow Box is just one of them, you might have to check with your local library to see they type they use. I also use the Kindle App on my iPhone to read books I’ve purchased on Amazon.
I have yet to start any preparing in terms of food for Ramadan, but I have been preparing in other ways. I have started making up my missed fasts, I’m really hoping to tackle them all by the end of this year insha Allah. I dug up my 49 ways to Kids Involved in Ramadan post from last year and have started circulating it again, I need to sit down and give it a good read so I can make sure the kids are well prepared too. My first plan will be to start reading Ramadan books to the kids.
49 Ways to get Kids involved in Ramadan
I hope you enjoyed the first post in my monthly favourites series. What were you up to in April?
One of the activities on our Hajj Activity list last year was to make sheep cupcakes, unfortunately we never got down to it. So, this year when an opportunity came up to write a post for Multicultural Kids Blog I thought why not make them. I searched Pinterest and Google to see what it offered in terms of sheep cupcakes and most results came back with cute little sheep covered in mini marshmallows. Now, mini HALAL marshmallows aren’t the easiest things to find. We’ve been lucky a few times to have them at our local butcher but not this time. After putting a call out on my personal Facebook page, I realised there were many others in the same boat. So, I decided that I needed to come with some other ways to make cute little sheep cupcakes instead. I hadn’t planned to re-invent the wheel on this, but it just seemed necessary.
I made 4 different versions of sheep cupcakes, they all create the same fluffy effect. There’s cupcakes covered in grated white chocolate, cupcakes covered in shredded coconut, cupcakes covered in marshmallows (the big ones – which are much easier to find) and lastly cupcakes frosted to look like wool. Of course if you can’t find halal marshmallows at all, then just use one of (or all of) the other 3 versions and if you’re lucky enough to find minis then use those instead. The faces/heads were created with royal icing, but you could use compound chocolate or candy melts instead. Click the image below for the template or here – Sheep head Template.
I even went so far to create a video tutorial. This is my first ‘voiced’ tutorial and I have to admit, I am a little nervous. I don’t like the sound of my own voice, but I faced my fears just so I could better show you all how to make these cuties. The Eid Mubaaarak cupcake toppers are also free to download. You just need to print them out, cut them, stick onto some toothpick or lollipop sticks and place into your cupcakes.
Pre heat oven to 180c and prepare your muffin/cupcake pans with cupcake liners. In a mixer combine your eggs and sugar and beat for about 1 minute. Add in your oil and vanilla and beat for another minute. Mic together your flour, baking powder, and salt and set aside, you can sift these if you prefer. Measure out your milks and set aside. Add in half the the flour mixture then half the milk then the rest of the flour and follow with the last bit of milk. Mix until just combined.
Fill cupcake liners until ⅔ full and place in the oven. Bake for 13-15 minutes. The tops will be slightly golden and the cupcakes will spring back if touched. Alternatively a clean skewer through a cupcake can be used to check if they’re baked. Set aside your cupcakes to cool.
Buttercream
In the bowl of a mixer, place your butter and beat on a medium to high speed for as long as you possibly can. Anywhere from 5-10 is a good time. This will ensure a fluffy and creamer coloured buttercream (instead of a more yellowy one). Reduce the mixer to a very low speed and add in your sifted icing sugar. Beat until combined. Add in you milk and beat until combined.
Sheep faces/heads
Make some royal icing in black and white (you could also use compound chocolate). Pipe out the faces over the template and leave aside to set for an hour. Pipe the facial features on top and leave aside to set for 24 hours. Peel off and keep aside ready for use.
To decorate
Fill a piping bag with your frosting. Pipe a small dome onto the cupcake. Roll into coconut or grated white chocolate. Then pipe on a tiny dot of frosting and attach a face.
If making with marshmallows, cut them in half and place the marshmallows around the cupcakes. Leave a blank spot to attach the face. Alternatively you could just frost the cupcakes in a dome shape and attache the face. Or pipe around the cupcakes, starting at the edges dragging in and continuing the process for a few layers which creates a cloud like effect. Then attach a face.
This year has been a little busier than usual. I thought having a 4.5 year old and a 1.5 year old would be easier than last year having a 3.5 year old and a 6 month old. But let me just tell you, I was wrong!! While my 4 year old is pretty good most of the time, Alhumdulillah, it’s my 1.5 year old that gave me a hard time this year. Between her staying up for 2-4 hours at night or her need to not be more than 2 feet away from me – or attached to my hip when out, to her tantrums and lack of eating it has been a little harder than I expected. They call it the terrible two’s but I’m starting to think they had it all wrong, this starts way before they even hit 2. However I’m grateful to have gotten through and I’m so glad to say with a full nights rest these last couple of days she has been an absolute delight, Alhumdulillah.
Rant aside, I wanted to be a part of Eid Eats this year, but when it came down to it, things got a little too crazy and I didn’t get a chance to make something specifically for the occasion. However I’ve had these Sweet & Salty Pecan Cheesecake Bars tucked away and now seemed like the perfect time to put it to good use. Wouldn’t it be great for Eid? My mum asked me to make these a while ago. She sent me a recipe but it turned out the recipe was American and had a lot of ingredients thats weren’t in my Aussie pantry, so I made my own version instead and it turned out wonderfully.
Prepare a 8 x 8-inch pan with baking paper and cooking spray. Preheat your oven to 170c. Crush your crackers until fine like breadcrumbs, don’t be concerned about bigger chunks among the crumbs. Add your melted butter and brown sugar. Mix well and press into prepared pan, place in the fridge for 15 minutes.
Cheesecake Filling
Beat cream cheese on a medium speed until smooth. Add sugar and vanilla and beat until combined. Add in eggs one at a time until combined. Spread over prepared base and place in the oven for 25 minutes.
Pecan topping
Roughly chop pecans and add in brown sugar and butter. Mix well. After the cheesecake has baked for 20 minutes, remove and gently top with the pecan mixture. Spreading over gently, but firmly pressing into the cheesecake. By placing this on top after some baking time, it ensures the pecan mixture doesn’t settle to the bottom and doesn’t burn. Place back in the oven for 15 more minutes.
Allow to cool completely, then place in the fridge for a couple hours to chill. It is easiest to cut these when it is chilled. Remove and slice into squares. if you feel you may break the cheesecake when removing, then slice them first and remove one slice at a time. Store in the fridge until ready to serve.
Notes
Variation: For this recipe I used salty crackers and salted butter. You could use unsalted butter and biscuits instead if you don’t like salty sweet desserts. If using sweet biscuits, there’ll be no need for the brown sugar in the base.
Still looking for Eid Gift ideas? This year has been a little (very) crazy. I’ve had a 17 month old who would be up 2-4 hours at night, suffice to say I was exhausted during the day. I didn’t have a chance to get, make or even plan out my Eid gifts this year. An idea came to me, simple and easy yet yummy and handmade. I do like giving handmade gifts, last year I gave brownie mix jars hard to family and playdough to all my sons little friends.
This year I handed out almond, toffee, salted chocolate bark to our friends and family. I also made cute printables to go with them. Keep reading for the recipe and free printables.
The size of my bags were 13cm but I made the printables slightly bigger so they’d fit a snack size snap lock bag as well. You could use them as is on a bag or cut the edges to fit. I made them in green and black and there’s 3 on a page to save from excessive printing.
Click the green image for the green version or the black for the black labels. Enjoy!
Lay a piece of baking paper on a flat tray. Place your sugar into a flat pan on medium to high heat. Ensure your sugar is dvey spread onthe pan. When the sugar dissolves and begins to turn an amber colour, remove from the heat and pour into your baking paper and spread thin and evenly.
Chop your almonds and set aside in a bowl. Once your toffee (cooked sugar) has set, cut it with a knife. This will cause the toffee to crack and shatter into small shards. Set aside the shards in a bowl.
Lay baking paper on 3 flat trays. I melted my chocolate in 2 lots as it was easier to work with.
Chop 200g dark chocolate and 400g milk chocolate into small pieces. Melt your chocolate in a metal/glass bowl over a pot of simmering water, ensure the water does not touch the bottom of the bowl.
Melt the chocolate until almost all the pieces have become smooth and liquid.
Remove from the heat and stir until smooth and shiny. Pour 2 serving spoons of chocolate into each tray and spread to approximately 3mms. If the chocolate is too thin, it will snap easily.
Sprinkle your almonds, toffee shards and salt onto the chocolate.
