Apple & Carrot Juice + 16 Juice and Smoothie Recipes

A long long time ago a young 26 year old wished for a juicer for her birthday. Her desire for such a kitchen appliance came from the thought that store bought apple juice had too much added sugar. Her wish was granted and she was gifted a juicer.

The first juice she made was apple juice. She soon realised that apple juice needed no added sugar as it was super super sweet and needed to be diluted with water.

After that the juicer lived on a shelf, forgotten, and eventually covered in dust. 

Fast forward to present day and with a new slow juicer sitting on her counter 24/7 juicing has become away to drink more then water. See I don't like squash nor do I drink much soda so to add something besides water I am experimenting with freshly squeezed juice and smoothies.

That's right the girl in the story is me! As if you didn't know..... Anyhow here are couple of juice recipes I have made recently. I have also included several juices and smoothies from other bloggers that I just have to try out soon!

Apple & Carrot Juice: 

4 large carrots
2 apple
1 lime
1 small piece of ginger about an inch
1/4 cucumber

- Chop the vegetables and fruit into chunks that fit your juicers chute before juicing them. Then pour into your favorite class with a few ice cubes!

Pineapple Fizz 

1 small pineapple
sparkling water

- Cut the pineapple length wise and juice. Pour into your favorite glass with a few ice cubes and top up with sparkling water.

I love carrot juice and I was very pleased with the Apple & Carrot Juice the lime and ginger counter acts the sweetness of the carrots and apples with a sharp twist. Pineapple Fizz is the simplest juice ever! Pineapple juice plus sparkling water and done. I found it refreshing and light. Definitely recommend it as a mocktail for the upcoming spring and summer seasons!

I am always looking for excuses to use my juicer and here are some great recipes from fellow bloggers!

The Petite Cook - Vegan Apple Pie Smoothie & Carrot Berry Smoothie & Wonderland Smoothie (pictured below)

From Plate to Pen - Simple Banana Smoothie with Ginger

Made with Pink - Ultimate Healthy Green Mojito Smoothie

Fab Food - 5-a-Day Fruit Smoothie 

Foodie Quine - Strawberry, Blackcurrant & Coconut Water Smoothie, (pictured below) Sparkling Mojito Cocktail Juice, Purple Power Juice - Blackberries, Plums, Beetroot, Apples & Fig, Caipirinha Mocktail Juice

Baking Queen 74 - Blackcurrent and Blueberry Smoothie 

Tin and Thyme - Cucumber and Celery Smoothie (pictured below) & Berry and Rose Kefir Smoothie

Kavey Eats - 3 Ingredient Smoothie | Banana, Matcha & Prune & Golden Banana, Turmeric & Maple Syrup Smoothie (pictured below) 

*images are owned by the respective bloggers listed and linked above 

Orangey Orange Cupcakes with Raspberries

I baked in my new cooker! They (the mystical beings from wherever) say that all cookers temperatures can vary by 5 or 10 degrees one way or the other. The only way to find out how my new oven's tempted swayed was by baking in it!!

It sways on the side of being a bit hotter then the temperature says, but now that I know that I can either adjust the temperature or the cooking/baking time!

One never stops learning things. Like that your boiler needs to be switched on to work. That was a fun visit from the boiler man. He solved my problem with a sharpie marker. He wrote boiler on the plug base thing for me. Just to inform everyone that it's the boiler and it should be switched on.

(For my American friends and family and readers all the electric sockets have switches on them and can be switched off and on. Very useful if you ask me.)

Needless to say this last month has been a learning curve. Now that things are slowly settling it was good to get back to baking! I have a plan to share at least one bake a week. We will all see how that goes....

Anyhow to the cupcakes! These are very orangey with orange zest in the sponge and frosting and raspberries dotting around in the sponge and as decoration! So, I called them orangey orange cupcakes with raspberries!

My flat sits on top of a business and so when I took some of these beauties down to share with them and they all had nothing but praise for how good they were! I was even called to say that they were amazing! That made my day and a good testament that you should try them out!

Orangey Orange Cupcakes with Raspberries

225g unsalted butter, softened
225g caster sugar
a pinch of salt
2 oranges, zest of
4 medium eggs
225g self-rising flour
250g (about) raspberries

Heat the oven to 175C and line two 12 cup muffin tins with cupcake cases.
Beat the softened butter, sugar, salt and orange zest together until light and fluffy. In a separate bowl/jug gently beat the eggs together. Gradually add the beaten eggs to the butter mixture, scraping down the sides when necessary. If it starts to separate or curdle add 1 or 2 tablespoons of the flour (from the 225g) to bring the mixture back together and then continue to add the egg until it's completely combined. Sift in the flour and gently fold in until just combined. Place 1-2 dessert spoons into each case and place 1-2 raspberries on top of the batter! (Be sure to save some for decoration!) Bake for 20-22 minutes depending on your oven. After 10 minutes I rotated my pan to ensure a more even bake. They should be golden brown and springy to the touch, if not sure use the skewer test to ensure they are completely baked.

While they are baking make the cream cheese frosting

Orange & Cointreau Cream Cheese Frosting 

250g full fat cream cheese
250g unsalted butter
625g icing sugar
2 oranges, zest of
2-3 teaspoons of Cointreau, (orange liqueur) optional

Bring the cream cheese out of the fridge when you are ready to start making the frosting, I would suggest doing so while the sponge is baking.

Beat the butter and 200g of the icing sugar together until combined, then add another 200g and beat until smooth, repeat one last time with 225g sugar until it is smooth and fluffy. Add the slightly softened cream cheese, orange zest, and Cointreau if using to the mixture and beat until combined, scraping down the bowl as needed. Put in a piping bag if using and place it in the fridge for about 30 minutes or until it's firm enough to pipe. If not piping I still suggest leaving it in the fridge for a while to firm up.

By this time the cakes should be out of the oven and cooling. Pipe on top of the cooled cakes and add a raspberry (from the cake ingredients) to complete the look!!

more fruity cupcakes:
Salted Caramel Apple Cupcakes from Farmersgirl Kitchen
Diamond Jubilee Cupcakes from Fab Food 4 All
Dark Chocolate & Passion Fruit Cupcakes from Supper in the Suburbs
Orange & Beetroot Cupcakes from Tin and Thyme

notes: recipe was adapted from Peggy Porschen cupcakes - my review is here! FYI I do know that boilers need to be switched on, but I wasn't sure which switch was which and I didn't want to just start flipping switches everywhere and accidentally break something else in the process of trying to turn the boiler on! Just thought I should clarify that!

Making Smoothies with Boost at the Oracle!

Everyone has had a smoothie at some point in their life. If you are reading this thinking "I have never had a smoothie in my life!" then one you're weird and two you should remedy that like right away by visiting your local Boost! 

Mine is in Reading at the Oracle and I am ashamed to admit I have been walking past it these last few months looking, but never stopping. Until last week when I was invited to get a behind the scenes look at how they make their smoothies! 

Boost was founded in Australia and was introduced to the UK in 2007 by Richard and Dawn O'Sullivan. They saw a lack in the UK market for freshly made smoothies and changed that by opening a Boost here in the UK. The first shop is in Manchester and is to this day the 2nd most popular store in the world! Melbourne of course is number 1.

Smoothies, although a very simple concept, are super good for you and taste great! There is probably a diet trend or someone out there ready to disagree with that statement. There are a million arguments for and against blending and juicing fruit and vegetables. 

From what I gather is that no one has a solid answer. Because some fibres are increased and some decreased by blending and some nutrients absorb better when juiced and others not so much. At the end of the day people today don't eat the amount of fruit and vegetables that they should be eating. A smoothie has at least one type of fruit or vegetable and usual contain more. In my opinion that can only be a good thing and when they taste amazing it's hard to argue how they aren't good for you.

I chose to make the Strawberry Squeeze, it is made with strawberries, banana, apple juice, no fat milk, TD4 strawberry yogurt and ice. I replaced the apple juice with orange juice. It means I got to use the fun orange juicing machine pictured above! One of the perks of Boost - you can make the smoothie your own! Swap fruits or juices or add a supplement; Boost want you to like and enjoy your smoothie so they are flexible!

I believe all of us added or changed things in our smoothies one of us even asked for something off menu! We all had a lot of fun making our smoothies and were all happy with our choices! After my experience I will definitely be stopping by for a smoothie and not just walking by looking at it! I know my girls will love it too!

Boost 

Unit 20, The Oracle, Reading, RG1 2AG

Located in the Upper Mall 

notes: I was invited to visit Boost by the Oracle and Boost as a PR event, I was compensated for my time, but was not asked to give a positive response - all opinions are my own please see my contact/policy page for more information.

Oh and one last thing we were given a gym bag full of fun Boost stuff! Polo shirt, cups, key chains, hats, and stuff!! 

Fruit & Yogurt Parfaits

For me breakfast is a thing for the weekends. It’s hard to wake up and want food right away or I should say it’s hard to wake up and want to cook right away. If I had a personal chef and breakfast was waiting for me as I got out of bed then it’s be a different story. But that’s not the story and breakfast is on me.

If there is an easy way for breakfast I will take it. When I was a teenager and started driving my sister and I to school, every once in a while we’d sneak through the McDonald’s drive through for a breakfast burrito (different then the ones here in the UK) and a fruit parfait. Maybe not the best of combinations, but hey I was a teenager and food didn’t seem to “stick” like it does now.

It was or is literally a layer of yogurt, strawberries and blueberries, topped with more yogurt and granola. Easy peasy lemon squeezy.

Since they don’t sell them here in the UK I thought I’d make it myself. Also, it is Breakfast Week! A campaign dedicated to educating the nation and celebrating breakfast, it is the most important meal of the day! Too many people skip breakfast, myself included some days....

I really hate busy as an excuse, everyone is busy, it’s what you choose to make priority and breakfast should be a priority. How would anything get done if you didn’t have the energy to do it? I am trying to make breakfast a priority and these parfaits make a good start!

They make a great breakfast because fruit and yogurt are, depending on the choice of yogurt, good for you. Plus they can be made the night before and can keep in the fridge for 1-2 nights if properly covered and ingredients were well in date when made.

Fruit & Yogurt Parfait

makes 2 (easily doubled)

8 tablespoons of yogurt, your choice (I used Arla Skyr Icelandic Style Yogurt, Honey)
3-5 strawberries, quartered
2 handfuls or 150g blueberries
baked muesli (recipe follows)

Layer two tablespoons of yogurt in each glass/container. Then add the layer of fruit and top with two more tablespoons of yogurt and the granola! or muesli. Enjoy or wrap tightly with clingfilm and save until the following day.

baked muesli

45g muesli of your choice
20g butter, melted
1 tablespoon of honey

Heat oven to 180C. Mix the muesli and melted butter, honey together. Spread on a prepared baking sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes, stirring once or twice. Leave to cool completely before breaking up and dividing between each parfait.

notes: Shake Up Your Wake Up - all about how you can get involved with Breakfast Week! I was not asked to mention or promote this campagain, I just agree and like it! I entered this into Brilliant Breakfast linky! Aria Skyr Icelandic Style Yogurt is in no way associated with this blog post or my blog, I mention it because it is what I used. I chose it because it is low in fat and sugar, but high in protein, which can help keep hunger pains at bay. Please see my contact/policy page above for more information!

Fruity Cookie Cups

It’s like I’m a grown up now. When I was younger if something didn’t work out I’d just move on to the next thing. I didn’t really care nor want to know why it didn’t. If felt easier to just move forward then trying to stay put. 

Now I am more curious to why something didn’t work and how do you fix it. Sometimes it’s something simple sometimes it’s a combination of things and that starts the trial and error. 

I bought this novelty cookie pan thinking how great it was going to be to make cookie cups for everything for the rest of my life. Of course it sat on the shelf for ages before I finally got around to using it. I thought right away that I would try the recipe on the packaging as they should know what they are talking about. 

However, they failed and when I say failed I mean they didn’t turn out at all! So, the trial and error began. I tried keeping the dough in the fridge I tried greasing and flouring the pan, but at the end the dough was just not right. I have read that American butter has more water in it and that European butter has more fat and that can cause issues when baking. As the pan hails from American then I have to assume the recipe was tested in America…that and it is in cups and stuff. 

So, I tried the sugar cookie recipe you see below and I managed to get results, but not after changing the method as well. Instead of making balls and squishing them down I ended up rolling the dough out and cutting out circles and making sure the pan was greased properly I succeeded in making cookie cups filled with whipped cream cheese and topped with fruit. 

After all that here is officially how I finally made these super tasty fruit cookie cups! I am glad I didn’t just move on, the effort was worth it! See, I’ve grown up a bit. Also if you don’t have one of these fancy pants novelty cookie pans then just cut your cookies into circles and follow the instructions below!

Fruity Cookie Cups

cookie cups
200g unsalted butter
280g golden caster sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 medium egg
400g plain flour
salt
1/2 tsp cream of tartar

Beat the butter and sugar together light and fluffy. Mix in the egg until combined. Add the flour, salt, and cream of tartar and mix well! Separate into two parts and wrap in cling wrap and place in the fridge for at least 30minutes or so. This is when I heat the oven to 170C/325F/gas3.

Grease your novelty cookie cup pan with butter, if you don't have one turn your muffin pan upside down and grease the the outside cups. Roll out half of the cookie dough and cut out circles that match whatever pan you're using and place on the greased pan. Bake for 10 minutes. The cookies should only be slightly brown on the edges. Take off the pan as soon as you can touch them, otherwise even though properly greased they may stick as they cool. 

filling:

280g cream cheese 

2 tablespoons of sugar

various fruits, chopped

Whip it up together. Put in a piping bag and pipe into your cookie cups. Top with your chopped up fruits! 

notes: recipe is adapted from the hummingbird bakery cookbook - the novelty bake tin can be seen in this Five on Friday post. Check out my instagram (@unitedcakedom) for all the failed attempts! 

challenges: Treat Petite hosted by The Baking Explorer with Cakeyboi 

Double Chocolate Strawberry Mini Tarts

This month’s Pastry Challenge is chocolate! The possibilities of a chocolate and pastry combination are endless! When faced with a lot of different choices the only way to narrow it down is to figure out what it is you want.

First I knew I wanted a chocolate pastry and a fresh fruit. So, I started looking through blogs and books for different options.

Then the chocolate and cherry tart I made in February kept coming to mind…but it was too dark for the beautiful weather we've been having. Then I knew I wanted something light and springy!

That’s why this chocolate short crust pastry with a white chocolate ganache and fresh strawberries came to exist. Since chocolate can be so rich it made sense to make these tarts little or mini. It makes the perfect chocolaty bite, without being too rich and sickly. We all love chocolate, but let’s be honest it can too much sometimes!

These would make a great spring teatime treat! So, let’s get baking…

Chocolate Short Crust Pastry

200g flour

25g cocoa powder

50g icing sugar

350g unsalted butter, cold & cubed

3 egg yolks

1 tsp vanilla extract

Sift the flour, cocoa, and sugar together and gently rub in the butter so that the mixture looks like breadcrumbs. Try not to touch it too much because you want to keep the butter from melting. Add the egg yolks and vanilla; mix together until you get a soft dough. Form into a ball and smoosh it down a little so it’s disk like. Then rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes or over night.

Just before you take out of the fridge grease your mini tart pan or tart tins with soft butter. Sprinkle a little flour on the counter before rolling out the pastry - rotate every other roll to get a nice circle. You don’t want it too thin or too thick, but use your own judgment based on your tart tins. Then cut out circles somewhat bigger then your tart tins, you want the over hang. Presses gently into your pan/tin getting the pastry down into the corners, and carefully trim the excess dough off.

*If you are making little ones like these you will have extra pastry. There are two options either freezing it for a couple of months or make a double batch! Cover with cling film and rest in the fridge for at least 15 minutes. I left them in for about 45 minutes.

Heat the oven to 180C. Once it’s at temperature take the pan/tin out of the fridge. Using a fork put holes in pastry. Place a piece of grease proof paper in each, I cut out individual circles, and fill with baking beads press down to make sure they are holding the pastry down. Bake for 8-10 minutes, then remove the baking beads and bake for a further 5-8 minutes or until it looks dried out. I don’t know how else to describe it, because with chocolate pastry it won’t be brown. Cool for a few minutes before filling with the ganache and strawberry!

White Chocolate Ganache

50-100g white chocolate, broken up

50-100g double cream

20 or more fresh strawberries

The varied amount is due to your tart tin/pan size. You might need more or less. These ones used only about 50g of each. Place an equal amount of both ingredients in a heatproof bowl over a simmering pan of water. Stir until melted. Fill each tart case and top with a fresh strawberry!

notes: chocolate pastry recipe is adapted from Eric Lanlard’s Tart it Up! and can also be found online on The Telegraph’s website. Use up the egg whites making meringues!

These tarts were entered into these challenges:

The Pastry Challenge (theme chocolate) hosted by myself with Jen's Food 

Tea Time Treats (theme chocolate) hosted by Lavender and Lovage with The Hedge Combers 

Treat Petite (theme spring time) hosted by The Baking Explorer with Cakeyboi 

Love Your Freezer Part 1: Fruit {smoothies & muffins}

This post is the first in two posts where I will be sharing the love for my freezer. Starting with fruit! As a baker fruit is a pretty obvious thing to keep in my fridge, because frozen fruits make great crumbles, cobblers, and pies! 

Frozen fruit (and vegetables) are almost better then fresh. The fruit is frozen almost immediately after it’s picked and by doing that seals in the freshness. An added bonus with frozen fruit is that 9 times out of 10 there is no need to defrost before using them, so it's as simple as throwing them into whatever it is that is being baked and/or cooked!

The most obvious way to use frozen fruit is in smoothies! Smoothies are the best way to make the most out of any frozen fruit. Since the fruit is frozen ice isn't necessary to add ice, which just ends up watering it down. Sainsbury’s have a strawberry banana smoothie pack that make smoothie making a breeze. My two girls love it when I whip this up for them!

Strawberry Banana Smoothies:

½ pkg (eyeball it) of Sainsbury’s Strawberry Banana Smoothie frozen pack

300ml vanilla yogurt

300ml apple juice

Blend all the ingredients together. Adjust the yogurt or apple juice according to constancy.

Any frozen fruit makes a good smoothie, I found the trick is using juice to add flavor and texture. It helps keep the smoothie from being too thick. Apple juice pairs well with strawberries, but play around to find your favorite combination. Also if you juice your own fruit it is even better for you, no hidden sugars.

The one frozen fruit I constantly have to restock is blueberries. That is because they are the best fruit/berry to use in pancakes, smoothies, and muffins. This is my fail safe recipe for Blueberry Muffins; the only thing I did different this time was sprinkle some vanilla sugar on top. It gave these muffins a darker colored top, but it was worth it. 

Feel free to substitute with frozen raspberries, blackberries, cranberries or even cherries in place of the blueberries!

I am always looking for ways to make the best out of my freezer! What tips and tricks do you use? 

Please leave a comment below! 

For my go to Pancake recipe follow the link here 

(substitute the chocolate chips for blueberries)

&

For my favorite blueberry smoothie follow the link here

&

For Gluten & Dairy Free Blueberry Muffins follow the link here

notes: In association with Sainsbury’s for their Love Your Freezer campaign! Check out there Live Well for Less free magazine usually available at the end of the tills for more freezer ideas and tips. Watch out for Part 2: Vegetables and Herbs coming soon!! 

Yogurt Mango Ice Lollies

I was going to start out by saying how much I love summer! But to be honest I love most of the seasons. 

Autumn probably being my favorite followed by summer, winter, and well I don’t really like spring.

It’s such an awkward season. 

After winters I just don’t have the patience for spring, I just want it to be summer.

Summer is when it's hot and it's light out until late. It also just reminds me of being young and free. No matter how long I have been out of school, summer always feels like freedom to me! 

And it is summer! 

Which means it’s not only time for freedom, but ice-lollies (Popsicles)! 

They are also a staple of the summers of my youth. Ice-lollies are pretty much acceptable any time, anywhere all summer long!

In fact I think this cartoon by Natalie Dee sums it right up.

Ice-lollies are widely available in-stores and will not break the bank, but it’s fun and super easy to make them at home! There is the added bonus of no flavor additives when they are homemade. 

Then there are the endless flavor combos and colors one can use to make some really fun ice treats!

I stuck to what I was craving this time and I was after mango! I could have mixed it with coconut or lime or orange or anything tropical, but I was sticking to what my taste buds were telling me and I made these:

Yogurt Mango Ice Lollies

1 large mango

1 tsp caster sugar

200g mango yogurt

Cube just a little more than half of the mango and puree with the sugar. Mix in the yogurt and pour into the mold about half way. Thinly slice the rest of the mango and slide it down the sides of the ice-lollie mold. Top up the molds with any left over mix. Put the tops on and freeze over night.

They were exactly what I was after! My girls loved them too! I used Muller Light Greek style yogurt mango flavor. It was a good mix with the mango puree it was creamy and cooling!

I am sharing this post on Bloggers Scream for Ice Cream challenge over on Kavey Eats! The theme for June was fruit and fruit is perfect for any ice-y treat! 

On average how many ice-lollies do you eat in the summer? What’s your favorite flavor? Please leave a comment below, on twitter or facebook!

notes: this post was written in association with Sainsbury’s; please see my contact/policy page for further information. The ice-lollie mold pictured above is available in stores now! In America we call them Popsicle's, which is a name brand. 

Tea for Me

Before I moved to the UK I didn't drink much tea. In fact I didn't drink many hot drinks I preferred iced drinks really.

Even though I do prefer iced teas and coffees, when I come in soaked from another rainy day a cup of tea really does hit the spot.

I have always preferred fruity or herbal teas. Teavivre sent me a variety of to try out!

Here is the list of teas they sent me and a short reaction to each:

Unbridled Love Fruit Tea (Iced) – The fruit used in this tea are apple, roselle, orange peel and grapes. The orange peel is the strongest flavor which was very refreshing and made a great iced tea!

Blueberry Fruit Tea (Iced) – it was blueberry! Probably my favorite tea out of the samples I tried. I tried this one hot and cold and liked it both ways!

Organic Superfine Dragon Well Long Jing Green Tea – I like a good cup of green tea in the mornings and this one had a very “green” or herbal smell a great tea to wake up too!

Jasmine “Dragon Pearls” Green Tea – This was a gorgeous smelling tea and had a great taste another one I really enjoyed first thing in the morning!

Strawberry Oolong Tea – This tea had an absolutely amazing smell! However it was my least favorite tea of the selection I had tasted. I wonder if I was expecting it to taste as it smelt and it was just not as strong as the smell.

Superfine Taiwan Ali Shan Oolong Tea – it was a very smooth and mild flavored tea, which was great as an afternoon tea. 

All of them had amazing flavors and were really refreshing! I of course had my favorites, but everyone has their own tastes so I would suggest trying these or different ones!

All these teas and many more can be found on the Teavivre website! There is also a lot more in depth information on the website. Each tea description is very well detailed and gives you the best temperature for brewing each tea. Which I thought was great! 

notes: These tea samples were provided for an honest opinion. For more information please visit my contact/policy page. Photos: the tea in the cup is the Strawberry Oolong Tea, but the tea on the table is the Jasmine Pearls.