How do you make a hearty slice of Cake? Find Me a Gift set some bloggers a challenge to come up with different ideas for our Heart Cake, and this is mine.
While the younger boys were sleeping, it gave Mr Z and I a good chance to spend some quality time cake making, which is always good fun.
We had been sent this silicone I heart Cake baking mould from Find me a gift to help us in our challenge
From Find Me A Gift
It looks like a flower shape but the cool thing is, that when you cut each slice they will each turn into a heart!
To make the recipe we have used a basic sponge. I used a plain sponge packet from the supermarket and then adapted it. It is easy to make your own sponge cake if you do have all the ingredients in stock in your cupboard though.
Mr Z doing the mixing
We added hot chocolate powder to give it a more chocolate flavour, and added some Hershey’s Kisses to the mixture as I thought kisses will match with the heart theme! The effect is like giant chocolate chips. These should be available in the international section of larger supermarkets, but mine were brought from America by one of my friends.
Mixing everything ready for the cake
Soon it was all done and ready for the oven. Of course Mr Z wanted to lick the cake mix from the spoon – He has seen Peppa and George doing it on Peppa pig!
Baking finished!
Once the cake had cooled I added some chocolate topping, and cut it into slices…
..and Ta – Da! Heart Shaped cake!!
As it was a heart, of course I gave the first slice to my husband 🙂
I have been wanting a new wok for a while and recently I was sent this 12″ Green Earth Wok by Ozeri for review – and I must say, I love it!
This is a really good quality wok. It feels quite heavy and not flimsy at all. I love the bright cheerful green colour in my kitchen – and the green is also a reminder of how natural and safe the wok is, as it is totally free from PTFE, PFOA and other chemicals which can be found in some cookware! The Green Earth wok uses a natural ceramic coating to avoid all of these, while still doing a great job as a non stick and scratch proof coating.
The wok comes packaged in a cardboard sleeve which gives some of these details, but is not over packaged at all and is very easy to remove.
I have been using the Wok to make stir frys with vegetables, noodles and chicken and it has worked really well. I did find with it being a little heavier than the wok I had previously it takes slightly longer to heat up to cook all of the food, but I feel the heaviness gives it a much better quality so I am still very happy with this. The wok is a really good generous size at 12″ and it fits plenty of food to feed our whole family. The non stick properties work really well and I did not need to add a lot of oil to our cooking, as the food will not be sticking to the pan anyway. The food all cooks evenly in the wok, and the meals cooked in it have tasted great.
I am really happy with my new wok and would definitely recommend this brand to others. It is noticeably much better than the previous woks I have had, and also looks so much nicer than boring old plain black!
Britmums recently sent us some Schwartz 2 in 1 Mixes to try out and as I have lovely new pyrex to try out I thought it could be the perfect combination.
I received the Schwartz:
Mediterranean Chicken Pasta and Cheesy Crumb Topping: A blend of herbs and spices for chicken pasta with a cheesy topping ·
Garlic & Thyme Roast Chicken + Crispy Roast Potatoes: Roast chicken seasoning, with garlic and thyme, accompanied by a special seasoning to create perfect Crispy Roast Potatoes
Both come in packets with 2 sections to them, to help create a full meal very easily.
First I decided to try the roast chicken mix. I marinated some chicken with the seasoning and oven cooked it in my new Pyrex red slow cooker on a low-medium heat. It came out very soft and delicious due to the slow cooking and the mix gave it a lot of flavour. I really enjoyed this chicken, and my husband too.
I can’t believe I have misplaced the picture of the finished cooked chicken!! I am an idiot :p but you will have to take it from me, it was really nice.
Next I tried the pasta mix and I have to admit I didn’t enjoy it as much as the roast chicken, but it was a quick and easy meal to make and I can see these mixes would come in handy when you want a cooked meal but are in a rush. I did not have chicken today so I made it without the chicken, and it probably would be nicer had it been included. It still had a good flavour to it. Unfortunately I was not massively keen on the topping, but it was okay.
I cooked this one in my trusty Pyrex red roaster, which I have written about on the blog before! It’s a very versatile dish and was perfect for this kind of pasta bake.
I would happily use the Schwartz Roast chicken mix again. I am not sure I would use the pasta one often, but I would be interested in trying more mixes from their range as they are so easy to use and do have a good flavour.
By using the Pyrex cookware I do feel it helped the food to come out nicely, as I have noticed this does make a difference. We discussed this recently in our #cookwithpyrex twitter party which we got to trend at #1 on Twitter! I will be showing you soon some more things I cook with the new Slow cooker, and I may try out more of the Schwartz mixes with it too if I spot them in the shops!
This post is an entry for BritMums ‘What’s for Dinner Tonight?’ sponsored by Schwartz. Find out more about the new 2in1 mixes here
#CookWithPyrex Twitter Party 10 June 10.30 – 11.30am
Pyrex is a trademark of Corning Inc, used by permission
We have some exciting news to share! After Our first party with SA Fruit, we are getting ready to host our 2nd Twitter party! This time, sponsored by Pyrex.
On Monday 10th June from 10.30-11.30am, we will be getting together on Twitter to chat about cooking convenient but healthy family meals, sharing tips and ideas, and of course giving the opportunity to win plenty of prizes!
We would love to see you all at the Twitter party! June 10th, 10.30-11.30am – Don’t forget! 😉
Competition Terms & Conditions:
1. Open to UK residents only.
2. There are four prizes to be won, each consisting of £25 worth of the Summer Pyrex collection.
3. Each of the four prizes will be won by someone participating in the #cookwithPyrex Twitter party and tweeting using the hashtag between 10:30 and 11:30 am on Monday 10th June.
4. Winners will be chosen at random from all qualifying tweets.
5. Winners will be chosen by @etspeaksfrom, @redrosemummy,@TheBrickCastle and @theplayroomblog.
7. The Pyrex prizes will be sent direct from the PR company, winner’s details will be passed on to them for prize fulfillment.
8. No responsibility can be accepted for entries not received for whatever reason.
9. Winners will be notified via Twitter DM, you must be following one of the following Twitter accounts to be notified – @etspeaksfrom, @redrosemummy,@TheBrickCastle and @theplayroomblog.
10. Please kindly follow our sponsor @PyrexUK too. Thank you.
Pyrex is a brand name I have always known and trusted. I still have some of their glass cookware which I bought when I was newly married (which is 8 years now – time flies!) and that is still going strong but I was really excited when they sent us some of their other products to try out, and I hope you will be excited to hear about them too.
Pyrex kindly sent us the following Pyrex Cookware items to try out:
We were sent this in deep red and it looks great! It is something that you can easily cook in and then bring it out to serve at the table as it looks so appealing. It is a natural stoneware item and it feels such good quality, strong and well made with a nice solid feel to it.
This is from the Impressions range which is based on a vintage feel. As well as white and red, it comes in an ocean blue which sounds lovely. I really like the brightly coloured stoneware, to give a cheerful look in the kitchen.
I first tried out this roaster with a marinated baby chicken. It just fitted inside perfectly and came out delicious. Due to the high quality stoneware, the roaster keeps it heat for longer so its good for slow cooking. I left the chicken in the oven for quite long on a low gas mark, and it came out with much better results than with my normal method of roasting it on a baking tray using foil.
This stoneware could also be used for cooking so many different things like stuffed roast peppers, a big lasagne, or even for deserts a big apple crumble.
It was really easy to clean too, none of the food stuck to it or got burnt on in the oven.
The next item I tried out was the from the Pyrex Classic Glassware – Iconic Kitchen Essentials range. This is the most similar one to the Pyrex I already had, and I would agree it is a real classic as it can be used for so many things and has been loved through the generations! I remember my mum and grandma also baking in glassware like this.
This Pyrex range is made of Borosilicate Glass whereas cheaper brands may be made of Soda Lime Glass. The Borosilicate can withstand temperatures from -40°C upto 300°C and is able to safely go from the fridge to the oven, without any risks. This higher level of safety is obviously reassuring with young children around! Being able to withstand such a range of temperatures means that you are fine to cook food in advance, freeze it, then defrost it and bake in the oven. You can also marinade something in the fridge in advance, then put it straight into the oven when you are ready, without any concerns. I often do use mine straight from the fridge to the oven as that’s handy when you want to get most of the preparation work done earlier in the day.
Yesterday I cooked macaroni cheese in this glass Pyrex, as a quick and easy dinner for the children. I find these classic Pyrex really handy for any type of oven baked dinners. They are ideal for anything like shepherds pie, fish pie, or moussaka. I’ve also used these for desserts in the past, and I even serve salads in them sometimes as its such a versatile item it can be used to serve pretty much anything! These come with a lid which is really handy too.
We were also sent another item from the Classics range, which is the cake dish with handles.
This is much shallower than the other glass ware item and is really ideal for any kind of flan or tart. I used this to make a simple trifle, which my 4 year old helped with.
As with the previous item, it is resistant to the same wide range of heat. This range is all totally dishwasher safe too, and stain resistant, which should make it really long lasting and looking good for years.
The last item we were sent is something new, from a multifunctional 4 in 1 range from Pyrex. We tried the 4 in 1 rectangular dish with lid.
What’s different about this range is that you can even use it to cook food by steaming it in the microwave! The lid is a unique design with an air valve, which can be open to allow you to cook or reheat the food, and closed to keep the container totally leak proof and air proof.
The bottom part of the container is made of the borosilicate glass and is fine to go in the oven, of course not with the lid. This makes it much more versatile than Tupperware, but it can still be used to freeze and store food for batch cooking. It makes it easy to cook, freeze, defrost and eat so easily all with the same one container! I can see how this is really handy, and maybe it will help me to finally get organised and do some batch cooking in advance. I keep telling myself I need to do batch cooking and meal planning!
I have to say, I am really impressed with all the Pyrex ranges – although I expected no less as I know Pyrex is a very good and reliable brand. There is a reason it’s been a household name for so many years, and that is because it’s such good quality. I was never aware of how much variety they have available though! I always tended to think of Pyrex just as the classic glassware, but the stoneware and multifunctional ranges are brilliant too.
You can find loads of recipes on the Pyrex website too, to help you out if you are lacking in a bit of inspiration about what to cook. Have a look here!
While the younger boys were sleeping, it gave Mr Z and I a good chance to spend some quality time cake making, which is always good fun.
As it was a heart, of course I gave the first slice to my husband 🙂
