The Propacakey Family!

So.  I live in London now.  And I’ve decided to resurrect Propacakey at shows.  Because it’s hella fun and I bloody love cakes.  And I found my old myspace page which held the list of all the cakes I ever made and I remembered just how scrum some of them were.  So here’s the list.  I will start bringing my babies back to life one by one over the next few months, and hopefully recipes will be going up too.  Otherwise I’ll be at shows, you know, trying to get your money.

Ooh, I also found this picture, which is pretty cool.  It’s that dude from Strike Anywhere.  He bloody loves my cakes.

 Click below to see the list…

Chimichurri Roast Tats

Ok so I made these the other night with stuff that was left in my fridge (bit of a cheat as I’d made chimichurri mushrooms for a party a few days earlier.  Don’t really care though).  And they were so tasty that I ate them all before remembering to take a picture.  Wah.  I’m not normally grateful that the washing up never gets done, but this time I am.

The short of it is that they’re yum, and super easy to make too.  Basically bosh everything in a big bowl, mix and cook until done, shouting “Ariba” every now and then to stay in the mood.  This makes them your best friend to take to a summer bbq.  Everyone will love you.

Recipe after the jump…

Bangarang!

Ok so if, like me, you are a child of the early 90s and were obsessed with the movie Hook, then you will remember Bangarang.  Bangarang is what the lost boys used to shout when they were generally up to no good and causing a ruccus.  Then they would throw their imaginary food at each other but would end up all covered in multi coloured gloop.  Gloop that looked a little bit like this:

And before you think that i’ve actually got myself tapped and now spend my evenings making multi coloured slop to throw at people, whilst that’s kinda a bit true, it’s actually beetroot hummus.  But I call it Bangarang!  Because it’s more fun and it makes me chuckle.

Bangarang is your new best buddy.  Bangarang is friends with your sammiche, your pasta, and I reckon he’d even get on pretty well on a fancy pizza.  I’m going to use it like it’s pesto, or tapenade, but a whole heap more awesome.  And here’s how you make it…

Brandy, Glenn & Ritch

Christmas!  Love it.  Well, hate that feeling when everyone unwraps their presents and has huge piles of chocolate and they pass round the ferrero rocher and you’re left without a tasty treat in the world.  So, of course, I make cupcakes.  Awesome Christmassy cupcakes full of spice and booze!  The problem with these is they’re too good, so everyone gets them.  And all that’s left is the ferrero rocher…

Next year I’m going to  make a double batch.  And hide some.  You should too.

I’ve been planning these cupcakes for months.  I’m not a fan of fruitcake(s) so the challenge was on to have something that was festive and a little bit grown up but still a cupcake.  Because cupcakes a great.  And what’s Christmas without nutmeg, orange and brandy?  Together they taste yummy and make awesome tunes.  I think the only thing that would make this cupcake better is listening to Andy, Glenn & Ritch whilst baking.  Go on…   http://www.myspace.com/andyglennandritch

Ingredients:

• 1 cup soya milk
• zest of 2 oranges
• juice of 1 orange
• 1/3 cup vegan margerine
• 1/3 cup good quality coarse marmalade
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
• 4 tablespoons brandy
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspooon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Whisk together the orange zest, juice and soya milk.  Leave to sit until curdled (yum).  In a separate bowl, beat together the margerine, marmalade, sugar, vanilla and brandy.  It will look pretty gross.  It’s ok.  Add in the milk and beat together as best you can to break up the lumps.

Sift in the flour, baking power, baking soda and salt in 1/2 cup batches.  There shouldn’t be too many lumps but don’t over stir it or your cuppy cakes won’t be light and fluffy.  You just want to get rid of the big chunks so there are no floury surprises when you finally get to eat.

Once mixed, pour into muffin cases and bake at 180C for around 20mins.   You’ll  know when they’re done because they’ll be golden brown and if you stick a skewer in the middle it will come out clean.  Leave to cool.

For the icing:

• 1/3 cup vegan margerine
• 3 tablespoons brandy
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
• appx 300g icing sugar

Mush the margerine and brandy together in a bowl as best you can.  Add the nutmeg and sift in the icing sugar, again, about half a cup at a time.  300g should be enough, but if you see it started to thicken too much then stop, obviously, and if it’s a bit runny, well, heck, go add some more.  It’s Christmas afterall!

Ice and eat until you are sick.

breakfast of (punk rock) kings

my buddy carpet makes the best scrambled tofu.  ever.  he puts on shows up in manchester and without fail will make this for touring bands and hungover buddies.  as a result it’s gotten a little bit world famous.  or so i like to tell him.

it’s seriously one of the things that i miss most about being in brighton.  thankfully i bullied him into sending me the recipe so i can make it myself.  still, it’s not quite the same without his dumb face next to it.  bless.

anyway, here’s what he had to say for himself…

dorkrockcakerod

So this is dorkrockcakerod.  It’s the perfect nerdy cupcake.  It’s a little bit bitter, only buys oop coloured vinyl and really, REALLY wants to be your boyfriend, but is totally happy to settle for being your friend, you know, until you work out your issues with your ex.

Magic ingredients are coffee and cocoa nibs.  Since moving to Brighton I’ve yet to find somewhere that sells cocoa nibs, which upsets me a little.  They’re basically the husks of the cocoa bean (I think), so you get the most amazing bitter crunchyness, which I think is the perfect surprise for a cupcake that probably has a lot of strange secrets.  It’s a good excuse to look in every food shop I can.  I’ll keep looking, and when I find them I’ll let you know how Imade these little geezers.  Because they’re just awesome.

Smokey Beetroot Burgers

While making the beetroot bhajis (that recipe down there) i accidentally, though awesomely, stumbled across the chipotle-beetroot combination.  It’s amazing.  The smokiness of the chipotle brings out the earthiness of the beetroot, but the spiciness and sweetness also just work amazingly together.  It’s the most riotous party you can have in your mouth that involves purple food.  This recipe includes other purple things, kidney beans, and is rather yummeh.

No pics this time though, sorry.  I think i dropped my camera and the lens is all wonky.  Woopsadaisy.  So here’s a picture of a dude holding a giant beetroot over his head

Beetroot and Spinach Bhajis

I absolutely LOVE beetroot.  Especially in the autumn, when you can get them in all sorts of colours.  It’s just great.  But, they stump me.  As you should know (you really should know this) i’m not a mega fan of soup, and though i looove roasting them with a sprinkling of nutmeg, well, i like a challenge.  I actually tried to make a beetroot risotto once.  I really wouldn’t recommend that.

This recipe actually happened in onion week.  It was rather amazing.  I had bought a beetroot and, as per usual, not known what the heck to do with it.  But i had nothing else to eat, save some potatoes and normal cupboard staples.  I scrimped together enough pennies for some spinach and this beauty was born.

Onion Week Ends in Disaster!

Shameful shameful.

I tried to make onion bhajis but i didn’t put enough onion in.  It’s a bit ridiculous when you think about it.

Onion Week Pt1

Tart tart tart tart!  Love it, just bloomin love it.  Challenge 1 of onion week, and with there being little in the house apart from some flour and a couple of tomatoes that are getting a bit dangerous, well, this one just seemed a bit obvious.  Voila le tart tartin des onions balsamiques et tomates (apologies – i’m in a fanciful mood).

I managed to not make enough pastry too, so it turned out a bit more like a posh pizza than a tart.  I’d like to think of this as some kind of culinary revolution, but next time i will be trying it with the correct amount of pasty.  I suggest you do the same.

This is very easy to make – essentially three separate bits that you put together and cook for a bit.  Of course, the filling can be subsituted for pretty much anything you like, savoury or sweet, but you know, onion week…