Carrot Cake Recipes

Carrots have been used in desserts since medievil times. Their popularity was revived during the second world war when sweetners such as sugar was rationed. As carrots were a sweet and plentiful vegetable they were perfect for making a tasty and moist carrot cake.
Carrot cakes became readily available to order in restaurants in the 1960"s and since then have become a popular choice for home-baking recipes.
To make carrot cake, recipes can be tailored according to taste and richness. Simple carrot cake recipes to bake at home consist of carrots, combined with butter, eggs and sugar. They may be eaten plain but for a richer variation try with cream cheese icing.
Spices and nuts can be added for depth of flavour, popular choices are walnuts and cinnamon to bring out the sweet flavours of the carrots.

Lemon Meringue Pie

Lemon meringue pie is a light and refreshing classic British recipe comprised of a butter biscuit base with a lemon curd filling and crumbly meringue topping. The texture and flavour make up a delicious desert that has stood the test of time.

To make lemon meringue pie you will need ingredients and preperation for the three different components but don"t let that put you off as easy lemon meringue pie recipes are available on MyDish with tasty results that are well worth the effort.

For an alternative on the lemon meringue pie similarly refreshing desserts include lemon cheesecake or key lime pie.

Lemon Meringue is pie is a classic American pie dish, prepared with a bottom crust and a meringue topping over a lemon curd and cream filling.

Lemons have been used in cooking since medieval times but the meringue was not perfected until the 17th Century. Lemon custard was said to be invented by the Quakers in the late 1700’s and Lemon Meringue pie as we know it today was created by pastry chef Elizabeth Goodwell in Philladelphia 1806 and has become a classic dessert enjoyed across America, Australia and Europe.Some argue that the first lemon meringue pie was made in the mid 19th Century by AlexandreFrehse, so the exact origins of the classic recipe are unknown. Legend has it that the word meringue came from the Swiss town of Meringen, birthplace of the Swiss pastry cook Gasparini who was said to have invented them.

To make lemon meringue pie it is best to follow an easy lemon meringue recipe, as there are several components to making the pie, consisting of individual recipes for the short-crust pastry, lemon curd filling and meringue topping. The traditional lemon meringue pie recipe uses corn-flour to give the curd a creamy thickness and instructs the meringues to be whisked until they form stiff peaks; if the bowl can be help over your head without accident then they are the perfect consistency. Making the perfect lemon meringue pie is said to be determined by the temperature the pie is baked at and the method to which the sugar is added.

Some home-baked lemon meringue recipes use a biscuit base instead of short-crust pastry, giving the base a cheesecake-like crumbly texture. Arrowroot biscuits are said to be a popular and delicious alternative. For additional sweetness, condensed milk is often used on top of the biscuit base to thicken the consistency of the finished pie.

A twist on the classic lemon meringue dessert is lemon meringue cheesecake which captures the tart flavours in a creamy cheesecake and makes a light and delicious summer dessert.

To make your own lemon meringue pie, pavlova or lemon meringue cheesecake, check out MyDish for a tart and tempting range of lemon desserts.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

The word cookie is derived from the Dutch word cookie koeki meaning "little cake," and arrived in our language through the Dutch in North America. Cookies are though to have emerged in 7th Century Persia when the use of sugar in cooking became popular. Making cookies at home is now a favourite pastime for children and adults alike.
Since then cookies have been enjoyed as a more decadent take on the traditional  British biscuit and hundreds of cookie recipes have emerged using chocolate, nuts and fruit, presenting us with a variety of recipe ideas for home-baked cookies. The classic chocolate chip cookie is an American favourite and is baked for a small amont of time to create a soft and chewy texture.
Chinese fortune cookies are served after a meal in America and some parts of Europe, although the tradition is not practised in China. The cookies contain small messages of prophecy or fortune. The batter contains sesame and miso and originated in Japan before being introduced to the United States.
Baking cookies at home is a popluar treat for children and a good way of introducing them to baking. Making peanut butter cookies is a good way of serving them a protein packed snack whilst still being flavoursome. Simple cookie recipes are tasty treat to make and enjoy at home.

The chocolate chip cookie was born in America and said to be discovered in 1933 by Ruth Graves Wakefield of Massachusetts. Ruth was said to be baking cookies and had run out of regular bakers chocolate. She substituted it with Nestle chocolate chips thinking the chocolate would melt and mix in to batter but It did not melt and world got new dessert that was chocolate chip cookie. Ruth sold this recipe to Nestle in exchange for a lifetime supply of chocolate chips.

A chocolate chip cookie is a drop cookie that originated in the United States and features chocolate chips as its distinguishing ingredient. The traditional recipe combines a dough composed of butter and both brown and white sugar with semi-sweet chocolate chips. Variations include recipes with other types of chocolate or additional ingredients, such as nuts or oatmeal.

The recipe for chocolate chip cookies uses a thick dough containing flour, sugar, vanilla essence, butter, baking soda, salt and of course, chocolate chips. The chocolate chips can be substituted for peanuts or oats and for a truly soft cookie recipe are baked for only a short amount of time to give them their famous doughy texture.

It will depend upon requirement that what type of cookie you want. According to the need ratio of ingredients, its mixing and cooking time give you a softer, chewy style cookie while others will produce a crunchy/crispy style.  Regardless of ingredients, the procedure for making the cookie is fairly consistent in all recipes.

Since its birth, there have been many variations on the original Nestle toll house recipe. Double chocolate chip cookies are popular and substitute the vanilla flavoured dough for chocolate, giving the cookie an additional richness. Flavour combinations such as white chocolate with macadamia, toffee, oatmeal and raisin and peanut butter have all grown to become classics in their own right, tweaking the simple chocolate chip cookie recipe of 1933.

Today practically all commercial bakeries have their own variation of the chocolate chip cookies and many chains sell their own freshly baked-cookies on premises. Millie’s Cookies sells freshly baked cookies with a large selection of flavours to choose from.  Supermarkets stock favourites such as the Maryland cookie, designed to recreate the home-baked chocolate chip cookie recipe. Popular ice-cream brands such as Baskin & Robbins and Ben & Jerry’s have a chocolate chip cookie-dough flavoured ice cream, containing chunks of soft cookie dough in vanilla ice cream.

In 1997 Massachusetts paid homage to the chocolate chip cookie by declaring it the Official State Cookie, after it was proposed by a school in Somerset, Massachusetts. To make your own easy chocolate chip cookies, see our selection of quick cookie recipes at MyDish.

Starter Recipes

Appetizers and starters are an integral part of any 3 course meal that, when made perfectly, excite your guests over future courses. Starter recipes can be for soups, salads, seafood and are often seasonally influenced. An ideal starter recipe is easy to whip up, impressive when served and delicious when eaten.

Many starters recipes give the chef a chance to test their creative flair, using seasonal fresh ingredients to create the most appetizing appetizers around. An easy appetizer recipe can be prepared in ten minutes or more complex appetizer recipes require preperation the night before.

Whether you like light starter recipes made for the individual or recipes for appetizers that are made to share, there are plenty of starter recipes for everyone.

Try some of the following recipes for appetizers for a start:

A starter is the first course in a meal of several courses, designed to be light enough to whet the appetite whilst still allowing room for the remaining courses. The role of the starter is to enliven the palette and prepare the diner for the courses to come without over-facing them. For this reason light meats such as beef Carpaccio or a fish course such as smoked salmon or crab have become popular starter recipes served in high-end restaurants.

The French word for starter is entree and its origins were said to come from 15th Century banquet halls, denoting the entry of the starter into the room, where it would be paraded around before being served to the high table.

Starter recipes from across the globe have become highly popular in Britain today. An influx in Thai, Malaysian and Indian restaurants in the late 90’s have seen an increase in the international cuisine we cook at home. Thai starter recipes are desirable with their delicate balance of chilli and sweet flavours and are easy starter recipes to try at home. Chicken satay, Thai fish cakes and spicy Asian salads are classic Thai dishes perfect for a starter menu.

Deciding which starters to cook depends very much on the occasion. For Christmas and formal occasions, a simple and classic starter such as smoked salmon is a light starter idea before a heavy meal. Larger informal gatherings are a good place to try canapé recipe ideas. Italian anti-pastiare the perfect canapé as they combine the stronger flavours of anchovy and olive with light cheeses like mozzarella and ricotta, in a bite-sized portion. Other Italian starter recipes such as brushetta are quick and easy ideas for a healthy starter.

Using salad or soup recipes for your starter is a great way to keep your meal healthy. Shellfish such as prawns, crab and scallop starter recipes served with salad leaves use classic flavour ideas whilst still remaining low fat.

Indian starter recipes are another tasty starter idea for a gathering or friends as they make excellent finger food and are simple to make in large quantities. Tandoori chicken and onion baajis are popular Indian starter recipes both in restaurants and at home. The function of the starter however is very much a Western concept. In India there are several components to the main meal. A good example of this is in the traditional Indian Thali which is a main meal made up of about five smaller courses. Each dish is said to be perfectly balanced in nutrition and flavour and is usually vegetarian.

MyDish has a huge range of starter ideas both classic and across the globe. For inspiration on your starter recipes look no further.

Chocolate Cake Recipes

Cooking with chocolate has been commonplace within homes and restaurants for thousands of years as chocolate is one of the most popular foods in the world, eaten daily throughout Europe, America and beyond and given to mark celebrations such as Easter, birthdays and Christmas.
The earliest use of chocloate recipes can be dated back to Aztec times when a form of hot chocolate was made using cacao. These days so many dessert recipes call for the use of chocolate to satisfy our sweet tooth and easy chocolate recipes for home baking are in demand.
Chocolate cake recipes and chocolate brownie recipes are amongst the most popular. Home made chocolate truffles make a unique gift ideas and are a simple chocolate recipe made using fine quality chocloate, butter sugar and cream for the chocolate ganache filling.

Here is method to make chocolate cake recipes

Ingredients

• 200g Dark chocolate
• 180g Butter
• 100g Flour
• 4 Eggs
• 200g Sugar

Method

1. Preheat your oven at 225°C.

2. Melt the butter in your microwave in a bowl.

3. In a big bowl mix the sugar, the eggs, and the butter together. The mixture must be creamy.

4. Break the chocolate into pieces and melt it in the microwave with 3 teaspoons of water.

5. Now, pour the melted chocolate and the sifted flour into the mixture, stirring just until everything is well blended and you have a smooth consistency.

6. Pour the mixture into a tin and bake it for 20 minutes.

Birthday Cake

Birthday Cake

A birthday only comes round once a year and most people like to help the celebrations along with a lovely Birthday Cake. No matter how old one gets everyone wants to be made to feel special on their birthday. Here on Mydish members have recorded many of their favourite homemade and traditional Birthday Cake recipes for you to share.

Something that Birthday Cakes have in common is that they are generally considered a big treat and are usually accompanied by much smiling, merriment and of course the singing of “Happy Birthday to you…..” Our members have collected many excellent recipes for Birthday Cake to share with you; including instructions on how to prepare and bake many different types of Birthday Cake.

We already have many of the best British Birthday Cake Recipes for you to choose from but we are always looking to expand our collection of Birthday Cake Recipes so if you have one or two that you would like to share with other members of Mydish please post them on the site.