Baking product review: Lakeland Silicone Mini Doughnuts Mould

The doughnuts mould

About a week ago I saw a recipe for chocolate baked doughnuts somewhere, I have since completely forgotten where I got this recipe and have started to believe that I dreamt it... Anyway, before I realised that this recipe was lost in the ether of my mind/bedroom I made a little trip to Bluewater with my mum and brother. As I had this baked doughnut recipe in my head (I had become obsessed with it) I felt compelled to buy a mini doughnuts mould from Lakeland. At £5.49 I thought that I could use this as an experiment to decide whether it is worth baking doughnuts.

Mini doughnuts with icing sugar (so cute!)

I am a lover of all things sticky and sweet so doughnuts are pretty high up in my estimates, yet they have to be good! No one is going to get away with trying to palm me off with cheap Morrisons doughnuts!

 I’m a Krispy Kreme fan, but their calorie content rather puts me off having them too often! Baked doughnuts are promoted (at least by Lakeland’s website) as a healthier alternative to usual doughnut which is deep fried, yet surely if you eat too many (and cover them in sugar) could it really be that good for you? I wasn’t really thinking about my waistline when I thought of making these doughnuts anyway! 

I mentioned earlier that I’d lost that chocolate doughnuts recipe and alas I didn’t find it, but after a bit of searching I found that Lakeland have a recipe themselves! So I thought I’d follow that! You can find it here. Note that the recipe is for full size doughnuts rather than the mini doughnuts which the mould makes (so don’t go doubling the recipe unless you also want to end up making 50 mini doughnuts...). 

The recipe is really easy to follow and makes a reasonably runny batter, (which will go all over your kitchen if

Runny mixture!

you’re even slightly clumsy) but that's how it is supposed to be!

I followed the recipe to the letter (which I don’t usually do) and ended up with really lovely little doughnuts. My dad and brother were eating the warm ones while I was still trying to take them out of the oven! The recipe recommends that you roll them around in sugar but I sprinkled mine with icing sugar and  iced a few to look like what I’d call  "Homer Simpson Doughnuts". 

Homer Simpson style

They were tasty and the size is great as it’s a bite of doughnut, brilliant finger food! My mum said that she thought fried doughnuts still have the edge and I’d have to agree, these are more cakey than doughy but they’re still a lot of fun. I’d definitely recommend the mould, I’m guessing kids would love these too!

My mum thought they could make great mini rum babas, which sounds like a brilliant idea! I’ll keep you posted on that one! 

Vicki xxx

The Place to Meet Lingfield - Review

Despite being a relatively small village on the Surrey-Kent-Sussex border Lingfield has quite a lot going on. The racecourse just outside the village brings horse racing fans from across the South East to the relatively quiet village. This means however that the village has a lot of hungry betters to cater for, with three Indian restaurants, a Thai restaurant, a chip shop, Chinese takeaway and three cafes, there’s almost too much to choose from! Considering that the high street is not particularly long that’s quite a feat! 

The Place to Meet from the other side of the road

Located at the end of the high street which leads to the racecourse, The Place to Meet advertises itself as a family friendly place to catch up with friends over a cup of coffee. It has a section of the cafe dedicated to children’s play things and the decor is bright and airy. I’ve visited this cafe a few times since it opened a few years ago and I’ve enjoyed every visit, from popping in for coffee to meeting friends for lunch. 

The staff are friendly, taking the time to chat to regulars, and the atmosphere is relaxed. Despite the fact it caters for parents with small children it is popular with all ages, as girls in our early 20s my friend and I were joined by an array of ages from retired couples to young families, all in perfect harmony!

They serve the usual food you would expect in a cafe, sandwiches, baguettes, wraps and warm soups. You can choose the type of bread you want in your sandwich and they even do gluten free bread for an extra charge. Yet this cafe isn’t the type of place to slap a sandwich on your plate and shove it on your table! Care is taken to make your meal interesting, cutting sandwiches into small triangles and serving them with a handful of tortilla chips and a salad. I had a chicken Caesar salad wrap, which was the special of the day, it was great, the chicken and the sauce were really tasty. 

My chicken Caesar salad wrap

 

The attention to detail is what really makes it stand out from other coffee shops, this is particularly evident in the drinks. On top of the usual coffees and teas they also do milkshakes and smoothies, my friend ordered a smoothie which she said was really tasty but it came with a cute bendy straw which made it all the more interesting! The latte I ordered also came with a caramelised biscuit, something that most coffee shops now neglect to do, but its these touches that make the customer feel special, so it was great!

 

Every time I’ve been here I’ve had a really good experience, it’s just what Lingfield needs, somewhere that welcomes everyone with food for a reasonable price. I’m always suggesting to meet my friends here and it’s great to be able to find somewhere nearby that does a good coffee! 

Vicki xx

Gurkha Kitchen Oxted - review

My (not so) baby brother and me!

My little brother passed his A levels this August and so has successfully graduated from 6^th Form in Oxted, so last Thursday we all attended his graduation ceremony to celebrate his success! After the ceremony we decided to go out for a meal and chose the Gurkha kitchen. 

Found at the top of Station Road East in Oxted, the Gurkha Kitchen is a friendly Nepalese restaurant serving a brilliant mix of curries, rice and noodle dishes. Nepalese food is hard to explain, the closest I can get is a mixture between Indian and Chinese food (leaning more towards Indian) but even that doesn’t really cover it. It’s a unique cuisine and is tasty as well as popular (the restaurant was packed that Thursday!). 

When we arrived we weren’t completely sure what we were supposed to do, is it like an Indian where you all share dishes (this is at least how my family treats it)? Or do you get your own dishes and just share thoughts?

So we asked the waiter what was the best idea and he suggested a variety of dishes for us to share. Asking for our meat (chicken) and spice (anything from mild to hot) preferences, we were presented with an interesting yet complimentary mix of starters then mains. 

For starters we had a Nepalese style calamari, prawns in breadcrumbs, spicy filo vegetable parcels and potato rosti type bites. They were all really tasty, coming with a selection of dips and chutneys, everything was demolished (even my seafood wary boyfriend enjoyed everything!).

For the mains we were presented with two chicken curries, one was sweet and mild similar to a unique version of the Indian dish chicken tikka masala, the other was much spicier in a yellow sauce which was sweet and extremely tasty.  As our mains were brought to us a sizzling green chicken dish blasted fragrant spices across the restaurant and arrived at our table. These dishes are always attention grabbing, both for the other people in the restaurants and for the taste buds. This dish didn’t disappoint, the chicken was succulent and tasty, probably my favourite of the three. We also had a lamb dish which was less exciting than the chicken dishes, but still tasty and the meat was really excellent, something which isn’t always achieved with lamb dishes. The side dishes which composed of rice, naan breads and a potato dish, perfectly complimented the curries. 

Overall we had an excellent experience at the Gurkha Kitchen, the staff were accommodating, friendly and helpful. The atmosphere was relaxed and the food was really tasty, a welcome change from the usual Tandoori. I would definitely recommend it for a special evening meal or if you’re feeling a like you’d rather have a night in they also do takeaway! 

NB - I was so excited about the food I forgot to take photos! It did look as tasty as it tasted though!