Spiced PumpKen Todd Muffins

Cake, Dessert, Snack, Sweets

Ken is such a doll – you have no idea!

While I had the pleasure of catching up with Ken for drinks at PUMP just after seeing Lisa last year, poor Annelie wasn’t able to attend and, I think, has been struggling with missing our Hollywood father-figure a little more than I do.

As fans would know, Ken is kind, thoughtful and loving man and despite being solo (he didn’t want Giggy to end up in a Pistol and Boo scenario) he filled our house with so much heart!

Ken regaled us with spoilers from the upcoming season of RHOBH (you’ll never guess who Rinna glasses this year), while we gave thanks for our achievements over the last year and brainstormed ideas for the next venue in the Vanderpump-Todd dining dynasty.

Given that our date was to celebrate an early thanksgiving, and Ken is such a sweetie, we had to go with our Spiced PumpKen Todd Muffins.

 

Spiced PumpKen Todd Muffins_1

 

Pumpkin is probably one of my favourite ingredients, the sweetness mixed with the earthy, rich, woodiness is so versatile and so delicious.

Add it to a cinnamon coated muffin and you’re in heaven. Enjoy!

 

Spiced PumpKen Todd Muffins_2

 

Spiced PumpKen Todd Muffins
Serves: 8.

Ingredients
small butternut pumpkin, baked and blitzed into a puree (you’ll need 1 ¼ cups puree)
140g unsalted butter, room temperature
3 cups plain flour
2 ½ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp baking soda
1 tsp coarse salt
½ tsp ground nutmeg
¼ tsp ground allspice
⅓ cup buttermilk
¾ cup dark brown sugar
2 large eggs
¾ cup raw caster sugar
2 ½ tsp ground cinnamon

Method
Preheat oven to 200°C. Place the pumpkin on a lined tray and baking for about 50 minutes. Remove from the oven, slice in half, seed and leave to cool for about half an hour. Once cooled blitz into a puree in a blender or food processor.

Reduce the heat of the oven to 170°C.

Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, and allspice together in a medium bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the buttermilk and pumpkin puree.

In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar on medium speed of an electric mixer until fluffy and pale brown. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Reduce the mixer to low and add a third of the flour mixture, then add half the buttermilk-puree hybrid, followed by another third of flour, the rest of the buttermilk-puree and then, you guessed it, the last of the flour.

Divide the mixture evenly amongst 8 lined Texas muffin tins and bake for 30 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. Let muffins cool for 10 minutes on a wire rack in the pan.

While they are cooling, combine the caster sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl.

One at a time, remove the muffins from the pan and toss in the sugar mixture until coated and place on the wire rack. Repeat until they are done.

Devour.

 

As you can probably tell, we are very social but the fun isn’t only limited to celebrities! You can follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Tumblr and Google+.

La Vie en Villa Rosa

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner

As you know, we’ve long been friends with the Vanderpump-Todds. Lisa took us in during the early 00s after we pulled our Halle Berry crash scam and she and Ken were instantly drawn to us. Probably because they felt we needed supervision / help.

When Lisa dropped by for Thanksgiving last year, poor Ken was unable to come as he had to attend a black tie gala with the Gigster. Thankfully Ken wanted to make up for missing out and is dropping down to see us before the festive season.

Ken is such an angel and has always looked after us, making sure we’re dressed appropriately for the weather, bailing us out of jail and giving us jobs at SUR / Villa Blanca whenever we’ve hit financial hardship.

What do you make for such a sweet, sweet man?

Picture source: Unknown.

 

As you can probably tell, we are very social but the fun isn’t only limited to celebrities! You can follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Tumblr and Google+.

CheeseKate Middleton

Dessert, Sweets

After spending years trying to bring down the Middleton clan through convincing Pippa to write a book/releasing James’ frat-boy nudes we were hoping some post-pregnancy pudge would finally give us the upper hand and get us into the Queen’s inner sanctum, where we belong.

It was truly disappointing to arrive at the Lindo wing only to find our friend Cath had already shed all the baby weight and waltzed herself home looking fresh-as-a-daisy less than 10 hours after birthing the delightful Princess Annelie Benita Diana Nigella Hilary Kate Winslet Vanilla Boring Pompous Traditional Blah Blah Blah. We had so hoped to arrive and capitalise on Cath’s pain and exhaustion through some kind of crazed cathartic release.

KM1

Not to worry! With Cath coming home skinny and gorgeous, there is only one solution – stuff her full of the most calorie-dense, artery clogging food known to man. Better yet, shove her full of two of them in glorious synchronicity. Yes, we are talking about the muffin-top inducing cookie dough cheesecake.

KM 2

CheeseKate Middleton
Serves: 16

Ingredients
Cheesecake layer:
500g cream cheese, softened (we told Kate it was reduced fat but obvs wasn’t!)
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Base layer:
2 cups plain flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup caster sugar
1 cup dark brown sugar
180g butter, softened
1 cup mini chocolate chips

Method
Heat oven to 160C. Line and grease a rectangular brownie tray.

Beat together butter, caster sugar and brown sugar until pale and thick. Sift in flour, baking powder and salt and add chocolate chips. Mix until just combined and divide mixture into thirds.

Spoon two thirds of cookie mixture into the brownie tray and gently pat to form an even base. Bake for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, beat cream cheese, vanilla and powdered sugar together until smooth. Stir in eggs and sour cream until combined.

Pour cheesecake mixture over cookie base and top with spoonfuls of remaining cookie dough. Bake for another 25-30 minutes or until cheesecake is set and cookie dough is golden.

 

A Wilde week ahead

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner

I think we are at the point where we need to stop being shocked that our celebrity friends want to catch-up with us; this is now a thing and you will get to hear about our fantastic, high-flying lives as celebrity-bloggers/famous friends/founders of esteemed dance troupe Jazz in Your Face.

Stephen gave us a buzz over the weekend hoping to catch-up while on a quick winter jaunt down to the stifling heat of Brisbane to see if it was as ugly as Alain de Botton said (it kind of is, but he can decide for himself) and reconnect with his old friends.

Annelie and I have known Stephen for many years, after getting a job hanging clothes in the QI wardrobe department after we were run out of Hollywood for our varied crimes and misdemeanours. After sabotaging the QI stylist, we were promoted to the role and became confidantes to Stephen however we lost contact after our deportation following arrests for storming the set of Harry Potter and demanding roles.

What says sorry that you got stuck with a sub-par stylist on QI when we disappeared without a trace following our clandestine deportation?

Picture source: Stephen Fry.com.

The Real Catch-Ups of Brisbane

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner

We first met Lisa when she witnessed us getting run over by an unnamed actress and she took us in and aided in our recovery (we were Cedric before Cedric).

What Lisa didn’t know at the time, was that we were in our grifter period and had thrown ourselves in front of the car for a million-dollar paycheck.

After a time of ugliness following the truth coming out, Lisa extended an olive branch knowing that we were young, stupid and in search of a life of diamonds and rosé.

And Lisa can’t help herself when it comes to helping those she cares about.

She gave us a buzz wanting to catch up for Thanksgiving while she was in town. What says thank you for seeing past our flaws to offer us your love, support and guidance?

Picture source: Evans Vestal Ward/Bravo.

Starkers at lunch

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner

It is funny, you catch up with one celebrity friend and all of your old friends start coming out of the woodwork.

Barely five minutes after we posted about our catch-up with Kim Carnes last week, Sean Bean emailed us asking if we could fit him in for a light lunch too.

We lost contact with Sean after our work on the Lord of the Rings; Ben was fired for trying to bump his role of ‘Shortest Hobbit #3’ up to a speaking part (don’t get him started) and I left the production in a move of naive solidarity.

We didn’t stop talking because we blamed Sean for not coming to our defence or anything like that! He is just a busy man that has many a death scene to film all over the globe.

What lunch option would make him lose his head?