Star shaped bread
I always love a good challenge so when I saw this fancy looking recipe pop-up on my Pinterest, I decided to try it out. The intricate design of the bread intrigued me and the joy of achieving such beautifully shaped bread made it worth the risk of failure.
I’ve heard my friends share their not so successful stories on bread making, especially in terms of proofing and shaping. I personally have had one epic fail when I used old yeast to bake bread for visitors. I was devastated serving it to them the next morning as it was flat and didn't rise, but let's put that behind us. Hopefully this recipe works as well for you as it did for me. #QuarantineRecipes
What you will need:
- 3 cups of all purpose flour *can be replaced by whole grain flour/blended oat flour as healthier alternatives
- 2 teaspoons instant yeast
- 2 tablespoons of sugar
- ½ teaspoon of salt
- 1/3 cup melted butter or margarine
- 1 cup warm milk
- 1/2 cup fruit jam of choice *mine was homemade berry jam- a pretty simple recipe of blueberries, raspberries, water and sugar
Steps:
- In a bowl, pour in the milk and sugar. Mix until the sugar partly dissolves. (The milk should be warm to the touch, such that you don’t feel any temperature difference if you dip your finger into it.)
- Sprinkle the yeast over the milk. (If using active dry yeast, let it rest for 10 minutes for the yeast to bloom. If you’re using instant yeast, no need for the rest time. It’s okay to use as it is.)
- Add the melted butter and mix. Add in the flour and salt a little at a time , using a spatula/wooden spoon to combine together into a sticky mass.
- Transfer to a lightly floured surface and knead for approx. 10 minutes , until the dough is soft and elastic.
- Lightly oil a bowl (to prevent the dough from sticking and drying out), cover with cling film or a clean kitchen towel and let the dough proof/rise for 1 hour or until doubled in size.
- After proofing, divide the dough into 4 equal parts. Roll each portion into a circle. If rolling dough into a perfect round shape is an issue, just ensure the circles are relatively the same size to prevent a lot of overlap. (Otherwise, ‘tumbo haitambui shape’ is my motto. Hehe! :) That is Kiswahili loosely translated to ‘the stomach doesn’t recognize the shape anyway’ for my international readers.)
- Take a little bit of the jam and spread it out over the first circle. Roll the next portion and lay it over the jam layer .Repeat the steps until you have the 4 layers of circles with jam layers in between.
- Take a cup/cookie cutter and make a slight indentation at the center of the dough (make sure you don’t cut through the dough). This will form the center of the star. Make 16 slits through the dough from the edge of that indentation (as shown in the video)
- Twist adjacent sections next to each other and join the edges at the end. Do this all around and slowly see the star shape come together.
- Cover with cling film or a clean kitchen towel and let the dough proof/rise for a second time- 30mins or until doubled in size. (Sometimes I make this at night and let it second proof overnight. It works for me but may not be as per professional bread making standards hehe! Apparently there’s something like over-proofing dough)
- Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius and lightly brush the bread with milk/egg/honey for a golden brown finish. Bake for 20-25 minutes. The smell of fresh bread is one of my favorites!Â
Doesn’t it look lovely? A beautiful intricate star to remind you to hold onto hope in this pandemic season. You can dust the bread with icing sugar for some extra fancy jazz or also enjoy as is.
Share this recipe and tag me @muenimuli when you try it. Grace and peace! #TasteandSee
“If you’ll hold on to me for dear life,†says God, “I’ll get you out of any trouble. I’ll give you the best of care if you only get to know and trust me.†Psalm 91:14-16(MSG)
Homemade cream cheese
Carrot cake is my absolute favorite cake! The spices cinnamon and nutmeg make it such a homely recipe, offering some much needed warmth in this Nairobi cold weather. Check out this post for my recipe on carrot cake.
But carrot cake with cream cheese frosting is on another level! Cream cheese is THE game changer. Unfortunately, cream cheese isn't soft on the pocket. It's in the range of ksh 600. I wasn't about to spend that much money so frequently.
I had heard that you could make it at home with fresh milk -the full fat type- but that too wasn't in high supply in my area. But God! I found several recipes that suggested you could use any type of milk, so here's my take on cream cheese at home. I hope it brings you as much joy as it did me! #TasteAndSee #QuarantineRecipes
Homemade Cream cheese
Prep time:Â 20 minutes
What you will need:
- 1 litre (4 cups) whole milk
- 2 tablespoons vinegar/lemon juice
- pinch of salt
- clean scarf/fine-mesh sieve/cheesecloth
Steps: (Recipe makes about a cup of cream cheese)
- Boil the milk over medium heat while stirring and bring it to a roaring boil. i.e. just before it starts rising. Keep your eye on it because you know how milk is..hehe...one glance away and you have a whole mess on your cooker!
- Pour in the vinegar /lemon juice . The milk will start to curdle i.e. small white lumps will form.
- Turn off the heat and continue stirring until the milk fully curdles, for around 5 minutes.
- Spread the scarf/sieve /cheese cloth over a bowl. Pour the milk mixture over it and let the whey drain out for 15 mins.
 
Cream cheese can actually be used as is in salads, but for cream cheese frosting, an extra step of blending or hand mixing is needed. The drained whey can be used to replace water in rice and pasta recipes, to replace milk in smoothies and to replace buttermilk in cakes, breads and pastries. So don't throw it away. :)
Cream cheese frostingÂ
What you will need:
- 1 cup of cream cheese (plus a teaspoon of whey)
- 1 tablespoon of butter/margarine
- 2 tablespoons of icing sugar
Steps:
- Blend the cream cheese and whey until it becomes white and fluffy. You can use a hand mixer or blender.
- Add the butter and margarine and blend for a short while, about a minute.
- Do a joyful dance because your coins have been saved and you've got cream cheese frosting. Spread your frosting on your carrot cake or cinnamon rolls and enjoy!
Share this recipe and tag me @muenimuli when you try it. Grace and peace! #TasteAndSee
"Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, as it goes well with your soul."Â 3 John 1:2 (NIV)
Bacon-wrapped pineapple bites
Whenever I have visitors over, I wonder what I could serve them that's both simple to make & not the usual Kenyan tea and bread/mandazi snack. IÂ hereby present to you Bacon Wrapped Pineapple Bites that'll definitely leave your guests asking for more.
All you need is bacon, toothpicks, pineapple pieces and cayenne pepper. Can you imagine!
Start by cutting the bacon into slices, enough to wrap a small piece of pineapple.
 
Generously coat with the sugar -pepper mixture.Â
Place it into the oven as per recipe instructions. Keep checking on them while they're in the oven. For instance, ours almost became a burnt offering since we got so engaged in conversation and forgot they were there! Hehe...
Final results?
Sweet.
Juicy.
Tasty.
Amazing.
Delicious.
Somebody stop me. :)
Hehe...Drumrolls......
Buuuuut, you see? Bacon and Pineapple is gooood! Hawaaian pizza haters...haters gon' hate! We won't let you bring us down!
About judgement, just as I was afraid that you'd judge our almost burnt offering of bacon-pineapple snack...we men and women usually get very defensive when we perceive that someone is casting judgement on us.
'Who are you to judge me? ' we ask. 'Are you God? '
More so, we ask questions like; What about the last judgment? Will our sins be remembered? Will they be revealed?
Anthony Hoekema puts it wisely: “The failures and shortcomings of . . . believers . . . will enter into the picture on the Day of Judgment. But — and this is the important point — the sins and shortcomings of believers will be revealed in the judgement as forgiven sins, whose guilt has been totally covered by the blood of Jesus Christ.â€
I'm glad that God has actually given us the details of how it'll go down on judgement day. First things first, all of us will be judged, that's sure.
"For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad." 2 Corinthians 5:10(NIV)
All judgement will be based on the finished work of Jesus, whether you accepted Him or not. For those who believe, they will receive crowns as rewards;
- crown of righteousness( 2 Timothy 4:8)
- incorruptible crown ( 1 Corinthians 9:24-25)
- crown of life (Revelations 2:10)
- crown of glory (1 Peter 5:2-4) and
- crown of rejoicing (I Thessalonians 2:19).
This and so much more is found in the Word concerning judgement. I'm trying to compile a devotional about all this (judgement on the last day and judging others). Hoping to launch that and many other devotionals on the w4d tab here on my website soon. Pray for me!
In the meantime, I implore you to search the Word about judgement, rather than remaining ignorant on it.
Here are a few resources you could start with.
https://www.desiringgod.org/labs/how-will-christians-be-judged
https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/how-believers-will-be-judged
https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/judge-not
https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/judge-not-that-you-may-judge-well
Has this Taste and See episode on pineapples motivated to go make any of the recipes? 
Also, have you now figured out why we spoke of judgement and pineapples? CROWNS of judgement? Pineapple CROWN. Yes yes... you see what I did there! ;)
Share any pics on Social Media when you do with the Hashtag #TasteandSee and tag me! (@muenimuli )
Do subscribe to the blog so that you don't miss out on anything!
Grace and Peace!
Pineapple Upside-Down Cake
If I was told to describe pineapples with one word, it would be : bitter-sweet. You know how they could either be really sour and leave your tongue feeling... eeeghh...or they could be dangerously sweet.
I must confess my love for the core of the pineapple. You know...that hard part in the middle that many people throw away. I mean how do people throw away such goodness! (facepalm)
Anyway, the other day my friend Brenda pulled me into an an ongoing debate with a group of friends, as we walked to class. She asked me if I'm of the school of thought that approves pineapples being put on pizza.
Hmmm...I will refrain from giving my comments on Hawaiian pizza, as I may have done worse (read as putting avocado on pizza... avo is bae!) Hehe... but do stay reading as I may convince you that salty bacon and sweet pineapple absolutely go well together.
For this episode of #TasteandSee, we went all out on pineapples!
Pineapple upside down cake. Sounds like one of those desserts you have at bourgeois places yeah? Well, we are demystifying that myth guys! Here's the recipe we used. We tweaked it a bit and used sultanas instead of cherries for the colour-pop at the centre of the pineapples. {On that note, help a sister out by writing in the comments section where one can find cherries in Nairobi. I searched all over and couldn't find any!}
     
This cake is so simple to make and affordable as well (I used less than ksh.1000 to buy the ingredients; next time I'll keep the receipts and share the actual cost). Plus it tasted heavenly!
Speaking of heaven, have you ever wondered how judgement day will go about? Judgement seems to be a hot topic in all circles; Christian and non-Christian. "Don't judge me" is a phrase I'm sure most of us have used, or should I say abused. But what really is judgement? Who has the right to judge? Should Christians judge one another?
Here's a little of what the ladies I was cooking with had to say:
"Of course we aren't supposed to judge one another. But Paul in Corinthians mentions that we should judge fellow Christians... sounds so weird...."
"What if I look at someone and already make my first-impression of them by how they look/talk..is that also counted as judging someone?"
"I think God will also punish me for my sins even if I am a believer. I mean, faith includes works, so can He really not punish us for the bad things we do although we're Christians?"
What do you say about this? What is your opinion on judgement? Do keep the conversation going in comments section.
Because I foresee this discussion getting heated, let me give you a baking tip. Ever run out of eggs and you still want to bake a cake? Well, here's an egg alternative that'll save you the trip to the shops just for a few eggs.
  
Ingredients:
1 1/2 tsp vegetable oil
1 1/2 tsp water
1 tsp baking powder
Mix all the ingredients together.
{This replaces 1 egg in recipes, so adjust accordingly as per your recipe.}
Will you try baking it? If you do, please share pics with the hashtag #TasteAndSee and tag me on Social Media @Bloom @muenimuli
Plus what's your opinion on judgement? Do share in the comments. Though the conversation isn't over yet! Later this week (on Wednesday 17th October), I'll be back with part 2 of this #TasteandSee episode. I'll share another pineapple snack that will contribute to that pineapple-on-pizza debate, plus give what I've learnt so far about judgement. ;)
Lots of thanks to our photographer Njeri for her amazing work. Plus my aunt Nangira and cousin Manu for their support and great company!
Soli deo Gloria.
Triple C: Carrot Cake and Custard
Carrot cake! It’s among my favorites since I love spices. Especially when it’s moist and the blend of cinnamon and nutmeg is just right. For this Taste and See episode, I baked with my aunt Bilha and Njeri, our amazing photographer.
Teamwork makes the dream work. Bilha grated the carrots as I prepared the other ingredients.
Quick tip: While beating the eggs into the sugar and oil (I prefer using vegetable oil), make sure you give it a good beating until the mixture gets a bit firm and foamy. Without an electric beater, this may be quite hard but you could consider it arm day for your biceps! Hehe…I kid.
Speaking of teamwork…relationships-marriage…marriage-submission-respect….all these seem to come up while talking about marriage, some perceived in a not so positive light. We agreed that we’d definitely need some more enlightenment on what submission really is, for we had so many definitions and ideas of it, yet we weren’t really sure what the Biblical intention is.
I remarked that Sarah did call Abraham ‘master’ at some point and to be honest, I don’t know if I can imagine calling my future husband that. Or is it that we have become too opinionated as women to be submissive wives? On that note, is there anything as being TOO opinionated as a Christian woman? (Please share your responses in the comments as we’d love to know!)
One thing to note is that instead of using buttermilk or normal milk, we used Sour milk (Maziwa mala). I’ve found that each time I use it, the cakes turn out really moist. I honestly don’t know the science behind it but trust me, it works!
Here’s a link to the recipe we used. https://www.gimmesomeoven.com/best-carrot-cake/  Though honestly, I have a habit of not following measurements or ingredients to the letter. Or rather, I’m among those who pour something in and wait for the ancestors to whisper when I should stop. Hehe! :)
That reminds me, just the way a recipe is a set of standards and rules that dictate the steps one should take to get a great outcome, what do you think about parents’ dictating which religion their children follow? Should parents let their children explore different religions while young? Or should parents actively influence the religion that their children should embrace? This came up after we were chatting about inter-religion marriages and how these could bring great confusion to a child’s life, as well as to the marriage in terms of submission principles etc.
Until we buy baking tins and parchment paper, we shall use the trusted aluminium pans (ie. sufuria.) To avoid the cake from sticking to the sides, apply some margarine evenly inside the sufuria then dust it with a coat of flour. Though we had a slight mishap with our cake…hehe... I turned over the sufuria and it didn’t fall out. I had to bang the bottom severally for it to get unstuck.
We made some custard to accompany the cake using store-bought custard powder.
How to make custard? Very simple!
- Combine custard powder and milk in a small jug. Stir until smooth.
- Place custard mixture, sugar and milk in a small saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring constantly until custard comes to the boil and thickens.
The cake turned out great! (Though our custard was a bit lumpy.) One recipe down, many more to go. Hope you're motivated to try it out. If you do, share it with the hashtag #TasteandSee.Â
Watch this timelapse video of the entire process, as you jam to Taste and See by Travis Greene.
“Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.â€
Psalm 34:8 (NIV)
Why Taste and See?
I remember this day as if it was yesterday. I mean, I love samosas and my late friend, Cindy Wakio (whom I wrote a tribute to here) and I were going to learn how to make them from scratch. We were so excited as we scoured the internet for a good recipe. I remember she found one that looked so delicious but it had alcohol as one of the ingredients. Seeing as none of us drink, we had to skip over it but Cindy found another good one. We split costs for the ingredients and I bought the minced meat at a local butcher on the way to her home.Â
(Here's the one we ended up using. https://allkenyanrecipes.com/2014/01/12/sambusa-samosa/ )
When I got there, we went over the recipe again to confirm that we had everything we needed. We cooked up some ugali, sukuma wiki and eggs for a quick lunch then started our kitchen escapades for the day. We made the dough for the samosa pastry, boiled and fried the minced meat and begun the actual filling process.
First, our rolled out “chapati-like’ dough wasn’t round in shape...they were so shapeless! :) Neither were all the ‘dough circles’ the same size. But we had to pull through. We were doing this through thick or thin pastry dough! :)Â
I remember I wasn’t particularly good at folding the pastry into a triangular shape for the samosa pockets, but Cindy got the hang of it pretty quick. Hence we decided, she was the folder and I was the filler.
All this while, we were deep in discussion about anything and everything. I loved how we opened up to each other even while cooking. In vulnerability, we shared our current struggles, concerns, joys, hopes… We encouraged each other, shared what we were learning and unlearning, laughed over stories and caught up on the latest music we were loving.
And guys that’s literally where this idea came from. I told her, “You know what Cindinyo, I should have this as a new feature on my blog! You know I’m working on a new website yeah? So how cool would it be to include a new section where we can share what we learn in the kitchen? Like what we’ve just done today!â€
We then discussed how we would meet monthly (and invite more of our friends to join us while at it), try out new recipes together and in the midst of that, definitely discuss a principle or two on our faith or a topic we had questions on in Christianity. We would document our experience and open it for further discussion on the blog, with other young guys like us, who are growing in both their faith and culinary skills as well. Basically, it like a Bible Study but, in the kitchen!
The name TASTE AND SEE came to me a few days later and Bilha, my twinnie and aunt (she’ll be so happy I said this) suggested Taste and See by Travis Greene to be our anthem!
Thanking Cindy, for she has left a mark, first because of her pyramid and cone-shaped samosas that day …hehe…but mostly, because of the cooking date we had where this idea was birthed , for many more can be inspired to indeed, taste and see that the Lord is good.
So stay tuned guys. Every 4th Friday of the month I will upload a new Taste and See episode! (Though this month I'll upload it this Sunday, 24th June 2018)
My heart leaps with joy over what God is going to do through this.
Solus Christus.
Here's a little teaser of what is to come this Sunday! Video by Njeri Njaggah.