Strawberry and Chocolate Cupcakes: Recipe

I've eaten more chocolate this year because the winter went on and on, I'm not a chocolate snob, but a bar of Lindt Excellence Strawberry Intense Dark Chocolate is hard to beat. The chocolate has pieces of freeze dried strawberries running through, it smells of summer and reminds me of strawberries dipped in chocolate.

The strawberries for the cupcakes were bought but it
shouldn't be too long before I am picking my own strawberries

For the vanilla cupcakes:

Makes: 9 cupcakes

You will need: 12 hole muffin tin lined with 9 cupcake cases

115g softened butter, 115g caster sugar, 2 eggs, 115g self raising flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon vanilla essence.

1. Preheat the oven to 180ºC.
2. Place all the ingredients into a bowl and beat together with an electric mixer for two minutes.
3. Spoon into 9 cupcake cases and bake for 25 to 30 minutes. Cool.

For the vanilla buttercream:

You will need:

175g softened unsalted butter, 350g sifted icing sugar, 1 tsp vanilla extract.

1. Beat the butter in a bowl to soften. Add the icing sugar gradually, add the vanilla extract, and beat until the icing is very smooth and pale in colour which will take 5 minutes using a stand mixer.

To decorate:

I used a 1M icing nozzle to pipe the buttercream. Cut a square of chocolate in half and place on the buttercream, top with a whole strawberry.

More recipes you may like:
White Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes
Chocolate Covered Coffee Beans Cupcakes
Mini Strawberry Victoria Sponges

Photographs taken using the Nikon D3200.

Introduction to Digital SLR Photography - Nikon Training Course Review

Picture Control being illustrated in the classroom

I was recently invited to write a blog posting after attending a Nikon Introduction to Digital SLR Photography Course at the newly opened Nikon Centre of Excellence in central London. I was delighted to take advantage of learning from the professionals, using the Nikon D3200 that Kitchen Delights uses to pictorially illustrate postings.

I have always technically supported Kitchen Delights blog, however, my wife takes all of the photographs for the blog, improving my knowledge will benefit any support that I can provide.  Food photography in a home kitchen is a challenge, especially cooking hot meals, presenting food in the most appealing way and hopefully getting a meal to the table whilst reasonably hot.

Mark the class tutor, started with introductions to find the photographic interests of the attendees.  It’s surprising how diverse the interests were, from landscapes, portraiture, macro to family, sport and food.

The initial ground covered was to highlight what all of the buttons and dials are typically for.
We all know the Auto button is the starting point for ‘point and shoot’ but to take creative control we need to expand the use of the options available on today’s high specification cameras. M, S and P shooting modes allow for much more control over the camera options, these were explained with their relevance for different shooting requirements. Everyone has a different take for their style of photography and the modern DSLR can cater for a tremendous diversity of needs.

The first practical exercise was outside on the street, to photograph moving vehicles, to freeze their motion and try blurring background and vehicles. Mark our tutor was there to ensure we could ask questions to clarify the previous time spent studying the theory.

The course progressed through all the basic understanding required to achieve better creative control,  after studying the theory the practical sessions followed to reinforce the learning.

Example of picture control
Top left Standard, Top right Neutral,
Bottom left Vivid, Bottom right Monochrome

As the day progressed, through a series of easy to follow practical exercises, all of the common aspects associated with creative photography were covered, exposure control regarding aperture, shutter speed and ISO, colour balance and picture control, both for picture taking and effects after the shoot.

The course helped to give attendees confidence to explore all the menus within the camera, adjustments for the shooting conditions and features for editing photographs within the camera, as well as teaching why there are different file types to allow for more control at the editing stage.

There were refreshment breaks in the morning and afternoon and a lunch break with good quality food provided for everyone to enjoy.

A fabulous selection of filled baguettes

Fresh fruit for dessert or chocolate brownies and strawberries.

The course provided stimulation for the attendees and focused on the basic knowledge for taking improved photographs, this is a valuable start to using a DSLR.

I can thoroughly recommend attending a Nikon Introduction to Digital SLR Photography.  The class size when I attended was eleven people which meant we all had our share of individual attention from the tutor.

There are Nikon courses on many different aspects of photography including, lighting, movies and street photography in London.  For more details about upcoming courses visit Nikon Training.

Thank you to Nikon Training for an informative and enjoyable day.

Banana and Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

Banana and Chocolate Chip Cupcakes taken with the Nikon D3200

Looking at bananas in the fruit bowl turning from black to blacker, resisting throwing them out and then feeling pressured into using them happens far too often in my house, so let's do some baking. All you need are a few store cupboard/fridge ingredients to make the cake batter and hopefully a few cupcake cases.  I used nine tulip cupcake cases and shared the batter between them.

The recipe by Mary Berry for the banana and chocolate chip cupcakes can be found on the Daily Mail website, I substituted the caster sugar for soft brown sugar and left the milk out to prevent the chocolate chips sinking to the bottom of the cupcakes.

Banana and Chocolate Chip Loaf

Mary Berry to the rescue for those black banana recipes, the banana and chocolate chip loaf is one of the best I have ever eaten - I try to remember to leave the milk out of the recipe because I've always found the chocolate chips sink to the bottom of the loaf, in this instance I forgot and the chocolate chips sank....This loaf improves with keeping and turns lovely and sticky, a drizzle of chocolate on top of the loaf will totally transform it's otherwise plain appearance.

Both the cupcakes and loaf freeze perfectly.

More suggestions for using up those ripe or over ripe bananas:

Nigella's Chocolate Banana Muffins
Banana Blueberry Cakes

Easy One Pot Chicken: Recipe

All photographs taken with the Nikon D3200

Easy one pot chicken recipes are a delight and this is a favourite of ours. I'm happy to make this instead of the usual Sunday roast because it saves hours of labour.

I try to make good use of natural daylight to take photographs

If hubby is around he guards the food I've placed on the patio table whilst I take photographs, basically he's there on creepy crawlies alert and to make sure the local cat doesn't jump onto the table.

The chicken was reduced and cost £3.00 from Marks and Spencer - most root vegetables can be used, the prosciutto can be replaced with streaky bacon, but either way the bacon is a must for that salty hit and to be honest the crispy prosciutto is the best part of the dish. This recipe is a winner on both taste and cost.

Occasionally I've found the chicken has cooked through but the vegetables need more cooking time.  If they have been particularly stubborn I place the veg in a casserole dish with some of the juices, cover and pop them in the microwave for a few minutes.

You will need:  Large casserole dish

1.5kg chicken
50g softened butter
4 slices prosciutto
2 onions
2 carrots
1 celery stalk
2 leeks
3 unpeeled potatoes
1 sprig of rosemary
250ml white wine
250ml chicken stock
flat leaf parsley

1. Preheat the oven to 180ºC.  Place the chicken into a deep casserole dish.  Rub the butter over the chicken, cover with prosciutto slices. Scatter over a few rosemary leaves.
2. Cut the celery into large pieces, peel the carrots and potatoes and chop into chunks, slice the leeks and wash thoroughly.  Scatter the vegetables around the chicken, pour the wine and stock over the vegetables.  Season.  Place the cover on the casserole and place in the oven for an hour.
3. Remove the casserole dish from the oven and give the vegetables a stir round.  Spoon some of the juices over the chicken. Leaving the lid off  place the chicken casserole in the oven for a further 30 minutes to brown the chicken.
4. To serve:  Place the chicken and vegetables onto a serving dish with the broth from the casserole dish and scatter over the parsley.

Stuffed Mushrooms with Leeks, Dolcelatte and Walnuts: Recipe

All photographs taken with the Nikon D3200                           

'Life's too short to stuff a mushroom' - does anyone still use this expression? In 1975 Shirley Conran, published the book Superwoman, aimed at busy women and gave advice about life using the phrase 'Life is too short to stuff a mushroom'........This recipe is definitely well worth the time spent making something tasty and inexpensive from just a few fridge and store cupboard ingredients.

Served with a simple risotto.

I placed a small amount of risotto on the plate for the photograph because it very quickly goes stodgy and doesn't like to be left hanging around, otherwise you may well end up eating it for pudding. After taking photographs, which as usual were taken speedily during cooking and serving, I topped the risotto with the remaining walnuts, Dolcelatte and thyme leaves, to give texture and interest.  I made a tried and trusted risotto recipe, used half the recommended quantities of ingredients and simply left out the bacon, leeks, Parmesan and chives.

The original recipe for the Stuffed Mushrooms with Leeks, Dolcelatte and Walnuts is from the Waitrose Kitchen Magazine - February 2013.

Adapted Recipe

Serves: 2

5 large flat mushrooms (chop one and leave the others whole)
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp garlic oil
1 leek finely chopped
a few thyme leaves
25g Dolcelatte Cheese
25g walnuts chopped

1. Preheat the oven to 200ºC. Mix the olive oil and garlic oil together and brush one tablespoon over the whole mushrooms. season with black pepper.  Place on a roasting tin top-side down and cook for 10 minutes.
2. Heat the remaining tablespoon of oil in a frying pan and fry the leek, thyme and chopped mushrooms for approximately 5 minutes until softened.
3. Divide the mixture between the four upturned baked mushrooms, top with cubes of  Dolcelatte cheese and chopped walnuts, season.
4. Bake for 10 minutes or until the cheese melts.

Nikon D3200 - Review

One of the most exciting emails to drop into my inbox recently was an invitation to use the new
Nikon D3200 camera and share this experience with my readers.

I have never written a blog post about how I use my camera to take photographs of food and I’d like to give you a glimpse of what I do. I’m not a techno wiz at all so this is a straightforward review of the camera and how it is helping me to take better pictures for the blog.

Using my Camera in the Kitchen
Before reviewing the camera I will paint a picture of how I normally take photographs for the blog. The majority of my photographs are taken in the kitchen and this is during cooking and serving food. I have to work with limited daylight, unfortunately my work surface is situated away from the window, to compensate for this I use a couple of lamps, I also use a tripod approximately 40% of the time particularly when lighting conditions are poor. Experimenting with backgrounds to complement the food can be anything from wallpaper to various materials. If the weather is good I take some photographs outside on the patio table to take advantage of natural light.

I only use the supplied zoom macro lens, this is quick to frame the subject and is able to get in very close. When framing the subject I try to vary both the layout of the food, the distance from the food and use various angles of shot, I always have a stool handy to stand on to help achieve this, again speed is of the essence when serving up food.

Introducing the Guide Mode

The on-screen Guide Mode Option is a very good introduction to using the camera and its many features. Easy or Advanced Operation present many options, for example how much of the picture is in focus or whether moving subjects are frozen, whether to use live view or the view finder and so on. For food photography there is a setting 'bright subjects' when in advanced operation.

The Guide Mode is not just for shooting pictures, it is also there for viewing, deleting and setting up the camera. Handy if I am in forgetful mode, without the instruction book.

Using Auto Mode
This setting is for point and shoot photography, most of the settings are made by the camera according to the picture taking conditions. There is also an easy 'flash off' setting by rotating the mode dial one click anti-clockwise, very handy for point and shoot Auto Mode.

View Finder
A number of focus points can be seen through the view finder, when the shutter release is pressed half way down, one or more of these points turn red and shows which part of the image will be in focus. I found these a little confusing at first but when in Aperture Priority mode you can select which part of the image will be focused on. These focus points are easily adjusted with the four way button situated on the back of the camera. The points can also be seen on the monitor screen when I use the camera on a tripod.

Using Aperture Priority
I prefer to use 'Aperture Priority' for my food photography, this allows me to use selected focus points, as mentioned earlier, to give selective sharpness. The manual setting of the aperture together with the use of the extended ISO range allows for blur effects or sharpness as required, on the monitor screen there is a reminder icon showing the aperture size. I often use the built in flash to minimise foreground shadows.

Image Quality
The camera has various settings for picture quality and image size, I use normal on image quality and large JPEG on image size. When readers to my blog view my photographs it is possible to click onto the photographs for a better view by using these settings without seeing excessive pixelation.

From Camera to Blog
I use an Eye-Fi card, which is directly supported by the Nikon D3200, this facilitates easy picture transfer from the camera to the computer without using connecting wires. This is an amazing convenience feature.

Using the Remote Function
Cooking is messy, and whilst I am cooking and taking photographs, typically without any assistance, I have been trying to make more use of my tripod. The Nikon D3200 has sensors on both the back and front of the camera. The remote function is built into the camera and the actual remote is an optional extra. Using a remote helps keep the camera clean and eliminates any possibility of introducing the camera to shake.

Recording Short Movies
The camera has easy access to record and play back short videos, to start recording enter 'Live Mode' and simply press the 'Movie Record Button' shoot the video - to end the recording simply press the same button again. To play back the movie on the camera monitor all you have to do is press the playback button and then the OK button.

There are various options for movie quality in the 'Movie Settings' including HD. The maximum length of a movie is 20 minutes, given sufficient memory.

To view the movie, this can be via television, computer or the camera monitor. From the movie still pictures can be recorded as JPEG.

I hope to make good use of this facility and post some short videos on the blog.

The Verdict
The camera is capable of taking excellent photographs under various conditions in a user friendly way, it is easy to get a sturdy grip and it is a very transportable camera without unnecessary weight.

The Camera - What's in the Box?
Nikon D3200 camera body.
Nikkor 18-55mm f3.5-5.6G lens with VR(vibration resistance).
Lens cap, camera body and back of lens protective caps.
Battery and charger.
Shoulder strap.
USB cable.
Audio/video cable.
Software.
User’s Manual in print form.
Reference Manual on CD-ROM.

You will need:
A suitable memory card.
Ideally a protective case.

Thank you to Nikon for sending me the D3200 to review.

Video - Jamie Oliver and Photographer David Loftus Reveal the Secrets of Food Photography

Must watch video - Jamie Oliver with renowned food photographer David Loftus, giving an amazing insight into how he photographs Jamie's creations.

Food photography 

Jamie Oliver and photographer David Loftus reveal the secrets of food photography

Photographing food is a trend that has swept across social media sites over the past year, and the topic is a firm favourite with bloggers all over Europe, so how can you get the most out of your DSLR to make your food photos look good enough to eat, and impress your food-loving friends?

To explore the food photography trend and find out exactly how the professionals make their culinary creations look so tasty, Nikon has teamed up with celebrity chef, Nikon ambassador and DSLR photography enthusiast Jamie Oliver, and his collaborator – professional food photographer David Loftus – to discover the tricks of the food photography trade.

Speed is of the essence

When it comes to capturing tasty-looking images of food, the key message from David is “shoot lots and shoot fast”. Using a DSLR camera like the Nikon D3200, you can keep your finger on the shutter to make sure you capture all the theatre of the creation of the dish, tell a story with your food, and most of all, make all your dishes look appetising.

According to David, speed is a critical element in food photography, where the freshly prepared ingredients in a steaming hot dish have a ‘photo life’ of a matter of minutes. In Jamie’s words “the best shot in the world is 45 seconds of time… the boss in the room is the food”, and if a dish of piping hot Spaghetti Vongole will lose its vitality in 45 seconds then you have precisely that amount of time to capture its true beauty – moist pasta, tender clams and simmering tomatoes.

Everything is beautiful

Using a DSLR camera like the Nikon D3200, taking pictures of food can become much more than simple point-and-shoot photography. By using a versatile, all-round camera with a wide focal range and numerous shot settings, getting up close with a clam and then zooming out to capture the coiled spaghetti beneath it needn’t require a change of lens. And what’s more, over-complicating things can jeopardise how fresh the food looks on camera.

Embracing the way that food falls into position on a serving plate is something that Jamie reinforces on every shoot with David. Cooking is all about “the reality of mess” says Jamie, including the mess that you create when cutting, chopping, grating and slicing ingredients for a photograph or video. By slowing down shutter speeds, for example, you can capture the moment you crush a clove of garlic with the side of a knife, or crack an egg into a pan.

Set up creatively to spark a trend

David and Jamie both agree that in order to stay ahead of the trend, you have to be creative with your kit. With modern lenses you can get your camera into some really imaginative places in the kitchen.

The rise of trends like ‘dude food’, that encourage people to stay at home and put their own spin on indulgent classics like mini burgers, mixed kebabs and doorstep sandwiches mean people are getting more and more creative in the kitchen. Every ingredient has a personality, and this needs to come through in a photo: tomatoes ooze juice; chips are both fluffy yet crispy; meat will ‘breathe’ as it absorbs the flavours it is cooked in. A meal is an assortment of ingredients, each jostling for position on the plate, and for prime position in your photography.

Jamie, more than anyone, advocates the creative use of today’s modern, lightweight DSLR cameras to push the boundaries of traditional food photography. As David attests, when cooking at home you’re equipped to capture high quality food photos at any time of day; “with a D3200 you don’t have to use a flash, turn up the ISO settings and you can shoot in low light”.

Background story

David and Jamie have worked together for the past 15 years preparing and shooting food for countless cookbooks and websites. Over the years they’ve worked in environments ranging from lavish country kitchens to self-constructed work surfaces teetering half-way up a mountain. So how does David capture rich, vibrant imagery of the food that Jamie cooks irrespective of the location?

The right coloured background can really enhance a one-dimensional food photo. Jamie and David recommend using neutral colours like natural woods and brushed steels to bring out the texture of the foods. David carries a selection of stained wooden boards and rich cotton cloths to shoot lots of dishes in different colour combinations at any one time. According to Jamie, the average food photographer will shoot between 5-8 dishes per day – he and David aim for over 20!

Top tips for capturing great food image

1. Use neutral backgrounds to bring out textures in the food.
2. Embrace natural, ambient light to show off fresh ingredients.
3. Shoot quickly, especially when dealing with heat.
4. Shoot often, and capture the mess. Cooking is messy!
5. Take action shots using slow shutter speeds to portray energy.
6. Set the scene to tell a story and don’t be afraid to get your hands involved.
7. Use macro settings to capture stunning close ups.
8. Use colourful ingredients and off-white plates to serve up.
9. Get creative. Find an interesting angle, even if it means shooting from a height or leaning inside a cooking pot.
10. Adopt the point of view of the creator. The same applies before eating!
    
    For more information about the Nikon D3200, please visit www.nikon.co.uk