Mango Melba Magic

Here's the second of our adventures in cup cake land. Our Mango Melba cup cake is a creative fusion of a raspberry and white chocolate cup cake (thanks to our Chocaberry Cheese Ball Mix and Original Beer Bread Mix) with a mango glaze and topped with a velvety smooth mango cream cheese buttercream (courtesy of our Mango Mojito Dessert Sauce).  To complete the look, it is garnished with a fresh raspberry, a piece of dried mango, mint leaves and a final flourish of Mango Mojito Dessert sauce.  This is not a cup cake to be scoffed lightly, serve on your best tea plates with a little cake fork and slowly devour every mouthful.  You can find the full recipe here, Enjoy!

Clare
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Sugar and spice and all things nice

Autumn is in the air and as we say goodbye to the last few warm days of the season and drag out our woollies, here's a little something to look forward to from our kitchen - cup cakes.  This is our first cup cake recipe as we celebrate all that is sugary, sweet, plus a little spice and of course always nice.

Thanks to our client Lisa Lovell for the inspiration for the Apple Cup Cake with Canella Buttercream.  It not only features our Beer Bread Mix and Maple Caramel Sauce but a debut recipe for our new Vanilla Pudding Spices.  I promise you, baking with this new sweet spice will fill your home and your heart with the comforts of vanilla, cinnamon and our new bff, roasted cassia.

You can find the full recipe here

Next week with the expert help from 'Cup Cake Katie' we'll be turning our hands to another cup cake sensation.

Happy baking!

Clare
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Saving the best for last

Do you sometimes fnd yourself scraping the barrel....well ok the jar?!

We love our square jars but like you, we often find ourselves trying to reach the last elusive tasty bits that get stuck in the corners. Well here are a few recipes & tips to make sure that you get the most out of our jars!  

Our Tapenade with Smoked Garlic & Jumping Jack Chilli Jam (& even a little Fig Pudding Pickle) are great added to Bolognese, casseroles & soups so when it's not possible to get a spoonful out, add a little hot water from the kettle, give the jar a shake & then tip into your recipe. 

For super speedy and simple dressings, add the extra ingredients needed for these fab recipes straight into the jar and give it all a shake. 

Fig Balsamic & Walnut Dressing 

Tapenade Vinaigrette 

 

How about adding a secret extra to your hot drinks? A Maple Caramel Latte is a yummy treat that if you haven't enjoyed before is definitely a must for the end of the jar - just add your hot coffee to the jar & shake it into the corners to free those last bits of Maple Caramel Sauce then pour into a mug of heated/frothed milk.   Instead of coffee you could use cocoa & enjoy a decadent hot chocolate!  

Hot chocolate is another drink that we enjoy with our Chocolate Peppermint Fondue so at the end of the jar just add in some of the hot milk & shake to melt the last bits of fondue.  

Maple Caramel Sauce is also delicious with apples & pears so if you are stewing or poaching these then add some hot water to the jar to free the sauce & then add to your pan of fruit.  

We hope these tips & ideas help you to enjoy our products right down to the last drop and maybe you'd agree that we save the best for last?!

 

- Laura Virgoe

Feeling hungry? It must be launchtime!

Today is one of the days of the year we love the most – it’s the time when we launch our new goodies for the autumn/winter season! As well as some cracking new products, we’ve news of some amazing new gift packs. Christmas may be three months away, but it pays to be prepared! And on that note, as things get busier and busier for us, we’re looking for more lovely people to come and join the team. Read on to learn more!

• Fire-up the flavour of your favourite foods
• Savour our new sweet and spicy innovation
• Get the lowdown on our great new gift packs
• Come on – let’s help each other out!

Secret Firecracker
Chilli Spices

After the success of our Secret Wild Garlic Spices, the ?rst product in our Secret Spices range, we’re excited to bring you another – Firecracker Chilli. This sensational seasoning is simply bursting with fiery flavours thanks to our blend of Mexico’s ‘holy trinity’ of chillies.

This includes the sweet and mild ancho, the dark and liquorice-like pasilla, and the red and fruity guajillo. Together with the flavours and spicy heat of cayenne pepper, cumin, garlic and Mexican oregano, this Secret Spice is so much easier to use than fresh chillies – just 1/4 tsp will replace one small red chilli!

To put our Secret Firecracker Chilli Spices through its paces, you could:

• Serve onion rings (or steak and chips) with a creamy Firecracker Chill dip
• Make you own salsa by stirring 2 tsp Secret Firecracker Chilli Spices into 400g of chopped tomatoes, onions and fresh coriander (or your own favourite combination of salsa ingredients – tropical fruits, avocado or black beans all work well)
• Add some to natural yogurt to use to give wraps and pitta bread fillings a cheeky kick. 

• More about Secret Firecracker Chilli Spices

Secret Vanilla
Pudding Spices

We’re proud to be the first people in the market with the concept of a sweet seasoning.

Secret Vanilla Pudding Spices cleverly combines voluptuous vanilla with cinnamon, ground coriander seed, ginger and the secret ingredient, roasted cassia.

Cassia – also known as Chinese cinnamon – has a similar appearance to cinnamon bark but with a stronger flavour.  

Roasting it also gives a wonderfully unique toasted flavour, and helps to make our Secret Vanilla Pudding Spices a must-have ingredient for autumn and winter comfort baking. It will add a tasty twist to puddings and desserts – and is especially awesome in a traditional English apple pie.

To savour our Secret Vanilla Pudding Spices you could:

• Use it as a sweet topping for warming drinks, stirring it into hot chocolate or mixing some with sugar and using as the edging for cocktail glasses.
• Use some as the dusting for warm donuts, French toast or for churros,
• Serve it alongside My Secret Kitchen Chocolate Peppermint Fondue
• Add some to custard or try some in a vanilla, rum and raisin sauce
• Sprinkle it onto popcorn or onto marshmallows for Halloween parties
• Use it in the buttercream for a carrot cake – or try it with apple cupcakes with canella buttercream

• More about Secret Vanilla Pudding Spices

Our great new gift packs and hampers 

We’ve been hard at work creating a new gift pack range. From perfect stocking fillers such as our £10 Bread & Jam gift box, through to our sumptuous £180 Ultimate Hamper (which comprises a gorgeous 24” wicker hamper and every single one of our products) it’s our biggest and most varied selection ever.

So if you are looking for a present for a food-loving friend, or your business would like to give slightly tastier corporate gifts this year, you’ll be sure to find something that ticks all the right boxes. For more details, simply speak to your local consultant – or for corporate gift enquiries, just contact us directly.

Let’s help each other out! 

We get so busy in the run up to Christmas, so now is a terrific time to join us as a consultant. With the coming demands of next few months, we would really welcome more help.

If the idea of some extra income appeals to you, give us a call on 0845 094 5319 or send us an email to find out more and see whether being a My Secret Kitchen Consultant could work for you.

Simple Pleasures

It may not be the best summer for sunshine but there is still joy to be had from garden flavours this year - thanks to the greenhouse or in our case, conservatory-come-gym-come-greenhouse.

What can be sweeter than a plate of tomatoes drizzled with Balsamic Reduction, a touch of Oak Smoked Rapeseed Oil and a sprinkling of Lemon & Chipotle Spiced Sea Salt.  Borage flowers complete the look and who knows, a diet of summer tomatoes *may* help with that bikini body count down!  (What an inspiration the Olympian athletes are too although I'll set my sights a little lower with eating healthier and more fresh air this summer regardless of the weather!).  Simple pleasures are the best.

Happy summer everyone,

Clare
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Something for everyone!

In this month’s newsletter we really have got something for everyone! We’ve exciting news about our brand new online recipe book; details of a fabulous new business kit for would-be consultants; the low-down on the celebrities who visited our stand at the Good Food Show; and ideas for giving your next tasting a bit of a twist!

• Cast your eyes over our online recipe book
• Discover our brand new type of business kit
• Find out which famous folk visited us at the Good Food Show
• Give your tasting a twist in July

Our online recipe book is now open! 

First, the news many of our followers have been waiting for! Over the last few months, in response to your requests for even more ideas on how to make your meals more amazing, we’ve been busily beavering away to create a database of our recipes.

We’re delighted to say that this bright and exciting ‘online recipe book’ is now live! All the recipes featured in it are easy to follow, and each one includes a nice big photo to whet your appetite.

• Take a look at our online recipe book now!

We’ve already uploaded over 65 tempting recipes, and we’ll be adding more each month. What’s more, you can add comments to each recipe, so if you have ideas for a variation or how to make it even better, please feel free to chip in and share your thoughts!

Get kitted out for an event 

We have a number of consultants who earn their My Secret Kitchen income at events such as farmers’ markets rather than at home tastings. In light of this, we have created a brand new business kit for people who would like to join us as a consultant and sell our products in this way. The Events and Markets Business Kit can be bought for just £35, making it a really low-cost way to kick-start your My Secret Kitchen Business.

• For more details, simply get in touch

Getting all showbiz at the Good Food show 

If you were one of the many who stopped by to meet us at the Good Food Show last week, a big, big thank you! It was an exhausting few days, but with so many of our customers – and quite a few celebrities – stopping by to sample goodies, it was well worth the effort.

Well-known visitors to our stand included the winner and the runners-up from this year’s Masterchef, and the actor Todd Carty (who played Mark in Eastenders, but who we will always remember as Tucker Jenkins in Grange Hill). On top of all of that, Masterchef’s Greg Wallace did a cooking demo on stage using our Oak Smoked Rapeseed Oil. What can we say but bring on the next exhibition!

Give your tasting a twist in July 

This month, you can give your tasting a twist by choosing one of these three tasty themes:

FAMILY FAVOURITES
Discover inspired yet easy ways to increase your repertoire of meals that even the fussiest members of your household will love to eat – and help to make!

LIGHTER & BRIGHTER
Revel in recipes that are low in fat, high in energy, packed with flavour rather than calories – and which satisfy your appetite long after your devoured them!

SUMMER SPECIALS
Savour sumptuous seasonal ingredients and fantastic flavours that will cast a ray of sunshine on your taste buds, whatever the weather!

To arrange a themed tasting, just get in touch with your your local consultant (or simply contact us if you’re not sure of their details).
 

That’s it for another edition – until next time, stay up to date with our latest news via Twitter, Facebook or our blog.

Best wishes

Clare Moran, Founder, My Secret Kitchen

Thank you!

We've got to thank so many of you for stopping by to meet us at the Good Food Show last week. It was an exhausting few days but we met so many of you and quite a few celebs stopped by to try and approve of our goodies including the winner and all runner-ups of this years Masterchef, Greg Wallace cooking with our oak smoked rapeseed oil onstage, and good old Tucker Jenkins from Grange Hill (Todd Carty, but I will always remember him as Tucker)

A lot of you are now thinking of joining us as consultants so we look forward to bringing you onboard!