Party Snacks

Unfortunately for the last few days I've been struggling with a cold.  Although it doesn't happen often in Singapore, I have gotten my first cold of the school year.  Ick.  And we were having friends over for drinks as well which was even more upsetting.  But nonetheless I managed to get in the kitchen and make a few goodies for everyone to snack on.

The first thing that I started to work on were these Red Velvet Cupcakes which seemed to turn out really well.  I only made a half batch because I knew that they might not be a huge seller.  I did get several comments though, and I was really proud of how they turned out!

I actually think this might be one of the first cupcakes I've ever made from scratch!  It was so easy though, I'll never go back to boxed cake mixes.  Next time I'll try chocolate I think...with a butter cream frosting.

I also made some pastry pinwheels - an idea that I got from a cookbook that I left back in Canada but I modified some of the steps and ingredients.  Here's the recipe:

1 pkg Puff Pastry
1 Jar Pesto
1 Cup cherry tomatoes
Some baby boccocini to top.

Thaw pastry and roll out until it is less than 5mm thick.  Try to keep the pastry in a square/rectangular shape.
Thinly smear desired amount of pesto (around 4 tbsp) all over the pastry from corner to corner.  Don't add too much as the oil will become a problem when cooking.
Throw cherry tomatoes into a food processor and very finely chop.  Spread tomatoes all over pastry as well.
Roll the pastry up like a sleeping bag until it becomes a log.  Slice into 1 - 1.5 cm pieces and place spread out on a cookie tray.  Bake at 190C for 15-20 minutes until lightly browned.  Cut the baby boccocini in half and put one half on each pinwheel before serving.
This is a very versatile recipe and you can use just about any type of pesto or tapenade.

I also made my famous layered nacho dip which is an awesome crowd pleaser and attempted to make a new hummus recipe that just didn't turn out - it was way too bland.  I'm going to try to fix it up today with some more garlic and lemon so that I don't have to throw it out but until then that recipe is staying off this blog!

Overall it was a great night and it was nice to sit and chat with some friends.  I wasn't totally feeling myself, but still had a lot of fun.