Red Velvet Cupcakes with quark icing (Only 1.5 syns each)

Red velvet is sooo in right now, so why on earth would we want to be left out of the scene? I adapted a typical slimming world cupcake recipe to make these delights. Enjoy a couple with friends, as a treat to yourself, or even bring these to a group tasting to delight the masses! 

Makes 8

Ingredients:

For the icing:

• 150g tub of quark
• 1 tbsp Vanilla essence
• 20g Sweetener
• Raspberries to garnish

For the cupcake:

• 2 tbsp Red food colouring
• 2 tsp cocoa (2 syns)
• 50G self raising flour (9 syns)
• 3 eggs
• 20G Sweetener
• 1 tbsp Vanilla essence
• 1 Muller light (I went for vanilla and dark choc)

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 C.
2. Separate eggs and leave the whites aside. Mix the egg yolks, vanilla essence, red colouring, muller light and sweetener in a bowl.
3. Sieve the flour and cocoa into the egg mixture and mix well
4. Whisk the egg whites until they form soft peaks. Gently fold into the mix
5. Spray a muffin tray with frylight and spoon the mixture evenly into the tray.
6. Pop in the oven for 15-20 minutes
7. Meanwhile,, make the icing by mixing the quark, sweetener and vanilla essence.
8. Take the cupcakes out of the oven and allow to cool.
9. Using a spoon or piping bag, add a dollop of the icing on top of each cupcake. For variety, slice a few cupcakes down the middle and fill with extra icing.
10. Pop a raspberry on top of each.
 

Nando's Inspired Syn Free Spicy Rice

Anyone that has ever been to Nando's will know how ridiculously good their Spicy Rice is and at only 3.5 syns per portion you can't go wrong if you're going there for a meal. However, with the right combination of spices you can create a slimming world spicy rice which is just as tasty, and is also syn free. 

Ingredients: (Serves 2)

150g Rice of your choice
500 - 600ml of Water
2 Chicken stock cubes
1/2 an onion - finely chopped
1/2 finely chopped red pepper
A handful of frozen peas
1 green chilli or chilli of your choice deseeded and finely chopped
Chilli power - depending how spicy you like it
1 tsp Cumin
1 tsp Paprika
1/2 tsp Turmeric
Frylight

Method:

1. On a medium heat spray a pan with some frylight and dry fry the rice for 3-4 minutes, stirring frequently.
2. Once the rice starts to brown slightly, Add some water, (just the bare minimum to cover the rice) chilli power, crush chicken stock cube and turmeric.
3. Bring to the boil and then simmer gently until the rice is fully cooked and all the water has been absorbed. Stir often to avoid it sticking to the pan!
4. In a separate pan sprayed with fry light, add the onion, red pepper, frozen peas, green chilli, crushed chicken stock cube, cumin and paprika.
5. Once everything is cooked add to the rice and stir thoroughly.