Party food- filled cucumber cups

This recipe is great for any occasion - always a hit when I bring it to a party. The flavours are just subtle - changing from sweet to salty, sour to spicy, all crunchy in a cool, fresh cucumber.

For 16 cups* you will need:
- 2 cucumbers (narrow and straight)
- 400g salty ground roasted peanuts
- 6 spring onions- chopped finely
- 6 tbsp sugar
- 6 tbsp lime juice
- 2-4 small red chillies, deseeded and chopped finely

(*16 cups depending on the size of cucumber)

To make the cucumber cups, cut the ends off the cucumber and divide it into 4 equal lengths. Make a zigzag cut all the way around the centre of each section, always pointing the knife towards the centre of the cucumber. Pull apart the 2 halves. Scoop out the centre of each cup with teaspoon.

To grind the peanuts I place them in a plastic bag and crush them with a rolling pin.

Put all the ingredients, except for the cucumbers, in a bowl and mix well to combine. The lime juice holds everything together- add more if needed.

Divide the filling between the cucumber cups and enjoy!

Tip: You can make the mixture day before but don't fill the cucumber cups until the very last minute- the salt makes the cups soggy. 

*this recipe is adjusted from the original from Step by Step Thai, ISBN 0-75254-571-x

garden cupcakes

Inspired by images from Pinterest I've created these plant cupcakes for my mother-in-law's birthday.
For cupcakes I used this recipe, baked them normal way in paper cases, then, still warm, I gently pushed them into a 7cm flower pots. I did try to bake it straight in the flower pot but the mixture was too heavy and pushed the paper case too low. Maybe if a smaller flower pot was used it would be ok.

The 'soil' on the top is just a bit of the cupcake, 'stones' are mini butterscotch chips (all is glued with melted chocolate) and the greenery I sculpted from a marzipan coloured to green.