Choc chip slice and change

I usually dislike change. I like adventures, but I am all for stability. Which is why moving has kind of thrown me off a little bit. Not having access to internet, for example, has resulted in very few posts recently. Not having access to a camera (I used to use my dad’s) means that even I do bake, I can’t show you. Not having an entirely set up kitchen yet means that my baking has slowed.

To top all of this off, the beautiful rustic table that I bought for our dining room didn’t fit through our door (insert crying face here), so we’re borrowing one from my brother’s generous girlfriend (who has been coming up lots recently!)

All of these things are different to what I am used to!!

What I do like about change though, is that it is a catalyst for experimentation. Lacking a cake tin, I opted to go back to my parent’s house and use their kitchen and camera. I was also equipped with their fabulous house warming present to the Boy and I, the Country Women’s Association Cook Book. Aren’t parents fantastic? Continue reading “Choc chip slice and change”

Moving and lacking

Hello dear readers.

This is a bit of an unusual post (namely because there is no recipe involved) so I’ll keep it short. Lacking is the theme of my life at the moment, but it’s going well. It’s an adventure!

I haven’t been posting any recipes lately because The Boy and I have moved out. I talked about it in my last post, so check that out if you haven’t already.

Our kitchen is a bit of a shambles – I barely have enough room in our little apartment for all of my props and baking tins!! The Boy has imposed strict conditions on how much of our place will be dominated by blog stuff (95% of the space is reasonable, right?), so I’m currently trying to jam all of my teapots into our linen cupboard.

I don’t know how long it will be before I manage to get the next recipe up, but I promise that I’m trying to get the place in order as quickly as possible so that I can get recipes on the blog. We also have no internet, which would kind of getting in the way of blogging if I was doing it.

In the meantime, keep an eye on my Instagram feed. That is just about the only thing in my life that is thriving right now. You can take bets on how many days it takes for us to get our dining table up three flights of stairs (we’re on day five of no table at the moment) and see various photos where I perch my tea cups on things that are not tables.

There is a distinct lack of Norman, I must admit. That won’t be for long though, I’m going home to visit the handsome man next week.

For now, this photo of chocolate and vanilla cupcakes will have to keep you satiated. They were the first things I baked in my new kitchen (!) and they were for a charity event at work. It’s going to take a bit to get used to the oven, but they turned out okay! I couldn’t help but sing “chocolate and vanilla, swirl, swirl” as I was making them.

I hope some of you are Orange is the New Black fans!

Looking forward to regular internet and regular baking adventures!

Chocolate raspberry muffins and familiarity

Chocolate and raspberries are such a familiar combination. One of those things that I always fall back to when I need a fail-proof result. The sweet and tart notes of the raspberries, mixed with the sophistication of the dark chocolate turn out perfect, comforting little bites of homely muffins.

I always have raspberries in my freezer. They’re an easy way to jazz up a dessert, they’re a great addition to a smoothie, and I happily munch on them straight from the freezer sometimes. Actually, the reason I whipped up this recipe was because I needed to finish off my freezer stockpile. Continue reading “Chocolate raspberry muffins and familiarity”

Roasted cauliflower soup and immunity boosters

I mentioned in my last post that my brother’s girlfriend wasn’t well. She’s starting to get better, and I kind of want to claim her recovery.

I made her super muffins (packed with antioxidants and vitamin C) and this soup, which only contains ingredients aimed at boosting the immune system. There are no sugar or dairy products in here, just hearty vegetables and delicious spices. I hate to get all informative, but I so rarely post “healthy” things that I get excited when there are actual benefits (other than deliciousness) to my recipes.

Cauliflower, the star ingredient, is packed full of vitamin C to aid your recovery. It makes up the bulk of the soup, and the gentle roasting gives it a beautiful taste. Cauliflower is also anti-inflammatory. Continue reading “Roasted cauliflower soup and immunity boosters”

Blueberry cranberry muffins and colds

It’s probably not hard to see that I love cooking. One of the things that I love about cooking is the sharing aspect. I love nothing more than foisting food upon my loved ones. So when somebody that I love is unwell, I turn to food for the solution.

My brother’s girlfriend currently has a terrible cold, so I made her an immunity-boosting soup and these muffins.

They’re packed full of blueberries and cranberries, which have antioxidants, vitamin C by the bucket load.

Lemon zest is great for eradicating toxins in the body. I realise that the sugar is probably counteracting the eradication slightly, but when you’re sick you need comfort food. We can’t be good all the time, right?

You’re doing your body a favour by eating one of these little muffins. Go on, make a batch.

Blueberry cranberry muffins

Makes 24

1 cup frozen blueberries
¾ cup dried cranberries
2 tbsp water
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
100g butter
2 tsp vanilla
2 ½ cups flour
2 ½ tsp bicarb

Topping:

1 tbsp lemon zest, grated
1/3 cup sugar

Put ½ a cup of the blueberries and ¼ cup of the cranberries into a small saucepan with the water and one tablespoon of the sugar. Heat the mixture over a low-medium heat, stirring constantly and squishing the berries as you go. Keep on the heat for 5-8 minutes, until the water has mostly evaporated and you’re left with a small amount of syrup. Remove from the heat, and set aside to cool. If you want a berry pulp, grab a fork and mash the berries further – I kept lots of whole large chunks in mine, but you can make them whatever consistency you like.

Cream together your butter and sugar, then add in the vanilla and eggs. Mix well. Mix in the bicarb, then gently fold in the remaining blueberries and cranberries so that their colour doesn’t bleed into the mixture.

Mix together your sugar and lemon zest for the topping. Set this to one side.

Spoon into cupcake cases, then top with 1 tsp of your blueberry cranberry mixture, then sprinkle a generous teaspoon of the lemon sugar topping over the mixture. When the sugar topping bakes, it should caramelise slightly to create a satisfyingly crunchy coating for the top of the muffin.

Bake at 180° for 25-28 minutes.

If you’re after a healthy beverage to go with these super muffins, try a lemon tea. Enjoy!

Milo cupcakes and dinosaur themed birthdays

I have wanted to do a themed birthday party for a long time now. When I was given some adorable cupcake wrappers by Illume Design, I knew what my theme would be – DINOSAURS!!

I very rarely do manly posts. Without even thinking, I drift towards florals and polka dots and tea pots. Browsing through previous blog posts, one might suggest that I don’t actually own anything monochrome or beige. I promise that I do! In an effort to counter this slightly, I styled a dinosaur themed birthday party (which any boy OR girl would happily attend.)

Milo isn’t a very pretty food, but it is delicious, which is why I love it. The very fact that Milo is kind of bumpy and ugly means that it is perfectly suited to a dinosaur-y landscape. It also makes the cupcakes extra delicious. Continue reading “Milo cupcakes and dinosaur themed birthdays”

Simple butter cake, boyish birthdays and partying dinosaurs!

Who knew that dinosaurs liked to get festive? Or that they suited party hats so perfectly? After this weekend’s birthday party shoot, I want to top every cake henceforth with dinosaurs in festive hats.

My favourite was the Brontosaurus, who struck a mean pose.

I have wanted to do a themed birthday party for a long time now. When I was given some adorable cupcake wrappers by Illume Design, I knew what my theme would be – DINOSAURS!! The milo cupcake recipe accompanying this cake will be up later in the week. (Illume Design also supplied the gorgeous chevron party plates.)

I promise that I do! Continue reading “Simple butter cake, boyish birthdays and partying dinosaurs!”

Rhubarb doughnuts and plenty

Lacking doughnut tins, I constantly avoid making doughnuts. Over the weekend, however, my will was not strong enough to resist my cravings for doughnuts, and I made them without the proper tin. And I made lots of them. Seriously, lots.

Was it an issue? Not at all. In fact, I’d say they were a resounding success. They were slightly heavier than a fried doughnut, but the taste was perfect. The Boy took one bite, and, eyes widened, exclaimed “they actually taste like doughnuts.”

As though my doughnut cravings would have settled for anything less!

The only tip in would offer for future doughnut bakers is to use thin jam. My jam had strawberry chunks in it (which is usually a good thing!), which made it difficult to squirt them into the centre of my doughnuts.

Mini rhubarb doughnut cupcakes:

Makes 48 minis, or 24 large

6 cups flour
3/4 cup sugar
2 x 8g sachets yeast
1 tsp salt
200g butter, melted
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1.5 cups milk

Chocolate rhubarb glaze:

20g butter
1 ½ cups rhubarb, chopped
½ cup cream
100g white chocolate
1 cup icing sugar

½ cup jam or custard

Fit your mixer with your bread hook attachment*. Combine your flour, sugar, yeast and salt. Add in your melted butter, slowly, allowing it to start to bring the mixture together. Mix for two more minutes, adding the eggs and vanilla as you go. Mix in the milk, half a cup at a time, until you have a cohesive dough, then continue kneading for 6 minutes.

*If you don’t have a stand mixer, a wooden spoon will work too, it will just take a little more muscle! When it comes to kneading, you can do this by hand as well, just adjust the kneading time by about half, so instead of stand mixing it for 6 minutes, you’ll hand knead it for 9.

Divide the mixture into two and put them in separate bowls. Cover your bowls with cling wrap, then leave it in a warm, dry place to sit for 1-1.5 hours. I left mine for 1.5, just to make sure I got maximum doughnuts out of mixture.

When your dough has 30 minutes of rising left, preheat your oven to 180°. Grease a large baking tray with the 20g of butter and put your rhubarb in the tray. Roast for 20 minutes, until softened. Take them out of the oven and allow them to cool slightly, then mash into a pulp.

Once the dough is risen, divide the dough in each bowl (use a sharp knife to easily slice through the dough) into 24. I find the best way to ensure even-sized doughnuts is to weigh the portions out on scales.

Once you have 48 bits of dough, roll them into balls by turning the dough in on itself and tucking the excess under.

Pop the balls into a greased 24 capacity mini cupcake tin, then let them sit for a further 15 minutes.

While they’re cooking, melt the chocolate, sieve the rhubarb pulp into the melted chocolate and mix in the cream. Sift the icing sugar into the mixture, then mix until smooth. If they icing isn’t looking pink enough, add a few drops of pink food colouring.

uniced Preheat your oven to 180C°.

Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until they sound hollow when tapped. (If you choose to make 12 regular cupcake sized doughnuts, bake for 15-18 minutes.)

When the doughnuts are cooled, use a squeezy bottle to put a small amount of jam or runny custard at the centre, then spoon the glaze over the top. Top with sprinkles for an extra doughnut-y feel.

Carrot, ginger and cumin soup and yearning

As the weather cools down, my body yearns for swaddling clothes and hearty meals. I fulfilled both of these desires over the weekend – dressed in a big jumper and flannelette pyjama pants, I concocted this glorious soup.

It’s the kind of soup that you need good, crusty bread with. The kind of soup that tantalises you with its smells as it bubbles away. It turns out that this is the kind of soup that converts non-soup eaters into soup devourers! My younger brother initially refused the offer of soup because he’s “not a fan,” but he ended up converting after watching everyone else consumer theirs eagerly.

The cumin and ginger make this soup really sing. I’ve never been tempted by a carrot soup, I always thought they sounded bland, but this soup is a game changer! It’s thick and hearty and flavoursome, attributes which make any soup a winner in my books.

Carrot and ginger soup

Serves six

3 cups carrot, chopped
1 brown onion, roughly diced
1 cup sweet potato, roughly diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp ginger, minced
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 1/2 cups vegetable stock

Pop the carrots, onion and sweet potato into a heavy-bottomed pan with 2tbsp of olive oil over a medium heat for 10 minutes. Stir them regularly to stop them from burning.

When the veggies are soft, add in the ginger and garlic and cook for a further two minutes.
Add in your salt and pepper, followed by the stock, and turn the heat down to low. Simmer for 45 minutes, or until the liquid has reduced by about a quarter. You can simmer the soup for a shorter amount of time if you prefer a thinner soup.

Serve straight from the stove top with a dollop of sour cream.

Blueberry rhubarb cake and loveliness

I’m still dreaming about the farm. With two long weekends just gone (which means many, full working weeks ahead), I’m trying to re-live the loveliness of Orange by using up the last of the produce that I got from there.

Rhubarbs, passionfruit, cucumbers and lemons. All beautiful, all bursting with flavour. Obviously I couldn’t use them all up in one recipe, but I am working my way through them. I started with the passionfruit, and paired them with equally fresh, flavoursome ingredients in my Anzac Day cocktail. Next I preserved my lemons (recipe coming soon, I promise), then I started using up the rhubarb.

Glorious, vermilion rhubarb.

I used it in two ways. For this cake, I stuck it straight into the batter and let the oven do all the work. For the second recipe, I roasted them and broke them down into a syrup. More on that later in the week.

For now, the cake: a sweet, simple, buttery batter, complemented by the zing of rhubarb and blueberries.

Blueberry and rhubarb cake

Serves 10

3/4 cup sugar
80g butter
3/4 cup milk
1 egg
2 cups self raising flour
1 cup rhubarb, chopped
1 cup frozen blueberries

Grease and line a 20cm cake tin and preheat your oven to 180°C.

Beat together your butter and sugar until pale and creamy. Add in the milk and egg and mix until smooth. Pour in the flour, one cup at a time and mix thoroughly. Add in your rhubarb and blueberries and mix evenly into the batter.

tin The batter should be thick enough to stop the rhubarb and blueberries from sinking to the bottom.

Pour your batter into the prepared tin and pop it into the oven for 40-45 minutes. The cake is done when a skewer, inserted into the middle, comes out clean.

This delicious afternoon tea treat is perfect on its own, because the flavours of the rhubarb and blueberries shine in the simple batter. If you want to complement it with a topping of some description, however, opt for pouring cream or custard.