home made – Page 10 – Baking with Gab

Quinoa breakfast cups and gluten thoughts

I’ve been trying to cut back on gluten in my life. Laughable, right? I bake nearly every day and I LOVE gluten. The more I look into gluten free options, the more I realise how hard it is to cut it out of your diet.

I’m not doing too badly – I don’t miss bread as much as I thought I would; I actually have to have a think about the things I put into my body; I’m enjoying the challenge of looking for alternatives.

But I like soy sauce, I like chocolate and lollies, I like oats! But most of all, I like the versatility of flour – it’s in cakes, pastries, cereals, gravies, my mother’s delicious omelette and most of the foods I like to eat. Continue reading “Quinoa breakfast cups and gluten thoughts”

Cream buns with mock cream and indulgence

It’s Valentine’s day today and I thought cream buns would be a cute things to post. I’m not really one for pet names, but I think that “my little cream bun” would be a rather adorable term of endearment.

Just me?

Anywho, I recently made these buns for a dear friend of mine (at his request!) and they were such a lovely treat to be able to share. They’re old school indulgence, the kind of thing I can picture my grandparents serving to friends at social events. They’re not showy, but they’re delicious and pretty enough to impress. Continue reading “Cream buns with mock cream and indulgence”

Raspberry meringues and simple joys

Not too long ago I posted a recipe for chocolate swirl meringues as an accompaniment to your Valentine’s Day – there is something about meringues that I equate with romance. Maybe it’s the intense amounts of sweetness, or their crisp lightness? Whatever the reason, you should definitely treat your loved ones to some meringue bites, because they’ll love you dearly for it!

People of all ages go a little weak at the knees for meringues, because they’re such a simple pleasure – egg white, sugar and joy. Continue reading “Raspberry meringues and simple joys”

Lemon pistachio cake and stories

I had such a lovely day. I explored a suburb near my home called Newtown – I went with friends and we tried a new café, explored a graveyard and went antique shopping. These are all things that everybody should do more often!

I loved that Brewtown Newtown served their tea on wooden boards shaped specifically to hold the teacup, teapot, creamer and spoon. The space was off King Street (the main road in Newtown), so things were a little bit more relaxed, and we were able to stay at our table long after we’d finished our meals and swap gossip. Continue reading “Lemon pistachio cake and stories”

Raspberry scrolls and hearts

I’m not really that big a fan of Valentine’s day. I love the idea of celebrating your loved one, and I love ANY excuse to bake, but I get a little jaded by the comparisons and expectations that couples have put on them as the day dawns. I would much rather a hand-picked bunch of flowers than a shop bought one, I’d rather a batch of home-made cupcakes than a box of chocolates – I love jewellery and pretty things, but I much prefer presents that are better thought out.

So when I saw heart shaped pastries on Pinterest, I started to think about what else I could make into heart shapes. Y’know, because baked goods + festive shaping = ultimate gift.

Ask anybody, it’s a well-known fact. Continue reading “Raspberry scrolls and hearts”

Boyfriend biscuits and quadruple chocolate

The Boy often gets irritated at my baking. Actually, it’s more my ingredients – he loves baked goods, he just isn’t very adventurous. I had to trick him into eating my chocolate basil crinkle biscuits (I simply omitted the fact that they had basil in them); he flat out refused to try my lemon thyme cupcakes; he didn’t like the earl grey poached pears that I made!

“I like what I like,” he says, like a true Yorkshireman.

So, in preparation for Valentine’s day, I’m sharing a recipe that even the pickiest of partners will like – a quadruple chocolate biscuit. They’re cake-like and they have four types of chocolate in them – who could say no to that?? Continue reading “Boyfriend biscuits and quadruple chocolate”

World Nutella day and adoration

Did you know that today is World Nutella day? No? How could you miss such an important world event? I’ve had it pencilled into my diary for weeks! I feel that I should declare that this is not a sponsored post (although I would totally be open to sponsorship by Nutella, because that would be DELICIOUS), I just really love the stuff.

The problem in my house is that Nutella tends to only last a number of hours, which means it’s rare that I get the chance to cook with it. Even if one of my family members manages to sneak a jar into the house, it is detected and devoured very quickly. We’re like truffle pigs for Nutella… Nutella humans?

I’m getting off track. Continue reading “World Nutella day and adoration”

Honey pots de creme and Valentines

On the weekend I posted some sweet little chocolate meringue morsels and promised an even sweeter dessert to accompany them. This is what you’ve been waiting for with baited breath (ha!) – honey pots de crème.

I’m slightly in love with pots de crème. They tend to combine a whole lot of cream with other, ~~equally bad for you~~ delicious ingredients; kind of like a custard that you can alter to be any flavour your little heart desires.

The first pots that I posted were Nutella, and they will always hold a special place in my heart, but these honey pots are a close second. They’re a super sweet idea for your Valentine’s day dessert (if you celebrate V-Day) OR they would be great to serve if you were having Winnie the Pooh over to dinner. Continue reading “Honey pots de creme and Valentines”

Vegetarian baked eggs and perfect breakfast

Ever since I went to Fairford Street Social for breakfast a few weekends ago I have been craving baked eggs. I didn’t re-create them exactly (I chose to opt out the eggplant and I toned down the spice because I’m chili-sensitive), but they were still delicious.

There is nothing more comforting than a good pot of baked eggs. I know that it’s the height of Summer in Australia at the moment, but it’s been pretty windy and overcast recently, so these baked eggs were perfect; served with toast, they are the ultimate stay-indoors food.

They’re also a really delicious Valentine’s day brekkie if you’re spoiling your better half on February 14^th. The Boy was sceptical of the concept of baked eggs at first, but from the minute I started cooking up the peppers, onion and garlic, he was super keen on the idea.

Vegetarian baked eggs

Serves 4

2 banana peppers
½ brown onion
3 cloves of garlic
½ tsp paprika
¼ tsp chili flakes
6 roma tomatoes, sliced into wedges
¼ cup basil, roughly chopped
1 tbsp oregano
1 zucchini
4-8 eggs

De-seed your peppers and roughly chop your onion. Put them in a heavy based pan with a slosh of oil, and heat over a low-medium flame for 8 minutes until they soften and brown. Mix intermittently.

Chop up your garlic roughly (trying not to leave big clumps of it) and add that in the pan, allowing the flavours to develop for two minutes, stirring as you go.

Add in all the remaining ingredients – the paprika, chili flakes, tomatoes, basil and oregano – and give it a good mix. Turn the heat down to low and let the mixture reduce away for 15 minutes.

While the tomato mixture bubbles away, use a vegetable peeler to create ribbons of zucchini. Peel right over your ramekins so that the ribbons fall unevenly into the ramekins.

Preheat your oven to 200°C.

Pour the hot tomato mixture straight over the zucchini in the ribbons, distributing it evenly amongst the ramekins. Give the ramekins a shake to spread the mixture out evenly. Crack your eggs straight into the ramekins and pop them into oven for 20-23 minutes.

The number of eggs you use will depend on whether your baked-egg-eaters want one or two eggs – I opted for one, but my fellow diners opted for two. Ramekins with one egg in them should be done 2-3 minutes before the others; keep an eye on this, as you want the yolk to remain runny!

Serve with a freshly toasted slice of bread, for dipping.

Citrus cupcakes and picnics

Friends and I had a post Australia-day picnic and I wanted something nice and zesty to perk people after their Australia day celebrations. The day was hot and windy, and our location at Sydney Park was perfect. I instagrammed it, obviously.

What I love about these cupcakes is that they’re so simple, but awesome – they’re beautifully moist and citrus-laden. I can’t think of more ways to explain how glorious these cupcakes are, I just love them… you should bake them!

The little cakes are moist and sweet, while the icing is mouth-puckeringly tart – the combination of the two is just gorgeous. The icing stops the cakes from being overly saccharine, while the cake softens the edges of the citrus tang; these two are a match made in citrus heaven.

Citrus cupcakes:

Makes 20

125g butter
1 cup sugar
4 eggs
250g (2 ¼ cups) almond meal
1 cup self-raising flour
1 orange, zest and juice

Icing:

2 cups icing sugar
1 small lemon, zest and juice

Preheat your oven to 180°C

Cream butter and sugar together until pale and smooth. Add the eggs and almond meal and mix until incorporated. Sift the flour into the bowl and mix that too.

Pop the zest and juice of the orange into the mixture and give it one final mix before scooping generous spoonfuls of batter into cardboard cupcake cases. Aim to fill them about ¾ of the way up, as this mixture doesn’t rise very much.

Bake for 20-23 minutes until the edges start to turn golden brown and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean*. Transfer cakes onto a cooling rack.

While the cakes cool, zest and juice the lemon. Combine the lemon juice, icing sugar and about half of the zest to make the icing. Reserve the other half of the zest to decorate the cupcakes with.

To ice, drop a tablespoon of mixture onto the crest of each of your cupcakes and allow It to run down the sides naturally. The icing is pretty thin, so should sort itself out – if this approach is too messy for your liking, simply use the back of the spoon to spread the icing out. Top some of the iced cupcakes with your remaining lemon zest.