home made – Page 15 – Baking with Gab

Honey jumbles and celebrating food

I’ve had one of those weeks that really inspire you to love food. I had fabulous breakfast with a friend (which I couldn’t help myself but Instagram, check it out!), I reminisced about chocolate milkshakes, I watched my mother darling throw together an amazing meal to entertain a crowd and I had an unexpectedly delicious meal last night in Newtown.

I feel as though there are times in your life where you’re more appreciative of food than others. And seeing as I’m in this deliriously food-focussed mood, I picked out a jar of honey I’ve had sitting in my pantry for months and decided to make the most of it. Continue reading “Honey jumbles and celebrating food”

Jam doughnut cupcakes and more giveaways

This week I received a little parcel from Bonne Maman. Not only did I get a few jars of jam to play with, they were lovely enough to include some mini jam jars for my readers! The FIVE raspberry jams that I have to give away are in 30g jars, and they’re so cute I actually want to just frame them. To win, all I ask is that you share this post on Facebook to go in the running*. Unfortunately for my overseas readers, I’ll only be able to post Australia-wide…I think customs would wonder why I was trying to send teensy jam jars out of the country. Continue reading “Jam doughnut cupcakes and more giveaways”

Choc coconut bites and election day

It’s election day in Australia! At some point I have to tear myself away from baking and vote, but for the moment I’m busying myself making peanut butter cupcakes for a friend’s housewarming! That recipe will be posted tomorrow – get excited!

These glorious little coconutty bites are moist and crumbly in perfect proportions. With only six ingredients, they’re the perfect morsel to throw together when you have people drop in unexpectedly, or when you want to make something fun and nutritious for the kids. Continue reading “Choc coconut bites and election day”

Blood orange coconut velvet cake and dramatic fruit

I know, I know, the title hardly rolls off the tongue. But this cake has so much flavour going for it that I couldn’t come up with a simpler title – it is a blood orange coconut velvet cake! I’d been reading up about natural food colourings and I decided that I should put my glorious blood oranges to use. It was also a chance to use my coconut oil – I’ve officially jumped on the coconut products bandwagon!

I figured that I was changing a classic Red Velvet mixture by removing red food colouring, so I tweaked the recipe a little further by adding coconut! Continue reading “Blood orange coconut velvet cake and dramatic fruit”

Barbecued sweet potato salad and Summer

My family barbecue all year round. I once told the Boy that you could barbecue anything…he didn’t believe me. My original claim may have been slightly hyperbolic, I don’t think it was completely off the mark! You can barbecue starters, mains and desserts, you just have to know how!
Barbecuing the vegetables in this recipe gives them a subtle charred, smokey flavour and contrasts the freshness of the lime beautifully. As the Australian weather warms up, this is a great way to treat yourself to a little taste of Summer. Continue reading “Barbecued sweet potato salad and Summer”

Rich chocolate cake and edible flowers

I have wanted to use edible flowers for so long. Pre-blog. The idea that such beautiful decorations are edible fits in well with my general approach to cooking – I don’t like things to just look good, I want them to taste good as well.

So when I stumbled across some gorgeous edible flowers at Leichhardt organic markets, I bought them on impulse. Continue reading “Rich chocolate cake and edible flowers”

Spinach and parmesan quiche & leftovers

My dear mother often buys spinach. She has the best intentions for it – healthy meals, delicious spinach and cheese pastries, something different to the usual green addition to our meals – but it very rarely gets used. It often (rather wastefully) sits in the fridge and wilts until someone takes pity on it and disposes of it.

I know, I know, I can hear you all groaning in disapproval – “how wasteful”, “think of the starving children in Africa”, etc but that’s what happens in a house where everyone works. There just isn’t enough time for good intentions! Continue reading “Spinach and parmesan quiche & leftovers”

Mini lemon thyme cakes and discoveries

Last post I mentioned re-discovering a fabulous carrot and poppyseed cake. I realised that I don’t proclaim my discovery of things often enough. It would be remiss of me to write any further this week without mentioning my two new loves – lemon thyme and cake stands.

Of course, I’ve always known that both existed, but this week I have seen them in a new light. So I guess you could call these sort-of-discoveries It was an abundance of lemon thyme in the garden that drew me to seek out new recipes to harness it. The smell of lemon thyme is absolutely enchanting. It’s like lemon’s cooler older brother – lemon thyme is a little more mature and mellowed out where lemon is really loud and abrasive, too busy trying to prove himself. Continue reading “Mini lemon thyme cakes and discoveries”

Carrot & poppyseed cake and re-discovering

A friend requested I make a carrot cake a while ago and I said I would oblige. I hadn’t even considered posting a carrot cake, because I would never usually choose to eat carrot cake. I was chatting to mother dearest about it and she reminded me of a recipe that she hasn’t cooked in years. And I didn’t realise how much I had missed it!

This mixture is beautiful. It is moist and crunchy and dense and delicious. Have I convinced you to make it yet? I haven’t even started describing the velvety cream cheese icing. Continue reading “Carrot & poppyseed cake and re-discovering”

Brownie cheesecake slice and remembering

Mother remembered on Thursday morning that she had to take a slice into work on Friday. She left me a note asking me to make one for her. Of course I obliged; being unemployed and sole contributor to my baking blog, this request was perfectly tailored to my situation!

She needed something easy to transport (cupcakes are out), something that would feed a group easily (pots de crème are out) and something delicious. I’ve made brownies before and they’re delightful, but I felt as though she needed something a little more show stopping to tempt her co-workers.

Continue reading “Brownie cheesecake slice and remembering”