Fruit bruschetta and Christmas recipes

platesI love Christmas. I can’t even wait until December to start posting recipes, I cannot contain myself!! A few weeks ago I was sent some bunting by Louise at Illume Designs, and I have been wriggling with excitement about Christmas ever since! I’ll use anything as an excuse to put up bunting, but metallic chevron bunting just seems so festive and Christmas appropriate!

So I’ve spent the past few weeks brainstorming Christmas recipes. And Pinterest has not been short of inspiration. Continue reading “Fruit bruschetta and Christmas recipes”

Chocolate caramel yay pie and new things

sliceThis pie is a little break from the ordinary for me – in any chocolate caramel dessert I make, the chocolate tops the caramel. Not in terms of taste, but in terms of positioning. Take my favourite caramel slice, for example, or my mini caramel egg brownies.

In the interest of chocolate-caramel equality, I thought that I’d switch things up a bit.

Anything combining chocolate and caramel is a winner for me – they’re both things that make me celebrate internally. As I combined these two dashing layers of deliciousness with the sweet, vanilla-laden pastry, all I was thinking was “yay, pie!” Continue reading “Chocolate caramel yay pie and new things”

Vanilla caramel crisp cupcakes and unlikely combinations

packetHalloween is all about the creepy and unusual. These babies are in no way creepy (they’re mostly delicious) but they are unusual. I’m bucking the Halloween trend of faux blood and ghouls and doing my own bright and airy, Australian Halloween. Check out my non-spooky pumpkin bundt and choc-pumpkin cupcakes.

So, before you judge the combinations of flavours, have a think about the salted caramel craze. It’s huge. Salted caramel milkshakes, salted caramel sauces, salted caramel fudge, it’s everywhere. The beautiful mixture of salty and sweet just works. Continue reading “Vanilla caramel crisp cupcakes and unlikely combinations”

Choc chip pumpkin cupcakes and Halloween desserts

fourI mentioned in my previous post that my parents didn’t consider Halloween a very Australian holiday. And I’ve inherited this view to some extent.

It’s odd trying to translate the dark, spooky images that permeate the idea American Halloween to Australia’s October, when the weather is mostly sunny and warm. It doesn’t stop me wanting to make Halloween-themed goodies, though!

So for this year’s Halloween, I’m focussing on another thing that I equate with the American Halloween; pumpkin. I remember making a pumpkin pie for my family, years ago, and they all cringed at the idea of it. It was delicious (how modest of me…) but pumpkin and dessert don’t often meet in Australia. Continue reading “Choc chip pumpkin cupcakes and Halloween desserts”

Australian Halloween and pumpkin puree

seededHalloween was never big in Australia. Growing up, my parents didn’t even acknowledge it! Since starting the blog I’ve tried to overcome this ingrained notion of Halloween not being Australian, because, let’s face it, I’ll take any opportunity to bake.

But before I share some recipes that I consider traditional Halloween fare,  I need to have a whinge: SO MANY of the recipes that I find on Pinterest, FoodGawker, etc, need tinned pumpkin or similar.  Continue reading “Australian Halloween and pumpkin puree”

The Boy’s Nutella birthday cake and 4WDs

sceneIt was The Boy’s birthday on Friday and all he asked for was an “epic cake.” I always make him a birthday cake, so that was no big deal, but having it prefixed with the word epic made the task slightly more daunting.

I love baking, but presentation isn’t always my strongest point – I value taste over looks!

The Boy is a big fan of 4WDing (and I’ve played dutiful partner and tagged along before), so I decided to give him a 4WD themed cake. In the end it wasn’t hard, we just ended up with massive amounts of cake. Like, three tiers of cake. I know what I’ll be eating for the next week… Continue reading “The Boy’s Nutella birthday cake and 4WDs”

No-churn berry ice cream and Summer

aboveI have a love-hate relationship with Summer. I love the wild-eyed excitement that sunny weather awakens in people. I hate that it’s too hot in the kitchen to bake all day. I love the amazing curls that sea water brings to my hair. I hate how I manage to get awkward burnt patches, despite religiously applying sunscreen. I love Summer fruits. I hate being stuck indoors when all I want to do is be in the glorious sunshine. Continue reading “No-churn berry ice cream and Summer”

Strawberry rhubarb bundt and miniatures

closeI am a fan of all things miniature. Norman is a testament to this – my family joke that if we had three Normans and stacked them one on top of the other, we’d have a real dog. I love that mini old-fashioned milk bottles are in vogue at the moment, I’ve used mine in various photo shoots. (You can see them in my chocolate milkshakes post.)

It’s  rather funny that I made mini cakes out of the rhubarb I purchased, which was ginormousContinue reading “Strawberry rhubarb bundt and miniatures”

Apple and rhubarb pie and produce

previewOver the weekend the boy and I went to Orange Grove Markets. I got what I needed and we grabbed a delicious bacon and egg roll for brekkie. It was a regular Sunday morning.

It wasn’t until we made our way to leave that I found this amazingly oversized rhubarb. it was so ridiculously enormous that I made The Boy pose with it in several locations until I got a photo that did it justice. (If you don’t follow me on instagram and wish to see important updates such as my giant rhubarb, click here.)

Continue reading “Apple and rhubarb pie and produce”

Omelette waffle and new toys

aboveI bought a waffle iron. I could not be more excited. The minute I got home from buying it I made this recipe. Things just taste better waffle-shaped! I got it from Wheel and Barrow, on the recommendation of Alice from Close Encounters of the Cooking Kind. (Thanks Alice!)

So even though I had intended on posting this tart today, I can’t. This waffle omelette (wamelette? Omelaffle?) needs to be introduced to the world. I’m too excited about it.

This all started because of my trip to Mooberry, where I had delicious plain waffles drizzled in melted milk chocolate – so simple, but SO good. But now that I’ve got my own waffle maker, there is no end to what I can make! Continue reading “Omelette waffle and new toys”