Happy birthday Tul
Here is the cake I made for my nephews birthday. Thank you Donna Hay. It was super easy and really fun.
The best part about this is I have now been asked to make a cake for my friends little girl... princess castle here we come.
Stay tuned to see the results!
Chocolate & macadamia tart
I cannot find corn syrup anywhere! For anyone who lives in Sydney, I would love to hear where you purchase yours from.
This recipe was delicious. It is from a Donna Hay magazine - like most of the recipes I use. The middle layer (Sorry the photo doesn't show it) is a light vanilla bean caramel. The only problem was it didn't set properly. I don't think I cooked the caramel for long enough.
Shame.
Oh well, the husband still managed to eat the entire slice. I am slowly killing him with sugar.
But I cant. Stop. Baking.
Cup cake addiction
There are probably a lot of foods that I could put into the category of an addiction. Cup cakes are one of those foods.
My addiction however is not eating them, although I do enjoy that. My addiction is making them. I love how simple they are.
I love how much enjoyment the husband and guests get from biting into a vanilla cup cake.
And now, I love piping on the icing. Today was the first time I piped instead of lathering icing on the bless-ed little cakes with a knife. It is incredibly satisfying!
But I need to stop. I need to over come this cup cake addiction because the husbands pants are getting so tight he popped a button off the other day.
Not sure this is meant to be public notice.
Popcorn crazed husband
My husband is popcorn crazy. He makes it every second night (ok, slight exaggeration). Although I appreciate that it is a healthy snack (without the caramel sauce poured over the top!) the house has a constant funk of popcorn...
I never thought I'd say this because I don't mind eating the popcorn once its made, however...
Enough already!
Proscuitto on sour dough
Its like I have re-discovered proscuitto (is that how you spell it!?) I just can't seem to get enough of it. Not sure how much you can eat before it is considered an addiction, but for now I embrace this cured delight.
Here is a picture of a yummy brunch I had at my siblings cafe 'One Penny Black' in Newcastle. I know Im biased, but damn, they're good at coffee and food!
This was DELICIOUS.
Smoked salmon, asparagus, dill & goat cheese quiche... or tart... made it up as I went along, so I'm not quite sure what to call it.
(Possibly the longest title yet)
I started out making a bacon, potato and mushroom quiche but got bored half way and changed my mind (not sure thats a good thing to do for flavour combinations). I softened the onions and mushrooms then realised I needed to go to the local shop for potatoes. When I got there I saw smoked salmon...
CHANGE OF PLANS...
I ditched the bacon and decided to go with asparagus, smoked salmon, goats cheese and dill.
The result - not sure... I gave it to a friend. (I hope it was ok!?)
Apple & cinnamon tea cake
I love the smell of freshly baked cake. This photo is of my tea cake pulled out of the oven 10 minutes early. When my friends arrived later that evening, I simply popped it back in the oven. It worked perfectly(pulling it out early) The cake was warm & moist. Plus tea cake tastes so much better straight out of the oven!
I drizzled each slice with some pouring cream... well worth the calories!
Yorkshire pudding
I was very happy to make and eat a lamb roast tonight, however, the thing I found most exciting was the individual Yorkshire puddings that I made. My Mother is English, so these made me feel like I was back at home with her. (I can hear her now as she reads this... Yorkshire puddings with roast lamb... that will never do.)
But I say Yorkshire pudding with any kind of roast meat! They are so easy to make!
Ingredients
- 115g (3/4 cup) self-raising flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 egg, lightly whisked
- 250ml (1 cup) milk
- 2 tbs vegetable oil
Method
1. To make the Yorkshire puddings, place the flour and salt in a bowl. Whisk together the egg and milk in a jug. Add to the flour mixture and whisk until smooth. Cover and set aside for 30 minutes to rest. Divide the oil among eight 80ml (1/3-cup) capacity non-stick muffin pans.
2. Place the prepared muffin pan in the oven for 5 minutes or until the oil is just smoking. Working quickly, pour the pudding batter evenly among the muffin pans. Cook in oven for 15 minutes or until puddings are puffed and golden.
Cup cake anyone?
I am slightly obsessed with cup cakes at the moment. Particularly vanilla cupcakes with lemon icing. In saying that, I think Im ready to move on to chocolate or caramel!
I would also like to use frosting rather than icing and have a go at decorating them a little more - you know - fancy them up a little!
Every time I go to explore frosting options Miss Olive wakes up from her nap (the time I use for cooking/baking). Ill get there one day.
Picnic in the lounge room
As I had taken up the entire dining table with presents and wrapping we decided to have our dinner over our coffee table. It was lovely, except my 37week pregnant belly did get in the way occasionally and I felt a little out of breath! Arghhh to have my body back soon...ish...
Crispy Fish Salad
This was a delicious meal from a Donna Hay magazine.
During my first trimester of pregnancy I didn't have any food aversions until I had finished consuming a meal. I would eat a meal and then feel ill at the smell, sight or thought of it again. This went on for months.
I therefore had to use a different recipe every single night for the past 9 months. I have invested in some great cook books and have regularly searched the taste website.
At least baby Olive is getting a lot of variety. I don't think hubby is complaining either!
Christmas Biscuits
