Banana bread and I have been soul mates for many years now. I am not much of a cake eater but a slice of home-made banana bread that is crammed with brown sugar and cinnamon always has me reaching for the plate. Continue reading
How to make black forest self-saucing pudding
23 Mar
Even though it was 40C today in Sydney I felt a compulsion to bake. And not just any bake but the most wintery, warming, comfort dessert there is – self-saucing pudding. Continue reading
How to bake the best vegan muffins
8 Mar
You may be looking for a fabulous (and fabulously easy) vegan muffin recipe as you have run out of eggs. Or milk. Or butter. You may want a quick vegan muffin recipe that uses no dairy as you choose not to eat animal products. Or you may not care either way but just want to be eating a yummy muffin with a delicate crumb in approximately 28 minutes, if not sooner. Read on! Continue reading
French toast with caramel rum bananas
1 Mar
Whenever we travel to America from Australia one of my favourite things to do is go to diners for breakfast. The more retro the diner, the better. If we are seated in a red leather booth I am in hog heaven. I love everything about American diners, especially the enormous, decadent breakfast items you are unlikely to see in Australia.
French toast is one such item. Amazing how dunking a slice of bread in a just a few basic ingredients then frying it can elevate it to delicious brunch fare. I often opted for French toast in America, marvelling at the behemoth bread slices. Continue reading
Easy chocolate Christmas biscuits – perfect for school Christmas parties
29 NovAt this time of year I find my fridge buried beneath Christmas parties invites and the calendar bursting the seams with catch-ups. Not for me, silly – for I am but a mum. It is Misses 10 and 12 for whom the invites appear and at this time of the year it is at a rate of at least one each per day. Continue reading
Unicorn poop birthday cake waffles
20 NovHappy double digits to the newly mined Miss10! My youngest celebrated her birthday recently and in keeping with her love of all things unicorn I decided to make her a birthday breakfast featuring unicorns. Don’t worry – as a vegetarian she didn’t eat a unicorn 😉 But I did want to incorporate some of the magical whimsy that is synonymous with unicorns. Voila – unicorn poop waffles!
I knew I wanted to make her waffles for her bday breakfast and I knowing that sprinkles are a girls best friend I created the somewhat vile-named unicorn poop waffles.
These waffles also fall under the category of birthday cake waffles and are perfect to serve to a loved one of their birthday, even if they have no affiliation whatsoever with unicorns.
I love waffles as they aren’t overly sweet – addition of sprinkles notwithstanding – as we only eat them occasionally they feel like a treat.
Miss 10 adored her birthday cake waffles and even took left-overs to school to have for recess 🙂
Make sure you use the long sprinkles, rather than the round style ones for maximum sprinkle impact. I served these with extra sprinkles on top and extra crushed berries, as well as maple syrup and whipped cream.
GATHER:
2 cups plain flour
2 tablespoons caster sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/3 cup raspberries, lightly crushed with a fork
½ cup coloured sprinkles
2 cups milk
2 eggs
50 grams butter, melted
maple syrup, whipped cream – to serve
LET’S GET TO IT:
Sift together the flour, baking powder and sugar in a large bowl and make a well.
Beat milk, eggs and melted butter together in a jug then pour into the well and stir with a silver spoon until everything comes together. ( you can do this the night before if you wish – I did to save time in the morning. Just cover with plastic wrap and leave on the fridge)
Stir in the sprinkles and berries, then cook waffles according to manufacturer’s instructions.
Serve with extra sprinkles on top.
Easy one bowl caramel cake with chocolate ganache
30 Oct
I know everyone loves chocolate but in my home caramel is always – and I mean ALWAYS – the flavour of choice. Milkshakes/puddings/ cakes… if they are given an option they always choose caramel.
Easy chocolate cream cheese cupcakes
1 AugIf like me, you are a baking addict, you are usually called upon to bring baked goods when attending barbeques, parties and picnics.
That suits me just fine. Ask me to make a salad, and if I can’t outsource it to Miss 11 – who makes THE best Greek salad – I will, albeit reluctantly. Request a fruit platter from me and I will groan internally while asking the Hungry Dad to chop up the many kilos of fruit required.
However, ask me to bring something sweet and I am your gal! In fact, ask me to bring A cake – as in one – and chances are I will bring you a cake, plus cupcakes, plus a slice and maybe a tart recipe I am working on.
These easy chocolate cream cheese cupcakes are on high rotation when I am on dessert duty at BBQS as they taste amazing, are easy to make, and require no cutting or plating up. They are a more sophisticated take on cupcakes and require no icing – score!
Use the best quality dark chocolate you can get your paws on as the taste of the finished product will depend on your choc of choice. And make sure you leave the chocolate in decent size chunks!
GATHER:
1 package cream cheese, softened, diced
1 egg
1/3 cup sugar
100 grams dark chocolate cut into chunks
¾ cup caster sugar
1 1/2 cups plain flour
1/4 cup cocoa
1 cup water
1/2 cup canola oil
LET’S GET TO IT:
Preheat oven to 180C and line 20 cupcake pans with cupcake liners.
In the bowl of an electric mixer use paddle attachment to beat cream cheese, egg and sugar until combined.
Stir in choc chunks and set aside.
In another bowl stir together remaining ingredients to make the cake mixture, then fill cupcake wrappers ¾ full with this cake mix.
Drop large spoonfuls of cream cheese mixture on top and use a butter knife to gently swirl through the cake.
Bake for between 20-25 minutes.
Cool in pans until completely cool.
Chocolate mint brownies
18 JulI am very much in the minority but I am not a fan of chocolate peppermint. I know – I can hear the outrage from here. When I do feel like something sweet chocolate orange is my go to. It is the most heavenly chocolate flavour in the galaxy. Continue reading
Nutella bread and butter pudding
12 JulHere in Sydney it is winter school holidays, a welcome respite from the crazy, hectic days that are jam-packed with school/band/dance/Guides/soccer/choir/piano…
As I type Misses 9 & 11 are hosting friends, eating pizza they made for lunch and watching Moana. We are totally Disney tragics, BTW.
Everyone is happy, and the gals have another reason for loving school holidays: I buy white bread. For the rest of the year they have wholemeal or whole grain bread but come holidays it is white bread all the way. I have to admit, a Vegemite sandwich on fresh white bread really is one of life’s simple pleasures.
On the other hand, Nutella can be taken or leaven in Casa Hungry. Miss 11 is not a fan, Miss 9 is but it usually doesn’t occur to her to eat it. As nuts aren’t allowed at school she can’t have it there and for the same reason she is reluctant to eat nut-based spreads on toast before school.
So it is that the Nutella jar was sitting unloved in the pantry, I had a loaf of white bread and… well, we don’t really need an excuse to make a pudding in winter, do we?
This Nutella bread and butter pudding is such a breeze and make and even easier to eat.
GATHER:
8 slices of thick white bread, crusts removed
3 eggs
300 mL pouring cream
2 cups of milk
¼ cup caster sugar PLUS 1 tablespoon extra
Nutella
LET’S GET TO IT:
Preheat oven to 180 and grease a 2L baking dish with non stick cooking spray.
Generously slather one side of each piece of bread with Nutella, then sandwich two slices together. Cut each sandwich into quarters. Continue until all the bread is used up, then arrange the sandwiches in the baking dish.
In a jug whisk together the eggs, cream, milk and ¼ cup caster sugar, then carefully pour all over the Nutella sandwiches. Scatter over the remaining sugar.
Bake for 30 minutes then reduce the heat to 160C and bake for another 8 minutes.
Serve warm.