I haven’t eaten meat for decades but have always loved my dairy products. I remember when I first become vegetarian, going out to eat in suburban Sydney meant pasta for dinner. And I’m not talking delicious hand-made gnocchi with wild mushrooms, or eggplant lasagne, but usually dry packet pasta with generic tomato sauce. Yawn. Continue reading
Please tell me I am not the only person addicted to sweetened condensed milk? I love how rich and unctuous it is, and I adore seeing it poured out of a tin – it is so satisfyingly oozy! Continue reading
Oh, the memories that come flooding back when I think about Kingston biscuits! Growing up, these shop-bought biscuits – or cookies, for my American friends – were the fanciest thing ever. I remember having them at my grandparents house. The chocolatey filling was the best bit – so rich and luxurious – to a child at least. Continue reading
I know I am late to the party but how much fun are microwave mug cakes? A handful of ingredients, a few minutes prep, a quick blast in the micro and blam! Dessert is ready. Continue reading
After a yet another raid on my mother-in-law’s lemon trees I knew a citrus cake would be in order. These lemons she grows are unlike anything I’ve ever bought: juice, plump and plenty of gorgeous flesh just begging to be grated into a sweet treat.
We have planted several citrus trees but they didn’t get the memo that they are actually meant to produce fruit. Instead they are barren, spindly looking things that need to have a long, hard look at themselves
This lemon poppyseed cake is always a hit, wherever it goes. I’ve made it many, many times and even non-cake eaters always want a slice.
I was inspired by the recipe in my beloved but now MIA cookbook Australian Women’s Weekly’s Quick Mix Cakes. Without this book I am bereft. I vaguely recall lending it to someone but I can’t recall who. If it was you, please boomerang it back J
I dust my cake with icing sugar but feel free to top with cream cheese icing – get the recipe here: https://thehungrymum.com/2015/05/14/donna-hay-carrot-cake-with-cream-cheese-frosting/ – or your favourite citrus-scented frosting.
GATHER:
185g diced butter at room temperature
Grated rind of one large or two smaller lemons
3 eggs
2 cups self-raising flour
¾ cup of milk
20g poppy seeds
¾ cup caster sugar
LET’S GET TO IT:
Preheat oven to 170C. Line a large loaf pan with non-stick baking paper.
Place all ingredients, except the seeds, into the bowl of an electric mixer and blend on low speed until all combined. Increase speed until mixture is smooth. Stir in seeds with a spoon.
Scrape into pan and gently smooth the surface with a palette knife.
Bake for 45 minutes/until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
Cool in tin for 10 minutes, then remove from tin and cool cake completely on wire rack.
Dust with icing sugar before serving.
I’m late! I’m late! For a very important date! I am the most punctual person I know – apart from my mum – so I offer my infinite apologies. The date I am late for is the Nestle Baker’s Choice Bake It Yours competition. Continue reading
The Hungry Dad loves bircher muesli for breakfast but doesn’t love paying the $18 or so that fancy Sydney cafes charge for it. For years we’ve been making it at home and it is so cheap to make that I am shocked at how much it goes for at cafes. Continue reading
My mini bundt tin is one of my favourite pieces of kitchen baking paraphernalia. I love the way the pretty little fluted tins instantly make the cakes look fancy. I own several large bundt tins too but the mini ones have a special place in my heart. Continue reading
I bake most days so generally the family is pretty blasé about my baked treats. This giant double chocolate skillet cookie is the exception. Upon pulling it from the oven I was met with a chorus of ‘oooh, yum!’, ‘that looks amazing!’, ‘I’m going to eat the whole thing’ etc etc.
Miss 10 adores white chocolate, so I used white choc chips for her. The Hungry Dad and I love dark chocolate so added them for us. Miss 8 has yet to meet a type of chocolate she didn’t adore so she would be thrilled with anything with a trace of cocoa in it.
As always, the simple things in life are often the best – this recipe is basically one huge chocolate chip cookie that you bake in a skillet / frying pan in the oven. Ensure that your pan has a metal handle – do not place a plastic-handled pan in the oven unless you want a toxic, stinking mess/ house fire/ both.
This easy baking recipe uses common ingredients you probably have in the pantry. Even if you do need to buy them to bake this, rest assured that you will use them for many, many other baking recipes.
Eating this giant chocolate skillet cookie warm from the oven was a highlight of my day – it is gooey and delicious and so utterly scrumptious that I may have eaten a great proportion of it without realising. Might just have to bake this again soon…
GATHER:
1/4 cup caster sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
85 grams unsalted butter, diced, at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1 cup plain flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup white choc chips
1/4 cup dark choc chips
LET’S GET TO IT:
Preheat oven to 180 Celsius and thoroughly spray a 20cm round oven-proof frying pan / skillet with non-stick cooking spray.
In a large bowl use a silver spoon to beat together butter, vanilla and both sugars then beat in the egg until just combined.
Tip in the in flour, baking soda and all the chocolate chips and mix until just combined. Scrape into the pan and use an off-set spatula to even out the top.
Bake until cookie is light golden brown and just starting to set in the centre, around 18 minutes.
Let cool 5 minutes then slice into wedges to serve.
Readers will know of my love of cold weather and all things that accompany winter, especially the food side of things. Soup, for instance, is one of my fav foods and I tend to eat it year round. Summer in Sydney is not soup weather by any stretch but when the soup craving comes you gotta obey your tummy. Luckily for me it is winter here and cold – perfect soup weather. Continue reading
the hungry mum 