the hungry mum

Tequila cookies

When I was a teenager, many millennium ago, tequila was the go to drink for party people. Never me, of course – I drank nothing but water on nights out with friends #Ummmm

Anyway, the image of tequila as a cheap and cheerful beverage was only recently extinguished for me when the Hungry Dad brought home a fancy bottle of tequila. Clue number one that it was nothing like the drink of days gone by: the bottle stopper wasn’t a mini sombrero. Clue number two: it wasn’t a ginormous bottle and it cost more than I care to admit. Continue reading →

Tags: alcohol, bake, baking, biscuits, cookies, cooking, food, from scratch, recipe, recipes, tequila

Comments 41 Comments
Categories alcohol, Biscuits and Cookies, easy, Fast & simple, tequila

Red velvet cookies with cream cheese filling

4 Jan

I was looking for red velvet-themed baking recipes to make. I found enough to keep me baking every day for the rest of my life but there was something about this one that caught me eye. Red velvet is my fav flavour on the rare occasion that I indulge in sweet treats so I knew I had to make these. Continue reading →

Tags: afternoon tea, baking, biscuit, cookie, cream cheese, recipe, red velvet

Comments 45 Comments
Categories Biscuits and Cookies

Meringue with drunken strawberries & pepper

22 Dec

This recipe is perfect for Christmas and I’ll tell you why:

It combines a few different building blocks which means you can adjust the quantity to suit numbers.

It allows you to make the elements in advance and assemble just before serving, meaning less stress and more chat.

If guests don’t like strawberries they can just have the meringue. Or vice versa.

The colours are reminiscent of Christmas.

It is easy – let’s face it, by December, when Chrissy get-togethers are in full swing, you need something that doesn’t require hours in the kitchen using every utensil you own.

Continue reading →

Tags: afternoon tea, bake, baking, dessert, from scratch, recipe

Comments 31 Comments
Categories alcohol, Christmas, Dessert, do ahead, easy, Fast & simple, meringue, Other sweet stuff, strawberry, sugar

Donna Hay rum & raisin Christmas cookies

19 Dec

These are the cookies Santa is waiting for each Christmas Eve as he frantically makes his journey across the planet on his sleigh.

Rich, chunky, chocolatey and with a hint of rum they will give Mr Claus a much needed energy fix to help him keep on keeping on. The oats will help his cholesterol levels after all those other treats he has snacked on during his journey and the rum will soothe his weary bones. Continue reading →

Tags: alcohol, baking, biscuits, chocolate, Christmas, cookies, cooking, Donna Hay, easy, food, raisins, recipe, rum, vanilla

Comments 24 Comments
Categories alcohol, Biscuits and Cookies, Fast & simple

The best custard from scratch

14 Dec

At Christmas you NEED this recipe in your repertoire. At Easter you need it. Heck, I doubt you’ll ever regret learning how to make the easiest, most luscious vanilla-speckled custard from scratch (unless you are a custard fan and this recipe pushes you into full blown addiction).

I have tried many, many custard recipes over the years and I can say, hand on heart, that this is the easiest and best. It is true and real and the sort of finishing touch that desserts such as apple pie, crumble or even just ice-cream benefits from.

As well as tasting incredible it is faff-free and easy as 1 2 3. Continue reading →

Tags: Christmas, custard, dessert, from scratch, home-made, pudding, sweet, vanilla

Comments 33 Comments
Categories Dessert, Fast & simple, Other sweet stuff

Home-made berry and meringue icecream

7 Dec

As I’ve mentioned before, summer and I are not friends. I don’t like heat, humidity, flies, insects, sweating. Obviously I shouldn’t be living in steamy Sydney but here I am. And as much as I adore baking it is sometimes just too damn hot to turn the oven.

That’s where this beauty of a dessert comes in. I found the recipe in a back issue of the wonderful delicious magazine and had, serendipitously, made meringues a few days earlier. Continue reading →

Tags: berries, cream, dessert, from scratch meringue, homemade, ice cream, sweet

Comments 44 Comments
Categories Dessert, Fast & simple, food, from scratch, ice-cream

Chocolate peppermint squares

1 Dec

I admit: chocolate peppermint is my least favourite flavour combo. I know, I know – I can hear your howls of protests from here. This unorthodox position has lead to at least two people questioning the fact that we could possibly be friends. On the plus side, I am the best person to share a box of choc with, as I will insist that you have the peppermint filling. No really – it is all yours…

These squares, or slice as we Antipodeans call it, are chock full of pepperminty pleasure. You can, of course, adjust the mintiness by adding more or less flavouring. Continue reading →

Tags: bake, baked, baking, chocolate, Christmas, cooking, easy, food, from scratch, peppermint, recipe

Comments 50 Comments
Categories Bars, Dessert, easy, Fast & simple, from scratch, mint, Other sweet stuff, Slices

Donna Hay Christmas cinnamon sugar cookies / biscuits

24 Nov

Ho ho ho – it is getting very close to all that is festive… the ‘where has the year gone?’ conversations, the ‘what am I going to buy Aunty Carol?’ questions, the musings on when to bake to avoid the heat of the day…

Here in Sydney December is always a bazillion degrees. Often humid, too. And very often followed by a thunderstorm late in the day. As I type we are experiencing a house-shaking, sky-piercing, ear-throbbing thunder and lightening spectacular.

I used a snowflake cutter to make these cookies / biscuits as it is the newest member of my constantly expanding cookie cutter collection. We don’t get snow, so I don’t understand the fascination with all things frozen. Having said that, I’m not sure what a Southern Hemisphere festive-season cutter would be shaped like – a sun? A huge fly? A sunburnt tourist on Bondi Beach?

Maybe we’ll stick with tradition then…

Continue reading →

Tags: baking, butter, Christmas, Donna Hay, easy, from scratch, recipe

Comments 47 Comments
Categories Biscuits and Cookies

How to make chocolate dessert cake

17 Nov

So the internet is awash with chocolate cake recipes. Dark chocolate cake. Flourless chocolate cake. Fudgy chocolate cake. Full fat with whipped cream chocolate cake. Low fat chocolate cakes. Mud cake. Chocolate and fruit/nuts/booze/ cake.

In my time I have baked and eaten many, many chocolate cakes. Many are not worthy of the time or calories. Often they are insipid. Or dry. Or forgettable.

This is the chocolate cake that you have been waiting for.

Continue reading →

Tags: afternoon tea, Australian Women's Weekly, AWW, bake, baked, baking, cake, caramel, chocolate, cocoa, cookbook, dates, dessert, easy, from scratch, home-made, recipe

Comments 65 Comments
Categories Cakes

Donna Hay honey cake recipe

10 Nov

Sometimes you want an easy-to-throw together cake that isn’t vanilla or chocolate. Sometimes you have a pantry full of honey as every time you’re at a fair or farmers market and you see another variety of honey you just can’t help yourself and end up buying yet another jar. Sometimes you just want to watch the hypnotic sensation of honey oozing from a spoon and falling lushly into a bowl of cake batter. Or maybe that’s just me. Continue reading →

Tags: bake, baking, cake, Donna Hay, easy, from scratch, honey, recipe