I am the sort of person who gets so excited when they see a new or unusual baking recipe that I will rush out to buy any ingredient that I don’t have in the cupboard. Usually by the time said ingredient is stored in the pantry I have a new ‘must bake’ recipe and that item that I simply had to have ends up languishing, unloved, in the back of the pantry.
Sometimes fate intervenes and the same ingredient pops up again and I dust off said item, preheat the oven and get cracking. Continue reading
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
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.
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.
Caramel is a favourite flavour in the Hungry House. I’ve always been a fan and Misses 6 & 8 adore it, too. I made these cupcakes and instantly knew I was on to a winner when Miss8 told me there was no way she would be trading this cake for one of her friend’s lunchbox treats. Trust me – my gal trades home-made cakes and cookies most days in exchange for mass-produced, supermarket-bought, multi-national owned treats #theHorror Continue reading
Does anything spell afternoon tea more than a madeleine? These pretty little delicacies never fail to impress, although they are embarrassingly easy to make. I’ve got a few madeleine recipes on my site as I love making them and they are always well received. To make the real McCoy you will need a traditional pan, readily available from home ware stores. Continue reading
I adore a tea – be it Devonshire, high or afternoon I think it is all wonderful. I would have been right at home in the Victorian era: nibbling on dainty sandwiches, sweet morsels and pillow soft scones. Ahhh, it is all about the scones. For as much as I adore a freshly made scone I’m not too fond of the mess they make of my bench tops. I’m not a clean freak but nor am I fan of scraping remnants of dough off my countertops.
But every so often the need for scones hits and when it does this easy peasy 3-ingredient recipe is the one I reach for. It is child’s play and produces light, floaty scones with a lovely colour. The recipe has been around forever so I’m not sure who to credit for it.
And what are freshly made scones without a real, fruity strawberry jam? I’d been wanting to make strawberry jam for ages but every time I bought the required two punnets of berries my fruit bat daughters would devour the lot. So last time I saw strawberries on sale I bought three punnets, cut one up for the fruit bat daughters then set about making this jam with fruit bat daughter number one. Having never made any type of jam before I picked an easy recipe from kidspot.com.au that called for it to be made in the microwave. It tasted amazing but I don’t know that it would have been any quicker than using the stovetop recipe. It made a sticky mess of my microwave but beauty is pain…
Miss 6 loved the fact we made & labelled our own jam. A gorgeous vintage label wold have looked waaaaay better than my slapdash attempt but I’ll remember that for next time.
EASY THREE INGREDIENT SCONES:
GATHER:
325g self-raising flour
2/3 cup cold lemonade
2/3 cup thickened cream
LET’S GET TO IT:
Preheat oven to 200C and spray a baking sheet with non-stick spray.
Sift flour into a large bowl. Combine lemonade and cream in a jug and pour to the flour bowl. Gently mix until just combined – it will be very sticky.
Tip onto a lightly floured surface and gently knead until about 3cm thick. With floured scone cutters or a glass cut out scones and place side by side on the tray.
You can brush the tops with a smidge of milk if you like but it isn’t absolutely necessary.
Bake for between 12 and 15 minutes/until pale golden. Serve warm with strawberry jam
STRAWBERRY JAM
GATHER:
Two punnets of strawberries, washed, hulled and roughly chopped
1 1/4 cups caster sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice
LET’S DO IT:
Put a saucer in freezer [you’ll need this to test the jam later]
Put strawberries, sugar and lemon juice in a very large and deep microwave-safe bowl.
Leave for 15 minutes to allow the strawberries to soften.
Place in microwave and cook on high for 4 minutes, stopping every minute to stir the jam to ensure sugar is dissolved.
Microwave a further 25-30 minutes on high, stirring every 5 minutes or until the jam reaches setting point. (To check, place a spoonful of jam on the cold saucer and place it in the freezer for two minutes. Run your finger through the jam and if it stays in two separate portions it is set.)
Leave to cool for five minutes then gently decant into a sterilised glass jar.
This recipe is, as Miss 4 would say, easy peasy lemon squeezy. The original recipe, which I’ve tweaked, is from my primary school’s fundraising cookbook, along with taste sensations such as fish finger kebabs and prunes & bacon [subtitled, and I kid you not, ‘a delicious combination] from *many* moons ago. Fear not, this cake is super yum and so super easy that kids can make it without much help. The original makes a very small loaf but I decided to use my mini pan this time & the results were great. It made 4 mini loaves which is ideal if you don’t want to be a guts and eat all the cake are just having one friend over for a cuppa.
This is such a versatile recipe: it can de doubled and if you don’t like lime use orange or lemon zest. Or omit the zest and just add mixed spice or vanilla.
And what about these amazing photos by Anna Warr? Don’t they make you want to lick the screen? Or is that just me? Check out more of her amazing work at annawarr.com.
GATHER:
1 cup self-raising flour
1 cup coconut [dessicated]
1/4 cup caster sugar
slightly more than 1/2 cup milk
zest from 2 small or one large lime
LET’S DO IT:
Preheat oven to 170C and grease 4 holes from a mini loaf tin.
Place everything in bowl and stir until combined. It will be a stiff batter.
Pour into 4 holes, bake 20-25ish minutes/until a skewer inserted comes out clean. Allow to cool five minutes before removing to a wire rack.
Chocolate marsala cake, listed in the book ’50 Fabulous Chooclate Cakes’ as ‘never fail chocolate cake’ is my go recipe that I have made countless times. Each year I make it for my daughter’s birthdays, I’ve made it it for friends grieving and for friends celebrating. Continue reading
the hungry mum 