I always thought pound cakes were heavy, rectangular-shaped items. I have long loved pound cake and have fond memories of eating frozen Sara Lee pound cake with sultanas at my nana’s house (nana wasn’t a baker, bless).
Then I saw my guru Donna Hay had made a pound cake in a circular shape and my mind.was.blown. #easilyImpressed Continue reading
Hip hip hooray! It was recently the Hungry Mum’s mum’s birthday (or, the Hungry Nonna as she likes to be known. FYI she’s not Italian, just an Italian nonna wannabe!)
The extended Hungry family gathered for breakfast recently at a cafe near the Hungry Nonna’s home, and after eggs and toast and coffee and pancakes were consumed it was cake time!
Carrot cake has long been one of mum’s favourite cakes and everyone loves cream cheese frosting so this was the birthday cake. Continue reading
This Donna Hay cake is simple and impressive and can be jazzed up with the addition of a quick icing. It isn’t overly chocolaty which could be a good or a bad thing, depending on how you feel about chocolate or how early in the day it is – while choc addicts would argue that it is never too early in the day for a chocolate hit I would actually disagree (ducks for cover). This cake neatly straddles the issue though – there is just enough chocolate for any time of day. Continue reading
I wish I could be paid to spend all day trawling Pinterest for delicious things to bake. I mean, I’m good at it. I enjoy it. I can and do spend hours falling down baking-related rabbit holes. But I just don’t think anyone is going to whip out the chequebook any time soon.
Sigh. Continue reading
Apples, eh? Something that looks shiny and crisp at the markets can turn out to be a fraud when bitten into. Soft. Floury. Bruised. That was our experience after being swindled at a farmer’s market recently. Before I continue let me say that I adore farmer’s markets and the farmers that produce our food. I have no idea how fraudulent apple man managed to get a stand at these popular markets but he did. Money was exchanged. Apples were bought. Disappointment on one side of this transaction ensued.
So there we were – a fruit bowl full of dud apples that Misses 7 and 9 kept boomeranging back from school each day.
If you are a follower of this blog or know me in the real world you would know that my instant reaction was to turn these fraudulent apples into a cake. Continue reading
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.
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
Recently, well actually several months ago, my lovely friend Jane had a birthday. Jane had requested a Tim Tam cake [for my non-Aussie friends, Tim Tams are our national treasure chocolate biscuit] but I spied a recipe in my beloved book ‘Lily Vanilli’s Sweet Tooth’ that I knew she would love. And boy, was I right.
In the book it is referred to as margarita drizzle cake but I am calling it simply margarita cake. Or, as many of my work friends commented after sampling it, the best cake I’ve ever made. Or, tequila cake with lime, if we want to keep things simple. All are true. Trust me on this – you NEED to have this cake in your life. Continue reading
Going through my stats recently it occurred to me that you all love Donna Hay. This makes me incredibly happy because – as you may have guessed – I too love Donna. I have mentioned it many MANY times here before so it is wonderful to see that we are in simpatico 🙂 Continue reading
With a glut of lemons beckoning from our oft-neglected but much loved lemon tree it was time to get baking. Lemon shortbread. Lemon and yogurt loaf. And this delicious cake that will make your mouth sing of all the pretty things. I discovered this recipe on the BBC site, which I find to be a wonderful resource when baking. It is from Paul Hollywood, who is quite the hero baker in his native Britain. I tweaked it a bit, switching his plain flour/ baking powder mix for straight self-raising flour and reducing the sugar. Considering the cake is finished with two different types of sugar I would even suggest minimising the amount of sugar in the recipe proper if your tooth isn’t overly sweet. Continue reading
the hungry mum 