In Australia it is unbelievably hot in the lead-up to Christmas but we still borrow traditions from the Northern hemisphere in terms of food we serve. Even people who love baking need a break from standing in front of a hot oven. A quick Christmas recipe is a great Christmas recipe, which is why these Christmas Madeleines are perfect. Continue reading
My firstborn just turned ten! Farewell Miss 9, hello Miss 10! My lovely gal requested a chocolate mud cake for her birthday and her wish was my command.
This was the first time I had made a dark chocolate mud cake from scratch and I was thrilled with the result. It was rich without being cloying, dense without being heavy and perfectly moist. Continue reading
These salted caramel pecan pie cookies are so easy and so delicious! I made them on the weekend for a dear family member’s birthday party. Tom, the birthday boy, thought they were one of the yummiest things he has ever eaten and as this man has a sweet tooth I take that as high praise.
They have the taste and look of pecan pies but in cookie form – how great is that?
This is the story of a cake that almost wasn’t eaten. I made this simple chocolate peppermint cake from scratch to take to my friends at the newspaper where I work as a journalist. Then, the next morning, the usual pandemonium to get out the front door ensued and cake got left behind. Poor cake. Continue reading
I kept seeing recipes for cakes/cookies/brownies with dulce de leche, a thick caramel sauce that tastes like heaven. Often these recipes would suggest buying the dulce de leche at a deli. Problem was, when I did eventually track down the dulce de leche it was super expensive. Quite honestly, the price was unjustifiable. So I did some research and blamo – I found you could make dulce de leche easily from scratch at home.
Look at the pretty blueberries in these cupcakes. They really are nature’s work of art. I have found a frozen brand of Australian-grown blueberries that I am happy with and always ensure I have a bag in the freezer. I bake with them, the Hungry Dad makes Bircher muesli with them, Miss-now-8 adds them to Greek yogurt and Miss9 is happy to eat a bowl of them for a snack #winning
At the moment in Sydney fresh blueberries are plentiful so you can take your pick when making them delectable blueberry cupcakes with blueberry cream cheese frosting (or cream cheese icing, for my fellow Aussies).
Fresh or frozen works fine and if you opt for frozen there is no need to defrost first.
These blueberry cupcakes are really moist and the Greek yoghurt adds a lovely tang. Try not to eat all the frosting / icing before you ice the cakes – a real danger #OrIsThatJustMe
GATHER:
120g unsalted butter, softened
½ cup caster sugar
1 2/3 cups self-raising flour
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup Greek yogurt cream
1 cup blueberries (frozen is fine)
Icing:
180g unsalted butter, softened
250g cream cheese, softened
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups pure icing sugar, sifted
¼ cup blueberries, extra
LET’S GET TO IT:
Preheat oven to 190°C and line a cupcake pan with wrappers.
In bowl of electric mixer beat butter, sugar and vanilla on medium speed until fluffy and pale – about three minutes.
Scrape down bowl with a spatula then add eggs, one at a time, beating until combined.
Beat in half the flour, then half the yogurt, then rest of flour then rest of yogurt. Using a silver spoon gently stir in the blueberries.
Fill the wrappers two-thirds full and bake for 15-ish minutes or until a skewer inserted into a cake has only a few crumbs clinging to it.
Remove to wire rack too cool completely.
Meanwhile, make icing: In bowl of electric mixer beat cream cheese, vanilla and butter together until pale and creamy – about two minutes. With beater on low beat in icing sugar then increase speed to medium and beat until thoroughly combined. Use a silver spoon to stir through and break up most of the berries, leaving enough for decoration. Scrape icing into ziplock bag, snip off the corner and pipe icing onto cake, then top each one with a single blueberry.
I know what you’re thinking – red wine IN chocolate cake? Red wine while eating chocolate cake – sure. Red wine while cooking cake, of course. But red wine IN chocolate cake? Trust me… red wine chocolate cake is amazing! Continue reading
Up until a year ago I could take or leave chai. As a coffee lover I often don’t have time for tea. But after discovering some amazing chai tea leaves, rather than the awful powdery stuff favoured by some cafes, I am a chai convert.
Another reason for my love of chai: it melds so well with butter, sugar and flour. It is the perfect pairing for many baked goods, as it adds a lovely depth and flavour. Need proof / inspiration?
Here’s my chai tea sultana cake: https://thehungrymum.com/2015/10/07/chai-tea-sultana-cake/
And my chai tea bundt cake recipe: https://thehungrymum.com/2015/08/30/chai-bundt-cake-from-scratch/
I recently had the idea of mixing chai with chocolate and my recipe for chocolate chip chai cookies was born. The tea leaves and the dark chocolate are just made for one another, and the ginger creates a warmth that you will love.
Miss9 took over the making of these bickies! They are large and rustic – next time I would probably make them a bit smaller. Either way, these choc chip chai cookies taste amazing.
I was inspired by a recipe from the Australian Women’s Weekly called basic vanilla biscuits.
GATHER:
200 grams unsalted butter, diced, at room temperature
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup icing sugar, sifted
1 egg
½ cup dark chocolate chips
1 ¾ cups plain flour
½ teaspoon bicarb soda
2 teaspoons chai tea leaves
½ teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon cinnamon
LET’S GET TO IT:
Preheat oven to 170C and grease and line a baking sheet with non-stick paper.
In bowl of electric mixer beat the sugar, butter, egg and vanilla together until creamy and smooth.
Stir in flour, bicarb, cinnamon, ginger and chai leaves and mix until combined. Using a silver spoon mix in the chocolate chips until just combined.
Roll into balls, place on tray and gently flatten.
Bake for 11-14 minutes, depending on size of your bickie. Cool on trays for 5 minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely.
Cinnamon. That is all.
Not really! I don’t think a four-word blog post can really sum up the feelings I have for this most delicious spice.
I have a recipe on the blog for cinnamon teacake (see it here: https://thehungrymum.com/2012/10/02/classic-old-fashioned-cinnamon-teacake/) and it is such a simple cake but it is often requested by work colleagues as it is light and fluffy.
This recipe was based on one from bakeorbreak.com – I significantly reduced the sugar, and omitted the salt and baking powder.
I named it cinnamon sugar cookie cake because it has the taste and texture of all of these things, but better! If you love butter and cinnamon you will love this cake. As it is cut into squares it is great for feeding a crowd, taking to a picnic or packing into lunchboxes.
Cinnamon sugar cookie cake would also make an easy dessert when served with custard, ice-cream (or both) or alongside a warming apple crumble / apple crisp.
Don’t blame me if this cake tips your admiration for cinnamon into full-blown addiction J
GATHER:
115 grams of butter, diced, at room temperature
¾ cup caster sugar
1/2 cup canola oil
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups plain flour
topping: 3 tablespoons sugar mixed with three teaspoons cinnamon
LET’S GET TO IT:
Preheat oven to 180C and grease and line a 20cm by 20cm square cake tin.
In bowl of lectric mixer beat together the butter, oil, eggs, milk, sugar and vanilla until combined. Pour in flour and beat until mixed.
Scrape into tin, level the top and sprinkle over the topping.
Bake for 25 minutes – you may need an extra five or so minutes depending on your oven. Cool completely in pan before cutting into squares.
This blueberry pudding cake is such a moist, easy-to-bake, delicious cake that you’ll throw away all your other blueberry baking recipes.
The fact that it is an egg-free cake recipe is a bonus, especially if you buy 36 eggs at a time but plough through them so quickly you often are left with just one solitary egg in the carton. Or is that just me?
Before our chooks went to hen heaven – RIP Kaitlyn and Jakeson – we always had a stash of perfect, huge, delicious eggs at our disposal. Now, I only buy free range eggs but what with all the scandal and court cases RE certain egg producers lying about their free range status it is really hard. I often leave smaller supermarkets empty-handed if I can’t find my brands. Farmers markets are the best but that doesn’t help if it is Tuesday night and the market isn’t until Saturday!
This cake is perfect when it is just under baked so it retains a pudding-like consistency. I think lashings of custard would make a wonderful friend for this cake – try my easy recipe here: the best custard recipe from scratch
GATHER:
2 cups self-raising flour
250 grams unsalted butter, diced, softened
¾ cup caster sugar
3/4 cup milk
1 cup Greek yogurt
1 cup blueberries – frozen is fine, don’t defrost
1 tsp vanilla extract
LET’S GET TO IT:
Grease a 20cm by 20cm square baking pan and line with non-stick baking paper and preheat oven to 180C.
In bowl of electric mixer beat the sugar and butter until pale and creamy.
Scrape down sides with a spatula then beat in vanilla and yogurt.
Add half the milk, then half the flour, then repeat. Beat until mixed – do not overbeat.
Use a silver spoon to stir in the berries carefully – you don’t want to stain the batter blue.
Scrape into tin, level the top with offset spatula and bake in oven for around 45 minutes – insert skewer to check, you want it moist but not raw.
Leave in tin to cool, then slice into squares to serve. Sprinkle with icing sugar to serve.
the hungry mum 