I never used to like rum, and I certainly never used to drink it. Then the Hungry Dad went through a rum phase – which has now progressed to an obsession with whisky – and I was corrupted.
And it turns out that rum and cake is a wonderful marriage. I love baking with booze but chocolate and rum are just destined to be together. Continue reading
I blog almost nothing but sweet things but truth be told I do not have a sweet tooth. I crave savoury things, with a specific nod to the cheese family. Give me brie or give me death.
Many of my fav desserts – which I daren’t make lest I scoff the lot – have a cheese element: tiramisu, baked cheesecake, red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting, cheese platter…
I have new cheese-esque addition to the top dessert list after recently baking this incredibly easy and delicious ricotta and honey tart. Continue reading
Get your tasting spoons ready, bakers: the sauce in this cake is something you will be unable to resist.
Donna Hay created the salted burnt honey sauce in a recent edition of her eponymous magazine. Do not underestimate the bewitching properties of this sauce: four ingredients is all it takes to lift a lovely cake into superstar mode. Continue reading
Have you ever met a beekeeper? I have met several over the years in my day job as a journalist and I am here to tell you that people who dedicate their lives tending to bees, hives, and all the paraphernalia that comes with it, are amazing.
I recently interviewed a beekeeper who I have met several times now. She is passionate and knowledgeable about all aspects of beekeeping and at the end of the interview she gave me a jar of honey from her hives.
This honey is nothing like the stuff you buy at the shops. It is thick and unctuous and just begging to be via a spoon dipped in the jar. Mmmm, honey. As the hive is located a few suburbs away it is possible that the bees may have even visited my garden to alight on my lavender bush.
I was inspired by a recipe in Good Housekeeping’s The Baking Book for these cupcakes. I didn’t even notice how few ingredients it had until I was standing with the mixer going, and then I was happily amazed.
GATHER:
125 butter, softened and roughly diced
125g runny honey
2 eggs
125 grams self-raising flour, sifted
buds of two lavender blossoms, finely crumbled, plus extra for garnish – ensure they are chemical-free, ideally from a loved one’s garden. These are from The Hungry Nonna’s garden – thanks mum 😉
Whipping or thickened cream, for garnish.
LET’S GET TO IT:
Preheat oven to 170C and line 6 Texas-sized cupcake holes with wrappers.
In bowl of electric mixer beat honey and butter until combined.
Add eggs, one at a time, then beat. Mixture will look curdled, is fine.
Using a silver spoon stir in flour and mix until just combined. Scrape into wrappers and bake for 15-20 minutes / until a skwere comes out clean.
Remove to wire rack to cool completely.
Meanwhile beat some thickened cream until soft peaks, then dollop on top of cakes. Garnish with extra lavender buds.
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
This weather is driving me crazy! Last year was officially the hottest on record for Australia and one can only assume it is going to get hotter. For a creature the colour of milk, such as myself, this is not good. My skin says I should be living in Scandinavia but here I am, Sydney born and bred.
We have had a reprieve for the past few days but it will soon be hot again. This is cold comfort for my friends in the northern hemisphere currently experiencing snow, storms and freezing temperatures. Stay safe everyone.
In the meantime, here is a super easy treat, perfect for long hot summer days. Misses 6 & 8 made these pops themselves and couldn’t wait to try them. Two thumbs up 🙂 Continue reading
I need a 12-step program for my cooking magazine addiction. My knees go weak and pulse races when I peruse racks of glossy mags full of pages of gorgeously styles food. Even though I spend hours each week on food blogs and Pinterest and have so, so many recipes squirrelled away I can’t resist the lure of a new food magazine. Continue reading
At the library recently, I place where I love to hang out, I found the quirkily titled ‘The Cookiepedia’ by Stacy Adimando. This bible to cookies inspired me no end and the first recipe I road-tested was what the author called lemon chewies with honey.
Baking with lemons produces such a wonderful aroma, and I think the smell of baking is sometimes better than eating the end product 🙂 Continue reading
the hungry mum 