I have a bit of a fixation with cream cheese of late. I just cannot get enough of baking recipes that use this creamy, unctuous ingredient. I also love pairing cream cheese with savoury ingredients – I am looking at you, smoked salmon – but when there is a block of cream cheese within arm`s reach I WILL turn it into a sweet treat. 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
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.
the hungry mum 