A touch of colour...

I've seen these beautiful biscuits on many blogs, I'm not a big fan of making biscuits. There is no reason why, I'm just not inspired to make them, well that is until l saw these. I love the vibrant colours! I used Americolor Gel to get the bright colours.

I used this recipe for Butter Biscuits, the recipe was OK. I'm sure that there are better ones out there, l would probably also use a chocolate biscuit recipe just to capture the brightness of the colours.

For the filling l just used a buttercream icing, which is approximately 90g of butter softened, 1 cup of icing sugar, 1 tsp of Vanilla Extract. Mix all ingredients together until light and fluffy, divide mixture into small bowls, colour accordingly and place a large dollop of icing mixture in the centre and then sandwich together with another biscuit.

I would love to hear you comments and suggestions, so please feel free to leave a comment.

Enjoy! Y x

Baked Pork Spring Rolls

Whenever l have a gathering at my house l always try and serve things that can be prepared during the week, so I'm not slaving in the kitchen for two days prior.

These spring rolls are always on my list, l have always been a bit scared of making them until one day l gave them a try and l have never looked back. Not only are the delicious, they are simple to make and even better because they are baked they are not that unhealthy.

Unfortunately l only have a photo of them prior to cooking, I got completely side tracked on the day and didn't take any photos of them cooked.

Baked Spring Rolls

1 tblsp Peanut Oil

3 Green Onions

1 Small Carrot Grated

100g Chinese Cabbage

500g minced pork

1/2 Teaspoon Light Soya Sauce

1 tblsp Oyster Sauce

Spring Roll Wrappers

Heat Oil in Fry Pan, add Green onions and fry for 3 minutes until softened. Add pork, and cook until browned. Add Cabbage, grated carrot and sauces. Cook Until cabbage is wilted, let cool. Once mixture is cooled place 2 tablespoons of mixture onto wrapper and wrap, seal the end with egg white.

Brush spring rolls lightly with some oil, place in oven on moderate heat (approximately 180 degrees) Serve with some Sweet Chili Sauce.

I would love the hear your comments and suggestions, so please feel free to leave a message.

Enjoy! Yx

Orange Blossom and Bitter Lemon Cupcakes

I have made these cupcakes many times before and they have always been delicious and a crowd favorite! I purchased some funky orange and lemon Cupcake Cases so l decided l would make some Orange and Lemon cupcakes. I decorated them with a flavored lemon and orange butter icing. The colors together were perfect, and would compliment the perfect summers day.

Orange Blossom Cupcakes 1 cup self-raising flour 1/3 cup plain flour 1/3 cup almond meal 125g softened butter 2/3 cup caster sugar 2 eggs 2 tsp finely grated orange rind 1/4 cup orange juice 1/2 tbsp milk

Icing 90g butter, softened 1/4 tsp orange essence 1 cup icing sugar 1 tbsp milk peach food colouring

Preheat oven to moderate 180^oC [160^oC for fan-forced ovens. Line a 12-hole standard muffin pan with paper cases. Beat butter, sugar, rind and eggs in a small bowl with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Stir in sifted flours, almond meal, juice and milk. Divided mixture among cases and smooth surface. Bake for approximately 25 minutes. Turn cakes ontowire racks to cool.

For the Icing beat butter and essence in a small bowl until light and fluffy. Beat in sifted icing sugar and milk. Beat in the food colouring.

I made the same recipe for the Lemon Cupcakes, I just replaced the Orange with the Lemon. If you love lemon feel free to add more zest.

I would love to hear your comments and suggestions, so please feel free to leave a meassage.

Enjoy! Yx

Birthday Preparations begin!

Well originally l was just going to have a qu

ite 30th with just the immediately family, but Will suggested that we invite the extended family as well. Too many people that just means a couple of extra people, but to us that mean

s an extra 30 or 40! So there l was at the start of the week happily making afternoon tea for 6 people, now I'm organising a BBQ for the masses. First cab of the rank are some beautiful Spinach and Ricotta Tarts which are always a winner at any occasion.

1x packet of fresh spinach

1x tub of Ricotta Cheese

1x garlic clove, crushed

1x egg

1 cup of cheddar cheese

Salt and Pepper for seasoning

6 x sheets of Puff Pastry

Heat a small splash of oil in frying pan, add garlic and stir for 1 minute. Add spinach and cook until spinach has wilted. Remove from heat, once cooled add ricotta, cheese, egg and salt and pepper.

Cut circles of pastry using a wine glass, place in muffin tray stretching the pastry as much as possible. Repeat until the trays are filled, prick the bottom of the pastry with many fork pricks so the pastry does not puff too much. Place baking beads or rice in each case, and blind bake in the oven a 180 'C for 10 minutes. Remove beads and fill pastry with the mixture then bake in the oven till they are golden in colour.

Stay tuned for some more delicious finger food to come!

I would love to hear your comments and suggestion,

enjoy! Y x

YO-YO Biscuits with Lemon Cream Filling

Cooper and I made some delicious Yo-Yo biscuits for an afternoon play-date. I used Donna Hays recipe which really easy to make. l don't make these often due to the high fat content but they were a special request, and l can never say no!

The recipe says it makes 18 complete biscuits but l always seem to only get 15.

Yo-Yo Biscuits by Donna Hay

175g butter, softened

30g icing sugar

1 tsp vanilla essence

135g plain Flour, sifted

25g corn-flour, sifted

Filling

60g butter, softened

2 tsp lemon juice

2 tsp lemon zest

1 cup icing sugar

Pre-Heat oven to 180 'C

Place butter, icing sugar and vanilla in a bowl with electric beaters until light and fluffy

Fold in the flour and corn-flour until combined

Place the mixture into a piping bag fitted with a star shaped nozzle

Pipe 1.5 cm round drops onto a lined baking tray

Bake for 12-14 minutes or until golden

For the filling cream the butter an sugar together, add the juice and zest. When biscuits are cool sandwich them together with the icing.

Enjoy!

Y x

Bite Size Carrot Spice Cakes with Cream Cheese Icing

The community centre where my son's attend are having a cake stall to raise money to update their Gymnastics Room, they asked all the parents to bring something along for them to sell. So l decided to make some delicious Carrot Spice Bite Size Cakes with Lemon Cream Cheese Icing. I adapted this recipe from Martha Stewart's, for this recipe l added some Crushed Pineapple, a Handful of sultanas and omitted the Walnuts and Coconut. I also used brown sugar instead of granulated sugar, also l used a 1/4 tsp of the following spice's freshly grounded nutmeg and cinnamon as well as some ground ginger instead of the Allspice. I found by using these spice's it gave them a bit more of a kick!

I decorated the Cakes with Lemon Cream Cheese and mini royal icing carrots.

The Cakes were a hit, and they had one lady buy 20 of them!

Enjoy!

Yx

The big 3-0 is fast approaching.... oh and some Tea Cake Cup Cakes

Well l have 6 days more days of being in my 20's eeek.... It feels like it has taken ages for me to turn 30 I think my husband is more depressed about me turning 30 then l am, as he can no longer say that his wife is in her 20's.

Mum has been pestering me for ages about what l would like for my birthday, I'm hopeless with giving suggestions so Mum and l decided to spend the day shopping at Chadstone to see if we could find anything.

We found the birthday present, but l will let you know what that is when it's actually my birthday! But l can tell you about the great shop that l found called Wheel&Barrow . It has all types of kitchen products from KitchenAids, Megamixs, baking products, crockery the list goes on and on. I made a small purchase of some large white Coffee Mugs, some black and white stripe Cup Cake Cases and lastly a meat thermometer for the beautiful roast pork l had just bought.

On another note my husband was meant to play in his first golf competition today, so whilst anxiously awaiting his return the boys and l thought we would make his favorite teacake in cupcake form of course.

Tea Cake Cup Cakes

125g unsalted butter

3/4 Caster Sugar

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups self raising flour

1 tsp of Vanilla Essence

1/2 Cup Milk

Cream butter, essence and sugar in small bowl with electric mixer until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time, beat until combined. Stir in half the sifted flour and half the milk, then stir in remaining flour and milk. Pour mixture into 12 patty pans (in a 12-hole muffin tray.)

Bake for 15 minutes in a moderate oven 190-200

For the Cinnamon Sugar Topping, melt some butter and then brush onto the top of the cupcakes and then sprinkle with Cinnamon Sugar.

Enjoy!

Yx

Cake Decorating and Chocolate Eclairs....

Well l finally did it, I've taken the plunge and booked myself into a cake decorating class (almost sounded like l was checking into rehab!) I've been wanting to do this for ages, but with a husband that is always travelling it has never been the right time.

I will be doing the course at a cute little cake shop called Merryday, the course will run for six weeks. We will learn how to ganache, roll fondant, stack a cake, make bows and other decorations using fondant, I can't wait!

So on my high l decided to make some Chocolate Eclairs to take to a friends. I usually make them using a recipe from "the essential baking cookbook", but since they recently made them on Master Chef l thought l would give theirs a try. They did not turn out as nice as my usual ones, but that could be because l was tight on time and the kids were trying to chase me around the kitchen.

I will give you both recipes so you can decide for yourself!

Master Chef's Recipe

The Essential Baking Cookbook

125g unsalted butter

1 Cup plain flour sifted

4 Eggs, lightly beaten

300 ml cream whipped

1 tsp Vanilla Essence

2 tblsp icing sugar

150g dark chocolate chop

Pre-heat oven to 210'c

line 2 trays with baking paper

Melt butter and 1 cup of water over low heat, stir occasionally.

Add flour and stir continuously until mixture leaves the side of the pan.

Remove from heat and let it cool, stir it occasionally to let some of the heat escape

Once the mixture is cooled slightly, add 3 tblsp of egg and beat well after each addition until all the egg has been added and is slightly glossy. A wooden spoon should stand upright in the mixture.

Place mixture into a piping bag with a 1.5 cm regular nozzle. Pipe 10 cm lengths leaving room for expansion. Bake for 10-15 mins and then reduce heat to 180'c and bake for a 15 minutes until they have browned.

Whilst cooking whip the cream adding the icing sugar and essence.

Once cooled, cut in half and add cream.

Melt chocolate and spread on top.

Enjoy!

Yx

Iron Cupcake Bake Off

Today i've entered my first Cupcake competition, I don't have a hope in hell of winning but l thought l would give a try anyway. These are the instructions we were given-
"If there is one thing I love about summer, aside from the sun, the fresh air and the outdoor parties, it is the delicious BLACKBERRIES, BLUEBERRIES, STRAWBERRIES, AND RASPBERRIES. Use any combination or focus on just one. It is your choice for our JUNE 2009 challenge - SUMMER BERRY CUPCAKES" and these are the prizes that we could win -

Our June ETSY PRIZE-PACK is from artists:
A sweet cupcake ID bracelet by INSANEJELLYFISH,
A groovy linocut piece from BLOCKHEAD PRESS
a sweet surprise from Sweet Cuppin' Cakes Cupcakery,
PLUS, IronCupcake:Earth can not forget our good friend, CAKESPY, who is now going to be doing a piece for our winner each month until further notice - sweet!
Last and certainly not least, don’t forget our corporate prize providers: HEAD CHEFS by FIESTA PRODUCTS, HELLO CUPCAKE by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson, JESSIE STEELE APRONS; TASTE OF HOME books; a t-shirt from UPWITHCUPCAKES.COM. Iron Cupcake:Earth is sponsored in part by 1-800-Flowers .

As we are in winter, a lot of the fruits that l would normally use are not in season. So l decided to make a "Strawberries and Cream" Vanilla Bean Cupcake that has a layer of Strawberries that have been soaked in Champagne, the topping is a vanilla bean cream with fresh strawberries and shaved chocolate.

I shall keep you posted with how l go!

Enjoy!
Yx

Vanilla Bean Cupcakes
125g Butter, softened
3 Eggs
1 1/2 Cups plain flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
2/3 Cup Caster Sugar
1/4 Cup Milk
1/2 Vanilla Bean Pod
1 Punnet of Strawberries
1/2 Cup of Champange

Vanilla Bean Cream
1 Cup of Whipping Cream
2 Tablespoons of icing Sugar
1/2 Vanilla Pod

Thinly slice approximatley 6 Strawberries, once cut soak the strawberries in the Champagne.

Place butter, sugar, flour, baking powder, vanilla bean and milk into a mixing bowl and mix for 4 minutes until the mixture is fluffy and pale in colour.

Place a large tablespoon of mixture into the cupcake case, then place a layer of the thinly sliced strawberries, then cover with another large tablespoon of mixture.

Place in the oven and bake for 20 minutes.

For the Vanilla Bean Cream

Scrape the seeds from the remaining Vanilla Pod and place in the cream, along with the icicing sugar.
Mix until cream has stiffened.

When cakes have cooled, pipe the cream onto the top and decorate with a fresh strawberry and some shaved chocolate.

Baking Addict is looking for a new name....

I need your help! the name Baking Addict has never really sat well with me, but at the time it was the only one l could come up with. Baking Addict was just going to be a temporarily name until l could up with a new whiz bang one. As you can see my creativity has been stumped!

So I would really love to hear some suggestions from my readers, and if your name is chosen you will be the winner of a copy of Jane Lawson's Recipe Book "mum's dinners" . Mum's Dinners is a mini recipe book containing some of Jane Lawson's personal recipes including full-of-flavor roasts, pies, stews and barbecued dishes.

So if you would like to offer some suggestions and be in the chance to win a copy of "mum's dinners" you can do so by emailing me at yvettehooley at gmail dot com , please replace the at and dot with @ and .

Can't wait to hear your suggestions!
Yx

Oodles of Noodles

Well what can l say, I've hit the jackpot! I've finally made the perfect Chicken Noodle Soup, the taste was very similar to Chicken and Sweet corn but with out the heaviness and of course with the noodles.

My son's aka (the apprentices) Cooper and Hamish thoroughly enjoyed it and even asked for seconds for the first time ever. Cooper has become quite a fussy eater ever since he started daycare. He's lucky enough to have an amazing chef Helen, who cooks all their lunches. Which is a good thing for him but not such a good thing for me, every time i've cooked something that Helen has made all l hear from Cooper is "Mum, this is not as nice as Helen's" aarrghh. So from the moment l heard "Mum may be you should give this recipe to Helen" l knew this soup was a winner.

Chicken Noodle Soup

1.6kg whole chicken
4 litres water (16 cups) with 3 chicken stock cubes
1 medium onion chopped coarsely
2 medium celery sticks chopped coarsely
2 medium carrots chopped coarsely
2 garlic cloves crushed
2 bay leaves
a handful of pepper corns
1 can of Corn Kernels
150g tagliatelle
4 tablespoons of Soy Sauce
Salt and Pepper to taste

Combine Chicken with, water, stock, onion, celery, carrot, garlic, peppercorns and bay leaves in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 1 1/2 hours. It's a good idea to skim the fat occasionally from the top. Place a muslin cloth over a strainer strain the chicken and veggies into a large bowl. Reserve the chicken, broth and veggies, remove the bay leaves. When chicken has cooled remove the skin and discard any bones, tear chicken coarsely .

Return ingredients to pan, bring to a boil, season accordingly and add corn, soy sauce and pasta. Cook for a further 10 minutes or until pasta is cooked.

I also made some more of the Dinners rolls, they turned out a lot better this time now that my oven is repaired. They were a perfect addiction to the soup!

I would love to hear your comments and suggestions, enjoy!

Y x

Nigella's Norwegian Cinnamon Buns

What a fantastic, easy and fun recipe to make! My sons and l had so much fun making and (eating) these delicious buns. My new found love is kneading dough, l find it so therapeutic even though I have a kitchen aid l get such great pleasure out of kneading and even the kids running a muck, doesn't seem to bother me while lm kneading away.
Notes:
There are a couple of things that l think l might change for next time - I will lower the heat and/or cooking time as they browned a bit too much for my liking and maybe add some sultanas.
I also needed to add about 1/2 cup of extra flour as l found the dough a bit to sticky.

For the dough:
600 g flour
100 g sugar ( I used caster sugar as that is all l had)
½ tsp salt
21 g easy blend yeast or 45 g fresh yeast
100 g butter
400 ml milk
2 eggs

For the filling:
150 g soft, unsalted butter
150 g sugar
1 ½ tsp cinnamon
1 egg, beaten, to glaze

Roasting tin approximately 33cm x 22cm or large brownie tin, lined with baking parchment bottom and sides

Preheat the oven to 230°C/ gas mark 8. (next time l think l am going to try and lower the heat to about 220' as they browned a bit too much for my liking)
Combine the flour, sugar, salt, and yeast in a large bowl. Melt the butter and whisk it into milk and eggs, then stir it into the flour mixture. Mix to combine and then knead the dough either by hand or using the dough hook of a food mixer until its smooth and springy. On this 1st trial, I used 60-65g eggs). Form into a ball, place in an oiled bowl, cover with clingfilm and leave it to rise for about 25 minutes.
Take one-third of the dough and roll it or stretch it to fit your tin; this will form the bottom of each bun when it has cooked. Roll out the rest of the dough on a lightly floured surface, aiming to get a rectangle of roughly 50x25cm. Mix the filling ingredients in a small bowl and then spread the rectangle with the buttery cinnamon texture. Try to get even coverage on the whole of the dough.
Roll it up from the longest side until you have a giant sausage. Cut the roll into 2 cm slices which should make about 20 rounds. Sit in rounds in lines of top of the dough in the tin, swirly cut-side up. Don’t worry if they don’t fit snugly together as they will swell and become puffy when they prove. Brush them with egg and let them rise again for about 15 minutes to let them get duly puffy.
Put in the hot oven and cook for 20-25 minutes, by which time the buns will have risen and will be golden brown in colour. Don’t worry it they catch in places. Remove them from the tin and leave to cool slightly on a rack-it’s easy just to pick up the whole sheet of parchment and transfer them like that-before letting people tear them off, to eat warm.

Makes 20

I would love the hear your comments and suggestions!

Y x

Liv's Roast Chicken with a Lemon Cream Gravy

Recently my husband and l (kids included) spent three months in London, we are lucky enough to have some really lovely friends living there. And they were kind enough to invite us over to experience some of there home cooking, all the meals we had were very simple (in a good way), comforting and delicious. I have been trying to recreate the meals since l have returned. Tonight l thought l would try Liv's Roast Chicken, my husband and l fell in love with this as soon as we tried it.

Stuff Chicken with Lemon Halves approx 3 halves (squeeze the juice of one lemon and keep aside)
Rub chicken with butter and season with some salt and pepper
Cover the chicken with Streaky bacon, if there is any bacon left over roll up and place in the tray.
Bake for 25-30 mins per 500gms at 180'C
Remove the bacon from the top of the chicken 3/4's of the way through and place in the tray.

Once Chicken is cooked skim and discard the oil from the pan juices, add some lemon juice (how much will depend on your liking) and philly cream cheese. I usually only use half a small tub for the 4 of us, stir all ingredients together until it becomes a gravy. You can add some water if you like a thinner gravy.

This chicken is delicous served with roasted vegetables or with steamed rice and vegetables. I will post some more photos once the chicken is cooked.

Enjoy!

Y x

Nigella's Mini Lime Syrup Sponge Cakes

We were off on Saturday to visit some lovely friends in Red Hill, so I decided l would bring along some cakes. I had some beautiful limes that we got last weekend at the market so after searching through my recipe books l came across this recipe for mini lime syrup sponge cakes. The kids and l decided to make them together, my sons have a weird love of anything lemon or lime so much so that they will eat them like oranges.
The cakes were delicious, l think they're better served warm but don't get me wrong they were still delicious cold. As you can see from the photo they sunk in the middle a little, this was due to overfilling the cases and having a broken seal on the oven (I hope!).

Ingredients
125g unsalted butter, softened
175g caster sugar
2 large eggs, lightly beaten together
Zest of 1 lime
175g self-raising flour
Pinch of salt
4 tbsp milk
Syrup
4 tbsp lime juice
Zest for 1 lime
100g icing sugar
1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C, and butter a mini loaf tin ( I used a friand tin with cake liners so the wouldn't stick) and lightly dust with flour and set aside.
2. Cream together the butter and sugar, then slowly add the eggs and lime zest, beating well after each addition.
3. Fold in the flour and salt, then the milk, then spoon into the loaf tins and bake for 20-25 minutes or till a skewer inserted into the middle comes out with a few moist crumbs stuck. Once baked, remove from the oven, set onto a cooling tray and prick all over with a toothpick/skewer.
4. When the cakes have left the oven, prepare the syrup by putting the lime juice and sugar into a small saucepan and heat gently till the sugar has completely dissolved.
5. Carefully place the lime zest on each of the cakes just before serving

The birthday season begins...

Well it's the beginning of the birthday season, and to kick it off It was my nephew's 9th birthday on Saturday, and he loves football! Or you could just say he lives for football, as l'm the one that makes all the family cakes he requested a football themed cake. I knew one of his presents was going to be a football jumper, so l thought l would make him a cake in the shape of a Richmond Football Jumper. I used the Vanilla Bean Recipe from one of my earlier posts with a buttercream icing. The cake was a bit touch and go because the seal on my belovered oven had broken earlier that day, the cake just made it through (just) luckily it just needed some extra cooking time.

He was thrilled with the cake and all his Richmond themed presents!


Y x

Strawberry Jam Part 2

Well what can l say, this is the most incredible Strawberry Jam and well worth the time it takes to make. The taste was pure Strawberry and absolutely fabulous. I have always assumed that making Jam was rather complicated, but this recipe is very easy! My son enjoyed himself thoroughly and gobbled up two sandwiches greedily as soon as the jam had cooled.

I can't wait till our Apricot tree is filled!

Enjoy x

Strawberry Jam

My son Cooper has been asking to make Strawberry Jam for soooooooo long now, so today he made me promise him that we would make it today. So that was it, l had made a promise to a four year old there was no backing out now!

Whilst trying to find a recipe l couldn't believe how much sugar some of the recipes called for, there was no way l was going to use 5 cups of sugar to 1 kg of strawberries. So after a little more hunting l found a recipe that only needed 1 1/2 Cups, even then l only put 1 cup in.

The recipe is a long process, but so it seems to be worth it. I am only up to Stage 2 so l'll let you know how l go tomorrow, but so far it smells and looks delicious!

Yx

Dinner Rolls

I've been meaning to use the Dough Hook on my Kitchen Aid for some time, so with the perfect weather i.e freezing cold rainy day. I thought l would try making some bread rolls, I've never made bread before so l was a little apprehensive. 

I found a recipe in Woman's Weekly, it was easy to follow and l found kneading the dough really therapeutic.

The rolls were crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. I was really surprised how well they turned out, l will be definitely making them again!

Enjoy

Y x

Vanilla Bean Cake

Well it was Will's birthday today, so as well as the Lemon Cupcakes l made a Vanilla Bean Cake which was beautifully light and extremely fluffy. I got the recipe from another blog

thekitchensinkrecipes.com

I adapted it slighty by making one large cake, and also by leaving the cake whole. I also used a vanilla buttercream icing instead of the chocolate.

Vanilla Bean Cake

1 cup buttermilk
1⁄2 cup whole milk
9 large egg whites, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 vanilla bean, scraped
4 1⁄2 cups cake flour (not self-rising)
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 sticks butter, room temperature
1 1⁄2 teaspoons salt
2 1⁄4 cups sugar

Preheat oven to 350.

Butter and flour two 9- inch round cake pans, tapping out excess flour; set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine the buttermilk, milk, egg whites, and vanilla extract and beans; set aside. In another bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.

In an electric mixer, beat the butter until fluffy. Add the sugar and beat until combined, about 2 minutes.

Working in several batches, alternately add the flour mixture and milk mixture, ending with milk mixture. Beat after each addition until the mixture is just combined.

Place mixture in tin and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until the cake is beginning to brown around the edges and a tester comes out clean.

Let cake cool in pan on a rack for about 5 minutes. Remove the cake from their pan and allow to cool completely.

If the cake is domed, slice off the domed portion to create a flat cake. 

For the icing l just made a large batch of my regular butter icing

125g butter

2 cups of icing sugar

1/4 tsp vanilla bean 

mix all ingredients until light and fluffy.

Enjoy!

Yx 

A love affair with lemon

My husband and l have a deep love for all things lemon, so after watching Master Chef my husband requested the most tartest lemon cupcake l could make for his birthday.

The cakes were lovely but could of taken a lot more lemon, l'm not sure if it is because l don't have a proper lemon zester. I think l will have to invest in one and see if it makes a difference.

Prep Time 20 mins

Cooking Time 20 mins

Makes 12

Pre-Heat oven to moderate 180'C 

Lemon Cupcakes

120g unsalted butter, softened

2/3 cup caster sugar

1 1/2 cups self-raising flour

1/2 cup milk

2 tsp vanilla essence

2 eggs

rind of 4 lemons

1/4 cup lemon juice

icing

125g butter, softened and cubed

2 cups icing sugar

lemon juice to taste, I used 1/2 cup

mix all ingredients until 

light and fluffy

Orange Butter Cupakes

As l have become slightly obsessive with baking, l decided l needed a break from the kitchen. I had been doing really well all day, but alas with the kids in bed, my husband working and nothing on TV the kitchen was calling my name.

I had some oranges that needed to be used so l decided to make some Orange Butter Cupcakes with Orange Cream Cheese Icing.

90g Butter, softened

90g Cream Cheese, softened

2 teaspoons finely grated orange rind

2/3 cup (150g) Caster Sugar

2 Eggs

1/3 cup (50g) self-raising flour

1/2 cup (75g) plain flour

Pre-Heat Oven to moderate (180'C /160'C fan-forced). Line 12 standard muffin pan with paper cases. 

Beat butter, cheese, rind, sugar and eggs in small bowl with electric beaters until light and fluffy.

Beat in flours on low speed until just combined.

Divide mixture among cases and smooth surface.

Bake for 20 mins and cool on wire rack.

Cream Cheese Frosting

60g butter, softened

160g cream cheese softened

2 tbls orange juice

2 Cups icing sugar

Enjoy! 

Y x

Nanna's Famous Coffee Sponge Cake

I read on another blog by NQN, that she is looking to gather some secret Nanna Recipes. I thought about it for bit and then the first one that sprang to mind was Nanna's famous Coffee Sponge, this was a cake the she rarely made for the grandchildren but rather for her daughters to which in turn my mum would make for us. I only made this for the first time on Mother's Day for my mum, as my grandmother had passed away four years ago l thought it would be a nice way for mum to celebrate mothers day for Nanna. 

I received a copy of the recipe from my mum for my hen's day four years ago, I have always been very weary of making a sponge as my first attempt was a flop. But with my Kitchen Aid and my new whiz bang oven l was bound to succeed!. 

The cake was delicious, mum was thrilled!

Nanna's Coffee Sponge

4 Eggs Seperated

3/4 Cup Castor Sugar

3/4 Cup Self Raising Flour

2 TBLSP Corn Flour

1 TSP Butter

1 TBLSP Golden Syrup

1 TSP Coffee

1 Drop of Vanilla Essence

Beat Egg whites till stiff

Gradually add Sugar

Mix in Egg Yolks

Fold in Sifted Flours 

Melt Butter, Syrup, Coffee and Vanilla .

Gently drizzle Coffee mixture down the side of the mixture and fold together.

Divide mixture evenly into 2 lined pans.

Bake for 15 minutes (time may vary depending on oven) at 200 degrees

Yx

Bill Ganger's Choc Banana Bread

I haven't made this cake for a while, but you could say it is always on my mind. It is by far one of my favorite recipes, the cake is simply delicious and is best when served warm. But be aware it is very morish and gobbled up very quickly, and anyone that has tasted it has always loved it. So l thought l should share  it with everyone.

• 250g all-purpose flour 
  
• 2 teaspoons baking powder 
  
• 125g unsalted butter, softened 
  
• 250g sugar 
  
• 4 ripe bananas, mashed 
  
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten 
  
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 
  
• 175g good-quality dark or milk chocolate chips – I used the large chocolate chips if that is what you call them
  
• Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Grease and flour a 19x11cm loaf pan. 
  

Sift the flour and baking powder into a large bowl.Mix the butter, sugar, banana, eggs, vanilla extract and chocolate chips in a separate bowl. Add to the dry ingredients and stir to combine, being careful not to over-mix. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 1 hour 15 minutes, or until the bread is cooked when tested with a skewer.Leave to cool in the pan for 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool. 

Serve in thick slices with dusted with icing sugar. 

Y x

Jam Donut Cupcakes

Well l was faced with a serious dilemma today, and for an avid baker it was sacrilege, I only had 50g of butter left in the fridge! I had only just been to the Supermarket, how could l forget to stock up?. So off l went and scrolled through hundreds of recipes to find something suitable to make. 

I came across this recipe for Jam Donut Cupcakes on www.notquitenigella.com.au , the recipe was easy to follow, looked really effective, required no butter and as mentioned by NQN they brought back many childhood memories. 

Makes 6 Muffins

Ingredients

300g (2 cups) self-raising flour

• 2/3 cup caster sugar, plus 1/2 cup extra to coat
• 80ml (1/3 cup) vegetable oil
• 1 large egg
• 175ml buttermilk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 tsp good-quality strawberry jam
• 100g unsalted butter
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180°C and grease a 6-hole muffin pan.
2. Sift the flour into a medium bowl, then add a pinch of salt and the caster sugar. In a jug, combine the vegetable oil, egg, buttermilk and vanilla extract. Add to the dry mixture and stir to only just combine. Place a spoonful of the mixture in each muffin hole and make an indent in the centre. Fill each indent with a generous 1/2 teaspoon of strawberry jam. Cover the jam with the remaining muffin mixture and bake for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool slightly.
3. Meanwhile, melt the butter. Combine the extra sugar and the cinnamon in a large bowl. When the muffins are cool enough to handle, brush each muffin with the melted butter, then roll in the cinnamon sugar. Serve while still a little warm.
4. The cakes were delicious and very addictive!

Y x

Creamy Pesto Pasta with Bacon and Mushrooms

I thought this was going to be a blog about just baking, but l thought why not do dinners as well! Tonight's dinner was a quick and simple but yet very tasty, I suppose you could call it a Creamy Pesto Pasta with Bacon, Mushrooms. 

There is no exact recipe l follow as it is usually a bit of this and a bit of that. Tonight l added some onion, mushrooms, bacon, broccolini, lemon, white wine,  pesto and Cream.

Fry the bacon, onion and mushrooms together until the bacon and onion are cooked. Add the broccolini, I generally just cut the top leaf bits off. Add a splash of white wine and lemon juice, then after a couple of minutes add a small container of cream and 3 tablespoon of Pesto. Stir through the cooked pasta and serve. 

I usually make this dinner when l arrive home late and the boys are hungary. I will always have these ingredients in the fridge, and has saved me many a times.

Y x

Lemon Cream Cheesecake Cupcakes

I made these delightful Lemon Cream Cheesecake Cupcakes for my husband who just loves Cheesecake, I was going to make a proper Cheesecake but due to lack of time and not having all of the ingredients I thought l would give these a whirl and also the fact l got to use my new cupcake covers and sprinkle hearts. The cakes were a great success and were gobbled up greedily!. 

I will post the recipe tomorrow as l am struggling getting off the couch after Bootcamp Class.

Y x

Cherry Ripe Cup Cakes

Well another day another Cupcake baked!

I have steered 

away from the 

Woman's Weekly 

Cupcake Book today and decided to make my mum some Cherry Ripe Mud Cakes as Cherry Ripe's are one of her favorites. The recipe was easy to follow and simple to make, I added double the amount of Cherry Ripe.

Cherry Ripe Mud Cakes 

Ingredients

• 125g butter, chopped
• 1 tablespoon instant coffee powder
• 3/4 cup water
• 200g dark chocolate, chopped
• 1 cup caster sugar
• 3/4 cup plain flour
• 1/2 cup self-raising flour
• 1 egg, whisked
• 1/4 cup desiccated coconut
• 2 x 85g Cherry Ripe bar, chopped roughly

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease and line base of 9 x 1/2 cup capacity oval friand pan with non-stick baking paper.
2. Place butter, coffee, water, chocolate and sugar in medium saucepan. Heat over medium heat, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Stand for 10 minutes.
3. Stir flours, egg, coconut and Cherry Ripe into chocolate mixture and mix well. Divide evenly between prepared pans. Bake for 30 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean. Stand 5 minutes before turning onto wire rack to cool. Dust with icing sugar or cocoa powder before serving, if desired.
4. Will let you know what why mum thought!

Y xx