Off the Shelf
We're going off the shelf and exploring the non-bookish side of things — baking, gaming, travel, and whatever else I’ve fallen down a rabbit hole with lately.
Honeymoon adventure – UK part 2
Day five started off later than the others, I think we’re finally getting over our jet lag. Karen and Chris’ hospitality at the Airbnb was spectacular, I wish I had taken a photo of the breakfast they had set up for us, it was like staying at a hotel! We got on the road and our first stop of the…
Honeymoon adventure – UK part 1
Every night when I go to sit down and write my blog posts I’m usually so exhausted that I have passed out by 8:00pm. It could also be the jet lag, or the fact that we have barely stopped since arriving in the country… Who knows these things? Upon leaving home, we realised that, in wanting to make the most…
Peanut butter chocolate chip cookies
So, I am a terribly unorganised blogger. I usually forget to take photos of baked goods for recipes, and when I do remember I’ve usually missed the natural goodness of daylight so they look terrible. Anyway, I’m pretty impressed with myself today as I absolutely remembered to take (lots) of pics while I was baking! So now you get to…
Cheesy bacon dip
Have you ever had a cheesy bacon dip that is in the middle of a big cob loaf? And you use the bread chunks that have been hollowed out to scoop the dip out? And you sit there eating it until you either make yourself sick or it’s all gone? No? I’ve never done that either… (do you believe me?)…
Baking fails!
So I spend some weekends baking up a storm, and then forget to take photos to add to the blog. So when I go to publish recipes that I have either created or amended from their original (it’s not often I will not play with a recipe when I bake) I have no photo. So, because of this I have…
Honey teriyaki chicken wings
As I may have mentioned, a friend of mine (that’s you Ben) has requested more savoury type dishes. He’s a savoury type of guy. And I’m pretty sure I’ve made these for him before. Now that we’ve moved from two floors up to about 800km away, I thought I might share this with him… and everyone else. Ingredients: 1.5 kg chicken…
Sweet potato fries with cinnamon chilli sauce
I don’t only do sweet baking – although I am far better at it than I am at savoury. But I’m forcing myself to step out of my comfort zone more often to pursue a more even keel with the recipes. You can thank Ben, a friend who has complained that he doesn’t want to bake cake, for the next…
Mixed berry cheesecake
Summer in Australia can be brutal – and as we move towards the end of the seemingly constant stream of 30°C plus days, I felt the need to indulge in a light, cool dessert. Lo and behold, the mixed berry cheesecake. Yum! Ingredients 250g plain biscuits (I use Arnott’s Butternut Snap, so an ‘oaty’ biscuit is great) 100g butter 250g…
Hummingbird cake
This cake is a favourite – it’s sweet and moist, but not over the top. It has that fulfilling ‘tea cake’ feel to it, which I think comes through with the cinnamon and fruit taste to it. And if you like Banana Bread, then you should absolutely love this too! Ingredients 1 cup plain flour 1/2 cup self raising flour…
Carrot cake
There is absolutely nothing better in autumn than home made carrot cake, made with the carrots you’ve pulled out of your garden. Autumn is the season I associate with apples, carrots, pumpkin and falling leaves – this is mostly because I always forget to plant my carrots until mid-end of spring! The cake itself is dairy-free and nut-free, but if…
Cream cheese frosting
There is NOTHING better than a super delicious frosting for a cake, and there isn’t a frosting much better than cream cheese frosting. I could be super biased, but I think this is best cream cheese frosting I’ve ever made. This frosting is best on citrus and berry based cakes, such as orange and poppyseed cake, carrot cake, or even…
Orange and Poppyseed Cake
There is nothing I like better than a tart citrus-based cake… Well, except a really good chocolate cake! But orange and poppyseed is definitely one of my favourites. Ingredients 50g butter 2 tbsp grated orange rind 1 cup caster sugar 1 eggs 1/4 cup orange juice 1 cup self-raising flour 2 tbsp poppyseeds 1/3 cup milk Method Preheat oven to 180°C…
Apple and cinnamon tea cake
My parents have a small hobby farm where we grew up. On the farm we had some cattle, horses, chicken and the occasional sheep that escaped from the neighbours. We also had an small orchard, as my mum is great with plants. There were peaches, plums, nectarines, apricots and apples. Every year when the summer was finishing up and the…
Chocolate Brownies
Brownies are one of those magical things that have migrated from the US, along with Coca-Cola, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and Hallowe’en. And the best brownies are slightly gooey in the middle… just like these ones! Ingredients 125g unsalted butter, melted 3 eggs 1.5 cups white sugar 3/4 cup plain flour 1/4 cup cocoa powder (Dutch cocoa powder is the…
Werribee Open Range Zoo
The last week I have had the delight of entertaining my cousin’s daughter while her mum is at work. When I lived closer I would take her for a day or two during her summer holidays so her mum didn’t eat up all of her leave or have to pay for babysitters. Now that we live ~8 hours by car…
Mullumbimby, NSW
I’ve been relatively quiet this week – I’ve been on holidays with family. I’ve used the time to catch up on some books, catch up with family, and just relax. Relaxing includes swimming in the ocean, getting a massage, shopping, drinking, napping, and of course, reading. Being an Aussie, there was some cricket involved as well. We’ve been staying in…
Cookies and Cream Cheesecake
One of my ‘go-to’ recipes is my cookies and cream cheesecake. It’s relatively simple and very delicious – a definite crowd pleaser. It is based on my white chocolate cheesecake recipe, but I make it as a larger slab type recipe for bigger groups. It has the potential to last up to a week in the refrigerator – but alas,…
Pavlova
It’s summer here in Australia at the moment, and the weather has been amazing over Christmas. The days have been clear and sunny, hot at around 30°C (which is about 86°F). I remember being a kid, helping my mum or my grandmother bake sweets in the summer. I particularly remember making the pavlova because my grandmother didn’t have an electric beater…
Lemon Lime Tart
My mother’s favourite dessert is a really tart citrus tart. Like, it has to really bite as you take a mouthful, and then once in your mouth it takes on this sweeter, smooth consistency. Ingredients Base: 1.5 cups plain flour 1/4 cup self raising flour pinch of salt 1/2 cup caster sugar 100g butter 1 egg Filling: 1/2 cup lemon…
Brandy Custard
My favourite side with plum pudding at Christmas time is Brandy Custard. Well, brandy custard and ice cream. I use a family recipe, and while it’s probably a little heavy on the brandy side, it is what I am used to (and besides, isn’t Christmas a perfect time for a little indulgence?). Ingredients 550g* of milk (full cream / full…
Chocolate salted-caramel tart
This is a complicated recipe – there are three parts to cooking it, BUT it is well worth it in the end. Chocolate shortcrust pastry base Ingredients 125g butter, cubed 1.25 cups plain flour 2 tbsp cocoa powder 2 tbsp caster sugar 1/4 tsp salt 2 tbsp iced water Method Add flour, cocoa powder, caster sugar and salt into bowl…
Vegan buttercream frosting
Now, it is a little known fact (which I like to tell people about) that Oreo cookies are vegan-friendly. I’m not sure if this is by design, or by accident, but it certainly make decorating (non-butter) buttercream frosting easier! You can chop Oreos in half and add them to the top of the cupcakes for that little bit of extra…
Vegan chocolate cupcakes
I love to experiment with baking. I have this great chocolate cake recipe (that I will likely NEVER publish the recipe for because it’s my signature cake), but I also acknowledge that people have dietary requirements – I am a primary example of that. So, I like to play around with recipes to make alternatives for others. This is my…
Jaffa cheesecake
So, as I mentioned in my recipe for White chocolate cheesecake, I use this as my base cheesecake recipe for heaps of different variations. This variation is for all the orange-chocolate lovers out there! There are two steps you need to add to the base recipe to transform it into choc-orange deliciousness. Steps for choc orange cheesecake goodness: At step 6, add…
