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.
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…
Butter cookies
Yum! Butter cookies! These are absolutely one of my favourites at Christmas time, and are perfect with either a tall glass of milk (because it is summer in Australia at Christmas time), or a delicious mug of hot chocolate… or spiked egg-nog! They are equally delicious the rest of the year as well, and a good recipe for kids too. Ingredients…
Vegan shortbread
Christmas is a mere 21 days away (cue panic)! I make shortbread and gift it around to colleagues, friends and family as a) it’s super simple, and b) everyone seems to like it! But alas, traditional shortbread is not vegan friendly, and I have vegan friends and colleagues. So, this is the recipe that I amended for them! Ingredients 2…
Mint chocolate cheesecake
So, earlier this week I posted my recipe for White chocolate cheesecake. As part of this I mentioned that I use this as a base recipe to do variations – which is absolutely correct. Some of the variations include: Tim Tam dark chocolate caramel salted caramel, and cookies and cream. This version is Mint chocolate one. Essentially the recipe is…
Banana bread with cream cheese swirl
So, I know I warned you that I make a lot of cheesecake – and this (technically) isn’t cheesecake, but it might as well be. It’s the most delicious combination of cheesecake with banana bread (or cake – whatever you want to call it). Ingredients Banana bread/cake: 125g butter (melted) 1 cup plain flour 1 tsp baking soda 1/4 tsp salt 3/4…
Rocky Road
I can’t eat whole nuts, so I generally just don’t eat nuts at all because there’s a fine line between what I can eat and what will make me sick (I’m not anaphylactic, but it’s not pleasant). What I can get away with (luckily) is eating foods that may contain traces of nuts. However, I know that this is not the…
White chocolate cheesecake
So this is what I use as my base (not baked) chocolate cheesecake recipe. It has a simple flavour and it is easily adjustable to make several variants, which I am sure you will see a few of in later blog posts. Ingredients Base: 250g plain chocolate cookies (I use Arnott’s chocolate ripple) 100g melted butter Cheesecake filling: 375g cream…
Baked Chai Cheesecake
So I have this policy at work where I tell my team mates that they can pick any type of cake they want for their birthday and I will make it. It’s never actually backfired yet, but there have been a few times where I think they just like to test me. Case in point – E asked me if…
Cheesy Chicken Macaroni
So, I have this amazing recipe for a simple chicken pasta, that’s a bit like macaroni cheese (the Aussie version – I have not tried the US version). I was gifted it by a friend, and up to this point, I still have it as a photo of a handwritten recipe, which is what I use to cook it (when…
Nan’s Rock Cakes
My Nan taught me to bake when I was a child, and her rock cakes remain one of my favourite family recipes. Soft, lightly spiced and packed with dried fruit, these are everything a good rock cake should be.
Mini Baked Lemon Blueberry Cheesecakes
I love cheesecake. There’s likely going to be a lot of cheesecake recipes on here. I’m just preparing you now. I found a recipe online for lemon blueberry cheesecake, but when I made it, the whole thing just fell apart. It was a disaster. And that was the last time I actually followed a recipe instead of making my own.…
