The toasted walnut crunch combined with soft little sweet berries is a delicious, if unusual combination in this loaf cake. It tastes fantastic toasted under the grill and served with butter (but doesn’t everything really?) and it has a lovely soft texture.
I toasted the walnuts after tossing them through a little maple syrup for some added crunch and sweetness, but it would be just as delicious with plain toasted walnuts or even pecans or whole almonds.
For most of us, International Women’s Day is a day to celebrate the achievements of women everywhere, past and present.
I feel blessed in Australia because I live in a country with wonderful people, social welfare, health care and education, healthy fresh food, security, a roof over my head as well as a lot of lifestyle and career choices offered to me. I wish all countries were so lucky.
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Of course, we in Australia have a way to go in some areas such as diversity in certain occupations. As an example, we still have to convince some people that women can be front-line soldiers and that it needn’t necessarily be an all male domain (not all men can be soldiers after all! It takes a certain kind of person). Women are already working on the front-line in other parts of the world and for a long time have been wartime medical personnel and killed or injured in action.
I’d like to celebrate the beautiful diversity of women from all over the world today. So buy your favourite girl a bunch of flowers or give her a hug and kiss for International Women’s Day because we’re all in this together!
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The very best, most favourite present I ever received was for Christmas when I was around 11 years old, and my parents gave me a gold 12 speed bicycle (gold. I was heaps cool), after what seemed like years of begging (to my 11 year old self anyway, it was probably 6 months). I loved that bike! I was on it, literally every single day, visiting friends, riding to the shops, to and from school … to be perfectly honest, as excited as I was when I first started driving a car, nothing compared to that feeling of becoming mobile and independent on my first bike.
I don’t ride in Brisbane, I hate the traffic and the current war between bike riders and drivers (what the hell? Just be considerate of each other, is it that hard?) and besides, I’m only really used to riding in the country and the beach. The minute I move to my sea change city though, I’ll be picking up a bike for sure.
Oh and happy Friday!
From Reidcycles via Daydream Lily, I spotted these vintage girl’s bikes – aren’t they grand?
And from Papillionaire
I’m way too old for this but still love this cute bike (and the name) from Bicycle Store
And this uber cool bike from Melbourne Bicycles
I love this awesome Downton Abbey season 3 montage I spotted (MASSIVE spoilers so don’t click if you haven’t seen it yet).
And regarding events in season 3 – why. WHY?!!
Image/GIF via: BuzzFeed (SPOILER)
Erin from Keep Left very kindly contacted me recently to ask if I might like to participate in Bakers Delight’s current campaign to develop a lunch recipe using my choice of their lovely, freshly made bread. My immediate thought was the ciabatta because I love it, however I also really wanted to make something healthy and fresh, using some late summer produce, so I thought of panzanella, the traditional Italian tomato bread salad.
This is my version of panzanella and while I can’t say it’s at all traditional, I love this salad because it encompasses my favourites things in cooking with simple, Italian inspired, healthy, seasonal ingredients and showcases two of my favourite foods, ciabatta bread and fresh heirloom cherry tomatoes. I’ve never met anybody who doesn’t love tomatoes and bread in some way or another so this dish is fabulous for having people over. You only have to do a bit of chopping and such, and the oven is on for a minimal amount of time (so perfect for warmer weather!).
And don’t you love Italian food? It’s always been one of my favourite cuisines from a young age because traditional Italian food always tastes wonderful with just a few ingredients. Italian cuisine never goes out of style and everyone from kids to adults will happily sit down at a big, bustling table to tuck into rustic, healthy and simple meals.
As an alternative for this salad, and with just a bit more work, I also roasted some extra cherry tomatoes, red onion and capsicum for extra candy sweetness and added some avocado because, well you know, it’s avocado. I’m actually really guilty of adding it to just about anything.
I have to say Bakers Delight’s ciabatta bread is fantastic; really tasty with an amazing chewy crust, springy soft crumb and to be perfectly honest, is wonderful simply with chunks torn off, dipped in good Italian extra virgin olive oil or slathered with soft unsalted butter as a simple snack or starter with a glass of wine.
In this recipe, the ciabatta is perfect. The bread crisps up beautiful with a drizzle of oil and Parmesan grated over the top, diced and tossed through late summer juicy tomatoes, fragrant herbs, sweet red onion and capsicum, creamy avocado, a spicy, sweet dressing and salty olives. Left to sit for a while in the salad, the bread becomes lovely and squishy and full of flavour from the salad.
Thanks so much Erin and Bakers Delight!
All opinions stated here are my own, I wasn’t paid to trial or review any products and I wasn’t under any obligation to write a positive review. Thank you to Bakers Delight for their generosity in offering me their delicious bread to trial and review.
I love fig season! It’s so short but they’re such a luxurious treat at a time when most fruit and vegies are available year round. It’s worth hunting them down and I always use them as an opportunity to whip up some lovely treats. And while figs are pretty special raw, caramelised down slowly, they become soft and velvety and taste even more wonderful.
This heart healthy, rustically pretty vanilla cake with a honey glaze and gorgeously caramelised fig and nut topping might look difficult to make but isn’t at all. It’s loveliest at the time it’s made, sweet and warm, however I kept some in the fridge overnight, reheated it in the microwave (I finally caved and bought one) and it was pretty damn good for breakfast the next day.
I’ve tried to keep the sugar down as much as possible given I’ve tagged this a healthy cake, however feel free to use a bit less if you have any concerns. Me, I can cut down on saturated fat or sugar however both is a big challenge. And you can always have a smaller piece or have it for breakfast as I did.
Is anyone watching David Attenborough’s popular series Africa? I’ve just seen the first episode, Kalahari, but can hardly wait for the next – completely fascinating! Breathtakingly filmed with David’s warm yet dry humoured voice adding to the atmosphere and emotion of the show, sometimes making me chuckle.
I really recommend it if you haven’t had a chance to catch it yet.
Images from: TV series Africa, David Attenborough, UK, BBC1, 2013
Hee hee. I’ve always wanted to bake a giant cookie.
A few years ago, in lieu of a birthday cake for a good friend from uni, I purchased a giant chocolate chip cookie with Happy Birthday iced over the top. I remember sitting on the steps outside a bookstore in the city waiting to meet up with him holding the massive cookie, which was wrapped in clear wrapping so everyone walking by could see it. We both cracked up when I took it out of the box to show him, then we ate bits of it sitting on the steps, like Alice in Wonderland.
There’s just something unexpected and whimsical about one big cookie -v- a batch of smaller ones.
The cookie I made is adapted from 500 Recipes; a super easy, delicious tasting treat; chewy, fudgy cookie with luscious cream cheese icing and crunchy chocolate candy on top. The best thing about this is, you don’t really expect thick, luxurious icing on top of a cookie so there’s that lovely, surprising decadence of it – very rich and calorific though, this would easily serve 12.
So happy day for tomorrow lovely readers, whether you celebrate Valentines or not (I don’t particularly, I just use it as an excuse to make dessert and have a bit of fun).
Has anyone seen Flight yet? Fantastic movie! It’s not an action flick, more of a drama, however the exhilarating (and distressing) scenes at the start are really edge of your seat stuff and brilliantly executed. Denzel (who, as always, plays his role coolly and effortlessly) is a troubled pilot who successfully saves his plane from crashing, however has to deal with an investigation which ultimately forces him on a journey towards making a life changing decision.
The movie has sort of conflicting reviews; from excellent to, well, not so much. I’m not sure why except that maybe some people didn’t like the way the movie changed from action packed at the start to a drama for the rest of the movie … I was totally hooked the whole way though.
Memorable quote:
Harling Mays: I need that table cleaned off and put in front of him, a credit card, a hundred dollar bill and a glass of water.
Charlie Anderson: I got a twenty?
Harling Mays: That’ll do.
Images and movie stills from the movie Flight, 2012, USA, Paramount Pictures
This rich, creamy, no-bake tart was gorgeous on our very hot Christmas day however you do only need a small slice (I’m really not being judgmental; you’ll think you want a big slice because it’s so sweetly creamy and comfortingly childlike yet darkly chocolate, get halfway through it, feel full yet keep scarfing it down then feel like you ate way too much and sort of regret it).
I prepared the filling and tart base the day before and piped the cream over right before I served it. It would be lovely with a handful of blueberries or raspberries scattered over but I didn’t have those.
I did however, spot some butterscotch flavoured dolloping cream when I did the Christmas shopping, which I piped over the top of the tart and it was so delicious I could have spooned it out of the tub on it’s own and eaten it. You could use plain cream and it would be just as lovely, I’ve just never tried butterscotch flavoured cream before and it was a bit of a novelty.
