I don’t often use cake or bread mixes as I enjoy baking from scratch, however it’s nice and convenient to use them occasionally and they have come a long way in the past decade or so. I also appreciate that people don’t always have the time or inclination to bake from scratch; I’m definitely no domestic goddess, I[read more…]
Passionfruit and white chocolate is an enticing combination although I never thought of it until I had this very flavoured muffin in a cafe once years ago and it made perfect sense – even though I’m not the biggest fan of white chocolate. It often seems too cloyingly sweet to me but sometimes, roughly chopped bits of white[read more…]
Honestly, once you make this you’ll wonder why you don’t do it more often, it’s so easy. It’s also the fresh herbs and garlic. No matter how great a quick supermarket fix can be, there’s no replacement for fresh herbs. I really love the combination of spring onions, basil and continental parsley but you could use any you[read more…]
Ok. Eton mess in Autumn doesn’t sound a seasonal appropriate dessert but .. we live in Queensland, Australia and it’s warm still. British Eton mess is one of those luscious desserts which is so easy and is basically a messy pavlova all piled up in a bowl with whatever fruit you like, although traditionally, Summer strawberries[read more…]
There are so many bakeries selling delicious, healthy loaves; for example, the San Francisco sour dough bread I buy at our local bakery, and yet still I find the occasional bread making I do very satisfying and sort of old fashioned and traditional. I love the science of kneading the bread by hand and seeing it rise, watching it brown after being[read more…]
In saying goodbye to warmer weather, I made some berry bejeweled muffins made from ingredients I just had at home, which happen to be healthy and cute at the same time (also, we’re not quite ready for warm spicy treats yet, we still have our air con on currently). The muffin itself isn’t overly sweet however[read more…]
Friands are sweet, little, oval teatime cakes traditionally made with almond meal and egg whites. I don’t make them that often, not because they’re difficult, they’re not at all, but because they use egg whites which means you then have all these lovely egg yolks left over. So last weekend for afternoon tea I put together a[read more…]
No you aren’t dreaming or hallucinating. This really is a thing – a wonderfully inspired recipe I discovered recently by lovely Sydney blogger Katrina Meynink, (also freelance food writer and recipe developer and lots of other things). You could say I did a double-take. Cookie dough chocolate brownies – no way! As a long time brownie lover, I’m[read more…]
Cornbread is a lovely, rustic addition to soups or casseroles. I make mine with fresh corn when I can, which means I usually make it in summer. So although cornbread might go with more cooler weather dishes traditionally, I find it’s a delicious accompaniment with a chicken salad or summer tomato soup or even as a snack[read more…]
This lovely seasonal galette was made with December peaches and cherries baked on a rainy afternoon just before Christmas Day (I’m uncomfortably aware it’s way way too late in the year to still be talking about Christmas but completely forgot I hadn’t posted this yet and am madly going through summer recipes before we aren’t in it anymore). I mean[read more…]
It’s been raining heavily here for the past few days and doesn’t look like letting up any time soon. Rain’s lovely, for a night or so, drumming on the roof in that comforting way while I’m reading and listening to music, but goes on for too long and it makes everything a bit flat and gray. Anyway. I pulled my[read more…]
I’ve never appreciated the appeal of bread pudding – I always thought it would taste bland and I just couldn’t understand how bread belonged in a pudding. While shopping for Christmas I came across some brioche loaves which looked gorgeous and fluffy and sweet, thinking I would have some toasted with tea or something. But then for[read more…]
Baked cheesecake is one of two of my favourite desserts in the whole world ever (the other is creme brulee). I don’t make it often because despite normally avoiding moral judgments about food, it’s difficult to rationalise eating quite so much fat and sugar in one sitting in a normal day-to-day setting. And I refuse to make low fat desserts[read more…]
I made a pretty cake yesterday to celebrate my other half’s birthday. Happy birthday to my darling Ant. We’re on holidays at the moment and it’s wonderful. This cake was dreamy .. I really loved the chocolate flavour combined with a surprising fluffy cloud of vanilla frosting; kind of unexpected, like brown eyes with blonde[read more…]
Well so much for that rainy weekend we expected, still got some reading in though. I’ve been wanting to try this recipe, ever since I purchased Super Natural Every Day by Heidi Swanson. I’ve been a longtime fan of Heidi’s blog, 101 Cookbooks, in fact hers was one of the first food blogs I started[read more…]
I was thinking recently, there just isn’t enough spice around when it comes to baking. It’s not that easy to find ready made spice biscuits or cake in Australia and it’s not a favourite flavour for most people I know. Personally, I love the warmth of spice baked goods and they seem so comforting and[read more…]
I made a batch of dreamy brownies to celebrate my move to A Splash of Vanilla and also to celebrate a year of blogging (I’m a bit late but then I’m hopeless at remembering anniversaries). Now I made these purely because I accidentally bought a tub of cream cheese. I have no idea why or how[read more…]
These muffins inspired by Nigella remind me of Christmas – all orange, fragrant, sweet and somehow festive although I can’t quite pinpoint why. Warm from the oven, they have a lovely crusty exterior, are fluffy inside and also have a subtle cornbread quality which I love. As the lady says, eat them just out of the oven, with unsalted butter and good jam[read more…]
I had some frozen bananas and strawberries in my freezer and thought I’d make a teacake. Not muffins, not banana bread or loaf cake which I would usually fall back on, but a teacake. To be honest, when I decided to press the strawberries into the top of the mixture rather than mix them in,[read more…]
Is there anything better than the warming fragrance of home made cookies baking? These chewy, spicy and sweet cookies were a delight and were made with oil rather than butter. Just an excuse to have more I think.
This weekend’s baking was a light and fresh lemon coconut loaf. While we’re not quite out of the winter woods yet, I spied lots of little green shoots and a burst of pretty pink flowers on my deck plants this morning which means warmer weather ahead, so I felt like a lemony treat. I made this loaf with baking margarine[read more…]
Sweet, doughy bites with the stickiest brown sugar butter glaze on the base which I just couldn’t stop picking at. It was worth washing the very sticky pan afterwards.
Like Nigella, I’m all for an easy chocolate fix. Nobody should have to wait very long for chocolate on those days when it feels necessary. The iconic Nigella dessert, chocohotopots – easy, luxurious, charmingly named little treats, remind me of a cross between chocolate brownies and pudding. Honestly, despite the kid friendly nature of them (Nigella’s son naming this dessert when he was[read more…]
I have Irish heritage – you might realise this when you meet me by my blue eyes and freckles which I inherited from my late grandmother. It’s also apparent by my surname which, while it doesn’t sound obviously Irish, is distinguishable by it’s spelling (people often misspell my surname by leaving off the ‘e’ on the end which annoys me a[read more…]
I spied this loaf recently on a lovely blog called FoodBabbles. It’s an Ina Garten recipe (I love her!) and I decided to bake it for afternoon tea on the weekend. I’ve made lemony baked goods before but have never tried a lemon syrup poured over – it really is gorgeous. This is a really moist cake and[read more…]
We were very French today and had cherry clafoutis and coffee for breakfast. This lovely dessert (or breakfast) is similar to a pancake but baked in the oven. The velvety soft and creamy texture pairs well with sweet little bites of cherries.
Blondies are becoming so diverse now with many different flavours; butterscotch, toffee and pecan, cherry and white chocolate, and now, peanut butter. I don’t need much of an excuse to use peanut butter – slathered between fresh bread for an impromptu lunch is fine by me and has been since I was little. Peanut butter just makes my day better.[read more…]
Anzac Day, for those readers who aren’t from this neck of the woods, marks the date of the first military action fought by Australians and New Zealanders in WW1 (ANZAC = Australian and New Zealand Army Corps). We remember those who fought on 25th April. To commemorate, I though Anzac biscuits would be nice to make[read more…]
So here’s a lovely, classic banana bread with that moist, soft texture and banana flavour we all love (I know I haven’t exactly invented the wheel what with posting approximately the 30 millionth version of banana bread but everyone thinks their own is the best). Also, why must the surface of my loaf cakes crack? Every.time.
I love sweet potatoes, all kinds really but particularly the orange – I mean who doesn’t? They’re sweet, healthy and a gorgeous colour. Yesterday I had a huge organic sweet potato sitting on my kitchen bench and I also had pecans, maple essence, dates and other baking essentials so thought I’d knock together a sweet potato loaf. I also decided on some[read more…]
