Smores Slice

These bad boys have been sitting in the back of my mind for a while now. Being an Australian, I feel like I've really missed out on the "smores culture". Apparently smores is an integral part of a North American upbringing......I can totally see why. Take your kid into the wild outdoors, light a fire and fill them full of sugar. What could go wrong? Ummm.....no really, what could go wrong? My future children will not be deprived of smores. This is a cheats version that does not require a camp fire, or the great outdoors, it's probably not half as good as a real smore but for an Australian version it'll do.

Smores Slice
I used a very small baking tray for these as I reasoned that smores would be quite decadent. My reasoning was confirmed once my mouth was coated in sticky marshmallow goodness.
90g Biscuit crumbs
30g Butter
Chocolate drops - milk and dark
Large marshmallows

Combine the biscuit crumbs and the butter and press into the base of a baking tray. Bake in a 180 degree oven for about 5 minutes. Remove the tray from the oven and scatter the chocolate drops over the base (I used only one layer of chocolate, being new to smores I figured it was mostly about the marshmallow and less about the chocolate?) The chocolate will begin to melt on the hot base, top the melted chocolate with marshmallows and return the tray to the oven. Change the oven setting to "grill" to allow the top of the marshmallows to become brown and crisp (obviously, watch this intently). Allow to cool slightly before cutting otherwise you will end up with a (delicious) mess.

Yoghurt & Raspberry Cake

Time is flying by so quickly. My blog reflects that my kitchen has been experiencing sever neglect. In truth, I'm still operating at full swing (over swing?) in the kitchen....but also in many other areas so it's just not transposing on to here. After 3 flat out weeks at work and 3 full weekends (of more work), this cake was the perfect way to unwind with a cup of tea on Sunday afternoon.

Yoghurt & Raspberry Cake
2 eggs
1 cup white sugar
1 cup natural yoghurt
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 cups self-raising flour
3/4 cup frozen raspberries (slightly thawed)

In a mixer combine the eggs, sugar, yoghurt and oil. Mix until well combined then add the flour and continue to mix until combined. Gently stir in the raspberries. Then bake in a 180 degree oven for about 40 minutes.

Icing
This cake would work soooo well with a white chocolate ganche - however, none of those ingredients existed in my home so I settled for lemon icing which was still awesome! 
3/4 cup icing sugar
1/2 teaspoon butter
cold water
1/4 teaspoon lemon essence

Melt the butter in a small microwave bowl then add the water and the lemon essence. Add the icing sugar to a mixing bowl. Spoon about 1 teaspoon to 1/2 teaspoon of the butter-water mixture into the icing sugar mixing well after each addition until the icing mixture is at desired consistency (as always, do this super slow - it's worth it in the end for spreadable icing that doesn't drip off the top)

Passionfruit & Mango Trifle

It is feeling very summery at the moment. I'm loving the last few weeks of my summer holidays and trying to get the most out of every day....and every meal. This trifle was served up by a friend late in 2013 and it has been on my mind ever since. It happened in my kitchen today.

* Note: to me, trifle is a personal thing - some prefer it more cakey, others more custardy, so I have left out measurements for somethings because the best trifle is made in just the right proportions that you like.

Passionfruit & Mango Trifle
85g passionfruit jelly crystals
passionfruit pulp
sponge cake/jam filled sponge roll (400g should be plenty, I used 200g to make 3 mini trifles)
1/4 cup malibu white rum
vanilla custard
mangoes (cubed)
250ml thickened cream
1 tablespoon icing sugar mix

Make the jelly in a shallow tray according to the instructions (add 250ml boiling water, mix until dissolved then add 200ml cold water).  Put into the fridge for about 2 hours until partially set then add the passionfruit pulp and mix through.

cut the sponge cake into small squares and lay on the bottle of the trifle dish. Drizzle the malibu over the sponge then spoon the jelly mixture over the sponge cake. Top with mango and custard. Extra layers can be added but finish with a mango layer.

In a small bowl whip the cream and icing sugar until firm peaks form in the cream. Top the trifle with the whipped cream and refrigerate for at least 3 hours or over night.

Tuna Fish Cakes

I hate tuna. I would really love to love it. It is apparently like some sort of super food ....how is tinned fish a super food? I find it consistently disappointing and "too fishy" .....if that is even possible. I'm picky with fish.

In a bid to save a few more dollars each week I am trying to introduce some more tuna meals to our dinners. Each fortnight I sit down and figure out what our dinners will be for the next 14 nights. It can be a pretty involved and time consuming process but doing so for the last year has really paid off for planning and saving. I have tried to include my husband in this process but he always says that I'm doing a fine job and that he doesn't really care. So when he asked what we were having for dinner Saturday night and I announced Tuna Fish Cakes....gosh, the overwhelming disappointment I was met with was shocking. Apparently he also dislikes Tuna. However, when I served up our fish cakes we LOVED them. This truly is the Tuna Fish Cake recipe for people who hate Tuna.

Tuna Fish Cakes
425g tin of tuna
2 eggs
1/2 cup parsley
1/4 cup garlic chives
1 cup breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons mayo
1 tablespoon mustard (I used seed)
1 teaspoon lemon juice (I used bottled)

Combine all the ingredients, then divide into pieces. Roll each piece into a ball and squash into a pattie shape. Lightly fry patties in a little olive oil until browned and crisp. Serve over salad with tartare sauce.

Mum's Birthday Cake

A week ago it was my birthday, now it is mum's turn.

I have always thought that it is so cool that our birthdays are only a week apart, however, in my adult life, I feel like I've done less and less for my mum's birthday. For a while there I totally forgot a couple, which is silly considering mine is only the week before. I remember taking some late night drives to Night Owl or 7/11 to get day old flowers and a box of chocolates in preparation for the next morning......what a horrible surprise that must have been for her. Last year she forgot my birthday though, which is clearly much worse so I think that makes us even!!!

This year I wanted to keep with the "simple" theme of my birthday. My mum has also had a pretty hectic year. Having us shack up with her, our dogs causing all kinds of issues in the neighbourhood, massive changes with her job....2013 has really been one of those years. I wanted to do something basic for her but also nice. After the success of my chocolate cake last week I thought I would try the butter cake option and paired this cake with a lunch cruise on the Brisbane River and a gift voucher. Birthday Gifting Win.

Basic Butter Cake
1 cup self raising flour
1 tablespoon custard powder (or corn flour)
3/4 cup caster sugar
1/4 cup milk
125 grams butter
2 eggs

Heat the oven to 180 degrees. Put all the ingredients into a bowl and mix for about 5 minutes until the mixture if fluffy, smooth and super creamy. Spoon the mixture into a prepared tin (20cm square tin or 24cm round). Place in the oven for 30 minutes (check with a skewer and remove from the oven when the skewer comes out clean).

This cake is quite fragile so be careful when removing from cake tin and when icing.....or moving it in general!

I added some finishing touches just so it wasn't SO simple. My very steady hand and skilled husband was able to slice the top layer off this cake. I then whipped up some cream and mixed through some finely sliced strawberries. I finished the top layer off with some white chocolate ganache. Added some birthday candles and it was birthday-tastic!

White Chocolate Ganache & Strawberry Cream Filling
1/2 cup pure cream
handful of strawberries, thinly sliced and diced
250g white chocolate (I used "melts" instead of "chips" as chips have a bad rep with ganache)
125ml pure cream

Whip the 1/2 cup of cream until fluffy and stir through the strawberries. Spread this on the bottom layer.

In a large saucepan bring the 125ml of pure creme to the boil. Remove from the heat and add the white chocolate. Stir until all of the chocolate has melted into the cream then refrigerate until mixture is a firm and spreadable consistency. Spread over top layer. This ganache thickens very quickly (it is basically all chocolate) so when you come to eat the cake take it out of the fridge for about 10 minutes to let the ganache melt slightly before serving.

Old Skool Simplicity

Yeh, I spelt it like Skool. Remember MSN? I'd like to say "those were the days" but...I'd be lying.

Tomorrow is my birthday and, for a couple of reasons, I am doing nothing special. Traditionally my husband goes all out on birthdays. Particularly while we were living in Northern Queensland, birthdays became quite an event. This year however, we have been fairly busy, what with the move from country back to city, the trip to India, me starting at a new school and having 3 different admin teams in as many terms, my husband studying and changing job locations about 5 times, buying a block of land and building a house, planning another 2 international holidays......we've got stuff goin on so it's low key this year.

Being a primary teacher means that every few weeks I'm subject to singing "Happy Birthday" and forced to stuff my face with whatever delicious treat a hardworking parent has sent along. Can't you tell how much I hate it!? In fact I hate it so much I have added "Master Chef" as a homework option making it practically compulsory to bring me food on a weekly basis. Obviously I have to have a piece of everything because I am "the judge". Naturally, everybody wins except my waist.  So I thought, being my birthday, something nice would be to bring in some cake to share with the kids.

Now, it is that time of year where report cards are looming. Piles of marking and assessment are beginning to clutter my desk, car, couch. It's becoming easier and easier to select chocolate and coffee over gym and fruit (okay, honestly this has always been a problem for me). I really wanted to make some kind of impressive cake but it's midweek and for all the reasons listed above (and a bunch more) I just needed to do something easier.

I remember when I was growing up mum would make cakes that were really simple but still delicious. They had simple icing and simple decorations and they just did the job. You could cook it, whack a few candles in, sing the song and cut the thing in an afternoon. That's the kind of cake I wanted.

Old Skool Chocolate Cake
1 cup self-raising flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 cup brown sugar (or white if that's what you've got)
75 grams butter (cubed and softened)
1/2 cup milk
2 eggs

Heat the oven to 180 degrees. Place all the ingredients into a bowl and mix for about 5 minutes until the mixture is fluffy, smooth and super creamy. Spoon the mixture into a prepared tin (I used a 20cm square but a 24 cm round would also work just as well). Place in the oven for about 30 minutes (check with a skewer and remove from the oven when the skewer comes out clean).

Allow the cake to cool and add chocolate icing and hundreds and thousands for that old skool touch.

October in the Garden

I took these photos last weekend and I already feel like everything has changed so much! It seems to change every single day.

Despite how quickly things are changing I still feel like, after undertaking all my planting early on the in the season, I just have a great big waiting game ahead of me.

Everything looks like it's just about to pop......but it still takes so long. Gardening is a true game of patience.

 I've harvested two more zucchinis and the corn is starting to form, what I believe to be, husks. My tomato plants have come back to life which is exciting.

Caterpillars are still wreaking havoc in some areas but frequent squishing sessions seem to be keeping them under control for the most part. The beetroot, lettuce and lemon-coriander are starting to take shape. My poor old chillies just are not coming to the party. I wonder if perhaps it is still too cold, but I've managed to kill about 8 seedlings now. I'll try again in a few weeks......it will give me something to do while I wait for everything else to happen.