I promised hubby I'd make one of these for his birthday. That was in March...Oops! So, I made it for Father's Day.This cake is straightforward to make, but does take time. I'll tell you now, that the crepes take ages to make! My batch took me about 1.5 hours. I cleaned up around the house at the same time, so it's not like you're chained to the stove and you do get the ...
Sweet
Candied Lemon Zest
Candied lemon zest is so pretty! It is so easy to make and keeps indefinitely, so I think everyone should have a jar hiding in the fridge. Any lemony treat you make will instantly look a lot fancier once you put a bit of this candied zest on top! It's also yum straight from the jar!I topped my Lemon Poppyseed Cupcakes with candied zest.Candied Lemon Zestmakes about 1 cup5 ...
Melt and Mix Lemon Poppyseed Cupcakes
I love melt and mix cakes! I often get the sudden urge to bake and my butter is always in the fridge, so melt and mix recipes usually come to the rescue. I have one baking cookbook that I've made up an additional index for that lists all the recipes that don't need softened butter. It comes in very handy! This recipe has been adapted a fair bit from a recipe on taste.com.au. I ...
Oven Baked Apple Chips
These apple chips are so easy to make that they don't really need a recipe. But I'll make your life easy and post one any way. I've seen some recipes around that use sugar, but I don't see the need. The baking, which dehydrates the fruit, intensifies the apple's sweetness and flavour all on its own.Play around with different thicknesses for your slices to see what you're happy ...
Pineapple Upside-down Cake
When I was a kid I thought this was the coolest cake around. I loved pineapple and glacé cherries (still do) and thought that it looked so fancy when you turned the cake out. I found and old packet of the cherries hiding in the back of the fridge and rather than throw them out went and bought eggs, butter, pineapple and brown sugar to make this cake...that's logical ...
My attempt at Pierre Herme’s Macarons
I realise that macarons have been done to death, but they are totally delicious and I haven't seen this recipe online anywhere, which is why I had to translate it.If you're lucky enough to have tried one of Pierre Hermé's macarons, then you know what the hype is all about. I first tasted them in Paris nearly 3 years ago and then would occasionally buy a few from Selfridges when ...
Anzac Biscuits
It's cold and stormy today, and the weather has put me in a baking mood. With Anzac Day tomorrow, I thought I'd make up some Anzac biscuits. These biscuits were originally sent by wives to their soldiers during World War I. They had a long shelf life so travelled well. Back then, the recipe didn't use any butter, but over the years it has been added to improve the flavour and ...
Home-brewed Ginger Beer
We all love Ginger Beer and have talked about brewing our own for a while, so one day I just decided to give it a go. I had a look around at a bunch of recipes, which were all pretty similar, but based my batch mainly on this recipe from forgreenies.Ginger Beer is made by starting a 'plant' that is fed for a week. It is then strained and added to sugar syrup and lemon juice. ...
Paskha – Another Russian Easter Treat
Paskha is another traditional Russian food that is made at Easter. It is similar in flavour to cheesecake filling. Typically, it is blessed along with the Kulich and eggs, and then spread on slices of Kulich when it is eaten each morning. Like most traditional foods, every family's recipe is different. I tend to make the same recipe for the Kulich each year, but like to change ...
Strawberry Iced Tea
I served this at hubby's birthday at it went down a treat. It looks really fancy, but is very easy to make. Use any fruity tea bags you like, or even plain old black or green tea would work, although you might want to squash some of the berries in that case to get more berry flavour.Strawberry Iced Teamakes 2 litres4 fruity tea bags (I used Twinings Cranberry and ...
Kulich for Easter – Russian Easter Sweet Bread
Kulich is a sweet Easter bread and a part of the Russian Orthodox Easter tradition. Hubby's family is Russian Orthodox, so I was quite excited to take up this tradition in our house. The bread is similar to the Italian Panettone. Traditionally, the Kulich, along with coloured hard boiled eggs is blessed by the Priest before the Easter Mass. It is then eaten as the first food ...
One a penny, two a penny, Hot Cross Buns
I am usually greeted with a look of confusion when I tell people that I don't like Hot Cross Buns. There's something about the smell, I think it's the cinnamon, that just turns me off. I have the same problem with Raisin Toast. But I thought it was about time to suck it up and I figured if I made them myself then I'd be more inclined to enjoy them. It's raining and dark ...
