Satine, wine, and our Christmas tree
Merry Christmas everyone! Can you believe how quickly time has flown?!
Before I head out to a Christmas dinner with friends, allow me to share a quick little tale about how I overcame my baking nemesis with these foolproof* cookies (they also make nice stocking fillers!)…
This week’s Christmas star cookies
I know, I know… White bread isn’t the healthiest choice of bread, choose whole grains and all that, but who can deny the allure and comfort of white bread toasted, lathered in butter and vegemite, with a cup of tea? That’s what I thought. No one! *feigns deafness*
Last year I attended a fantastic seeds and grains bread making class at Brasserie Bread, but had yet to bake my own bread at home. Until now. I admit this basic white bread goes against all of their wonderful artisan methods which produce complex and nutritious breads. I’m sorry. Consider this the homemade fast food equivalent.
The day I summoned the courage to bake my own bread was when we found ourselves breadless over the weekend. In the interest of being frugal I decided to bake my own – thanks to a semi-well-stocked kitchen cupboard!
Turning to my well-worn, favourite cookbook, Cook by The Australian Women’s Weekly, I set about baking my first loaf of basic white bread.
Filed under Baking, Cookbook Author, Dough, From Scratch, Recipes, The Australian Women's Weekly
When I first fell in love with baking and cooking, I found a chocolate cake recipe on Taste that was successful each time I baked it – an important factor for a newbie’s baking confidence.
While I don’t particularly like chocolate cake, and I especially dislike chocolate mud cake, everyone else seems to, and I do like this chocolate cake.
It’s not sickeningly rich or dense, it has delicious chunks of dark chocolate through the centre, and it is lovely finished with a simple dusting of icing sugar, and served with fresh strawberries and double cream, if that’s your thing. This cake reminds me of a brownie, rather than a mud cake or a chocolate sponge cake, and for this reason I prefer simple finishes.
Dear Readers,
Last time we were here I said my next blog post would be about brown rice and quinoa, both very healthy subjects.
However, I hope you’ll forgive me as we’re pausing the healthy food installments for a blog post queue-jumper in the form of something utterly indulgent…
Creme brulee.
Last November I posted a recipe for my favourite pavlova, as part of the first Sweet Adventures Blog Hop. The blog hop is a monthly link-up of dessert blog posts, open to food bloggers around the world, based on one theme as decided by the organisers.
After a few months off, I’m joining in again as May’s theme had me completely inspired. The theme is something I drink plenty of each day.
Tea.
When it came to deciding what to bake, a tea-based creme brûlée was at the forefront of my mind. But which tea? Earl Grey? Ginger? No, it had to be chai. Masala chai.
Paul’s Birthday Hummingbird Cake (September 2012)
When I was a teenager, there was a restaurant in Darlinghurst that my Mum, sister, and I visited for dinner quite frequently. For a long period of time, each weekly dinner there would finish with dessert at the cafe across the road.
This cafe was run by a small group of wonderfully flamboyant gay men, and their frequent customers, whom we came to know, included a transsexual also named Chanel (they dubbed me ‘The Real Chanel’; she didn’t mind), and many other colourful Kings Cross locals. Many laughs and great times were had on those nights, just by listening to their hilarious conversations. Not your traditional family dinner outing perhaps, but we loved it 
Unfortunately I can’t remember the now-closed cafe name, but such is the power of food memories that those weekly visits left a lasting impact, for one particularly good reason. It was there that I discovered an unforgettable cake. It was at that cafe, during those frequent visits, that a true love was formed.
You see, it was there that I first met… the Hummingbird Cake.
Coconut. Banana. Cinnamon. Pineapple. Sometimes Walnuts. Sometimes Pecans! Cream Cheese Frosting. Oh my.
THIS is my ultimate cake. If I were on a cooking show and asked to cook the dish that best represents my tastes and love of food, the Hummingbird Cake would be it. It is tropical, sweet, lush, and as a bonus, it is very easy to make.
If you haven’t heard of, or tried Hummingbird Cake before (OMG), allow me to introduce you…
My Birthday Hummingbird Cake (January 2013)
