BOURKE STREET BAKERY BANANA CAKE
Preparation Time – 20 minutes/ Baking time – 60 minutes/ Serves 16

Have I mentioned before that the Bourke Street Bakery cookbook is an absolute delight? It is a pity that I have never been to the bakery myself but I can only imagine the smells and treats in store for whoever visits it.

I have been trying quite a few recipes from that cookbook over the holidays. The banana cake recipe looked simple, as all banana cake recipes do and I admit, there is never any scarcity of over ripe bananas in the fruit bowl.The caramel sauce accompanying the cake actually sold me. The funny thing was, I never got around to making the caramel sauce and the cake, I must admit again is the best banana cake I have ever eaten. I only made one tiny tweak. I reckon this would make a great birthday cake because of its size and firmness.

Ingredients
250g unsalted butter
350g caster sugar
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
4 eggs
200g sour cream
2 cups self-raising flour, sifted
3 large extremely ripe bananas
20g soft brown sugar

Method
Preheat the oven to 200^oC/400^oF. Grease a 28cm round cake tin and line with baking paper, letting it hang over the edge of the tin.

Whisk the butter and sugar in a large bowl using an electric beater until creamy and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, blending till all are nicely mixed. Add the sour cream,vanilla extract and salt and continue whisking. Then add the flour and mix with the beater for a minute till everything is incorporated into a smooth batter.

In a separate bowl mash the bananas and sprinkle with the brown sugar. Mix gently. Fold the mashed banana into the cake batter and mix lightly. Spoon into the prepared tin and bake for an hour till it is evenly browned and cooked through the center.

Remove cake from the oven when done and rest in the tin for 10 minutes before turning it out onto a plate. Enjoy as is, warm and soft and utterly delicious.

Notes

If during baking the cake starts browning too quickly, cover it with baking paper.

All my baking is done in an old Westinghouse double coil [top and bottom oven with a tray placed on the lower shelf to mask the extreme heat from the bottom which used to end up burning the base of my dish.

Christmas is a time of sharing. A sharing of moments filled with laughter and carefree abandon that comes from knowing that you don’t have to go back to work the next day, the kids are home from school, friends and family that you haven’t seen in ages is all around you. Adults band together to cook, drink and have a jolly good time. But there are so many fantastic things you can share and do with kids too. Like gingerbread men! Countless kitchens over countless years have seen mums and dads churn out entire villages of gingerbread people and kids sitting on tables, icing guns in hand, ready to give them a personality.

This year for Christmas, I brought out my trusty gingerbread recipe, a recipe that needs a good amount of chilling that results in hard, crispy, gingery treats that stay fresh for days. "No Icing and the mess associated with it, this year!", I announced. Instead we made cute buttons, big ones too.And some Christmas trees.  And with red twill we decorated our Christmas tree with our edible creations. How fun!

MY GINGERBREAD BUTTONS
Preparation Time + Chilling Time : 70 minutes/ Baking Time : 12 minutes/ Makes 30

Ingredients
125g butter, softened
2 1/2 cups plain flour, sifted
2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup golden syrup
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

Method
Preheat oven to 190^oC/375^oF. Place butter and sugar in a bowl and beat with a hand blender till well combined, light and fluffy. Add golden syrup, flour, ginger and bicarbonate of soda. Mix to form a smooth dough. Wrap in cling wrap/plastic wrap and chill for an hour.

Roll out the dough between sheets of baking paper to 4-5mm in thickness. Using a round cookie cutter, cut out round shapes. Using a smaller round cookie cutter, lightly make an indentation in the cookie. Using a steel icing nozzle [the small, round kind, punch out four tiny holes in the middle to resemble a button and then one towards the rim [this is where the twill will pass through after the biscuits are baked.

Bake for 8-12 minutes in the preheated oven until golden brown. Remove immediately and cool on a wire rack. Don’t worry if they seem floppy at this stage, just make sure they are flat and straight. The more they cool, the more they will harden and you want them nice and flat when they are hard.

Wish you all a very HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Summer in Australia is a stone fruit lover’s dream. Markets abound with peaches, plums, apricots and mangoes, sold in trays of luscious golden, sun-kissed goodness. We are big fruit eaters in this house and there is always plenty to eat and blend or bake. When we found ourselves drowning in a huge tray of over 45 beautiful peaches, I decided it was time to jam, quite literally.

This was the first jam I ever made and also the first ‘Weekend Project’ for the site. It was a great experience and the jam which was a result of several modified recipes, turned out quite nice; almost like a chutney with a spicy undertone. It wasn’t very difficult reaching the dreaded ‘gel point’ either. I haven’t made any jam since but I have been toying with the idea of doing a blood orange and hazelnut liquer jam. Meanwhile I hope you enjoy this recipe.

Peach And Lemon Jam
Preparation Time:  60 mins
Standing Time: 60 mins
Cooking Time: 30 mins
     

Ingredients
 5 lbs firm, ricpe peaches
 3 cups sugar
 1/2 cup lemon juice
 2 tsp cinnamon
 1/ tsp nutmeg

Method
Peel and pit the peaches. Chop into small pices. Combine with sugar, lemon juice and spices in a deep saucepan. Cover and stand for an hour. On low heat, cook the peach mixture, stirring constantly for approximately 25-30 minutes till it reaches gel point. Remove from heat. Blend to desired consistency using a stick blender. Return to heat and cook for another 5-10 minutes. Pour into sterilized jars leaving 1/2 inch head space from the top. Cover with lids and treat in a hot water bath.

My Notes

• You can adjust the amount of sugar depending on your taste, but the less the sugar is used, the more it enhances the flavour of the peach.
• For this particular recipe, it takes approximately 30 minutes to reach the gel point. [cooking on low heat

I am slowly and laboriously undertaking the task of transfering over 300 recipes from my site to the blog. The 300 recipes were cooked, tried and tested over a period of 3 years. I have realized that it is getting increasingly hard to maintain my recipes on two different platforms. My wordpress blog wins even though Nick made a fantastic system of recipe filing and tags on the website. I hope to bring some of that wonderful functionality to this blog in due course. I am going to start by blogging about my more popular recipes.

Today I am going to share with you a gem of a recipe that is cooked in just under 8 minutes in the microwave and the result is a gorgeous mango fudge slice with flecks of saffron. This one was an experiment that was a huge success and I might even make it to bring to this Sunday’s Sydney Food Blogger Kris-Kringle at Hyde Park.

8-Minute Microwave Mango And Saffron Fudge
Prep & Cooking Time – 8 mins
Makes 18 pieces
   
Ingredients
4 cups milk powder
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup mango pulp [alphonso
300 ml double cream
1 tbsp milk masala
a few strands of saffron

Method
Combine all ingredients except the mango pulp in a microwave safe bowl and microwave on high [uncovered for 4 minutes. Remove, add mango pulp, stir well to combine and microwave on high [uncovered for another 4 minutes. Remove, mix well and spread out in a greased slice pan or thali . Cover with cling wrap and chill in the refrigerator for 2 hours.

MY Notes

1. Using ‘double cream’ ensures that it will have a proper fudge consistency. You can cut squares after chilling.
2. ‘Thickened Cream’ can be used instead of double cream, but the fudge wont set well.
3. Grease pan/thali with ghee or butter.
4. Alphonso Mango Pulp brings out the most exotic, beautiful mango flavour.

I have made strawberry cupcakes with fresh strawberries in the past and there is a very delicate quality about their texture and taste. This is the first time I have made cupcakes with fresh, organic strawberry jam and only word comes to mind, "childhood". For some reason, these cupcakes took me back to when I was little and used to often stick my fingers in the jam jar, unabashedly smearing it on my face as I licked the sweet, cheeky goodness of the jam. These cupcakes are oh so soft and delightful, you just can’t stop at one. They are quite light and the strawberry cream cheese frosting is chic and to die for.

STRAWBERRY JAM CUPCAKES
Preparation Time : 15 minutes
Baking Time : 20 minutes
Makes : 16

Ingredients
For The Cupcakes
1 cup self raising flour
2 eggs
1/2 cup caster sugar
90g butter, softened
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp milk
2 tbsp organic strawberry jam

For The Cream Cheese Frosting
1 cup light cream cheese
1/2 cup caster sugar
2 tbsp strawberry jam

Method
To Make The Cupcakes
Preheat oven to 180^oC. Line a standard muffin pan with cupcake cases.

Beat butter, sugar, extract, eggs, flour, jam and milk in a bowl until well combined.

Divide mixture among cases. Bake for approximately 20-25 minutes in the pre-heated oven. Turn onto wire racks to cool.

To Make The Frosting
Combine all ingredients in a bowl and beat with a hand blender until smooth and combined. Chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Using an icing spatula, ice the cupcakes in a swirly motion. Garnish with fresh strawberries and sink your teeth in the soft, delectable little treats.

It is not everyday that your local fruit and vegetable shop has an oversupply of one of your favorite ingredients to cook with. This weekend I drove my family to the local fruit shop for the very first time and we managed to get a bag of baby potatoes with skin so smooth and ochre for just 99 cents. On the drive back home I was thinking of how I was going to cook them and I decided on a warm salad. I wanted the skin on on these little babies, so after rummaging in the fridge for a few minutes, I was hit with the right inspiration for this wonderfully wholesome and so easy to make dish.

 
PAN FRIED POTATO AND WEISSWURST WARM SALAD
PREPARATION TIME – 30 MINS/ COOKING TIME – 20 MINS/ SERVES 4

Ingredients
1kg baby potatoes, washed and boiled with skin on
250g Weisswurst sausages, thickly sliced
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp chicken stock powder
1 tsp all purpose seasoning [could substitute with Moroccan Spice Mix
1/4 cup white wine
freshly rosemary leaves
1/2 tsp red dried chili flakes

Method
In a large wok/pan, heat olive oil. Add the sausage and stir-fry on medium heat for 5 minutes till it starts browning. Add the boiled, whole potatoes, chicken stock powder, seasoning and chili flakes and pan-fry for 10 minutes on low heat, turning occasionally till all portions are nice and golden.

Add the white wine and rosemary, cook on high for a few seconds till all the liquid evaporates. Serve hot or warm. 

I have been baking breakfast breads for a while now and they are all sweet, invariably. So this time around I decided to bake a brunch bread instead and make it really savory. After scouring several of my books, I settled for this recipe from Australian Women’s Weekly "Potato" cookbook. I love the olive and sun-dried combination so much, the slight zing of the olives is so perfectly balanced by the chewy sweetness of the sun-ripened tomatoes, not to mention it’s a very good combo for a very healthy diet. And then there was potato too. I made this bread and followed the recipe to a T. I was very happy with the result. The bread was crusty and dense. We toasted it, topped it with sweet chili cream cheese and salad leaves and enjoyed the impromptu brunch affair in our backyard very much.

POTATO OLIVE AND SUN DRIED TOMATO BREAD
Preparation Time – 15 mins/ Baking Time – 60 mins/ Makes 1 loaf

Ingredients
250g potatoes, peeled and chopped coarsely
30g butter, melted
2 cups self-raising flour
1 1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup black olive slices
1/2 cup drained sun-dried tomatoes, thickly sliced
1 cup coarsely grated mozzarella cheese

Method
Preheat oven to 180^oC. Grease a 14cmx21cm loaf pan. Line with baking paper.

Boil, steam or microwave potatoes until tender. Drain. Mash potatoes in a large bowl with butter until smooth.

Add, flour, milk, olives, tomato and cheese to potato mixture. Mix well. Spoon into prepared pan. Bake uncovered for about 50 minutes till cooked through.
 

It seems like forever since I did a food post. To say I have been busy, is an understatement. But I haven’t been starving myself and my family. I assure you that I have been concocting delightful things in the kitchen even though I am mostly absent on this blog. I was recently interviewed on a website called Iconshock and I thought that some of you would probably like to know a bit more about me, so here is the link to the interview. It is my first interview ever and that fact alone is very exciting for me.

When winter was withering away a few months ago, I made a beautiful cake from Michele Cranston’s "Comfort". The book is from the acclaimed Marie Claire series of cookbooks and happens to be one of my favorites. This time I around I decided not to tinker with the recipe and keep it true to the book. I even decorated it with berries the way they did it in the book. It was fantastic. Cakes that have almond meal in them have a unique texture and a beautiful, buttery after taste. If you make this anytime soon, I hope you enjoy it as much as my family did. This cake is perfect for a chilly day.

VANILLA AND ALMOND BERRY CAKE
Preparation Time – 20 minutes/ Baking Time – 40 minutes/ Serves 8-10

Ingredients
225g caster sugar
200g almond meal
1/2 vanilla bean finely chopped
250g unsalted butter, softened and cut into cubes
4 eggs
100g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
mixed berries, to serve
icing sugar, to serve
ice cream, to serve

Method
Preheat oven to 180^oC [350^oF. Grease and flour a 27cm bundt or ring tin.

Combine the caster sugar, almond meal and vanilla bean in a bowl. Process with a hand blender for a few minutes till mixed well. Add the butter, eggs, flour and baking powder. Process till the mixture is smooth and creamy. Spoon the batter into the prepared cake tin.

Bake for 40 minutes until a skewer inserted in it comes out clean. If the cake is browning too quickly, cover it loosely with a foil. Cool cake in the tin. Turn it out gently when completely cool on a serving plate. Fill center with mixed berries, sprinkle with icing sugar and serve with ice cream.

I’ve been bringing home a small tub of fresh crab meat from the supermarket for the past few weeks. I usually make something the day I bring it home. I love that the hassle of cleaning and cooking a crab is taken out of the process. I was introduced to this brilliant concept of packing freshly cooked crabs at the Sydney Good Food And Wine Show earlier this year. I was craving for something more savory than my usual fare for breakfast. So I did a quick stir-fry with the crab meat and some beautiful purple garlic I had scored from the markets. I have used egg as a base for this recipe, after all what better thing to have for breakfast than some lovely eggs.

CRAB AND PURPLE GARLIC STIR FRY
Preparation Time : 10 minutes / Cooking Time : 8 minutes / Serves 2

Ingredients
500g crab meat, white or black, shredded
1 large clove purple garlic, thinly sliced
1/4 cup roasted red pepper strips
4 eggs
freshly ground black pepper
salt to taste
1-2 tsp olive oil for cooking

Method
Heat oil in a wok on medium. Add crab and garlic. Increase heat and stir fry for 2-3 minutes till garlic is translucent. Remove from heat. Add the roasted red pepper and mix well.

In a bowl whisk together the eggs with pepper and salt. Put the wok back on heat and slowly add the eggs. Move the eggs around with a wooden spatula, mixing them with the crab mixture as you would for scrambled eggs. Cook for a minute and remove from heat. Serve hot garnished with sliced spring onions or chives.

These past two weeks have been a whirlwind for me. Projects, kids, bus trips, socializing, gym, landscaping and the usual daily grind have kept me on my toes and I haven’t been posting on the blog nearly as much as I would like to. I have been cooking though and really fun things at that too. We felt like comfort food on Sunday, so breakfast was inspired by sweet things we could find in the pantry and fridge. Pancakes!! said the kids. So pancakes we made. But we realized that we were out of maple syrup. A dash of golden syrup with chopped up Mars bars for toppings did the trick. Golden Syrup is not as bad as you might think it would be. You must however use extreme caution, because it does tend to be cloyingly sweet in large quantities.

BAKED RICOTTA AND MARS BARS HOTCAKES

Preparation Time : 20 minutes/ Cooking Time : 20 minutes/ Makes 6-8

Ingredients
250g baked ricotta cheese, sliced and diced fine
1 cup plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp sugar
3/4 cup milk
4 eggs
butter to pan fry
2 light Mars bars chopped coarsely
1/4 cup golden syrup/maple syrup
banana slices

Method
Combine ricotta, eggs and milk in a large bowl and whisk till fluffy and mixed well. Fold in the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Mix well, beating with a hand whisk for 2-3 minutes.

Heat 1/2 tsp of butter on a pan on medium heat. Ladle some pancake batter on the sizzling butter. Cook for about a minute till bubbles appear. Gently flip the pancake over and cook for another minute or two.

Serve with a topping of Mars bars, banana and golden syrup/maple syrup.

Notes
It always takes me one failed attempt to perfect the right temperature and time required for the pancakes. That failed pancake usually gets eaten right away unless it is damaged beyond repair in which case all the edible parts minus the burnt bits are still salvaged and eaten. So don’t take my method and word to heart, try to get comfortable with your own heat setting and pan. The pan is very important too. Make sure it is not a thin crepe pan. That will usually burn your pancake straightaway. A regular frying pan should do the trick, but the heat should always be low to medium. That will give you nice and golden pancakes.