Strawberry sponge roll - for 12

 I made this cake for a xmas gathering, and it was perfect, special but light.  You could serve it with a strawberry sauce to make it even more special.  the recipie originally came from one of Adam Liaw' weekend newspaper page, but I accidently made it a bit differently, and I ran out of plain flour, so I had to improvise.  Anyway my was is so easy anyone can do it.  So, apologies to Adam.

The cake serves 12 - 14, and if you do not have a large tin, just make 2 and squish them together.  The larger the strawberries are, the more impressive it is, but you could easily use raspberries or blackberries.  You do need a mixer for this, it is not a cake that can be whipped up by hand.  You do need to use the thickened cream that has gelatin in it to ensure the whole thing stays together, and you do need to roll it in cling film and chill it for at least 2 hours.  I made it the day before, which turned out perfectly.

You can decorate the cake with sliced strawberries or chocolate shards to make it even more special.

Chicken, Orange and Fennel.

When a husband says "We should have this again" you know its a winner!  This will become a family favourite, and so easy.  Thanks to the wonderful Nigella for the original.

French Madeleines

Someone coming over for afternoon tea?  This is a great recipe to have up your sleeve.  Make the batter up to 2 days before and bake for just 12 mins and they are ready and delicious!

Malaysian Chicken

This is really a recipe for Ayam Bakar Bekakak Chicken from Good Chef Bad Chef, but I use it as my go to Malaysian paste for chicken.

Gin and tonic in a cake.

Wow, I took a look on the net and there are lots of gin and tonic cake recipes.  This one is from the Home Beautiful of  May 2020 and makes 6-8 perfect cup cakes from just one egg!

Ginger and Walnut Carrot Cake from Nigella

This cake is a Nigella classic from her latest TV show, with a little update on the spice and topping from me.  You can vary the spice according to your taste (cardamon would be nice) but always use the ginger, and if you dont have time for caramel praline just top with chopped walnuts and ginger.

Impressive Mango Cheesecake for a crowd

I made this at Christmas when mangoes are at their peak.  Delicious, and not too heavy for summer.    Thank you Woolworths for the idea.  The cheesecake portion of this makes a light, simple summer dessert, so this is quite a versatile recipe.  Serves 12.

Green Tomato Relish

Recently one of my tomatoes was damaged in the wind, and I had a whole lot of green tomatoes.  This is also something that happens at the end of the season when the plants need to come out.  How to use them up?  Make a pickle, similar to the relishes used on hot dogs.  This is easy as anything to do.

The amount of capsicums you use can be varied, as also to onions.  If you want to keep it for  a long time leave out the garlic to avoid poisoning.  I used old pickle jars that I sterelised, but you can use canning jars also.