Garlic Prawns

 I love Curtis Stone's recipes and as Woollies had greens prawns on sale, I looked through YouTube and came across Curtis's BBQ garlic prawns.  Now I do not usually like garlic prawns because they are often lots of butter or oil, raw garlic and no taste of prawns as they are overpowered.  This recipe did not sound like others I have seen.  

The only hard bit is peeling the prawns.  Here is how to do it, first put on some thin rubber gloves.  Twist off the head and discard, then go down the middle of the prawn between the two sets of legs and pull each segment of leg and shell off.  Done!

I made this in a frypan, on low-medium heat to start, then when the prawns go in crank it up to full bore.  Of course, they are perfect for a BBQ.  I served it with plain white rice instead of sourdough.  Also, this recipe says it is for 8 people, that would be a starter course, for a main I would say 1kg of prawns feeds 4 people unless you are having lots of added veggies.

 Do not leave out any ingredients, this recipe has been developed to perfection and is delicious.  To view the video of Curtis Stone just click here. 

30 Minute Easy-Peasy Chocolate Cake.

Imagine this: your husband casually mentions that someone is coming over for coffee at the last minute. Panic sets in as you realize you don't have any dessert prepared. Don't fret! I have just the recipe for you—the 30-Minute Easy-Peasy Chocolate Cake. As the name suggests, this delightful cake can be whipped up in just 10 minutes of mixing and takes a mere 30 minutes to bake. It's the perfect solution for those unexpected guests, and the best part? The ingredients are likely already in your pantry!

Choc Banana Bundt Cake

 So, what do you do when you have 3 bananas that have gone all black and a packet chocolate cake that you did not use at Xmas in the cupboard?  You make Chocolate Banana Bundt Cake.

I'm not the biggest fan of banana cake, although I do like my Perfect banana cake but mostly I find them too dense and rich.  Last Xmas I was going to make a chocolate cake to take to a friends house but eventually decided on something else, so I had a packet in the cupboard, and I had a function coming up and wanted to make a big cake.  I had not used my bundt pan for a while, so I also wanted to use that, and it will feed 12 easily.  Now one choc cakemix will not fill a bundt pan, but two cake mixes will, so I made this Chocolate Banana Bundt cake and it was a real hit.  I think because the chocolate cake just adds a nice lightness when added to the banana cake.  

Try to use a good quality chocolate cake mix, one that uses oil not butter as the crumb will be better.  This banana cake was a slight adaptation from Jamie Olivers banana cake, adding almond meal to  both cakes it ties the two together.  If you like spice, you can add 1 teaspoon of cinnamon and mixed spice to the banana cake, walnuts chopped would also work as an extra in the banana cake.

About icing/ topping the cake - you can make up your own favourite chocolate icing and drizzle over the cake, or simply top with some melted butter and chopped nuts.  This is also very nice served warm with a caramel sauce.  I leave it plain.

Easter Hot Cross Buns - in a breadmaker.

I bought some hot cross buns from a specialty shop - they were terrible, what I discovered is if you have about 3-4 hours, you can make hot cross buns at home that are delicious.  This is an adaptation of a recipe I found on Panasonic.  (Panasonic make a great bread maker by the by).  You obviously cannot make buns from beginning to end in a breadmaker, but you can get it to do the kneading and 1st proove.  The result is a light fluffy, perfectly kneaded bun mix.

Christmas Rocky Road.

 This is Christmas rocky road because I never make it any other time.  Its great as a small gift to friends at this time of year.