QUICK AND EASY LEMON IMPOSSIBLE PIES

 This is a quick recipe that uses ingredients you will probably have in the cupboard. They are little morsels of lemon and vanilla loveliness.

Pre-heat overn to 160C fan forced
Grease a muffin tin (12)
In a bowl mix together 
2 eggs
can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup lemon juice 
1/4 cup melted butter
1/2 cup self-raising flour
1 tpn vanilla 
zest of 1 lemon.
When smooth, evenly pour into muffin tins.
Bake for 18-20 mins, or until golden on top and set .
Dust with icing sugar

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.

Amoretti biscuits

 When you make biscotti, there will be egg whites left over, this is how to use them up - (tip - pop egg whites into a zip lock bag and into the freezer until you want to use them.)  The recipe is for 1 egg white, just increase the amount of each ingredient according to how many egg whites you want to use.

Biscotti

This is Silvia Colloca's recipe for Cantuccini con Pistacchio e mandarin, or Pistacchio and mandarin biscotti.   Low fat but not low cal.  All I can say is yum yum yum.

The first time I made it I had not cooked it enough in the first cook to be able to cut it, so back in it went. No problem.  I do think you could just roll out the dough and cut it into fingers and put those on a tray to bake - I will try it out next time.  You could do the whole thing in a food processor or even by hand in a bowl, I use a rather elderly mix-master.

You could vary the mandarin zest to taste, more is better!  Nuts tradionally are pistacchio, but you could easily use almond or hazelnut.  These biscotti keep for ages.

Mary Berry’s lemon and lime cheesecake

 I needed a dessert for a dinner party, one that was easy, relatively quick and could be made the day before as I did not want to be fussing around on the day.  This was perfect!

I have changed the recipe slightly, taking out the sugar in the crust, instead using choc coated biscuits, and increasing the lime a little..  But - you can really make it with any biscuits and you dont need to use limes, you can just make it with lemons if you like.  I don't worry about taking the crust up the side either, just do a bit at the bottom - works either way.  I make this in a spring for pan with a bit of parchment paper on the bottom to make it easy to remove from the pan.

Also, I just use the bung it in method for the filling, bung everything into a bowl and mix with a hand held beater, it works perfectly.  As for decorating the toop, I don't use the Mary Berry method, I just cover the top with whipped cream and some lime zest if I feel fancy.  You do need the whipped cream though, it tastes better.

Ingredients:

• 10 choc coated digestive biscuits, crushed
• 50g  butter, melted
• 
  
• 150ml double cream
• 397g can full-fat condensed milk
• 175g  full-fat cream cheese (room temperature)
• grated zest and juice of 2 small lemons
• grated zest and juice of 2 limes
• 
  
• 150ml (5fl oz) double or whipping cream, and 1 lime sliced thinly to decorate

Method:

• To make the crust: place the crushed biscuits, together with the butter and sugar, in a medium bowl and stir until the ingredients are thoroughly mixed.

• Turn the crust mixture out into a 20cm (8in) loose-bottomed tart tin and press firmly and evenly over the bottom (and up the sides if you like) using the back of a metal spoon. Chill for 30 minutes until set.

• To make the filling: place the double cream, condensed milk, and cream cheese in a bowl with the lemon and lime zests. Mix thoroughly. Using a balloon whisk, gradually whisk in the lemon and lime juices and continue whisking until the mixture thickens.

• Pour the lemon and lime filling into the crumb crust and spread it evenly. Cover and chill overnight.

• Up to 6 hours before serving, whip the cream, as shown below, until it just holds its shape. Decorate the top of the cheesecake with swirls of whipped cream and slices of lime, then return to the fridg

Lemon and Elderflower Cake (or pudding!)

This is a recipe from Nigella Lawson - and its wonderful.  You cake make this as a pudding or a cake depending on the size of the dish you use.  One of the reasons I love this cake is that it uses the bung it in method.  All you do is put everything into a mixer or food processor and turn it on for a few minutes.  What could be easier?

If you want a pudding serve warm and  use a smaller, deeper dish, if you want a lovely cake use a dish size aprox 8'x12"  The time it takes to cook will depend upon the dish so keep an eye on it after about 12 minutes.  It is cooked when slightly brown around the edges and bounces when touched.  Elderflower cordial is available in Australia at large liqour outlets and usually at the larger supermarkets.

Now, about the yoghurt, I ran out so I used sourcream - worked perfectly.  Nigella suggests processing everything except the yoghurt and lemon and cordial and putting that through the funnel.  Too much work for me, I just put it all in together.  Use the usual rule about drizzle - hot cake cold drizzle.

Chocolate Coffee Cupcakes.

 Magnolia Bakery makes wonderful cup cakes.  this chocolate cup cake is very moist, has a beautuful texture and tastes great.  I ice them with Magnolia's lovely icing, with the addition of instant coffee, so end up with Chocolate coffee cup cakes!

This recipe makes 12 large muffin size cupcakes, or 24 smaller ones.  It can be easily halved.

Make sure you use the best chocolate you can get as it does make a difference.  I ran out of buttermilk, so used yoghurt with a little milk added - worked perfectly.  I use a stand mixer for this recipe, it is not really suited to hand mixing or a hand held mixer.

To see the perfect icing technique, check out this video

Almalfi Lemon Cake

 Perfect when you have losts of lemons on the tree, and perfect for a spring lunch dessert.  The original recipe comes from Delicious, but I have changed it to make it easier. 

You do need to cool it in the tin, and the syrup needs to be cold so don't forget these steps!  You will need some time to bake, cool then finish the cake.

Special Occassion (like Xmas and Easter) Biscuits.

 This recipe is for biscuits that hold their shape and icing that sets hard!   Note: using PURE icing sugar not icing sugar mixture for this.

Sugar Biscuit Dough

Preheat over to 180C

Beat 125g soft butter and 110g caster sugar and 1 egg until JUST COMBINED (do not overbeat).

Add 225g Plain Flour and 1tsp vanilla bean paste.  

Beat until it just comes together, then kneed until smooth.

Cover with clingwrap and chill for 30 minutes.

Roll out about 3mm thick and cut out shapes.

Bake in preheated oven, rotating positions of baking sheets halfway through, until cookies are light golden brown around edges, 10 to 12 minutes. 

Let cool on sheets 5 minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

Royal Icing

Whisk 1 egg white and 1teaspoon of lemon juce in electric mixer.

Slowly add 240g pure icing sugar, increase speed to high for 5-7 minutes until it is a thick paste.  Cover with clingwrap until it is being used.

Add colour as required and decorate biscuits as simply or complicated as you like.

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.

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.

Hazelnut and coffee freezer biscuits

These are great to have in the freezer for any time someone comes over and you something when friends drop in.  They make a crispy biscuit that is perfect with a cuppa.

 The nuts can easily be swapped for pecans, walnuts or whatever takes your fancy.  And you can change the coffee to dried cranberries or orange/lemon zest.  You can even make a desiccated coconut and lime zest version.  When using coffee, try using a mixture of coffee beans ground up and instant coffee, and the cinnamon and aniseed could be any spice you like. (try cardamom).

When freezing, I use a small ice cream scoop so that each one is the same size, but you could roll the mixture into two logs and cut off each biscuit roughly 1cm thick.

All about muffins

This is my best ever muffin recipe, it is light and fluffy and very versatile.  First, lets talk about the ingredients!

Lemon sultana slice

This is a great recipe for a picnic or a road trip as it keeps well in an airtight container.  It is very easy to make, simply put together the dry ingredients, melt the butter and add.

When you make the mixture it will look like there is not enough, but trust me, there is!  I make a very runny icing, by juicing the lemon first, then adding the icing sugar a spoon at a time.  Drizzle the icing on the cake and you will notice it seeps into the cake a bit like a drizzle cake.  This makes the slice more lemony and delicious.

You could easily change  the lemon to orange or lime, the sultanas to chopped dried apricots or apples, or dates or even choc chip, so it is quite versatile.  You could also leave out the lemon all together if you like.  Cut the cake as soon as it comes out of the oven to make life easier later, then transfer the cake on its paper to a wire rack to cool.

For a chewier slice, cook at 160C fan forced for a little longer, until it springs back when touched.  You will find it looks a bit browner, but tastes great.

I make up the dry ingredients in an air tight container, then when I want to make the slice, just melt butter and honey and bake.  While it is baking I make the dry ingredients for another batch and store.  You could also use maple syrup instead of honey, and add a few pecans to the mix for a more Canadian style.

Lemon Thyme Drizzle Cakes

This is my drizzle cake recipe that has been cobbled together from experience and other recipes.  It makes exactly 12 little cakes.  They are delicious!

DONT be tempted to put in more thyme however, as this makes them too savoury.  Taste the syrup as this will be the predominant flavour of the cakes, it should have a subtle thyme flavour and be really lemony.  You can easily 1/2 the recipe if you want to make just 6 little cakes. You could change the recipe by substituting about a tablespoon of lavender for the thyme and make lemon - lavender cakes.

If you want to be fancy and ice the cakes, I suggest you leave them for at least an hour to absorb the drizzle, then ice with a lemon glaze (just icing sugar and lemon juice). Or you can just dust with icing sugar.  I don't think they need it though.

You MUST follow the instructions for greasing the tins on this one!  I have tried several ways, and this is the only one that works.  Papers don't work, just greasing does not work etc. etc.  You have to
spray with oil and then dust with plain flour. 

Delicious update!
After Meagan and Harry's wedding lemon and elderflower is the flavour of the day.  To turn these into that flavour, simply :

1. take out the thyme completely
2. use only 180g sugar in the mix
3. Take a tablespoon of lemon juice from the mix and substitute a tablespoon of elderflower cordial.
4. Add 2-3 tablespoons of elderflower cordial to the syrup mix.
5. Make an elderflower icing of 1 tablespoon butter, 1tablspoon cordial and enough icing sugar to make the consistency you like.  Ice the cakes.

 

Best Chocolate Cake.

Why re-invent when you can use what is already there?  I never thought the best chocolate cake would be so easy - just put in a food processor and go for it but trust Nigella to figure it out!  I never want to loose this recipe, so it's going on the blog. Just follow the link below to Nigella's site for the full domestic goddess version.

 

I have to confess, this is Nigella's Old Fashioned Chocolate Cake, only with the addition of a little coffee.  I love coffee in a chocolate cake as it rounds our the flavour.  But this is definitely the BEST chocolate cake I have found.

 

You can use a teaspoon of instant coffee dissolved in a tiny bit of water if you have no espresso. You can substitute golden syrup in the frosting if you cannot find corn syrup.  You must use the best quality cocoa powder possible.

 

I have cooked this in 3 tins and converted it to a black forest cake by not frosting it - Just sprinkle a bit of cherry brandy on the cake once it is cooled, use cherries and cream for the filling and top with cream and chocolate. It was a great success.

 

Here is a picture of Nigella's cake:

 

Easy Carrot Cake

This is a moist carrot cake that can be cooked in one large round, or two small round cake tins.   This is the easy, no fail recipe.

 

Make a cream cheese icing to finish it off if it is a special day, or just sprinkle with icing sugar if not. Use the cream cheese icing to sandwich cake together if making 2, and for a topping, simply make a dark caramel with about 1/2 a cup of sugar, pour it over some nuts.  Leave to cool and the process in the food processor, and sprinkle the top of the cake.

 

You can add candied ginger, nuts or dried fruit to the mixture (use about 1/4 cup) if you like.

 

Great cake for a dinner party

This cake is one I saw on a great cooking show,  Good Chef, Bad Chef , I recommend using both almond extract and amaretto (Yum).  I think another good combination would be rose water and vanilla. 

 

You must check the cake with a skewer and make sure it comes out clean, mine takes a little longer than the recipe says.  I also put the juice of a half a lime over the cake when it came out of the oven - make it taste even better.  I also used almond slivers instead of flakes as they are a bit crunchier, seem to match the pistachios better.

 

Its an easy, gluten free cake that tastes wonderful!

 

 

Zeppole or mini ricotta donuts

This is an old italian recipe and a great way to use up left over ricotta. You will find lots of recipes on the web, but this one works every time.   Be warned!  they are addictive, and they attract hoards of people, particularly children.

Two ways to serve these, firstly dusted in lots of icing sugar, or secondly make a honey drizzle of 1/4 cup honey, fresh thyme (about a teaspoon) and finely grated zest of a small lemon.  Simmer the honey etc until it is fragrant and you have a thin sauce to pour over the Zeppole.

When making these, do not over mix them.  Easy does it. You can add lemon or orange zest to the recipe if you so desire, or cinnamon to the icing sugar, see how the mood takes you.