Sweet addiction

I like to bake. Yeah, you're right, that's an understatement. I love to bake. Which is probably a good think because I tend to be the designated "foodie" whenever there's a need for cooking to be done. As mention in my last post, my friend Kao had a party on the weekend. I headed there early to help out, and a good thing I did - she'd been waiting for me all afternoon because she had no idea what to do about food. We rustled up a few salads, some cheesy breads, and a plate of pita chips and all was sorted. I'd also had the forsight to realise most would forget that a birthday party usually requires a birthday cake, so I'd baked some cupcakes and they went down a treat. Wanna see?

And that was merely the first batch for the weekend. Darling Mother works a few hours at the local store each week, to keep herself busy and save some extra Christmas cash. Today they're doing stocktake and asked each of the staff to bring along something for morning tea or lunch. After much very litte  no real arm twisting on DM's part, I decided she should take cupcakes with her. So yesterday afternoon I cranked the oven and made another batch of baby cakes. I had to rush off half-way through the process, so I ended up icing the little darlings at midnight, which hopefully explains why some of them have mohawks... This was one of the better dressed:

For both lots of cupcakes I used Magnolia Bakery's vanilla cupcake and buttercream recipes. I made half vanilla and then added 3/4 cup of cocoa to the mixture for some chocolate lovin.

Magnolia Bakery's Vanilla Cupcakes 
Makes about 2 dozen cupcakes (depending on the size of your cupcake papers and muffin tins) 
1 1/2 cups self-rising flour
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
1. Line two 12-cup muffin tins with cupcake papers. In a small bowl, combine the flours. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter until smooth. Add the sugar gradually and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the dry ingredients in three parts, alternating with the milk and vanilla. With each addition, beat until the ingredients are incorporated but do not overbeat. 
3. Carefully spoon the batter into the cupcake liners, filling them about three-quarters full. Bake for 20–25 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center of the cupcake comes out clean.
4. Cool the cupcakes in the tins for 15 minutes. Remove from the tins and cool completely on a wire rack before icing.

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
6 to 8 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/2 cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1. Place the butter in a large mixing bowl. Add 4 cups of the sugar and then the milk and vanilla. On the medium speed of an electric mixer, beat until smooth and creamy, about 3-5 minutes. Gradually add the remaining sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating well after each addition (about 2 minutes), until the icing is thick enough to be of good spreading consistency. You may not need to add all of the sugar. If desired, add a few drops of food coloring and mix thoroughly. (Use and store the icing at room temperature because icing will set if chilled.) Icing can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days

Donut touch my cake!

So I innocently wandered onto Citrus and Candy earlier this evening, thinking to have a bit of a browse and drool before dinner. And that's where I fell victim to her cooking wiles, overcome with the desperate need to bake her Apple 'Donut' Cakes. Dear Lord! If I am to ever commit a crime so violent it leads me to death row, I will be sure to ask for these as my last meal.
The recipe calls for buerre noisette, or brown butter, which gives the cakes an incredible moorishness. When they come out of the oven they're rolled immediately in cinnamon sugar, hence the donut reference. The sugar combined with the beuatifully crisp top is absolutely the most perfect smile-inducing moment. And the apple - well it's a fruit, so that makes them healthy, right?
My mother, who usually complains that my baked goods are too sweet, sheepishly asked for a second one and gobbled it down like a little girl with an ice-cream cone.
I somehow restrained myself to one. Well, I tried to...      

Of pie and pears

Last Monday, feeling the need to cook for as many people as possible (I know, who get's that craving?), I invited Miss V over for dinner.
Being fluey, I'd been craving chicken soup for a good week and had bought a lovely chicken for just that purpose. I hadn't really thought much past the chicken though, so I ended up low on ingredients for the soup I had in mind - a Thai-style ginger-filled broth. So I bunged the chicken in a pot, threw in some vegetables and a few seasonings and hoped for the best. Entree done.
Now, my family are huge carnivores. Growing up I remember nights involving meats-other-than-beef were savoured only once a week. I'm not a huge meat-eater. My cravings for roast lamb kind of foil any vegetarianism ideas I've ever had, but I don't need meat every night - once or twice a week usually satisfies the carnivore in me. So in an effort to reduce my family's meat intake, and save myself from beef overload I've hitched us to the Meatless Mondays bandwagon. This meant main for the night was vegetarian, which much excited me. I pulled out my tried and true Spanakopita recipe, made by a real Greek lady on SBS's Food Safari and used by me at least once a month, always to rave reviews.
Being a cold night I decided to put a bit of a twist on the typical Greek salad for the side, and threw some tomatoes, olives, red onion, and baby cucumbers in a a fry-pan to get some heat under them, then tossed through the fetta at the last minute. I'd already marinated the onions in caramelised apple balsamic and that, with the juice from the tomatoes, was enough to make a nice warm dressing. V caught the foodlove and decided to photograph the yum for all to see:

Dessert. So impressed by my efforts! Does that make me sound obnoxious? If dessert was placed in a ratio of effort to tastiness I'd say it would look something like this 1:5000. Or maybe this:

I couldn't find any bowls big enough to sit them how I wanted to, but I still think they looked alright. What exactly are 'they'? Let's call them Spice Poached Pears with Orange and Pistachio Cream. In reality they're just pears poached in red red wine with a chai teabag thrown in for flavour. My mum hates cream so I used 250g of cream cheese and about 5tbsp of icing sugar with 1/3cup of orange juice to create a fake orange cream, and then sprinkled each dollop with a good serving of crushed pistachios. (The cream was so good we had it the next night with a dodgy pizza shop dessert and it improved it no end.) When the pears were done, I added some Nebbiolo Verjus - purchased from here (as was the apple balsamic) - with the pan juices to create a delish little syrup to spoon over the finished dish. Soooo good.
Did I mention while dinner was cooking V taught me guitar? She's giving me lessons which I'm so excited about. I'm going to be a rock star (in my dreams)!
  

Treats for mum

Dear Mum,
Today I'd like to thank you for growing me in your belly for nine months, and then going through the agony of childbirth so I could be here. Thanks for feeding me, clothing me, and looking after me when I'm sick. For teaching me to read, write, and dream. Thank you for teaching me manners, punishing me even when I thought you were being unfair, and explaining the difference between organised chaos and mess.
Thank you for dealing with my small dramas and my big catastrophies. For laughing with me, crying for me, and standing silent when I needed to yell at someone. For the Tuppaware, the sheets, and the spare couch. Thank you for keeping secrets, telling white lies, and turning a blind eye sometimes. Thanks for listening, understanding, and explaining. Thank you for allowing me to make mistakes, and for being there to clean up the mess.
Thanks for the music lessons, the netball Saturdays, and the birthday sleepovers. For the Barbies, the overly-large stereo system, and the over-priced party dress. Thank you for taking the time to help me move house, find my direction, and change my mind. Thanks for helping me learn to sew, teaching me to cook, and giving me the skills and recipes I need to keep me going both in the kitchen and in life.
Happy Mother's Day
Dotty


Darling Mum's Light and Fluffy Pikelets
4eggs
4cups SR flour
3cups milk
8tbsp sugar
4tbsp butter, chopped
1.5tbsp golden syrup
1. Whisk eggs until light and fluffy. Add sugar and continue to whisk, adding in butter to combine, followed by the syrup (it will get lumpy, don't worry, the flour and milk will make it all better). Add the flour and milk alternately, one cup at a time, whisking well between additions.
2. Heat an electric fry pan (you can do it stove top but a fry pan seems to cook them more evenly), and brush lightly with butter. Drop large spoonfuls into pan, cooking until the bubbles appear on the top. Flip and cook for a further 60-90secs. Remove, spread with lashing of butter and your favourite topping. Save some for mum.  
 

I've got a crush on you

I've got a crush on a lifeguard at my local pool. I swim three or four mornings a week, and whenever I catch site of him I push extra hard in an effort to impress him. This morning he held the door open for me. I squeaked out a thankyou and fell that little bit more in love with him.
Then I came home and fell in love all over again, but this time for the Banana bread I baked last night:

I found the recipe on Butter Sugar Flour the other day while drooling over her baking exploits. Luckily my family is a huge fan of bananas, and often buys far too many to eat all at once. Enter "the prefect opportunity to bake banana bread". I changed the flour in this to wholemeal for a little extra healthiness and replaced half the chocolate with walnuts because my mum demands nuts in her banana bread, but I reckon it would be just as tasty, if a little naughtier, with just the chocolate.

Butter Sugar Flour's (BSF) Chocolate Banana Bread 
250g Plain Flour
2.5tsp baking powder
big pinch of salt
125g dark or milk chocolate, chopped
1tsp vanilla extract
1cup caster sugar
2 large eggs
4 large, very ripe bananas, mashed (BSF reccomends not using any more than this or it becomes to stodgy. I tend to agree, it is definitely a bread, not a cake, so it's quite dense)
1. Preheat oven to 200C, and grease and line a bar tin.
2. Sift together flower, baking powder, and salt. Stir through choclate.
Mix together eggs, sugar, vanilla, bananas then combine with dry ingredients, being carful not to overmix.
3. Pour into pan and bake for 40mins, until golden brown and skewer inserted comes out clean. Cool on wire rack.

Or, if you're impatient like me, cut a slice and eat in straight away "just to check it's cooked properly".

Muffin tops (the good kind)

I've never been a skinny girl. In fact, for the bulk of my childhood I was larger than I am even now. I was the token fat kid. Suffice to say any dreams of Supermodel stardom were short-lived. During high school I slimmed down a bit, and in my early twenties I was even a size ten for a while - A size I never thought I'd see again.
But, after three almost four months of resting my knee and three months of food overload, I looked in the mirror last week to discover that my muffin tops have muffin tops. And not the yummy, crunchy on the outside soft on the inside, baked treat type either.
So, in an effort to banish both layers of muffin topage from my middle I decided to start swimming with a vegeance, and stopped eating with one. The second part of that plan is the hardest to fulfill, what with my vow of eternal loyalty to chocolate and all. I put my plan into action this week and am already feeling better for the early morning swims and almost-always-good meal choices.
The hardest thing has been finding snacks that are both healthy and delicious, and ones that use the neverending supply of fresh veges Darling mother produces with her incredible green thumb. So when I came across this muffin recipe on the Australian Master Chef website I was chuffed. I know muffins aren't exactly the god of all things healthy, but they are a tasty baked treat that doesn't blow all your good eating out the window like, say KFC chips (I know, so bad...but sooooo good).
I changed the recipe slightly to accomodate my family's need for meat in everything, and also to give it a bit more flavour, and I think the paprika and bacon gives it a lovely smokey flavour that is really satisfying. I also baked mine at 180C instead of 200C because I hate that burnt-mouth taste a lot of muffins have because the flour hasn't been cooked out enough.

Savoury Zuncchini Muffins - Dotty Style
2cup self-raising flour
1cup vegetable stock
2tbsp olive oil
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/4cup parmesan cheese, grated
1cup tasty cheese, grated
2tbsp chopped chives
1tsp mustard powder
2tsp paprika
2 medium zucchini, grated
1/2-1cup bacon, diced
1. Preheat oven to 180C and line 12-cup muffin tray. Cook off bacon until crispy and cool.
2. Combine Sifted flour, mustard powder, paprika, chives and cheese in large bowl. Add zucchini and bacon and stir well. Combine stock, oil, and eggs in jug and pour into dry ingredients, mixing until just combined.
3. Spoon into muffin tins, filling 3/4 full. Bake for 30mins, or until golden on top.  

Oh, and here's what they look like:

Hedonistic delights

This week has been one of hedonism of the food variety. It was my birthday on Wednesday, so the days have been filled with lunch and dinner dates in honour of the occasion. Tueday night we (Mother and Father Dotty, and I) were invited to the neighbours for dinner and, ever needing a reason to get into the kitchen, I offer to prepare to dessert. Enter Mango and Peach Coconut Pavlova:

YUM! The base was a recipe spied amongst Wabiwabi's ever-so-lovely ponderings, which I prepared with great excitement and shaped into one giant macaroon. And just as she said, it was delectable topped with fresh cream, mangoes and peaches, and a wee bit o'lime just for good measure. It was so good all males present had second desserts, and all ladies sat, as ladies do, and wished they too could be uncouth enough to gobble down two giant helpings of joy.
With Mother and Father Dotty gone exploring the northern-most tropics yesterday, I declared it the perfect time for a night of Italian feasting and fun, inviting some of my very best ladies to dine with me for the evening. And didn't we dine! There was course after course of delisciousness to be had. And still so much left over! Darling Wabi shined with a scrumptious pinenut tart and a crunchy asparagus salad, and the other lovelies brought food treats aplenty to temp all tastebud. And me? Well I racked my brain and, in true Dotty style, decided at the last minute that Italian Food Forever's Chicken Oreganata, and Orrechiette with tomatoes and pecorino would be our fate. It was a tough choice, because every recipe was completely droolworthy. Look:

Does it not make you want to race to the kitchen and cook yourself perfect pasta?
Cut to today and, after cleaning the kitchen from last night's events, I pulled out my green mixing bowl and matching spoon and set to work on a bounty of baked treats, including these:

I discovered the recipe for these brownies years ago on A Spoonfull of Sugar, pilfered the recipe and never returned, only now discovering the blog still exists and is still unbeleiveable fabulous.I took the basic recipe, changed it to suit myself, and created a brownie that not only never fails, but is always greeted with sounds unbecoming of any self-respecting person. They cook in 30 minutes and come out crispy and crunchy on top and gooey and chewy in the middle. 

Country Fair Brownies A La Dotty

3/4 cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar (any you have on hand will do, I've tried the lot)

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

3/4 flour 

1/2 cup cocoa

250g compound chocolate buttons

Beat butter and sugar until well combined. Add eggs and vanilla nd mix well. Sift in flour and cocoa, ensuring the mixture is thick, similar to cookie dough. Break in chocolate buttons and any other additions and stir well. Pour into well-greased ceramic baking dish and bake at 180C for 20mins then turn oven back to 160C until brownie is crisp on top and a few crumbs still stick when tester is inserted.

Ps. I've made this mixture with gluten free flour many times and, not only does it work, I think it tastes better. The gf flour makes it chewier and more fudgey, just make sure to add extra flour if needed to keep the consistency nice and thick. I've also added all sorts of fruit and nuts and it only seems to get better, so feel free to get creative.

Bake me away

When I was a kid, my brother and I would spend the best part of the weekend running amok outside. We lived in a small country town next to the macinery firm dad ran, and had unhindered access to all manner of tractor, plough, ride-on mower and farm thinga-ma-bob. On Sunday afternoons, after a full day of yabbieing, "driving" tractors, and (ahem) aquiring and selling golfers their own golf balls (we were wicked children), we'd scramble inside, grass-stained and sunburnt. And that's when the real fun would begin.
See, Sunday afternoon was baking afternoon, the time when my mother would roll up her sleeves and restock the cupboard with afternoon tea and lunchbox treats, and we got to help. Now, there's nothing too shocking in that, most kids have helped their mum bake cookies at one time or another. The reason I share this is because it was the start of a life-long love, a love that may just rival that I will have for any man. Ever.
When I was six...and ten...and even fifteen, cooking was a time I spent helping my mother with chores. But it was also a time we could spend learning each other, and teaching each other things. My mother is a smart woman. She understood that bakeing wasn't just about flour, sugar, and butter, it was about learning new skills, creating something yourself, and giving something to others that you can't find in any Oreo or Tim Tam.
The great thing about cooking is that, when it's done purely for the love of it, it is an experience well outside the chore we often make it. We cook because we must eat. But we can also cook to give those who eat our food, a little taste of ourselves. My days of climbing tractors and ripping off golfers may be over, and the timing may be less Sunday afternoon and more whenever the urge kicks in, but the excitement at watching a cake rise, or a mayonaise thicken is still the same. And the feeling of satisfaction I get when someone 'Mmmmm's at the taste of my brownies is pure joy.
I spent almost an hour today gasping and thumbing through the cookbooks in my local department store. It felt like a mere ten minutes. Among the treasures I would gladly have sold a limb for was a book by Monica Trapaga that sums up a large chunk of why I love cooking.

She's Leaving Home is a bunch of Monica's family's favourite recipes, stories, and cooking tips, originally created for her daughter when she left home. Luckily, she has also decided to share it with the rest of the world. The recipes that fill the book are accompanied by family annecdotes and some super sweet illustrations, and seem to swell with the love and fulfillment they surely have provided generations of her family. 

Outside of the book, Monica is a seasoned entertainer and a veteran of Australian children's television. For me, this adds to the charm of the book. As I skimmed through the stories and glanced at the pictures I couldn't help but remember sitting a-top a beanbag with a warm anzac, watching Dr Monica and Miss Polly put Jemima Dolly straight to bed.

Birthday wishes and cute creations

It was my dad's 70th birthday yesterday and (due to lack of funds) I decided to create a feast for dinner instead of buy him something. Being adventurous, I decided to let him choose the menu and was met with the least likely dinner choice for a balmy January eve: Slow-cooked lamb shanks. Luckily we woke to an abnormally cool morning, and I headed to town feeling a little bit better about my mission. For dessert he decided on cheesecake which, for my first ever attempt, I think turned out pretty good:

I'm not a fan of cheesecake but the plates were all but licked clean, so I'm guessing it tasted ok. I took the crust recipe from Canelle et Vanille's bakewell tarts and baked it for half an hour. It turned beautifully sweet tasted like basic shortbread. The filling I made up as I went along, so the measurements are guessed to the closest degree.
Mixed Berry Cheesecake
250g cream cheese
250g mascapone
1/2-3/4cup icing sugar
3tbsp lemon curd
5tbsp Berry compote
mixed berries to decorate
Beat cream cheese and mascapone until soft and light. While mixing slowly add icing sugar and lemon curd alternately. Fold in bery compote to form swirls through mix. Spoon into cooled pastry base and top with berries.
I served mine with extra compote, icecream and chocolate shavings.


I've been doing quite a bit of crocheting lately too. Procrastination while packing last week led to these two, both of which I gave to my friend K as part of a belated Christmas pressie:

My first ever doily, randomly selected from here. Still need to do a bit of work on my tension I think.

A cute little bowtie. Another pattern found on Creative Yarn.
I'm working on my very first amigurumi at the moment. Cross fingers it works.

Sugar and Spice and all Things Nice

It's been a rainy weekend, which is the perfect reason to dust off the rolling pin and get spend the whole day in the kitchen. Since I hurt my leg I've been unable to stand for too long which has limited my cooking soires to reheating and packet-cooking on the few days my mum hasn't been around the house to cook for me. I must admit I'm enjoying the easiness of being home for a while. The chores are shared and the mess is halved with more hands to help.
But this afternoon I gave my mum the afternoon off and took over the kitchen for a few hours. I started by making the dough for these little fellas:

And then I left it chill for a while and thew together possibly the yummiest blueberry muffins in the world:

I found the recipe (I can't remember where) last year sometime and have had all the ladies at mum's work begging me to make them again every time I come home. They're super easy and quick, and disappear way too quickly.

Blueberry Heaven
1/2cup unsalted butter (I'm lazy so I used salted and just omitted the salt)
1 1/4cups sugar (I used caster ut I've also used raw and they taste just as good)
2 eggs
2cups plain flour
1/2tsp salt
3tsp baking powder
1/2 cup milk
125g mashed blueberries
125g whole blueberries

Cream butter and sugar on slow speed. Add eggs one at a time.  Sift in dry ingredients, alternating with milk. Add blueberries and stir gently until combined. Fill muffin papers 3/4 full and sprinkle with a little extra sugar. Bake at 190C for 20-30 minutes.

The Gingerbread men I took from the mini recipe book on the December issue of Australian Good Food. We had a whole heap of treacle in the cupboard and not much golden syrup so I substituded half and half which I think produced a slightly darker cookie. Again, I also used caster sugar instead of brown and omitted the cloves because, well...I forgot ro get them. 

Gingerbread Soldiers
1/4cup golden syrup
1/4cup firmly packed brown sugar
1tbsp ground cinnamon
1/2tsp ground gloves
1tsp bicarb soda
125g unsalted butter, chopped
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 1/4cups plain flour, sifted
Combine golden syrup, sugar and spices in heatproof bowl over simmering water and stir until sugar dissolves. Add bicarb soda and stir until mixture bubbles.Remove from heat and add butter, stirring until butter is melted and mixture is smooth and leave to cool.
Stir in egg and add one cup of flour, stirring until combined. Add remaining flour and use hands to bring dough together. turn out onto lightly floured surface and kneed gently until dough is soft and smooth. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for 30mins.
Roll out dough and use man-shaped cutters to cut out biscuits, placing on a greased and lined baking tray. Bake at 180C for 10-15 mins, or until biscuits start to harden and colour.

I used a basic icing mixture to decorate the little men and also made a few ginger stars while I was at it. I think next time I'd add a bit more spice to give them more of a kick, and maybe make them a bit bigger so I can use smarties of m&ms for buttons.

Turning the frown upside down

Things that make me sad: Worksafe rejecting my claim for a work injury.

Things that make me a little less sad:

These Christian Louboutin heels. They're call Rosazissimo, which I think describes their sweet craziness perfectly.

These wedding photos from Green Wedding Shoes. They're just a little bit cute.

Williams Sonoma's Sandwich cookie cake tin. "I only had one cookie...."