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Hey all you lovely people, I now have a snazzy new blog designed by a darling friend of mine so please follow me at www.sezlamont.wordpress.com. Look forward to sharing more recipes with you all! xx

Crunchy lemon and poppy seed muffins

I absolutely love anything with lemon in it, and again it's one of those fantastic detoxing foods that makes you feel healthy when you eat it, even if it is in a muffin ;) My friend Emma and I have been having weekly bake sessions at each other's homes which makes it so much more fun, experiencing the first bite with someone else. She picked up this recipe from Alison Holst, which she had tried before and rated as pretty damn good. The muffins were moist and light with a gorgeous crunch and a lemon drizzle on top. For REAL lemon lovers you can add more lemon zest or even a little juice in to the recipe as suggested as most of the lemon flavour came from the topping.

NOTE: Remember NOT to overmix the mixture. It's really important with muffins that you fold until the ingredients are JUST combined so they are moist and not dry :)

Enjoy! xx

Crunchy Lemon and Poppy Seed muffins




















2 cups of self-raising flour
3/4 cup of sugar
75g butter
2 Tbsp poppyseeds
1 cup of milk
1 egg
Grated rind of one large lemon
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup sugar

Method:

1. Pre-heat oven to 200 C and grease muffin tin or line with paper.
2. Mix flour, sugar (3/4 cup) and poppy seeds in a large bowl. In another bowl, melt butter, add milk, egg, lemon ring and beat to combine.
3. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix/fold until JUST combined.
4. Spoon in to muffin tin and and bake for 10-12mins or until muffins are lightly golden and bounce back when touched.
5. Stir lemon juice and extra sugar together, without dissolved the sugar, and drizzle mixture over hot muffins.
6. Leave in trays a few mintures before topping hardens and sticks to tins.
7. EAT!

Raspberry and apple yoghurt cake

This is a really easy and delicious cake recipe that I spotted on the Coles (supermarket) website one day! It looked yummy so I waited until I had the ingredients and ended up baking it today. The house filled with the smell of berries! It was so lovely. Although it doesn't take long to prepare, it does need 60 minutes of baking so make sure you're not going anywhere in a hurry!

Raspberry and apple yoghurt cake




















Ingredients:

125g butter, softened
1 cup caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
3 eggs
1 1/2 cup self-raising flour
1/2 cup thick natural yoghurt (I uses Greek)
1 red apple, cored and thinly sliced
2/3 cup raspberries
1 Tbsp of sugar, for dusting

Method:
1. Pre-heat oven to 180 C and grease and line a cake tin with baking paper.
2. Beat butter, sugar and vanilla until creamy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
3. Fold in sifted flour and yoghurt until combined. Pour mixture in to tin.
4. Top with raspberries and apples and sprinkle with extra sugar.
5. Bake for 60-65mins or until skewer comes out clean.
6. Leave to rest in pan for 15mins before moving to wire rack to cool.

Lemon meringue pie!

So I've wanted to attempt lemon meringue pie for ever but haven't got around to it because it always looked too difficult! But I was pleasantly surprised to realise it is pretty straight forward and tastes absolutely delicious! My friend Emma also wanted to attempt making it because it was her dad's all-time favourite dessert, so it was a first time for both of us which made it even more exciting. Both Chance, myself, Emma and her husband Sean have a Game of Thrones night where we watch an episode together and enjoy sweet treats so this time we got to show off our delicious lemon meringue pie! Enjoy! X

Lemon Meringue Pie

Ingredients:

Base:
1 1/2 cups plain flour
3 tsp icing sugar
140g cold butter, chopped
1 egg yolk, beaten lightly
2 Tbsp water

Lemon filling:
1/2 cup cornflour
1 cup caster sugar
1/2 cup lemon juice
1 1/4 cups water
2 tsp grated lemon rind
3 egg yolks
60g unsalted butter

Meringue:
3 egg whites
1/2 cup caster sugar

Method:
1. Lightly grease a flan/pie tin.
2. For the base I cheated and used my food processor which worked brilliantly and is much more efficient. Just put all the base ingredients in and mix until a dough forms. If you don't have a processor then simply sift flour and icing sugar in to a bowl and rub in butter. Add yolk and enough of the water to make the dough cling together.
3. Press dough in to a ball, knead gently on floured surface until smooth. Wrap in gladwrap and refrigerate for 30mins.
4. Preheat oven to 200 C. Roll dough on floured surface until large enough to line tin. Lift pastry in to tin, ease in to side and trim edges.
5. Line pastry with baking paper and fill with beads. Bake blind for 10 mins. Remove paper and beads and bake a further 10 mins or until browned lightly. Cool. Reduce oven to 180 C.
6. Meanwhile make lemon filling by combining cornflour and sugar in a medium saucepan. Gradually add juice and water, stirring until smooth. Stir over heat until mixture boils and thickens. The mixture should be very thick. Reduce heat, simmer and stir for 30 seconds. Remove from heat and quickly stir in rind, yolks and butter. Stir until butter has melted and allow to cool to room temperature, covered.
7. Make meringue by whisking egg whites until soft peaks form. Gradually add sugar, beating until dissolved after each addition.
8. Fill pastry with lemon filling. Top with meringue. Bake for about 5 mins or until meringue has browned lightly.
9. Allow to sit for 5 mins before gobbling it all up!

Eton mess!!! Delicious, easy and cheap dessert

So I hosted my first dinner party in our new house last night. Not sure if I had mentioned our move in previous posts but it's a much bigger, family home with a big open kitchen and we are inlove with it! So I had all the family and a few friends over last night as a Mother's Day get together as well as mum had been in Perth on Mother's Day and I wasn't able to share my first mother's day with her! :( I decided to go all out for the dinner party and made some gorgeous little canapés for entree and delicious creamy salmon pasta for dinner and to finish off with our light and healthy menu I followed with a super easy eton mess which is great when you've got quite a few people! Even my brother ate it, and he is not a sweets tooth AT ALL! and I finished off licking the bowl ;)

Start off earlier in the day with making your meringue so that it has time to cool and the rest of the ingredients just get chucked together when it comes time to serve! Plus you can use whatever fruit you have in the house. I have a thing for raspberries at the moment so that was my theme and even better that I had a tin of passionfruit pulp in the pantry. Scrummy!

Eton mess

Ingredients:

For basic meringue:
4 egg whites, at room temperature
Pinch of salt
1 cup caster sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla essence

For mess:

150ml thickened cream, whipped
150ml natural yoghurt
225g raspberries (or whatever fruit you have)
Tin of passionfruit pulp

1.Preheat oven to 120 C and line baking tray with baking paper.
2.Whisk egg whites and salt until soft peaks form. Gradually add sugar, 1 Tbsp at a time, making sure sugar dissolves after each addition.
3. Continue to whisk for 3 minutes until meringue is glossy and smooth. Whisk in vanilla essence.
4. Spoon mixture on to baking tray with a Tbsp, making a circle shape.
5. Bake for 40-45mins or until meringue is lightly golden. Leave to cool in oven completely.
6. Once cooled, break in to pieces.
7. Meanwhile place raspberries in saucepan with 1/4 caster sugar on medium heat and stir until sugar dissolves and a pulp-like juice forms.
8. In another bowl, whip cream and add in natural yoghurt. Pour in broken bits of meringue and mix all together.
9. Start to layer dessert in desired glasses by placing a spoonful of raspberry at the bottom. Top with meringue mixture and then spoon a layer of passionfruit pulp, before repeating the layers again.
10. Eat!!

Marshmallow fondant for cake decorating!

So, I have talked about making Finn's 1st birthday cake in previous posts, and have really wanted to try making fondant so that the cake has that lovely smooth finish and you can make awesome designs out of it! However, I have been putting it off because every recipe for fondant looked way too hard and intimidating and everyone I know who makes/designs cakes always said they just bought there's from the supermarket etc (cheaters ;). However, a friend of mine whom I studied journalism with had the best recipe for marshmallow fondant, which although is still a bit of work, is much easier than the traditional fondant and tastes 10x better! Marcia is actually the person who encouraged me in to decorating when she made my beautiful baby shower cupcakes. She is so talented and it seemed like an absolute breeze for her. lol. So I thought I would pass on this wonderful recipe so that anyone who is a total amatuer at cake decorating like I am, could give it a go. Also, be sure to follow Marcia's blog at http://creativeacorn.wordpress.com/ for recipes and inspiration on decorating. My marshmallow fondant recipe is about half of hers because there were only two bags of marshmallows left at the supermarket! Here's the link the Marcia's recipe http://creativeacorn.wordpress.com/recipes/ or my similar version is below which covered one 23cm sized round cake.

Marshmallow fondant

4 cups of loosely packed of white mini marshmallows. The only ones I could find were white and pink mixed but I was colouring my fondant so it didn't matter, however it's best to get all white if you can find them.

2 Tbsp water
4 cups sifted icing sugar
1 block of copha (found in the margarine/butter section of your supermarket)

Method:

1. Put marshmallows and water in microwave-safe bowl and microwave for 30 seconds. Take out and mix well before putting it in for another 30 seconds. Mix again until mixture has completely melted. If there are still some lumps, put it back in for 30 seconds and mix until smooth.

2. Put your block of copha within reach as you will need it often. Fold in 3/4 icing sugar in to mixture. Coat hands generously in copha and turn dough out on to board lightly dusted with icing sugar. Knead the fondant as if you were kneading bread for about 7-8 minutes, adding the remaining icing sugar as needed. Continuously coat your hands in the copha to stop the fondant from sticking. The fondant is done when it is smooth and elastic.

NOTE: If the fondant starts tearing then it is too try. Add a little water gradually until you get the right consistency. If it is too sticky (like mine was) add icing sugar little by little.

Once the fondant is ready, shape it into a ball and cover in generous amount of copha. Wrap in glad wrap then snap-lock bag and store overnight at room temperature. This is the best way to use fondant as it needs that resting time to get an even better consistency.This is also how you store it when not using or making in advance.

After that the fondant is ready to use. If your wanting to colour it, then put a drop of food colouring in the middle of the fondant and fold both sides over to cover it. Stretch and squeeze the fondant (the fun part) until the colour evens out. Add food colouring bit by bit until you get your desired colour. If you want to do a few different colours then break up into pieces and colour each one.

NOTE: You may want to wear plastic gloves to avoid getting dye all over your hands like I did. My kitchen ended up pink. If you don't have a baking mat or anything to roll the fondant on then I suggest placing some newspaper down underneath your board to avoid getting dye all over your kitchen bench (from experience ;)

Once the fondant is the colour you want it then roll it out to the size you want it and carefully place over your cake then smile in satisfaction at the job you have just done! Good luck! xx

Here's my first attempt.

and here's a pic of my gorgeous baby shower cupcakes that Marcia made me!

Gingerbread!!

I LOVE ginger and it has amazing health benefits...maybe not so much when it's made in to gingerbread but it is so tasty as an afternoon treat (served with some butter if you're feeling extra naughty!). I had never made gingerbread until today but had eaten it A LOT and was one of my favourite cakes growing up. The only downfall with it is that it does take 1 1/4hr to bake but the result will be worth it! Note-this recipe makes a large square tin worth so if you're using a loaf tin, you could halve it.

Gingerbread

Ingredients:
1 cup golden syrup
1 cup water
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
250g butter
3 1/2 cups plain flour
1 tsp of baking soda
2 Tbsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp ground cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 140 C fan-forced (160 if not). Grease tin and line base with baking paper. This recipe fills a 23cm tin.
2. Combine syrup, water, sugar and butter in large saucepan and heat until butter has melted. Remove from heat and allow to cool for 10mins.
3. Meanwhile sift all dry ingredients in to bowl. Add dry ingredient to butter mixture in two batches, beating until smooth.
4. Pour mixture into prepared tin and bake for 1 1/4hrs. Leave in tin for 5 mins before removing from tin and putting on wire rack to cool.

You can also add a lemon icing if you like although I much prefer it without. For the icing beat 60g softened butter and 2 tsp of grated lemon rind in bowl. Gradually beat in 2 Tbsp of lemon juice and 2 cups of sifted icing sugar. Spread on when cake is cold!

Indulgent chocolate hazelnut mousse with raspberries

We had some friends come around for dinner tonight so I thought I would make dessert. I had never tried mousse before and I'm so glad I did! This was beautiful. The raspberries broke up the sweetness and the little chunks of hazelnuts gave it a great texture! It's also easy to make and you can make it look really elegant by putting it in a martini glass.

Chocolate hazelnut mousse with raspberries

150g milk chocolate
150g dark chocolate
300ml of thickened cream
3 eggs, separate
1/3 cup hazelnuts, chopped finely
2 Tbsp caster sugar
Raspberries to decorate

1. Melt chocolate together in heatproof bowl on pot of simmering water, stirring gently with a spoon until it's melted. Set aside to cool slightly
2. Mix in egg yolks to chocolate mixture.
3. Beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Sprinkle caster sugar over top and continue mixing until glossy and thick. Fold in to chocolate mixture in two batches
4. Beat cream until soft peaks form and fold into mixture along with hazelnuts.
5. Sprinkle a handful of raspberries in bottom of martini glass ( or any glass you have at home). Spoon mousse on top of raspberries an garnish with another few raspberries.
6. Put in fridge to set for a few hours before eating!! Yummy!

Homemade pizza dough

Chance and I lurrrrve our pizza and often make our own ones at home but have always bought the dough so this time I decided to make mine! I say it again, there is nothing better than your own homemade bread! This was delicious and the fact I had made it myself made it that much tastier! It's nice and easy and the only hassle is the resting time, which gave me some time to catch up on the house work while Finn was asleep ;) we topped ours with chicken, brie, rocket and cranberry sauce. My personal favourite! Give it a go! You'll be pleased with the result!

Pizza dough

Ingredients

Large pinch of caster sugar
250ml lukewarm water
2 tsp dried yeast
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 1/3 cups of plain flour
1 1/2 tsp salt

Method
1. Combine sugar and half of water (1/2 cup) in a bowl. Sprinkle yeast over top and set aside for 7 minutes or until foamy.
2. Stir in oil and remaining water then add flour and salt.
3. Use your hands to mix in to a coarse dough and then turn out on to lightly floured work surface.

4. Knead for 8 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic. (I timed it)

Final result after kneading

5. Transfer dough to lightly oiled large bowl, turning to coat in oil. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and set aside in warm place for 1 hour (dough should double in size)

6. Knock back dough with one punch to expel air then turn out on to lightly floured work surface again. Divide in to about 3 portions (shape into ball). Using one ball at a time, roll out into desired shape with rolling pin. We made ours into rectangular shapes.
7. Transfer to lightly oiled baking trays. Top with your favourite ingredients and bake for 12-15mins at 220 C until dough is golden.

Tips:

You can freeze pizza dough in balls for up to one month in airtight freezer bags.

Knead with one palm on the edge of your dough and with your other palm push the dough out and back in to get that lovely elasticity.

Lemon chiffon pie

Sorry I haven't posted on here for a while, we have been moving house!! We are finally all in now and are slowly unpacking (which is the fun part). I am so in love with our new home and it's amazing how having more space can make you that much happier! Finn has his own little playroom and I have a big kitchen so I can make more mess while baking! ;) I have wanted to make a lemon dessert for a while now, in particular a lemon meringue pie, but this chiffon pie seemed a lot easier and because Finn was upset with his teething today, I didn't have much spare time! I was quite delighted with the result. Unsure as to what chiffon really was, I would describe it as a very light, fluffy texture almost like marshmallow. . The Lenin flavour was strong and the biscuit base gave it that lovely crunch! Enjoy x

Lemon chiffon pie

Ingredients

180g plain biscuits (use any plain, I used marie)
125 butter, melted

4 eggs, separated
1/3 cup caster sugar
1/3 cup lemon juice
1/3 cup water
3 tsp Gelatine
2 tsp lemon rind
1/3 cup caster sugar, extra

1. Blitz biscuits in a food processor until they resemble fine crumbs. Mix in melted butter and press mixture firmly into a round or fluted tin. Chill in fridge for atleast 30mins.
2. Meanwhile in heatproof bowl combine egg YOLKS, sugar, gelatine, lemon zest and juice and water. Place bowl over saucepan of simmering water and stir until mixture JUST slightly thickens. Take off heat, transfer to larger bowl and glad wrap. Leave to cool down to room temperature
3. Beat egg whites until soft peaks form and gradually add second batch of caster sugar (1/3 cup) making sure its dissolved each time before adding more.
4. Fold egg white mixture into lemon mixture in two batches.
5. Pour mixture on top of chilled biscuit base and refrigerate for a few hours until set.
6. Eat!

You can also make this dessert the day before if you cover and store in the fridge!

Coffee and walnut cupcakes!

While browsing through one of my cookbooks the other day, my darling Chance was being nosey and spotted this recipe for coffee and walnut cupcakes and asked me to make them for him, so I did!

As I said in one of my earlier blogs, baking is about sharing with family and friends. When Chance and I moved to Melbourne we didn't know many people at all. We have been lucky enough to meet an awesome couple, Sean and Emma, who live close to us and even greater is the fact that Emma shares my love for baking and my sweet tooth! Yesterday, Finn and I went around to their house to have a baby and baking date and made these cupcakes. Chance had one as soon as he arrived home from work and said they were "amazing". Great if you love coffee too! Enjoy x

Coffee walnut cupcakes

Ingredients

85g walnuts, finely chopped
115g butter, at room temperature
115g caster sugar
115g self-raising flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 eggs
2 tsp instant coffee dissolved in 1 tsp hot water

For coffee icing

1 Tbsp instant coffee dissolves in 1 Tbsp hot water
175g butter, at room temperature
350g icing sugar, sifted
12 walnut halves

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 180 C. Line muffin tray with cupcake cases.
2. Place butter, caster sugar, flour, baking powder, eggs and instant coffee solution in large mixing bowl and beat well until light and fluffy. Fold in chopped walnuts.
3. Spoon mixture into cases and bake for 15-20mins or until centre springs back when lightly touched. Transfer to wire rack to cool.
4. Meanwhile, make the icing. Place instant coffee solution in bowl and beat in butter. Gradually add sifted icing sugar, beating until light and fluffy. Pipe or spoon icing on top of cooled cupcakes and decorate with a walnut.
5. Eat! Om nom nom

The rollercoaster ride of a first-time mum

Being a first-time mum is overwhelming, challenging yet extremely rewarding. Every step is learning a long with the way with some of it coming naturally but in the end going with your instinct and what feels right for you. Everyone parents differently but we most of us just want the best for our child. Now over six months in to my journey I find I am constantly overwhelmed at the constant debate over what is right and wrong for your child. Lately, it has been regarding vaccines. After reading some research on Facebook about vaccines possibly causing harm to babies, I immediately started doubting myself with the forever recurring "what if" thought popping in to my mind. "What if vaccinating Finn resulted in something bad happening to him?". However, I had never really considered this thought up until now and he had been vaccinated when he was due for them. Did I want to continue vaccinating? Both Chance and I had been vaccinated and we're fine? After looking in to it more, I was reassured that what I was doing was the right thing by vaccinating my child, and in the end if I had decided to stop it, I know it would never have felt right. That's not to say this is the right choice for everybody, and that's why everyone has a choice. This isn't the only thing I have questioned myself over since my son was born. Supplementing at night with formula was another because I knew breast was best which is why I am still breastfeeding and will for as long as I can, but as a young new mum, introducing formula for my hungry hungry boy was the best thing I could have done. At the end of the day, I, like many other new mums are trying their hardest to do what's best for their child and instead of criticising ourselves we need to look at what we are doing right. Unfortunately for me, anxiety reared its ugly head when my son was born (never had it before) and I find myself anxious over everything I'm doing or not doing. I'm still an amatuer and I am going to mistakes but I have the most beautiful, most healthy, thriving little boy in front of me so I must be doing something right! xx

My new mixer!!!!

My darling Chance surprised me this week with a brand new baby pink Kenwood mixer!! I was so happy and used it the very next morning and what a difference it makes to my cheap version! it's so quiet and strong! It comes with the beater, whisk and dough hook and gives me even more desire to bake! Thanks baby you sure know how to make me happy :) xx

Pear and ginger upside down cake!

I made this last night for dessert and it was yum! The combination of pear and ginger works so well together and you could really taste the ginger which was important for me because I love it! I was most excited that the design worked because it was so pretty, yet very easy! Give it a go x

Pear and ginger upside down cake

50g butter
1/3 cup brown sugar
3 medium sized pears ( I used tin and just cut enough to cover tin)
150g butter, at room temperature or softened
1 cup of lightly packed brown sugar
3 eggs
1 1/3 cups self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp ground ginger

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 150 C and line or grease cake tin ( or any round tin).
2. Melt 1/3 cup brown sugar and 50g butter in saucepan and pour into base of tin. Slice pear in to thin wedges and place over melted mixture in tin in circular pattern.
3. In another bowl beat sugar (1 cup) and butter (150g) together until pale and creamy.
4. Add eggs one at a time beating well after each addition.
5. Sift flour, baking powder and ginger in a bowl and combine with wet mixture. Pour cake batter over pears.
6. Bake for 40mins or until skewer comes out clean. Keep an eye on it as mine started to burn slightly on the bottom as we have a very hot oven but still wasn't cooked through. If this happens open up the oven to let the air out and reduce temp to 100 C. Keep checking with skewer.
7. Once done, leave to cool in tin for 5 minutes before turning out on to board.
8. Serve with custard, cream or ice-cream for dessert or just eat as a piece of cake for afternoon tea ( we did both). Delish!

Winnie the pooh cake!

As I said in a previous post, I am aiming to make the cake for Finn's first birthday in September so I have started practising different themes to make sure I get it perfect when the time rolls around! Today I attempted Winnie the Pooh, because it's his favourite cuddly toy and his nursery is also Winnie the Pooh themed.

Firstly I printed a pooh face off the internet to use as a template. I then baked a chocolate cake (recipe below) in a square tin and once cooled I cut around the template. I then used buttercream icing (recipe below) to cover the cake with a crumb coat (I spread it over with a knife). This is because when first icing you will most likely pick up crumbs. The cake then goes in the fridge to allow the icing to set and then you can apply another layer of icing to get a smoother look. I then coloured more icing black and piped it on to the cake for the features and used a star pipe for the ears to raise them slightly. Give it a go! It's a lot of fun :)

Simple yet delicious chocolate cake

1 1/3 cups plain flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/3 cup of cocoa powder
1 cup of caster sugar
1 cup of buttermilk (sour milk)
2 eggs
125g butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla essence

Buttercream icing:

115g unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 Tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
225g icing sugar
Food colouring

Also need: piping bag

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180 C and line cake tin with baking paper or grease.
2. Sift flour, baking soda and cocoa in bowl. Stir in sugar.
3. Combine buttermilk, eggs, melted butter and vanilla in another bowl.
4. Make a well in centre of flour mixture and pour in wet mixture.
5. Mix until ingredients are combined and mixture is thick and creamy.
6. Pour mixture in to tin and bake for 40 mins or until skewer comes out clean. Allow to cool in tin for 5 minutes before turning out to wire rack.

Make up buttercream icing by mixing butter, half of milk and vanilla until creamy. Sift over icing sugar while still mixing until icing comes to spreadable consistency. Divide icing into separate bowls and colour each with yellow, black and pink. Decorate as shown in picture

White chocolate and apricot cookies!

I love all of these flavours and together they are just delicious because they compliment each other! The chunky white chocolate chunks give the cookie a nice texture and the apricot that fruity goodness! You could also use other fruits such as pineapple, mango. Enjoy x

Whites chocolate and apricot cookies














Ingredients:

290g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
100g unsalted butter
100g brown sugar
80 white chocolate, chopped
80g apricots, chopped
1 tsp lemon zest
1 egg

1. Preheat oven to 190 C. Line two trays with baking paper.
2. Sift flour and baking powder into a bowl. Rub butter in to flour with fingertips.
3. Mix in sugar, chopped chocolate and apricot. Add lemon zest and egg and mix to form a soft dough. Add a little water to make dough softer, if needed.
4. Roll in to balls and place on trays. Lightly press down with back of spoon or fork. Cook for 10-12 mins or until cookies are light golden brown.
5. Allow to cool for 5 mins and the transfer to wire rack.

And here is a photo of Finn enjoying his banana for breakfast! He has only just started solids and tries to eat the banana skin! Haha I love him xx

Cupcakes

I have been meaning to improve my decorating skills for a long time and with Finn's first birthday coming up, I really want to be able to make his cake. Today it was raining which is always the perfect time to bake so I whipped up some vanilla cupcakes and tried my hand at some piping with buttercream icing, which is great for decorating because it's smooth and reasonably thick so it holds its place. The presentation wasn't bad but it wasn't perfect either but practise makes perfect of course! The great thing about these is that you can decorate them how you like, with different coloured icing, and things such as sprinkles, silver balls, and in my case chocolate buttons. Here's the result! The cupcakes were delicious and very easy to make!

Vanilla cupcakes

Ingredients

225g unsalted butter, softened
225g caster sugar
225g self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract

Buttercream icing:

115g unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 Tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
225g icing sugar
Food colouring

Method:

1. Pre-heat oven to 180 C and grease muffin tray or line flat tray with paper cases.
2. Place all ingredients (butter, sugar, flour, baking powder, eggs and vanilla) in large bowl and beat until well combined.
3. Spoon into cases or muffin tray and bake for 18mins or until risen and golden brown. Transfer to wire rack to cool completely.
4. Meanwhile to make icing, put butter, half of the milk and vanilla in large bowl and beat until smooth and blended. Add a few drops of food colouring. Sift icing sugar over the mixture while still mixing at low speed until icing is smooth and has spreading consistency. If too stiff, add a little extra milk.
5. Put icing in piping bag and pipe a swirl on top of each cupcake and decorate as desired :)

Apple, cinnamon and blueberry muffins!

Apple and cinnamon are well known as a match made in heaven but with some blueberry added in to the mix, these muffins were devine. The texture was light and fluffy with the sweetness of the apple and tart of the berry and that beautiful cinnamon flavour. They are so easy to make! Enjoy x

Apple, cinnamon and blueberry muffins

Ingredients:

2 cups self-raising flour
3 tsp ground cinnamon
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 medium sized sweet apples ( I used royal gala), peeled, cored and chopped finely or grated if you prefer
2 eggs
3/4 cup milk (I used skim to make them a bit healthier)
125g butter or margarine, melted
1 cup blueberries

Method:

Preheat oven to 180 C and grease muffin tray.
2. Sift flour into bowl and add cinnamon, brown sugar and apple.
3. In another bowl whisk together milk, eggs and melted butter. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix together until JUST combined. It's important not to overmix as this will ruin the texture.
4. Fold in blueberries. If using frozen I would wash them with water first to stop the juices from running through mixture.
5. Spoon into greased tin and bake for about 20mins or until golden and skewer comes out clean!

Yum!

No fuss cheese and herb damper (bread)

This is the easiest bread to whip up and perfect with a bit of butter or to accompany any of your favourite meals! There's NO yeast, NO resting time and you can use any ingredients you fancy for flavour!

Cheese and basil damper

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup coarsely grated cheese
A bunch of chopped basil or in our case we sprinkled dry basil as desired
1 1/4 cups buttermilk ( sour milk) - see rip at bottom of post as you can make your own buttermilk easily.
1 egg

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180 C. Combine flour, baking powder, grated cheese and basil in a bowl.
2. Make a well in centre. Add buttermilk and egg. Season (with salt and pepper).
3. Mix until dough just comes together.
4. Turn onto a lightly floured surface. Knead until just smooth. NOTE: dough is VERY sticky but after kneading will come together. Add a bit of flour while kneading to smooth it out.
5. Shape in to disc and place on lined tray with baking paper. Flatten slightly and score into quarters or six wedges. Sprinkle with flour.
6. Bake for 25-30mins or until golden. Set aside for 5mins to rest and then eat! Om nom nom ;)

Tip:

Buttermilk-something I hadn't heard much of until I moved to Australia. It's basically just sour milk and you can easily make your own. If a recipe calls for 1 cup of buttermilk then you just add 1 Tbsp of white vinegar or lemon juice to the milk and leave it for 5 mins before adding to recipe.

For more flavour you could add bacon or ham to the bread or anything else you fancy! X

Indulgent choc caramel slice!

Mum wanted to attempt this recipe yesterday and as a big fan of caramel slice (huge cravings of it during pregnancy), I was all for it! Caramel slice isn't the easiest thing to make because it can get messy and not turn out quite right in terms of thickness and consistency. I've tried a lot of caramel slice in my time and can't say any of them were exactly the same! The result of this recipe was a very thick decadent slice and the review from Chance was "this is delicious".

Chocolate caramel slice

Ingredients:
1 cup plain flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup desiccated coconut
125g butter, melted
100g butter, extra
2 x 395g cans of condensed milk
1/3 cup golden syrup
200g dark or milk chocolate( we used milk but if you prefer less sweet use dark)
1 Tbsp vegetable oil

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180 C/160 C fan-forced. Grease and line a rectangular pan with baking paper, about 18cm by 28cm. Ours was a bit smaller which meant really thick slice but you don't want anything bigger as the slice will be too thin.
2. In a bowl, sift flour and combine with sugar and coconut. Add melted butter. Mix well.
3. Press mixture firmly in to prepared pan and bake for 15-20mins or until lightly browned. Cool.
4. Place extra butter, condensed milk and golden syrup in a medium saucepan. Stir over low heat until all combined and smooth. Pour over base and bake for another 20-25mins until golden. Cool.
5. Combine chocolate and oil in heat-proof bowl and place over saucepan of simmering water. Stir until melted and smooth and pour evenly over slice.
6. Make sure you CUT your slice before placing in fridge to cool otherwise the chocolate will crack. Cool in fridge for about an hour or until chocolate has hardened slightly. Enjoy!

Easter cupcakes

Chance isn't really a big fan of chocolate which left me a bit stuck for Easter. He loves carrot cake so instead I made him little carrot cupcakes with cream cheese icing! I bought little coloured chocolate eggs for decorating as well as an Easter themed chocolate mould, and this was the result! I coloured the icing with green food colouring for some fun too. I they're pretty cute ;) happy Easter everyone! Stay safe xx

Marbled blueberry cake

We had a lovely picnic today for mother's group and of course I had to bring along something sweet! I had blueberries at home but instead of making muffins, I tried something a little different and made a cake! It was nommy! I have already had 3 pieces today....

Marbled blueberry cake

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp sugar
1 1/4 cups of blueberries
2 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
125g unsalted butter, melted
1 1/3 cups self-raising flour, sifted
1/2 cup caster sugar
2 Tbsp brown sugar
icing sugar to dust

Method:

1. Pre-heat oven to 180 C. Lightly grease 20cm cake tin and line with baking paper.
2. Place sugar and half the blueberries in small saucepan on medium heat, stirring for about 2 minutes or until juices start to run. Remove from heat and stir in remaining blueberries and allow to cool.
3. Meanwhile in a bowl beat eggs together. Add vanilla and melted butter and mix well. In another bowl, sift flour and caster sugar. Make a well in the centre and using a spoon, stir in the egg mixture until smooth.
4. Take out 3/4 cup of cake mixture and stir in to blueberries. Place spoonfuls of both mixtures randomly in to the prepared tin and swirl with a knife or skewer to produce marble effect. Do not overmix berries and cake mixture as they will blend.
5. Sprinkle brown sugar over the top and bake for about 45mins or until cake is brown and bounces back when touched. Leave cake in tin to cool before removing and dusting with icing sugar to serve.

Enjoy!!!

Here's a photo of Finn and his little girlfriend Charlotte at the park today! It's amazing to watch them together and how entertaining they find it to see someone who's the same size as them! :) x

What I love about being a mum.

I LOVE when Finn snuggles in to my shoulder and clings to me as if he doesn't want to let go.

I LOVE when he massages me with his tiny baby hands to say thanks for feeding me mumma.

I LOVE laying next to him as he grabs my nose and bites it or just wants to touch my face.

I LOVE watching his amazement at everything around him as he takes it all in.

I LOVE seeing parts of me in him, like his incredible impatience! Ha!

I LOVE every new noise, action, smile and just everything about him!

Focaccia bread

I cannot believe that until today, I had not experienced the joy of making my own bread! It was not only fun, easy and delicious but the smell lingered in the kitchen for hours! Chance and I eat a lot of bread for burgers, sandwiches etc and the fresher the bette. Mum and I started with focaccia today, which I made a delicious sandwich out of later :) It was so easy and you should have most ingredients at home. You can make it with anything you desire really but today we stuck to the traditional olive and herbs. Enjoy! X

Focaccia bread

Ingredients:

Large pinch of caster sugar
2 cups (500ml) lukewarm water
2 1/2 tsp dried yeast
50ml olive oil plus a little extra
730g plain flour
3 tsp salt
Rosemary, sea salt and olives for sprinkling

Method:

1. Put sugar and 250ml of lukewarm water in large bowl, sprinkle over yeast as set aside for 5 minutes.
2. Add remaining water and oil, then use spoon to stir in about 1/3 of the flour and the salt until the mixture is smooth.
3. Gradually add remaining flour until the mixture becomes too stiff to stir and start mixing with your hands. The dough should be soft so you might not need all the flour.
4. Turn out on to lightly floured surface and knead for 7-8 minutes. Don't worry of the mixture is sticky as ours was, but after kneading for a few minutes it improves.
Place the dough in lightly oiled bowl, and turn it so it is coated in oil. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and set aside in warm area of the house for one hour or until dough has doubled in size.
5. Preheat oven to 220 C and grease baking dish with oil. I used a rectangle tin about 20cm by 30cm. Unwrap dough and punch it once to release the air (the fun part) then press mixture in to the dish. Use fingertips to make deep dimples all over the surface.
6. Drizzle dough with olive oil and then sprinkle rosemary and sea salt over. Place olives where desired.
7. Bake for 25-30 minutes until bread is a deep golden brown and cooked through.

Choc orange cookies!

Poor Chance hasn't had any baking to take to work the past few days so I thought I better whip up some cookies! I still had some oranges left from the orange cake so I decided to make double chocolate orange cookies or jaffa cookies you could call them! I am surprised I haven't even made anything chocolate for my blog as I'm a big chocolate eater! Chance just bought me my Easter egg! Only one week to eat it!

Here's the recipe. These cookies are delicious and the orange flavour really gives them a kick. Beware, the double chocolate does make them very rich!

Double choc-orange cookies

Ingredients:

150g unsalted butter, softened
50g brown sugar
225g plain flour
50g unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tsp baking powder
80g dark chocolate, chopped
Grated zest of 2 oranges or 3 if small
2 Tbsp orange juice

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180 and line 2 baking trays with baking paper.
2. Beat softened butter and sugar together in bowl until pale and creamy. Sift flour, cocoa and baking powder together twice before carefully folding in to butter and sugar mixture.
3. Add chopped chocolate, orange zest and juice and gently mix together to form smooth dough.
4. On a lightly floured surface, roll cookie dough to a thickness of 1/2cm and cut in to biscuit shapes. I actually rolled mine in to balls and flattened with fork which worked just as well if you're feeling lazy!
4. Cook for 12-15 mins and allow to cool before eating. Enjoy!

Let me know how they go for you :)

Mini pav! The perfect summer dessert

Pavlova always reminds me of New Zealand and family. It was always the dessert at family birthdays, special occasions and Christmas. With leftover passionfruit and strawberries in the fridge I thought I would tackle mini layered pav's for dessert and the result was scrumptious! I just used a basic meringue recipe, shaped it in to circles (the size I wanted) and then layered it with cream, strawberries and passionfruit pulp! you can use whatever fruit in your house at the time as it's a very versatile dessert. Enjoy! X

Strawberry and passionfruit meringues




















Ingredients:
2 egg whites
1/2 cup caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla

For filling:
Whipped cream
Strawberries
Passionfruit pulp

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 150 C. Beat egg whites with mixer until soft peaks form.

2. Gradually add sugar, one Tbsp at a time, beating until sugar has dissolved and meringue is silky and smith. Fold through vanilla.

3. Spoon on to baking paper in to medium sized circles, about 8cm in diameter. Bake for 40mins then turn off oven but open it and leave ajar for 1 hour or until meringue is crispy.

4. Cover one layer in cream and chopped strawberries then repeat with another meringue and top with passionfruit pulp!

A few funny lessons learnt as a first-time mumma

#I can easily spend $50 at the mall on Finn and $0 on myself. When did I become so selfless?? ;)

#Being a mum has meant the first time I have had someone else's vomit in my own mouth when I decided to lift him up for a kiss

#Chance and I high-fived with excitement when Finn did his first poo after being constipated for a week. It's the little things in life...

#I've been pooed on, peed on, vomited on and checked his nappy for poos more times than I can count!

# The love I feel for this little person is overwhelming and like nothing I have felt before.

# He's the only person who laughs at all my jokes.

# My cheeks are always hurting from laughing with him!!

What are some of your lessons?

My most favourite recipe yet!

I am so excited to share this recipe with you today!! Almost as excited as I was when I took my first bite! Last Thursday, Chance, Finn and I had a lovely family outing at the Victoria Markets checking out all the stalls and stopped at the yummy organic fruit stalls where i bought a punnet of strawberries for 99c. Bargain! I treasure our family moments because with Chance working full-time and myself starting part-time work when he's at home, we don't get much time together. When we got home, I searched for a strawberry based recipe and came across these strawberry and passionfruit muffins!! I'm a huge fan of passionfruit so these could not have been more perfect for me. When they came out of the oven, they did not look as light as I expected but I left them to cool and when I came back to eat one, I can tell you I was in heaven. The texture and flavour was AMAZING. They also didn't have a heap of sugar and i made them healthier by using skim milk. Better than any muffin I had ever tasted, and believe me I have tried a lot! The recipe was so easy but don't take my word for it. Try for yourself! :) enjoy x

Strawberry and passionfruit muffins




















Ingredients


1 3/4 cup self-raising flour
Pinch of salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup caster sugar
1 cup fresh strawberries, hulled (getting rid of green stem) and chopped
1/2 cup passionfruit pulp, tinned or fresh
1 egg
3/4 cup milk ( I used skim)
60g unsalted butter, melted
Icing sugar for dusting

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 200 C and grease muffin tin.
2. Sift flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda and sugar in to bowl. Add strawberries and stir to combine mixture. Make well in centre.
3. In another bowl, mix egg and milk together and add to dry ingredients along with passionfruit and combine.
4. Pour in melted butter and lightly stir with fork until JUST combined. (Do not overmix as mixture should be lumpy)
4. Spoon mix into prepared tin and bake for 10-15mins until golden brown. Leave to cool in tin and then remove with knife. Dust with icing sugar and eat!!

Easy moist orange cake!

So I bought a bag of oranges for 99c at the supermarket a few weeks back because they were so cheap, but of course never got round to eating them. Today I found an awesome recipe I had written months ago for an orange cake and it is so simple and you're sure to have all the ingredients in the pantry. It's moist, delicious and perfect with a cup of coffee or for the kids lunch boxes. Serve with or without icing, whichever you prefer but it tastes great with either. Enjoy!

Orange cake
1 large or 2 small oranges
180g melted butter
3 eggs
1 cup caster sugar
1 1/2 cups self-raising flour

Icing

2 1/2 cups icing sugar
2 Tbsp melted butter
Juice of orange to get spreadable consistency.

Method:

1. Heat oven to 180 C and grease and line tin. I used a loaf tin, which is the perfect size or a cake tin would be fine as well.
2. Cut orange in to large chunks, leaving skin on, and chuck in food processor until blended.
3. Add 180g melted butter, eggs, flour, sugar and combine mixture.
4. Pour mix in to tin and bake for 35-40mins until golden and cake bounces back when touched.
5. Once done, leave to cool for ten minutes before icing.
6. For icing, sift icing sugar, add melted butter and then gradually add orange juice until you get a spreadable consistency and ice!

Serve with a bit of yoghurt/cream or just by itself! Yum!

White chocolate and raspberry cheesecake

As I said earlier baking is definitely something you share with family and friends and I'm lucky enough to share the passion with my mum. Today, I bought all my gear out to mum's house and we made our very first cheesecake, and an absolutely scrummy one at that! However, this recipe doesn't have the traditional biscuit base. It's simple and creamy with the balance of tarty fruit and the sweetness of the chocolate. Yum!

Our baking time was interrupted by a certain little man. It's a huge change when you have a baby and suddenly everything you do becomes based around them and if they allow you to do it. Haha. Today as we baked, Finn was playing on his play-mat but every 10mins or so he would get grizzly and need a cuddle so of course we had to work that in to our baking schedule! But hey I wouldn't have it any other way ;) soon enough he will be baking with me and licking the spoon! Can't wait. Here's the recipe and a few pics of mum and I in action. Enjoy! X

White chocolate and raspberry cheesecake

Ingredients:
180g white chocolate, chopped
1 orange
650g cream cheese, and room temperature
220g (1 cup) caster sugar
1 vanilla bean or 2 tsp of vanilla extract
3 eggs, at room temperature, lightly whisked
125g (1 cup) raspberries
Icing sugar to dust

1. Preheat oven to 170 C. Grease an 18 X 28cm ( or close too) tin and line with baking paper.
2. Place chocolate in heatproof bowl over saucepan of simmering water (don't let base of bowl touch the water) and use a metal spoon to stir occasionally until melted. Set aside for 10mins to cool. Alternatively melt choc in microwave on medium for 1 min bursts, stirring between each minute.
3. Finely grate orange zest and juice the orange and strain. Measure 80ml (1/3 cup) juice.
4. Put cream cheese, caster sugar, vanilla and orange zest into bowl and mix for two minutes until smooth. Gradually add egg, beating well after each addition. Add orange juice and white choc and beat until combined. Pour in to tin and smooth surface. Place raspberries on top in pattern of your choice :)
5. Bake for 30mins, then carefully turn tin sideways and bake for another 30mins until light golden and just set in the middle. Place on wire rack and allow to cool completely in tin. Be aware it will crack a little because of how soft it is.
6. Dust with icing sugar and serve at room temp or cool in fridge for firmer texture, which is what I prefer! Cut with sharp knife as it's very delicate.
7. Eat!!

Crumble-licious

Crumble must be the most simple dessert you can make and it is so delicious!! Tonight I made mixed berry with passionfruit crumble and it was so quick to make with no fuss. I love how you can put any fruit you desire with crumble and it's such a yummy treat, especially with a bit of cream on top!

Mixed berry layered crumble

Ingredients:
500g mixed berries (frozen or tinned)
3 tsp vanilla essence
2 Tbsp brown sugar
100g butter, chilled
1 1/2 cups of oats
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup plain flour
1 tsp cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 180 C or 160 C fan-forced.
2. Combine berries, vanilla and 2 Tbsp brown sugar in bowl and leave to sit while you make crumble.
3. In another bowl, mix together flour, brown, sugar, oats and cinnamon. Chop butter into cubes and add to mixture. Use your fingers to rub butter in until mix resembles breadcrumbs.
4. Layer half of berry mixture in tin followed by half of topping and repeat.
5. Bake for 35mins until golden brown.
6. Serve with cream or ice-cream!

Coconut dream!

I've been craving something with coconut in it for ages so today I was looking for something easy that I could make with ingredients I already had at home! This coconut slice is so easy and simply delicious. It reminds me of when I was a kid and you can change it up with different jams and spreads! Enjoy! X

Coconut jam slice

Ingredients:
100g butter, softened
3 eggs
3/4 cup of caster sugar
1/2 cup self-raising flour
3/4 cup flour
1/3 cup of buttermilk (which is just normal milk mixed with a 1/3 tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice for acidity)
Strawberry jam (or whatever flavour you have)
1 cup of desiccated coconut and 3/4 cup of shredded coconut (or if you only have one just add slightly more like I did)

1. Preheat oven to 180 C or 160 C fan-forced. Grease a 20cm by 30cm tin and line with baking paper.
2. Beat together butter and 1/2 cup of caster sugar until light and fluffy. Add 1 egg and beat until combined.
3. Soft both flours over wet ingredients and mix together. Add buttermilk and stir until combined.
4. Press mixture into base of tin. Spread jam evenly over base.
5. Beat remaining two eggs and 1/4 cup of caster sugar. Add in coconut then layer mixture on top of jam.
6. Bake for 35-40 minutes until golden brown. Allow to cool before removing from tin and slice into squares.
7. Eat it all up!!!

I'm so excited!!

I have just bought my first mixer! (well, my darling Chance bought it for me). I have always wanted the pink Kitchenaid but financially it's not suitable right now so we just got a cheapie but I'm so excited about baking with it! It will make things a lot easier. I love how this passion excites me so much! Every day i'm looking for exciting new recipes to create and taste! One of the guys at Chance's work came up to me today and said how much they enjoyed my pink marshmallow slice! And that when he tried to make it for his kids he failed so I gave him a few tips! That's exactly why I love baking, when other people enjoy it :) Finn and I are just getting over a cold, my poor baby caught it off me, so we have been hanging low but there will be more baking tomorrow! Watch this space x

The easiest and most delicious muffins you'll ever make!

Muffins would have to be my most favourite baking to eat because there is such a variety of flavours. However, they can be the hardest to bake because you have to get the right consistency, texture and balance of flavours. I got these two recipes from my dear friend Wendy in New Zealand and they have been very popular in our house. I have just whipped up two batches for my Mother's Group today as well! You simply just throw all the ingredients in together and bake. Could it be any easier??? Enjoy!!

Banana choc-chip muffins

3 ripe mashed bananas (or 2 large)
1/2 cup sugar
100g melted butter
1 egg
2 Tbsp milk
1 1/2 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup good choc chips or white choc buttons

1. Heat oven to 160 C fan bake.
2. Mix all ingredients together
3. Bake for 20-25mins

Note: I have also done these muffins with white choc buttons and they are absolutely melt-in-your-mouth Devine! I would definitely recommend it!

Mixed-berry muffins

3 cup self-raising flour
1 1/2 cup castor sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
150g melted butter
1 1/3 cup milk ( I used trim milk to make it that bit healthier)
Grated rind and juice of one lemon
300g mixed berries
Icing sugar for dusting (optional)

1. Pre-heat oven to 180 C fan bake.
2. Mix all ingredients until JUST combined. Add berries last and mix through lightly.
3. Bake for 15-18mins or until muffins bounce back when touched.
4. Dust with icing sugar

Mother's Group has been a lot of fun! Being a first-time mum can be lonely at times even if you have a lot of friends because often you might be the only one with a baby. Meeting other mums means you get that support and understanding and make some friends for your babies! Here is Finn (my baby boy) with his little girlfriend Charlotte. :)

Have a good day! Xx

Scrumptious easy choc chip cookies!

What I love most about baking is when you can share it with the people you love. Food for a lot of people is about family, friends and making people happy and for me that's what baking is about. I have just whipped up this delicious choc-chip cookie recipe for my mum and her partner after making them for Valentines Day where they were a big hit. They are so easy to make, taste delicious, can be decorated by the kids and leave the house smelling like heaven! Enjoy!

Choc chip cookies!

Ingredients:
150g softened butter
1/2 cup caster sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp of vanilla essence
1 egg
1 3/4 cup plain flour
1 cup milk choc bits (or whatever your fancy)

Butter Cream Icing:

185g butter, softened
2 1/4 cups of icing sugar
2 tablespoons milk.

1. Preheat oven to 160 C and line two baking trays with baking paper. Beat the butter, caster sugar, brown sugar and vanilla essence until combined and then add egg, beating until smooth.

2. Stir in half of the flour and mix together, followed by the last half of the flour. Add in the milk choc bits and  evenly distribute throughout mixture.

3. Roll mixture in to medium sized balls or smaller if you want more cookies,place on tray and press down lightly with a fork.

4. Bake for 15mins or until lightly golden. Cool on wire rack.

5. If you wish to decorate the cookies, use butter cream icing. Simply beat the butter in a bowl until creamy and then gradually add icing sugar and milk until combined. Add a few drops of your favourite food colouring for a bit of fun!

Baby Finn

Here's a cute picture to brighten up your day! Chance and I have been blessed with a beautiful baby boy and one of the most fun things we love to do is dress him up in various cute outfits! We have to make the most of it while he can't talk back ;) This is one we took in the lead up to Easter! Enjoy!

Welcome! and Pink Marshmallow Slice!

Welcome to my new blog about my journey as an amateur baker and mumma! Last year, my  perspective on life changed when my son was born (now 5 months). From a very young age, I had been focused solely on my career and followed my dream to be a journalist, working as a reporter for a newspaper before finding out we had a bun in the oven ;) At just 24, I thought I would be keen to get back in to work as soon as possible, but I soon realised that spending time with this beautiful child was way too important. Staying at home with him has meant that I have had time to spend on my passion for baking! I have a massive sweet tooth and a love of desserts, chocolate and well...anything baked! My ultimate dream would be to one day open up a trendy cafe with my partner, while writing about food on the side! I will be updating this blog with delicious simple recipes that I have sourced from myself, friends, family, as well as in cookbooks and online that have been tried and rated for your tasting pleasure! I'll also add in some laughs on my journey as a full-time mum.

My first recipe is one that I made today for my partner, Chance. It is a special recipe, because it was something his mother made for him as a child and when I asked him what he would like me to bake, he requested it. Enjoy!

Pink marshmallow slice.

Shortcake base:

125g butter
3/4 cup icing sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp of vanilla essence
1 1/4 cups of self-raising flour

Marshmallow

1 cup cold water
3 drops red food colouring
1 Tbsp gelatin powder
1 cup sugar
1 egg white
1 cup icing sugar

Coconut sprinkled on top (optional)

1. Heat oven to 160 C fan bake and grease a square tin. Mine was rather large so I just used half of the tin. Put butter and icing sugar in a bowl and beat together until pale and creamy. Beat in egg and vanilla, then the flour.

2. Press the mixture into the base of the tin and bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Remove to cool.

3. Place the cold water and food colouring in a saucepan and sprinkle over the gelatin powder. Add sugar then bring to the boil, stirring until sugar dissolves. Boil gently for eight minutes, then remove from the heat to cool a little.

4. Place the egg white in a clean bowl and beat until soft peaks form. Beat in the icing sugar, and then slowly add the warm gelatin mixture. Continue beating until marshmallow is thick and fluffy. Be persistent when beating the marshmallow and allow at least 10mins to get the right consistency. I thought I had done something wrong after 2 mins but in stead of giving up, I kept beating and eventually got my marshmallow! Spread marshmallow topping over shortcake base, sprinkle with coconut and leave to set. Cut into slices when cold.

This recipe was sourced from NZ's Women's Weekly!