Muffins
At the end of last year, I was inspired to create a recipe for Cheese Muffins after having some absolutely delicious ones that were made by a colleague. His had a beautifully strong cheese flavour, more so than these ones I think! I use Parmesan Cheese in these muffins – if you have a suggestion of a stronger-tasting cheese that …
Decorated Cakes
Having not done decorated cakes for some time, last year I had the opportunity to do two! In July, I made my nephew’s 13th birthday cake then later in the year, I was asked to do a 40th birthday cake for my cousin. I decided to do a two-level cake as I think multi-layered always looks quite impressive! It also …
Cakes
A torte is a cake that uses little or no flour, instead using ground nuts or breadcrumbs. Its origins are in Europe (“torte” is German for “cake” or “tart”) where the tortes can be very rich and often come as a layered cake filled with jam and cream. In order to save our waistlines and our arteries, I usually just sprinkle …
Biscuits
Macadamia Melting Moments were inspired by some confectionery I bought on a recent trip to Blenheim. Just off SH1 between Picton and Blenheim is Makana Confections. On entering the shop, customers are presented with a sample to try. My sample was Macadamia Butter Toffee Crunch. It was divine!! The toffee was light, crisp and melted deliciously in the mouth. Needless to …
Slices
Earlier this year, I added rolled oats and walnuts to my diet (I had considered them to be a bit too ‘healthy’ prior to that!). I found my energy levels were increased and I didn’t feel I needed to snack mid-morning. Thus, when I pondered making a slice with a healthy slant, the combination of rolled oats and walnuts came …
Slices
I have often seen brownie recipes that call for real chocolate as opposed to cocoa powder. For my own recipes, I have tended to stick to cocoa powder but decided to give real chocolate a go for this brownie. It took a few tries to determine the best amount of chocolate and hazelnuts to give a nice flavour and a moist texture. The …
Slices
I have been further experimenting with freeze dried fruit powders! I talked about these in my post for Coconut and Marshmallow Slice. Another advantage of the powders is that there is no need to have the fresh fruit on hand. I have found that different fruit powders have a different effect on the baked product. For example, I tried making …
Cakes
When I was young, I bought a recipe book titled “The Victorian Kitchen Book of Cakes and Cookies”. It contained a recipe for “Fine Almond Cake”. The cake looked delicious so I decided to try it. The recipe contained no baking powder nor did it call for self-raising flour. At the time, I wondered if neither of these were invented back then, …
Decorated Cakes
It’s several years now since I did a night class in cake decorating. For the first year or so afterwards, I took every opportunity to practice by making and decorating a cake for every conceivable occasion! It is a long time now since the last one so I welcomed the opportunity last week to do a birthday cake for my nephew’s …
Cakes
Recently in a magazine , I saw a recipe for a Chocolate Hazelnut cake that had polenta as an ingredient. I have tried using polenta in cakes but have never had much success. The idea of chocolate and hazelnut together sounded quite delicious though! This is my version of a hazelnut and chocolate cake. I mix it entirely in the food …
