As I was catching up on my YouTube subscriptions, this little cake appeared in the list for one of my favourite channels, Cupcake Jemma. The hubby happened to be around at the time and watched it with me then requested I make it immediately. Unfortunately for him, there were no blueberries in the house, but the next day I headed to the shops to pick up some to make this ridiculously delicious Blueberry Crumble Cake.
Maple Apple Cake
So you will have gathered by now that I am in love with the rose shape/swirl as I use it for my cupcakes, on cakes and even, to a possibly far-fetched connection, in my vegetable tart. It will come as no surprise that I actually own a rose shaped cake tin.
I have had this beautiful tin from NordicWare for quite some time now and I definitely do not use it enough. So it was time to call on another recipe I have had pinned for quite some time now, being a Maple Apple Cake, to showcase the gorgeous shape this tin creates.
Chocolate Macarons
Following the Easter long weekend, the hubby and I took the following week off as well to enjoy a short break. Whilst we went away over Easter, when we returned home we pottered around the house and had a little stay-cation. Of course I had big plans of catching up on the ironing, sorting out some of the kitchen cupboards and cooking a whole bunch of meals to put in the freezer, but alas, none of that eventuated.
The kitchen did end up getting a bit of a workout last weekend so stay tuned to the blog over the next few weeks as there is some deliciousness in store for you my friends.
First on the agenda was a batch of macarons. It has been over six months since my last macaron post, and on this occasion I thought I would whip up a batch of simple, but very tasty, Chocolate Macarons.
Sticky Date Cake with Butterscotch Sauce
For the latest birthday cake at the hubby’s place of employment, a sticky date cake with butterscotch sauce was requested. As with the hummingbird and carrot cake I have made them previously, this was another that I had not attempted before so I checked my trusty Women’s Weekly Classic Cakes book, which of course contained said recipe, and got to work.
Mint Cheesecake
Once again it was the hubby’s friend J’s birthday, you may remember him from the Purple Corset Cake, which meant something mint flavoured was on the menu. Although I was considering trying something new this year, in the end I stuck with an oldie but a goodie being a mint cheesecake chock full of Peppermint Crisp and crème de menthe liqueur on top of a nice, thick, Oreo base.
Cinnamon Sweet Bread – Daring Bakers Challenge
I don’t know if I could live in a world without bread. Whether it be the smell of freshly baked bread or admiring the endless shapes and flavours it can assume, bread really is one of my favourite foods. And I must confess, some days you still really can’t beat butter and vegemite on a piece of fresh white bread, which in winter I usually enhance by putting it in the microwave for 20 seconds to get all warm. Mmmmmm….
But back to this months Daring Bakers Challenge which was to take bread and shape it into something a little fancy. If you follow me on Pinterest, you will see on my bread board I have a few fancy shaped breads which are on my “to do” list. For this challenge, I stuck with one of the provided recipes which was for a cinnamon sweet bread as you know how much I love cinnamon.
Buttermilk Scones
Given all the red velvet goodies that I make, there is always buttermilk left over that I need to find a use for. Recently, I strayed from my tried and true scone recipe and found a recipe for buttermilk scones on Taste.com.au to try with very pleasing results.
Luckily for me the official scone tester, my father-in-law, was coming around to help the hubby with a couple of projects and he is always willing to be a guinea pig for my cooking. Especially when it comes to scones.
Belgian Waffles
Man v. Food has to be one of the shows that I like and hate all at the same time. The hubby on the other hand absolutely loves it and drools with envy for every bite that Adam Richman takes. In one of the episodes of Man v. Food Nation (Season 1, Episode 17 for those of you playing at home), Adam visited a food truck in New York by the name of Wafles and Dinges where they serve traditional Belgian waffles topped with everything under the sun including a pulled pork combination which immediately won the hubby’s heart.
Hence we borrowed my mother-in-law’s waffle maker and for the first time used the mancake recipe for the batter. They were delicious, but a little heavy so the hunt was on for not only a waffle maker for us, but for a traditional Belgian waffles recipe.
Chocolate Coconut Slice
I remember my mum making this Chocolate Coconut Slice often when I was a kid. The recipe my mum used was originally from a friend of hers and it was made using a butter cake packet mix as the base.
When I got the urge to make it a few years ago I didn’t have mum’s recipe at hand but I found something very similar in one of my Super Food Ideas magazines which made it from scratch and it tasted just like mum used to make.
Spiced Apple Sauce
As you have probably gathered, the hubby loves his pork. Whether it is in a pie, soup or just roasted, the man loves pork. One night he was having crumbed pork cutlets (which his awesome vegetarian wife discovered at the local butcher) and forgot to pick up the apple sauce from the supermarket so he grabbed a couple of apples from the fruit bowl, spices from the pantry and had a go at making his own. Needless to say we won’t be going back to the supermarket for apple sauce again.