love your vegies?

I have baking a lot more savoury stuff in the kitchen lately.
That is because i have been replacing all the dinner meal with these little slices, that little pies...and yes, they do make good dinner slice, with a salad, and you can even pack the left over for luncheon the next day. They're very healthy too ( i suppose, with zucchinies!! ).
There are a lot of zucchini slice recipe if you just happens to gooled for one, and i have tested a lot of them from friends too, some are more fritatta like, some are more quiche like, this version is more 'cake' like, and it can be easily slice in to diffrent sizes, serve warm or cold.



Zucchini Slice

5 eggs
150g (1 cup) self-raising flour, sifted
375g zucchini, grated
1 large onion, finely chopped
200g lite ham, roughtly shredded
1 cup grated lite tasty cheese
60ml (1/4 cup) conola oil

1. Preheat oven to 170°C.
2. Grease and line a 30 x 20cm lamington pan.
3. Beat the eggs in a large bowl until combined.
4. Add the flour and beat until smooth, then add zucchini, onion, ham, cheese and oil and stir to combine.
5. Pour into the prepared pan and bake in oven for 30 minutes or until cooked through.
6. Cut them in squares or slices, serve wam or cold.
   

Because i didn't have a large enough pan, and i end up with some batter, so i bake them in this little flower sillicon cups! yam!

Winter Warmer

The only good thing about winter is that we got to eat warm and hearty dessert. This pudding cake is incredibly wonderful, and it's very grown up taste. It is not sickly sweet like some pudding cake, it has got chocolate, and a slight orange bitter tang that makes it so special. It is adapted from Nigella Lawson's How to be a domestic goddess, and from the moment i read it, i just want to make this cake. I love orange and chocolate, i think the combination of the 2 is heavenly. Of course, if you dun like marmalade, you can substitute it with any other jam, like apricot. Of course, it will taste entirely different with a different jam, but it won't be too bad. Worth a try i would say!



when just came out of the oven, the tangy orange aroma of the pudding cake just make you drooling ***
and the best part, you dun have to wait for it to cool down completely, it's best serve warm, with very cold custard.





Orange Blossom Chocolate Pudding

125g unsalted butter
100g dark chocolate buttons
300g thin-cut marmalade
2 tbsp orange blossom water
120g caster sugar
pinch of salt
2 eggs, lightly beaten
150g SR flour

1. Preheat oven to 180 degree Celsius
2. Grease and line a 20cm spring foam tin
3. Melt butter and chocolate in a bowl, over a saucepan of simmering water, stir it gently with a metal spatula, and remove from heat when melted. Cool slightly.
4. Add marmalade, sugar, and a good pinch of salt. Combine everything.
5. Gently add in the beaten eggs with the spatula.
6. Sieve flour over the batter, gently fold in.
7. Bake in preheat oven for about 50 minutes or until cooked. If pudding become brown too quickly in the oven, cover it with a piece of foil for the last 10 mins of baking.
8. Cool for 10 mins in the pan, remove cake, slice and serve with orange custard.

Orange custard

Sure you can make your own custard, but I'm lazy and i use store-bought pouring custard. For orange custard, just mix in 1 tbsp of orange liqueur like Cointreau. If your guess includes kids, then just leave the Cointreau and use 1 tbsp of Orange Blossom Water instead!

Pizza in a cup

I love baking muffins, they're easy to bake, often involved only 1 bowl and 1 spatula, hence the easy clean up, easy on the mouth, easy on the wasite line...( IF, you pick the right one, or else muffins can be very very distructive on the waisteline!). And, they can be either savoury or sweet. We make pizza the other night, and there are bits and pieces of left over pizza's topping in the fridge that i really wanted to get rid. Hence, i came across this savaury muffin from www.taste.com.au, and make some modification to clean up my fridge!! haha! They look cute, taste great, and it's the perfect finger food for a party crowd!

Pizza Muffins

11/4 cups SR flour

1 egg, lightly beaten

1/2 cup milk

60g butter, melted, cool slightly

75g shave lite ham, chopped

1/2 cup lite tasty cheese

24 small pieces of canned pineapple, drained.

1. Preheat oven to 200 degree celcius. Grease and line two 12 hole mini muffin pan with paper cases.
2. Sieve flour into a bowl, whisk in egg, milk, and melted butter. Stir until combine. Becareful not to stir too much as it is the coarse mixture that produce a light and fluff muffins!!
3. Add in ham and cheese.
4. Spoon one big tablepsoon of batter into prepared pan, and top with one small piece of pineapple each.
5. Bake in preheated oven for about 15 mins, or until golden.
6. Serve warm, with tomato sauce or just as it is!

They're so yummy it's gone in a second!

Go Banana

I dunno when have i develop a love for banana bread. Particullary, served toasted with a dash of honey and butter. I have been baking and testing a lot of banana bread recipes, this is by far, the best recipe ever, with dates and pecan nuts added to it. It calls for wholemeal flour, but still comes out of the oven moist, and soft. It's just plain wonderful, and i look fwd to have it for breakfast every saturday! The only downside of me not having banana bread every weekend is that the banana don't seems to be over-ripen during this god forshaken winter cold!! Sigh***

Banana Date and Pecan Bread

125g low fat spread
1 cup brown sugar
3 eggs
1 ½ cups wholemeal self raising flour
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup mashed bananas (about 3 bananas)
½ cup coconut
½ cup low fat milk or buttermilk
1/3 cup chopped pecans
1/3 cup chopped dried pitted dates

1. Preheat oven to moderate 180C. Lightly grease a 10 x 20cm loaf pan.
2. In a large bowl, cream spread and sugar together using an electric mixer, until creamy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
3. Sift flour and spice together, returning husks to mixture. Fold into creamed mixture with bananas, coconut, milk, nuts and dates. Spoon into prepared pan.
4. Bake for 50-60 minutes until cooked when tested with a skewer. Cool in pan and turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
5. Serve sliced plain or toasted. Store in an airtight container or wrap and freeze.

( recipe adapted from Everyday Food Mag )

Easy Peasy

This is probably the easiest cookies that i bake.
The best thing is that, it has no flour, no butter, and no egg yolk, but taste moist and moreish!
You can either make a almond one or a coconut one, i like the almond one ( the one infront ), and my husband loves the coconut one ( the one at the back ), well, there is something for every taste buds!!

Almond and Coconut Macaroons

110g Almond meal

75g Caster sugar

1 egg whites, lightly beaten

1. Preheat oven to 180 degree celcius
2. Place almond meal, sugar and egg whites in a bowl, stir to combine. Mixture should be firm, and slightly sticky.
3. Roll mixture into small ball, and flatten with the back of a fork.
4. Place balls 2cm apart on a baking tray, and bake for about 10 mins, or until golden.
5. Cool, and serve.

( substitude same amount of almond meal with dessicated coconut for coconut macaroons)

Suprise Marriage

I love pistachio! The buttery, salty taste just linger in yuor mouth and you just can't stop eating them once you start. The only downside being i'll almost always end up with sore finger tips or broken nails, because some of the shells can be too stubborn to cracks. God knows how sore my fingers are for making this cake, as i'm not prepared to pay for the triple price of the "nude" one! heheh!
This recipe is actually adapted from Nigella Lawson How to be a domestic Goddess.
It was a suprise that chocolate and pistachio make such a good combination, the colour and the taste of this cake is devine, nutty, chocolaty, pitachy...you just have to try it. You can either make it into a marble cake, or 2 layer cake, as i did. But somehow, my chocolate layers didn't stick to it's layer and mix with the green pistachio layer, oh well, it doesn't bother me as it looks nice and taste great!



Chocolate Pistachio Cake

Chocolate Batter

135g AP flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
75g butter, soften
125g sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
3/4 cup natural yoghurt
1tsp vanilla extracts
2 tbs cocoa powder
1 cup chocolate chips
Oven preheated to 180 degree celcius

1. Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy
2. Beat in eggs, one at a time
3. Add in yoghurt and vanilla, continue to cream the mixture until combine
4. sift flour, baking powder, baking soda and cocoa over the butter mixture, fold the dry ingrediant over the butter mixture until combine.
5. pour chocolate batter in a 25cm spring foam pan, scatter chocolate chip on top, and set aside while making the pistachio batter.

Pistachio Batter

135g AP flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

75g butter, soften

125g sugar

2 eggs

3/4 cup natural yoghurt

1 tsp vanilla extracts

1/3 cup shelled pistachio, finely chopped

1. Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy
2. Beat in eggs, one at a time
3. Beat in the natural yoghurt and vanilla extracts
4. sift flour, baking powder and baking soda over the butter mixture, gently fold until well combine.
5. Fold in the chopped pistachio. Enjoy the green colour of the batter!!
6. Pour the pistachio batter on top of the chocolate mixture.

Bake in preheated oven 180 degree celcius for 50mins, or until cooked.

With such a devine taste of this cake, who can stop at just one piece?

For that special occasion

The wave of baking cupcakes is high in sydney, so is in my household.
Every occasion that you can think of, be it weddings, birthdays, anniversary...more and more people choose cupcakes over the traditional cake. I came acroos this elegant little cupcakes, suitable for a wedding, and my hand just start to itch and i have to bake them, even though, there are no occasion at the moment! I can't say it's a piece of cake for making them, but they're not that hard either, just more work because these little cakes contain some suprise in them.
They taste heavenly and if you like greentea like i do, you'll love them!

Green tea suprise capcakes

For the cakes:

115g butter, soften

1/2 cup caster sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

11/2 cups SR flour, sifted

145ml milk

1. Preheat oven to 200 degree celcius
2. Line a 12 hole muffin pans with paper cases
3. Beat butter, sugar and vanilla with an electric mixer until light and fluffy
4. Gradually beat in eggs.
5. Add half the flour, and fold it into the egg mixture with a spatula, add half the milk.
6. Alternate the addition of flour and milk into egg mixture, until just combine.
7. Divide mixture evenly into the 12 paper cases, bake for 15-18 mins.
8. when tested with the skewer, it should come out clean.
9. Allows the cake to cool complelty, before doing any decoration.

* this is a basic vanilla flavoured cupcake base, suitable to add any decoration or filling*

For a Greentea cupcakes, i filled it with greentea bubble cream

Greentea bubble cream

1/4 cup sago

1 cup milk

1/2 can coconut milk

pinch of salt

1 egg yolk

1/4 cup caster sugar

2 tsp matcha ( greentea powder )

1. Cooked sago following packet instruction, using milk and coconut milk instead of water.
2. When sago is cooked, it turn translucent.
3. Whisk egg yolk with sugar and match, gently whisk the green tea mixture into sago.
4. Continue to simmer on low heat until thickend. Transfer to a bowl

* I make the bubble cream 1 night before i bake the cupcakes, and cooled them in the fridge *

Greentea Frosting

1 cup icing sugar

1 cup double whipping cream

1 tsp matcha

Whisk everything together until thick and spreadable.

To assemble

1. Hold a sharp, pointed knife at a downward angle and cut a round from the top of each cakes.

2. Filled the cut-cakes with bubble cream, and cover the cutted round back into the filled cakes.

3. Frost the cake with frosting.

Cross section of the cupcakes...

D is for Delicious and Decandant

I don't think there is anyone who doesn't like chocolate and peanut butter, they are the perfect comfort food in the world. So when i came across this recipe from taste.com.au, i just wanted to give it a try. The brownies is dense, moist, and the sweetness is completely balanced out by the saltiness of the peanut butter! It's simple and easy, the only trick is to use the best and darkest chocolate you can lay your hands on.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Brownies



150g fine, dark chocolate
100g butter, unsalted, melted
1 cup caster sugar
1/2 cup plain flour
2 tbsp cocoa powder
2 eggs
3/4 cup crunchy peanut butter

1. Preheat oven to 160 degree celcius
2. Brush and line a slap pan
3. Melt chocolate and butter in a large heatproof bowl, over a saucepan of smimmering water
4. Stir the chocolate butter mixture with a metal spatula, until combine and smooth. Set aside to cool to room temperature.
5. Combine sugar, flour and cocoa powder in another bowl, add the cooled chocolate mixture and eggs, mix until just combine.
6. Pour into prepared pan.
7. Warm the peanut butter a little in the microwave until it's spreadable. Spoon soften peanut butter over brownies mixture, and use a skewer to create swirls.
8. Bake in the oven for 35-40 mins, or until cooked. ( when tested with skewer, only a little moistcrumbs cling on it ).
9. Cooled completely in the pan, and when cooled, remove from pan, and cut into squares.
   

The swirl pattern of peanut butter and chocolate on the top view of the brownies.

Little Blue Gems

Best breakfast in the world, and full of antioxidant! I particularly like to use fresh berries in this muffins as i like the colour when they "bleed". You can use any berries you like, and i find these muffins taste even nicer the 2nd day, reheated in the microwave. Somehow it will absorb more flavour.

Blueberry muffins

2 cups SR flour

3/4 cup brown sugar, firmly packed

300g blueberries ( fresh or frozen )

1 cup buttermilk

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 egg, lightly whisked.

1. Preheat oven to 190 degree celcius. Grease and line a 12 hole muffin pan with paper case
2. Combine the flour and sugar in a large bowl. Toss in blueberries and stir until combine.
3. Whisk buttermilk, oil and egg in a jug until combine.
4. Add the wet ingrediant into the dry ingrediant, and mix lightly until combine. Do not over mix.
5. Filled the paper cases with batter until 3/4 full, and bake in preheated oven for 20-25 mins.
6. To test the doneness, insert a skewer into the centre of the muffin and it should be clean.
7. Cool on wire rack, and enjoy warm or cold, plain or with berry jam

Domestic Goddess

This is the first "celebrity chef" cupcakes that i bake. It's adapted from Nigella Lawson's How To Be a Domestic Goddess. It's a very simple and easy, and i don't even have to use my hand beaters to beat the batter, and it taste great and look elegant too! The original recipe calls for morello cherry jam, the first time when i bake this, i actually just use any cherry jam that i can find from the supermarket, and it taste great too. The 2nd time round, i lay my hand on morello cherry jam, but i think the normal black cherry one taste better! So i guess, it's really up to personal prefrence of the jam used.
* morello cherry is a kind of sour cherry *

Chocholate Cherry Cupcakes

125g unsalted butter
100g dark chocolate
300g cherry jam
150g caster sugar
pinch of salt
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
150g SR flour

1. Preheat oven to 180 degree celcius, grease and line a 12 hole muffins pan
2. Put butter in a pan on the heat to melt. When almost melt, stir in darkchocolate. Take the pan off the heat, and gently stir with a wooden spoonuntil butter and chocolate are smooth and combine.
3. Leave the chocolate butter mixture to cool slightly, then add the jam,sugar, salt and eggs. Stir with wooden spoon until all is combine.
4. Sift flour over mixture, stir until combine.
5. Spoon mixture into the 12 hole muffins pan.
6. Bake in 180 degree Celcius oven for about 25 mins.
7. Cool cupcakes on a cake rack before spreading frosting on it.
   
   
   Frosting:
   
   100g dark chocolate
   100 ml double cream
   12 canned or fresh cherries

• Heat the cream in a saucepan.
• Break chocolate into small pieces, and combine with the cream.
• Bring it to boil, remove from heat, and whisked it until thick and smooth
• When cooled, spread it to the cooled cupcakes, and top with 1 cherry.

* If you're using normal black cherry jam, you can reduce the sugar to taste.

the cupcake is so moist and yum!