I
believe good food makes people happy. Good food and good company make
for a fantastic night. And good food, good company and a great bottle/s
of wine is always memorable. I started getting into baking when I
wasn't the happiest in life, it acted as an escape for me and also gave
me something to be passionate about and enjoy. Eating the food was also
amazing, however did cause a fair bit of weight gain - so a lesson,
moderation ;-).
I
find my baking can make others happy. I am filled with pride when I
present a layer cake to a friend or family member to celebrate their
birthday. I love hearing the mmmmmmm from people when they take the
first bite of a treat I've lovingly prepared. And I
love when friends or family ask me to bake something for them, as it
shows my passion has transferred to them and they want to share good
food with their friends or family. (My photography is not great though,
so I think that should be the next thing I work on...)
This recipe is for my uncle. He has
shared many cakes and desserts with me and during the week asked if I
could make something special for a lunch party he was throwing.
Blueberries are just coming back into season here, so I decided on a
blueberry sour cream cake with a white chocolate cream cheese icing. I
was later told it was a hit!
This morning I woke up at 4.30am when my son called out from his room. I was daft and checked the time before I went in, which meant as soon as I got back to bed, I knew it was almost time to get up and my head didn't let me go back to sleep. I started thinking about all the meetings I have on today, then about some of the projects I have at work, then about what we're doing for Mother's Day, then I checked Facebook and Instagram (surprisingly not many updates from last night). Then I started asking myself if I should just get up and if I did get up, what I could do... This all feels less crazy when I'm lying there in these moments than it does writing it out now. Anyway, I remembered a recipe I found the other week for a sticky bun. It takes about 20 minutes prep time, an hour to rise and then about 30 minutes to bake. I didn't have the time last week, however being awake so early this morning and knowing I'm leaving for work a bit later today, I thought "why not get up now and make that bun!". So, I did. And here it is in it's gooey, warm, goodness! YUM. Hope your breakfast was as delicious ;-).
Another post of something that links to my childhood food memories. It's a similar story to my Kingston Biscuits post, the Arnott's Monte Carlos were always popular among my family. I was also excited to see them in my lunch box at school, especially if they got a little soft, as the jam in the centre would be a tacky and I could chew it for longer. I also loved opening the two biscuits up and trying to get equal cream on both sides to eat individually.
But why make Monte Carlo biscuits now, you ask. Well, all week my morning coffee shop have had the nicest looking biscuits on display. They were thick and crumbly with either a buttercream or cream cheese centre. The girl who works there said they were going to have Monte Carlos tomorrow and that set my brain on the path of how I would make Monte Carlos. So, last night with no "treats" for my sons lunchbox in the cupboard, I decided to make some Monte Carlos. Enjoy.
So, how was your Easter? Did you eat way too much chocolate? Did you drink too much beer/wine/whatever floats your boat? Last night did you vow only to eat carrot sticks for the next month? Well, if you said yes to all of the above, sounds like you had a pretty good Easter break!
Easter for me was a little different than past years. It was the first time since my son was born that I didn't share the joys of discovering what treats the Easter Bunny had left for him on Easter morning. I have loved seeing the excitement and shock across his face when he's come out of his bedroom to find evidence that the Easter Bunny has been to our house and even better, left him some delicious chocolate. The first Easter he was only about 9 months old, so instead of lots of chocolate, he got a few toys and chocolate custard. The next Easter he was old enough to eat chocolate and of course the family took full advantage of that - he had chocolate coming out of his ears! His third Easter he got pretty spoilt again, mainly because it was around the time his Dad and I were getting separated and I think we both just wanted him to have a great day and be spoilt by everyone and anyone. This Easter we were all pretty good. He spent Easter day with his Dad, which meant the Monday was our day. Even though it was only a few people around for lunch, I wanted to make it special by baking some fresh and Eastry desserts. It was lovely and even better, the Easter Bunny made a surprise stop at our house even though Reuben wasn't there. How exciting!
I don't feel like Australians have much patriotism, unless we're at a major sporting event. As a country, we seem to support the underdog more than the over acheiver, we give critism from the sideline and we rarely produce movies that have a strong sense of national pride and achievement. HOWEVER, try to tell us certain foods are not Australian and you have a fight on your hands. We fight more often than not with the New Zealanders, who most notorisouly try to lay claim to the Pavlova - verdict is still out however this Aussie will agrue it's our creation! Other foods we feel are ours include lamingtons, ANZAC cookies, vegemite, pies and ninish tarts. Funny enough though, vegemite is owned by an American company, pies are more likely English and every country seems to have a variation on the ninish tart.
Another item I list under the Australian identity (which also reminds me of childhood) are cornflake cookies. Super easy to make with a sweetness from the sultanas and a crunch from the cornflakes. Give them a go if you've never tried them and feel free to leave me a message below with your childhood "patriotic" foods.
Christmas is over and it's a new year, but the flavours of the season are still fresh in the air - most houses still have their Christmas tree up and there are still fairy lights flashing along most suburban streets (tree and lights are still up at my place). So, to hold onto the last threads of Christmas, I made some Maple Cinnamon doughnuts. My main reason for making doughnuts was because I found a baked doughnut tray on special in one of the department stores just before Christmas. I have always turned my nose up at these trays, thinking that if you're going to bother making doughnuts, do it properly and fry the hell out of them. Then I saw the discounted price on the tray and my excitement for a bargain won over my snobbery. And to my delight, the baked doughnuts were delicious. Light and fluffy, but still with a distinct doughnut texture and flavour. My first attempt was great (I followed the below recipe), but my second attempt was with chocolate (obviously I strayed from the recipe). They looked great but were too dense and dry... so I haven't posted the chocolate recipe, will work on it a bit more first.
So, here's to the final days of the season. Happy New Year everyone!
