September Daring Bakers challenge and I usually pride myself on my punctuality...

So here they are: Lavash crackers and vegan dip... the September Daring Bakers Challenge. I know, I know the whole point of DB's is to post on the same day world wide, but I am having a deadline crisis and I figure maybe better late then never.

Well regardless of whether I am forgiven or not trust me these crackers were better later then never. I absolutely loved them. We have been having some glorious weather (sprinkled with some on the not so glorious side) lately and all I have been able to think of is getting out to the park with a book and some nibblies. However a particularly long week (if you can call 38 days straight a week) prevented not just the action of the DB challenege but the event of enjoying the fruits of my labor. Well no more. The break has finally arrived and with a bit of forethought I was able to make both crackers and dip the night before. I opted for non-gluten free lavash (the challenge called for either) and a deliciously boring cumin hummus. So all I had to do to make the most of my glorious day off in the sun was grab my book, cut some veg, pack a bag and go. Oh beautiful Sydney how you reward me sometimes.

Please visit all the amazing and punctual Daring bakers blogs and websites for other dip recipes and ideas. They are a truly talented........ and punctual bunch.

Especially I have to give a belated thanks to natalie and shelly for this fabulous challenge. I will definitly be making these again, perhaps with the aid of my pasta machine to roll out some super thin crispy lavash. Next up october challenge, and then I promise by the Novemeber challenge I will be back to my usual prompt self.

A few of my favourite things......and other stuff.

Number one use for your cupcake stand when you have eaten all the cupcakes...

A very British birthday cake

There is nothing I enjoy more then making birthday cakes. I think it all stems from the pure joy of having this celebratory cake, when you were a child. Nothing quite competes with the memory of all the Women's Weekly Kids Cakes (you know the book, we all had it!!!!) we had over the years. I know I had a humpty dumpty sitting on a wall (WOW as I wrote that the exact flavor of the cake came fooding into my mind...), I remember one of my brothers had a meringue ghost with egg shell eyes, and I am sure there was a car race track as well. There is something about having a cake hand made for you. Don't get me wrong I am all for the bought birthday cake, after all we can't all be Martha Stewart, and blowing out candles is still half the fun. But if I have time I love to make 'the' cake, I especially like to do something personal.

So when, one day, my fab friend A listed her favourite British toffeess I put it in my memory bank just incase one day it came in handy. And then when I was thinking about her birthday cake this week it came to me like a flash of lightening: The British Lolly Shop. Those of you that live in Sydney have no doubt seen these confectionary stores. Designed to satisfy the sweet needs of British expats. I pass one of these shops everyday on my way to the train station and never really registered it before, but it was exactly what I needed. With my list in hand I walked into the shop and directly asked the proprieter " may I have please 3 Toffee crisp bars, 3 double decker bars and 3 starbars". If the joy that came from realising he did infact stock all three bars was not enough he then went on to offer for me to choose a complimentary toffee from all the racks and racks of lolly jars. I felt like... well a kid in a candy store. So with my bag full of treats and a smile on my face I made my way to work.

I knew I was going to smother a cake with these chocolate bars, I just didn't know what kind of cake. The obvious choice was chocolate but I had only recently made a chocolate cake and yearned for something else. The birthday girls favorite cake is coconut, but somehow I was confident the flavors would clash, in the way of blue and green. Cheesecake made it to the short list, but is Cheesecake really birthday cake material and anyway.. does A really love cheese cake??? And then a suggestion was made, what about Caramel mudcake?? Hmmmm, I have not made caramel mudcake before... I have not ever really wanted to.... but alas it seemed so fitting. So Caramel mudcake it was to be.

To prepare the chocolate bar decorations I sliced them into 1 cm pieces and then using my smallest pastry cutter cut them into discs. There were alot of bar 'off cuts' and those that didn't end up in my mouth were folded through whipped cream to sandwich the 2 layers of mud cake together. I made a simple milk chocolate ganache which I poured over the cake and then layed the choc pieces on to decorate. I must confess it looked extremely morish. And the caramel mudcake was the perfect compliment to those Brillant British Bars!!

So A I hope you loved your birthday cake, it was nearly as gorgeous as you are!!

A cupcake a day keeps the troubles away

I made these cupcakes today for my best friend in the universe.

We got through high school together, went to our first 'music festival' together, went on a P & O cruise (hehehehe) together, went through my 'phase' together, celebrated our birthdays together, lived in our first share house together, healed broken hearts together, planned my wedding together, eat drink cry and laugh together.
What ever we go through, we will go through together!!

For Kate, I am thinking of you always x



Vanilla cupcakes
(Magnolia Vanilla cupcakes)

225g self-rising flour
185g all-purpose flour
250g unsalted butter, softened
450g sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
250mls milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract


Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Line two 12-cup muffin tins with cupcake papers.
In a small bowl, combine the flours. Set aside.
In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter until smooth. Add the sugar gradually and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the dry ingredients in three parts, alternating with the milk and vanilla. With each addition, beat until the ingredients are incorporated but do not overbeat. Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the batter in the bowl to make sure the ingredients are well blended. Carefully spoon the batter into the cupcake liners, filling them about three-quarters full. Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center of the cupcake comes out clean.

Cool the cupcakes in the tins for 15 minutes. Remove from the tins and cool completely on a wire rack before icing.

Butter Cream

250g unsalted butter, softened
6 to 8 cups confectioners’ sugar
100ml milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Place the butter in a large mixing bowl. Add 4 cups of the sugar and then the milk and vanilla. On the medium speed of an electric mixer, beat until smooth and creamy, about 3-5 minutes. Gradually add the remaining sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating well after each addition (about 2 minutes), until the icing is thick enough to be of good spreading consistency. You may not need to add all of the sugar. If desired, add a few drops of food coloring and mix thoroughly.

For decorations I piped on the icing and dipped it directly into a saucer of freckles which flattened the top (which I thought was actually kinda cool) and for the mint forsted ones I put a dash a peppermint essence and green food colouring. With a small pastry cutter I cut a circle out of an aero bar, on the tops of the cupcakes it looks a little like a heart.

Chocolate cake, how I love thee

Can you keep a secret? I have never made a chocolate cake before. I have made chocolate desserts and chocolate brownies, but never really a chocolate cake. The goal for this year has been to establish a 'go to' recipe for all domestic baking. So far I can tick off lemon yoghurt cake, coconut cake, vanilla cupcake, choc chip cookies and now, I can tick off chocolate cake too.

I may be telling a small white lie about never having made a chocolate cake before. I should clarify; I can not remember making a chocolate cake. Which is to say I have certainly never found a 'go to' recipe. Until now. The recipe came from an exceptionally reliable source, but still I could never have imagined how I would fall for this cake. As I have mentioned before I am not an enthusiastic admirer of chocolate 'derivatives', so I was really just making the cake for my adorable work mates. However when I smelt the chocolaty aroma filling the kitchen and saw the moist fudgey crown as I removed it from the oven I knew I couldn't resist. I am a terribly impatient baker and it took every once of will power to restrain myself from cutting a wedge right there and then. But wait I did until I could frost my pretty and finally I cut myself a slither; it was heavenly.....and an extremely unacceptable (and unprecedented) level of self praise ensued. As quickly as was humanly possible I began shoving pieces of cake under noses: "Eat this... you must!!!" I gleefully stood by as they devoured forkful after forkful and basked in the radiant glory of their appreciation. I swooned, they swooned it was most definitely love!!!

So if like me you can not recall ever making a spectacular chocolate cake take my advice and add this one to the recipe book. I must confess the key to this cake is in the quality of the cocoa, don't go messing around with Cadburys for this one, go straight to the good stuff.. you won't be sorry!!! Oh and it is super easy.... chocolate cake how I love thee!!!

Go to Chocolate Cake

60 grams fine-quality semisweet chocolate such as Callebaut
3/4 cups hot brewed coffee

1 1/2 cups plain soft flour
1 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder ( Callebaut or Kennedy and Wilson are superb)
1 teaspoons baking soda
1/3 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoons salt
1 1/2large eggs
1/3 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cups buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

For ganache frosting

450 g fine-quality semisweet chocolate such as Callebaut
1 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
50 grams unsalted butter

Preheat oven to 150 degrees and grease pans. Line bottoms with rounds of wax paper and grease paper.

Finely chop chocolate and in a bowl combine with hot coffee. Let mixture stand, stirring occasionally, until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth.

Into a large bowl sift together sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. In another large bowl with an electric mixer beat eggs until thickened slightly and lemon colored (about 3 minutes with a standing mixer or 5 minutes with a hand-held mixer). Slowly add oil, buttermilk, vanilla, and melted chocolate mixture to eggs, beating until combined well. Add sugar mixture and beat on medium speed until just combined well.

Divide batter between pans and bake in middle of oven until a tester inserted in center comes out clean, 1 hour to 1 hour and 10 minutes.

Cool layers completely in pans on racks. Run a thin knife around edges of pans and invert layers onto racks. Carefully remove wax paper and cool layers completely. Cake layers may be made 1 day ahead and kept, wrapped well in plastic wrap, at room temperature.

Make frosting:
Finely chop chocolate. In a 1 1/2- to 2-quart saucepan bring cream, sugar, and corn syrup to a boil over moderately low heat, whisking until sugar is dissolved. Remove pan from heat and add chocolate, whisking until chocolate is melted. Cut butter into pieces and add to frosting, whisking until smooth.

Transfer frosting to a bowl and cool, stirring occasionally, until spreadable

Eat!!!

my very favourite jeans!!!!

I'm back...

Where has that month gone? Where has this year gone?? My schedule at work has been so unpredictable and out of control that I haven't had a moment spare to cook anything at home. Certainly nothing worth sharing. So I have spent this month more as a blog-viewer then an actual blogger. It was a refreshing hiatus from blogging because I was reminded of all the reasons I started doing this in the first place. And I always love visiting the many inspiring artists, chefs and writers who entertain me daily.

I can't believe there was a time I didn't read food blogs. It's like when you get new jeans and you think "what on earth did I wear before I had these!!!" It feels like I have always visited the same sites and that the names I am so familiar with are like calling cards from old friends. So I have felt a little off this month not contributing to the food community and I hope I can promise myself it won't happen again... but promises have been made and broken before and who knows how many crazy weeks are just around the corner. At least I always have you guys to keep me in the loop (not to mention entertained).

In the meantime since it has taken me so long to cook anything for this blog I decided to offer up something a little special, purposeful. Soon I will have been blogging for a year, in what has been a some what disjointed and disfunctional manner. I have no vision, I have no real purpose but I do love to share... when I look back on both my career as a chef and my lifetime as a diner two foods really jump out at me as significant. You grow and evolve as a chef, constantly learning new techniques and ingredients, but sometimes it is the early experiences that are most poignant, when everything is new and exciting and undiscovered. I have blogged about both before but thought I would combine the two for a dinner to remind myself why I live in this crazy world of hospitality, why I am a chef, why I love my job and why I must continue writing this blog.

Please enjoy your confit duck (the most exciting discovery I ever made as a young teenager.. that there was something out there besides chicken, lamb and beef) and nicoise (the salad that made me realise the thrill of hosptality).

I did get a little creative with the salad but it is the thought that counts.

Waiter! There's a doughnut in my muffin?

I must confess I am a little too addicted to doughnuts then is officially good for me (my only saving grace is that I love ridiculously healthy food just as much) I am however not a fan of muffins. This whole cake/ breakfast item hybrid just doesn't do it for me. First there is the whole lack of frosting, then there's is the fact that they are just that bit too large to be dainty, they don't seem to pack any punch and well I kind of just don't get them. So imagine my delight when I stumbled across a doughnut/muffin. If ever there was a muffin to convert me this would surely be it. And convert me it did. Well let's just say I wouldn't turn down a muffin disguised as a doughnut and hey I may even make another batch. And I must confess they were a real crowd pleaser. There are not many people who can resist a jam doughnut all hot and cinnamony, all you need to do is add the word muffin and people convince themselves they are eating a healthy alternative. At least this is one quality the muffin has going for it , as a baked treat. It creates the illusion of being healthy so at least you can pretend to "have your cake and eat it".... or in this case Doughnut.

Jam Doughnut muffins
sourced from Taste.com.au original recipe Delicious magazine

Makes 6 large muffins or 9 cupcake size muffins

300 g Self Raising flour
2/3 cup caster sugar (plus extra to coat)
80 ml vegetable oil
1 large egg
175 ml buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla
3 teaspoons good quality strawberry jam

100 grams melted butter
1 tsp ground cinnamon

Method

Preheat oven to 180 and grease muffin tin

Sift the flour into a medium bowl, then add a pinch of salt and the caster sugar.
in a jug combine the vegetable oil, egg, buttermilk and vanilla xtract.
Add to the dry mixture and stir until just combined.
Place a spoonful of the mixture in each muffin hole and make an indent in the centre.
Fill each indent with a generous 1/2 teaspoon of strawberry jam.
Cover the jam with remaining muffin mixture and bake for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool slightly.

Meanwhile, melt the butter. Combine the extra suagr and the cinnamon n a large bowl. When the muffins are cool enough to handle, brush each muffin with the melted butter , the roll int the cinnamon sugar. Serve while warm..... Thank you.