I made 2 of these on Wednesday night do de-virginize mum's new KitchenAid mixer!
Very light and fluffy, everyone in the office and at my aunty's birthday party loved it! The icing has a nice tang that compliments the cake.

200g macadamia nuts
40g self-raising flour
a pinch of salt
6 eggs, separated
165g sugar
finely grated zest of 1 lime
45g desiccated coconut
lime icing (below)

Preheat the oven to 180°C.
Place the nuts, flour and salt in the bowl of a food processor and process until the nuts are ground. Place the egg yolks and sugar in a bowl and beat for 3 minutes, or until the mixture is pale and creamy. Fold through the zest and coconut then the nut mixture. Place the egg whites in a clean, dry stainless steel bowl and whisk until stiff peaks form. Using a large metal spoon, fold lightly through the nut batter.

Spread the batter evenly into a 23 cm greased or non-stick springform cake tin.
Bake for 40 minutes, or until the cake is lightly golden.

Remove from the oven and leave to sit for 10minutes in the tin. Turn the cake out onto a serving plate. Spread the lime icing over the warm cake, allowing it to drizzle down the sides.

Lime Icing
125g icing sugar, sifted
2 tablespoons lime juice
1 teapsoon finely grated lime zest

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and mix until smooth and glossy.

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This one got eaten within 1 day! I didn't put in the optional amaretto.
VERY moist cake, but everyone who ate it agreed that it was better on it's own and not with the cream/yoghurt that is suggested to serve with in the recipe.

220g unsalted butter, softened
250g caster sugar
1 teaspoon natural vanilla extract
3 eggs 310g self-raising flour, sifted
50ml milk
250g plain yoghurt
1 tablespoon amaretto (optional)
450g small peaches, chopped
50g flaked almonds

to serve:
125ml plain yoghurt
125ml cream

Preheat the oven to 170°C.
Grease and line the base of a 23cm springform tin. Beat the butter and sugar with electric beaters until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla, then add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add half the flour, the milk and half the yoghurt and mix at low speed for 1 minute. Add the remaining flour and yoghurt with the amaretto and mix until combined.

Gently fold through the peaches. Pour the mixture into the tin and sprinkle with the almonds. Bake for 1.5 hours or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. If it is browning too quickly, cover the top of the cake with foil for the last 20 minutes. Leave to cool. Whip together the yoghurt and cream until thick and serve with the cake.

Serves 10-12

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These are from Nigella Lawson's, How to Be a Domestic Goddess.

Whilst it might sound like diabetes in a muffin case they are very delicious and I guarantee everyone will gobble them up!!

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Another sensational risotto graced the dinner table this week, and the best part was that it was soooo easy to do! Even though the avocados I used were not 100% ripe, it was still a creamy, delicious risotto that I can still taste of the tip of my tongue!

Thanks to Delicious - 5 nights a week.

1.25L vegetable stock
25g unsalted butter
1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, crushed
2 cups aborio rice
2/3 cup dry white wine
500g green prawn meat, roughly chopped
1 cup grated parmesan, plus extra to serve
2 avocados
juice of 1 lemon
1/4 cup roughly chopped chives

Place the stock in a saucepan, bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to low and keep the stock at a simmer.

Meanwhile, heat the butter and olive oil in a deep frypan over a medium heat, add the onion and cook, stirring, for 1-2 mins, until softened but not coloured. Stir in the garlic, then add the rice and cook, stirring, for 1 min to coat the grains. Add the wine and allow the liquid to evaporate. Add the stock, a ladleful at a time, stirring occasionally, allowing each ladleful to be absorbed before adding the next. Continue until you have one ladleful of stock left - this should take about 20mins. Add the prawns with the final ladleful of stock and continue to stir for 2-3 mins until the prawns are cooked through. Stir in the parmesan, then cover and remove from the heat.

Peel the avocados, dice and toss in the lemon juice. Just before serving, carefully stir the avocado mixture into the risotto. Serve in bowls topped with extra Parmesan and chopped chives.

Serves 4 - and is VERY yum!!

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These were from the Nigella Lawson book "How to Be a Domestic Goddess".
Mum and I were a bit puzzled at why the cocoa-cola cake came out so flat, and she suggested I double the mixture the next time I make it. Although once you actually taste it you realize why it is so flat! It is more of a fudge than a cake. You get a bit of fizz from your first mouthful, but I think it is more of a gimic than a regular item I would bake! None the less, it was delicious!
The icing cracked a little when I transfered it from the wire rack to the serving plate.

The baby bundts have a real sour icing but that's what helps them taste sooooooooo good! Made 2 batches on the weekend and they got gobbled up very quicky... mostly by myself!

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I'm trying to upload some photos of my latest Nigella attempts of cocoa-cola cake and baby bundts, but they are on my phone and they don't want to come off!!
I'll try again tomorrow and see if I can get them to work!
Watch this space!!

I'm trying a prawn and avocado risotto for dinner tomorrow night so i'll be posting pics and the recipe during the week!

xxx

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Made this for Chinese New Year eve and it went down a treat!
Very simple to make and tastes delicious!!.. although I don't recommend trying to buy a duck on Chinese New Year's eve as everyone seems to have the same idea!


2tbsp olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
150g fresh shiitake mushrooms
350g arborio rice
1.25L (5 cups) chicken stock
60mL Chinese rice wine
2 tbsp kecap manis
1 tsp sesame oil
1 Chinese BBQ duck, meat roughly chopped (or get them to chop it for you)
1 bunch steamed baby bok choy

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees celcius.

Heat the oil in a large, deep frypan over a medium heat and cook the onion and garlic for 1-2 mins, until softened.
Add the shiitake and rice, and stir for a further minute.
Add the stock and wine, bring to the boil, the transfer to a large greased baking dish. Cover with foil and bake for 20-25 mins. Stir in the kecap manis, sesame oil and duck, cover and rest for 5 mins, until the liquid is absorbed.
Roughly chop the bok choy, stir in and serve.

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I made these on Saturday for some of my favorite people, and they went down a treat! If you are going to make the lemon slice, i suggest making it the day before as the base has time to soften a little and soak up some of that yummy lemon flavour!

Lemon Slice
By Donna Hay

1/2 cup caster sugar
1 1/4 cups plain flour
120g butter
1 tablespoon milk
topping
1 1/2 tablespoons cornflour
2/3 cup cream
6 eggs
1 3/4 cups caster sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons finely grated lemon rind
3/4 cup lemon juice

Preheat the oven to 170 degrees celsius. Process the sugar, flour, butter and milk in a food processor until the mixer comes together. Press into a 20cm x 30cm slice tin lined with non-stick baking paper. Bake for 25 mins or until golden brown.
To make the topping, whisk together the cornflour and 2 tablespoons of the cream until a smooth paste forms. Whisk in the remaining cream, then the eggs, sugar, lemon rind and lemon juice. Place in a saucepan over low heat and cook, whisking for 6 mins or until mixture thickens slightly. Pour over the base and bake for 5 mins or until the topping is just set. Cool in the tin. Cut into slices. Makes 24 slices.

I sifted some icing sugar over the top to make them a bit more mouth watering!


Chocolate Cheesecake Brownie
By Donna Hay

185g butter, melted
1/4 cup cocoa powder, sifted
1 cup caster sugar
2 eggs
1 cup plain flour (sifted)

cheesecake
285g cream cheese, softened and chopped
4 1/2 tablespoons caster sugar
2 eggs

Preheat the oven to 160 degrees celsius. Place the butter, cocoa, sugar, eggs and flour in a bowl and mix well until smooth. Spoon into a 20cm square slice tin lined with non-stick baking paper.
To make the cheesecake, process the cream cheese, sugar, and eggs in a food processor until smooth. Place large spoonfuls of the cheesecake mixture on top of the chocolate mixture and swirl with a butter knife. Bake for 45-50 mins or until set. Cool in the tin. Cut into slices. Makes 16 slices.

I only used 250g of cream cheese and it tasted fine! A bit of sifted icing sugar over the top is optional.

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