I thought I'd bake a little thank you gift for my panel beater to thank him for all the help he has provided with my car lately. I did have a pistachio and lemon biscuit in mind but when I went to the cupboard I found that my bag of pistachios had been eaten. So instead I went for something much easier and went for chocolate madeleines.


Chocolate Madeleines
Donna Hay

2 eggs
1/3 cup caster sugar
1/3 cup plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
60g butter, melted

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Place the eggs and sugar in a bowl and whisk to combine. Sift the flour, baking powder and cocoa over the egg mixture and fold through with melted butter.

2. Spoon the mixture into greased large madeleine tins until two-thirds full.

3. Bake for 10 minutes or until the madeleines are set.

Makes 12.

Voila! Bon Appétit!

Sunday, a day of rest for most people.... but for a change we had 33 people in our tiny house to help celebrate Dad's retirement / birthday.
Mum had been preparing food all week from an amazing curry, to satay, everything was home made! I was in charge of desserts so I woke up early on Saturday to bake, and bake and bake! Luckily I prepared my cheesecake and lemon slice on Friday night so I could spend some time with my best friend on Saturday. Which reminds me, if you get a chance to see a movie called "The Bank Job" you will enjoy yourself thoroughly!!

Back to the party! There were waaaaaay too many dishes for me to photograph. Let's start with an amazing entree, Singapore Pies = Pie tee.

Singapore Pies, Pie Tee

tomato salad, garden salad, archar

chocolate madeleins, lemon madeleines & ferrero rocher

I also had made a lemon slice, but the recipe is already posted somewhere on this blog!

My dad loves antique clocks, so some clock inspired cupcakes were on the menu. I'm not that happy with how they turned out, but everyone seemed to be impressed, especially when I whipped them out my of cupcake courier!


Finally the biggest crowd favorite, the cookies and cream cheesecake. This cake is a hit every time I have served it, I have the Woman's Weekly to thank for this recipe. With a chocolate biscuit base, white chocolate through the cream cheese filling, chopped oreo biscuits, drizzled with dark chocolate, you can't go wrong!!

RECIPE AND PICTURE HERE

I found this recipe on one of my favourite food blogs Milk & Cookies.
The author's pictures always make my mouth water and I knew as soon as I saw these I had to make them and try them for myself. I love anything with apple; apple cake, apple crumble, even apple shampoo (obviously I don't eat the shampoo, that would be kind of weird!).

The only problem was that the recipe called for 'Light Muscovado Sugar'. I had never heard of it, and couldn't find it in any of my local supermarkets. So I asked around on forums where I could buy some. Someone suggested a website that I could order from but I didn't really want to pay for shipping for just 1 bag of sugar.

So on my travels to Doncaster Shopping town I walked into a fancy looking deli and they were selling it! So I snapped it up in an instant.
It's sort of like a brown sugar, firmly packed with a nice flavour.

For the recipe click here to visit Milk & Cookies.

Eh Voila! Bon Appétit!

Being bored on a Sunday can make for a very productive time in the kitchen!
Going out tonight with my boyfriend, my bestfriend and her boyfriend! We are going out to celebrate the boys' birthdays, so I decided to make 2 cake options, so I can share with my parents as well.

Started off with a recipe I found in mum's folder of recipes she hasn't tried yet. The are supposed to be decorated with sugar flowers but who could be bothered doing that! I wasn't going to even go near the shops today!
They are not too lemony, hope everyone likes them!


Makes 12
(best made on the day of serving)

1 egg
1/4 cup caster sugar
2 teaspoons grated lemon rind
1/3 cup plain flour
60g butter, melted
1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence
12 sugar flowers, for decoration, optional

Glace Icing
1 cup icing sugar mixture
1 teaspoon soft butter
2 tablespoons lemon juice

1. Preheat to oven to hot 200 degrees fan forced. Grease and flour a 12-hole madeleine pan or tart tray.

2. Beat the egg and sugar in a small bowl with an electric mixer until thick and creamy. Add rind; fold in sifted flour, then butter an essence.

3. Drop about 1 tablespoon of mixture into the prepared pans. Bake in a hot oven for about 8 minutes or until browned lightly.

4. Stand for 3 minutes before turning onto a wire rack to cool.

5. Glace Icing: sift the icing sugar into a medium heatproof bowl, then stir in butter and juice to form a paste. Place the bowl over a small saucepan of simmering water and stir until the icing is a pouring consistency.

6. Brush the Glace Icing immediately over the madeleines on a wire rack over a tray. Press on the sugar flowers and allow to stand until set.