Mid week cooking this week was resulted in cooking parma. Didn't have a recipe, so it was a bit of an improvisation, turned out very well, didn't have that fatty pub-parma taste either! I was a bit upset with myself because I should have had a beer for my boyfriend... you can't have a parma without a beer!

Mum loved the fact that it was such a cheap meal. She must have bought the biggest chicken breasts ever. I'm talking the Pamela Anderson of chickens, we only used 2 chicken breasts between the 4 of us, and we were all full at the end of it!

Since I didn't really have a recipe, I'll try to remember what i did!

To make the schnitzel:
1. Pound the chicken with a meat pounder
2. Coat the chicken in flour
3. Then coat the chicken in whisked egg
4. Coat the chicken in mix of: bread crumbs, parmesan cheese, salt & pepper.
5. Fry in oil and drain on paper towel

To make the parma:
1. Take your schnitzel, and place it on a baking tray
2. Spoon over some warm tomato pasta sauce (homemade or bottled. Leggo's have a parma sauce)
3. Place a slice of ham on top of the sauce
4. Top with mozzarella and parmesan cheese and put in the oven or under the grill until the cheese melts.

To Serve:
Whatever takes your fancy: chips, salad, mash potato, or pasta

This was the other cake I mentioned in my previous post!
Taken from the internet a while ago, I printed it in put in it my "to make" pile.
Haven't tasted it yet, but it smells so good!

3 eggs
100g caster sugar
70g honey
80g softened, unsalted butter
300g sifted self-raising flour
1 level teaspoon of cinnamon powder
3 apples

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees and grease a 20cm-wide tin with softened butter (I lined my tin with baking paper, much easier to clean up). Dust the greased surface with a little flour.

2. Beat together eggs, caster sugar and honey until the mixture is pale and fluffy.

3. Add butter, and beat in. Add flour, cinnamon, and the flesh of 3 apples, peeled, cored and cut into 1cm pieces. Mix gently, or at a low speed if using a mixer.

4. Spoon the mixture into the cake tin and place in the over for about 45-55 minutes, making sure it is completely cooked in the middle before removing: test with a skewer - it should have no uncooked dough attached to it. Remove from the tin and cool on a cake rack.

To serve
Serve with caramelised apple sauce and some cream or ice-cream if desired.

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.