Monte Carlos

Sorry no fancy words today, just a recipe.

Monte Carlos

Recipe from Recipes+ May 2009

Ingredients

125g butter, at room temperature

1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

1 cup self-raising flour

1/2 cup plain flour

1/3 cup custard powder

1/3 cup dessicated coconut

1/4 cup milk

Jam Filling

50g butter, at room temperature

1/2 cup icing sugar

2 tablespoons raspberry jam

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180C. Line 2 baking trays with baking paper. Using an electric mixture, beat butter, sugar and essence in a medium bowl until light and creamy.

2. Sift flours and custard powder into butter mixture. Add coconut and milk. Using a round-bladed knife, cut through mixture until well moistened and beginning to clump together. Press dough into ball.

3. Roll level tablespoons of mixture into balls. Place on prepared trays, leaving room for spreading. Using a fork, press tops to flatten to 5cm rounds, then make a cross pattern. Bake for 15 minutes. Cool on trays for 5 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Jam Filling: Using an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar in a small bowl until light and creamy. Add the jam, mix roughly.

Chocolate Pots de Creme

This last weekend my very best friend came over for dinner. A few days before her visit I asked what she wanted for dessert. Her answer "something custard-y, gooey... chocolatey" My first thought was Pots de Creme. I had seen a recipe in the February copy of Recipes+ and was planning on making that one, but in my last minute rush I didn't have the 6 hours to let it set. A quick net search landed me with this great recipe from My Recipes. It was written for 8 but I halved it. It tasted great, and had a great texture, firm top with a lovely gooey custard beneth, just as requested by the honoured guest!

Chocolate Pots de Creme

recipe from My Recipes

Ingredients (Makes 4)

4 ounces dark chocolate, chopped

1 1/4 cups heavy cream

1/3 cups milk

1/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoons vanilla extract

3 large egg yolks

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180C/350F. Put 4 ramekins into a large roasting pan.

2. Put chocolate in a heatproof bowl. In a pan over medium heat, warm cream, milk and 1/8 cup sugar, whisking often, until sugar is dissolved and mixture is just simmering. Remove from heat, stir in vanilla and pour over chocolate. Let stand 3 minutes to melt chocolate; whisk until smooth.

3. In a second bowl, whisk remaining sugar and egg yolks until well combined and pale yellow. Whisking yolk mixture vigorously, slowly pour in about 1 cup chocolate mixture. Pour in remaining chocolate mixture, whisking well. Strain mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into a large measuring cup.

4. Pour mixture from measuring cup evenly into ramekins. Pour enough hot water into roasting pan to come halfway up sides of ramekins. Carefully transfer pan to oven and bake until custards are just set (they will jiggle slightly in centre), 25-25 mintes. Remove ramekins from water bath and let cool to room temperate on a wire rack. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and chill until cold, at least 1 hour.

Coconut and White Chocolate Cookies

Happy Australia Day! The lamb roast is ready to go in the oven, lamingtons are in production and the cricket is on the TV, what a great way to celebrate being Australian. This year my celebrations are alot quieter than last. I'm spending the day at home alone, just relaxing. I've done a little cooking, but a whole lot more just sitting around in front of the cricket.

These cookies aren't particularly Australian, they were just the flavours I felt like at the time. Similar to the very common white chocolate and macadamia cookies, but a little cheaper (macadamias are so expensive!) They are just sweet enough with a lovely hint of coconut. Great for sharing, I took mine to the 20/20 cricket and snacked on throughout the week. And I got to use these very cute measuring cups I got for christmas. They are very easy to store and have 2/3 and 3/4 cup measurements too, how awesome is that.

Coconut and White Chocolate Cookies

recipe from Technicolor Kitchen

Ingredients

125g unsalted butter

1 cup+ 1 tablespoon caster sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 egg

1 cup plain flour

1 cup self-raising flour

1 cup unsweetened dessicated coconut

2/3 cup white chocolate chunks or chips

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180C; line two large baking sheets with baking paper.

2. Beat the butter, sugar and vanilla in an electric mixer until light and creamy. Add the egg and beat well. At low speed, add the plain and self-raising flours and coconut and mix until a soft dough forms. If its too crumble add a little milk at a time. Add the chocolate and mix using a wooden spoon.

3. Mould 1 1/2 tablespoons of dough into balls. Place on prepared sheets, 5cm apart, and press down lightly. Bake for 15 minutes or until light golden on the bottom. Allow to cool on baking sheets.

Mayonnaise Chocolate Brownies

Ever read a recipe that you just have to try straight away? I saw this in the current issue of Australian Good Food and made it almost straight away. I have tried Low Fat Brownies before that are nice but was very interested in this recipe. This one uses mayonnaise to help lower the fat content, something I have used before when I made Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake. That worked out really well so I was confident in these brownies. The texture is definitely more cakey then fudgy but that's the way I like my brownies and the use of a good quality dark chocolate makes them beautifully rich. I never revealed the reduced fat nature of these brownies to my testers and they were all satisfied, with no clue to the true ingredients, infact I've renamed them Mayonnaise Brownies instead of the Reduced-fat Chocolate Brownies title it has in the magazine. I have pretty strong brownie competition from a friend who makes the fudgiest, richest brownies you have ever tasted and these didn't measure up for many of my tasters but for a lower fat (they're not 'low fat' just less then a regular brownie) they are pretty darn good.

Here's how it went:

Grab all the ingredients, and plug in your ipod. The recipe called for 70% cocoa chocolate but 85% was all I could get, but whatever you choose make sure its good quality dark because you really taste it.

You might have some lunch as well. Multi-tasking give it a try.

Preheat the oven to 180C. Grease and line a 20cm square cake tin. I'm sure a glass dish would also work.

Melt chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pan of hot water on low heat, stirring until smooth. Remove from heat and cool slightly. Look at that gorgeous gorgeous chocolate.

Meanwhile, sift flour, cocoa and bicarbonate of soda. Stir sugars into chocolate with coffee, buttermilk and vanilla. Stir in warm water. Whisk in egg.

Stir in mayonnaise until smooth and glossy. I used low fat mayo because its what I had in the fridge, which means they're even lower fat, awesome. Gently fold through flour mixture until just combined.

Pour mixture into prepared pan and use a spatula to smooth surface, if you're neat that way. Stick it in the oven for 30 mintues and chill out in front of the TV while you wait. The brownies need to cool completely in the pan, so a little more patience is needed. Then outta the pan, cut up and taste test.

Reduced Fat Chocolate Brownies (Mayonnaise Brownies)

From Australian Good Food Jan/Feb 2010

Ingredients

85g dark chocolate with 70% cocoa solids, chopped into small pieces

1/2 cup plain flour

1/4 cup cocoa

1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1/2 cup caster sugar

1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/2 tsp powdered instant coffee

2 tbsp buttermilk

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tbsp warm water

1 egg

1/3 cup mayonnaise

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180C. Grease and line a 20cm square cake tin.

2. Melt chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pan of hot water on low heat, stirring until smooth. Remove from heat and cool slightly.

3. Meanwhile, sift flour, cocoa and bicarbonate of soda. Using a wooden spoon stir sugars into chocolate with coffee, buttermilk and vanilla. Stir in warm water. Whisk in egg. Stir in Mayonnaise until smooth and glossy. Gently fold through flour mixture until just combined.

4. Pour mixture into prepared pan and use a spatula to smooth surface. Bake for 30 mintues, until a skewer inserted comes out with just a few moist crumbs sticking to it. Cool completely in pan. Cut into 12 pieces to serve.

The article said there are 658kJ and 6g total fat in each brownie, compared to 1351kJ and 18g fat of a regular brownie.

San Francisco

San Francisco holds a very special place in my heart. During my last semester of university I studied abroad at San Francisco State University. I spent 5 beautiful months exploring this incredible city. It has so much to offer and every time I return it feels just like home.

On our first night we wandered down to Pier 39 and around Fisherman's Wharf. Touristy yes, but it is a great location. My brother was a little tired of burgers (Can you believe it!) and felt like fish. Now I'm sure your thinking, great, a lovely little seafood restaurant, maybe some lobster, and of course clam chowder. Well sorry you'll just have to visit for yourself to find out about that experience. Because we went to Joe's Crabshack. Now in defence, at the time of walking in we didn't know it was a huge chain, nor did we know they dance on the tables, but the food was good and just the change in menu we were looking for. I had the fish and chips, G. had the fish and shrimp and chips.

The next night we took it up a notch in chain restaurants and had dinner at The Cheesecake Factory. Up until this point we'd never ordered dessert after dinner because we were always too full from dinner, but we were determined to make it to dessert this time. It was definitely worth it. I had the most incredible Chocolate Fudge Brownie Sundae ever. It was three of the densest, fudgiest, chocolatiest (?? huh?!) brownie I'd ever had with ice cream, whipped cream and choc fudge. Amazing. Incredibly sweet and rich. I managed to eat one of the brownies and a scoop of ice cream and I was done, but the memory remains forever. In case you are wondering, I didn't have cheesecake because I don't like it, but my brother did and I think he thought the cheesecake was just as amazing as my brownie.

When we were planning this trip there was only one place my brother was determined to eat at and we had to wait until San Francisco to get our chance. In 'n' Out was on the cards for lunch today. I'd never eaten there before because I don't eat burgers and that's all they serve. This day I stuck with fries, and the thickest milkshake I've ever had. B had the double double cheese burger which he really enjoyed. I don't think it was his favourite burger ever but it lived up to the hype.

The Ferry Building. Oh the joys, the love of the ferry building. If you ever go to San Francisco go here. No seriously do it if you do nothing else. There is the fresh food, cheese, meat, bread, chocolate... on and on it goes. So pretty, so yummy. There is a small selection of restaurants as well. For dinner after In 'n' Out lunch, my bro was back on the burger wagon and we went to Taylor's Automatic Fresher in the Ferry Building for more burgers. This place is kinda a cross between a diner and fast food place. It looks like a diner, the menu is like a diner, but you order and pay at the counter. I had chicken tenders with fries and grilled cheese. G. had a burger (shock horror) fries and chicken tenders. He said it was the best burger he's had yet. That's a pretty big statement given the number of burgers he ate in two weeks. The chicken tenders and grilled cheese I had were pretty damn good too.

Our 13th and final full day was nice and relaxed. We slept in and then just wandered around this beautiful town. For lunch we stumbled into this really great little diner on Chestnut St, Bechelli's. It was probably the most authentic diner experience we've had all trip. I had grilled cheese with bacon, dripping with oil and delicious. G. had a burger (his 4th in a row, it really is getting disgusting at this point). Dinner was a not so authentic diner experience, Lori's Diner back in the city. Don't get me wrong, its a great menu, good food but well its a bit same same. I had chicken tenders. G. had his 5th burger in 3 days.

I have loved my brief trip to the USA. Lots of great food, and tons of shopping. I've bought a few cook books, some cookie cutters and a couple other bits and pieces. Check out the pic of my loot. The books I picked up were Baked, The Pioneer Woman Cooks, The Complete Magnolia Bakery Cookbook and Big Fat Cookies. I also picked up the January copy of Food Network Magazine and an old copy for Everyday Food. Look out for some great posts about these in the future.

Las Vegas

Las Vegas has certainly got to be one of the best culinary destinations in the USA. You can eat whatever you just about whenever you want. A huge range of cuisines to sample and arguable the best selection of US and World acclaimed chefs you'll find anywhere. But you won't be seeing any reviews for those restaurants here. As I've said before I'm a very fussy eater and my brother, who is joining me on this trip, is a simple burgers and bbq kinda guy. So thats what we ate, low cost everyday food. But that doesn't mean it wasn't good, it was great food, just the way we like it. This was not my first trip to Vegas, but I still managed to eat at a few new places, and if you've ever been to vegas you know that this place changes very often, so there is always something new.

You really can't avoid the Harley Davidson Cafe, its right on the strip with a huge sign and plenty of bikes out the front. My brother is a big fan of Hard Rock Cafe, but he thought this would be a better place on our first night, seeing as you can go to Hard Rock anywhere. We started off with an apetizer of chicken tenders coated in cornflake crumbs. G had a huge steak with a ton of sides. I had the fried chicken with fries, corn and biscuit. We also ordered a side of garlic bread, but with all this food our eyes really were bigger then our stomachs.

Vegas is all about buffets. I tend to avoid them in most places, but in Vegas it is just done so well (usually) and is an experience. We went to the Spice Market Buffet inside Plant Hollywood Casino (formally the Aladdin). It's considered the best buffet in Las Vegas and for good reason. Its divided into 6 stations of different cuisines, Seafood, Italian, Middle Easters, Asian, American and Mexican, plus soup and salad. We ate a fair amount from each station but it was really all about the dessert. There was a wide selection of cakes, pastries and pies as well as chocolate mousse and ice cream (with all the toppings!). I had three servings of dessert, more then what I ate of the mains. Amazingly good food, definitely how all buffets should be.

The next morning, despite still being full from the night before, I was determined to have a sit down breakfast. There was a Denny's across the road, and while not by any means gourmet food, I wanted my brother to have the Denny's experience. He ordered a Lumberjack Grand Slam (with extra bacon) while I stuck to some pancakes. It may be run of the mill, but it does keep you happy.

For dinner on our last night we went to Diablo's Cantina, situated next to the New York, New York casino (where we were staying). I love Mexican food and struggle to find decent Mexican back in Australia (there is one really great place near home, but it took me a long time to find it) so I was definitely determined to have some on this trip. My brother isn't a huge fan though so I knew it would only happen once or twice. We had walked past this place a couple times and liked the look of the menu and enjoyed the atmosphere. I had a Chicken Quesadilla and G had sizzling combination Fajitas which were both great dishes. G is definitely liking Mexican food more and more.

Next stop San Francisco

*and yes I realise its been a while between posts, I'm actually back in Australia already, just trying to find time between unpacking and cleaning to post. Plus having a cold doesn't help either*

New York City - Part 2

Well I'm not in New York anymore but I will catch you up on my time there. We've had some more great meals (and some quite boring ones) and been to some great little food markets as well. The above picture is from Chelsea Market, an amazing collection of little food stores and restaurants. While I didn't purchase anything I had a very difficult time leaving. It's such a shame that I can't take any food back into Australia with me (besides chocolate and other processed, packaged food). There was also a kitchen supply store that couldn't resist. I love kitchen supplies about as much as I love cooking (maybe even more!), it's so tempting to get a second suitcase just for cake tins and utensils!

Our forth day in New York was freezing! Colder then any other day (I'm sure I said that everyday). We started the morning with a quick breakfast of hot chocolate and cinnamon rolls from Angela's Rock and Roll Deli, a tiny little place right near central park.

Lunch was even better. We had seen this place full of people the day before and when we ended up near it again at lunch time we had to go in. Silver Spurs Diner is a great local diner with huge character and huge meals. It seems like the burgers are their signature dish, G had the cheeseburger with bacon. I had a grilled cheese that was perfectly cooked with the just the right amount of cheese and butter. One of the best things about this place was the people. We were sitting next to two men, who judging by their very interesting conversation seemed to be medical researchers, perhaps professors at the local NYU. Such a New York moment.

The next day was New Years Eve, and not very foodie at all. This was the

morning I went to chelsea market but the rest of the day was pretty uneventful food wise. The evening however was an experience. Like true tourists we decided to do the Times Square thing. While I'm glad we did it, because I would have regretted it if we didn't, I don't recommend it. We stood in the freezing cold, rain and snow for 6 hours. From our location we could see the Times Square ball, but we couldn't see or hear any of the entertainment so it made for a boring evening really. But we survived and welcomed 2010 with about a million other people.

New Years day was a very late start. It was our last day in New York but we were too exhausted to really do much at all. We went to Heartland Brewery near Rockerfeller for dinner. I had been to a Heartland on a previous trip and thought my brother would enjoy it but it didn't measure up to my expectations. The service was not great and the food was pretty average. We ordered an appetizer which never arrived, and waited about 40 minutes for our mains. Not the best end to our time in New York, but I'm sure it was just a bad night for them.

Next stop is Las Vegas for 3 nights. I love Las Vegas for its shopping and endless choice of great places to eat. Stay tuned!

Good Bye 2009

I am SO glad to get to the end of this year. It has been quite a year with a lot happening in my life behind this blog. It hasn't been the greatest year, so I'm looking forward to moving on and starting a bigger and better new year. It hasn't all been bad though this year, I've worked slowly on my blog and think its time to celebrate.

Thank you for visiting and please look out for even more bigger and better recipes in 2010. Happy New Year!

My Top Five Recipes

Lamingtons

Apple Custard Tea Cakes

Cloud Cupcakes

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies

Peanut Butter Crispy Slice

Most Viewed Recipe

Chocolate Crunch Slice (Mars Bar Slice)

Post with the Most Comments

Apple Donut Muffins

Favourite Comment Recipe

Low-fat Chocolate Brownies

My favourite comment was actually an email from a lovely mother who wanted to thank me for providing recipes that her daughter, recovering from anorexia, had found and loved. I was so grateful to receive such a great email and hope I can continue to help.

Favourite Picture

Cloud Cupcakes

Best Unpublished Recipe

Tiramisu Cupcakes

So that is just some of what I did accomplish in 2009, but I really did fail with the goals I set myself last January. I didn't do any of them. So for 2010, I'm taking it as it comes. I'll bake and cook when I feel like it, no pressure. Let the new year begin

New York City

Here I am coming live from New York which is just a little far from home. I am over here for a two week trip with my brother. We will be in New York for 6 days (including new years eve) and then move on to Las Vegas and San Francisco.

Since I won't be baking for a few weeks I thought instead I would share with you some of the meals, snacks and food related stores we encounter. Please don't expect lavish restaurants and exciting discoveries. We are simple (sometimes very fussy) eaters and are trying to experience as much 'american' food as we can . So that include chain restaurants, fast food and what many might see as a little boring and everyday. We also don't have a huge budget so 5 star restaurants are definitely out of the question. Another thing, because lighting is often so bad in restaurants, and mostly I'm too busy eating to take pictures, most of the photos posted will come form the establishments own website. Although that isn't authentic blogging, my aim is more to share the places we visit, rather then my personal photos.

So what are our food highlights from the last three days?

At the end of our first full day in NYC which I filled with shopping and my brother went to a giants game, we decided to check out the local restaurants near our hotel (The Pod Hotel). We decided on a nice local bar, The Pig and Whistle. I had Chicken Tenders and Fries (which will be a common choice for me) and my brother G had The Real McCoy Burger . It was great food, great atmosphere and what seemed very authentic. This was an experience quite different from the touristy times square.

By the time we had lunch on our second day we were starving! We ran into a deli-cafe downtown, just near Wall St. I have no idea what the place was called but I had an amazing Chicken Parmigana Panini. It was shredded chicken mixed with marinara sauce and basic, grilled with a slice of mozzarella. It was incredible.

The next night told a very different story. It was times square, and chain restaurant goodness at Dave and Busters. I had been to Dave and Busters in St Louis on a previous trip and knew it was a place my brother would love. You get what is expected here, menu favourites that are well made and taste good. I had The Mac and Cheese (with bacon and chicken!). G had the Island Grilled Trifecta, skewers of sirloin steak, chicken and shrimp with a variety of dipping sauces, served with rice.

On our walk back to the hotel I couldn't resist this GIANT black and white cookie from Hot and Crusty bakery in Grand Central Station. It took me two days to finish but was so very worth it. The cookie was soft and crumbly, the frosting just the right thickness, and it seriously was huge.

By the third day, the coldest yet, we were exhausted and needed an early night. We had pizza for dinner, I had cheese, G had pepperoni. We couldn't resist the garlic knots either. You really can't go wrong with pizza, the slices are huge, the prices are great. You can get good pizza just about anywhere in New York, we got ours from Red Stone Pizzeria Cafe near the hotel.

So far the food has been good, but I know it's only just begun. I can't wait to try out even more, check out some markets and food halls and then get back to Australia to cook it all for myself. But for now its into my nice warm bed out of this cold.

Christmas Cookies

So the other week I blogged about how I would love to be able to give away some cookies and other baked good for christmas. I wasn't feeling too optimistic about it but miracles do happen. I finally got into the kitchen and made cookies, Chirstmas cookies!! then I wrapped, decorated, tagged and delivered this lovely little parcels of joy. I made two varieties, a basic butter cookie cut into stars (The recipe was from the cookie cutter box) and basic shortbread.

It wasn't all success though. As well as the little parcels, I also made a cookie christmas tree. Sure it all went together ok, and looks good. But fast forward a day to when it was supposed to be delivered and its not such a pretty store. It fell apart, and an emergency gift was needed instead. I'll just leave you with pretty pictures and spare you the future horror.

So I missed it....

Well my blog anniversary came and went yesterday and I missed it. I do have an excuse, I've been out of town for the last 4 days, so I guess I kinda have a reason. If I was one of those super-bloggers I would have pre-planned and had a a post ready to go. But if you have looked at my blog, you should clearly know that I am not one of those super-bloggers! I might whip up a cake in the next few days, but honestly I wouldn't hold my breath! Anyway, thank you to those of you who have joined me even if just for a little while in the last year, and I hope I can continue to slowly slowly get better at this blogging thing, or at least better at baking. Please, keep coming back, and say hi as well!!

Simple Chocolate Slice

Simple. Such a delightful word. Its what I strive for. Nothing complicated, easy to understand. But the annoying thing about keeping it simple, is that its not. Some things will always be complicated, no matter how hard we try to make it otherwise. Sometimes we make things more complicated then they are. But there is always something that makes it all better, for me anyway. Time spent in the kitchen is therapeutic, its my time to just be. And then you get the sweet rewards, there real is no better way to keep it real. And simple.

This slice really does live up to its name. Throw the ingredients into the bowl, mix and bake. Expect what the recipe looks like, its not a rich decadent slice, but a great one to have on hand for afternoon snacks.

Simple Chocolate Slice

http://au.food.yahoo.com/recipes/recipe/-/5708736/simple-chocolate-slices/

Ingredients

1 cup self-raising flour

395g condensed milk

1/2 cup choc chips

1/2 cup coconut

20g butter, melted

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180C. Lightly grease and line a 20 x 30cm baking pan. In a medium bowl, mix the flour, condensed milk, choco chips, coconut and butter.

2. Pour into pan, bake for 15-18 minutes. When cool, ice with chocolate icing.

Double Chocolate Banana Bread

I have been thinking lately about how the art of baking is being lost. No one seems to give baked goods as gifts, there isn't an endless supply of home made cakes or biscuits on hand in the kitchen. Maybe it disappeared a long time ago, maybe it was never that prevalent in Australia. I read all the blogs from US bakers posting their favourite cookies and how to pack goods to send to loved ones. Why don't we do that here? Why don't I start?

This was my thinking before Saturday, I was starting to plan all the great recipes I could bake over the next few weeks to give away as gifts. Then I remembered. Its summer. That means its hot, really hot. On Saturday it was 43C, that's almost 110F for those of you in the North. Who is gonna turn the oven on in that heat?!!! So I might not do as much baking as I would like before Christmas, but I'm going to do as much as the weather lets me.

For those of you that are in cooler climates, try out this Double Chocolate Banana Bread I made a couple of weeks ago, you really can't go wrong with this one.

Double Chocolate Banana Bread

Recipe from dlynz.com

Ingredients

2 cups flour

1/3 cup cocoa powder

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon bicarb

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 egg

1/4 cup vegetable oil (I used canola)

1 cup plain yoghurt (I used banana flavour)

2 medium bananas, cut into a medium dice

1/2 cup dark chocolate chips

Method

1. Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl. In a separate bowl beat together egg, oil and yoghurt.

2. Combine egg mixture, banana and chocolate chips and dry ingredients.

3. Spread batter in greased loaf pan. Bake at 180C for 60-70 minutes.

Strawberry Jam Tarts

Ahhh peace and quiet. I'm not sure what I did but I've finally found some quiet time. This weekend has been full of a whole lot of nothing and I'm loving it. Not only does it mean I have a clean house, and I've had time to just be calm it also means I can bake. Oh how great it is to bake without being rushed, no deadlines, no racing out the door before its cooled. I have been waiting for this opportunity to make these beautiful jam tarts. It also meant I got to pull out my mini muffin pan, and that always means good things. These did take me a little time, but only because I only have a 12-hole mini muffin pan, and this makes about 24-30 mini tarts. Otherwise its alot simpler then it looks. Great cookie dough base and simple jam filling. My mind is already full of other possible fillings. Stay tuned for that!!

Strawberry Jam Tarts

Recipe from http://www.evilshenanigans.com/2009/07/strawberry-jam-tarts/

Ingredients

2 cups flour

1 cup salted butter (I think I used unsalted and added some salt)

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup strawberry jam, seedless (I ended up using the whole jar)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180C.

2. In the bowl of a food processor combine the flour, sugar, milk, vanilla and butter. Pulse until the mixture forms a ball.

3. Turn the dough out onto a floured board and form into a log. Divide the log in half and divide each half into 15 pieces.

4. Place a ball of dough in the cup of a mini muffin pan and using a dough tamper or your fingers, press down until the dough reaches the top of the cup.

5. Spoon about one tablespoon of jam into each tart shell, making sure the tart shells are not too full. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until tarts are golden and jam is bubbling. Cool in pan for 30 minutes before removing to a rack to cool the rest of the way. You can dust with icing sugar before serving.

Favourite Chocolate Pudding

There are some foods that always taste better when made by someone special. No matter how hard you try it just isn't as good when made by someone else. I think that its got nothing to do with taste or cooking skill, its just about the feeling you get knowing someone has made that special dish you love. This recipe falls into that category for my boyfriend. This is his mum's chocolate pudding recipe, his favourite dessert. Almost as soon as we started dating this recipe was on the list, but even though I did a great job its just wasn't as good as mums, as he continues to tell me! I guess I'll just have to settle for that and find another a special dish of my own. But this pudding certainly isn't disappearing from the menu.

So, next time its cold and rainy, and all you want to do is curl up under a blanket and watch movies, put this pudding in the oven and enjoy the comfort. A beautiful vanilla cake smothered in warm chocolate sauce, there is nothing better than that.

Favourite Chocolate Pudding

recipe from boyfriends mum

Ingredients

2oz butter

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg

1 cup self raising flour

1/2 cup milk

tsp vanilla

2 spoons cocoa

1/2 cup sugar

1 1/2 cups boiling water

Method

1. Cream butter and sugar. Add egg and stir in remaining ingredients. Mix until batter is smooth.

2. Pour mixture into baking dish. Sprinkle cocoa and sugar mixture over mixture. Pour boiling water over top and bake in moderate over (180C) for 35-40 minutes.

Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake

This recipe has been sitting waiting to be posted for over two weeks. And just as I'm about to post it I realise I can't even remember where the recipe came from so I can't even write that up for you. This is exactly what my life has been like lately. Everything all over the place and rushed! With that in mind I have decided to stop posting my Sunday Baking links, and pushing myself to blog once a week. So I'm going back to the beginning, blogging when I make a great recipe, no pressure to get stuff up or worrying about my blog being quite. I love to bake, and I love to share my recipes, but sometimes life gets in the way, and that's OK. So please, continue to check out my blog, the recipes will continue just not consistently.

By the way the mayonnaise cake was amazing. Just google it and I'm sure you will find the recipes!

Apple Donut Muffins

These are one of those recipes that you just don't know what to name them. They look like muffins, but the mix is more like a scone dough. They are covered in cinnamon and sugar which explains the donut part of the name. Whatever you call them they are great, especially straight from the oven. You can use any apple you like, but a sweet apple is best. Made them twice in one week and received with rave reviews.

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• Not exactly baked but who doesn't love Ice Cream Cake. Check out this recipe at Zoe Bakes
• Simple flavours with Technicolor Kitchens Vanilla Buttermilk Cake with Whipped Passionfruit Ganache
• Annie's Eats always has great recipes, try these Brownie Cookies

Apple Donut Muffins

Recipe from Pinoy Cook

Ingredients

2 apples

1 1/2 cups plain flour

1/2 cup sugar

1 3/4 tsp of baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp ground nutmeg

75g butter

1 egg

1/4 cup milk

Topping:

1/3 cup sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

Method:

1. Peel and roughly chop the apples.

2. In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, sugar and nutmeg. Add the butter to the flour mixture. Rub the butter against the flour until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

3. Beat the egg. Pour in the milk and stir lightly. Add the chopped apple to the egg-milk mixture.

4. Pour the apple mixture to the flour mixture. Stir just until blended. Do not overmix.

5. Form the batter into loose balls and place in the holes of a muffin pan.

6. Bake at 180C for 25 minutes. While still warm roll in the sugar cinnamon mixture at let cool

Cut-out Cookies

Yes more cookies. But I decided to make these because I wanted to try out the icing. You see I've been working on cake decorating with some of the girls at my church and this week we will be decorating cookies. I was planning on making royal icing but had no eggs (probably should have checked that before I started!) instead I used a simple glaze frosting instead. It turned out pretty good and will be the one I use this week with the girls. The last three weeks we have decorated cupcakes and mini-cakes, and I have learnt that simple is best, master cake decorators they aren't, but they sure are having fun! Next week will be out final week when they decorate their own masterpieces, can't wait to see what they come up with.

More great recipes this week:

• Mint and chocolate has got to be one of my favourite flavour combinations. Try these Homemade Thin Mint Cookies from Bringing Home the Bakin'
• Healthy Chocolate Cake? Well maybe with this Chocolate Carrot Cake from Mochachocolata Rita
• Coconut and Lime has a great recipe for Homemade Sno-balls
• At the Bakers Bench needs to be congratulated for the amazing effort put into this Real Coconut Cake. Well Done!
• And who does love a surprise? Let's Get Stupid Together gives everyone a surprise with these Surprise Muffins

Cut-out Cookies

Recipe from taste.com.au

Ingredients

125g butter, room temperature

1/2 cup caster sugar

1/4 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups self-raising flour

1/2 cup custard powder

Frosting

1 cup icing sugar

1 tsp soft butter or margarine

1-2 tablespoon milk

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180C. Line two baking trays with non-stick baking paper.

2. Use and electric beater to beat the butter and sugar until pale and creamy. Beat in milk and vanilla extract. Fold in the flour and custard powder.

3. Press the dough into a ball and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 3o minutes to rest.

4. Divide the dough into manageable portions. Roll out one portion on a sheet of baking paper to about 1cm thick. Use cutters to cut shapes and place on trays.

5. Bake for 10 minutes or until lightly golden. Cool for 5 minutes on the trays before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with remaining dough.

Frosting: Mix ingredients together, slowly adding milk until a smooth spreadable consistency is reached.