Coffee Cake

Winter has definitely settled in and is here to stay a while. This calls for dressing gowns, thick socks, long and hot showers and cuddles! It's not a season for going out on the town so we had our friends over for home-made pizzas. I baked bread for us to munch on with olive oil and balsamic vinegar while the pizzas baked.

We have coffee beans from Campos on automatic order every month or two. However I cannot keep up with consuming our supply, as I never get time to sit down to a cuppa these dark, cold mornings before work (sleep in the warm bed is currently taking priority). So I decided to make a coffee based dessert using ingredients I have in the pantry. My hubby requested coffee cheesecake but I had no cream cheese. So instead I presented the dinner table with a simple coffee cake drizzled in Baileys-spiked coffee syrup.

COFFEE CAKE

Into a jug mix 1/2 cup sour cream and 1/3 cup fresh coffee (I used my espresso machine)

Into KitchenAid bowl beat 180g soft unsalted butter and 1 cup brown sugar.

Beat in 3 eggs, one at a time.

With the mixer running, add half of the sour cream mix.

Add 1 cup self-raising flour.

Add the remaining half of the sour cream mix.

Add 1 more cup self-raising flour.

Pour batter into a greased fluted ring pan and bake for approximately 50 minutes at 160 degrees.

(Check with a skewer at about 45 minutes)

COFFEE SYRUP

In a saucepan mix 1 cup fresh coffee, 1 cup white sugar and 2 tbsp liqueur such as Kahlua

(I used Baileys Irish Cream)

Stir on medium heat until syrup thickens.

Pour all over the cooled cake. Enjoy.

Blanket

Just a quick post to showcase my latest crochet creation. I spent the past 3 weeks or so on a granny blanket with a rainbow of pastel colours!

The pattern is simple. Start with a 4-chain ring, then make a series of 3 double-crochet and one-chain combinations and around and around and around and around and around you go! At each corner of the "square" chain two instead of one, in order to make the 90 degree turn.

Teddy has decided it's his blanket

Cornflake Cookies

The humble box of cornflakes is possibly one of the most common items found in pantries all around the Western world. Such a simple creation; these little golden petals can be used so many ways to provide that perfectly light crunch.

My hubby was feeling a little under the weather today so I decided to cheer him up by baking some cookies. He loves cornflakes so I made a batch of cornflake cookies. Cornflake cookies are normally made with raisins but I'm not the hugest fan of raisins in cookies and Paul dislikes raisins altogether. So I put chocolate chips in instead!

CHOC-CHIP CORNFLAKE COOKIES

Mix together 125g soft unsalted butter and 1/2 cup brown sugar until fluffy

Add 1tsp vanilla extract and 2 eggs one at a time

Fold in 1 cup dark chocolate chips and 1 3/4 cups self-raising flour

Using a spoon, form balls of batter, then roll in a bowl of 1 1/2 cups crushed cornflakes

Place 3-4cm apart on a lined baking tray. Bake at 175 degrees celcius for about 20 minutes.

Prior to baking

Fresh, hot and golden brown

And crunchy :)

Strawberry Conserve

I love Saturday morning breakfast. It's the only day of the week where I can sleep in, lazily shuffle to the kitchen and take as much time as I want eating breakfast. Even breakfast at 11:00! Earlier in the week I had been wondering how to use a punnet of strawberries for the coming Saturday's breakfast. I figured it out - strawberry conserve on freshly baked baguettes! This recipe however requires preparation the day before.

STRAWBERRY CONSERVE

Place 1 punnet of strawberries and 1 cup of caster sugar in a bowl

(I cut the tops off then sliced each in half)

Refrigerate overnight

The next day place the strawberry sugar into a small saucepan with

1 vanilla pod (seeds scraped out and pod thrown in) and the juice of half a lemon

Stir to dissolve sugar then place on medium heat

Bring to a slow boil for about 25 minutes, stirring constantly

It is ready when thickened

Place into a sterilised jar and refrigerate when cooled

Danish salami & brie to munch with my bread

Coconut & Oatmeal Cookies

It was one of those cold nights after dinner that I was craving something sweet, something bite-sized to wash down with a hot cup of tea. After much deliberation over the contents of the pantry I threw together a batter for cookies. The flavours are similar to that of traditional ANZAC cookies.

COCONUT & OATMEAL COOKIES

Into my KitchenAid Bowl I combined 1 block of chopped unsalted butter and one cup of brown sugar.

After mixing these I added 1 egg and a tsp of vanilla extract.

I then added 1/2 a cup each of rolled oats and desiccated coconut.

Lastly I gradually added between 1-1 1/2 cups of self raising flour

(until "cookie dough" consistency is reached)

Using a spoon I dropped balls of dough onto a tray lined with baking paper.

Cookies are baked for 15-20 minutes at 180 celcius until golden brown.

Paris

I miss this beautiful city so much and am really sad that I could not visit for longer than 3 days (in early 2012). I don't know when we'll ever meet again but I hope we will xx

L'Arc de Triomphe

My very first glimpse of this magnificent structure at Trocadéro

Hôtel National des Invalides

Pont Alexandre III - Never have I seen a more spectacular bridge

Too impatient to stand in line to go up the Eiffel Tower so went to Tour Montparnasse instead - for a
bird's eye view of Paris WITH the Eiffel tower in it!

I was absolutely freezing but the wait to watch the sunset was well worth it

Carousels don't have anywhere near the same charm here in Sydney as in Paris

The magnificent fountain at Place de la Concorde

I love all the street food in Paris - crêpes, hot dogs on baguettes and washed down with "vin chaude" (hot wine)

Jardin des Tuileries - I guess I could appreciate this place more if it had been a warmer day and not the
frosty 4 degrees celcius it was this January day!

Monday-to-Friday Scarf

No recipe to post this weekend sadly! I was up at 5:30AM yesterday because I had a dental conference called "The Wonderful World of Dentistry" on in Darling Harbour which lasted all day. Dr Dan Fischer from USA was the key speaker and was absolutely inspirational! After it concluded at about 5PM I quickly rushed to purchase a birthday present for my brother Allan then hopped on a train out to my parents' neighbourhood for Allan's birthday dinner. I was exhausted and hit the sack as soon as I got home.

I will post however, a picture of my most recently completed creation - I call it my "Monday-to-Friday" scarf! Called so because I started it on a Monday and finished it on the Friday :)

2 skeins of 12-ply wool (pink and blue) used, crocheted with 5mm needle

Happy Long Weekend

This Queen's Birthday long weekend I have spent doing nothing in particular! I don't know whether it's age or work, but these days I long to stay home - no point working to pay for a home you don't even stay in right? :)

I kicked off the long weekend with a scrumptious breakfast of blueberry pancakes served with strawberries and cream! I added lots of vanilla extract because I love vanilla! It's worth spending the few extra dollars for extract rather than essence - you really taste the difference!

BLUEBERRY PANCAKES

In a large bowl (I used the KitchenAid) combine 2 cups self-raising flour, 1/3 cup caster sugar and 1/4 tsp bicarb

In a jug whisk 1.5 cups milk, 1 egg and 2 tsp vanilla extract

Turn the mixer on low speed whilst slowly pouring in the liquid mixture

Mix until combined

Gently fold in 1.5 cups of frozen or fresh blueberries, and 1 more tsp of vanilla extract for good measure

Heat large frying pan over medium heat

You can brush the pan with melted butter but my laziness prefers the clean convenience of cooking spray!

Cook batter by the 1/4 cupful, flip when bubbles form on the surface

Adjust the heat according to if your pancakes are pale or burning!

For the cream I whipped about a cup of thickened cream with a few tbsp of icing sugar and a dash of vanilla extract

I whip to stiff peaks because I find it easier for dipping fruit than the soft peak consistency

My Knitting Repertoire

I used to knit and crochet when I was a child - my mother taught me the basics. As a child however, like many things, I quickly grew bored of it.

I don't know if it's a sign of age but during my university years I picked it up again every now and again, and this year I've been doing it quite regularly!

So, a showcase of my recent creations:

A scarf I knitted for Paul
(I had him help me model my creations!)

A crocheted pot/saucepan holder

Another crocheted pot holder

A blanket I crocheted for Teddy
(He's pretty good at modeling too :)

I used 3 different coloured skeins

Crocheted "shells"

Caramel Cake

I love chocolate. I love everything about it. I want it all the time, in all its forms, in, on, around and all over anything and everything.

However, I also like to indulge in non-chocolate items of dessert. In this instance I chose to make a caramel cake. This past week I had a year 10 student with us for work experience. She's thinking of becoming a dentist some day - I'm happy to report that at the end of the week she didn't change her mind about her career ambitions! Her last day just so happened to be her 16th birthday so as my tradition goes, I made her a birthday cake.

CARAMEL CAKE

In a saucepan melt together 200g butter, 200g white chocolate, 200g brown sugar, 

3/4 cup hot water, 2 tsp vanilla extract and 1 tbsp golden syrup

Set aside for 20 minutes to cool

Beat in 2 eggs, 1 at a time

Sift 1 cup each of plain and self-raising flours into saucepan

Combine well

Bake for 50-60 mins at 160 celcius (fan-forced)

(until skewer comes out clean)

CARAMEL ICING

In a saucepan add remaining 50g from the block of butter 

Melt with 2 tbsp cream, 1/2 cup brown sugar and 1/4 cup white chocolate buttons

While stirring, add icing sugar until you achieve the consistency you want

(I used about 1 cup)

Work quickly to pour the icing over the cooled cake!

Whenever I make a cake for someone I always make a smaller one for Paul so he doesn't miss out on having some!

Teddy

Teddy recently turned 2 on April 24th. He's growing up so fast that it scares me a little :(

I really enjoy photographing my boy. I've never had a dog who always looks at the camera :)

Autumn in The Hunter Valley

Apologies for the overload of posts in such a short period! I haven't posted for a while so catching up on lost time :)

It was a last minute decision to visit my favourite place on Earth again. My good friends were wanting to visit the Hunter for the first time (for their first wedding anniversary) and asked me for advice on where to stay. So I thought, hey why not, let's all go together! It was a short midweek celebration getaway for Paul's 30th birthday, their 1st wedding anniversary and Andrew's 30th birthday!

The weather was so perfect, just perfect! It was so beautiful to experience autumn in the vines :)

I discovered how to use the panorama feature on my phone!
Crowne Plaza - where the 4 of us shared a villa

I give one moorhen a potato chip and they all go crazy!!
(The backyard to our villa)

Breakfast at Peterson's Champagne House

Judy & I opted for the "Bubbly Breakfast" with sparkling wine and chocolates

Complimentary sample of their house muesli

Such a pleasant lunch at Muse Kitchen at Keith Tulloch Winery

Me with the clock!

Crispy White Bait with Cajun Spices & Aioli

Balmain Bugs with Lemon Butter

The happy couple. Still happy after 1 year of marital bliss :)

The most amazing croque monsieur I've ever had
Pulled pork with gruyere cheese and cheese toasted on the outside

Lamb & Blue Cheese Burger

Delicious Passionfruit Macarons

A Heartwarming Chai Latte with Honey

I'm a happy chappy :)

Boys will be boys

Dinner at Muse Restaurant
It's now our 7th or 8th time there

Pan-seared Canadian Sea Scallops with Squid Ink Gnocchi

Palate Cleanser - Coconut Ice with Crystallised Violets
I could eat this by the bucket

Wagyu Carpaccio with Mushrooms and Dashi Risotto

This was just amazing.
Deconstructed Vanilla Crème Brûlée with Caramelised White Chocolate, Salted Dates, Roast Hazelnuts & Brown Butter
Blown away.

Petit Fours: Raspberry Macarons & Pistachio Chocolates

Paul getting ready to check out
We had a "gourmet" breakfast at Cessnock McDonald's before going home!