Tuesday 27 August 2013

Carrot Cake

Photo from Taste
This is a real easy carrot cake to whip up.  As it does not have nuts it makes it a more cost effective recipe and kid friendly as well (my girls would eat this but not carrot cakes with nuts in them).

INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 cup flour
1 cup sugar
1 tsp baking soda
2 eggs
1/2 cup crushed pineapple
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
2/3 cup oil
1 cup grated carrot

INSTRUCTIONS

Sift dry ingredients, add rest of ingredients, mix well
Beat 2 mins with electric beater or in your cake mixer.
Bake 35 mins 180°


To make it extra yummy ice with cream cheese icing

Monday 26 August 2013

The Ultimate Chocolate Cake - Annabel Langbein

Photo from Annabel Langbein's website

If you are after a quick and super easy cake this is a great recipe and is super yummy. Easy for the kids to whip up. In our house this is our go to recipe, even hubby can whip up one of these. We also use this recipe to make chocolate muffins, they come out light and freeze well.

INGREDIENTS
3 cups self-raising flour [or 3 cups plain flour, 4 tsp baking powder or 5 tsp if making muffins]
1 1/2 cups sugar [300 gm]
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup cocoa powder
2 tsp baking soda, sifted
200 g butter, softened
1 cup milk or unsweetened yoghurt
3 large eggs
1 cup boiling hot coffee [1 tsp instant coffee to 1 cup boiling water]

To ice:
1 recipe Chocolate Ganache
fresh raspberries

INSTRUCTIONS
Heat oven to 160°C. Grease the sides and line the base of a 30cm round cake tin or 2 x 20cm round cake tins with baking paper.
Place all ingredients except Chocolate Ganache and raspberries in a bowl or food processor and mix or blitz until the ingredients are combined and the butter is fully incorporated. 
Pour mixture into prepared tin or tins and smooth top. Option Press frozen blueberries into mixture. Bake for 1 hour or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Allow to cool in the tin. If not using at once, the cake will keep for about a week in a sealed container in the fridge. You can also freeze it un-iced.
When you are ready to ice the cake, slather chilled Chocolate Ganache over the top. Top with fresh raspberries and serve.


Variation:
To make chocolate muffins, preheat oven to 160°C and line 24 muffin pans with paper cases. Prepare cake batter according to the instructions for The Ultimate Chocolate Cake (see above). Spoon mixture into the paper cases, filling about two thirds full. Bake for 25-30 minutes.


#Savvy Tips

# Makes one big cake or two ring cakes or ring tin cake and 6 muffins or 24 muffins.

# Make ahead of time and freeze, this cake or muffins freeze really well, keep on hand in the freezer for unexpected guests or for those weeks when you are short of options for school lunches. Homemade cake is such a better additive free option that processed biscuits.


# Other flour options 1/2 cup almond flour, 1 cup wholemeal, 1 1/2 white flour

Adapted from Annabel Langbein recipe

Wednesday 14 August 2013

Lemon Slice


From the Savvy test kitchen

If you are wanting to make something a bit different for a treat try this recipe. This is a super scrummy lemon slice with a twist, the glaze is like thin meringue.  It does not use butter or oil, just cream cheese - a great way to use up left over cream cheese, instead of throwing it away. My taste testers gave it the big thumbs up!

INGREDIENTS

Base
125 g cream cheese
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons grated lemon rind
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 eggs
1 1/4 cup flour
2 teaspoons baking powder

Glaze
1 cup icing sugar
1 egg white
2 teaspoons grated lemon rind


INSTRUCTIONS
Beat cream cheese, sugar, lemon rind and juice to smooth and combined
Add eggs and beat till smooth
Sift in flour and baking powder and mix to combine.
Pour into an 18x28 cm slice tin (bottom lined with baking paper)
Bake 190 C for 10 mins
Make glaze by beating ingredients together till smooth and combined
Pour glaze over top and spread evenly, bake for a further 10 mins or until golden and set
Cut into squares when cool

Thursday 1 August 2013

August Gardening Guide

SOW & PLANT - Shared from Pod Gardening

Clear warm windowsills, tidy your greenhouses and prepare small pots, punnets and trays for sowing seeds of:

aubergine
capsicum
chilli
cucumber
zucchini
tomato


These will produce seedlings ready for the first signs of settled warm weather in a couple of months’ time.

My garden 

If you are in a really cold part of the country then a cold frame or greenhouse may come in handy as you await the right growing conditions outdoors.

In the shorter term, sowing and planting where soil is workable and periodically sun-kissed should serve up some welcome produce in spring.

kohlrabi
early pea
mizuna
beetroot
carrots
Rhubarb
Garlic  

Plant rhubarb crowns in richly composted soil and watch out for slugs and snails. August is also a last chance to plant garlic. 

For those with a long-term garden plan its time to plant asparagus crowns for a succulent, spring harvest that could keep recurring for up to 20 years.

For full August planting list see....  Pod Gardening's August Seasonal tasks

Happy Gardening !