Simplicity Cake

Chocolate Cake

180g Butter
2 Cups SR Flour
2 Cups Sugar
4 Eggs
1 Cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
4 Tsp Cocoa

Method: Melt butter and pour over all other ingredients in a bowl. Beat well at moderate speed.Pour into greased tin.Bake in moderate oven for 35 to 40 minutes. Makes a baking tray sized cake or two round cakes

Variations: Omit Cocoa and add 4 Tsp extra SR flour!

Then for

Orange Cake: add 2 dsp grated orange rind and substitute orange juice for half the milk. Ice with orange icing or serve cake warm with orange syrup.

Banana Cake: Add 1 cup mashed banana,1tsp grated lemon rind and a pinch of nutmeg,ice with lemon icing

Apple Cake: peel, core and slice two apples. Coat with 1tsp cinnamon and a couple of tsp sugar. Pour cake mix into pan and arrange apple slices on top.

Lemon Meringue Pie

180g crushed plain biscuits
90g melted butter
1 can condensed milk
1 lemon - grated rind
1/2 cup lemon juice
3 eggs - separated
1/2 cup caster sugar

Method:
Combine biscuit crumbs and melted butter and press firmly into a greased 23cm pie dish.Chill.
Combine condensed milk, lemon rind and juice, and egg yolks - stir until smooth and spoon into chilled crust.
Beat the egg whites and sugar until stiff. Pipe or spoon on top of pie.
Bake in moderate oven(180c)for 15minutes until golden.

Serves 8 - hot or cold!

NB Do not use green lemons or it won't set:)

Pepparkakor - -Swedish Gingerbread

Time needed: Has to cool over night in fridge

Makes about: 125 cookies
Ingredients:
2,5 dl (1 cup) brown sugar
0,8 dl (1/3 cup) light sirup
0,8 dl (1/3 cup) water
150g (1,3 stick or 2/3 cups) butter or margarine

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cloves
8 dl (3 1/3 cups) flour

1,5 teaspoon baking soda

Instructions:
Part 1.

1. Mix the brown sugar, syrup, and water in a saucepan. Let boil.
2. Add the butter or margarine and let it melt. Continue by adding the spices.
3. Let the contents cool without stirring.
4. Mix the baking soda with 3/4 of the flour in a separate bowl (the rest of the flour will be used for working the dough on the counter.
5. Add the flour mixture to the saucepan and work to dough to a ball.
6. Wrap the dough in plastic-wrap and let chill in fridge until next day.

Part 2.
7. Turn the oven on to 175°C (or 350°F)
8. Work the dough on a floured surface, kneed the flour into the dough if needed.
9. Roll out the dough and cut out cookies with cutters, or by hand. Place them on a greased tray or tray with oven paper. Let the cookies bake in the middle of the oven between 6-8 minutes.
Let cookies cool before serving. Can be kept in a tin in room temperature or in the freezer. Enjoy your Swedish Pepparkakor!

Christmas Cake - as made by Sylvia Drake's friend

Ingredients:
3/4lb (340g) butter
3/4lb (340g) brown sugar
6 eggs
1 heaped Tsp marmalade
1 heaped Tsp treacle
1dsp vanilla essence
3/4 tsp almond essence
2 dsp mixed spice
1/2 tsp nutmeg
Small pinch of salt
17oz (482g) plain flour
3oz (85g) SR flour
2 kg  mixed fruit
3/4 cup sweet sherry

Combine dried fruit, sherry,spices and essences - stand overnight.
Cream butter and sugar then add marmalade and treacle.
Add eggs then flour and fruit.

Put mix into a well lined 10" (25cm) cake tin.
Smooth over with wet hands.

Cook for 4 hours at 150C.

If cooking a multi tiered cake this is the amount of mix for the middle and top tier

Ice upside down.

Cassatta

1st Layer:

2 eggs separated
1/2 cup Icing Sugar
1/2 cup cream
Almond Essence - few drops

A)Beat egg whites and sugar. Fold in lightly beaten egg yolks.
B)Beat cream with essence
C)Fold A & B together.
Freeze in 20cm tin

2nd Layer

2 eggs separated
1/2 cup Icing sugar
1/2 cup cream
60g dark chocolate
2Tsp cocoa
3 Tsp hot water

A)beat egg whites and sugar
B)Whip cream
C)Melt chocolate, stir in egg yolks
D)Combine cocoa and water

Combine C & D
Mix this into B
Fold this into A

Pour on top of frozen 1st Layer - return to freezer

3rd Layer:

A)1 cup cream &1tsp vanilla essence - beat together
B)1 egg white & 4 Tsp Icing sugar - beat together
C)2 Tsp red glace cherries
1 Tsp green glace cherries
4 dried apricots
2 glace pineapple rings (or dried equivalent)
30g toasted flaked almonds

Chop all fruit (C).Stir A & B together and fold fruit and nuts in.

Spread into tin on top of other frozen layers.

Return to freezer.

To serve - turn out onto plate

PS I sometimes line the tin with cling wrap. I usually double the recipe if I'm serving a large number.

EASY PIZZA

Pizza Dough

1tsp sugar
1tsp salt
1tsp crushed garlic
7g sachet yeast
¼ cup oil
1 cup warm water
2 & 2/3 cups plain flour

Combine sugar, salt, garlic, yeast, oil and water in a bowl, gently stir –leave til it goes frothy – then add flour and mix to a dough. Knead for 5 minutes.

This is enough dough for two round pizzas.

Top and bake at 180c

Pancakes

Dry Mix

6 cups flour
2 tsp salt
6 Tsp baking powder
6 Tsp sugar
2 Cups milk powder

Mix well and store in an airtight container.

To Use:

Combine in a bowl:
1 egg
1 cup water
2 Tsp melted butter
1 1/2 cups pancake mix

Fry on lightly greased pan.

Scones

3 cups SR flour
1 tsp salt
1 dsp icing sugar
2 oz (60 g) melted butter
1 egg
1 cup milk

Mix all the ingredients together using a knife (old flat bladed one is good). The wetter the mix the better. Turn out onto a floured board, cut with a scone cutter and place together on a greased scone tray. Bake in a hot oven for 10-15 minutes until golden and hollow sounding when tapped.
Place on cake rack and cover with a tea towel. Serve hot with lots of jam and cream!!

Apple Crumble

Place 2-3cups of sliced apple (either fresh or tin of pie apple) into a baking dish.

Crumble:

Combine in a bowl and mix to form crumbs:
1 cup SR flour
1 egg
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup sugar

Sprinkle over fruit. Drizzle 1/4 cup melted butter over the top.

Bake in moderate oven for 25 minutes.

You can use other fruit - apple with rhubarb is good or pear and apple
or peaches etc . Serves 6.

Asian Dipping Sauce

1/2 cup fresh lime juice (I use bottled juice for ease)
1/4 cup sugar - (I have used palm sugar )
3 tablespoons fermented fish sauce
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 tablespoon chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
2 garlic cloves
1/2 teaspoon dried chopped chillis or 1tsp fresh chopped

Whisk all ingredients together until sugar is dissolved.

This recipe is great for Vietnamese Spring rolls but also good tossed on a Thai style warm salad.

Gran's Caramel Sauce

Well Phil's Mum's recipe!

Caramel Sauce

2oz butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 tin of reduced cream
1 tsp vanilla essence

Melt butter and sugar together, take off stove and add reduced cream and vanilla stir well til combined.

Excellent on Sponge cake or waffles or sticky date pudding or ice cream or just off a teaspoon into your mouth!!!

For a good waffle recipe go to http://www.jitterbuzz.com/waftrip.html and use the American waffle recipe listed under Waffle Recipes!

Stylish Macadamia Brownie

This recipe is from an in-flight magazine and came from a favourite Brisbane dessert cafe!

Macadamia Delight

Ingredients:

For slice:
· 4 eggs
· 1 cup caster sugar
· ½ tin condensed milk
· 200g white chocolate, melted
· 1 cup plain flour
· 250 macadamia halves
· 250g macadamia meal (or process 250g macadamia kernels in a food processor until consistency of breadcrumbs)
· 200g of white chocolate buttons

To serve:
1-2 scoops of macadamia ice-cream per person
½ ladle of chocolate sauce
1 chocolate sail per person
Or
4 passionfruit
Fresh fruit: 1 punnet of strawberries, or 10 lychies, or 1 mango

Method:

1. Whisk the eggs and sugar until thick and pale.

2. Gently fold in condensed milk, then add melted chocolate and mixed dry ingredients.

3. Fold in the white chocolate buttons.

4. Place mixture into a lined lamington tin. Bake at 160º for 30 to 40 minutes or until golden.

5. To serve, top slice with scoop of ice-cream. Drizzle of chocolate sauce and top with chocolate sail (melt chocolate, spread onto baking paper and, just before it sets, cut into triangles. OR to serve as tropical slice, drizzle slice and ice-cream with passionfruit and garnish with fresh fruit- top with white chocolate sail.

6. To make chocolate sauce, cut 185g dark chocolate into small pieces and place in a bowl. Bring 300ml cream to the boil in a saucepan. Remove from heat and pour over chocolate. Whisk together until smooth and all chocolate has melted. ENJOY ENJOY ENJOY I strongly recommend only using white chocolate and keeping an eye on the microwave during the melting process of same.

Ice Cream

The coffee and the fig versions of this recipe were a big hit at a recent party! I doubled the quantity and used foil BBQ trays (32cm x 26cm) to freeze it in - cover with foil when frozen.

Ingredients:
4 eggs
3/4 cup icing sugar - sifted
300mls cream

Method:
Whisk the egg yolks in a bowl until well blended.
In another larger bowl whisk the egg whites until stiff then whisk in the icing sugar a spoon at a time.
In a third bowl whisk the cream until it forms soft peaks, then fold into meringue mixture with egg yolks.
Turn into a 1500ml container, cover and freeze.

Flavours:
Vanilla - add 1 tsp vanilla essence to cream
Coffee - add 2 Tsp strong cooffee and 1 Tsp rum or brandy to mixture before freezing
Chocolate - mix 2 Tsp cocoa with 4 Tsp cold milk, warm until blended then combine with 60gm melted chocolate and fold into mix before freezing
Dried Fig and Ginger - Chop one cup of dried figs - cover with strong black chai tea til soft combine with 1/2 cup diced ginger and 1/2 tsp cardammon then blend into ice cream mix and freeze

Five Minute Bread

Lifehacker features a handy recipe for five minute bread - though to be fair, it takes a bit longer when you include the once-a-week process of making and refrigerating the dough. The link to full instructions is here. I will let you know when I've tried it.

Chocolate Mousse

6oz chocolate
4 eggs
1/2 pint cream
1 Tsp rum

Melt Chocolate.
Separate eggs.
Stir yolks into chocolate one by one, take off heat.
Beat cream and 2 tsp sugar - fold into chocolate.
Beat egg whites til stiff and fold into chocolate mix with thte rum.
Refrigerate til set.

Apple Shortcake

This is a family favourite and much easier than pastry making!
Double this recipe and freeze one before baking.

125g butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
3/4 cup SR flour
3/4 cup plain flour
425g can dessert apple
1 tsp grated lemon rind
Cinammon sugar
Extra sugar

Cream butter and sugar, add egg, beat well. Stir in sifted flour in two batches. Turn onto lightly floured surface, knead lightly until smooth, divide in half, refrigerate 30 mins. Roll each piece into a 20cm round between two sheets of plastic food wrap.
Grease and line the base of a 20cm sandwich tin or pie dish. Press one circle into dish.
Combine apple and lemon rind. Spread over dough. Sprinkle with cinammon sugar.
Place second round of dough over apple mixture, press edges together.
Sprinkle extra sugar over top. Bake in moderate oven 35 to 40 mons. Stand 15 mins before serving.

SUPERB SATAY

1.5kg boned meat(chicken, lamb, beef or pork)
50ml soy sauce
5 tsp honey
5 pinches of chilli powder
5 tsp cumin powder
7 ½ Tsp oil

METHOD
Slice meat into strips.
Mix all other ingredients and add meat – mix until meat is all coated.
Leave for at least 30 minutes to marinate.
Grill on barbeque and serve with Peanut Sauce.

PEANUT SAUCE
1 clove garlic – crushed
½ cup crunchy peanut butter
2 Tsp soy sauce
1 tsp brown sugar
Squeeze lemon juice
Pinch chilli powder
¼ cup coconut milk

METHOD
Combine all ingredients in saucepan, stir over moderate heat until smooth, then slowly stir in enough water or coconut milk to give a creamy consistency.
(I double the recipe for the quantity of chicken, use a whole can of light coconut milk and added more water)