Tag Archives: Baking

Anzac Biscuits

by Reuben on April 21, 2012 in Daily Life, Food

I love oats. Katie was shaking her head at me just this morning because I declared that porridge was one of my very favourite foods. It might sound strange (or boring) but it’s true! Naturally, as an oat lover, I’m slightly obsessed with Anzac bisuits.

There have been lots of Anzac biccies in the shops lately, all ready for Anzac Day on Wednesday, and seeing them got really me inspired to try making my own for the first time.

I don’t cook much and I never bake. Katie’s really good at it (although she’d say the opposite) but I find it really stressfull and have had limited success with many recipes in the past. Anzac biscuits were a great little project for me because they’re really quick, simple and difficult to mess up. They are also delicious. I used this recipe and they turned out perfectly. They’ve almost got me feeling confident enough to try baking more! Almost.

Have you baked anything yummy lately?

Reuben

Comments { 23 }

In our Kitchen

by Katie on February 14, 2012 in Daily Life, Food

Lately, in our kitchen, we’ve been taking more time to plan our meals and cook from scratch.

We’ve been feasting on Broccoli and Basil Mac and Cheese, Pumkin and Feta Muffins and Broccoli Cheddar Soup from our favourite food blog.

We’ve been munching on fresh figs and plums from some local markets.

We’ve been planning to make this cake with the leftover plums. (First seen here.)

We’ve been eating lots of our favourite easy peasy pasta, as well as our favourite quick lentil dish on nights when we are tired.

We’ve been a little better at finishing up our leftovers.

We’re still a long, long way off achieving all the foodie plans and goals we talked about in this post, but we are trying to be better. Baby steps.

What’s been happening in your kitchen lately?

Katie x

PS This post was inspired by this one.

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Gingerbread (and Merry Christmas!)

by Katie and Reuben on December 23, 2011 in Daily Life, Food

Baking gingerbread is one of our most favourite Christmas traditions. We so love making (and eating) the dough, cutting out the Christmasy shapes and decorating them with icing, sprinkles and lollies. Lots of lollies. We firmly believe the more lollies, the better.

We use the gingerbread recipe in this lovely book and it’s a winner. People always comment on how ace it is. (We are not very modest when it comes to the awesomeness of our gingerbread.)

Are you obsessed with gingerbread like us? Do you sometimes find it difficult to make because the dough tastes so good you just want to eat it all raw? During the rest of the year do you lie awake at night, looking forward to Christmas just so you can bake gingerbread? No, just us? Oh…

Tomorrow we are off to Katie’s mama’s house for a couple of days. We’ll be celebrating Christmas quietly and cozily with lots of good food, Christmas movies and games of Scrabble. Wherever you are are in this big, beautiful world we hope that you will be spending this weekend surrounded by those you love and doing things that make your heart happy. We wish you all a truly magical, sunshiney, love-drenched Christmas (and for friends who don’t celebrate Christmas, we hope your weekend is full of all those good things anyway!)

We’ll probably see you back here on Boxing Day!

Much Love and Christmas Wishes,

Katie and Reuben x

Comments { 16 }

Cupcake Class

by Katie on August 9, 2011 in Adventures, Daily Life, Food

Just because I didn’t have much else to do last week (ha!), before we left Sydney I spent three days taking cupcake classes! I actually booked the course way back in May, though why I thought moving the same week was a good idea, I really can’t remember now…

But aside from making our move a little more rushed than it would have been if I’d been at home packing, cupcake class was so much fun! The course was run by Planet Cake, and we learnt everything from making buttercream swirls, to creating cupcake toppers and decorating with ganache, fondant and piping. Woohoo!

I can’t wait to buy some supplies and get creative. I love baking and decorating cupcakes and this course has given me so many lovely ideas and new skills. Do you have any great cupcake recipes? Though I’ve eaten some wonderful cupcakes in my time, I’m yet to find the perfect recipe. I’d love to hear your suggestions!

Katie x

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Cookie Break

by Katie on August 1, 2011 in Daily Life, Food

Despite having a million things to do, today I found time to bake cookies. Priorities, right?

I first saw these vegan peanut butter chocolate pillows on Kaylah’s blog and they just looked too yummy to resist. Today I realised there was a whole lot of stuff in our pantry that would be best used up before we moved, so I got baking!

My cookies spread out quite a lot and deflated a little bit, so they didn’t end up as puffy and round as Kaylah’s, but they were totally delicious nonetheless (and the fact they sunk a little just made them perfectly chewy!)

I think these might have just become our new favourite. What’s your favourite cookie recipe?

Wishing you all a sunshiney week!

Katie x

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Katie’s 2 Minute Chocolate Pudding Cake (in a Mug!)

by Katie on May 6, 2011 in Food

I love cake (probably more than the usual, socially acceptable amount). The problem is I’m a very busy girl. Preheating the oven, mixing the ingredients, baking, cooling, frosting… This all takes a lot of time, and sometimes when a girl needs cake, she needs cake now. When I found this recipe I thought all my Christmases had come at once. “Instant cake! All my problems are solved! Hurrah!”

Sadly, when I made it, it wasn’t quite the cake I had dreamed. Maybe I’m just fussy. But even though the recipe disappointed me somewhat, I was absolutely smitten with the idea and determined to make it work. Ever resourceful, I got busy. I did some thinking, made some modifications, prayed to the baking gods and then… Oh my!

It was good.

This recipe is insanely quick and ridiculously easy. It couldn’t possibly be any simpler. It certainly isn’t health food but it’s much faster and cheaper than a packet mix, 100% free of artifical colours, flavours and preservatives (which I like very much), and all the ingredients are basic things we all have in the pantry.

So here’s my recipe for 2 Minute Chocolate Pudding Cake, mixed, cooked and served in a mug. (What could be cuter than that?!)

Ingredients:

1 Egg white
2 Tablespoons softened butter
3 Tablespoons caster sugar
2 Tablespoons flour
3 Tablespoons cocoa

Method:

In a large mug lightly beat the egg white, butter and sugar together. I use a nice big soup mug.

When they are combined, fold in the flour and cocoa.

Mix until smooth.

Pop it all in the microwave for 2 minutes. It doesn’t sound like long but it’s all it needs! Any longer and it might end up a little bit dry and/or rubbery.