A Farmers Wife?

I have to say I am very proud of myself! Today was the first time I have ever attempted preserving/canning something! I made Tomato Relish and it was great success. I was not entirely convinced it would be!

I did quite a bit of research and read a fair few recipes and finally settled on one. Then all that was left to do was jump right in!

I am really pleased with how it turned out, and everyone who had it, still warm from the pot on the freshly baked crusty loaf I made, loved it too! Hooray! So now I have a little collection of jars, beautifully packaged and filled with tomatoey goodness. The packaging was a very thoughtful gift from my dear Sister-In-Law, Didi.

I must admit that I am a little addicted, throughout the two day process I got to thinking what it would be like to to this as a matter of survival, i.e. if I were the wife of a farmer in a rural location where the nearest grocery store is 6 hours away. I'd like to think that I would enjoy it, using seasonal produce, no wastage and having a pantry packed to the brim with jars of preserves all home made! Perhaps one day it will be a reality for me and I shall see just how 'relaxing' it really is when I am surrounded by mountains of produce, empty jars and days of boiling, bottling and labelling ahead of me!

For now I am happy with my 10 jars of relish and look forward to the next session, whenever that may be!

Ginger and Lime Cake

I have had a great opportunity to try out a fair few new recipes over this lovely long summer break. This has got to be the stand out one for me. I am not a ginger fan... AT ALL. But I have a friend who loves it and requested a cake with the flavour included. Well, I am so glad that she did because this is a beautiful cake with the most refreshing flavours and I will definitely be making it again! 

It's one, very simple cake baked and then a lime syrup poured over the top whilst still hot. It was left to cool for about 3 hours, mostly in the fridge and then I cut it into three layers. I sandwiched each layer together with cream cheese frosting. This was just the most perfect flavour to finish off the cake. I then grated a little more lime zest over the top and stuck flaked coconut around the edges, just for a bit of show. I am very happy with this new cake, and I can tell it's going to be one of my favourites! Who knew, me liking ginger! Maybe I should be more adventurous more often!

Pear and Walnut Mini Loaves

I recently purchased a mini loaf pan. I have always loved the shape, all cute and mini, but never really had a need for one. Naturally, when I saw it on sale for a quarter of the price I just could not pass it up! Of course I just had to use it straight away...

I have learned that muffin mix can be made in the traditional round shape or it can be made into a loaf shape and visa versa! I thought that was very nifty when I read that... somewhere... So I decided to give the theory a go. I took a recipe for Pear and Walnut muffins and used the mini loaf tin instead of the muffin tin. I am pretty happy with how they turned out. I did feel that the actual mix could have had a bit more fresh pear in it though. But that's just me.

Brownies Baby!!!

I have had a few really good brownie recipes over the years, but this one is my favourite. It's so simple, uses one bowl and works every time. They are great to serve with coffee/tea or slightly warmed up with vanilla ice cream as dessert. YUM-O! I always make sure that I have the ingredients I need to make these babies in my pantry. They are one of my "go to" items that I know I can whip up in a hurry with minimal effort and maximum results!

These are a particular favourite of my big brother, Doug. Unfortunately he lives in South Africa and can't have them as often as he'd like. I really miss making these for him, he has always been so encouraging of my baking and my dream to do it one day as a career. He is an entrepreneur himself, having started his own very successful events business in Durban and then moving on to head up a department for Red Bull, South Africa. I am really proud of him and now realise what a scary thing it must have been for him to go ahead and start his own business without very much!

Lucky for him he is marrying the french confectionary making queen of Cape Town, so he's not missing out on his sugar fix. Lexi, has a 1 year old business making french confectionary in Cape Town. Her big leap of faith has paid off and she is busier than ever! I have two very good example of risk-takers in them. How inspiring!

Breakfast Bars

These are so scrumptious! They are filled with rolled oats, seeds, cranberries, coconut and stuck together with condensed milk. I know, but all those other ingredients cancel out the condensed milk right? Well at least that's what I am telling myself!

Cranberry and Pecan nut Oatmeal Muffins

I have been on a bit of a muffin mission lately. These babies have never really been my forte. I have since discovered, after hours of research at local cafes, on the net and a few failed experiments, that muffin making is an art. I am very fussy about muffins, they have to be firm and springy, but soft and light. The ingredients need to be well distributed and they should have a lovely high dome shape. I love the crusty top that then gives way to a beautiful soft middle. And they must never ever had a cake consistency. They are, after all, not cakes!

So top tips for making muffins:

1. Do not over mix- the mixture should be lumpy and just combined
2. Mix all the dry ingredients together first, then add the wet ingredients
3. When using chunky ingredients it helps to dust them in flour before adding them as this will prevent them from sinking to the bottom of the mixture
4. Do not over bake the muffins
5. Fill the pans 3/4 full, over filling results in flat-topped muffins.
6. Allow the muffins to cool in the pan for 10minutes, especially if they contain soft fruits.
7. Enjoy them freshly baked, day old muffins are not great
8. Ideally all your ingredients should be at room temperature
9. Grease the whole muffin pan as over-flowed, baked on muffin mix can be tough to clean off

I found an oatmeal recipe that can have a number of flavour combinations added to the basic mixture. I decide to go with cranberry and pecans as I had them in my pantry. They were a great success. I was so happy with them! They ticked all the boxes for me and have made me think that maybe muffin making is something I can do well after a little more practise! Hooray!

Mascarpone Meringue Layer Cake

I love trying new recipes, unfortunately this feeling tends to arise whenever I have a dinner party or  something special to bake for. Sometimes it works out well and the risk pays off, but there are times when it doesn't and I end up learning a 'tough' lesson. I say 'tough' as it really is not that big of a deal in the great scheme of things!

In this case it was Christmas Day Dinner (because it was a scorching 41deg Celsius on the day here in Perth). I was requested buy my Aunt to please bring dessert. I had recently spotted a recipe online that boasted to be "The best dessert you'll ever have". I know I am guilty of loosley throwing that term around but in this case I though WOW! got to try that recipe. So I filed it away for Christmas Dinner. 

It was quite a process, I had never made meringue before let alone three massive meringue nests, but I wanted to challenge myself and branch out a bit. I carefully followed the recipe and was very proud of my raw meringue mix. It was white, fluffy and super tasty.

The cooked meringues turned out ok for a first time attempt. I don't think they would have won any prizes at the CWA fair but they were not a flop! I mixed up the mascarpone mixture and had my chocolate ganache ready to go.

I proceeded to assemble the whole thing. A layer of meringue followed by a mascarpone mix followed by decadent ganache, repeated three times. IT WAS HUGE and heavy and I was a little nervous transporting it! Thankfully it arrived in tacked.

When it came to tasting time I had that usual flutter of nerves when I watch people eating something I have never tasted myself. Bless my family, they were very gracious with their comments, no one said outright that it was not good, but there were no appreciative murmurs of how amazing it was either. 

I was disappointed with this dessert, it was just way too sweet! And that says a lot coming from a person who happily has something sweet at every opportunity and believes we should eat dessert at the beginning of a meal and not the end! It was un-enjoyably sweet and left me needing a class of water to wash it down. So in this case the experiment, although not a failure, did not turn out as I had hoped and I probably won't be making this again!

Caramel Popcorn

I know, it doesn't technically qualify as baking but I love this stuff! It's super moreish, dangerously so. I could honestly sit with a big bowl of it and demolish it all to myself. It's so super easy to make, made even easier by the fact that you can buy puffed corn from the health aisle if you need to. I actually prefer the puffed corn over the home popped popcorn as it doesn't have those hard kernel bits that tend to get stuck in your teeth. 

You basically mix sugar, honey and butter together over a low heat to make a caramel then pour it over the popcorn and you're all done! Couldn't be easier!

I made my first batch as a farewell gift for my Kindergarten Class this year. Needless to say it went down very well with those little mites and then my family and I enjoyed it at a picnic carol service just before Christmas eve. I think it's safer to keep this as a- once- a- year Christmas treat!