Almond and lemon syrup cake


This cake is refreshing and very light and lemony. Apart from the taste it looks very pretty on the plate. The blanched almonds look very attractive along with the addition of the syrup.
The syrup makes the cake moist and it also enhances the lemony flavor in the cake.



Lemon and Almond Syrup Cake

blanched almonds - 1/2 c
butter - 1/2 c
brown sugar - 1/2 c
eggs - 2
lemon zest - 1 lemon
self-raising flour - 1 c

Syrup

caster sugar - 3 tb
lemon juice - 2 tbs
water - 2 tbs

- preheat oven to 180c. grease and line cake tin
- break the almonds in half and line on the tin
- beat the sugar, butter and eggs very well. sift in the flour and mix well
- pour the batter on top of the almonds
- bake for 30 min or until baked through
- flip the cake and pour the syrup over the cake while still warm

Apple streusal slice



These apple streusel slices are yum-malicious!! These slices are very flavorful and fruity.

Gotta admit I really need to work on my streusel making skills, I didn't freeze until very firm :D nothings wrong with the taste of course but it doesn't look as perfect as I like it to be. Well, no ones perfect and certainly not me, I know that I have a lot of room for improvement and I am more than happy to learn as I go. It is all to my benefit anyway ;)

Anyway, like I said they taste divine don't get put off by streusal, give it a shot you won't be disappointed. :)




Apple Streusal Slice (womens weekly)

butter - 220 g
caster sugar - 220 g
egg yolks - 2
plain flour - 200 g
self-raising flour - 75 g
custard powder - 2 tbs
apples thinly sliced - 4
honey - 1 tbs
lemon rind - 1 tsp

Streusel topping

plain flour - 75 g
self-raising flour - 35 g
brown sugar - 75 g
cinnamon powder - 1/2 tsp
butter chopped - 90 g

- for the streusel topping process everything until combined and cover in plastic wrap, freeze for 1 hour
- preheat oven to 180 c
- beat butter, sugar and yolks until fluffy. stir in the flours and custard powder.
- press the mixture into the pan and bake for 25 min-cool
- meanwhile, cook apples honey and rind in a medium saucepan covered for 5 min
- spread the apples over the base, coarsely grate the streusel and sprinkle on top and bake for 20 min.


Breakfast Loaf



This loaf is super healthy and a complete breakfast. These days I have very little time to make myself fancy breakfasts and enjoy eating it while watching tv (oh I miss those days,, *sigh*).

So I had to make myself something that is healthy and have all the nutrients to get me going all day and of course tastes divine. This particular loaf has all that.

Its feels great not running like a head less chook and having my breakfast on the train looking good without my bad-hair-day hat, Ahh! Life is swaying on the not-so bad side. :)

Oh and another good thing about this loaf is that you mix everything together, pop into the oven and you can go on with your while its getting baked.


Breakfast Loaf (GoodFood magazine)

wholemeal flour - 175 g
oatmeal - 50 g
butter - 100 g (can use margarine, but I like butter :P)
brown sugar - 100 g
baking powder - 2 tsp
cinnamon powder - 1/2 tsp
eggs - 2
ripe bananas mashed - 4
dates - 100 g (can use nuts instead)

- preheat oven to 180 c
- mix everything together well except the bananas and dates
- stir in the dates and bananas
- bake 60-70 min depending on the oven or until done

Raspberry macaroon slice




I love coconut, not so much in savory dishes but I would eat anything that is sweet and has loads of coconut in it.

Do you know that coconut is derived from a Spanish word coco and it actually means monkey face? Yup I never noticed it resembles monkeys face, however, I have never seen a whole coconut first hand so can't comment on that one.

Well, moving away from the history of coconut and onto this divine raspberry macaroon slice. A very simple yet very irresistible recipe.



Raspberry macaroon slice (women's weekly)

butter - 90 g
caster sugar - 110 g
egg - 1
plain flour - 100 g
self-raising flour - 35 g
custard powder - 1 tbs
raspberry jam - 160 g (or any other flavor)

Topping

egg whites - 2
shredded coconut - 190 g
caster sugar - 55 g

- preheat oven to 180 c and grease a line a rectangular pan
- beat butter, sugar and egg and combine flours, custard powder and spread into pan top with jam
- beat egg whites lightly and stir in the sugar and coconut and sprinkle over jam
- bake for 40 min or until done



Chunky chocolate and peanut butter cookies






Firstly, I am so busy these days with uni I don't even have time to scratch my head (not literally of course).

Anyway worries aside, I made these gorgeous chunky chocolate and peanut butter cookies. I had to bake something to get my mind off studies a little bit and relax, and what better way to relax than baking and eating chocolate AND peanut butter cookies. NUM NUM

These are heaven for chocolate and peanut butter lovers.


Chunky chocolate and peanut butter cookies (Goodfood Magazine)

dark chocolate broken into chunks - 300 g
milk chocolate broken into chunks - 100 g
brown sugar - 100 g
butter - 85 g
peanut butter - 100 g
egg - 1
vanilla extract - 1/2 tsp
self - raising flour - 100 g
roasted peanuts - 100 g

- preheat oven to 180 c
- melt100g of the dark chocolate, add in the sugar, butter, peanut butter, egg and vanilla and mix.
- add the flour, milk chocolate, peanuts, dark chocolate and mix.
- drop big spoonfuls and leave space in between.
- bake 10 - 15 min until done.



Swiss roll





Swiss roll is a sponge cake roll. It is also known as jelly roll and roulade but here in Australia we call it swiss roll (well, I do the least to say).

I love swill roll, and I have eaten quite a bit (store bought of course). I always preferred the jam filling over the cream filling, still do. I find it more light and refreshing.

This particular recipe is very easy to make as it doesn't require you to beat the egg whites separately and all the time consuming and tiring stuff is out of the window. You get to use less utensils and that means less washing. YAY! :):)

For this recipe I used a very colorful kitchen towel to roll and unroll my swiss roll (unintentional rhyming :P), as this was the only towel handy, you however, can use a baking paper or any thing else that you can lay your hands on as long as you can roll it up.







Swiss roll (womens weekly)

self-raising flour - 3/4 c
eggs - 3
caster sugar - 3/4 c
Strawberry jam - 1/2 c (or any other)

- preheat oven to 210c and grease and line a 30 x 2 x 2 cm swiss roll tin
- beat the eggs with electric beaters until thick and pale and gradually add 1/2 c of the sugar
- sift in the flour and fold in lightly
- bake for 10-15 min until springy to touch
- meanwhile, place a tea towel or baking paper and sprinkle with the remaining sugar and place the cooked cake on top
- using the tea towel as a guide roll the sponge and let cool for 5 min
- unroll and spread with jam and roll back
- spread some more jam on top if you like :)



Coconut and cashew cookies




What do you make of coconut + cashews + ginger?

Coconut and cashew cookies with a kick of course :)

Yup! They sound great doesn't it. OH and let me tell you they taste twice as good.

So lets get these puppies baking :D




Coconut and cashew cookies (GoodFood magazine)

cashews - 140 g
dessicated coconut - 85 g
plain flour - 175 g
baking powder - 1/2 tsp
butter - 140 g
brown sugar - 125 g
ginger - 1 tbs
egg - 1

- preheat oven to 180c
- split cashews in half and set 3-4 tbs aside
- in a food processor, blend the flour, baking powder, butter, sugar, ginger and egg. mix in the coconut and nuts
- make into round balls and flatten slightly, make sure to leave fair bit of space in between.
- sprinkle with some nuts and bake for 10-15 min until golden




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