Coconut Bread

This made the whole house smell heavenly as it was baking and was a hit with the housemates. However, it crumbled a bit too much when sliced, so next time I might try less coconut, or more flour.





2 large eggs
300 ml (1 1⁄4 cups) milk
1 tsp vanilla essence
2 1/2 cups flour, more for dusting pan (I used wholemeal flour)
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup castor (superfine) sugar
150g (1 1⁄2 cups) shredded coconut
75g (2 1⁄2 oz) butter, melted


Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F).

In a small bowl, lightly whisk together eggs, milk and vanilla.

In a medium bowl, sift together 2 1/2 cups flour, baking powder and cinnamon. Add sugar and coconut, and stir to mix.

Make a well in the center, and pour in egg mixture. Gradually mix with dry ingredients, until just combined.

Add melted butter, and stir until smooth. Do not overmix.

Pour batter into a greased and floured 8 1/2-by-4-inch loaf pan. Bake for about 1 to 1 1/4 hours, or until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.

Leave to cool in pan for 5 minutes, remove bread from pan, and finish cooling on a rack.


Adapted from Bill Granger's Simply Bill, via bakebakebake

Spiced Apple Cake

This was an easy cake that goes very well with tea or coffee. I baked it for 80-90 minutes but it was still very soft in the centre. It could probably have stood another 10 minutes of baking.



3 medium apples
1 (8oz/250g) cup granulated sugar
1/2 (4oz/125g) cup buttter, melted
1 egg
1 1/4 (6 1/2oz/200g) cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp of cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 (3oz/90g) golden raisins
2 tbsp granulated sugar mixed with 1 tsp cinnamon
Powdered sugar for dusting


Preheat oven to 325°F (165°C). Butter an 8-inch (20-cm) round cake pan. Core and thinly slice apples, leaving skin intact.

Whisk granulated sugar, butter, and egg together in a bowl. Stir in two-thirds of the apple slices.

Sift flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, allspice, and nutmeg together. Add to egg mixture along with raisins, stirring until just blended.

Pour into prepared pan and smooth top. Arrange remaining apple slices in a pattern on top, pressing them gently into batter. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.

Bake until golden and springy to touch, 50 to 90 minutes depending on your oven.

Let cake stand in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then turn out and let cool completely, about 2 hours. Dust with powdered sugar and cut into wedges and serve.

Note: You can use any type of apples in season. The cake will taste slightly different each time but is always moist, as well as easy to prepare. Store cake in a covered containter in refrigerator for up to 4 days.


From Williams-Sonoma, via bakebakebake

Orange, leek and watercress salad

This is an easy vegan salad I made for an Australia Day barbeque - however the fact that this dish looks like the national colours is PURELY COINCIDENTAL.


3 leeks, trimmed
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 teaspoons soy sauce
3 oranges, peeled and sliced into thin rings
400g watercress, picked over
2 tablespoons olive oil (to dress)


Slice leeks in half lengthways and rinse in cold water.

Cut leeks into 3 cm lengths and then thinly slice.

Heat olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Simmer the leeks and cover for 10 minutes, or until soft.

Drizzle leeks with soy sauce and leave to cool.

Layer the orange slices with watercress and leeks. Dress with olive oil and serve.


From Marie Claire's Crisp

Raspberry-spiked chocolate brownies

I made these for an afternoon tea. It was a very good spread: egg nog and rum, cucumber sandwiches, beetroot sandwiches, celery and carrot sticks, dips, bread, and several delicious varieties of tea.

This was a very easy and relatively quick recipe with very pleasing results. One of the best brownie recipes I've tried to date. Not too attractive in this picture but believe me, they looked GOOD.




200g dark chocolate, chopped
250g butter
1 3/4 cups brown sugar
4 eggs
1 1/3 cups plain flour, sifted
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/3 cup cocoa powder, sifted
1 1/2 cups raspberries, frozen or fresh (you can also sub in blueberries)

Preheat oven to 180 C.

Melt the chocolate and butter. I use the metal bowl over boiling water method, stirring until smooth.

Pour chocolate in a large bowl with eggs and sugar. Stir to combine.

Sift flour, cocoa powder and baking powder into the bowl. Stir to combine.

Pour the batter into a baking tin lined with baking paper. Top with berries.

Bake for 45 minutes or until set. The centre of the brownie will have a very fudgey texture.


From a Donna Hay recipe

Miniature empanadas

I made these for a high tea. Everyone brought along a plate of home-made goodies and we ate until we could eat no more.

All of the dishes were really impressive - polenta chips with sweet potato mash and mushrooms, peking duck salad rolls, sponge cakes with tia maria custard and toffee, custard trifle with berries and chocolate mousse, four varieties of cookies, salmon rolled in seaweed with shabu-shabu noodles... and the list goes on. I felt my contribution was pretty humble, especially because I bought the pastry! Oh well.

I made mini empanadas, about 50 in total with each sheet of pastry cut into 9 pieces, but you could make normal-sized ones as easily with the same recipe.



6 garlic cloves, chopped
120g brown onion, chopped
650g mince beef
1 long red chilli, finely chopped
90g raisins
110g olives, chopped (green or black according to your preference; I used black)
1 teaspoon paprika
1.5 teaspoons salt
parsley
2 hardboiled eggs, chopped
short crust pastry
beaten egg, to brush


Hardboil 2 eggs, let cool and chop.

In a pan, heat olive oil and cook garlic for 1 minute.

Add onion and cook 3-4 minutes.

Add beef and cook 5 minutes.

Add chilli, raisin, olives, paprika and salt, and cook for 5 minutes.

Remove from heat, stir in parsley and eggs.

Fill pastry and brush with egg.

Bake at 230C for 20 minutes or until golden.

Serve hot, with a squeeze of lemon if you like.


Adapted from a Bourke Street Bakery recipe