Citrus cheesecake

This afternoon we are heading the park for a pizza picnic in celebration of my mother-in-law's birthday.  I offered to make a birthday cake and she selected this recipe.  Unfortunately the local IGA didn't stock the CSR Smart Sugar blend so I substituted with caster sugar.  Hopefully it still tastes okay.  I was a little concerned with my oven, it's not fan forced and cooking cakes can be unreliable.  Especially when you are trying to slow cook something at a moderate temperature.  But I am really pleased with how it has turned out.  Aesthetically at least, the taste verdict will need to wait until later in the day.

Baked cheesecake

I made this Baked Lemon Cheesecake last week to take to a friend's place for dinner.  If you think cheesecake is on your too hard list, think again.  You can't really get much simpler than this recipe and its great for the hip pocket (but maybe not the hips).  I'm going to try it next time with some violet crumble instead of the lemon.

Cream cheese is a great thing to keep stashed in the fridge, it usually has a really long used by date.  Same thing with some arrowroot or other plain type biscuits.  These are some simple ingredients that you can have on hand to make some scrumptious desserts.

Apple and oat muffins

I fancied a bit of kitchen therapy this afternoon and found this Apple and Oat Muffins recipe.  It ticked all the boxes as far as I am concerned: reasonably good/healthy(ish) ingredients; quick to make; and potentially super yummy.  I was surprised that it honestly only took 5 minutes to prepare (just whack it all in the mix master).  The bit that took the longest was scraping out the last of the Jalna Vanilla Yoghurt I was using (If you haven't eaten this before, put it on the shopping list).  I made smaller muffins so reduced the cooking time a little.

Only problem? Rejected by Master 6 due to the "skin" inside.  Next time, I'll grate the apple and mix it in with everything else.

Pip's chocloate cake and Chicken Master Blaster

Finally got to spend some time in the kitchen again this weekend.  Whipped up a gluten free version of my easy lemon meringue pie for a lunch with friends.  To make this recipe gluten free you need 1 1/2 boxes of the Freelicious tea biscuits. 

I also cooked a recommendation from my lovely friend Kynwyn:  Nick's Chicken Master Blaster. It was really yummy even though I accidentally left out the mustard.  The kids did eat it, but it was a bit of a struggle.  Someone complained that it contained salad (shallots) - I mean really boys!  Leftovers for the adults tonight, while we watch the huge TV line up of The Block then Underbelly.  Not to mention I have a bottle of my favourite wine The Rolling Sauvignon Blanc Semillon.

On top of all that I managed to whip up Pip's easy chocolate cake recipe (sans icing).  Took me ages to make as I was gas-bagging to a friend at the same time.  But it worked out nicely.  I used a ring tin (because my round cake tins were buried too far in the cupboard for my liking).  I probably should have lined the base because ring tins are always harder to get the cake out of.

More baking treats

Over the weekend I had to do some more midnight baking.  All my baked goody supplies were gone and we were visiting friends so I needed to take something along.  I decided on two new recipes I hadn't tried before.  I chose this Honey Oat slice because Mr 3 loves the Anzac slice that I make.  I was looking for something similar, but a bit different that he might like (and succeeded!).

The cake I came across by chance in a Donna Hay magazine a friend has lent me.  It was actual an advertisement for Equal.  Hilariously, I just used caster sugar instead of Equal (did I miss the point?).  I also substituted walnuts for hazelnuts.  The cake was lovely and moist - the boys did not like it by the friends we were visiting did.

Pineapple cake

I love the 4 Ingredients pineapple cake and have posted about it previously.  But the other day I found a version of this that only required 3 ingredients.  It was super easy, didn't even require the mixer.  I didn't make the icing and had run out of caster sugar so used white sugar instead, I think it worked just fine. 

One of the reasons I haven't made pineapple cake for a while is because Aldi don't sell tins of crushed pineapple.  It took me longer than it should have to work this out, but last week I bought the pineapple chunks and used my stab mixer to crush it up.

We've all gone Batty

It was my lovely husband's birthday this week, so we made a hasty Batman cake with a packet cake on special ($2 - surely I couldn't buy the ingredients for that much?).  It was a winner with the boys!

On a different note, it is nearing the end of the fortnight, but we have eaten with family and friends so often in the last week that the freezer is still super full.  Hopefully I get a chance on the weekend to do some cooking and work it all out.

Too many oranges

I bought a huge bag of oranges at Aldi the other week, and we ate so many, but they were nearing the end of their useful life.  What better to make but some more of the yummy Orange cake feature earlier on this blog. 

But the kitchen doesn't look right you say?  I was moonlighting at a friend's house, with 5 assistants under 5.  It took a while to make these cakes given the interruptions, but I think they were worth the wait. 

You have to try this recipe, its a chuck all the ingredients in a bowl recipe - they are always the best!

Banana bread

Was I only just saying I hadn't made banana bread in 6 months?  Well a fleeting, wet visit to the farm yielded a whole bunch of bananas.  We cut them last time we visited (just after Easter) and they have been ripening ever since.  I dubiously tried one this morning and they were beautiful.  So as soon as we got home I mixed up a double batch of banana bread. 

My banana bread recipe is a modified version of this highly rated recipe on Allrecipes.com.  My modification is that I don't follow the instructions and just whack it all in the mixmaster.  I also don't measure out cups of banana, rather just use 3 large or 4 small bananas per loaf.  However today I think I used about 20 baby bananas (they are about 5cm long).

Date loaf

I don't know how many times I have cooked this yummy loaf.  It is getting a good work out at the moment given my other most cooked bakery item is banana bread.  Since the price of bananas has soared, there has been no banana bread happening here.  This date loaf is extra great given it needs no eggs, so it is a good trusted treat for when the cupboard is bare.  It also freezes really well, especially wrapped in slices ready for school lunches, or a shift worker's breakfast.

Unfortunately I cannot lay claim to this great recipe, but I did ask my lovely neighbour Lara if she was happy for me to share.  So here it is, I guarantee you will love it.

• 1 cup chopped dates (I use kitchen scissors and cut them into 3)
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 60 grams butter or margarine
• 1 cup boiling water
• 1 3/4 cups self raising flour
• 1 teaspoon bicarb soda
• 2 teaspoons vanilla essence

1. Places the dates, sugar and butter in a bowl
2. Add hot water and stir until butter melted and mixed together
3. Add flour, bicarb soda and vanilla and mix well
4. Cook in a greased loaf tin at 180C for 35 minutes

 

This picture was a double batch, my smaller tin works best with this mix...

Easy pineapple cake

If you don't already have at least one of the "4 ingredients" cookbooks, then you are crazy.  And if you, like me are on a strict budget that extends to the purchasing of cookbooks, then head to the local library and borrow one of them.

These are full of some great easy recipes to help you whip up yummy meals and treats.  I also notice on their website there is now a Gluten Free cookbook.  Today I was trying to squeeze too many things into the day and needed to make a cake to keep us in tasty (but reasonably healthy) treat supplies, especially given the approaching Easter weekend.  This is their Easy pineapple cake and the accompanying icing recipe (I used the half quantity option for icing plus less coconut than the recipe suggests in order to cater to my fussy eaters and try to limit the less healthy components).

Not my best moment

What a disaster!! This week I completely forgot, and missed, my mum's birthday.  Not really excusable any which way you look at it.  So to try and redeem myself I decided to bake her favourite cake: sponge cake with fresh cream filling.  It didn't travel too well, but I hope she enjoyed it.

Another busy day in the kitchen

I'm exhausted! Today seemed like one of the first "normal" days we have had in a long time and I think its all catching up with me.  But no time for rest, baking time is precious and Wednesday is my day off work.  Today my husband requested some donuts from the shops, but I was adamant that I would make some treats using things we already had instead.  That resulted in Anzac slice and Orange Marmalade Cake.

I have a surplus of rolled oats, and was keen to make Anzac biccies, but found a recipe for Anzac slice instead.  Only I should have read to the end of the recipe as you do need to keep a really close eye on it.  Mine didn't burn but I would have preferred a chewy slice rather than the more biscuit consistency that it turned out.  But it tastes yummy so I think I will try it again soon.

Don't ask me why, but in addition to a surplus of rolled oats, I have plenty of marmalade and still had a few oranges left in the fruit bowl.  This Orange marmalade cake could have done with a few extra minutes in the oven but it was school pickup time so I had to cut my losses!  I'm loving this Kidspot kitchen website, the recipes are really quick and easy plus there isn't a ridiculous number of recipes to choose from (which sometimes I find really annoying when looking to make a quick decision about what to make).  I added icing using the recipe from the orange cake I made on the weekend.  Haven't tasted this one yet, but Mr 5 just had some for dessert and said "Mum, I love your cooking".  This made the hundreds of meals I have cooked and he has hated, worthwhile. 

On top of all that it was beef and tomato gnocchi casserole night.  It worked out well, I didn't make the garlic bread - wish I had though.  I'm a bit over casseroles and gravy beef though, think I planned too many in a short space of time.

Oranges

My fruit box delivery this week contained a feature (including recipe/tip sheet) on oranges.  Using my ever increasing crazy antics of getting the kids to try different flavours in the hope that one day they may enjoy a healthy and varied diet, I chose to make an orange cake.

As usual the boys were helping in the kitchen and were most distressed to see me squeeze orange into the icing: "Mum will that make juice icing?" - he hates juice....

I admit it, I lied: "No, it just makes the icing change colour a little bit".  Condemn me for being a bad mother (goodness knows it doesn't take much these days) - but they ate it, woo hoo!!  What a sad life I lead when I get excited that my children ate some orange cake.

Then I get a phone call from my husband today: "That cake was tops".

I am hoping this is a good omen for the start of the week.  Dinner certainly went smoother tonight, with my home made meat pie happily (with only a little prompting) enjoyed by all **sigh**.