Bun in the Oven

Food blogging has kind of taken a back seat this year, although I'm trying to put up at least one post a month. Well, it's all for a good cause because this MsChef has been up to mischief and....

Our baby announcement in cupcakes!

... so it will be a whole different kind of blog come October - more puree than gourmet! But lots of fun to come!

Jamie's Ministry of Food - LIVE

 A while ago now we managed to score tickets to see my hero Jamie Oliver.  Really the saga begins when the email came through on a Thursday announcing that tickets would go on sale at 9am Monday. Imagine my anticipation and excitement along with nerves - would I be quick enough, would I remember (lol how could I forget), would I forget my credit card at home, would it work!

Finally Monday morning came and I grabbed two tickets no problem. Unlike some concerts and shows we only had to wait a week and the following Sunday we were lining up outside the venue at the Carriageworks in Sydney to be let into the pretty intimate venue.

Jamie was using the opportunity for an audience of food lovers, media and corporates to announce the winners of the Ministry of Food Pop up competition and raise awareness of the work ministry of food do. It is an admirable charity that we got a sense of on his series Jamie's Food Revolution in the US. He now has branches opening up in Australia too including the pop up which was announced to be in SA.

Although it really was a promo show he still did a lot of cooking. I was amazed that he was standing there live in front of us. It really seemed like he was just being projected from a TV screen. He is so comfortable in front of the audience and his great sense of humour as well as care and respect for the ingredients is so obvious. We were lucky to see him cook with some of our other Aussie chef "friends" Toby Puttock, Ben O'Donoghue and Anna Gare - all long time friends if Jamie as well as supporters of his charity.

Whilst I didn't get my picture with him or a book signed, it doesn't seem like Jamie was here doing a tour for the fans or the glory. It was really about the charity and gaining the recognition for it and the sponsors Woolworths and Good Guys. Great cause and it was such a coup to see Jamie kind of up close and personal after watching so many of his shows and cooked so many of his recipes.

Pick up Your Fork

Late last year I attended the launch of Your Fork, a website started earlier this year to bring home cooks and eaters together. It's an interesting concept where home cooks are encouraged to register with the site as Cooks and prepare and sell home cooked meals to rival Dominoes or other takeaway restaurants. After placing an order earlier in the day from one of the registered home cooks, the team at Your Fork will pick up the meal from the cook and deliver it straight to your home.

It was an interesting gathering with several of the cooks giving us a taster of the cuisine we can expect from the dinner boxes that are advertised on the site. We sampled raw food, gluten free delights and some great hearty Egyptian dishes. Now on their site they have meals from Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Japan and Italy, and their goal is to expand their home cook network to represent many more countries.

It is a great concept and they've set it up to suit the cooks, as well as the diners who can expect authentic recipes from cuisines they're craving at a reasonable price, so instead of picking up the phone to the pizza place, why not have a different dish on your fork!

White Chocolate Mojito Cheesecake

I haven't joined the SABH hop for a while as I'm trying to cut down on the desserts that I was preparing, and even monthly was getting a bit too much for our waistlines but I thought, given the theme, I would hop back in!

My hubbie's favourite dessert is cheesecake. Probably Mango Cheesecake. With the mango season only just beginning, I was able to convince him that for a dinner party dessert, and for the Sweet Adventures Blog Hop hosted by Nic from Nic Cooks, it was time to try a different variety that's been on my list of recipes to try for ages (since I saw the recipe in Delicious Magazine in November 2009!): White Chocolate Mojito Cheesecake. It definitely had the kick and flavour of a mojito with the creaminess of a normal cheesecake. It was really simple to make, and because it didn't require baking, or even much cooling, was fantastic for making in the morning for the evening party.


White Chocolate Mojito Cheesecake (serves 6)

Ingredients

For the base
150g ginger biscuits
20g butter

For the filling
juice and zest of 3 limes
110g caster sugar
100ml Bacardi (or another kind of white rum)
1 cup of mint leaves
120g white chocolate
400g soft cream cheese
250g mascarpone

For serving
handful of pistachios
sprinkle of kitchen grade lavender (optional)

Method

• Melt the butter
  
• Whiz the ginger biscuits in a food processor, add the melted butter and pulse to combine
• Split the crumb mixture between 6 low ball glasses (or other serving glass) and put in the fridge to chill
• Bring sugar and 60 ml water to boil in a saucepan and let the mixture simmer for about 5 mins till it makes a syrup
• Add lime juice, zest, rum and mint and muddle with the end of a rolling pin to bruise the mint. Let this sit for 20 mins or so to infuse
• Melt the chocolate in a double boiler (a bowl over boiling water), then leave it to cool slightly - but not till it goes hard!
• Put the cheese in the cleaned food processor and whiz till they are
  
  creamy and combined. Pour in the strained mojito syrup and keep whizzing till it's mixed. Scrape in the white chocolate and whiz just a little till it's all combined.
• Spoon the cream mixture over the crumbs and chill in the fridge till ready to serve
• When it's time to serve sprinkle over edible lavender and some crushed pistachios (crush with a mortar & pestle, or put some in a plastic bag and bash with a rolling pin) - the real recipe suggested edible flowers, but I couldn't find any. They would look pretty!

What's for Dinner, Curtis?

As a chef stalker, I was so excited to meet Curtis Stone and have his new book, What's for Dinner? signed earlier this year. He's managing to muscle in between me and my thing with Jamie, and I've been cooking through a few of his recipes so far.

What I love about his book is the diversity - quick things, healthy things, not-so-healthy-but-very-yummy things, seasonal dishes, classics and new interpretations of old favourites so I wanted to show a few of his collection.

Chicken Cassoulet with Fennel and Bacon, with Endive and Shaved Fennel Salad

I have been trying to hide pulses in our dishes trying to trick my hubbie who claims to be not a big fan. This was an amazing dish for that and he even asked for seconds even after discovering that they were beans). I Apart from the chicken pieces being juicy and moist, the veg and bean concoction underneath was so flavourful. This was a great and cost effective low carb choice on a cool night.

Spiced Lamb Chops with Grilled Zucchini, Feta, and Olive Gremolata (served with Curtis' pickled onions)

I loved the simplicity of this dish, and it is great for preparing earlier and putting on the barbie when everyone is having a drink out on the balcony to admire the aroma - or in our case rushing to try to stop the smoke alarm beeping (think we need to clean the BBQ) The grilled zucchini is a good trick to make veg taste amazing; and with the onions and feta, this dish goes from a traditional meat and veg to a delicious, different but very healthy dinner.

Slow-Cooked Pulled Pork Sandwiches with 'Fireworks' Coleslaw (and Apple Bourbon Sauce)

This recipe, and in particular the sauce, are the reason to buy this book! I amended the slow cooked pork recipe for my slow cooker (I didn't basically the same but cooked it in the slow cooker for 8 hours instead of 2 1/2 which Curtis recommended. The pork falls apart, and it's the amazing sauce/chutney that puts it back together and makes an amazing sweet, tart, spicy sauce. Served with the coleslaw (where I substituted yoghurt for the mayo to make it healthier) this was a great dish for a posh night or casual night in!

Hope you can grab a copy of the book and try out a few. If you're anything like me, you'll love it! 

If you could choose only one meat, what would it be?

We were having a dinner party conversation last week "if you could only eat one meat from now on, what would you choose?" It's a toughie for most meat lovers but my answer is most definitely a PIG! Whilst Pork wouldn't be the highlight of a last meal (I'd be choosing Roast Beef with Yorkshire puddings and horseradish sauce for that!) pork is an all rounder. Let's play it out over a weekly meal plan - for which I am famous!

Rick Stein's Pea and Ham Soup

Monday - on Monday at our place we like to have fish so maybe for "porker" week I would choose Jamie Oliver's bacon wrapped fish on a bed of asparagus. (Roasted white fish wrapped in smokie bacon, with lemon mayonnaise and asparagus)

Tuesday - often I am out on Tuesday nights so I leave something for my hubbie to prepare for himself - how about bangers and mash - a Dude food speciality!

Wednesday - whilst trying to lose weight, I am always looking for fast and lean. One of my favourite ingredients these days is pork loin.  Marinated in hoisin sauce and quickly seared in the pan is a quick, delicious mid week dinner. (Hoisin Pork Fillet with Stir Fried Chinese Greens)

Thursday - typically by Thursday I am starting to get lazy so a delicious  pea soup with ham hock that I've
prepared earlier in the week will be just the ticket. 

Friday - Friday night is pizza night in our place, a prosciutto and rocket pizza takes us right back to our Italian Honeymoon. 

Crackling with Roast Pork

Saturday - Saturday I like to spend a bit more time in the kitchen. Maybe some homemade pasta with a bacony carbonara sauce, or a classic slow cooked pulled pork, falling apart in some yummy BBQ sauce? (Curtis Stone's Pulled Pork Sandwich)

Sunday - Sunday kicks off with a big breakfast with poached eggs, garlic mushrooms and of course bacon. And of course, it finishes with a roast - juicy Roast Pork with mouthwateringly crispy crackling! 

Now do you see what I mean? So, which meat would you choose? 

*this post was not sponsored in any way by any Pork authority, but if any of them felt like giving me a lifetimes supply of pork, I could happily find ways to use it! Oink oink! 

Game for Jamie!

Me and Jamie! See we have this game. Jamie writes cookbooks with a time limit and show me how to make them on TV and I try to match his time. I am sure it's a game you've played before too!

Jamie makes these stunning meals in such a short time. My goal is not only to get them done in a similar time, but make them look as close as possible to his version! And sometimes, I am pretty darn close. The other day I beat all my records (but not Jamie's) and cooked his 30 min roast beef in 40 minutes. Pretty good since the kitchen didn't look like a hurricane had been through it. We're down to 25 ish mins for his 15 min dishes. Quite impressive really, considering we would spend 25 mins faffing about with a salad if not under the pressure of the clock.

What I love most about Jamie's dishes are the family style rusticness of them and even though I don't have the crockery to match, I think I do a good job. I'll hone my skills and be an expert one day but by that time, he'll probably have released a 5 min meals version to contend with!

Pork Belly Perfection

Babi Guling

I was inspired by the My Kitchen Rules Winners, Dan and Steph, to make Babi Guling, a  Balinese roast pork belly. So, I found a recipe in one of my Gourmet Traveller Magazines, bought a couple of pork bellies for our dinner party, and ground the fabulous paste to marinade the pork. I haven't had much luck with pork belly in the past, so I was starting from scratch in my mind, hoping it would go as nicely as Dan and Steph's turned out on MKR. It looked so good, and was exactly the kind of flavour combinations we love.

What an amazing result! Tender, juicy pork, with an amazing flavour, and an impressive crackling (although I didn't follow the recipe on this one - instead of brushing the skin with turmeric, I sprinkled some ground turmeric on and oiled it up as usual) Just delicious!

Laksa Leftovers

The question I always have with amazing roast dinners, is what to do with the leftovers. Chicken is easy - I just add it to a salad. I have a great recipe for filo parcels for leftover roast lamb. Nothing though for Pork. This pork leftovers had that amazing paste running through it - mildly spicy with a great curry flavour. Perfect I decided for Laksa. All I needed was some noodles, coconut milk, stock, fried tofu, chilli, and some veg to throw in and out came a delicious Laksa!

Winner dishes that will be a definite addition to our regular repertoire!

Feaster Easter

Normally at Easter we seem to be entertaining overseas visitors. Typically we end up camping but this time, with an onslaught of many guests we decided to stay at home. This was the first Easter feast that we would prepare at home but we wanted to make sure we had an Aussie Outdoor BBQ feel. Knowing that it is expensive to get steak in the Philippines (that we learnt first hand from showing up at a mall steakhouse only to find that the price of a steak there was more than a meal at Kingsleys or Rockpool Bar and Grill in Sydney) we decided to do a traditional Aussie BBQ with steak and homemade snags.

As an over achiever in the kitchen though, I couldn't stop at that. We needed to showcase some other Aussie fare. We had a cracker of a kangaroo dish - sous vide style - which I replicated for the guests but with just taster forks of the tender meat, along with some prawns and seafood sauce. You can't get much more Aussie than that!

Of course dessert was pavlova - 2 in fact to feed 18- the largest table we have ever hosted. The Aussie Easter feast kicked the festivities off for a great fun weekend.

Fabulousness in 15 (and a bit)

Crispy Duck 

I'm back on my Jamie bandwagon. I received his 15 Minute Meals book for Christmas and we've already tried quite a few of the recipes. What I have loved is that, although it doesn't take me 15 minutes yet (and my hubbie, when I timed him, took 26 mins) is that he encourages multi-tasking. Whilst something is searing, instead of watching it, I'm blitzing, chopping, marinading so that no time is wasted and a complete dish reaches the table all at the same time.

Chicken with 6 Veg Ragu

I love the variety of proteins and the way that he prepares them sometimes is quite unusual. We've had the Crispy Duck which also includes tofu and is the first time my hubbie has been able to palate it. We've tried a few dishes with lentils and all of the meals have lots of different types of vegetables, salad that are great supplements to get the veggie count for the day up eg. he often uses radishes and sprouts - things that I wouldn't ordinarily put on a salad, but they fit really nicely with the dishes and make the dish extra healthy!

Finally, I love getting the most out of my beloved Kenwood Chef. I can make the dressings blitzing them in the little jars, slice the veg in the food processor and liquidise sauces all with the same machine!

I think the book was made for cooks like me - gadget lovers needing some speedy after work ideas, who enjoy preparing and eating fresh, healthy produce!

Zuppa Inglese Gelato

When I heard of the License to Chill Sweet Adventures Blog Hop hosted by the Kitchen Crusader, I was really excited because one of my favourite kitchen appliances is our ice cream maker. I was thinking of all the different flavours of ice cream that I am still to make....hmmm.... rum and raisin.... rocky road......ZUPPA INGLESE!

When I was in Italy as a kid over 20 years ago, I discovered this amazing gelato - half creamy, custardy ice cream and half trifle. Then, when we were in Florence on our honeymoon and on the day of my birthday I discovered it again! I started doing a bit of research on what exactly is in a Zuppa Inglese - the original trifle, rather than the gelato variety, and it turns out that it is savoiardi biscuits soaked in an Italian liqueur called Alchermes, a spirit infused with cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and vanilla flavours. Not having come across this before in Sydney (although I'd love to find it) I decided to replicate the flavours in my Zuppa Inglese Gelato and soak the biscuits in Pipeclay Tawny Port from Pieter van Gent winery in Mudgee which has many similar flavours through it - I'm sure you could substitute with any Australian Tawny to get the same effect as my dessert.

Zuppa Inglese Gelato

500ml Milk
125ml Cream
Cinammon stick
1 vanilla pod (I used 1 teaspoon of Queen Vanilla Bean Paste instead of the real thing)
8 cloves
5 egg yolks
110g caster sugar
8 Savoiardi Biscuits
125 ml Pipeclay Tawny Port
Cocoa powder to sprinkle

Put milk, cream, cinammon stick, vanilla pod (or paste), cloves into a saucepan over a low heat;
Separate the eggs, and beat the yolks with the sugar until the mixture is thick, creamy and looks like a ribbon when you lift the whisk out of the bowl;
When the milk mixture is a at almost boiling (you can see little bubbles starting to appear around the edge of the saucepan), pour quickly into the egg mixture. Be careful to keep the cinnamon stick in the saucepan when you pour it;
Whisk it all together for a few seconds, till combined, and then pour it back into the saucepan;
Stir constantly with a wooden spoon over a low heat until the custard thickens. You'll know it's ready when the custard coats the back of the wooden spoon, and holds the position when you run your finger through it;

Sieve the custard into a jug or bowl, and discard the cinnamon sticks and cloves;
Cool the custard in the fridge;
When the custard is cold, churn in the ice cream maker according to the instructions;

Once churned, it's time to layer the gelato and soaked savioardi biscuits;
Soak the savioardis in the Tawny Port till they are completely covered by the port, but not totally soaked through;
Layer one scoop of gelato with half a savioardi; repeat this twice but in the 3rd layer use a whole savioardi and finish by a layer of the gelato;
Put back in the freezer until ready to serve;
Serve sprinkled with some cocoa powder.

Food Resolution

The end of the year is a good time to reflect on the year past and gear up for next year.

2012 was my year to master fish. I wouldn't say I am quite a master but I do have coral trout, scallops, bugs, salmon, snapper and whiting under my belt. I am no longer fearful of the fishys.

This year I received my amazing Kenwood mixer. We experimented with sausages and now have a few sizzlers up our sleeves for summer BBQs. I tried some great desserts in the Sweet Adventures Blog Hop, attended my first pop up restaurant hosted by Kylie, Audra and Mindy of Masterchef fame, learnt and feasted during an amazing trip to Adelaide for Eat Drink Blog 2012 and discovered some new favourite recipes from my wonderful collection of magazines and books on our new food bookshelf! We are now set up for great success in 2013.

Armed with the Kenwood and some great new cool books from Jamie Oliver, Andy Allen and Gordon Ramsay we are heading well equipped into 2013. What will 2013 bring? MasterChef Pros is just around the corner to keep me occupied! Health kick, at least in Jan, more fresh produce to cook with and in winter I am going to augment my soup repertoire with M(i)sch(i)ef soup kitchen with an attempt to post some recipes! So, with that, let's crack open the champers, clink your glasses! Happy New Year and here's to 2013!

Go with the Filo

Filo pastry is my new fave. There are some fantastic recipes out there - more than just the traditional Filo parcel, which means the dishes are much more interesting to cook and eat! What's more is that it isn't (I don't think) crammed with butter, so it is a much healthier option meaning we can pack the filling with cheese and other goodies with less guilt!

There have been a few standout recipes that we have tried over and over that I thought I would quickly share to inspire!

Jamie's Spinach and Feta pie
Whilst we are still battling against the clock to make this in 30mins, it is a quick, mid week meal option and the acidic sides of cucumber with an olive dressing and tomatoes on a bed of basil dressing really cut through the richness of the creamy feta pie. Jamie has a great technique for cooking the Filo pie on the stove top first and then in the oven which makes it easy to cook and serve.

Moroccan Lamb Pie from BBC Good Food Magazine (couldn't find the recipe online unfortunately)

The filling of this pie is cinnamony and subtly spicy which makes it so tasty. However, even though the filling is great, this pie could really be any stew with Filo scrunched up and spread out on top. It makes a plain pie look pretty sexy and the crispness of the pastry complements the soft stew. It's even on the list for a winter dinner party, especially if we can do individual ones!

Zucchini, Haloumi and Herb tarts
These vegetarian tarts were quick to prepare, semi healthy to eat (except with the extra haloumi I threw on top!) and very pretty to serve in the tray, but a bit difficult to remove! It's a great idea to portion with the filo in little tarts, and sit them together when cooking. I am always trying to find low carb vegetarian options, not needing the obligatory pasta or rice that I feel I need when there's no meat, so this was a great alternative and everyone loved the crunch of the filo with the creamy filling!

As summer comes round the corner, I think I'll be cracking out a few more filo recipes as they are always fantastic with a salad, and the filo is so quick to take out of the freezer and then prepare! Do you have any great filo recipes?

Off with a bang(er)!

Mincing the lamb and pork belly

My best birthday present ever this year has been on my wishlist ever since I moved out of home! A Kenwood Mixer! Not just any mixer either, this is one of the top of the range models: the Titanium Major. This wasn't a surprise gift, as my hubbie knew he had to involve me in the decision making of what make, model, features and attachments I was hoping for, but what was a surprise was when we put a bid on an online auction for significantly less that we thought it was worth, and WON! I was ecstatic!

Sausage snake

What to cook to "pop the cherry" of the Major, I wondered. It couldn't be any old cake or pavlova that I could have made using my trusty food processor.... It had to be something that we couldn't do before: Sausages!

I've always liked the thought of choosing our own sausage filling, but having seen the sausage making debacles on MasterChef, I wasn't convinced it would be successful first time! Now, I had a mincer and sausage attachment, there was no excuse to give it a go. I figured, worst case, we'd end up with some meat patties!

They look like the real thing!

We wanted to start off with a recipe before we branched out and experimented, so we tried out Poh's Spicy lamb and pork sausage recipe with lots of herbs and spices accompanying the 2 types of meat, that we minced from scratch. The resulting sausages were juicy and tasty, but just a little overcooked (with so much fresh meat in there, the cooking requirements are obviously different to the supermarket bought ones), so we have since fixed that up in subsequent serves, ready for a sausage sizzling summer ahead!

Happy Birthday to me!

My hubbie always spoils me and this birthday was no exception. In fact, this one was the spoiling of all spoilness. For the first time, instead of going out, he decided he would cook a surprise meal for me at home. I requested a fine dining menu of 3 courses. I did not, however, expect the lengths that he would go to deliver! I was hoping for something just a little bit more than a bowl of pasta. Let's just say if spag bol is a bungalow, my birthday dinner was a high rise!

We started of with a Spanish style tapas dish - Spanish croquettas. These little balls of delicious goo, breaded and deep fried just melted in our mouths setting the stage for the main to come.

From the aromas coming from the kitchen I had a feeling that we were going to be having something smoked. It smelt sweet and spicy, which infused the perfectly cooked duck beautifully. I recognised the dish as one Pete Evans cooked in series 1 of MasterChef and was so impressed by my hubbie's delicious and great looking rendition.

The piece de resistance came for dessert. I was almost expecting a croquenboche from hearing how much time he had spent in the kitchen, but it was quite different. An elegantly plated chocolate tart - also of Masterchef fame! It was Matt Moran's challenge to the series 1 finalists, Poh and Julie, and Cam certainly gave them a run for their money! If birthdays are a time for decadence and richness, this certainly was right on with chocolate ganache lining the plate, a slice of chocolate tart, chocolate mousse quenelles on the plate, chocolate sorbet to cut through the richness and chocolate Macarons for texture.

This was the best birthday treat ever! Three hat dining in my own home!

A little daunting.... What will I come up with for him next year?! Maybe I will need to bring on the croquenboche to top it!

Liqueur Coffee Sauce

When I saw this months hop "Feeling Saucy" hosted by The Kitchen Crusader I leafed through my new Michel Roux "Sauces" for inspiration and whilst not exactly in the book, chose a liqueur coffee sauce. I figured a vanilla pannacotta would be an excellent base for any sauce and thought when I'd come to my final decision that I would create an affogato pannacotta dessert, with the pannacotta instead of the ice cream and quite a runny sauce that would be excellent over ice cream or cake as well as the pannacotta.

Liqueur Coffee Sauce

100ml Golden Syrup
120ml Strong Coffee
50g Butter
100ml Cream
2 tablespoons Kahlua

• Melt the golden syrup with the coffee;
• When the syrup has melted, add the butter and stir in until melted and glossy;
• Add in the cream and reduce slightly on a low heat;
• Finally add the Kahlua;
• Drizzle over pannacotta (or ice cream).

Convenience foodie!

I have been to a few restaurants recently but for some reason today I wasn't inspired to blog about my eating out experiences. I am going to turn to something closer to home. Since we got our iPad about a year ago, we have been managing our weekly menus with an app called Paprika. I haven't been paid or sponsored in any way to write this but is one of the most fabulous apps.

As you may know, I am an avid menu planner. We have more variety and less waste by planning for the week. Up until this year I used a diary to note down our dishes and write the shopping list. Now all I need is the phone and/or the iPad. I can either read through my magazines and add in a note manually which page to go to, or search for recipes an build my virtual recipe collection from many websites where you can save straight into the app with one touch of a button. Ultimate convenience - with the menu designing, not with the food itself!

Easy as Pie

Lamb Pies

We were given a pie maker for Christmas a few years ago and whilst it isn't exactly an appliance I pull out on a weekly basis it is still an amazing gadget (for the kitchen that has pretty much all of them!) All Aussie love a meat pie but who knows what goes into them? Well this pie maker means that I always do! We recently got a bumper slow cooker so I could make multiple quantities of stews to freeze and what great pie filling they make! A quick defrost and then we're a go. I just use the ready made pasty sheets for convenience, cut a few rounds to fit the machine and we're cooking! A great way to engage fussy eater kids and whip up a quick but scrumptious lunch!

Can't cook? Yes you can!

Gary's French Onion Soup

I can't cook is something that I hear many people say! What I don't understand is that there's not much to cooking - at least home cooking that is.

Restaurant quality dishes are challenging and even me as an avid home cook would never have the creativity, food combination intuition or delicacy to put together some of the amazing concoctions that are served in some of the top restaurants.


No, what I am referring to are people who just think that they can't make food like me. I am no pretender, I make it very clear that I just follow a recipe and out pops an amazing dish! What these friends of mine are lacking is the patience to spend time in the kitchen preparing. 


The other day was a great example. I cooked Gary's Masterclass French Onion Soup which looked so amazing on MasterChef that I had to try it! It is such a simple dish - onions , stock, herbs and cheesy croutons. However, I bet the average non cook wouldn't dare - you know why? I spent about 20 mins peeling and slicing onions - the worst job in the kitchen! And then I spent about an hour caramelising then before adding any other ingredients. All it took was time and patience (and a few tissues to wipe the tears from my eyes!) to create a delicious dish. So anyone out there who thinks they can't cook, go on, to the MasterChef website, set aside an hour and a half and you'll see what an excellent cook you can be!

Tiers of Joy

Weddings are the happiest occasions, love and joy, champagne and.... cake! Who could ask for more!  There I was toasting to the engagement of good friends at a Christmas party when, after a few drinks, it popped out.... "I could make your cake!" 

I was, of course, really excited to be able to give a three tiered cake as a gift, but it's not a small ask, especially because it would be my first time making a gluten free cake and no pressure, it's just the most important cake in a girls life! Luckily, apart from the gluten free request, the bride was quite relaxed about how it could be, but I had more expectations on myself to make it as good as it could be.

It actually wasn't the first wedding cake I've made, but unlike riding a bike, it's as daunting the second as the first time! The one thing that did fill us with confidence was that in the test version of the Gluten-free rich fruit cake turned out beautifully and we knew that the Marshmallow fondant that we used in the first wedding cake we made a few years ago would be a real winner! 

When it came to baking and decorating the cake it was hectic but fun (apart from the beginning of the icing when my hubbie thought the marshmallow would never become unstuck from his hands!) and the cake, although not perfectly evenly shaped, went down a treat. 

I felt very honoured to be able to be part of my friends' special day and delighted to kick off their marital bliss with a moist, brandy laced fruit cake!