Valentine hearts ❤

its valentine day, so I couldn’t help but make these cookies. This recipe works perfectly for icing cookies, and don’t they look cute!

Prep time: 10 minutes + 1hr in the fridge, Cooking time: 8 minutes

Ingredients:

for the cookie

• 90g soft unsalted butter cubed
• 100g caster sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 250g plain flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

for the icing

• 150 g icing sugar
• red food colouring
• water

Method:

1. Cream the butter and the  sugar until pale and creamy, add in the e.g. and vanilla extract beat until combined
2. add in the flour, baking powder and salt and beat until just combined, add in more flour if the mixture is too sticky to be made into a ball.
3. roll into a ball and shape into a disc shape, wrap in cling wrap and place in fridge for one hour.
4. fifteen minutes before the mixture is ready to be removed front the fridge preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius
5. When ready take out mixture from fridge, lightly flour a clean surface and roll out to around 0.5cm thickness and cut to heart shape with a heart cookie cutter
6. bake on a tray in the oven for 8 minutes until the edges have just started to brown. Remove and allow to cool on a cooling rack

for the icing

1. mix the icing sugar with a drop of the food colouring and a teaspoon of water, add more water as required, and it is ready when the icing mixture can coat the back of a spoon without running off
2. cover the cookie with the red icing sugar and allow to set.
3. next add some icing sugar with water and pour into a piping bag, decorate as you wish then serve and enjoy

Banana Bread

ok so I’m bored. I’ve been on break for a while now and free time does not do me good. I’m normally constantly on the go with so many insane extracurriculars that I have little time for sleep, but now stranded at home with nothing to do I am dead bored. I can’t even properly cook! I’m back at home for the holidays, so the kitchen doesn’t belong to me, and it honestly isn’t worth the fight to cook in it. I did however get the chance to make this banana bread because the overripe banana’s were bugging my mother enough that I was allowed into her sacred kitchen. Anyway, here’s the recipe hope you enjoy. I love banana bread, and its thick gooeyness, I added chocolate chips as well, because face it who doesn’t love chocolate!

Recipe:

Cooking time: 50 minutes

Prep time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

• 4 ripe bananas, mashed
• 200g sugar
• 2 eggs
• 120mls vegetable oil
• 240g plain flour
• 1 tsp bi-carb soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F). Grease and line a loaf tin
2. Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon into a small bowl.
3. In a different bowl whisk together sugar, eggs and oil. Once combined, add the mashed bananas and vanilla and whisk again.
4. Add the dry ingredients to the banana mixture, folding it through gently until smooth and combined, add in the chocolate chips and mix until combined.
5. Pour batter into the prepared loaf pan. Bake for around 50 mins to an hour or until bread is golden and a wooden skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean

Alps & Amici -Gourmet shop

I love going to gourmet shops and checking out the local produce, the delicious desserts and pastries, the deli section and the fantastic selection of meats. I’m currently in Launceston and have discovered this gourmet shop and am in love with its Dan’s kitchen section. It’s perfect for where I’m staying, as they provide ready to cook food, that after a longs day work I can just chuck in a pot add some vegetables to and eat away. I love that the majority of the produce is from Tasmania itself and that there is so much choice! Here’s a link to their page, and if you’re ever in the area and feel like checking it out, Go!

Foody goody @ Kuching Malaysia

Rating 3.0 / 5.0 stars

Mmmmmmmmm, sooooo much food!!! Seriously this was breakfast.

So we started with the laksa (top left) not bad, nice taste, enough salt, enough prawns and what not, only problem is don’t go late as they water it down at the end I think because the broth was quite weak when we went. I’ve found my new favourite breakfast food as well in Kuching, its the asian version of a bagel, kong piah (man autocorrect really doesn’t like that word) its basically fried bread with a meat filling. Unfortunately it wasn’t that great here, but that does mean I’ve got a new food to search for at all the stalls! I also love the youtiao filled with kaya(bottom right), it is so fattening but delicious, its got that gooey oozy kaya spread inside the just fried crunchy youtiao, wow just talking about it makes my mouth water. And last but not least we have the kueh chup, which is nice as well I’m not a big fan of this dish, -no idea why it really should appeal to me, but that is complete personal preference, and from what I heard from the people eating me and what I tasted myself its definitely not bad here.

Anyway I won’t bore you with anymore details, but if you’re ever in the area go give this place a shot

Lot 4126 Jalan Stapok, 93250 Kuching, Malaysia.

The Pizza Pub – Review

Rating 3.0 / 5.0 stars

I’ve recently been in Tasmania and been crazing pizza. But not just any pizza, the cheesy, chewy, crunchy pizza, with sauce oozing, and toppings galore. Turns out, this was the place to go! It was great, there was such a friendly atmosphere, quirky butchers paper as tablecloths, candlelit tables, and of course awesome company. We decided on ordering two large pizzas to share and ordered the ‘Red Centre’ and the ‘Pizza Pub Super’ and yep it was super all right! Soooo many toppings serious you name it, that pizza has it, salami, ham ,cheese, capsicum, onion, olives, mushroom, pineapple, prawns and anchovies I love anchovies! Now comes WARNING time, because the ‘Red Centre’ is hot. We added the jalapeno’s and that had us all calling one word, “Water!”. It’s seriously not too bad at first but the heat, it grows! There’s no way to eat more than one slice at time, you have to alternate with another pizza or ur mouth just burns!

Now the way to end any delicious dinner of course is dessert, and what goes better after pizza than ice-cream They have great sundays, jazzed up with a little sugar art, and its just mmm the perfect way to end the evening.

– and on a side note, for the starving student, yes they do do cheap Tuesdays here, where the pizzas are half off

2012 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

600 people reached the top of Mt. Everest in 2012. This blog got about 4,400 views in 2012. If every person who reached the top of Mt. Everest viewed this blog, it would have taken 7 years to get that many views.

Click here to see the complete report.

Jailhouse Grill

Rating: 3.8 / 5 stars

mmm is there anything better than a hot, juicy, melt in your mouth steak! It’s the perfect meal after a long trek and swim. I had an amazing day yesterday, we went for  a fantastic trek through Narawntapu National Park and saw so many animals, a baby wombat even came up to us, it was so cute and fluffy there was also a tiger snake hiding underneath our car Definitely an eventful trip! Also I got to swim in the Bass Strait!! It was freakin freezing but perfect.

Anyway what better way to top off the day than a perfect steak. It was delicious, perfectly cooked with a great dark mushroom sauce on top, not only that but there was an open salad bar that was great. It worked perfectly as an entree for us, and I loved that there was roast vegetables as well. The only thing was that some of the salads weren’t completely brilliant- there was a weird mushroom pickle thing that was just way too sour and …bitter (thats not the exact word I’m looking for but I just can’t think of it atm), but other than that they were great to eat before the steak.

The steak itself was perfectly done, medium with a fantastic cut and roast potatoes that matched perfectly. I honestly couldn’t eat it fast enough! I love that there was different cut sizes to choose from and that you could choose the cut you want, I’m definitely a scotch fillet kind of person. The only thing this restaurant was sadly missing was good steak knifes to cut the steak with! Other than that the service was excellent, the drinks were great and the waitresses were so friendly. I’d definitely come here again

Elaia Cafe -Review

Rating 3.0 / 5.0 stars

mmm Seafood linguine. I’ve been having an amazing time in Tassie, enjoying the sights and getting my fair share of exercise! In case you’ve never been to Launceston Tasmania let me tell you that it is extremely, incredibly, implorably hilly. I decided to visit Cataract Gorge today and idiotically decided to follow the path of google maps….. not the smartest idea in the world. I first thought I should take an alternate path through the main city first then loop around but thought ‘hey google maps should know its stuff more then me right? I’ll definitely be there in 21 minutes if I follow it”. I’m an idiot. It took me an hour. See the unfortunate thing was the path was ALL uphill!!! By the time I got there I was so ready to jump in (but of course I didn’t bring bathers cause 20degrees didn’t seem hot enough- again dumb mood). This was definitely not a good day intellectually, the good part was it only took me 20 minutes to get back as it was a lll downhill

All in all though it was a fantastic day, I got to check out several of their trails – including my old favourite the zig zag steps I really think I’m five years old as I still love running up and down steps, and these were just plain awesome! Got to eat an ice-cream perched on the edge of a track over looking the fantastic scenery, and even took a nap under the shade of a tree. I haven’t felt this relaxed in ages. This is the perfect reprieve from exams.

I start work tomorrow and I’ve been enjoying trying out the food from the local cafes and restaurants, and one amazing one was the Seafood linguine at Elaia cafe in Launceston. It was great the only thing missing was some bread to dunk in the remaining sauce! The broth was tasty, the seafood cooked nicely and generously provided, and of course the mussels were perfect. I’ve got to say Tassie’s definitely know their seafood I wish I could’ve tasted more dishes but alas I’m only by myself  :P so this review is only based on one dish, but hopefully everything is just as delicious, or better. Please let me know what you think if you’re ever in the area and have a chance to try it

Burger Got Soul – Review

Rating: 3.5 / 5 stars

mmmdelicious! I have been craving a good burger for weeks, ever since exam week started and I was in my hermit phase, meaning I was relegated to scrambled eggs, sandwiches and spaghetti in a can bleugh! (also why I haven’t posted in so long, sorry!)

I’ve now finally finished exams Yay yay yay yay yay!! (i’m seriously doing a happy dance right now!) and I’m now in Launceston Tassie. I’m here for work placement and  am loving trying the food at different places. It’s gonna be an awesome two weeks, and to kick it off are brilliant burgers.

Juicy, fresh, and scrumptiously delightful these burgers are the perfect start to the the weekend. With a tasty tomato relish, juicy lean patty and mayo that’ll melt your soul this is the place to go. The chips have got that perfect crunch on the outside and hot and gooey in the middle, and there’s a mayo dip that goes with it perfectly. The staff are so incredibly friendly and polite, that it makes up for the long wait. I really love Tasmania, the people are so nice, and you can’t walk down the street without someone giving you a smile, it just lifts your heart Anyway before I start rambling again I just wanted to say that I’d definitely eat here again.

Black and white malteser cake

Chocolate, chocolate, chocolate! Lol! Procrastabaking! Best reason to bake ever I made two cakes on saturday. They’re a mixture of multiple recipes actually. Originally I was going to make a black forest cake but I couldn’t find any cherries! Then of course my weird oven decided to overreact and charred one of the cakes but left it delightfully soupy in the middle. In the end I had to do it twice, but at least it worked outish. Idk it just didnt hit that buttery smooth consistency like normal. I miss my home oven

Anyway I’ve been dying to tell someone about my week, and what better place to vent then here (-seriously I suggest you skip this paragraph and just go onto the recipe!) So I had my clinical skills assessment and am sick of being hit with a reflex hammer, you see we practice on each other and I have the worst reflexes! It takes forever to find the right spot, even the poor six years had a hell of a time getting a reflex! My knees were literally so sore afterwards. Also thanks to MJ for letting me practice on you all week! Cause I passed!! Yay, yay, yay! I’ve also been cutting open skulls! lol ok not as morbid as it sounds, I’m taking dissection as my option unit and it was sooooooooo awesome, we got to dissect out the brain from the skull, and managed to get the entire thing out intact including the cerebellum and brainstem! So cool! I also got eaten alive by mosquitoes this week, yep its back to that time of year again, time to get out the citronella candles. Now I’ve finished using this blog as a diary lets get onto the cake!

I made two cakes one for a birthday and the other for my final tute group session for the year Can’t believe its already been a year, I love my tute group! Anyway I hope they’re mmmdelicious, I’ve unfortunately yet to figure out how I’m gonna get it to my tute group session, it could get interesting ! This really is the cake to make if you need two as you alternate the layers between chocolate and pound cake, and you can just make two whole cakes and divide them into three layers. Also don’t do what I did and decide to bake this on a hot day, because it will melt! And you will spend so much time alternating cakes between the fridge as the buttercream goes too hard, then too soft, then too hard again! Regardless though it does make one impressive cake, and it really isn’t too hard to do once you get into the rhythm of things.

Here it is in all its glory

To make 2 cakes! Each serves 8

Prep time: 1 hour

Cooking time: 2 hours

Assembling time: 1 hour

Ingredients:

for the chocolate cake

• 200gm dark chocolate
• 1 cup hot water
• 1 teaspoon bicarb
• 250gm soft unsalted butter cubed
• 1 1/4 cups caster sugar
• 3 eggs separated
• 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
• 2 1/2 cups plain flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 200ml light sour cream

for the pound cake

• 250gm soft unsalted butter cubed
• 1 cup caster sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
• 4 eggs, at room temperature
• 1 2/3 cups plain flour
• 3 teaspoons baking powder

for the filling

• 500gm soft unsalted butter cubed
• 1000ml (4 cups!) icing sugar 6
• tablespoons cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoon lemon juice

for the ganache

• 200gm dark chocolate
• 150 mL pouring cream

for the outside icing

• 300ml whipping cream
• a block of dark chocolate
• maltesers

Method:

for the chocolate cake

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius.
2. in a bowl mix together the hot water, chocolate and bicarb
3. cream the butter and beat in the sugar until light and fluffy!
4. Beat in the egg yolks one at a time and stir in the vanilla. Then gradually beat in the chocolate.
5. Fold in the flour mixture alternating with the sour cream until just combined.
6. Beat the egg whites in a separate bowl until soft peaks form, and mix into the batter.
7. Divide between 20cm tins ( or if you have two add 1/3 in one and 2/3 in the other then cut the later in half)
8. Bake for 30-45 mins or until a skewer comes out clean. Place on a drying rack and allow to completely cool

for the pound cake

1. Preheat oven to 170 degrees celsius, line a 20cm tin with baking paper and brush with butter
2. Beat the butter until smooth. Add in the caster sugar and vanilla essence and continue beating until pale and creamy
3. Add the eggs one at a time , beating well on high after each addition.
4. sift the flour and baking powder into the mixture and fold in until just mixed
5. spoon into the cake pan and bake for 50-55 minutes or until skewer comes out clean (if you have an uneven oven, please remember to rotate the cake periodically!)
6. Set on a drying rack and allow it to cool

for the buttercream

1. Cream the butter, and then gradually beat the icing sugar and cocoa powder in until well combined.
2. Add the lemon juice and beat until smooth.

for the ganache

1. On a low heat, mix the chocolate and cream until the mixture is smooth, shiny and mmm chocolatey

To assemble the cake

1. Cut each cake into three layers ( if you did the chocolate feather cake in 2/3,1/3 in pans then just cut the 2/3 one into half).
2. Divide the butter cream into three and with one lot spread it over one of the chocolate layers, then place a pound cake layer on top, add another layer of buttercream then place a chocolate layer on top. Do the same with the remaining layers on a cake stand but start with the pound cake.
3. Whip the whipping cream and cover just the edges of the cake with it. Grate part of the dark chocolate so small curls form and sprinkle on the whip cream ( you should be able to slightly tilt the cake to do this, but keep in mind that it is a layered cake, so if you over tilt a layer will fall off.
4. Pour a small amount of ganache over the top and gently spread to the edges of the cake top.
5. Place the remaining buttercream into a piping bag and pipe rosettes onto the top of the cake
6. Place a malteser on top of each rosette.
7. Cut, serve and mmm enjoy

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