Zumbo honey comb-over

I finally decided to have a go at making one of Adriano Zumbo's creations.

As you flick through the pages of his book there are so many wacky, wonderful and delicious looking sweets.

I mainly chose this one because I had the ingredients (well most of them) and I do love honeycomb.

Really it is a straight forward cake, right? a cake rolled with buttercream covered in a glaze then topped with some honeycomb.

But as you make your way though the recipe it does get a bit more complicated. 

You start with the glaze which requires a 'neutral glaze' that you must prepare first.

It also requires ingredients such as gelatin leaves (I used powdered), pectin (I used jam setter - yes really) and liquid glucose (left it out).

Not surprisingly my glaze was not perfect, but it still tasted good.

The honey comb is poured into a shoe box to cool, seriously that is what Zumbo recommends!

A decent chunk is broken off, chopped finely and folded through the buttercream.

The buttercream also requires preparation of creme patisserie, and it contains almond meal which I found odd but actually it tasted great.

I loved the spiced cake which was made mainly of honey that is whipped with butter.

It is coated with coconut then rolled up with the delicious buttercream.

The glaze is then poured over the cake and decorated with honeycomb.

The aroma of this honey cake was heavenly, and it tasted beautiful, very sweet.

The best part - sharing it with friends under fairy lights.

Princess Merida Disney Brave Cake (Lemon White Chocolate Mud with Raspberries, Fluffy Frosting and Lemon filled Macarons)

I know I've shared in the past how much I love the blogging community but I just wanted to say it again. You all inspire me so much and this cake is a reflection of this. 

So a special thank you to Angie Lives to Eat for the idea of a lemon chocolate mud cake, and to One Bite More for the suggestion of fluffy meringue frosting.

I really wanted to make this cake delicious as well as beautiful enough for my daughter to love it, and I managed to do both!

So it all began with macaron baking. As always my batches were varied some perfect, some not so perfect!

I baked 6 layers of white chocolate mud cake made with a good amount of lemon juice and lemon zest, then topped with a few frozen raspberries.

The macarons were filled with a lemon classic egg yolk buttercream.

How cute were my teeny weeny ones!

I layered the cakes with a raspberry white chocolate butter icing then cut the cake to shape.

The fluffy meringue frosting then covered her up.

The macarons which had firmed up in the fridge were then attached.

We had a beautiful day for Miss Evie's birthday in the park.

And the cake went down a treat.

Sweet and Sour Rhubarb Pork with Noodles

I have not actually cooked many of Jamie's recipes, not sure why.

We do have one of his books, Jamie at Home, and after including it in a pile of books to flatten something I decided to have a peruse. 

Well this Jamie Oliver recipe sounded fantastic and so I gave it a go!

And it was so simple. 

The marinade of rhubarb, honey, soy sauce, ginger, garlic, chilli and five spice is pureed.

The marinade is then put in a roasting pan with some chunks of pork belly (rind removed), covered with foil and baked for an hour and a half.

The pork is finished off in a hot pan until its nice and caramelised. 

I reduced the majority of the sauce down separately.

Serve your cooked egg noodles with the thick sauce and top with the tender tasty pork.

Serve with coriander, chilli and spring onions.

It was so delicious, the sour sauce clung perfectly to the noodles, it reminded me of satay.

The pork was tender and delicious. I love that the recipe used rhubarb.

Warm Mushroom, Cheese and Kale Loaf

Last month a good friend of mine gave me the winter issue of the Donna Hay magazine.

It has been fantastic, so many seasonal recipes that in true Donna style are fast, fresh and simple. Not to mention delicious.

Since we converted to being farmers market shoppers Kale has intrigued me.

I have cooked it a couple of times, and yes it was tasty, but it wasn't something I picked up every week it was in season.

But now that has changed, Kale is so diverse from soup, tart, baked, pasta, pesto.... 

and of course this recipe, in bread! Thank you Donna Hay.

After making your bread dough a tomato sauce base is prepared from garlic, tinned tomatoes, tomato paste, and herbs.

The mushrooms are browned and then the kale cooked until wilted.

Then on your rolled out dough, layer up the cheese, tomato sauce, kale and mushrooms.

Wrap it up, give them some snips with scissors and bake away.

Yes half way through I remembered to add some sesame seeds.

It was so yummy!

Oozy cheese, rich tomato, delicious kale and tasty mushrooms all wrapped up warm in bread.

Salmon with Soba Noodles

This is an adaption of Anna Gare's Beef, Bean & Soba Noodles recipe.

I am in love with Anna's recipes, no kidding I've cooked half of her book! So when I saw Anna was hosting a Lifestyle Food Chefs Table I bought a ticket, so I could experience Anna cooking her own food :) 

Yes here I am, one of those obsessed fans. 

I told Anna I loved this dish and she said that it is also delicious with salmon. Who am I not to take such advice?!

Simply marinate the salmon briefly in a little of the dressing, made from ginger, garlic, soy sauce, peanut oil, rice vinegar, mirin and honey.

I substituted the beans with some beautiful asian greens.

This dish is so simple, while you cook your soba noodles, your salmon is pan fried for a few minutes each side.

The greens are cooked with the noodles.

Then serve with some spring onions and sesame seeds, and a generous amount of dressing.

It was delicious, healthy and simple cooking, thank you Anna!

The family loved it.

Chicken and Almond Curry

This tasty chicken curry is a Sammy&Bella recipe.

You can find loads of delicious recipes if you head to their site.

It all starts with some beautiful free range chicken breast cut into nice big slices.

Marinate with some garam masala.

Then prepare your paste.

Combine with almond meal.

Brown the chicken, then set aside.

In the same pan cook off the paste until it starts to caramelise.

The chicken goes back in for a minute or two until cooked.

Serve up, preferably in a beautiful curry pot ( I was lucky enough to receive this one from Oxfam as part of the #stophungerstartcooking campaign) with some natural yoghurt.

It was an easy, super tasty, healthy dinner.