Baked Donuts

Recently I was immediately smitten with these Maple Pumpkin Donuts created by the brilliant Not Quite Nigella.

So much so I went straight out and bought a donut baking tin!

Its a great simple recipe that results in a fluffy delicious, basically guilt free, donut.

Two bowls - one with oil, eggs, brown sugar, maple syrup and pumpkin puree. 

I actually did not have enough oil so used half natural yoghurt. 

Mix together then add your second bowl of flour (I used whole spelt), baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg.

Carefully add to your donut tin and bake.

I tipped them straight out of the tin, coated in cinnamon sugar and ate them hot.

They were delicious, everything I wanted them to be - a pumpkin pie donut!

The kids looooved them too.

I have also made a banana version, using the same recipe but substituting pumpkin puree for mashed banana. 

It was so good that I made it again but with a salted caramel filling....

They were delicious, the caramel added a whole other level of deliciousness.

I do recommend you bake them yourself :) check out Not Quite Nigella's recipe.

Dukkah Roasted Chicken with Carrot and Pearl Barley Risotto

This is a Christine Manfield recipe for Dukkah Roast Chicken with Carrot and Pearl Barley Risotto that popped up in my email from The Essential Ingredient.

I have cooked Christine's recipes in the past and loved them, so this was a must to try.

We were not disappointed, it really is a stunning dish that has you licking the plate! 

And even better it is easy!

Butterfly your chicken, rub all over with a mix of Ras El Hanout (spice mix), oil, lemon juice and zest, and salt and pepper.

Then bake.

The risotto cooking liquid is made with a combination of chicken stock and carrot juice.

I bought some beautiful pearl barley from Honest to Goodness.

Some beautiful carrots and lemon zest are added to the base of the risotto consisting of softened leek, onion and garlic.

Add the pearl barley, followed by some sherry.

The hot stock is then added and the risotto allowed to simmer away until the liquid is absorbed. For me this took a lot longer then the 30 minutes the recipe suggested, but it was worth the wait!

It is finished with a squeeze of lemon juice.

Once the chicken is cooked drizzle with some sesame oil and sprinkle on the Dukkah.

Serve on your risotto, I added some baked asparagus too, and sprinkled with a mix of parsley, lemon juice, oil and capers. 

We also spooned over some of the delicious cooking juices from the chicken.

We had this for Sunday lunch and it was just perfect.

The flavours were beautiful with the soft sweet carrot risotto and the moist tasty chicken.

It will be gracing our table again very soon.....

Monster High Party Pinata Cake

On the weekend we celebrated Evie's birthday, she chose a 'Monster High' theme.

I love to make decorations, and although I did have some issues, the pinata looked great in the end, although next time I need more layers - it didn't last very long.

I also bought Monster High themed table decorations.

The party 'cave' was hanging streamers and balloons with glow sticks inside.

I piped the Monster High symbol on gingerbread for the take home lolly bags.

These amazing red velvet cupcakes were beautiful and delicious, made by Cakes by Sasi, please do check out some of her creations ----> incredible.

And of course the cake!

As soon as Evie saw Bubble and Sweet's Pinata cake she wanted one for her birthday.

The base was layered Milo chocolate cake, then topped with a chocolate bowl with a hole to fill in the lollies and the Draculaura doll.

I frosted with Italian meringue buttercream and piped the design using royal black icing.

It was great, everyone loved it when Evie cracked it open and the lollies spilled out.

I wonder what cake I will be making next year....

Remember last years Disney's Brave Macaron Cake?

Fried Radish Cake (Jackie M recipe)

Recently Jackie M, an expert in Malaysian cuisine, published a recipe book and I was quick to buy IT. 

I have already cooked a couple of the recipes but after trying the Fried Radish Cake at Marrickville markets I was very keen to make this one.

Firstly I made the sauce for it which is a combination of soy sauce, sugar, fish sauce, chicken stock, and thick caramel sauce simmered.

Then the 'radish cake' which actually does not contain radish! (Apparently in the old days it did).

It is made by cooking rice flour, tapioca flour, salt and water on the stove top before steaming.

Once cooled it is cut into cubes.

Firstly I cooked the cubes in some oil until the surface became rough.

I then stir fried minced garlic and preserved radish. 

Then added the sauce, egg and rice cubes.

It is finished with bean sprouts and chives, which I did not have, so I used green onions.

To accompany the dish I made Belacan sambal.

This dish is totally worth the effort. I will definitely cook it again soon!

It is delicious and filling, and really quite simple.

My daughter went back for thirds!

So make sure you check out Jackie's site, the book is great and she also does excellent videos.

Cumquat Cake

At the farmers markets last week I spotted these cute little citrus - cumquats. 

The seller asked me to try one, just pop it straight in, skin and all. Well I did and wow what an explosion of flavour from quite a tart start to a beautiful sweet and sour finish.

 

I remembered this recipe from Anna Gare for cumquat cake and decided it was a must to bake.

Quite a simple recipe with the dry mix mainly consisting of ground macadamias and shredded coconut.

It is then combined with the pureed cumquats and creamed eggs and sugar.

The cake is served with a delicious sugar syrup with softened cumquats.

A crumbly and textured cake that was moist, it was beautiful with syrup poured over, almost marmalade like.

Miss E insisted I take this photo of her cutting the cake.

I really enjoyed this cake, and it kept well with the flavour developing. 

Anna is right, it would make a great cake to make for the Big Cake Bake supporting the Australian Red Cross.