Sweet Archives - Page 2 of 6 - Not another slippery dip

Simply yummy scones

July 5, 2016 By Michaela Fox

Simply yummy scones

Is there anything more comforting than warm scones, fresh from the oven, topped with whipped cream and delicious jam? I think not. I often forget, though, how easy they are to make and how tasty and soothing they can be. I made these scones during the school holidays. My girls helped knead the dough and scatter flour all over the kitchen bench top and floor! I adapted this recipe from Taste, but will write it out in full here for ease. I used Bonne Maman raspberry jam to top the scones, and fortuitously a friend popped in with homemade lemon butter, which was also a perfect pairing. Bake these babies with your babies, and eat them warm for maximum pleasure!…

Chewy homemade muesli bars

June 1, 2016 By Michaela Fox

Delicious homemade muesli bars

I am always looking for lunchbox inspiration. One of my biggest lunchbox wins has been these delicious coconut muesli balls. I love them as much as the kids do! But I fell into the habit of buying muesli bars as lunchbox fillers for convenience. But I’ve been wanting to find a recipe for homemade muesli bars, with less sugar and more goodness. I don’t have an issue with store-bought snacks, occasionally, but they’re expensive and loaded with sugar. So I was delighted when I came across this tasty looking recipe for chewy muesli bars. I used this recipe from the lovely and talented, Lucy from Bake. Play. Smile, and adapted slightly. Whenever you’re making something like a slice, you can always substitute golden syrup for honey, butter for coconut oil, or use any dried fruit you have in the pantry. You don’t always need to follow the recipe to the letter. My kids aren’t big on nuts so I left these out and used more sunflower seeds and dried cranberries. I am going to write out the recipe in full here, but for more tasty treat, visit Lucy’s site.…

Cooking with Karen Martini

May 19, 2016 By Michaela Fox

How to cook with dairy and amazing milk!

Last weekend I was invited to cooking workshop with award-winning chef, Karen Martini. The event was hosted by Dairy Australia and the legendairy team. It was all about inspiring people to cook with dairy, especially the many wonderful sweet and savoury dishes you can create with milk. And it was so much fun! I took Miss A along with me.

The best thing about the day was spending one on one time with Miss A. In our fast-paced lives, it is near impossible for me to find one on one time with the girls. This event provided the perfect opportunity to have a day date with my eldest girl, and enthusiastic chef! We tasted, we watched, we cooked and we ate. We ate so well. We learnt how to make the perfect béchamel sauce, buttery scones, sweet and savoury hotcakes and then we had a cook off against the other contestants!!

We had about 15 minutes to prepare and cook some of Karen’s famous ricotta hot cakes. The requirements were: follow the recipe, create a 3-tier hotcake stack, choose between sweet and savoury toppings and plate up. We told we were being judged on taste, presentation and creativity. Miss A and I decided quickly we would do a sweet dish, and we got cooking. Our first hotcake wasn’t crash hot but Karen reminded us, the first one is usually not the best. We were down to the wire with only ten seconds to go when we plated up our dish and downed tools. We had so much fun and we were pretty pleased with our creation. We didn’t win, but we had such a fun time and the consolation prize was sitting down to a fabulous feast for lunch. YUM!!!!!!!!…

Banana cake with honey & cinnamon buttercream

May 3, 2016 By Michaela Fox

Banana cake with honey cinnamon icing

I love a good banana cake. Often I make a simple banana loaf, which is pretty much perfect for any occasion. And sometimes I make banana and choc chip muffins, which are great as an afternoon snack, or for the kids’ lunch boxes. Over the long weekend we had friends coming over for afternoon tea and, along with a cheese platter, I wanted to bake a cake. I had a few bananas that were overripe which made banana cake the obvious choice. But I wanted to make it just a little bit fancier than my standard banana loaf. A friend of mine had forwarded me this recipe a while ago and I had been hankering to make this delicious honey and cinnamon buttercream icing. In this recipe she suggests making it with a carrot cake, which would be heavenly, but I thought i’d give it a go with banana cake. The result was lip-smacking amazing. Seriously, you need to make this icing. It is absolutely delicious and paired with the banana cake, the result is divine. I will write out the full recipe here for convenience but you can easily use your ‘go-to’ banana or carrot cake recipe and it’ll be perfect….

Festive Rocky Road

December 8, 2015 By Michaela Fox

Festive Rocky Road

I usually like to dabble in some Christmas baking and give my girls’ teachers something baked with love (and gratitude!). Last year I made these white chocolate and cranberry cookies and they were yum. The year before I made Christmas Rocky Road, which was also a hit. I decided to make Rocky Road again this year but this time I used a special ingredient, Clinkers. My festive Rocky Road is inspired by Lucy’s delicious recipe from Bake Play Smile. I had to go to a couple of shops to hunt down the clinkers but I was rapt to find some in festive pink and green. I basically used Lucy’s recipe but I wanted to add some extra crunch so I chopped up a crunchie bar as well. In my mind honeycomb is what really makes a good rocky road. I also increased the amount of chocolate accordingly. And the best thing about this recipe aside from the taste? It’s quick and easy to make. And at this time of year if it’s not quick and easy then I am not interested….

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