Week 29 of the Cookbook Challenge, the theme is Blue. I went with a blueberry recipe, the only other “blue” food I could find recipes for were fish recipes (blue cod, etc) and I will always choose a dessert over a main! My recipe from week 25, Lemon and Vanilla Panna Cotta in Blueberry Soup would have been perfect for this week’s challenge too! I used one of my favourite dessert books, Donna...

Week 25 of the Cookbook Challenge, the theme is “silky”. The first thing that came to mind was a nice dessert. I’ve never made a panna cotta before so decided to give one a go. I found a beautiful looking recipe from a cookbook called “Two’s Cooking” by Jane and Jeremy Strode Ingredients (to serve 2): 140ml milk 1/2 vanilla bean, split, seeds scraped and reversed rind of 1/2...

Week 24 of the Cookbook Challenge and the theme is my favourite so far – Chocolate! I got my first Nigella cookbook for Christmas last year and have been flicking through it a lot…salivating…so decided to make something. I chose an Old Fashioned Chocolate Cake. Ingredients for the cake: 200g plain flour (substitute with gluten free flour) 200g caster sugar 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon...

When I was a kid I used to watch my grandma peel apples without breaking the peel and I used to think that was the most amazing thing ever…so now every time I peel an apple I have to make sure I do it all in one go and don’t break the peel This recipe is for the Cookbook Challenge week 40, theme is Apple. It’s from my Moroccan cookbook, Moorish – Moroccan Green Apple and Lime Cake. Warning:...

Easter is almost here! For most of us that means a lovely long weekend and lots of food, friends and family. Here are some of my suggestions to help with your Easter preparations. Silly Yaks in Northcote is opening their factory outlet on Saturday 27th March, with gluten free hot cross buns for sale along with heaps of other gluten free food goodies to stock up on, click here for more details. Or if you’d...

Week 15 of the Cookbook Challenge and the theme is Muffins. I decided to try and make muffins with ingredients I already had in the house because I couldn’t be bothered going to the shops. I therefore didn’t have a lot of choice in what recipe to use, so went with carrot and coconut muffins from my Marie Claire Comfort book. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Grease 12 holes of a standard muffin tin...

Week 13 of the Cookbook Challenge, the theme is Love. Love for me is a good chocolate cake, I tried out a recipe from a cookbook called Sweet Treats. Ingredients: 250g dark chocolate, chopped 225g unsalted butter 1/2 cup sugar 2 tbsp brandy or orange liqueur 5 eggs 1 tbsp plain flour (I used almond meal) icing sugar for dusting I also added some grated orange zest Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees. Grease a...

Week 12 of the Cookbook Challenge, the theme is Eggs. One of my favourite foods, they can be so healthy and can also be so naughty…this recipe is a naughty one. Zabaglione is one of my favourite indulgences – this is however the first time I’ve ever attempted making it properly. In the 1980s there used to be a lot of gelatarias that made Zabaglione gelati and now it’s so hard to find…am...

Week 9 of the Cookbook Challenge with a theme of Berry. I went with a very imaginative Berry Crumble from one of my Christmas presents, a book that I have been eyeing off since it came out – Stephanie Alexander’s Kitchen Garden Companion – half cook book half gardening book. Now I just need to get a place with a garden! Ingredients 50g unsalted butter 400g rasberries, blackberries, mulberries...

I think I need to change how I choose my recipes – I tend to choose things that look pretty easy enough but end up being a lot more complicated and as a result, never look anything like what they are supposed to! This was one of those recipes. Week 8 of the Cookbook Challenge had the theme of Sweet so I turned to one of my Christmas presents, Movida Rustica, which is full of beautiful Spanish recipes....