October 2009
6 posts
New Location!
I have moved home! You will now find me at
madeinthepresenceofnut.wordpress.com
see you there!
Pound Cake
I fell in love with pound cake during the summer I spent in San Francisco. It’s the soft yet firm texture I love and the many flavours you can enjoy, plain, chocolate, orange, coffee, nuts and it also work wonderfully toasted. For some reason I have never got around to making it and now quite a few recipes have accumulated for it. On seeing a recipe for it on www.foodandwine.com I decided now was...
Dinner & a Movie
I went for a bite to eat after work with two of the gals. The food, unfortunately, was nothing to rave about, to be honest, it lacked in flavour. Though the company was fabulous ;)…and the movie…it was truthfully the most delightful, charming and engaging movie I have seen in awhile. The three of us emerged from the cinema smothered in smiles! Whether you’re a foodie or not, I...
Wedding Cake
I wasn’t that nervous about making the wedding cake for my brother and his lovely bride to be. I had made one and they had both tasted and loved it and I then made improvements and a second one was made, tasted and luckily enjoyed. I figured third time around though tripple the quantity should be fine, and it was!! Three hours in the oven and a beautiful golden chocolate coffee cake emerged in the...
Plum Puds
Not in the Christmas sense of the dessert. These were delightful little puds I made when the sister, the Littlest Lanagan came to dinner a few weeks back. In typical fashion I neglected to take photos of the main course, which was my first (and most definitely not final) attempt at an Indian butter curry. It was cold and blustery outside and warm and cozy inside and so a tasty pudding was in...
Daring Bakers Vol au Vents
The September 2009 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Steph of A Whisk and a Spoon. She chose the French treat, Vols-au-Vent based on the Puff Pastry recipe by Michel Richard from the cookbook Baking With Julia by Dorie Greenspan.
Posting. Finally. Well, almost. Still missing a few photos, they are sitting safely on my wonderful Aunts camera and hopefully will be with me shortly! So...
August 2009
14 posts
1 tag
Chocolate Truffles
The first time I made these I couldn’t get over how simple they were to make! Each time I make them now I alter the chocolate coating slightly. For example I used a dark chocolate with an orange crunch in it, which worked surprisingly well with the baileys flavoured filling. I havn’t made any filling variations yet but I believe that tia maria would be damn tasty in them as would...
Daring Bakers Challenge - Dobos Cake
The August 2009 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Angela of A Spoonful of Sugar and Lorraine of Not Quite Nigella. They chose the spectacular Dobos Torte based on a recipe from Rick Rodgers’ cookbook Kaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Caffés of Vienna, Budapest, and Prague.
So, what is the Dobos Torta (or Torte)?
The Dobos Torta is a five-layer sponge cake,...
Equipment
2 baking sheets
9” (23cm) springform tin and 8” cake tin, for templates
mixing bowls (1 medium, 1 large)
a sieve
a double boiler (a large saucepan plus a large heat-proof mixing bowl which fits snugly over the top of the pan)
a small saucepan
a whisk (you could use a balloon whisk for the entire cake, but an electric hand whisk or stand mixer will make life much easier)
metal...
M is for Mini Muffins
Blueberry mini muffins, to be exact. They are my favourite flavour of muffin and when given the choice of chocolate or blueberry, this juicy little berry will win me over every time! Aswell as being exceedingly tasty and lushous, research has shown that the blueberry is very rich in anti oxidants and so is great for you immune system. See here for the other great benfits.
The muffins themselves...
July 2009
3 posts
Summer Dessert
Summer, surprisingly, seems to be making an appearance this year!
So dessert last night was light and simple and very very tasty!!
Home made short bread with rich vanilla ice cream and fresh strawberries.
Yum.
June 2009
4 posts
Bakewell Tart
Daring Bakers time again!!
The June Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Jasmine of Confessions of a Cardamom Addict and Annemarie of Ambrosia and Nectar. They chose a Traditional (UK) Bakewell Tart… er… pudding that was inspired by a rich baking history dating back to the 1800’s in England.
My mother is a huge fan of the bakewell and makes it regularly and rarely...
May 2009
8 posts
Sunday Morning Pancakes
The littlest Lanagan was coming over for breakfast and so fluffy pancakes were on the menu. This was my first time to make them and they turned out wonderfully fluffy on the inside with a satisfying golden skin. To my great surprise they’re quite effortless to make, you mix together the dry ingredients and gradually stir in the wet (milk & egg).
As the first pancake nearly always turns...
Margaritas and 'White Boys'!
The lovely B had the gals around on friday night for home made enchiladas (yum!) and margaritas, the smell of which would make you intoxicated. I was on lime squeezing duty on arrival and they truly were great cocktails! I brought with me some blondies or as we re-christened them white boys! I filled mine with milk chocolate chips and a broken large bar of bournville orange. Divine! I’m...
April 2009
14 posts
Daring Bakers Challenge - Baked Cheesecake
The April 2009 challenge is hosted by Jenny from Jenny Bakes. She has chosen Abbey’s Infamous Cheesecake as the challenge.
I was hoping that this month’s challenge would re-affirm my faith in baked cheesecakes but unfortunately it did no such thing. I love love love light fluffy lemony cheesecake, it’s simple and delicious. The baked variety I find too heavy and they just do not...
Leftover Easter Eggs
I think I love the idea (and the smell!) of easter eggs more than I love eating them. If you’ve never inhaled an easter egg you’re missing out.
How to Inhale an Easter Egg:
1. Unwrap.
2. Break in half
3. Place one half and inhale that intensely divine chocolatey smell!!
I think I’ve gotten off track, yes, leftover easter eggs, instead of keeping them in the fridge for a year...
C is for cookies
Cookies. For me, these always turn out one of two ways. Either with an amazing texture, wonderfully soft when you bite into them with a slightly crunchier outer coat or unfortunatley, a gooey mess in the tray, more than likely due to measurements gone haywire! I came across this recipe for Oreo like cookie on cocoaandcheese.blogspot.com and couldn’t resist baking them, they looked so tasty. I was...
Mmmm Lasagne... Lasagne of Emilia-Romagna
The March 2009 challenge is hosted by Mary of Beans and Caviar, Melinda of Melbourne Larder and Enza of Io Da Grande. They have chosen Lasagne of Emilia-Romagna from The Splendid Table by Lynne Rossetto Kasper as the challenge.
Lasagne. I love lasagne. I was delighted to see that this was what was on offer for the February challenge. What made it even more exciting was that we had to make the ...
