o frabjous day!

Category: Baking

  • On an island

    A few weeks ago, we went boating for my sister in law’s birthday – putting down the Pumicestone Passage and anchoring (ie. beaching the boats, and hurling the anchors onto the sand – does that count as anchoring?) on a little beach on Bribie Island. There was fishing: And a grand total catch of one…

  • Cherry & Almond Muffins

    These are gorgeous muffins – sweet and light. I almost wish the cherries were a bit sour, so you’re surprised by them. They’re lovely nevertheless, and be generous with the topping – the crunch of the almonds and sugar contrasts beautifully with the soft cherries in the middle. ingredients: 2 cups + 2 tblsps plain…

  • Date, Chocolate & Rum Muffins

    This is a lovely dark and rich muffin, reasonably heavy with all the dates. It’s one for afternoon coffee rather than morning tea, I think. ingredients: 75 grams butter 1/2 cup of honey a good slosh of rum (up to 1/4 of a cup) 1 1/2 cups chopped dates half a block of dark chocolate,…

  • Raspberry & Rosewater Muffins

    I was inspired to make these after reading Kerry Greenwood’s latest, Forbidden Fruit, in which a baker describes rosewater as bringing out the flavour of the raspberries. I adapted this recipe from a strawberry muffin recipe, and as a result it was fairly tart – a dense, cakey muffin with bite. The rosewater does go…

  • Wedding Cake

    Smitten Kitchen’s wedding cake project was an invaluable aid when I was planning and executing my brother’s wedding cake earlier this year. I had never made a tiered cake before, and Smitten Kitchen was a great source of information for recipes and construction tips. I used two of the recipes from Smitten Kitchen – the…

  • Banana bread with dates

    When I cut into this banana bread, still warm and steaming from the oven, and had my first exploratory taste, I decided that this could possibly be the best banana bread I’ve ever made. Some banana breads are too dry, some are too oily, but this banana bread was just, absolutely right. It’s essentially Nigella’s…

  • Pumpkin & Choc Chip Biscuits

    I found this recipe at the always inventive Baking Bites – I’ve never had a failure with her cookie and cupcake recipes, and as she described, these cookies were moist and slightly chewy without being cakey or overly dense. I’d never actually used pumpkin in a sweet baking recipe before – it’s more of an…

  • Smoked Salmon and Camembert Quiche

    This recipe from Taste fit the bill when I was looking for a quick quiche to make for lunch. “Oh wow,” said my guest, “you made your own pastry.” Actually, I didn’t, but apparently I’m skilled at manhandling frozen pastry until it looks homemade. Good to know. This was wonderful, but I think that’s easy…

  • Mini Raspberry Cheesecakes

    I left it way too late in the day to photograph these little cheesecakes (I was too busy eating them), and as a result neither of these photos are really in focus – hence the small size. I had my zoom lens on the camera, and took the cake out to the back steps so…

  • Chocolate Chip & Vanilla Buttercream Cupcakes

    I love cupcakes. The perfect serving size, the perfect amount of icing & the prospect of silly decorations. I restrained myself here with pink sprinkles. I sometimes find it a bit of a challenge to make nice moist cupcakes – this particular batch was a little dry but I’m fairly sure that’s because I mis-measured…