o frabjous day!

Category: Recipes

  • Chockablock Cookies

    This recipe is originally by Dorie Greenspan, from Baking From My Home to Yours. I found it on Popsicles and Sandy Feet and made some slight variations due to the ingredients I could get hold of (and to leave out the dried coconut, because I’m not a fan). It’s a lovely chunky biscuit that’s so…

  • Chewy chocolate chip cookies

    These chocolate chip cookies are lovely – crisp on the outside, chewy on the inside, and lots of chocolate chips. Recipe from Smitten Kitchen, home of so many awesome baked goods, and only slightly altered. ingredients: 2 cups flour 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 3/4 cup butter, melted 1 cup packed brown sugar…

  • 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…

  • Chocolate & Peanut Butter Cake

    A slightly altered version of Smitten Kitchen’s Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake, for Kirsty’s birthday. I cooked it in three 8-inch square pans, rather than 8-inch rounds (because I’m always happy to find new uses for the wedding cake pans.) It is a very soft cake and definitely requires freezing before constructing and icing, but I…

  • Mangosteens

    Mum was kind enough to send down a box of mangosteens for my brother and I (with a few rambutans thrown in) – she has a much lovelier photo of the fruit here. I have never seen mangosteens for sale down here, and very few of the people in Brisbane I’ve offered one to have…

  • 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…

  • Carrot & Fennel Salad with Ranch Dressing

    This was my first time cooking with fennel, and I had a couple of bad moments while slicing the fennel bulb and experiencing the subsequent strong smell of aniseed. I’m the sort of person who picks the black jelly beans out of the bag (Husband loves black jelly beans, that’s why we’re married). However, I…