Banana Cake w/ Lemon Icing

Serves: 12
Preparation: 20 min
Cooking: 60 mins
Calories: __cal (__cal per serve as per recipe)

Ingredients
125g butter
1 cup caster sugar
2 eggs
1 cup mashed bananas
1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence
1.5 cups plain flour
1 teaspoon bicarb soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup buttermilk

Cream butter and sugar. Beat in eggs one at a time then add banana and vanilla. Mix together flour, bicarb, salt and cinnamon. Add dry ingredients and buttermilk gradually, alternating both.

Makes 1 cake or 12 muffins. Bake for 1 hour (cake) or 30 minutes (muffins) or until fine skewer comes out clean. Cool in cake tin for a few minutes before turning out. Cool completely before icing.

Lemon Icing
70g butter
1.5 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon vanilla essence
1.5 cups pure icing sugar

Mix all together.

Buttermilk Pancakes

Serves: 2
Preparation: 10 min
Cooking: 15 mins
Calories: __cal (__cal per serve as per recipe)

Ingredients
1 cups SR Flour
1/4 cup caster sugar
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
1 egg

Whisk all together then cook in a lightly oiled pan. 

Note: You can also use ordinary milk as well.

(I burnt them a little bit but they were still really good!)

Banana Caramel Muffins

Serves: 12
Preparation: 20 min
Cooking: 30 mins
Calories: __cal (__cal per serve as per recipe)

Ingredients
1.5 cups SR Flour
1/2 cup lightly crushed bran flakes (I used crushed oats)
3/4 cup brown sugar
90g margarine, melted
1/2 cup milk
2 eggs
1 banana, mashed
3/4 cup Nestle Caramel

Combine first 7 ingredients and spoon evenly into muffin pans. Add a generous teaspoon of caramel on top of muffin mixture then swirl through.

Cook in moderate oven (180C) for 25-30 minuges until cooked. Cool in pan before turning out.

(Recipe from back of Nestle caramel tin)

They were ok, but a little on the sweet side.

Ladies' Kisses

Serves: 20
Preparation: 60 min (plus 2 hours resting time)
Cooking: 40 mins
Calories: __cal (__cal per serve as per recipe)

Ingredients
150g butter
1/2 cup caster sugar
1 egg yolk
1/2 tsp almond essence
1 cup ground almonds/almond meal
1.5 cups plain flour
50g chocolate

Cream butter and sugar, then beat in egg yolk, almond essence, ground almonds and flour. Chill for about 2 hours or until firm.

Preheat oven to 160C and line baking trays with grease proof paper.

Break off small pieces of dough and roll into balls with your hands making 40 altogether.

Place the balls on the baking sheets spacing them out evenly as they will spread in the oven.

Bake for 20 minutes or until golden. Remove from the sheets and cool.

Melt chocolate over a double boiler and use to sandwich pairs of cookies. Leave to cool and set before serving.

Bread without a Bread Maker

Preparation: 70 mins (50 mins resting total)
Cooking Time: 30 mins

I've had a bread maker on my wish list, but we've just discovered we don't need one. I made this using my mix master to quickly and easily make the dough. Keep an eye on time and you can make bread while doing other things as well. It only takes about 20 minutes total prep!!

For this first try I used Lauke German Grain bread mix as it came with yeast and we weren't sure if the mix master would make good bread or not. The Lauke bread kit comes with flour and yeast for 4 loaves of bread. It is so simple!

Put approximately 600g bread makers flour, 2 tsp yeast and 410ml warm water into the mix master and mix on the dough setting for about 6-10 minutes. I think I did it for about 8 minutes, or until the dough was even, the flour all mixed in and the machine was able to go through without difficulty. The box says more kneading provides better bread.

Next I pulled all the dough onto a lightly floured surface and gave it 3-4 hand kneads to form it into a ball and placed it back into my mixing bowl. I covered it with foil and let it sit for 40 minutes. Leave it in a warm, draft free place so it can rise. It says it should double in size. Mine increased in size but not by as much as I was expecting, but I still got a great end result.

Pre-heat the oven around half way through the breads resting time to 200C

Next, punch down the dough, then pull it out and knead it for 2-3 minutes on a lightly floured surface. Form into shape and place in an oiled loaf pan. Let it rest for another 10 minutes to rise again.

Pop the tin in the oven for about 25-30 minutes. If you knock on the top it should sound hollow when done. Take it out and shake it straight onto a wire rack. Try to allow it to cool before cutting as this will give a moist loaf. If you can't help yourself and have to try it straight away it will probably dry out quicker, but the temptation of warm bread is hard to resist!!

Notes: The bread was not always fully cooked. Last bread came out well - try this next time: 50 min first rise, 30 minute second rise, 35 min bake

Chunky Chickpea and Herb Dumpling Soup

Serves: 4
Preparation: 30 min
Cooking: 30 mins
Calories: 1688cal (422cal per serve as per recipe)

Ingredients
1 Onion
2 Cloves Garlic
2 Tspn Ground Cumin
1 tspn Ground Coriander
1/4 tspn Chilli Powder
2 x 300g cans Chickpeas
2 x 425g cans Chopped Tomatoes
3.5 cups Vegetable Stock
1 tblspn Chopped Coriander

1 Cup SR Flour
25g Butter
2 tblspn Grated Parmesan
2 tblspn Mixed Chopped Herbs (eg chives, flat leaf parsley, coriander)
1/4 Cup Milk

Chop and cook onion over medium heat for 2-3 minutes.
Add garlic, cumin, ground coriander and chilli and cook until fragrant.
Add chickpeas, stock and tomato.
Bring to boil then reduce heat and simmer covered for 10 minutes then stir in coriander. (make dumplings while waiting)

Rub butter into flour until it resembles fine breadcrumbs.
Stir in cheese and fresh herbs. Add milk and mix until just combined.
Bring together into a ball then divide into 8 portions and roll into small balls.

Add dumplings to the soup, cover and simmer for 20 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean when inserted into centre of dumplings.


Notes
I've substituted the parmesan for tasty cheese. I've also done lots of combinations of herbs in the dumplings. They are best with fresh herbs, but dry chives and parsley is great too.
This recipe is from "Delicious Vegetarian Food" Family Circle cook book and is a big favourite.

Chocolate Self-Saucing Pudding

Serves: 4-6
Preparation: 15 min
Cooking: 45 mins
Calories*: 1645cal (410cal per serve)

Ingredients
1 Cup SR Flour
3/4 Cup Sugar
1 Tbspn cocoa
2 Tbspn Margarine (melted)
1/2 Cup Milk
1 tsp Vanilla Essence

Mix altogether in an oven proof dish that has a lid. You can just use a fork to do this because it won't matter if it's a little rough, but try to get any lumps out.

Topping
3/4 Cup Brown Sugar
1 Tbspn Cocoa
2 Cups Boiling Water

Mix brown sugar and cocoa together and sprinkle over the cake mixture. Pour boiling water overtop using a spoon so that the water doesn't penetrate the cake mix. Place lid on dish and cook in moderate oven (180C) for 45 minutes.

Choc Chip Biscuits

Serves: 24 biscuits approx
Preparation: 20 min
Cooking: 15-20 mins
Calories*: 2980cal (125cal per serve)

Ingredients
115g Margarine
1 Egg
1/2 Cup Castor Sugar
1tsp Vanilla Essence
1.5 Cups SR Flour
250g Choc Chips

Beat butter and sugar until smooth, beat in egg, add vanilla and flour. Stir in choc chips.
Roll into balls and flatten onto breased pan. Bake at 180C for approx 15 minutes (check at 10 minutes and cook until just becoming golden at the base)

Variants: You can add cocoa, cinnamon, nutmeg or ginger instead of choc chips. They're also a nice plain biscuit as well.

Tip: Double the recipe except for the choc chips. It makes about 50 biscuits and there is still a good ratio of choc chips. It is a little better balanced. You need approximately the same prep time but 40-60 minutes cooking time - allow 1.5 hours all together.

Easiest Chocolate Cake

Serves: 16-20 (2 cakes), 24 muffins, 100 mini muffins
Preparation: 20 minutes + 10 mins icing
Cooking: 35 minutes
Calories*: 3200cal (cakes) + 250cal (icing) (215cal per serve)

Ingredients
2 1/4 Cup SR Flour
1 3/4 Cup Castor Sugar (can substitute for other sugar)
3/4 tspn Bicarb Soda
2/3 Cup Cocoa
140g Margarine
1 Cup Water
1 tspn Vanilla Essence
3 Eggs

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Pour into 2 greased 9" pans and cook in moderate oven (200C) for 35-40 minutes or until skewer comes out clean. Allow to cool before icing.

My Simple Icing
6 Tablespoons of Pure Icing Sugar
1 Tablespoon of Cocoa
Warm water to make a paste
Dessicated Coconut to garnish

Note: To make muffins or mini muffins cook at 180C for 12-15 minutes