Dinner for Friends and Creme Brulee

Last night we had a old friend of Dons and her partner here for dinner. These days I barely get time to do the basic mundane things involved in living let alone have dinner parties but it was a nice break from the usual to make the effort and have people here. Gina only eats seafood so while I was initially disappointed to not be able to make one of the many meat dishes I have been wanting to try, I figured at least she wasn't a vegetarian...or even worse a vegan! In fact if she had been a vegan I wouldn't have even entertained the thought of a dinner invite...closed minded I know but I really have no desire to cook vegan food. 


Anyway I figured I could do seafood quite easily as well as making it taste really good and maybe get out of my comfort zone. The only problem is that it did involve a lot of last minute cooking but I did manage to do most of the preparation beforehand so it wasn't too bad. 


For the starter I made Scallops on a Cauliflower Puree with a Balsamic Drizzle and a Bacon Crumb. I really wish I had remembered to get a photo of this. It looked lovely on the plate and tasted fantastic. I am not a fan of cauliflower but cooked like this it tasted delicious and had the most amazing velvety and smooth texture. I managed to cook the scallops perfectly and they had a nice caramelisation on them without being overcooked. The balsamic drizzle was just balsamic vinegar cooked down with some brown sugar so it was nice and syrupy and I think, combined with the bacon crumb (which Gina didn't have), it really added to the dish and brought all the flavours together. 


The main was fresh pan fried Terakihi on a decadent Lemony Mash with a Pernod Sauce served with fresh green beans and broccoli. This was so delicious. I got the recipe from the first Masterchef cookbook. The pernod sauce was lovely and the mash really smooth (thanks to the potato ricer and warm cream). The vegetables were cooked well so they still had some crunch and were a good foil to the richness of the sauce. I did remember to get a photo of the fish (without the veges) just before I tucked into it. It isn't the best photo but at least I remembered this time. I got the fish and scallops from the Fish market so they were really fresh. The fish was succulent and just fell apart so I was really pleased with how it turned out.

Served on my Grandmother's Royal Doulton dinnerset

Dessert was Creme Brulee served with homemade Lemon Shortbread and Poached Quinces. I wasn't so happy with the quinces but I think that had more to do with the fact that the ones I bought weren't all that good and has quite a lot of bruises on them not leaving many pieces to choose from. The shortbread was really lovely and I thought it complemented the creme brulee. The creme brulee itself was a recipe I kind of made up after searching for what I thought would be the perfect recipe. It turned out so well and it was very easy to make. It had that lovely crunching sound as you broke into the toffee top too. I have made creme brulee before but in the past have sprinkled the top with caster sugar. This time I used icing sugar and it caramelised easily and well without having a chance to burn. Although the dinner on the whole was a bit creamy it was a pretty good effort if I do say so myself. It does mean that I will have to take the dog for a big walk to day but it was worth it to break free of my diet for a night.


Creme Brulee


750 ml cream
6 egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla paste
1/2 c vanilla caster sugar
1 Tbsp Cointreau (I would double this next time)


Heat the oven to 150 C.


In a mixer beat the egg yolk with the sugar and vanilla paste.


Scald the cream in a pot. 


Temper the eggs by adding in a bit of the hot cream and mixing it well before adding the rest of the cream in. Make sure you stir it vigorously and well. If there is any foam on top skim some of it off or else bang the bowl down on the bench to try to get rid of the bubbles. Pour it into 5-6 ramekins (make sure they are shallow and wide rather than deep and narrow).


Put the ramekins into a baking dish and pour in enough boiling water to come halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Bake about 30 mins until they look set but still have sexy wobble to them. Remove from the baking dish and cool on a wire rack then put into the fridge for at least 2 hours (I made mine the day before).


Just before serving sprinkle over a generous amount of icing sugar and caramelise with a blowtorch.

Easter Cupcakes for Harry's Class

Just a quick post to put up photos of the cupcakes I have made for Harry's last day at school. I can hardly believe the first term is over already. Next week it is Easter so I thought I would make some Easter themed cupcakes as a treat for the kids in his class when I pick him up from school tomorrow. I actually whipped these up when I got home this morning from work before I went to bed...and I'm glad I did as I don't think I would have had the time to make and decorate them when I got up this afternoon. The recipe I used was one I have made countless times and one which makes the most delicious chocolate cupcake. You can find the recipe which is on my blog here. The icing is a lovely vanilla buttercream coloured with the Wilton colour 'kelly green' to give it a grassy look. As time was of the essence I piped it on with my grass tip (I have no idea what the tip is actually called but it makes great grass, fur or hair), and popped on some little chocolate eggs. Hopefully the kids will like them and will all have a lovely 2 week break from the routine of school.

Harry in his new superhero costume

Baking for Nightshift- Chai Cupcakes with Cinnamon Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

These cupcakes were made for work last night. I also took the Date and Coconut Cake (which incidentally was really delicious), but have been dying to try this recipe ever since I got my new cookbook called 'Celebration Cupcakes' by Tamara Jane. She is also the author of one of my 2 top cupcake books called 'Divine Cupcakes'. I love it when you find a cookbook where the recipes work and all taste fantastic and hers most definitely do this. As well as this she has lovely flavour combinations to make the cupcakes just that little bit different. There are also loads of ideas for decorating them put in an easy to understand way.


I love the spices in Chai tea and although I don't often drink it, the just love the smell that comes from even just the tea bags sitting in my pantry. This was another easy recipe and the cupcakes were lovely. I especially loved the buttercream which was light and fluffy but still had that lovely taste of vanilla with cinnamon. If you like to make cupcakes I strongly recommend Tamara Jane's cupcake books...the only regret you might have is on your waistline as you indulge but don't say you weren't warned!


Chai Cupcakes with Cinnamon Vanilla Buttercream Frosting


160 ml milk (2/3 c)
2 chai teabags or 2 tsp loose chai tea
125g butter
200g caster sugar
2 eggs
250g flour
2 tsp baking powder
4 Tbsp finely chopped pistachio nuts


Oven to 180 C and line 18 muffin tins with liners (the recipe says 12 but I got 18).


In a pot heat the milk and chai together. Allow to gently come to the boil then remove from the heat and leave to infuse and cool. Remove the tea bags or strain the milk.


Beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time beating well after each addition.


Stir in the dry ingredients, the nuts and then the infused milk. Beat until just combined.


Bake about 20 mins or until cooked.


For the buttercream, make your favourite buttercream making sure to beat the butter well before you add your icing sugar, vanilla and milk. Add in cinnamon to taste...I used about a teaspoon and beat well. Pipe onto the cupcakes (or ice them any which way) then top with some extra chopped pistachio nuts. Yum!

Baking for Nightshift- Sticky Date and Coconut Cake

So as I said in my previous post one of my new cookbooks is the new one by last years Masterchef winner Brett McGregor called 'Taste of a Traveller'. I wouldn't normally buy a book like this as I think they can be a little too 'forced' and maybe a bit contrived but after reading a couple of good reviews about it, I thought I should at least have a little look to decide for myself. Clearly I was pretty impressed so made the purchase. I really like how it is set out with easily achievable, yet not too simple, recipes. I love Asian food and that aspect really appealed, as did the Kiwi component. I did try the Steamed Fish Parcels but I have to say I wasn't that enthralled with the flavour combinations at all finding it far too salty and unbalanced. The second thing I have made from it (even though I have lots of recipes bookmarked to try), was this cake. 


This was very easy to make but there were a couple of things I would do differently next time...like not putting the topping on too soon as it did get a little overcooked. Even though it tastes delicious, I think it is bit too much like toffee and it did make it hard to get out of the tin. It is meant to cook on the cake for an extra 25 minutes but I think 15 minutes would be plenty to get the toffee texture without it being too sticky and firm as it is now. 


Of course I have had to taste it...purely in the interests of this blog and I can tell you it had a lovely light texture and although the cake itself tastes like a pretty plain date cake, once you eat with the coconut topping, it all makes sense and the whole cake is lifted. So to Brett so far 1 win and 1 loss...keep an eye on this blog for more recipe attempts from this book...next up is the Marrakesh Chicken.


Sticky Date and Coconut Cake


1c dates, chopped
1c water
1 tsp baking soda
120gm butter
1 c sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2c flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 c shredded coconut
1 c brown sugar
2 Tbsp milk


Oven to 170 C and grease and line the base of a 20 cm cake tin.


Put the dates, water and soda into a small pot on a low heat and boil until the dates are soft. Set aside to cool.


Beat 60g of the butter and the sugar together until pale and fluffy, then beat in the egg and vanilla. Sift the flour and baking powder together then combine with the butter mixture. Add the date mixture and stir to combine.


Bake about 35 mins (but see above and bake about 45mins).


Make the topping by putting the other 60g of butter into a small pot with the coconut, brown sugar and milk and warming it until the butter melts and the sugar dissolves. 


Pour over the cake and bake another 25 mins (or about 15 mins if you are going by my times). Wait until a skewer comes out clean then cool on a cake rack. I took my cake out while it was still a bit warm and I don't think it would have moved had I waited for it to get cold.

New Cookbooks

Ok Ok Ok Adelle here are some new posts ...just for you!!!


For those people who don't know Adelle is a woman I work with who just sent me a message via someone else post on Facebook telling me to get off Facebook and get some new posts up...so here come some.


As I may have said before I am a 'bit' of a cookbook junkie. I really should go to CookBook's Annonymous just to be able to utter that famous line..."Hi everyone, my name is Megan and I am a Cookbookaholic!" Just to prove my point I thought I would show you just the latest shipment of books I have had. Aside from the Brett McGregor and the Celebration Cupcakes one, all the others came from Amazon (the UK one)...well they had free shipping if you spent over 25 pounds AND the pound is really good for our Kiwi dollars!!! 


Not only do I have a wee bit of an obsession with cookbooks, but I also have an ongoing love affair with cooking magazines. I have really tried to curb my habit but it is SO hard! The main problem is that I end up with so many recipes and then confusion reigns over where a recipe was and then what it was!


From what I can see the Mich Turner one is fantastic; the sugar flower one probably not what I was expecting; the macaron ones really good; the Sky High cakes one average and the Weekend baking one good. The Brett McGregor one is lovely and the Cupcake one fantastic...but then again I have her first one called 'Divine Cupcakes' and it is also really good...in fact one of the two cupcake books I use pretty much all the time.


So hopefully I will be posting lots from these in the next month or so...er until I get another lot unless I can restrain myself. Here's hoping!

Baking for Nightshift- Banana Bundt cake with Caramel Drizzle Icing

Well after writing about 3 paragraphs for this post I pushed some button and managed to delete the whole thing!!! As you can well imagine the words that came out of my mouth were NOT rated PG...just as well the boys are at their dad's house.....!!!

Anyway now I will make this shorted and sweeter having lost my mojo for the post. I made this cake last night for work after looking around my kitchen and spotting 4 very ripe bananas in need of either the bin or to be used. I know you can freeze them but I already have heaps in the freezer so wasn't keen on that option. This recipe is from Dorie Greenspan's book 'Baking- from My Home To Yours' which is a fantastic baking book. Her recipes almost always work despite her being an American author which doesn't always work for the ingredients and products we have here down at the bottom of the earth.

The cake worked really well and it tasted really good. I did add some spices to the recipe as I like my banana cake to have a bit of extra flavour to it. I also made a caramel drizzle icing to make the cake look a bit better...as sexy as the bundt tin's curves are, the cakes can look a little same same in photos; as well as that I love caramel and I especially love how it works with banana cake.  

Anyway here is the recipe and here's hoping I don't delete the bloody thing again!!!

Classic Banana Bundt Cake (adapted from Dorie Greenspan)

3c flour

2 tsp baking soda

225g butter

2 c sugar

2 tsp vanilla

2 large eggs

4 ripe bananas (you need 1 1/2- 1 3/4 c mashed bananas)

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp allspice

1c sour cream or yoghurt

Oven to  170 C and prepare a bundt tin (or a 26 cm tin if you don't have one).

Whisk flour, soda and spices together.

Cream the butter then add the sugar and beat until pale and creamy. Beat in the vanilla. Add the eggs one at a time beating well after each. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the bananas. Finally mix in half of the dry ingredients, then all the sour cream, then the rest of the dry ingredients.

Bake 1 hour or more depending on your oven.

Caramel Drizzle Icing

2 Tbsp butter

1/2 milk

1/2 c brown sugar

1 c icing sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

Melt the butter then add the sugar and milk. Bring to the boil and boil vigorously for a minute. Take off the heat and add half of the icing sugar and the vanilla. Add more icing sugar until you get the consistency you want.

Baking for Nightshift- Zebra Cake

For a while now I have been wanting to make one of these zebra cakes. Looking on the internet there seem to be be either absolute success with the look of these or total failure. The idea is that you spoon in alternate colours of cake (in this case and most, chocolate and vanilla) which ultimately gives you a cake which when you cut into it, looks like the stripes of the zebra. In my case I had neither epic failure nor epic success. I'm not sure why but I do have a couple of theories. The first is that I only poured in 1/4 c of each mixture at one time therefore not giving each 'stripe' enough...oomph; and the second is that maybe adding the cocoa to half of the mixture makes it heavier and therefore it is more likely to sit on the bottom of the cake. However if this were the case then no ones cake would work. If anyone has any ideas as to why please let me know so I can reattempt it and be able to post a total success next time. 


This is a pretty standard flavour of cake and is probably most comparable to a marble cake. Most comments about on on the internet said it was really a looks cake rather than a flavour cake which was why I elected to ice it with a chocolate buttercream before I took it to work last week. I think it tasted good but wasn't anything too special. If the 'stripes' had turned out it would have been amazing but as I have said, on night shift when you need a sugar boost, it worked just fine. Interestingly the recipe I'll post was pretty much the same one all people used so who am I to rock the boat....

The 2 mixtures (I used dutch processed cocoa so I thought the chocolate part might have been darker than it was)

The beginning of the layering

All done

Looking at it I can see why the 'stripes' were a bit thin

A slice before icing

Zebra Cake


2c flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
4 large eggs
1c plus 1 Tbsp sugar
1c milk
1c vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla
2 Tbsp cocoa powder


Oven to 170 C and grease and line a 23 cm cake tin.


Sift flour, baking powder and salt together.


In a large bowl mix eggs and sugar until smooth and pale. Add the milk and oil and beat again for another minute or so.


Add flour mixture and mix until just combined. Stir in the vanilla.


Divide into two and add the cocoa to one half.


Take 2 small cups of equal size and pour a cupful of the white batter into the centre of the pan. Then pour in a cupful of the dark batter directly into the centre of the white batter. Repeat until all the mixture has been used up. You don't need to wait for the batter to spread before adding the next colour. 


Bake about 45-55 mins (depending on your oven).