Are You Gonna Eat Your Cornbread?!

Whoo, I just remembered this classic scene from Life... That's a high school throwback right there. 

Anyway, I baked this last night and it came out pretty damn tasty.

Recipe (adapted from Recipes From The Royal Kitchen):

2.5 cups of cake flour
1 tablespoon of baking power
A pinch of salt
3/4 cups sugar
125 grams melted butter
2 extra large eggs 
1 tub of full fat cream cheese
3/4 condensed milk

1. Sift all the dry ingredients and add the sugar and melted butter
2. Whisk eggs and condensed milk together and add flour mixture and then mix well.
3. Turn out into a greased loaf tin and bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees for about 50 minutes. 

Note: If the edges get too brown but the middle isn't cooked, cover the tin with tinfoil and stick it back in the oven. 

P.S. This recipe book was free with this month's Food & Home magazine. Yup, I'm basically a suburban mom. 

Banana Bread Blues

Sometimes I just need someone to put a blanket on me and say "hey, I know that people are thee worst but here's some fantastic banana bread". 

This banana bread doesn't make it better, but it sure does help. 

But seriously, why do people suck so much?

Breakfast Cake!

I have heard about this conspiracy to name and shame muffins for what they really are: cake! 

No man. 

Muffins are different, distant cousins of cake really.

The fact that some muffins can be somewhat healthy (stretch of the word) is proof that muffins are not like their icing-laden friends. 

These muffins are yummy, healthy (there it is again) and easy to make and I added shredded coconut just because. 

Happy Monday y'all! 

Ice-Cream & Aliens!

I have always wanted to be able to make my own creamy ice-cream so that when the alien apocalypse surely comes and they ask what skills I have, I can smugly reply that I can make ice-cream. 

Yes, that is how my brain works.

I tried this recipe and I added good ol' vanilla. 

Surprisingly, it is super easy to make, not so surprisingly it is also super easy to eat.

Cake! Cake! Cake!

I baked this last night and heaven opened her gates. 

I Love Coconuts!

Like olives, coconuts tend to divide all people into two camps. Me? I love all things coconut. 

The smell of The Body Shop coconut body butter is enough to send me on a drug-like high. Bounty bars, coconut ice-cream and even Tennis biscuits; basically I love it all.


This cheesecake recipe is my own, born out of a love for trying to fit all of my favourite things into one cake. So naturally that means that there is Nutella in there too..

Pistachio Brownies!

Previously the food editor for British Vogue, Annie Bell is now a food writer and blogger. 

Her new baking book is on my list of books to paw over at Exclusive while ordering countless almond squares..

And her recipe for pistachio brownies (from her blog) is on my ever-growing to bake list.

The search for the perfect brownies is never ending! Aluta continua! 

Love & Chocolate

When you miss someone you look for them everywhere.


Their favourite things seem to be brightly highlighted in your daily routine, little lacunae to fall into and maybe, hopefully, find them there. 


I miss my aunt Shelley everyday and when I found this in a file that belonged to her I couldn't help but smile. 


Love, real love, manifests itself everywhere you just have to see it. 

Chocolate Cake!

My dear friend Nomalanga Ntuli (name and surname! Best believe!) asked me for a chocolate cake recipe and of course I could only oblige given the fact that I have a trusty recipe that is both magical and easy. I just love that combo magical and easy..


Plus she's a loyal reader and that's just how I roll..


So here it goes, go forth and prepare for marriage proposals (true story), hail Mary's and chocolate overdose!


Wet Chocolate Cake:


350g (2 and a half cups) self-raising flour
3/4 cup cocoa
1 and a half cups of sugar
pinch of salt
1 cup of oil (just go with it)
2 teaspoons vinegar
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 eggs
2 cups of water (that's the wet part)


Icing:


2 tablespoons butter
2 dessertspoons cocoa
1 and a half cups of icing sugar
1 unbeaten egg white


I normally leave out the icing cause I'm lazy and the cake doesn't really need it. 
Sometimes I add Oreos or hazelnuts to the batter.


Method:


Preheat the oven to 180 Degrees Celsius 


Sift together the self-raising flour, cocoa, sugar and salt (all the dry ingredients) and mix.


Add the oil, vinegar and vanilla and then mix very well.


Add the eggs and water and mix very well until smooth (it seems very watery at first, but trust!).


Put into a greased ovenproof dish and bake for approximately 40mins (check with a toothpick).


Make the icing by melting the butter with the cocoa.


Stir until blended.


Blend the icing sugar with the unbeaten egg white and then add to the cocoa/butter mixture and stir over a low heat until blended.

Ice the cake when it has cooled. 


Adapted from Linda Levy.

Nigella!

I love cheesecake.


I love most decadent desserts because they promise a heady elixir of guilt and delight. 


This cheesecake is worthy of all that calorie-induced guilt and then some.


Baking cheesecake is ridiculous since it must cool in the fridge overnight, basically forcing me to eat it for breakfast and then for a 'snack' and then just because I might as well since I've already eaten two slices and it's not even 1pm..


P.S. Check out this (http://call-me-cupcake.blogspot.com/) amazing Swedish food blog, the snaps are diabetes-inducing and delicious and, well, it's Swedish..

The Panda Made Me Do It...

I have been craving another hit of cheesecake.

I found this recipe on the Cooking Panda site and I was sold. Toffee PLUS cheesecake, what's not to love?

Here it goes...

Ingredients:

* 2 cups graham cracker crumbs           
* 1 1/2 cup white sugar, in all
* 1/2 cup butter, melted
* 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese
* 1 tbsp lemon juice
* 1 tsp vanilla extract
* 1 tsp almond extract
* 4 eggs
* 7 chocolate covered toffee bars, crumbled

Procedure:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. Combine graham crumbs and 1/2 c. sugar and stir together in a small bowl.
3. Add butter and mix. Stir well.
4. Pour crumb mixture into 9″ springform pan and press into bottom, making a bottom crust.
5. Wrap the outside of pan with foil to make water tight. Try to accomplish this with a wide sheet that comes up around all the sides.
6. Combined cream cheese and remaining sugar in a large bowl and blend together until creamy and smooth.
7. Add lemon juice and vanilla extract, and stir well. Be sure to occasionally mix up from the bottom of the bowl to avoid lumping.
8. Add eggs one at time and beat thoroughly.
9. Fold in toffee bits and blend well to thoroughly distribute ingredients.
10. Pour mixture into the springform pan; place the pan into larger pan with 1″ high sides (at minimum).
11. Put assembly in the oven, and fill the outer pan with water, which creates a water bath.
12. Bake 90 minutes, checking water level after 45 minutes. Fill as needed.
13. After 90 minutes, turn off heat and leave cake in oven for one hour.
14. Remove from oven and chill 4 hours (at least, longer if possible).
15. Remove from springform pan and serve cold.