Daisy Chains and Picnics

A delicious spreadable marshmallowy type topping that can be used for a number of desserts, top your hot chocolate with a dollop, make s'mores, spread on toast. I used rice malt syrup but you can also use corn syrup or glucose syrup which will make for a slightly whiter fluff. Ingredients 2 egg whites (room temperature) 3/4 cup rice malt syrup or corn syrup 1/4 Tsp salt 3/4 cup Icing sugar, sifted 2 Tsp vanilla extract Method 1. Beat egg whites, rice syrup and salt in a large stand mixer bowl on high speed until thick and doubled in volume, scraping down the sides as you go. 2.  Reduce speed to low and beat in icing sugar until well combined. Beat in vanilla extract until just mix in. 3.  Scrape down sides of bowl and gently fold through the fluff. 4.  Transfer to a covered jar or container and refrigerate for up to 2 weeks. Enjoy

I bought this Twinkies bake set during a recent holiday to America. My kids really loved the shop bought Twinkies and we knew we could not get them here in Australia, so when I saw this bake set I just knew I had to buy it and attempt these delicious spongy treats back home. I am hoping to make various seasonal flavours, mint and candy cane for Christmas, pumpkin for Halloween etc. They recipe was easy to follow and simple to make the only thing I seemed to have some trouble with was filling them, I just could not get them filled with the piping nozzle that was supplied so I am going to have to come up with another way of filling them. For best results, have all ingredients at room temperature Ingredients 1-1/2 cups plain flour 1 Tsp baking powder 1/2 Tsp salt 110 g butter 1 cup sugar 2 large eggs, plus 1 egg yolk 2 Tsp pure vanilla extract 3/4 cup milk Method 1.  Preheat oven to 175° C. Generously coat the Twinkies pan with nonstick cooking spray and set asi...

Meet Charlie, Bob's replacement, you see we were supposed to be babysitting Bob, but unfortunately his mama didn't realise his cage door wasn't properly closed and Bob took the opportunity to fly into the great wide yonder leaving mama very upset so hence Charlie, Bob's replacement. He is such a sweet little thing with the quietest chirp, Hamish was not too keen on the attention Charlie was getting to begin with but soon settled down. His mama couldn't get him to sing so asked us to try, every time we were in the room with him we would whistle or turn on the music channel on TV and low and behold he started singing, very shyly and faintly at first but once he had found his voice there was no stopping him! 🎼🙉 We will be babysitting Charlie again for a few days in July, wonder how Hamish will react 🙈

My family love french toast bakes and cheesecake so I thought why not attempt to combine the two. I had a some lemons that needed to be used so decided on a lemon cheesecake flavour. As this was my first attempt, it was a case of tasting for flavour as the ingredients were being added small amounts at a time. The end result was a delicious spongy, zesty, tangy decadent dessert. Ingredients 1 day old french bread or baguette sliced into 1" thick slices 1 x 250 g cream cheese (room temperature) 3 Tbsp sugar 5 eggs 1 1/2 Tbsp lemon juice 300 ml half thick cream, half milk 150 ml milk 1 1/2 Tbsp lemon zest 1 1/2 Tsp vanilla extract 1/2 Tsp ground cinnamon Method 1. Grease a 20 x 30 cm baking dish with butter. Using a mixer, beat the cream cheese until light and fluffy. Add 2 Tbsp sugar and mix through. Mix in 1 egg and the lemon juice. 2.  Whisk together the remaining ingredients in a separate bowl until combined.  3.  Place t...

Apparently these little clouds of airy delights are the latest food craze to sweep through social media. I have to admit, I was a bit sceptical on how they would taste, savoury meringue just doesn't sound right to me but I just had to give it a try and do you know what, they tasted delicious, In fact I should have made a double batch as there was not nearly enough, both hubby and daughter would quite happily have scoffed at least 3 each!!, double batch next time 😁 Ingredients 4 eggs 80 g deli ham, chopped 2 Tbsp fresh chives, finely chopped salt & pepper to season Method 1. Preheat oven to 230° C. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. 2.  Carefully separate egg whites and yolks, put egg whites in a stand mixer bowl and the yolks in 4 small individual bowls. 3.  Season egg whites with salt and pepper, beat until stiff peaks form. Gently fold in the ham and chives. 4.  Spoon beaten egg whites into 4 mounds, shape the...

I had some donuts taking up room in my freezer so I came up with this dessert to use them up, turned out to be a hit, the kids and hubby loved it, will be making it again for sure. Ingredients 6 Cinnamon Donuts 1/2 cup cream 1 cup milk 4 eggs zest from 1 mandarin orange 2 Tbsp sugar 1/2 Tsp vanilla extract Method 1.  Preheat oven to 175° C. Lightly grease an 8" round cake tin. 2.  Beat eggs, add cream, milk, sugar, zest and vanilla extract, whisk until combined. 3.  Cover the base of tin with the donuts. Pour egg mixture over donuts, gently press donuts down for a couple of minutes to soak up some of the mixture. 4.  Bake uncovered for 35-40 minutes until puffed up and golden brown. Serve warm with maple syrup

I love Lavender, how pretty and colourful it looks, the taste, the smell, I find it soothing and homely. Fortunately here in Tassie, we have this amazing Lavender farm where they grow the beautiful lavender as well as a huge range of products and culinary delights. On a recent visit, I purchased a tin of their culinary lavender which I have used in a few things now and love it.  I decided to try out my wooden shortbread mould by making lavender shortbread, it turned out pretty good. Ingredients 125 g cold butter, coarsely chopped 60 g caster sugar 160 g plain flour 20 g cornflour 1 Tsp culinary lavender Method 1.  Put sugar and lavender in a blender and blend until almost fine. 2.  Sift flour, lavender/sugar mix and cornflour together in a bowl, add chopped butter. Put in a food processor and pulse until combined together. 3.  Turn out onto a counter top and gently bring together, don't over handle the dough. 4.  ...

I found this handy guide to Tassie potatoes on IGA Tasmania website. I still struggle at times to get the correct potato for the purpose I need it for, so I will definitely find this handy for reference.

My family love the   flavoured seasoned chips from the supermarket so I decided I would try a seasoning myself, they love the ones flavoured with Parmesan and rosemary so I thought I would start with this type of seasoning, I also thought I would zing it up a bit and added some lemon zest, these were an instant hit, so I will be 'playing' around with other seasoning variations 👍 Ingredients Zest from 1 lemon 1 1/2 - 2 Tbsp Parmesan, finely grated 1/4 Tsp garlic powder 1/4 Tsp dried rosemary frozen french fries Method 1.  Cook frozen fries according to package instructions. 2.  In a small bowl, combine the first 4 ingredients. 3.  When fries are ready, take out of oven and sprinkle mixture on top of the hot fries. Gently toss to distribute seasoning.  Serve immediately

This is the type of easy to spread butter you get at cafes and restaurants. I find this particularly handy during the winter months when the butter stays rock solid and is so difficult to spread, the bread or toast always ends up torn or with clumps of butter instead of evenly covered. This is so simple and easy to make, you end up with a soft creamy butter that stretches further. Ingredients 250 g butter, room temperature 3 Tbsp milk Method 1.  Make sure butter is at room temperature, this makes mixing easier.    2.  Place butter and milk in a mixing bowl and start whipping at the light mix setting or low for 2 minutes. 3.  Turn mixer up to high speed and continue whipping for 3-4 minutes until butter is whipped and creamy.