Smooth, soft and creamy fudge recipe

I had good intentions of making more golden syrup dumplings this week but the universe had other ideas. So last night upon realising I was not going to get a chance to make them I also realised I had a tub of extra thick cream in the fridge that needed to be used. I also had some dark chocolate melts in the cupboard left-over from some cherry ripe cupcakes and some marshmallows left-over from the hot chocolate season! First thing that came to mind was fudge! I know fudge should have condensed milk in it, but I find cream works just as well and gives the fudge a really creamy (duh) and smooth consistency, the only problem is you probably need to let it set for 24-48 hours.

The only other issue I encountered last night was that OH dislikes dark chocolate...so into the mix went my bag of fun size milkybars that I had been saving for after work treats :( Oh well....saves me eating them!

Emily's Last Minute Fudge
375g of chocolate melts (any flavour or combination)
300ml bottle of thickened cream
1 x bag of marshmallows chopped
1 x pkt of choc ripple biscuits crushed
2 x 50g bars of turkish delight chopped

Melt chocolate in microwave in 30 second bursts. Stir through cream and remaining ingredients.
Pour into a lined slice tin and refigerate for 24-48 hours or until firm enough to cut, it will always be soft, but if you leave it for awhile it won't be sticky...I get impatient and have to cut mine up after 4 or 5 hours and end up with chocolate everywhere..which really isn't a bad thing!

You can really add anything you like, which is why this recipe is great, as long as you have the cream and chocolate you could use anything you have in the pantry - for instance glace cherries and crushed chocolate biscuits, dessicated coconut would make a deliciously smooth and creamy coconut rough, liquers make delcious fudge or some caramel swirled through, the possibilities are endless!

I only added the marshmallows this time and used half dark chocolate and half white, and the result is a rich, decadent treat!


Em x

The chewiest ANZAC recipe

As long as I can remember I have been making ANZACS. My Dad loves them and now OH does too. My parents even brought me an antique ANZAC mixing bowl with the recipe printed around the rim, but this recipe is my tried and true and my favourite. It makes the best biscuits, even after 3 or 4 weeks in the cupboard they are still chewy and delicious and will keep for ages. I think I got it off the back of an oats packet many many years ago....

ANZAC Biscuits

1 cup rolled oats
1 cup plain flour
1 cup caster sugar
3/4 cup dessicated coconut
125g butter
2 tbspn golden syrup
1 1/2 tspn bicarb soda
2 tbspn boiling water

Combine dry ingredients in a bowl.
Melt butter and golden syrup
Mix bicarb and boiling water, add to butter mixture and then add to dry ingredients. Combine well.
Drop tspns of mixture onto a greased oven tray.
Bake at 150C for 15 mins or until golden. They will spread alot and sometimes you end up with one giant biscuit (which isn't a bad thing!) if this happens just let them cool and then cut into squares.
If some of them do break when you try and remove them from the tray (if you are impatient like me and don't always wait for them to cool) simply roll them into balls and hey presto...chewy ANZAC balls!

OH has an aversion to coconut...something about it getting stuck in his teeth so these days I make the recipe without it and they are just as good!

Enjoy!!



Em xx

Mum's Mystery Quiche

Last night OH and I drove down to Mum and Dad's and it was snowing like full on snowing. From inside the car it felt and looked like we were in a snow globe!

Anyway, at Mum and Dad's we soon found out we were having Mum's mystery quiche, Mum calls it a pie, but either way! One good thing about this dish is that it is always different. Apart from the fact that it always contains 7 eggs and is topped with cheese...the rest is a mystery and is usually made of ingredients Mum has in the fridge. So it could contain spinach and onion, or some left-over dip and grated carrot, some french onion soup mix and frozen vegies...anything at all really. Sometimes there is a layer of fetta or brie under the cheese, you just never know! It is always different and always a suprise and most importantly always delicious! We usually make a game out of it and sit around the table trying to figure out what exactly the ingredients are! Last night we had the following combination:

1 x block of reduced fat herbed fetta crumbled
1 x bag baby spinach
3 x onions chopped
7 x eggs whisked
1 pkt spring vegetable soup mix
1 1/2 cups grated extra light cheese
2 tomatoes sliced

Cook onions and spinach in a fry pan until spinach has wilted.
Spoon over the base of a dish and pour over eggs combined with soup mix.
Sprinkle with 1/2 of the fetta and 1/2 cup grated cheese.
Bake for 30 mins at 150C.
Top with sliced tomato, remaining fetta and then remaining grated cheese. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and bake for a further 10 mins or unil cheese is golden.
Serves 6

We had ours with some potato swirls and homemade tomato chutey, which I have to say were also pretty damn good!



Em xx

The most awesome pair of shoes ever!!

Yes now I know that is a big call, but seriously when OH got back from his bucks weekend and ushered me into the car with promises of a great suprise that I just had to see right away, I was not expecting this...and I mean honestly I don't think I was exaggerating the facts when I said they were the most awesome pair of shoes ever!


I love the whole idea, two giant stilettos complete with buckles and everything, out in the middle of a paddock surrounded by sheep. It's me on so many levels!! I made OH pull over on the side of the highway so I could clamber as close as possible (in my high heels of course) to get some good shots...I think they would make great kids slides! And I really really want them in my garden!

One of my other great discoveries this weekend was during a trip to Habitat (a brilliant homewares shop with everything from pots and pans to cupcake cases to ice cream makers). In the last 12 months I have become a giant tea convert and I love my Creme Brulee tea...the only problem is that my tea infuser has a gap in it so I always gets tea leaves in my tea....but then I found this!


Its gorgeous! I love the big blingy diamond and once you put your tea leaves in it, it clips up and hangs in your mug like a tea bag. I gave it a few violent shakes today to test it out and still no tea leaves escaped so I am a little bit excited about this...it's the simple pleasures in life...

Em xx

The mystery of the green cake...

...after many hours of research, I think I have solved the mystery! The green cake I spied in a cake shop on the weekend was in fact a Swedish Princess Cake or a Prinsesstårta.

Traditionally the cake looks like this

But the one I saw in the shop was just a slice so it looked like this except the actual cake was green as well as the marzipan icing. And I think it had the pastry creme layer in the centre, with jam above and below and then the whipped cream on top.


It is a long and complicated recipe and the best one I found was here at
Baking Obsession but basically it is composed of three layers of génoise (a rich and delicate Italian sponge cake) alternating with raspberry jam, pastry cream, and topped with whipped cream. This is then wrapped in pale-green marzipan. Sometimes the layers of génoise are also died green like the one I saw in the shop!

Mmmmm I can't wait to go back in and try some now!



Em x

Sweet Potato, Salmon and Snow!

Well it is Saturday night and I am laying in bed on my lonesome. Mum and I have just got back from a delicious vegetarian dinner at Pashas and I am mega full so I am taking advantage of OH being away for his bucks weekend on a camping trip and having an early night!

Today has been great but as usual, nothing went to plan! Seeing as the Dad and OH were going to be away all weekend, the girls had organised to have our dress fittings and make the invites and the place cards before Mum and I took ourselves out to dinner. But last week we found out the dress maker was shut due to the AFL Grand Final and then yesterday we found out the paper hadn't arrived for the invites. So onto Plan B....The boys still left this morning in the pouring rain, thankfully it was sunny by the time they got to their destination though....(here is OH all packed and ready to go.)

....so Mum and I decided to do a bit of light shopping and went to all the shops we love to look at but the boys always whinge about! We even got time to check out a new cake shop we had heard about and they had a cake that was green with layers of raspberry sauce and a white cream (I think!) - I am intrigued and shall do further investigation, more to come on this one soon! While we were out I brought a whole heap of vegetable seedlings including pumpkin, cauliflower, baby carrots, capsicums, mint and eggplant and I also had some seed potatoes at home so I planted them when I got back this afternoon and the vegie patch looks so good now everything is in. I just hope they survive this time because it is very windy here tonight!



In other news, on Friday OH and I woke up at 6:30am ready to get up for work and we have a bit of a running joke where I say 'can we call in sick' and OH usually says 'no' and then we get up. But on Friday OH rolled over and said 'Yep - let's go see the snow before it all disappears' and thats exactly what we did. I rang work and arranged to go in at lunch time and then we were off! It's only about a 40min drive to the top of Mt Wellington from our place and as we got to the top the scenery was just beautiful, waterfalls, rocks, moss, forests, all surrounded by fog and covered in the last of this year's snow, it was great to see such untouched wilderness. We spent a bit of time playing in the snow and even had a picnic in the car!



Now what blog entry would be complete without a recipe! Today we have Sweet Potato and Salmon Quiche


You will need:

200g smoked salmon fillet
2 cups sweet potato cubed
3 spring onions chopped
100g baby spinach leaves
1 cloved crushed garlic
3 eggs
3/4 cup milk
100g fetta
salt and pepper

Pre-heat oven to 220C and line a tray with baking paper. Roast sweet potato for 20 mins or until tender.
Saute spring onion, garlic and spinach until spinach has wilted. Place mixture in a greased quiche dish.
Top with roast sweet potato and crumbled fetta.
Lightly cook salmon in a fry pan before flaking and scattering in quiche dish.
Whisk eggs and milk, pour over other ingredients and top with salt and pepper.
Reduce oven to 180C and bake quiche for 30-40 mins or until set.

This is such a nice quiche and a great combination of salmon and sweet potato, really nice served with a simple tomato, cucumber and capsicum salad!

And OH requested that I put up his brandy snap basket filled with honeycomb ice cream and surrounded by chocolate custard and strawberries...he was very proud of it!


Well this week we have a peppered beef pot pie, spag bog and OH's fantabulous fried rice on the menu and round two of the golden syrup dumplings because they were just so very good!

And tomorrow, the chewiest yummiest ANZACS ever!!

Night xx

Getting stuffed....courtesy of Margaret Fulton!

I have officially discovered my new favourite brekkie. The strawberries at the moment are so big and juicy that I have been buying a punnet to take to work each morning and dipping them in the french vanilla forme yoghurt. It is absolutely delicious. But on Sunday it was cold and wet and rainy and I felt like something that would warm me up so I chopped up the strawberries and microwaved them for a few minutes till they were nice and soft and then I poured my yoghurt over the top and got back into bed with my brekkie, my cup of tea and a book! It was a great way to spend a Sunday morning and I fully intend on doing it again this weekend : )


Last night Mum and Dad came over and I thought it only fitting that I take the nights meals from Margaret Fulton's Encyclopedia of Food and Cookery which they brought me for my birthday. I decided on the Stuffed Eggplant because I had just seen some gorgeous looking eggplants at the supermarket and the Tuscan Tuna Stuffed Mushrooms followed by Golden Syrup Dumplings. The dumplings were not Margaret's...but I had never made them before and wanted to try!

The eggplant took awhile to make because you had to salt it and let it sit for an hour to draw the moisture out, then fry it, scoop out the filling and stuff it before putting it in the oven for 40 mins. The result was well worth it though! And the mushies were dead easy, the filling was easy to make and once you stuffed them, they just went in the oven too. Final results looked something like this:

Pretty impressive I thought!

Stuffed Eggplant

2 large eggplants
salt
1 onion chopped
4 tomatoes de-seeded and chopped
1 clove crushed garlic
1 tbspns chopped parsley ( I used basil )
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup beef stock
2 tbspns butter
1 cup breadcrumbs
1/2 cup grated cheese

Cut eggplants in half lengthways and slash edges, sprinkle with salt and let stand cut side down for an hour.
Drain eggplant and dry with paper towel. Spray a fry pan with a light coat of oil and fry eggplant for a few minutes cut sides down. Remove from heat and carefully scoop out flesh leaving a shell.
Combine eggplant flesh, tomatoes, onion, garlic, basil or parsley in a bowl and season with salt and pepper.
Fill eggplant shells and place in a baking dish. Pour stock into dish, cover with foil and bake for 30-40 mins at 180C until eggplant is tender.
Meanwhile melt butter in a frying pan and fry breadcrumbs until crisp and golden. Sprinkle crumbs over cooked eggplant and top with cheese. Return to oven until cheese is melted and golden.

And then there was the Tuscan Tuna Stuffed Mushrooms

4 Portobello Mushrooms
1 x 250g pkt of microwave white rice
2 spring onions chopped
1 capsicum finely diced
2 x small tins of tuna in springwater
1 x tspn of tuscan seasoning (I didn't have any so I used moroccan seasoning)
100g of extra light ricotta
Salt and pepper to taste

Cook rice according to packet directions.
Combine all ingredients, except mushrooms, in a bowl.
Trim stem from mushrooms and if desired, dice finely and mix into filling.
Fill mushrooms with mixture and place in a baking dish with 4 tbspns water.
Bake at 180C for about 20 mins.

Now golden syrup dumplings are something I have always loved but I have never cooked because I was a bit nervous about getting them right and I just associate them with being horribly full because they are usually big heavy doughy balls. Anyway after a few weeks of searching I found a recipe that was reasonably low calorie and decided to give it a try. The dough was easy to make, and made 18 small balls. The syrup was equally easy and once I put the balls into the syrup I was amazed at how they instantly started to puff up. I put the lid on the pot and let them simmer for about 15 mins and when I came back they were so cute! 18 lil balls of dough swimming in a golden syrup sauce. And eating them was even better! The sauce was nice and thick, the dumplings were light and airy, I actually didn't feel like I'd over eaten when I finshed them!


Golden Syrup Dumplings

1 cup SR flour
Pinch of salt
1 egg
Dash of milk
1 tbspn butter
SYRUP
1 cup water
3/4 cup golden syrup (or honey - I used half and half)
1 tbspn butter
1 tbspn brown sugar

Sift flour and salt. Rub in butter and mix to a soft dough with the egg and milk. Roll into small balls - you should get around 18.
Boil the water in a saucepan and add the remaining syrup ingredients. Stir to combine. When boiling add the balls and cover tightly with the lid.
Boil gently for about 15mins and serve at once with cream and / or ice cream.

So very good and so easy!!!

Also, you may have read that OH went to Canberra last week, well he came home on Sunday and look at the beautiful photo album he brought me. We are thinking of using it for our wedding or honeymoon pics and finding a stand to put it on so it's always on display. It's unreal, everytime you look at it the colours change and it shimmers in different shades of green, blue, purple and silver. I am a smidgen spoilt...



Happy hump day people!

Love Em x