My Birthday Cake

Pineapple Cream Cake.

For my birthday dinner with my family, I decided to have it at the family Nando's store so we can be all together. For dessert I baked a Pineapple cream cake. The meringue on top of each layer makes the cake light and fluffy. The recipe came from one of the women's weekly cookbooks. It seems a bit fiddly to make but it actually is quite simple to make.

• 1 cup (75g) shredded coconut


• 450g can crushed pineapple in syrup


• 125g butter, softened


• 1/2 cup (110g) caster sugar


• 2 eggs


• 1 1/2 cups (225g) self-raising flour


• 6 egg whites


• 1/2 cup (110g) caster sugar, extra


• 2 teaspoons icing sugar


• 300ml thickened cream


• 1/2 cup (40g) icing sugar

1. Toast coconut in frying pan, stirring. constantly, about 2 minutes or until browned lightly. Remove from pan and cool.


2. Drain pineapple and reserve 1/2 cup of the syrup.


3. Preheat oven to 180deg (160deg - fan forced). Grease two deep 20cm round springform tins, line bases and sides with baking paper


4. Beat butter and sugar in a bowl with electrical mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until just combined.


5. Transfer mixture to large bowl and stir in sifted flour, pineapple, and reserved syrup. Divide mixture between tins; bake 20 mins.


6. Meanwhile, beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Gradually add extra caster sugar , beating until sugar dissolves between additions. Fold in toasted coconut.


7. Remove cakes from oven, working quickly, divide coconut mixture over cakes in tins, using spatula to spread evenly so tops are completely covered.


8. Bake about 30 minutes. Stand cakes in tins 5 mins then carefully loosen meringue from baking paper around inside of tin. Release sides of tins. Cool


9. Meanwhile, beat the cream and icing sugar until soft peaks form.


10. Place one cake on serving plate, spread with cream. Top with remaining cake; dust with sifted icing sugar.

Pineapple Cake @ Group Recipes








Bon Appetite,
Cherrie

My Birthday Pressie

YAY!!!!

Hubby and the little one got me a Kitchen Aid food processor (pictured left). I welcomed him to my Kitchen Aid family - the 4 slice toaster and the mixer.




I am so proud of my collection.

Bon Appetite,
Cherrie

Chocolate Laced Crisps

These Crisps (or cookies) are delicious. I got the recipe from one of the Woman's Weekly cook books. The cookies turned out flatter than I thought it would turn out but yummy none-the-less. I baked them 5 minutes shortedr than the recommended time because I wanted the cookies to be chewy.

• 100g dark cooking chocolate, chopped coarsely


• 80g butter, chopped


• 1 cup (220g) caster sugar


• 1 egg, beaten lightly


• 1 cup (150g) plain flour


• 2 tablespoons cocoa powder


• 1/2 tspn bicarbonate of soda


• 1/2 cup (40g) icing sugar

1. Melt chocolate and butter in small saucepan over low heat. Transfer to medium bowl.


2. Stir in caster sugar, egg and sifted flour, cocoa and soda. Cover, refrigerate about 15 minutes or until mixture is firm enough to handle


3. Preheat oven to moderate oven (180deg/160deg fan forced). Grease oven trays, line with baking paper


4. Roll level tablespoons of mixture into balls, roll each ball in icing sugar, place on trays 8cm apart.


5. Bake about 15 minutes, cool crisps on trays.

Chocolate Lace Crisps @ Group Recipes



Bon Appetite,
Cherrie

My Birthday Dinner

For my birthday this year, Hubby took me to Ezards. We've heard great things about the restaurant so we wanted to try for ourselves. Ezards is located on Flinders Lane in Melbourne City at the Adelphi Hotel.

We decided to have the degustation menu. The eight courses sounded very enticing and it gave us a chance to try a little of everything.

1 st course : japanese inspired oyster shooter - This was a great start to the meal. The shooter was saki and mirin with the alcohol burnt off. The raw oyster was divine. I don't usually eat raw oysters but will definitely have this one again.

2nd course : lime cured cuttlefish with mirin, sticky soy, bonito mayonnaise, fried leek and seaweed - This was presented on Chinese spoons and is meant to be eaten in one go to feel all the different textures in the dish. The cuttlefish was tender and melted in the mouth. The bonito mayonnaise gave it a fishy tast but it was strong that it over powered everything. the aftertaste was fantastic. There was a lingering sweet and sour taste that came from the sweet soy and the lime.

3rd course : moreton bay bug raviolo with cauliflower cream, yarra valley salmon eggs and curry oil - the raviolo was very tasty. The moreton bay bug filling was excellent. I was excited when I saw that there was moreton bay bugs was on the menu even though it was a tiny portion. the cauliflower cream and the salmon eggs was to die for. Both Hubby and I adored this sauce the the raviolo sat it. It was creamy and full of flavour and the salmon eggs added bursts of salty to finish it off.

4th course : crispy polenta with sauteed mushrooms, poached quail egg, soft herbs and parmesan oil - The disk of polenta was crunchy on the outside and very light and creamy on the inside. the poached quail egg on top was a little over cooked but I guess it would be hard to keep the yolks runny as it it only need seconds to cook.

5th course : steamed suzuki bass with japanese plum wine dressing, hand rolled rice noodle, stir fried asian mushrooms and xo sauce -I liked the sea bass as I could tell it was very fresh, however the plum wine dressing was a little too strong in flavour. To me, it drowned out the flavour of the subtle bass.

6th course : morrocan spiced quail with babagnoush, mint and red onion and pomegranate salad, labna and saffron syrup - I really enjoyed this course. I loved the spices in the quail. It was the taste of Morocco. What both Hubby really liked about this dish was the labna. It had the great flavour of the yoghurt cheese.

7th course : wagyu beef two ways with soft truffled polenta, sticky shallot sauce and mache salad - This course was an alternative course to sichuan peppered duck. There was wagyu beef that was slow cooked ragu style and the other was pan fried cooked to medium raw. I have to say that this was my first time eating wagyu and I totally loved it. The meat is so meltingly tender. The sauce and polenta that accompanied the meat was a great balance.

Palate Cleanser : Vanilla Yoghurt sorbet with orange creme fraiche, poached tamarillo topped with mulberry jam and an oven baked slice of star fruit - This course wasn't part of the degustation menu. It was complimentary. I'm sorry to say that this was the best course of the night! The sorbet and the orange creme fraiche was a great combination. The flavour of the orange really came out well in the creme fraiche. The poached tamarillo had the right amount of sweetness to compliment the sorbet. Fantastic!

8th course :pear and praline parfait with pear sorbet, roasted pears and pomegranate syrup - To be honest after the palate cleanser, I was really full and didn't think that the dessert course can beat the palate cleanser. It didn't. But it was still really delicious. The praline parfait was creamy and went well with the pear sorbet. I didn't like the pomegranate syrup at all thought. It was a strong sweet and sour flavour. To me , it tasted a little weird.

We did feel really full after our meal but I have to say definitely worth it. We enjoyed out night out not just because of the great food but the atmosphere and waitering service was top notch

Bon Appetite,
Cherrie

Great Tips

I received this in an email recently and thought I'd include it in my blog . Some of these tips aren't food related but I thought it interesting enough to share.

Leftover Pizza
Heat up leftover pizza in a nonstick skillet on top of the stove, set heat to med-low and heat till warm. This keeps the crust crispy. No soggy micro pizza. I saw this on the cooking channel and it really works.


Easy Deviled Eggs
Put cooked egg yolks in a zip lock bag. Seal, mash till they are all broken up. Add remainder of ingredients, reseal, keep mashing it up mixing thoroughly, cut the tip of the baggy, squeeze mixture into egg. Just throw bag away when done easy clean up.


Expanding Frosting
When you buy a container of cake frosting from the store, whip it with your mixer for a few minutes. You can double it in size. You get to frost more cake/cupcakes with the same amount. You also eat less sugar/calories per serving.


Reheating refrigerated bread
To warm biscuits, pancakes, or muffins that were refrigerated, place them in a microwave with a cup of water. The increased moisture will keep the food moist and help it reheat faster.


Newspaper weeds away
Start putting them in your plants; work the nutrients in your soil. Wet newspapers, put layers around the plants overlapping as you go cover with mulch and forget about weeds. Weeds will get through some gardening plastic they will not get through wet newspapers.


Broken Glass
Use a dry cotton ball to pick up little broken glass pieces of glass- the fibers catch ones you can't see!


No More Mosquitoes
Place a dryer sheet in your pocket. It will keep the mosquitoes away.


Squirrel Away!
To keep squirrels from eating your plants sprinkle your plants with cayenne pepper. The cayenne pepper doesn't hurt the plant and the squirrels won't come near it.


Reducing Static Cling
Pin a small safety pin to the seam of your slip and you will not have a clingy skirt or dress. Same thing works with slacks that cling when wearing panty hose. Place pin in seam of slacks and - voila - static is gone.


Measuring Cups
Before you pour sticky substances into a measuring cup, fill it with hot water. Dump out the hot water, but don't dry the cup. Next, add your ingredient, such as peanut butter, and watch how easily it comes right out .


Foggy Windshield?
Hate foggy windshields? Buy a chalkboard eraser and keep it in the glove box of your car. When the windows fog, rub with the eraser! Works better than a cloth!


Reopening envelope
If you seal an envelope and then realize you forgot to include something inside, just place your sealed envelope in the freezer for an hour or two. Voila! It unseals easily.


Conditioner
Use your hair conditioner to shave your legs. It's a lot cheaper than shaving cream and leaves your legs really smooth. It's also a great way to use up the conditioner you bought but didn't like when you tried it in your hair...


Goodbye Fruit Flies
To get rid of pesky fruit flies, take a small glass fill it 1/2" with Apple Cider Vinegar and 2 drops of dishwashing liquid, mix well. You will find those flies drawn to the cup and gone forever!


Get Rid of Ants
Put small piles of cornmeal where you see ants. They eat it, take it "home," & can't digest it so it kills them. It may take a week or so, esp. if it rains, but it works & you don't have the worry about pets or small children being harmed!


Feel free to share.

Bon Appetite,
Cherrie

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Both Hubby and I love these cookies so they make frequent appearances in our home. I have been compliments on my cookies and have been compared to Mrs Fields, but I have to say that I just followed a recipe that I really liked and stuck to it. Bill Granger is the master mind behind these lovelies. It's in his "Sydney Foods" cookbook. These are not too sweet and really chewy, just like the way I like them.



Bon Appetite,
Cherrie

Vietnamese Cold Rolls with Cabbage

I love this recipe. I first saw this on The Cook and The Chef on the ABC and was really eager to try it. There's no real cooking involved except of the softening of the vermicelli noodles and the blanching of the cabbage. The dressing that is in the salad is fantastic. There's a nice balance of sweet, sour and spicy. This is a definite must try in your kitchen!

• 1/2 bunch rau ram (vietnamese mint)


• 1/2 bunch coriander


• 1 carrot jullienned


• 1/2 bunch mint


• 1/4 iceberg lettuce sliced finely


• 1 small packet rice vermicelli noodles


• 1 savoy cabbage


• 1/2 long cucumber sliced finely


• Snow pea sprouts optional


• Celery leaf optional, chopped


• Dressing


• 1 long red chilli


• White sugar


• 1 Lime


• 3 Coriander root


• 4 tablespoons Fish sauce (just use soy if you are vego)


• 2 shallots


• 2 cloves garlic

1. Blanch cabbage leaves in a pot of boiling salted water just for a minute and cool on a teatowel to drain. They just need to be softed so they are pliable to roll.


2. Pick the rau ram and mint leaves and chop through the coriander about 3 times including the stalks. Add the cucumber, carrot and iceberg. Mix well. The mix will look like lots of fresh herbs with a few other things in it. That is the beauty of this mix as it is so refreshing.


3. In a bowl of cold water soak vermicelli noodles until soft. Drain, cover and set aside.


4. Dressing


5. In a mortar and pestle, combine the garlic, chilli, sliced shallot and coriander root and pound together. Add sugar, lime juice and lime and pound together. Add fish sauce and season to taste. This will be chunky, hot sweet, sour and spicey


6. Place a small amount of the vermicelli noodles in a bowl and a handfull of the vegetables, mix together and dress lightly.


7. Place a cabbage leaf on your work surface. In the centre of a cabbage leaf add the dressed vermicelli noodles/ vegetables mix. Roll over the edge that is closest to you, then both sides in and roll into a cigar shape. Place on a plate with the fold side down, or secure with a toothpick. Continue with the rest of the mix and cabbage leaves. You can add barbeque tofu, shredded chicken, cooked prawns anything you like really or keep it simple and vegetarian.


8. Serve on a plate with some chopped chillies in a dish with some of the left over dressing as a dipping sauce.

Vietnamese Cold Rolls With Cabbage @ Group Recipes



Bon Appetite
Cherrie