Party Time!

I've always enjoyed making sponge cakes! I always know that my dad enjoys my cakes a lot as when I've just finished making my cakes and photographing them, hes the first one always to inspect them. His way of inspecting them is smelling them to see if they smell any good (or in other words not poisonous... lol) and if all is ok, then he takes a MASSIVE slice. =P But I love him!

I normally make sponge cakes for birthdays. Which I feel is always made with heaps of love! I've been making birthday cakes for my family for a while now. But for my brother, Geoff's 15th birthday I got a bit lazy, so instead of making him a sponge cake and decorating it. I made him a pancake birthday cake! Surprising it was really easy to make. All you need is to make little pancakes, Nutella and 100's & 1000's. On a plate place one pancake, spread Nutella onto it, then put another pancake, spread Nutella, etc, etc, until desired height, then on the final pancake, spread Nutella and then sprinkle 100's & 1000's. Ta Dah! One very different, but very delicious birthday cake!

Pancake Birthday Cake!

Ok, back to the sponge cakes.... ok where were we. Oh yeah, I have great tips for also making good sponge cakes! These tips we also brought to you from my very trusty "Cook with Jamie" cookbook. These tips can also help for making any cake. So here they are - top tips for making cakes:

• Sieve your flour, sugar and other dry ingredients before you start, making sure there are no lumps anywhere.
• Ingredients see, to combine better it they're the same temperature, so get your eggs and butter out of the fridge before you start using them. It's much easier to cream butter and sugar if the butter's soft to begin with.
• When you add eggs or egg yolks to creamed butter and sugar, don't be tempted to add them all at once. Butter needs a bit of gentle persuasion to blend with eggs, or will curdle.
• If adding fruit or nuts to a melted cake or a rich fruit cake, tossing them in a little flour before you stir them into the batter will help them hold their position in the cake without sinking to the bottom.
• If you're making a whisked sponge, remember that the bubbles are very delicate until the cake's cooked. don't tap your spoon on the edge of the tin, thump the mixing bowl on the table or slam the oven door, or your bubbles will suffer and so will the lightness of your cake!
• It's important to prepare your cake tin carefully before you out the batter into it. For whipped and creamed cakes, grease the inside of the tin with butter, add a tablespoon or two of flour, shake it so a thin layer of flour sticks to the butter and then tip out the excess. You should end up with an even floury coating all over the inside of the tin which will stop your cake sticking to the sides, letting it rise properly.
• Melted cakes and large fruit cakes that are going to be in the oven longer need a little more protection form the heat of the oven and are best baked in tins that are lined with one or two layers of greaseproof paper. Make sure you line both the sides and the base of your tin.
• Bake your cakes on a shelf in the middle of the oven unless otherwise instructed.
• If you're baking your cake in a low, flat or on baking tray, make sure you use one that won't buckle too much in the heat of the oven. Cheap trays buckle badly and you might end up with a cake that's deep in some places and shallow in others!
• Cooling racks might seem like a poncey extra you don't really need but they're great, as they allow steam to evaporate from the surface of the cake cooling it down quickly.

Vanilla Sponge Cake
My Mum's Recipe

250g unsalted butter, softened
250g self-raising flour, sifted
250g caster sugar
5 eggs
1t Vanilla Essence

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas 4. Grease the bottom and sides of a 20cm/8 inch sandwich cake tins with butter, line the base of each tin with greaseproof paper, then dust the sides lightly with flour. To make your sponge mixture, beat the butter and sugar together, either using an electric whisk or by hand with a wooden spoon, until very light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating each one in well before you add the next, then fold in the flour. Add vanilla essence. Mix.

Pour cake mix into the prepared cake tin, spread it out using a spatula and bake in the preheated oven for around 20 minutes until lightly golden brown and risen. You can check to see if the cake is cooked by sticking a cocktail stick right into the middle of the sponge. Remove if after 5 seconds and if it comes out clean the cake's cooked; if slightly sticky it needs a bit longer, so put it back in the oven. Allow the cakes to cool slightly, then carefully turn them out on to a rack to cool completely. When cooled decorate as desired.

For this particular cake I have sliced the cake above cake in half. This is because I was planning to put strawberry jam in the middle...

Haha.. this picutre is a bad one... but anyways... HOPEFULLY get the idea.

An Aussie Favourite

I first started making this Aussie dessert, Pavlova, a while back, when I received my beloved bible - "Jamie at Home". The first ever meringue, sort of thing i made was called "Tray-baked meringue with pears, cream, toasted hazelnuts and chocolate sauce" and to tell you the truth It wasn't very nice... well that's probably because I was a beginner. BUT I do intend to make that one again... sometime soon hopefully.

My first attempt

Anyways, so i decided one day that i should make the real thing. So I gave it a go and I've been making it ever since =)... its one of my all time specialties.

Once again like my other post "Looking Back", I also made Pavlova for an assignment, which I am still waiting for my marks back. This time we were asked to make a dish [(either savory or sweet) were it had 2 or more food properties in it (ie. denaturing, coagulation, etc)] photograph it and answer some questions explaining the properties of the food. I really am happy about this recipe as I tried to perfect it sooo many times before I had to make it in class, and every time I made this at home it turned out to be a disaster. But finally on the day it was the best thing ever! =)

When making the basic meringue there are certain things that you should be careful about so you get the perfect meringue hence a perfect Pavlova. They are given from my other favourite book "Cook with Jamie" :

• Always start with clean, dry equipment, as grease, water or oil in bowls or on whisks will stop your whites from whipping and all your efforts will be wasted!
• Always use caster sugar for your meringues. Granulated and brown sugar are to coarse and will give you a grainy and flat meringue.
• Sift your sugar as you weigh it out, to make sure there are no lumps in it.
• Make sure your egg whites have no bits of shell or yolks in them. Egg yolks contain fat and fat is the enemy of meringues!
• If you're going to bake your meringues, cut a piece of greaseproof paper the same size as your baking tray and 'glue' it to the tray by putting a little blob of the meringue mixture underneath each corner. Spoon or pipe your meringues on to the paper, making sure you leave a bit of room between them as they'll swell a bit when they cook.
• When cooking meringues there are 2 textures you can try to achieve; white and crunchy all the way through OR beigey white on the outside and slightly soft and chewy on the inside. If you enjoy or meringue crunchy all the way through then cook your meringues at 150°C/300°F/gas 2 for 2 hours, the turn the oven off and leave the door ajar as it cools. OR if you enjoy your meringues soft and chewy on the inside then bake them at 150°C/300°F/gas 2 for an hour or so, then take the tray out of the oven to cool them down a little more quickly.

Use the following tips above they helped me so much =) (Thanks Jamie Oliver!!!!). In the Pavlova recipe below I have gotten this recipe from a number of different sources, mainly being my Hospitality teacher, as we made this during one of our practicals.

Pavlova

Serves 4

4 egg whites
1-cup caster sugar
Pinch of cream of tartar
1-cup thickened cream
Mixed Berries
Chocolate Flakes

Preheat oven to slow 150°. Line baking tray with baking paper. Draw 4 x 6 cm circles on the paper. Using electric beaters beat the egg whites and cream of tartar in a large bowl until soft peaks form. Gradually add sugar, beating will after each addition. Continue beating until the mixture is thick and glossy and the sugar has been completely dissolved. Spread / pipe the mixture onto the tray inside the marked circles. Bake in oven 10-15minutes. Turn the oven off and allow the meringue to completely cool in the oven. Whip cream until soft peaks form. Decorate Pavlova with cream then top with fruit then chocolate flakes. Serve Immediately.

Looking Back

I was looking back over the pictures I have taken of food, especially the ones I've done for assignments and I have found some very interesting recipes.

This one especially, I did this last year for a Food Technology assignment about Food Photography, where we had to change an already existing recipe so we can make it our own. We had to make it and photograph it, I think we also had to make some sort of recipe card. But anyways this is my version of "Lemon Garlic Chicken, bean & almond Stir-Fry" which was published in the Australian Good Taste Magazine in March 2004.

Lemon Garlic Pork, Bean & Almond Stir Fry

My twist to the Australian Good Taste Magazine's Version By: Amanda Kelly

Serves 4

¼ cup peanut oil
500g pork mince
½ cup whole blanched almonds
1 red onion, halved, then each half cut into 6 wedges
2t lemon grass, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
½ bunch snake beans, cut into 5cm lengths
125g baby corn
1T fresh lemon juice
2t sesame oil
Pinch of salt
Steamed rice to serve

Heat a wok over medium heat until just smoking. Add 1T of the oil and the almonds, and stir-fry until toasted. Transfer to a plate. Heat 1t of the oil in the wok over medium-high heat until just smoking. Add the pork and stir-fry until brown. Transfer to a bowl. Heat the remaining oil in the wok over medium-high heat until just smoking. Add the onion, lemon grass and garlic and stir-fry for 2 minutes or until onions softens. Add the beans and corn and stir-fry for 3 minutes or until corn is tender. Add pork, lemon juice and sesame oil and stir-fry until heated through and well combined. Remove from heat. Taste and season with salt. Spoon the rice among serving bowls and top with the pork mixture. Sprinkle the toasted almonds and serve immediately.

Aroma Festival

It was quiet obvious yesterday at the Aroma Festival that Sydney is obsessed with coffee and chocolate! All you had to do was check out the rubbish bins - which were over flowing with coffee cups with the very odd occasional Starbucks cup. And all the people! I nearly lost Lisa a couple of times... turning around and she wasn't there!

After we checked out what there was to offer and also how long the lines were. We ordered our first coffee for the day. Holy moley it was good! =) That's all i needed to wake up! Then we bought really yummy cupcakes from Online Cupcakes. Lisa had an espresso cupcake and I had a good old chocolate one. Fancy putting real coffee beans on a cupcake! lol.

I've never had the time to make cupcakes except for the occasional day when there is simply nothing to do. And I have also realised when I do make cupcakes I never really put much effort into making them look all pretty. Shame Jessica shame!!! Fancy wanting to become a chef and having no time to practice or even when I make a dish I never put the effort to make it look good. Well I do, but not all the time!

There is so much to see and eat at the festival yesterday, pitty we didn't check out the spices part of it. I blame it on all the people there!

In all we had 2 coffees, a cupcake, pink lemonade and chocolate coated strawberries! I was so greatful that we had awesome weather yesterday, as it was not too hot or not too cold and it only started to rain when I got home =)

Will I go there and line up in the queus next year for wonderful coffee and mouth watering cupcakes? Definately!!!! Thanks Lisa for an awesome day, love ya!