Pan Fried Risotto Cakes

This recipe evolved from a normal risotto that was too moist to create risotto balls. I had a whole bunch of leftover risotto & wanted to make some kind of yummy finger food/snack. This recipe is the result of that experiment. I was really chuffed with how it turned out - Dale & I pretty much scoffed these down!

Ingredients:

1 batch mushroom & bacon risotto (you could use plain parmesan risotto or any other kind you fancy!)
2 eggs, beaten
2 tablespoons plain flour
2 tablespoons stuffing mix
2 handfuls cheese, cut into ½ cm cubes – you can use grated mozzarella if you prefer.
Oil for frying

Method:

1. Mix the flour, stuffing mix, cheese and eggs into the risotto. If the mixture is too dry, add a dash of water.

2. Heat 1cm of oil in a pan. Oil is ready when you throw a cube of bread in and it sizzles & lightly browns in 2 seconds or so. Using either a tablespoon or teaspoon (depending on the size you want your risotto cakes) dollop risotto into the oil. Turn when golden brown on the bottom.

3. When browned on both sides, remove from pan and place on paper towel to drain slightly. Serve immediately with dipping sauces of your liking. These are also great as a side dish to steak/chicken with a salad.

Bon appetite! Sunny xx

Nigella's Breakfast Berry Cheesecakelets

This was a Nigella recipe that I saw on the food network. I LOVE cheesecake so we were really keen to try these out. Dale scoffed these down. They are a pancake that tastes like a piece of cheesecake. The texture is a little unusual, with the cottage cheese being slightly stringy, but it’s definitely yummy.

Cheesecakelets:
1 cup cottage cheese
1/3 cup plain flour
1 tablespoon vanilla extract (or 2 tablespoons vanilla essence)
3 eggs
2 tablespoons caster sugar

1. Separate 3 eggs. Add caster sugar, vanilla and cottage cheese and mix well. Add the flour & mix until combined.
2. Whisk the egg whites until foamy and no longer completely transparent. Fold both batters together.
3. Heat a non-stick pan to medium-high heat. Cook cheesecakelets as you would a pancake. When flipping, use a trusted spatula & flip with confidence! Serve immediately with strawberries and (my favourite) maple syrup.

Serve with one of these yummy condiments:

Balsamic Strawberries (this is my favourite):

1 punnet fresh strawberries (approximately 7 regular sized strawberries)
1 tablespoon balsamic
1 teaspoon caster sugar

Remove green leafy section of strawberries & cut in half. Place in a bowl with balsamic & sugar. Mix well and leave to macerate for at least 10 minutes.

Maple Blueberry Syrup (this is Dale’s favourite):

1 cup blueberries (I used frozen but you could use fresh if you have any!)
½ cup Maple Syrup

Place blueberries and maple syrup in a saucepan. Bring to the boil for 2-3 minutes & then pour into a jug & serve.

Sunny xx

Cake Pops!

Cake pops are all over the internet & are quickly becoming the new cupcake! They are tiny morsels of cake covered in chocolate & popped on a lollipop stick. My journey to cake pop mountain began last week when I made a batch of brownies that were less than perfect (far too cakey!). I also had some left over vegan chocolate cake and with no other way to use up the cake ruins (I HATE wasting good food) I decided it was time to make cake pops.

They are super easy & they were delicious! I took the 50 pops I made to work as an Easter treat for my team & they were gobbled down!

Ingredients:

1 cooked & cooled cake (I used my unsuccessful brownie batch - but you can use any box mix or cake mix you like)

2 cups icing

600gm Melted chocolate mixed with 1 teaspoon canola oil

Lollipop sticks - I bought 100 on eBay for $3

Method:

1. Crumble cake into a large bowl. Add icing & mix until combined.

2. Roll into balls and refrigerate for 2 hours (or freeze for 1/2 - 1 hour)

3. Dip lollipop sticks into melted chocolate & stick into balls.

4. Dip balls into melted chocolate mixture and set on a plate. I find its best to only do a few at a time otherwise they get too warm & will fall off the lollipop stick.

5. Decorate & serve! I decorated mine with coloured sugar, sprinkles, coloured melted chocolate etc.

You can let your imagination run wild with the decorating & flavour combo's!! I think the next combo's I'll try are red velvet with cream cheese frosting, vanilla cake with very vanilla frosting & chocolate with peppermint flavouring... so many flavour possibilities it makes your head spin!

I also have plans to make these as dessert finger food for my sisters 18th birthday party.

Enjoy your pops! Sunny xx

Breakfast!

It is Saturday morning, Dale has left for work & I have settled in for a day of pre-easter-celebration cooking, cleaning & Poirot! This morning I made perfectly fried eggs on toasted turkish bread with chives on top and bacon on the side. It was scrumdiddlyumptious!

Have a great long weekend! Sunny xx

Vegan Chocolate Cake & Icing!

I was recently in a position where I had to make a cake for someone who is lactose intolerant & another who is vegan. It goes without saying, I was pretty stumped on what to make. All the vegan cakes I have tried before were quite shocking with a flavour that resembled cardboard! So I started googling & found these recipes on Best Recipes. The reviews were decent so I thought I'd give it a shot - I figured if it was truly terrible I could simply blame the recipe!

Needless to say, I was quite surprised when people started complimenting me on my baking prowess (figuring at first they were simply being kind) but once I took a bite it all became terribly clear - IT WAS DELICIOUS! One of the best chocolate cakes I have ever had - for those in Australia, a good example would be that it tastes very similar to the Sara Lee chocolate sheet cakes.

The below recipes are adapted versions of those that I found on Best Recipes.

Cake Ingredients:

3 cups self raising flour
2/3 cups cocoa
2 cups caster sugar
2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup coffee (I used espresso from our coffee machine, but you could use strong instant coffee)
2/3 cups canola oil (you can use vegetable oil)
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 180C (375F).
2. Sift flour, cocoa, sugar and salt in a large bowl.
3. Add all remaining ingredients & combine well.
4. Pour mixture into a greased cake tin - this cake pops out of the tin so easily once its cooked!
5. Bake until cooked through - I believe mine took about 40 minutes.

Icing Ingredients:

1 cup icing sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa, level
2 teaspoons nutelex (nutelex is a non-dairy spread made from canola oil. If your not a vegan or lactose intolerant you could use soft regular butter)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon boiling water

1. Sift icing sugar and cocoa.
2. Add nutelex (or soft butter) and vanilla. Pour in boiling water and beat well until combined.
3. Spread over cooled cake and refrigerate until needed (I made mine late at night whilst the cake was still warm & it ended up dipping all over the edges!).

You could also make this recipe into cupcakes, just divide the mixture into patty cases & cook for about 15 minutes. Either way, its super delicious so give it a try!

Sunny xx

Nutella Sandwich Cookies

I saw these cookies on A Beautiful Mess & thought it sounded fantastic so I gave it a whirl. They were a great combination of slightly salty and gorgeously sweet & chocolately! Here's the recipe:

makes 15-20 (more if you make the biscuits smaller)

Ingredients:
1/2 cup softened butter
1 cup raw sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
plenty of Nutella

Method:

1. Cream together the butter and sugars, stir in egg and vanilla.

2. Mix in flour, baking powder and salt until just combined. The batter should be crumbly and you will probably need to use your (clean) hands to combine it a bit more to form a dough ball. Cover in plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 20 minutes (I found mine were fine & didn't need the fridge time!)

3. Now form teaspoon amounts into small round balls. You want your cookies to all sort of match each other in size because you will be placing one of top of another to form sandwich cookies.

4. Bake at 160C (350 F) for about 15 minutes, allow to cool completely on a cooling rack before adding filling.

5. Once cool, spoon a teaspoon of Nutella on one cookie and place another on top.

I took a box to work & sent Dale home with a container full as well to remove the temptation to eat all of them at once! These are best served with a big glass of milk!

Sunny xx

Magnetic Spice Jars

Today over on my main blog The Life of Sunny I made these fantastic magnetic spice jars. A great way to store your spices & clear up some pantry space! Visit the story here.

Sunny xx