Friday Baking and Passionfruit Curd Cupcakes

My mum and I bake on Fridays. It's something I look forward to every week, not only because it's a really good excuse to try a new recipe every week, but once my boys go down for their naps we have some really good chats and, dare I say it, adult time (I know, what am I thinking wanting time for myself? haha).

Happy Birthday to ME!! {Tim Tam Cake}

Before everything started to go pear shaped...

It was my birthday last week (Hip Hip Hooray for me!) so I decided to make a cake that I've had my eye on for ages. Now, don't worry, I didn't make my own birthday cake because I was neglected by Mr P. - I actually had to convince everyone that I was really looking forward making it so they wouldn't stop me. I don't get to bake special cakes all that often, so I will jump on any excuse or opportunity.

Creamy Chicken Pasta and Cheesy Vegies

... but not together!

Creamy Chicken Pasta

The other night I had great plans to cook Nigella's Tarragon Chicken, but I had unfortunately forgotten to buy half the ingredients. So, what was I to do with half defrosted chicken breast and an open bottle of cooking cream? Throw something together from my vast culinary knowledge of course (I can hear those sniggers - I can dream!!)

(My Very Own) Savoury Mince

Grocery shopping with a toddler and a ten month old is difficult, as any mother of young children will tell you. While I used to enjoy getting out to the supermarket with my eldest it's a logistical nightmare now. I can't fit enough items in the pram and double seated trolleys are an endangered species. So I have to wait until Mr P. is around, but then I find it all too easy to put off this chore because, really, I have better things to do on the weekend, you know? But invariably that means that I get to the start of another week and there is hardly anything in the cupboard for dinner, and so the scrounge begins!

Jam and Chocolate Doughnut Muffins

I don't like doughnuts. For some reason they give me this funny feeling in my throat (except for Krispy Kremes, something to do with their being baked first, perhaps). So it seems strange that this recipe from Taste.com.au should get me so excited. Maybe I like the IDEA of doughnuts. I mean, they're sweet, sugary and fried - how could I not like them? Whatever the reason, when I first came across this recipe I couldn't wait to make them. They just looked so darn good!

Honey Soy Chicken Wings with Potato Bake (and Salad)

Ummm, yeah, so I forgot to add the salad for the picture. 

And the potato bake kind of fell off the server - but it tastes great!

After yesterday's mammoth post today is going to be short and... well, not sweet. Short and savoury, in fact.

No chocolate today, I promise!!

Chocolate Cake

After two baptisms and a birthday party, I thought I had finally started to get the hang of this catering-for-a-huge-group-of-people-thing (at least to the point where I might, possibly, be able to leave the kitchen for half an hour) when the birthday cake flopped. Suddenly, my carefully made plans, which involved an easy to prepare menu, were sabotaged by a new chocolate cake recipe which produced, well, not chocolate cake. More like a dark brown, stodgy... mess. Suddenly I was faced with having to make the cake from scratch (including the decorating) before the guests arrived at noon. All I can say is, thank you Julie Goodwin!

Happy Mother's Day!

I baked a big ol' chocolate cake on Friday (post to follow) but had to cut quite a bit of cake off to get the top flat. So, when I was trying to work out what to give my sons' Godmothers for Mother's Day, I instantly thought of cake pops! If you haven't seen these adorable creations which were first created by the wonderful Bakerella (have I mentioned how much I love her?), you have to check them out right now! They are cuter than cute. Basically, they are balls of cake and frosting, coated in chocolate, on sticks. Except way better. Instead of putting them on sticks, though, I decided to use a heart shapes silicon candy mould that I've had in the cupboard for years to make (wait for it...) cake truffles!

Choc Chip Cookie Dough Brownies - Oh My!

Brownies are pretty much the only baked good that I can make which a) doesn't stress me out, and b) reliably brings on lots of "ooooh" and "aaaah" comments when I serve them. Well, except for the time I thought I'd be clever and use Rolo chocolate and the caramel made the chocolate seize (that's what I'm blaming anyway). They were still edible though, so it wasn't a complete disaster.