Chocolate Slice.

Mum told me about this recipe on the weekend, a teacher at her school had brought it in for everyone to share. When she started explaining it to me I thought that it seemed a little ridiculous, I mean how could all that chocolate go into a slice and not make you sick, but being the slice fan that I am I had to try it. Down to the supermarket we went, we got a little embarrassed when we reached the checkout and looked down at what was there, it does contain a lot of chocolate.

This recipe is definitely not for the the savoury lover, but it is delicious and worth every guilty feeling you may encounter. Its so simple and quick, all it requires is a bag of chocolate eclairs, one tablespoon of cream, one bag of marshmallows, one bag of maltesers and one cup of rice bubbles. All you need to do is melt the cream and the eclairs over a double boiler, add the marshmallows (its best to use the small ones from the baking section of the supermarket), and stir until melted, then add the maltesers and rice bubbles and mix to combine. Once all that is done, spread into a small tin, covered in baking paper and refrigerate. What is produced is some sort of chewy, crunchy, delicious, sweet slice which will satisfy any craving.

My brother said it resembled some sort of roasted meat, and refused to try it but please don't let that deter you, its really quite delicious!

Baked Today!

Well last night really as I knew I wouldn't of had enough time to do it all today, but they were decorated today, and look rather good I think. They are for a friends birthday, I hope she enjoys them.

Measuring Ducks!

I found these ducks a while ago in a Salvos in Ringwood, initialy I just thought they were a stack ducks but then I discovered they are actually measuring cups, which is really amazing, they were only $2.75, I'm missing the 1 cup one, but thats okay.

Christmas cooking!

Here are some of the results of yesterday's Christmas cooking afternoon, Mum and I made some peppermint truffles, marshmallow chocolate cups, which are the simplest, tastiest treats ever and some little shortbread christmas cakes!

Sponge Cake!

I was lucky (and I mean very lucky) enough to get a Kitchen Aid mixer for my birthday, even though that was a while ago I still hadn't had enough time to put it to use. Today though Claire and I decided to make a sponge cake, I've never made one before, mainly because I was to scared it would fail, but with my mixer I thought it may just be possible. 

I used a recipe I found in mum's very old and well used nursing mothers cook book. Everything seemed to be going well, even the fact that we didn't have a round tin, we managed with a square, the mixer whisked the eggs really well and really fast and I folded it all together with extreme care. We put it in the oven and were quite optimistic everything would turn out okay, but it didn't it flopped right in the middle. We managed to hide the fact by cutting it in half and turning it upside down, and evening it out with cream, but it still didn't quite cut it, I don't know if it was because we didn't use a round tin, or the fact we only sifted the dry ingredients twice and not three times as some other recipes suggest. I'm only comforted by the fact that some CWA members are too frightened of ruining sponge cakes to try baking it themselves, but one day i hope to master it, if anyone has any tips, or fool proof recipes i would be very happy to hear about them.  

From Meaghan. 

A Week of Baking...Aprons!!!

Aprons are my favorite thing about baking, and one of my favorite things in general. Wearing a good apron really makes me feel good and helps to make what ever I'm baking taste even better, and I can be pretty messy in the kitchen. Meg and I have a good collection of aprons and I have pick two of my best to share and the last one is one that I made a few months ago. 

From Claire

Week of Baking...Bakeries!

One of the best things about baking is bakeries I think. They allow you to eat baked goods, when you don't have the time to bake yourself, and they always smell good, like rising bread and sugar and they are always nice and warm because things have been baking all day!

On Wednesday Claire our Mum and I took a trip into the country and stopped off at Bourkies Bakery in Woodend, where they boast the title of serving Victoria's second best judged Vanilla Slice, believe me they are good!

From Meaghan.

Cupcakes!

As I've mentioned before baking cupcakes is one of my favourite activities, and the recipe below is my favourite. they always come out really light and fluffy, I think it is because of the whisked egg whites.  

Cupcakes!

1 3/4 cups of sifted plain flour

2 Teaspoons of baking powder

3/4 cup of milk

2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups of castor sugar

4oz (about 114g) of butter

3 egg whites 

Preheat oven to 180 degrees, and prepare the cake tins however you like

Sift the flour along with the baking powder and salt into a bowl

Combine milk and vanilla into a measuring jug and set aside

Meanwhile cream the butter and the sugar until light and fluffy, (if your anything like me you should probably taste the mix at this stage just to make sure their aren't any poisons inside!)

Alternating the flour and the milk mixes; blend half of one, then half of the other into the butter mixture. You should mix well after each addition and repeat, making sure you mix well at the end too. 

In a separate bowl beat the egg whites until stiff but not dry (i.e. droopy peaks). This is best done with an electric mixer, or by someone with a really strong arm. After this gently fold them into the batter.

Spoon the batter into the prepared tins, filling them to at least halfway. bake for about 20 minutes or until you think they are done. 

Serve decorated with your favourite icing and sprinkles!

(my icing consists of 6oz of butter, 2 1/4 cups of icing sugar blended and beaten until light and fluffy ) 

Happy Baking!

From Meaghan.

Childhood Baking!

Photo from here

Ever since I was a young girl I can remember baking being one of my favourite activities. Claire, our Mum, brother and I would spend hours in the kitchen baking a wide range of things like, cupcakes, slices, honey crackles, cakes and biscuits. I used to love measuring everything out first and then adding them as the recipe instructed, Claire on the other hand was a lot less organised and would just measure and add things as she went (much to my frustration). I remember getting older and being able to make things from start to finish by myself. Me and my friend would go to each others houses and make cakes and then ice them in a really grotesque colour in an effort to turn people off, leaving us more to eat. Today I am a little less bizarre with my icing methods and much less greedy when it comes to sharing, but my love of baking remains. I couldn't find a photo of us as kids baking to share, but wouldn't be surprised if it would look any different from the one above that I found on Flickr. You can see some more baking stories over at Mikes.

From Meaghan. 

A week of Baking Thanks to Mikes!

We have decided to join Mikes in their week of baking, expect some tasty recipes, and other vintage baking things. I can't wait to see how that cake turns out!  

Gingerbread!

Today I really felt like some Gingerbread so I made some. It was really delicious and the best part was we had every thing I needed in the pantry. So I thought it might be nice to share the recipe.


Rich Gingerbread


You will need
225g plain flour
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon bicarb soda
2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon all spice
115g butter
115g golden syrup
115g treacle
55g brown sugar
2 beaten eggs
120 ml milk


To make
Preheat the oven to 180C, grease and line a 20cm square cake tin.
Sift the flour, salt, bicarb and spices into a bowl.
Melt the butter, golden syrup, treacle and brown sugar over a low heat and stir occasionally, until the butter has melted and the mixture is smooth. Leave to cool a bit.
Mix the milk and two eggs together.
Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and pour in the milk and eggs and the syrup mixture and beat with a wooden spoon until smooth. (when i got to this stage i thought the mixture was to runny but it turned out fine so it must have been right)
Pour into the cake tin and then into the oven for about an hour. You know it will be ready when you touch it and it springs back.
If you like you can mix some icing sugar and water to put on top like I did but it's not necessary.
Best served with a cup of tea.


Enjoy from Claire

I love Baking!

I really do. I love everything about it, from choosing what to bake, writing lists for ingredients you need, heading off to the shops, mixing things together, waiting for them to rise and finally sharing them with friends. Last weekend me and some friends had a big day of baking, in aid of a party which was happening, we made everything from cup cakes to biscuits and my favourite caramel slice. When I have more time i hope to share some of my favourite recipes.

From Meaghan.