Thursday, April 6, 2023

In My Kitchen April, 2023


The Easter Long Weekend starts tomorrow, and as I write this, I am under the lifesaving ceiling fan, as the Northern tropical heat hasn't abated like it's supposed to over Easter. I am in beautiful Cairns, in Far North Queensland at our daughter's home, and I know there is lots of chocolate "hidden" in the refrigerator waiting for Easter Sunday to be enjoyed by all of us. I the Easter bunny coming to your house? Delicious chocolate goodies and Hot Cross Buns are the theme of foodies and food bloggers around the world leading up to Easter, there's so much Easter excitement. However, my go-to fudgy, double layered Chocolate Fudge Cake will be our baked chocolate indulgence of choice over Easter. It will be the third time I've baked this beauty over the last few weeks. Whether it's iced with Malted Buttercream, or with Nigella Lawson's Coffee buttercream, it's a winner. 


This is my April submission to the #IMK series hosted by the wonderful Sherry from Sherry's Pickings. Each month food bloggers from around the world gather to share what is new in their kitchen.  I don't buy a lot of new merchandise for my Kitchen, just mainly food ingredients, but I love cooking and baking. This is a sample of what I've been very happily cooking In My Kitchen.

Chocolate fudge Cake with Nigella Lawson's delicious Coffee Buttercream


Mr. HRK prefers Nigella's Coffee buttercream version for icing. I also love a chocolate cake with just the old-fashioned chocolate icing which is so easy and very heat tolerant. It was almost Death by Chocolate when I made the Malted Buttercream version of the Chocolate cake for Jenny's birthday recently, so delicious, chocolatey and fudgy, and slightly challenging to transport in the North Queensland heat but we made it. Buttercream needs to be refrigerated, so as soon as I iced this cake which is the photo at the top of this post, it was in our frig, and she stayed there until it was transported very carefully over to Jenny's refrigerator to be eaten for dessert that evening. Here's the link to the Chocolate Cake and Coffee Buttercream recipe, and I'll post the Malted Buttercream recipe shortly.

On a more Savoury note, I made these cheesy vegetable muffins four days ago and I am thrilled with them, not only for how they tasted when first baked, but how after being refrigerated for a few days and now being reheated in Cairns for morning tea they are still light and fluffy in texture and even more improved in flavour. If you take a look at the recipe, you will see the various vegetable combinations that are possible for these muffins.


I baked a few loaves of sourdough bread in the morning and made Herbed Mushrooms with Goats cheese for lunch which was delicious on toasted sourdough.



I found a silver Beetroot server when I was in Brisbane shopping at my favourite Antique shop in Annerley. It's perfectly designed for serving Pickled Beetroot allowing all the beetroot juices to drain through. Let's face it, beetroot juice can be very messy. Here's a batch of my Pickled beetroot which is infused with cinnamon. It was really tasty.


And on a cooler, rainy day at home I made chicken soup. Here's a photo of the stock in the soup pot.


I think of Boiled Fruit Cake as contingency baking. If there's a boiled fruit cake in the pantry or the refrigerator there's always cake on hand to have with a cuppa for surprise visitors. 
This Cherry and Brandy Fruit cake recipe makes two 20 cm cakes. One has travelled to Cairns with us, and the other one is in the refrigerator at home. It'll be there on our return. I've made this cake so many times, as whole round cakes and muffins, it's my friend Mr. P's Mothers recipe and is a real goody. 


Sometimes it's handy to have a retro recipe up your sleeve, and Salmon Rissoles or fishcakes are very retro, but these have a couple of optional surprise ingredients. Anyhow they were really good, coated in egg and breadcrumbs and pan fried and very crispy, what's not to love. Besides being tasty, retro food generally also stretches the budget, that's pretty important right now don't you think?


Those of you who know me well will be expecting a new Traybake in this edition. Here it is my friends, Moroccan Baked Chicken with Fennel and Chickpeas.  Very tasty.


Creamy French Tarragon Chicken transported me to France, which was my intention and this dish lived up to expectations. I'm hoping the airlines do the same for me in a couple of weeks. I'm off to France, to visit our son and my beautiful grandchildren, and hopefully sample some delicious French cuisine while I'm there. Did you know Cuisine is the French word for cooking? Seems obvious, doesn't it? 


Mr. HRK gave a couple of little visitors a tour of our beehive. They loved it, morning talk about bees coming up. We're hoping there will be fresh honey to harvest in Spring. Usually our bees are quite placid, no gloves needed, however they didn't appreciate being visited at 4 pm in the afternoon and were quite angry for some reason. Mr. HRK was stung twice, once on his face and on his hand. His hand really swelled up for a couple of days. Thankfully the girls were well covered and were standing right back from the hive. After all, bees are wild insects.



Gracing my daughter's dining area, is this newly acquired and endearing painting and drawing of an owl gifted to her for her birthday, by a talented friend. Aren't the eyes just full of so much expression? 


Mr. HRK picked these flowers from the garden this morning while he was pruning. Tropical flowers are just so colourful.


Hoping you have a very special, restful and meaningful Easter. Safe travels if you are travelling.

Warm wishes,
Pauline

18 comments:

  1. wow...that chocolate cake is for sure a stunner! And I love that fruit cake too :-) The gals look super adorable in those bee costumes. You had a really delicious month, Pauline.

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    1. Angie our little friends really enjoyed checking out the bees. We did eat some delicious food this month.Thanks for dropping by.

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  2. I'm going to look out for that beetroot server. Everything looks so good but I especially like your muffins. Travel safely to France. We too will be in Europe soon. Happy Easter.
    from Tandy I Lavender and Lime https://tandysinclair.com

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    1. Happy Easter Tandy, Hope your European trip is amazing. Stay safe.

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  3. Thanks for joining in Pauline. That cake looks so delicious; i do love a really thick icing esp. if it's buttercream or cream cheese :) The last couple of nights have been cooler here and we may have a storm tomorrow for Good Friday. Love that beetroot spoon. Must get myself to Annerley and check out that store. Have a fab Easter. cheers Sherry

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    1. I was lucky to be at Annerley, and always check out the antique store, it is a real treasure trove. Hope you have a wonderful Easter too. Always nice to be part of IMK each month.

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  4. Oh the look of awe on the faces of those kiddos seeing the bee hives! You have such an amazing selection of foods this month.. I wish I was retired too and I could make so many recipes :) both the chocolate cake and the fruit cake look like winners to me!

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    1. Thanks so much, in retirement baking has become one of my happy places that's for sure. Have a wonderful Easter.

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  5. What a decadent looking cake and love the sound of the veggie muffins too. Lots of delicious food in your kitchen. Bet the kids had a great time with the bees. Have a great easter :)

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    1. Thanks Moya, yes the kids loved checking out the beehive.

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  6. The herbed mushroom with goat cheese and the sourdough toast looks divine! And the little beekeepers - so cute. And I also love that owl!

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  7. All of your dishes look delicious! I love a good sheet pan meal also. The little beekeepers are adorable.

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    1. Thanks so much Lori, our little friends loved their bee visit.

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  8. What a collection of wonderful and delicious-looking food! That chocolate cake had my mouth watering. You are correct, the owl's eyes are very expressive. I want to keep looking at it. I think retro foods are back in as everything comes around again, fishcakes never go out of fashion. Have a wonderful visit in France, I look forward to reading about it.

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    1. Thaks so much Liz, only a week until I leave for France. Hope to post lots of updates.

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  9. Hope you had a lovely Easter with the fam bam. That chocolate cake sounds so delicious! It's so different baking in the UK than Australia - I decorated a cake with buttercream today and it's cold enough to leave it out of the fridge!

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    1. Thanks for your comment Sammie, when we lived in the UK I sometimes wondered why we even needed a frig. Certainly easier to bake at times than in the NQ summer.

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