Vanilla Cup cakes for Speech Pathology Week

VANILLA CUP CAKES AND PATTY CAKES

This last week was Speech Pathology Week and I volunteered to bake some cup cakes, to be given away at Cairns Hospital to celebrate the event, as we are up here on holiday. I didn't go overboard with decorating these as time was of the essence and it was about quantity and having enough to hand out to the public who walked through the front door of the hospital. However I love this easy recipe, which produces a very tasty and reliable result.

Speech Pathologists treat and rehabilitate patients who have suffered from strokes and accidents affecting their ability to swallow liquids and foods, and also specialise in language and communication skills. I don't think a lot of people realise just what they do so it was great to be involved to raise awareness.

Ingredients:

125g (4 1/2oz) unsalted butter, softened
250g (1 cup) Castor sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons natural vanilla extract
3 eggs
185g (1 1/2 cups) plain (all purpose) flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
185 ml (3/4 cup) milk
icing
Bought Decorations or fruit such as raspberries ( which can generally be purchased now from a
supermarket)

Preheat the oven to 180 deg. C (350deg F/Gas 4). Line a 12 hole (1/2 cup) muffin tray with paper cases. Place the butter and sugar in a bowl and beat until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla, then add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Sift the flour, baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon of salt and fold into the mixture, alternating with the milk, until it has a soft dropping consistency. Spoon into the cases and bake for 20-25 minutes until golden. Remove from the oven and cool for 10 minutes in the tin. Turn the cakes out onto a wire rack to cool. Ice the cakes when cold and decorate.
Makes 12 Cup cakes.

Thanks to Bill Granger for this basic recipe which I used.

The Sipping Duck coffee shed in Cairns

Great Coffee Art at the Sipping Duck in Stratford, Cairns, FNQ

When Neil and I are travelling, a priority of ours is to find a good cup of coffee, which generally means an establishment which does their own roasting, is prepared to offer a variety of roasted beans to try, and has perfected their own coffee art design. Even though we don't generally order food with our coffee it is also nice if we find a cafe with an impressive selection of cakes, biscuits, breads, etc. to try. The cafe culture in Cairns has not disappointed.

This morning, not only did we have a marvellous cup of coffee at the Sipping Duck in Stratford, but were also very impressed by the coffee art which adorned our coffees. Their coffee art is a flagship for the Sipping Duck, and if the barista has time, a very chirpy Sipping Duck greets you from the surface of your coffee. Very impressive. This is the best coffee art I have seen to date, and  coffee art has become a very competitive business.

The Sipping Duck is located in the Northern Cairns suburbs, at 25 Johnson St., Stratford, in a very unpretentious but appealing and eco friendly industrial shed, easily accessible from the highway leading out to the Northern Beaches.Or it can be detoured to when travelling to Freshwater to catch the Kuranda train.

The staff here work hard and fast, and yet are always happy to discuss the quality and source of their coffee beans to an interested customer, like my husband. Today Neil walked out with two bags of green coffee beans, which he intends to roast at home with his barista cap on, and at a much cheaper price than if we had purchased them online from our usual distributor. A very happy customer.

This morning we broke the rules and shared a slice of Jamaican ginger, pineapple, and fivespice bread, with our coffee, supplied by a local Cairns restaurant, Coco Mojo, a very clever move by the Sipping duck as it tasted amazing with large chunks of stem ginger throughout.

 I am also impressed by their generous community outreach. We attended the Freshwater Primary School Fete last Saturday, and the Sipping Duck Barista/owner, was busily making coffee all afternoon for eager customers. He supplied his time, equipment and the coffee beans free of charge as a donation to the event. 

Here's to a great cup of coffee.Well done to Cairns and the Sipping Duck.

www.sippingduck.com.au
ph.0413 025 243

Homemade Sourdough bread with Seeds and Rolled Oats

Sourdough bread with Seeds and Rolled Oats

You can either make your own sourdough starter from scratch, find a baker that will give you some, or perhaps one of your friends already has some. People are generally very happy to share the bread making experience, as was my friend Felicity, who gave me the dough starter and a lesson in how to make it. To make this bread, you don't require a bread maker or a a dough hook in your mixer, just a passion to make your own bread, eat well, and it can easily all be done by hand.

You should already have 500g of Desem or Sourdough  in the fridge. You can take off the exact amount needed from your Mother dough or Desem for the recipe and use as such. Or you can take a small amount and give it 2 feeds to use for the recipe. I have done both and I don't think it makes a lot of difference as far as the quality of the final loaf of bread goes. It is more dependent on whether or not you have the time to wait for the dough to grow in between feeds, or if you want to make your bread straight away. However if you are time poor and need to make your bread straight away, you will need to feed your Desem in the fridge as well so that you don't lose it.

To make this bread, you will either need a large bread tin or tray to cook it in, and a good set of scales. All quantities need to be accurately weighed.

 Take 60g of Desem from the Mother dough in the frig, and double it with 2/3 flour and 1/3 water to double the amount. Add the combined flour and water gradually to the Desem until it is all combined. Let 60 g double to 120g. Take off 90g , feed it again, and let it rise to 180 g. Take off 20g. and use 160g for the following recipe.Allow 24 hours for all of this rising to happen.

Remember: When Desem in the fridge is down to 250g  double it with 1 part water and 2 parts plain flour. Put straight back in the fridge. Leave for 2 days and use as before.

Recipe:

350g Baker's Flour 76%

110g Other Flour 24%

12g salt 2.6%

160g Desem or Sourdough 34.7%

270g Water 58%

Porridge:
Make a porridge in a tray with boiling water from the following and allow to cool:

100g Rolled Oats 21%

60g Sunflower Seeds 13%

40g Linseeds 8%

200g Boiling Water 43%

30g Honey 6%

30g Oil 6%

Next step:

Sift the dry ingredients together into a large mixing bowl.

Mix the 160g Desem and the 270g water with the porridge.

Add the porridge and Desem to the flour and combine well. Rest the dough for 10 minutes.

Turn onto an oiled or floured bench and knead gently for ten seconds. I use flour on my bench to knead the dough.

Knead again and place in a clean large oiled mixing bowl.

 Cover, place in a warm spot,  and allow to make a 50 % rise.(This generally takes a few hours)

Remove the dough from the bowl and knead again and knock back dough and place into the oiled bread tin you intend to cook the bread in or on a cooking tray if you intend to make a round loaf.

Allow to rise another 50%, or until the dough rises to almost fill the bread tin and then cook it. Sprinkle some flour on top for a nice finish.

Oven temperature:

220 deg. C. for 10 minutes

200 deg. C. for 20 minutes.

Remove bread from the tin and if it is still slightly soft around the crust, place it back in the hot oven without the tin to bake for a further 10 minutes to crisp up the outside.

Make a simple salad with White Cannellini Beans and a Vinaigrette dressing

This Cannellini bean recipe serves 4. I doubled the quantities as I was serving it as a side for 13 at dinner and there was plenty. If you are doubling the quantities, use a red and a green capsicum, as the two colours look attractive and give a nice contrast in flavours. The whole recipe can also be mixed  together early on the day of serving and kept in the frig, so that is one less thing to do close to the event. 

Ingredients:

400g (1-16oz) can White Cannellini Beans (or any other white bean you may prefer)

1 red or green capsicum, or use half of each for colour

1/2 medium very fresh brown onion

6 tbsp good quality red wine vinegar (I used Jamie Oliver)

1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

salt to taste

1 clove garlic (optional)

(Preparation time 10 minutes)

Preparation:

1. Rinse and drain the can of beans
2. Chop the capsicum and onion very finely and place into a medium size mixing bowl. Add the beans and mix it all together.
3. Mix together the red wine vinegar, the olive oil, and the salt and pour into the beans. Taste it and adjust the seasoning if necessary, although the flavours will develop so you could do this closer to serving the salad.
4. If you have some very fresh garlic and you love it, peel and mince 1 clove of garlic, and add it to the mixture and stir. 

This salad contrasts perfectly served with a hot Spanish chicken and chorizo casserole. However it can stand on it's own just served with a green salad. Click on this link for the recipe of the Spanish chicken casserole.

Curried Sweet Potato Soup in Winter

Curried Sweet Potato Soup

A very warming soup in Winter, with the intensity of the spices and chilli softened by the beautiful sweet flavours of the lime and the coconut milk. This will also stretch the budget in Winter with Sweet potatoes being very much in season.

Serves 4-6

2 tablespoons olive oil or canola oil

2 onions, chopped

4 Australian or locally grown garlic cloves (to support local industry)

4-5cm piece of ginger, peeled or grated

1-2 red chillies, finely chopped and deseeded, or to taste (It is quite spicy using two chillies)

1 tablespoon garam masala

2 teaspoons curry powder

4-5cm piece fresh turmeric, peeled and grated if you have it (optional)

3 sweet potatoes (about 700g) peeled and cut into 2cm dice ( or substitute some pumpkin)

1 litre vegetable stock or homemade chicken stock (depends on whether you are a true vegetarian or not)

400ml can coconut milk

A small handful of coriander, roughly chopped  (I grow it because I love this stuff)

Juice of 1-2 limes ( or a good tablespoonful)

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

To serve:

A few tablespoons plain (full-fat) yoghurt (optional)

A small handful of coriander, roughly torn

Let's cook:

Heat the oil in a saucepan over a medium-low heat. Add the chopped onions and saute for about 10 minutes, until soft and translucent. Add the spices, the garlic, ginger, chillies, garam masala, and curry powder, and stir for a minute to intensify the flavour.

Tip in the sweet potatoes and stir until they are well coated in the spices. Add some salt and pepper to taste and pour in the stock. Increase the heat and bring to simmering point. Cook gently until the sweet potatoes are very tender, usually about 15 minutes.

Remove the soup from the heat, cool slightly and then puree with a stick blender until very smooth, unless you like the lumps. Return soup to the pan, stir in the coconut milk and warm through on a low heat.

Remove from the heat and add the coriander and lime juice. Taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary. 

Serve the soup topped with a good spoonful of yoghurt, scattered with some extra torn coriander, and some homemade sourdough bread. As a final garnish grind some black pepper over the top, delicious!

Thanks to Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall from River Cottage for this recipe which I have adapted.

This recipe can be further adapted by substituting the sweet potato for 180g of red lentils, and adding chopped carrot, celery, and a couple of bay leaves to the onions. You might need more stock if using lentils, eg 1.3 litres, and the juice of 1/2 lemon.

Sticky Date Pudding for a large dinner party

This recipe is great for entertaining a large number of people for lunch or dinner and makes at least 16 serves. It is best to bake this in a large ceramic baking dish. It is one of my favourite puddings.

Rosella (Wild Hibiscus) Harvest and making Rosella jam

The Rosella Harvest has finished for another year. It has been one of my slower weeks, where I have had a head cold and have been trying to really look after myself so that it doesn't develop into anything nastier. So homemade chicken soup, Inner Health Immune Booster tablets, the occasional whisky to soothe the throat (it really works), lots of veges, indulgent reading, Rosella jam on toast from last year's produce, watching Wimbeldon, and I am feeling as if I am on the road to recovery today. Thank goodness the Antarctic blast hasn't reached us up here yet. It might get slightly colder but it is magical weather here today.