Quick n Easy Butterfly Cakes

These were the first "fancy" cakes I ever made. I was so proud of myself. I think I may have been in year 7. They're so easy to make and a great idea to get little kids helping you in the kitchen.

- 120g unsalted butter, melted
- 3/4 cup caster sugar
- 1 1/2 cups self raising flour
- 1/2 cup of milk
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup pouring cream
- a little bit of jam (of your choice)

1. Preheat your oven to 180 degrees celcius and line a 12 hole cupcake tray with patty cases.

2. Beat the butter, sugar, flour, milk, and eggs with an electric mixer until smooth. Divide the mixture evenly among the cases and bake for 25-30 minutes until golden. Leave your cakes to cool.

3. While your cakes are cooling, prepare your cream by beating it with the electric mixer until peaks form.

4. TO MAKE THE BUTTERFLY:
Cut shallow rounds out from the centres of each cake. Cut that round in half.
Fill the hole with your cream and then put the halves of the cake on to resemble butterfly wings.
Drop a tiny bit of jam in between the wings to represent the body.

chunky fudgy chocie bickies

These cookies are so delicious it's not funny. They are so chocolatey and rich and are perfect for them chocolate cravings. the crunch of the macadamias gives it that last bit of oomph.

- 125g butter,chopped
- 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
- 1 1/4 cups firmly packed brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 cup plain flour
- 1/4 cup self raising flour
- 1 teaspoon bi-carb soda
- 1/3 cocoa powder
- 3/4 cup macadamia nuts
- 1 cup choc chips

1. Preheat your oven to 180 degrees celcius. Line a baking tray with baking paper.

2. Beat your butter, vanilla, sugar, and egg in a large bowl until smooth. Stir in the combined flours, bi-carb soda and cocoa.

3. Stir through the chopped nuts and choc chips.

4. Drop tablespoons of the mixture onto the tray about 4 cm apart. Press each flat slightly. Bake for 10 minutes.

Hokkein Noodle Stir fry

You will notice in this recipe you will need Chinese BBQ sauce. I think the stuff absolutely pongs, but thank goodness it tastes better than it smells.


- 500g hokkien noodles
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 red onion, sliced
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 3cm piece of ginger, grated
- 150g snowpeas, sliced
- 1 carrot, sliced
- 1 red capsicum, sliced

- 4 tablespoons char siu sauce (chinese bbq sauce)

1. Prepare the noodles according to their packet.

2. Add the oil to a large fry pan and add the onion, garlic and ginger and fry for 1 minute.

3. Add all the rest of the vegetables and fry for a further 3 minutes.

4. Stir in the noodles and sauce and cook a further 2 minutes.

Quick Chocolate Self-Saucing Puddings

I found these puddings to be so filling, but very yummy.   

- 125g butter, melted

- 1/2 cup caster sugar

- 2 eggs

- 2 cups self raising flour

- 2/3 cup cocoa

- 1 cup milk

- 3/4 cup caster sugar, extra
- 2 cups boiling water

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celcius. Grease 8x 1 1/4 cup capacity ramekins. Put the dishes into a large oven pan. Whisk the melted butter, sugar and eggs in a bowl. Sift the flour and only half the cocoa over the mixture. Add the milk and whisk until smooth. Divide into the ramekins.

2. Place the remaining cocoa and extra sugar in a bowl. Slowly add the boiling water, stirring constantly until well combined. Pour gently over the puddings. Pour enough boiling water into the pan, until it comes half way up the ramekins. Bake for 30 minutes.

3. Serve with or without cream.

Stuffed Cabbage Rolls

Whenever I go into the city to Darling Harbour, a must for me is to buy a stuffed cabbage roll. I have no idea what's in them but they are the most delicious things I have tasted. Yet again, I am looking for the recipe, but came across another nice one.

- 1 medium cabbage
- 250g finely chopped lamb mince
- 2 cups finely chopped parsley
- 1 bunch finely chopped shallots
- 2 cups rice (uncooked)
- 2 cups diced tomato flesh
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 2 tablespoons tomato pate
- 2 teaspoons each: tumeric, black pepper, cayenne pepper, ground cumin
- 4 teaspoons salt

1. Cut the cabbage in a square shape around the core. This helps you when you're taking off the leaves.

2. Cook the cabbage in a large pot until the leaves are pliable.

3. Carefully pull the leaves off the cabbage then simmer them a little while longer.

4. Cut off the stalks. RESERVE THEM.

5. Place the meat, rice, shallot, tomato, and parsley into a bowl and mix with your hands.

6. Add the tomato paste, olive oil, and 1 teaspoon of the spices and mix well.

7. Line the bottom of a pot with the reserved stalks.

8. Place 1 tablespoon of mixture in each leaf and roll up. Layer the rolls on top of the stalks.

9. In a small bowl, mix the rest of the spices and dissolve with tomato paste and hot water. Add the oil and pour this over the leaves in the pot.

10. Cover the pot and simmer over medium heat for about 15 minutes, then lower the heat and simmer for 45 minutes.

Stuffed Vine Leaves

I'm still looking for the perfect recipe, but as I look, I find different ones that I still enjoy. This is 1 of them:

- 250g finely chopped minced lamb
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 1 tomato finely chopped
- 1 cup parsley finely chopped (reserve stalks)
- 1 cup rice (uncooked)
- 5 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon of each: black pepper, tumeric, ground ginger, cinnamon, salt
- 1 jar preserved vine leaves

Cooking liquid:  
- 1 cup hot water
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1/2 tablespoon spices as mentioned above

1. Mix the rice with the oil, then mix it with the lamb, tomato, onion, parsley and spices.

2. Rinse the brine off the leaves as good as you can.

3. Place 1 tablespoon of the stuffing near the bottom of the leaf. Fold the sides in, then roll the rest of the leaf as tightly as you can.

4. Put the reserved parsley stalks over the bottom of your pan. Lay your stuffed leaves on top of the stalks and pack them in tight.

5. Mix the cooking liquid together, then pour over your leaves. Bring to the boil, lower the heat and cover them. Simmer for 1 hour.

Spinach Folds

Every now and then I get a strong craving for a spinach fold, but never knew what went in them. The shop I go to buy them from hardly has them or is closed a lot of the time. I finally found a recipe for them.

For the casing: (you may need to double this)

- 2 cups flour
- 3/4 cup boiling water
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon salt

For the filling:

- 2 teaspoons olive oil                                   

- 2 small onions, finely chopped

- 600g frozen spinach

- 2 teaspoons salt

- 2 tablespoons sumac
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1/4 cup lemon juice

To make the casing:
1. In a bowl, add all the ingredients together and mix with a spoon.
2. When it turns into a dough, start kneading it with your hands. (You don't need to let this dough sit, it's ready to use straight away.)

For the filling:
1. Heat the oil in a pan and add the onion.
2. Add the salt, sumac and pepper, then add the lemon juice. Cook for about 5 minutes and let to cool.

The pink and yellow in this photo are the stems off different varieties of spinach.

1. Once the mixture has cooled, break a bit off your dough, roll it out thin, and put a teaspoon-tablespoon of the mixture into the centre.
2. Fold half the dough over your mixture and seal.
3. Deep fry until golden.

Chicken, Vegetable and Rice Soup

I found that even little kids enjoyed this soup.

- 1 tablespoon olive oil                                                   

- 1 medium onion, finely chopped

- 1 chicken breast, finely chopped

- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

- 1 teaspoon salt

- 1/4 cup corn

- 1/2 cup green beans

-  1/4 cup basmati rice

- 1 carrot, cut into small cubes

- 1 potato, cut into small cubes

- 1 zucchini, cut into small cubes

- 5 cups water

- 1 tablespoon flour & 1 tablespoon milk powder mixed in 1 cup water

1. Cook chicken and onion in the oil along with the salt and pepper until cooked.

2. Add the beans, rice and 1 cup of the water. Bring to the boil, simmer covered for 10-20 minutes or until soft.

3. Add the rest of the vegetables and water. Simmer covered until cooked.

4. Stir in the milk and flour mix and stir until heated through for about 4 minutes.

Mum's sausage rolls

I used to love getting a sausage roll from the bakery for lunch when I was younger. Until mum started making her sausage rolls. For something so cheap and simple, they are so yum.

- puff pastry
- 500g roll of sausage mince
- 1 large grated carrot
- 1 large onion finely diced
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon sweet chilli sauce
- 1 tablespoon barbeque sauce
- 1 teaspoon vegemite
- salt and pepper
- 1/2 cup breadcrumbs

1. Preheat oven to 185 degrees celcius.
2. Mix all ingredients together with your hands until well combined.
3. Cut pastry into 4 squares. Place 1 tablspoon of meat mixture on the edge of each square. Roll up.

4. Brush each roll with a little bit of water to help the rolls go golden.

5. Bake for 1 hour or till cooked.

Quick Coconut Loaf

This recipe is one of the most quick and easy ones I have tried and found it to be popular amongst the people I know.

- 1 cup self raising flour
- 1 cup dessicated coconut
- 1/2 cup caster sugar
- 3/4 cup milk

All that you have to do is preheat your oven to 180 degrees celcius and mix all the above ingredients together.

Pour the mixture into a lined, shallow cake tin and bake it for 40 minutes or until cooked.

Serve with a wedge of orange and a dash of cream.