Tag Archives: party

Lemon Bundt Cake

25 Oct

Bundt CakeMy beloved gorgeous friend Chiara sent me a bundt pan … and not just a garden variety bundt pan but a stunning, almost architectural pan. It is soooo pretty – and I was really excited to be able to use it! I kept wanting to bake a bundt cake when I was at my sister’s place, but never seemed to find the time. While cakes from scratch are generally easy, they also take a certain amount of commitment.

You need to set aside some time to really think about your ingredients, and gather them. You usually use about three or four mixing bowls to assemble things separately and then mix them all together. You bake, wait, remove from pan, wait again, and then ice. You can make cakes in less than an hour, but the slightly more complex ones take a while. Granted, a lot of the time is spent waiting for things to bake or cool down, but still, you need to set those times aside. I wasnt organised enough at my sister’s house to do that.

However, when I realised I was going to a family BBQ on Saturday night, I decided that Saturday afternoon would be the perfect time to bake a lemon cake … and then I remembered my bundt pan! Oh joy! This is such a terrific cake, and to make it even more stunning … such pleasures are these, I cant even tell you 😉

I served this bright tart glowing lemony cake with sweetened vanilla whipped cream and balsamic strawberries. Each on their own is fabulous. (Admit it, sometimes a mouthful of whipped cream is just what the doctor ordered!) But together… oh such ambrosia. Such contrast in colour and texture, such balance of flavours. They enhanced one another. So yummy and so good.

GlazeThe thing I love about this cake is that it is cake. Deceptively simple, its lemon flavour shouts with joy. Its fluffy and yet slightly damp – a pretty good combination if you ask me. Leftover cake becomes a little more solid, like pound cake … nothing to frown at either. You can bake it in 2 9-inch cake tins as well – if you did it this way, I would ice with whipped cream and have a layer of strawberries and whipped cream in the centre. Either way, this is a great dessert which people really flock to – its less rich and decadent than chocolate cake, its a bright and fitting end to a big dinner, and its totally delightful.

Oh and please… dont forgo the lemon glaze. Its fantastically tart, adds a layer of sweetness, and a textural crunch to the crust of the cake. It doubles the lemony flavour and is an integral part of success of the cake.

I adapted this recipe from Cook’s Illustrated

Fills 1 12-cup bundt pan or 2 9-inch cake pans

  • 3 + 2 lemons
  • 3 1/2 cups unbleached cake flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 1 tbsp vanilla extract
  • 1 cup + 1 tbsp buttermilk
  • 18 tbsp (2 1/4 sticks) butter at room temperature
  • 1 cup light brown sugar
  • 1 cup caster sugar
  • 2 cups powdered / icing sugar

Preheat oven to 190C (350F). If your bundt pan is non-stick, butter it well with soft butter, making sure to get into the grooves and gulleys well. If its not non-stick, melt about a tablespoon of butter, stir in about a teaspoon of flour, and brush all over pan. This should ensure that your cake comes out whole. If you are baking in cake tins, butter and then line the tins with parchment or baking paper.

Wash the lemons well (I hope you are using organic lemons – they make such a huge difference in flavour!). Grate the lemon peel into a small non reactive bowl, making sure not to grate any (or much) of the pith. Slice the lemons in half, and juice the lemons straight onto the lemon peel. You should have 5 – 7 tablespoons of lemon juice and peel. Set aside for at least ten minutes or so – the acid in the lemon juice will soften the peel so that when it gets added to the cake mixture, it will melt straight into it.

In a small bowl (I actually used a large 4-cup measure – less washing up), whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

Whisk together the eggs and egg yolk until lightly lemon colored, and set aside.

Whisk the vanilla extract (a whole vanilla bean would work wonders here as well but would be rather decadent!) and the buttermilk into the lemon juice and rind. Set aside.

Cream together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Really allow your mixer to do some work here – you want a creamy mass where the sugars have really been incorporated into the butter. Dont overbeat, but dont just mix it all together quickly either. The basis of a good cake is a solid creamed sugar and butter mixture.

Add the eggs and whisk again until a batter forms.

Add the flour mixture and lemon-buttermilk mixture alternately until all is incorporated and you have a thick batter.

Spoon into your bundt pan (or divide evenly between your cake pans), and bake for 45 – 55 minutes, or a cake tester is inserted and comes out clean.

Let the cake cool in the pan for about 15 minutes.

While the cake is cooling, juice the remaining lemons, and whisk together the lemon juice, 1 tbsp buttermilk and powdered sugar. This will be your glaze. Set aside, covered, until you need to use it.

Then, rap the bundt pan sharply against a flat (strong) surface a couple of times. This should loosen the cake out.

Flip the cake onto a cake rack, and lift off the bundt pan in one smooooth move.

Place the cake and cake rack over a jelly roll pan (to catch any dripping glaze) and slowly pour over about half the glaze. This will soak into the still warm cake. Leave to settle for about an hour, and then pour over the remaining glaze and transfer to a serving plate.

CakeServe with about 2 cups heavy cream, whipped with 1 tbsp sugar and 2 tbsp vanilla extract, and a punnet or box of strawberries, hulled and chopped and mixed with a tablespoon of aged balsamic vinegar.

Photographs copyright Chan KY

 

 

 

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Iced Fruit Tea

24 Oct

TeaThis is the absolute perfect iced tea to serve at large gatherings. Its refreshing, lightly sweet, and the rooibush (red bush) tea is naturally cleansing – it helps cut through the richness that is usually present in group meals. I love this fruit tea because you can really adjust it to your preference. I like it bright and fruity. If you want it sweeter or deeper, use more juice and less tea.

Frozen fruit is a wonderful addition here – I used seedless grapes. They act as sweet, gorgeous ice cubes, so ice doesnt water down the tea. They also add a distinct taste to the tea which creates layers of lovely flavour. By the way, if  you want to make this into a sangria, feel free to add a bottle of wine! 😉

This ice tea should serve 10 – 12 people. We served it in a large punch bowl, with extra in big jug. It was all finished by the end of dinner … and it was goood.

  • 1 large bunch seedless grapes
  • 3 starfruit
  • 5 rooibush (red bush) tea bags
  • 1/2 cup fresh lemon or orange juice
  • 1 litre fruit juice (I used Ceres mixed fruit juice)
  • 1 litre sparkling apple juice (I used Appletiser – no sugar or preservatives added)
  • 1 litre sparkling water

Wash fruit. Halve grapes, and slice star fruit thinly. Place all the fruit in a large zip loc plastic bag, and freeze for at least 1 – 2 hours.

Boil 1 1/2 litres water and pour into a large pot or heat proof bowl. Add the rooibush tea bags, and allow to steep for 1 – 2 hours, or until cool.

Just before serving, fish the tea bags out, and mix the cooled tea with the fresh lemon juice, fruit juice, sparkling apple juice and sparkling water.

Add the frozen fruit and mix well. Serve happily.

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Pink Vanilla Cupcakes + Frosting!

28 Sep

Cupcakes!So I promise, this will be the last of the pink party smushed fairy postings … at least for this round! 😉 I loved the chocolate cake with that incredible white chocolate frosting, and we are still munching on (and sharing) the pink heart cookies. But the cupcakes were really special. M ordered the cupcake paper cups from Wilton – little pink flower cups. And I baked about 60 cupcakes – half were decorated with glitter and sprinkles and hearts and gumpaste/royal icing flowers ordered from a professional bake shop online. The other half were left iced for the children at the party to decorate – and they did a wonderful job! I love projects that get young people involved with and thinking about the food that they eat – even if its just from an aesthetic point of view.

Most of the decorations and the food colouring came from India Tree. Who knew beet food colouring could produce such gorgeous shades of pink – soft and pastel, natural and beautiful. The recipe for the cupcakes was adapted from a Meyer Lemon Raspberry Cupcake recipe by Amy Berman from the Vanilla Bakeshop. And the frosting was a basic garden variety confectioners frosting, but I made sure to use organic ingredients. I figure if we are going to feed young ones such rich foods, might as well make them free from pesticides and hormones and the like.

This recipe makes about 25 – 30 cupcakes. To double, I made two separate batches because baking is such a specific art – you dont want to mess up the measurements, and sometimes when you double a recipe, it just doesnt take as well. Please do try and use vanilla pods if you can – they imbue the cupcakes with such a pure vanilla scent and flavour. Nothing else comes close. I doubled the vanilla hit by adding vanilla essence as well. If you really cant find vanilla pods, double the amount of vanilla essence.

The cupcakes will keep for up to 3 days in an airtight container or in the fridge. After that, theyre still edible, but may start to wilt a little. 😉 Enjoy!!!

Vanilla Cupcake

  • 1 cup (2 sticks) butter at room temperature
  • 2 cups light brown sugar
  • 1 vanilla bean, about 3/4th scraped plus 1 – 2 tbsp vanilla essence
  • 5 large eggs, separated
  • 1 3/4 cups plus 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 cup cake flour (not self-rising)
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 cup sour cream

Preheat oven to 175C (350F) and line your cupcake tin with paper cupcake cups.

In a large bowl, with an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. The butter and sugar really need to combine well – it needs to look like a thickish cream.

Add the vanillas and beat well. Add the egg yolks, one at a time, beating after each addition.

Mix together the flours, baking powder and salt. You can sift if you like (this makes a much finer crumb) but its not totally necessary. Add to the butter mixture and beat well. You will have quite a thick dough. Add all the sour cream and beat again. Set aside.

In a clean bowl, with a clean whisk, or cleaned beaters, whisk the egg whites until they are shiny and hold stiff peaks. Fold the egg whites into the dough.

Drop by heaping tablespoons into your cupcake cups. You should get about 25 – 30.

Bake for about 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into a cupcake comes out clean. I would check at 20 minutes, but it took me the full 25 to bake them.

Let the cupcakes cool in the tins.

Pink Vanilla Frosting

  • 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, at room temperature
  • 4 cups confectioner’s or icing sugar, sifted
  • 1 – 2 tbsp vanilla extract
  • 1/4 vanilla bean, scraped
  • 4 tbsp heavy cream or milk
  • India Tree food colouring (red for preference 😉 )

With an electric mixer, beat the butter until it is smooth and creamy.

Sift 1 cup of confectioner’s sugar onto the butter, and beat it in on low speed. Repeat for the additional 3 cups of sugar.

Measure in the vanillas and 2 tbsp of cream, and beat well. If the consistency is to your liking, start adding food colouring, otherwise keep adding cream, 1 tablespoon at a time. I would imagine you would need the entire amount of cream, but I leave it up to you (and the heat, humidity and elevation of your kitchen!).

Beat in the food colouring 1 drop at a time. I made 2 batches of frosting and coloured them slightly differently so I had some contrast in the icing.

Beat for at least 3 – 5 minutes. What you will find is that the frosting gets a really light and fluffy, yet thick and solid consistency. I cant explain it, but frosting that has not been beaten for as long just has a different feel to it. The food colour is incorporated totally, and the frosting is very whipped if you beat it for long enough.

Once the frosting is of your desired consistency, fill a pastry bag and ice your cooled cupcakes.

If you dont have a pastry bag, do as I did. Fill a small plastic ziploc bag about 1/3rd full with frosting and cut the tip off one corner. You can use this as a makeshift bag, though be careful. The heat of your hands will start melting the icing quickly.

Decorate the cupcakes with sparkles and glitter and hearts and flowers immediately. Let everything set for about 30 minutes before refrigerating or serving.

Enjoy!

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Spinach Artichoke Dip

26 Sep

Artichoke DipI am on my way to my friend M’s house tonight – see her new baby and new house, and just hang out with one of my best friends for a while. So I thought I would post now, rather than later tomorrow trying to catch up 🙂 This Spinach Artichoke Dip was part of the birthday party yesterday. Its delicious. So good – piping hot and bubbling right out of the oven, at room temperature during the course of the party, and cold from the fridge the next day as part of a post party makeshift lunch.

And easy?! This is all about your sense of taste – so eyeball it, taste, adjust, and repeat. I use organic garlic powder here rather than garlic salt (which I find too salty, and too chemical tasting) or minced fresh garlic, which I find too sharp. Garlic powder adds a round sweetness to the dish which I love. As for the spinach and artichoke? Frozen and canned, albeit organic. You dont need the fresh here – in fact, the frozen and canned are better because they are sturdier. Just get the best quality you can.

This dish reminds me of the time I worked as a waitress in college over one Thanksgiving. A very wealthy woman was having a party, and needed help. Memorable because I made a huge amount of money but thats besides the point – amongst all the amazing things she served, she made one thing that stood out in my memory. In a large ramekin, she mixed mayonnaise, sour cream, cream cheese and a heaping amount of parmesan. She then baked this concoction in the oven quite high and served the bubbling unctuous slightly burnt cheesy result as a dip. I was amazed at such alchemy. This dish is a little more healthy (it basically has the addition of vegetables!) but the principle is the same – the mixture is so much more than the individual ingredients – and their transformative space is the heat of the oven.

Plus, people will tell you not only how good it is (“Its like you get at the restaurant!”) but also how complex the flavours. Its difficult to tell them that it takes about 5 minutes to put together 😉

For a medium baking dish, you will need:

  • 16-ounce packet frozen chopped spinach
  • 14-ounce can artichokes
  • 8-ounce packet cream cheese
  • 1/2 cup (or so) roughly grated parmesan cheese
  • 1/2 cup (or so) roughly grated romano cheese
  • Couple heaping tablespoons sour cream
  • Couple heaping tablespoons mayonnaise
  • Garlic powder
  • Dried basil

Preheat the oven to 130C (350F)

Drain the frozen chopped spinach, and squeeze tightly with you your hands to get rid of as much liquid as possible. Put into a large mixing bowl.

Drain the artichokes, and roughly chop. Add to the bowl.

Cut the cream cheese up roughly straight into the bowl.

Add 1/2 cup each of parmesan and romano, and a few heaping tablespoons each of sour cream and mayonnaise. Using a fork, stir to combine. Make sure that everything is fully incorporated.

Sprinkle over garlic powder and basil and combine again.

Taste. This is the most important part of the recipe. You might want to add more cheese, more garlic powder, more sour cream – its up to you, and is what will make your recipe taste individual. Basically, just make sure the mixture is the texture of a stiffish cookie dough. Keep adjusting until it tastes exactly as you want it.

Transfer the mixture to a baking pan, and sprinkle a bit of additional cheese over the top if you like.

Bake for about 45 minutes, or until bubbling and the cheese has browned nicely.

Serve immediately, or at room temperature.

Wonderful the next day as a spread, on toast, or reheated.

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Birthday Party! Pink White Chocolate Frosting!

26 Sep

by Julia

Today was Z’s 1st Birthday Party! It was a group effort – I baked, MZ designed, organised, invited and created all the gifts, BSA Quality Controled and Julia arranged the flowers (arent they gorgeous?!). We are all full on exhausted. But it was so much fun! We made a lasting memory for Z – which is what birthdays should be about – memory, friends, and wonderful times together.

With loads of goodies

This was the birthday table… loaded with pink heart cookies, glittering pink flower cupcakes, a spinach and artichoke dip, tea sandwiches and a bottle for Z! All, of course, in a girly pink and lace colours. Very pretty.

It all looked really pretty, and tasted good too…

For Z

The cupcakes were lovely – fluffy and imbued with vanilla. It really makes a difference when you add real vanilla bean to a recipe. The tiny flecks of vanilla seed were gorgeous, and the vanilla frosting was tinted pink, with India Tree natural food colours. The decorations were all natural – and gorgeous!

Galore!

For the children, we had a red chili pinata filled with candy… And a cupcake station. We had frosted but undecorated cupcakes…

Cupcakes

And a cupcake tin filled with edible glitter and sparkles and hearts and stars

For Cupcakes

There were a lot of busy bees making beautiful creations!

Decorating

The Birthday Cake was quite insanely pink. I think this was about 15,000 smushed fairies worth of pink and glitter. (Photo courtesy of PFW)

1!

The cake itself was a buttermilk chocolate cake – lovely and fluffy. But it was the frosting (despite its liberal covering of glitter and sparkles and roses and pearls) that was absolutely awesome. It was made with a full pound of Callebaut white chocolate, and it was unspeakably good. I adapted it from a Cook’s Illustrated recipe. When soft, this icing is very very billowy and smooth… it has a satiny feel to it. Gorgeously lush like silk against the skin. But in the fridge, it firms up a lot, which is great on a hot day. It enabled us to serve and cut the cake without worrying about frosting melting everywhere…

Pink White Chocolate Icing

  • 1 lb best quality white chocolate, chopped
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
  • 1/3 cup light brown sugar
  • 2 tbsp corn syrup
  • 2 tbsp vanilla extract or vanilla paste if you have it
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 1/2 cups cold heavy cream
  • A few drops natural red food dye (I used India Tree)

Melt the white chocolate. You can do this in the microwave by placing the chopped chocolate in a microwave proof dish, and running for about 45 seconds, stopping every 15 seconds or so to mix the chocolate with a spoon. Stop when almost all the chocolate is melted, and just stir – the rest will melt easily. If you dont have a microwave, melt the chocolate very gently over the stove top using a double boiler if you can, but if not, in a small pot over very very low heat. Stir often, and take the chocolate off the heat before it completely melts. Set saide.

In a small saucepan, melt the butter over low heat. Add the sugar, corn syrup, vanilla and salt and turn the heat up to medium. Stir the mixture until the sugar completely melts and everything is incorporated. You will have a wonderful caramel.

In a medium bowl that will fit into a larger bowl, pour in the heavy cream. Add all the white chocolate and the butter mixture, and stir well. Add the food colouring, one drop at a time, until it is of your desired pinkness!

As soon as the colour is to your liking, pop the bowl into a larger bowl that you have filled with ice and water. Stir the mixture well, and leave to cool down for at least 30 minutes in its ice bath. You may want to check on it after 10 minutes or so and refresh the ice.

What will happen is that the frosting will start to stiffen up. You dont want it completely hard, so take it out of its icebath if it starts to get very firm.

Using an electric blender, whisk the frosting until it is light and fluffy. Use immediately, or store in the fridge. If it firms up again, whisk until it is of the desired consistency.

Let your most beloved ones lick the bowl 😉

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Pink Heart Cookies

24 Sep

cookieSo I was sitting in the kitchen this morning, minding my own business when this very pink fairy flew in through the window. She had glitter dust all over her wings, sparkles in her hair, and she had the most annoying whiny buzzy sound … So I smushed her. And she exploded. And the entire kitchen was filled with pink glazed sugar cookies, bedecked with hearts and sparkle and glitter. This is what happens, apparently, when a pink fairy explodes.

Actually, I spent most of the morning baking these cookies (I tripled the recipe so I ended up with about 100 biscuits) and most of the afternoon glazing them. These are not quick work if you want to roll out the dough and then cut patterns out with a cookie cutter. They are however quite simple if you want them for easy log slices – if you want to roll the dough into logs about 2 – 3 inches thick and then just slice rounds and bake. Either way, they are very very delicious – crumbly and yet sturdy, very buttery and not too sweet. I based the cookie on Cook’s Illustrated Sugar Cookie – but I used my hands rather than a stand mixer. It worked out fine.

I used royal icing to glaze the cookies – a basic confectioner’s sugar and water mixture with the addition of meringue powder (basically freeze dried egg whites). The addition of the egg whites makes the glaze harden extremely well. If you have access to meringue powder, use it – there is a huge difference. You can also make royal icing with egg whites, but since they are raw, and I am making the cookies for a children’s birthday party, I decided to go with the powder.

I used the India Tree dye – and as you can see from the image – it was gorgeous! Very easy to work with, very strong colour, and an almost imperceptible taste. I love this stuff, and I love that I can bake wildly colourful cakes and cookies for young people, and not worry about poisoning them with too much food dye. Decorating these cookies by hand took a lot of time and work – but they are so pretty, it was worth it!

Sugar Cookie

This cookie is basically much like the basis for a sweet tart shell – butter (so much butter!), superfine sugar (which gives a more tender cookie and a finer crumb), a touch of salt, flour, vanilla and cream cheese. Thats it. You have to be quite gentle with the dough, and once it comes together, you shouldnt really handle it a lot. Its very very tender. I made the dough the night before, refrigerated it well wrapped, and baked the next morning.

This should yield you about 30 – 40 cookies

  • 2 1/2 cups unbleached flour
  • 3/4 cup light brown sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 16 tbsp butter (2 sticks) – at room temperature. It should be soft, but not totally giving, if you know what I mean. You want it to still hold its shape – so take it out of the fridge about half an hour before you mean to use it, and dont leave it in the heat.
  • 1 tbsp vanilla
  • 2 heaping tbsp cream cheese

If you are baking immediately, preheat your oven to 170C (375F).

Whizz the light brown sugar in a food processor or with your immersion blender so that the sugar becomes superfine. Its not 100% neccessary but it does make a difference in the finished product.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar and salt.

Using your fingers, work the butter into the flour mixture. You want flakes of butter to be completely incorporated into the flour – it should look like oatmeal. Do this as quickly as possible, but also as completely as possible. When you are happy with the mixture, use your whisk to just combine everything together again.

Pour over the vanilla and cream cheese, and again using your hands, quickly and evenly work these two ingredients into the mixture. You will see that they bind the flakes together and you will have an extremely soft dough.

Take the dough out of the bowl, and on a clean surface, knead a couple of times, using the palm of your hand to smear the dough away from you. This will lengthen the butter flakes within the dough.

Roll the dough into a ball, and divide into two.

If you are making slice cookies, fashion each half into a log, and wrap well with parchment paper or plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 20 minutes before slicing and baking. These also freeze bloody well, so you can always have a fresh baked cookie to hand!

If you are making cookie cutter cookies, wrap each half in parchment paper or plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 20 minutes.

Take dough out of fridge, and centre each half between two sheets of parchment paper, about the length of a jelly roll pan. Using a rolling pin and light movements, roll out the dough between the sheets, to about 1/4 – 1/8th inch thick, and refrigerate again. If you are working in an extremely hot climate, you can freeze the rolled out dough for a few minutes so it is quite stiff.

Place the parchment on a flat surface, and gently peel the top layer of parchment off the dough. Use cookie cutters to cut shapes out of the dough, and gently transfer the cookies to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Any scraps, you can re roll and recut into cookies, but make sure you rest the re rolled dough in the fridge or freezer before cutting cookies out of it!

Bake in the oven for 15 minutes, or until the edges just begin to brown (I burnt one lot, by the way, and they were DELICIOUS!).

Cool on a rack before glazing.

Royal Icing

  • 2 cups confectioner’s (icing) sugar
  • 2 tbsp meringue powder
  • 3 – 5 tbsp warm water
  • 3 – 7 drops of food colouring (I chose red – because PINK is our theme – of course!)

Sift the confectioner’s sugar into a medium bowl. You dont have to do this, and it usually turns out fine, but this just makes sure there are no lumps!

Add the meringue powder, and stir to combine. Add 3 tbsp of water, and whisk well. You can whisk with a balloon whisk or with an electric whisk, but you really want to combine the mixture until the icing is thick, and forms gentle peaks. Add more water if you need it – I like quite a liquidy glaze – dont worry, with the addition of the meringue powder, it hardens!

Add food colouring, a drop at a time, and whisk well to combine, until the royal icing is tinted to your desire.

Do note that I added a drop of vanilla to the icing – it made it taste quite good, but it did change the colour from light pink to darker pink.

cookieAssembly

  • Sugar Cookies
  • Royal Icing
  • Decorations – I used sanding sugar, pink and silver glitter, sparkling sugar, and sugar hearts – optional – you might want the beautiful elegance of a glazed cookie – but I was looking for exploding fairy pink!

You need to work systematically when icing these cookies.

Arrange the un-iced cookies in a tray lined with parchment paper. Have next to you the royal icing in a bowl, covered with a tea cloth (to keep it liquid), a mug, half filled with warm water, a tea spoon, and whatever decorations you want to use.

Ice 4 – 6 cookies at a time by taking a teaspoon of icing, and pouring it over a cookie, using the back of the spoon to smooth the icing over.

Once up to 6 cookies have been iced, decorate them with your sparkly sugary delights. Then go on to the next 6. The reason you do this is so that the icing does not harden before you can decorate it.

Add more water to the royal icing if it becomes too stiff – but do this literally half a teaspoon at a time – you will be amazed how it reacts to just a few drops of water.

Let the icing harden for at least 2 hours before packing the cookies into an air tight container. They can be refrigerated for up to 3 days before serving.

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Vegetarian Baby Birthday Party!

22 Sep

So Queen Z turned 1 year old today (Happy Birthday darling girl!) and since its the middle of the week, we are having her birthday party this coming Saturday. Or rather, her high tea. M + I remember from our own childhoods a simpler time, when birthdays were about bright colours, pretty yet basic food, lots of laughter and running about. Neither of us are too into having a theme for the birthday, though we did tease M’s husband by suggesting fairies, Barbies and glitter pink!

When M and I thought about the menu for the upcoming birthday party, we decided to keep it simple, and bring our own memory into play. I think this is a very important part of birthday ritual. Memories that have resonance for our generation can be passed down to the next through parties like this one. We have a photograph of M’s 1st birthday, a long table set up outside, dogs playing under her high chair, M with her hand smack in the middle of the cake, grinning and wearing a party hat. The table is set with a variety of goodies – cucumber and sardine sandwiches, mee, pretzels, crisps, tiny cupcakes with sugar flowers, carrots and dip, little cocktail sausages. Many people growing up 30+ years ago had birthday parties like this, with games like musical chairs and pin the tail on the donkey.

When we thought about Z’s birthday party, we decided on a vegetarian menu that would be rich with our own memories, and yet updated enough to create new ones.

Since I will be posting several recipes over the next few days which relate to this momentous birthday party, I thought it would be a nice idea to give you the work-in-progress-menu. Any suggestions are most welcome … We still havent decided on the flavour of the cake… but for the rest, a vegetarian celebration for the Queen of our world, Z.

  • Fruit punch + Fresh Juices + Iced Tea
  • Vanilla cupcakes with pink icing
  • Cupcake decorating station for the kids
  • Hummus + Artichoke Spinach Dips with Baked Pita Chips + Carrot Sticks
  • Vegan Cocktail Sausages with Pink Dip
  • Sandwich Fingers – Cheese, Cucumber and Peanut Butter Strawberry + Honey
  • Birthday Cake
  • M+M’s
  • Crisps with Sour Cream Onion Dip

I would also love to make scones with fresh strawberries – tiny pink meringues – biscuits with tomato jam – mini spinach pies… But I have to convince my sister to let me cook! 😉

Food Colouring!By the way, I have done a lot of research about using food dyes (all that pink!) for children’s food. Red#2 is apparently particularly bad for young ones, and so I set about looking for alternatives. I found it in an amazing company called India Tree which creates the most stunningly beautiful products using vegetable dyes. So, for example, in place of the dreaded Red#2, they use concentrated beet dye. Because the dyes come from natural sources, the colours seem to me to be softer, sweeter, more honest. They dont look neon, which I find a bit scary in food these days. And they make every kind of sparkly decoration and sugar, as well as their food dyes. I have ordered a crateload, and will be using them for most of the cooking I will be doing. I will do a review of the products when I am done!

For now though, I will go to bed, dreaming of sweet treats for my beloved niece’s birthday party, and remembering my shared history with my sister. If any of you have suggestions for us, we would love to hear them — before Friday! 😉

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Vegetarian Chili + Tacos

11 Jul

Taco DinnerThis is a meal for a celebration. A birthday, a party, a World Cup final. Or even just because. Its so delicious – and its good for you too! No cream or butter, and lots of fresh vegetables. You can make it vegan by cutting out the sour cream and cheese sides (or finding wonderful alternatives – soy cheese is surprisingly tasty). It looks lush and bountiful, and making it is really the work of one afternoon. There are lots of fiddly bits, and I admit, I dont make my own tacos, and I supplement my salsa by purchasing a good branded one (I used Paul Newman’s peach salsa this evening). The heat is also up to you. I give measurements for a medium spicy chili, but really do what feels natural to you.

I also use dried pinto beans. Why? Well, in part because I am stubborn, and Ive always made it that way. But also because even with an overnight soaking, they need at least 3 – 4 hours to cook. This forces you to cook the chili for long enough so that it really becomes thick and luscious, and for all the flavours to meld.

Feel free to halve this recipe, but really, its a meal for a big group of people!

Serves 8 – 12

Vegetarian Chili

  • 500 g pinto beans
  • 3 – 4 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 medium onion minced
  • 7 cloves of garlic, sliced
  • 2 stalks of celery, chopped
  • 2 carrots, chopped
  • 4 large portobello mushrooms, peeled and chopped
  • 1 red pepper, deseeded and chopped
  • 1 – 2 red chilis, deseeded and chopped
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 tsp dry basil
  • 1/8 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp mixed herbs
  • 1 tsp crushed chili pepper flakes
  • 1 tsp cayenne
  • 1/2 tsp coriander
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 1 tsp oregano
  • 1/4 tsp smoked hot paprika
  • Salt and pepper
  • 250 g can white beans
  • 250 g lentils
  • 250 g can kidney beans
  • 500 g can pomodoro tomatoes in their own sauce
  • 1 – 2 c fresh tomatoes
  • 1 tbsp mustard
  • 1 tbsp cocoa powder
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 1/2 cup red wine
  • handful of dried chanterelle and portobello mushrooms reconstituted in hot water for 15 minutes
  • juice of 3 small limes
  • Handful of Italian parsley (or fresh coriander if you really must)

In a saucepan or heatproof bowl, rinse and sort the pinto beans. Make sure there are no grit or stones in the beans – a nasty bite of food if there ever was. Cover with water and leave overnight.

The next day, about 4 – 6 hours before you want to eat, in a large, heavy pan (I use a dutch oven or heavy bottomed 5 quart stock pan), over medium low heat, heat oil and soften onions and garlic. Saute until glossy, and then add the celery, carrots, mushrooms, pepper and chilis, mixing well after each addition. Cook for about 3 – 5 minutes until the mixture has softened and let go of some of its liquid.

Add the bay leaf, basil, cinnamon, herbs, pepper flakes, cayenne, coriander, cumin, oregano, and smoked hot paprika, and mix very very well. Season with salt and pepper.

Add about 3/4 of the pinto beans (you can freeze the rest and use in a soup or stock), the white beans, lentils, and kidney beans, mixing well after each addition. Add the pomodoro tomatoes and their liquid and stir to combine. Cover and let simmer over low heat for about 15 minutes, stirring every five minutes or so.

After about 15 minutes, uncover the pan. It will be very liquid. Add the fresh tomatoes, the mustard, cocoa powder, sugar, and red wine. Chop the dried mushrooms fine, and add to the stew, along with the juice of 3 small limes. Cook, over very low heat, for at least 3 hours and up to 6 if you want, stirring every 10 – 15 minutes so it doesnt burn on the bottom. The chili will go from liquid to a very thick savoury stew. Taste for spice and salt and pepper, and adjust to your liking.

Just before serving, sprinkle over some chopped fresh parsley. If you like fresh coriander (I hate it), please feel free to substitute!

Tomato Salsa

I dont add any spice to this salsa because I think it would interfere with the chili and the bought salsas I am serving. However, if this is the only salsa youre serving, feel free to add 1 – 2 chilis, chopped fine.

  • 1 – 2 cups baby roma tomatoes (or 2 – 3 large juicy tomatoes)
  • 1/4 – 1/2 yellow onion, minced
  • Salt and pepper
  • 1/4 – 1/4 cup mixed fresh basil and Italian parsley, chopped
  • Juice of 4 – 5 small limes

Chop the tomatoes in a small dice. Add the minced onions, and salt and pepper, and mix well. Chop the basil and Italian parsley, and add and mix well. Juice 4 – 5 small limes, and add this liquid to the salsa. Mix, cover and store in the fridge until serving time.

Guacamole

I am a purist. I like guacamole simple – as many avocados as I can afford, mashed with a bit of salt and pepper and lime. Unbelievably delicious.

  • 4 ripe avocados (dark skinned)
  • Salt and pepper
  • Juice of 5 small limes
  • 1 avocado pit

Cut your avocados in half lengthwise, using the pit as a guide for your knife. Using a spoon, carve out chunks of avocado into a pretty serving dish. Make sure you scrape out all the beautiful dark green flesh that is right next to the peel.

Mash the avocado with a fork until it is a smooth paste. Add salt and pepper to taste, and the juice of 5 small limes. You wont taste the limes in the finished guacamole, just a really intense avocado flavour.

Pop the avocado pit into the serving bowl to ensure that the avocado does not brown, and store, covered, in the fridge until time to serve.

To serve

To serve this feast, you will need:

  • White and yellow corn tacos, heated briefly in the oven (figure 3 taco shells per person, or 2 if you add the wraps)
  • Soft burrito wraps, warmed briefly in the oven
  • Vegetarian chili
  • Tomato Salsa
  • Store bought salsa as an addition, refrigerated
  • Guacamole
  • Shredded lettuce (I use a combo of lettuce, baby spinach and parsley)
  • Sour cream
  • Shredded cheddar or jack cheese

Arrange on pretty serving platters, and let your guests make their own! So much fun!

All photos copyright Chan KY

Hand: Ezril

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