WWDH - Eggplant, Ricotta, Parmesan Bake

For Wednesday with Donna Hay this week, Margaret chose Donna's Eggplant, Ricotta, Parmesan Bake.

This dish was easy enough - eggplant slices are browned off, covered in a cheesy egg mixture, and baked.  Not bad, huh?

I enjoyed this tasty dish as a side with dinner.

To see what the others thought of this dish, visit the LYL section of the WWDH website.

TWD - Jam Filled Sandwich Cookies

This week's Tuesday with Dorie recipe is Jam Filled Sandwich Cookies.  These are adorable little cookies encased with jam.

The dough came together easily, and was very easy to work with - definitely a bonus.  I filled half of my cookies with rose petal jam and half with apricot jam:

 

 

All up, I ended up with 18 cookies.

 

The plate on which my cookies are residing is my Miss Phryne Fisher plate.  It has an art deco feel because Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries is set in the 1920s. A couple of weekends ago, I went to see The Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries Costume Exhibition at Rippon Lea House, which is where I bought the plate.  If you would like to see the costumes, visit my exhibition post on Cakelaw's Travel Tales.

Danish Dream Cake for Mark

On Friday, it was my manager, Mark's, last day at work.  Mark is of Danish heritage, so I decided to make him a cake that reflected that.

 
As one of Mark's leaving gifts, we bought him a copy of The New Nordic cookbook by Simon Bajada, which included a recipe for Danish Dream Cake with Barley and Berries.  Brilliant!  This is what I decided to make.

Danish Dream Cake has a sponge base studded with berries, and topped with a caramelised grain topping.  I used red currants for the berries, having stashed them in the freezer earlier in the year for such an occasion as this to use them (as they are rare as hen's teeth and expensive in Australia). 

 

I didn't have barley flakes for the topping, so I used the alternative suggested of porridge oats.  The recipe also called for dark malt as an optional addition - I didn't have any and didn't notice it was optional, because I was on the phone while I was making it.  So, I unnecessarily added golden syrup, thinking that might make up for the malt. Oh well, it didn't seem to harm anything.

 

Here is Mark carving up this rather sturdy cake:

 

 

Here's a peek inside:

and here is a slice of cake showing clearly all of the elements:

If you like caramel, sponge and berries, you will love this Danish cake.

Coconut Cupcakes for Cupcake Day for the RSPCA

My third and final batch of cupcakes for Cupcake Day for the RSPCA were coconut cupcakes with bunny ears.

The recipe for the coconut cupcakes came from the Crabapple Bakery Cupcake Cookbook.  I used coconut frosting based on The Primrose Bakery buttercream recipe, flavoured with coconut essence rather than vanilla essence.  The bunny ears are marshmallows sliced diagonally in half and the cut side dipped into pink coloured sanding sugar.  I found the idea here.  I coloured my own sugar by placing white sanding sugar in a freezer bag with a couple of drops of rose colouring and shaking the bag vigorously until  all of the sugar was coloured.

The recipe for 24 coconut cupcakes is as follows (I made a half batch):

3/4 cup shredded coconut
2 1/3 cups plain flour
2 teaspoons  baking powder
3 eggs
3 egg whites
200g salted butter, softened
1 3/4 cups  sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup coconut milk

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.  Line two 12 hole muffin tins with cupcake papers. 

Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl.  Using a food processor, process the coconut until very fine and then add to the sifted ingredients.  Mix to combine.

In another bowl, combine the eggs and egg whites.  In a third bowl, beat the  butter for 1 minute.  Add the sugar to the butter in three batches, combining well between each addition.  When all the sugar is added, beat until the mixture is light and creamy.

Add the eggs in 4 batches, beating well between each addition.  Add the vanilla and beat well.

Add a third of the flour mixture to the batter, and beat on low till just combined.  Add half the coconut milk and beat to just combined.  Repeat until all the flour is added.  

Scoop the batter into the cupcake papers and bake the cakes in the preheated oven for 18 minutes or until cooked through.  Remove the cakes from the tins immediately and cool on wire rack.  Ice the cakes as you please when completely cool.
Here are our three baking organisers for RSPCA Cupcake Day, enjoying the fruits of their labour:

WIAFK (CB) - Lemon-Thyme Sorbet

For Weekend in a French Kitchen (Café Boulud) this week, our recipe is Lemon-Thyme Sorbet.  The catch with this one is the requirement for an icecream maker.  I have the Kitchen Aid icecream maker attachment, but that needs to go into your freezer for half a day before use and takes up heaps of freezer room that I just don't have.  Accordingly, my sorbet was left largely to freeze itself.

The end result was surprisingly delicious, especially as the recipe was very simple.  The sorbet is pleasantly lemony, and not overly sweet.  I really enjoyed it as is.

To see what the other WIAFK (Café Boulud) cooks thought of this sorbet, visit the LYL section of the website.

EwE - Rush Hour Chili

My choice for Eating with Ellie was Rush Hour Chili.  I like me a little chili, so this quick, easy and healthy recipe was perfect for me.

I served my chili with couscous, honeyed Brussels sprouts and the mulled cider sweet potato that was last week's Ellie pick.

This was a hearty, delicious meal that I would definitely make again.

To see what the others thought of this dish, visit the LYL section of the EwE website.

WWDH - Red Curry of Swordfish - err, Dory

Kayte's pick for this week's Wednesday with Donna Hay is Red Curry of Swordfish.  I have never seen swordfish in the shops, so combined with Kayte's warning of it being expensive, I went for "firm white fish" - in this case, dory.

I served my curry with boiled brown rice and boiled mixed veg.  From my perspective, it was delicious.

To see what the others thought of this dish, visit the LYL section of the WWDH website.