Sewing. Motherhood. Domestic Engineering.

I have made these a few times over the past couple of weeks. They have been great with a cup of tea but never last long enough for visitors to enjoy them. So instead of friends and family waiting for me to make them I'm sharing the recipe :) I try to used weighed measurements for everything so that there is less washing up at the end. Mum's ANZAC Biscuits 160 g (1 cup) Plain Flour 110 g (1 cup) Rolled Oats (I used Woolies quick rolled oats and they were perfect) 160 g (3/4 cup) White Sugar 60 g (3/4 cup) Desiccated Coconut 125 g Butter (I used margarine - I can't taste the difference in the product) 1/2 tsp Bicarbonate of Soda 1/2 tsp Boiling Water 2 tsp Golden Syrup Combine flour, oats, sugar and coconut in a bowl. In a sauce pan melt the butter and syrup together over a low heat. Mix the water and bicarb in a cup and then add to the melted butter. Add the liquid to the bowl and combine well (might need to get your hands dirty here). Divide into h...

At a work Christmas party one of my lovely friends made gingerbread reindeer. As I was eating one I made the revelation that they are in fact gingerbread men but turned upside down and iced to look like reindeers. I thought this was truly amazing and clever so did some googling on the 'gingerbread man conversion' and found these creative characters on Sydney Christmas Bucket List . The best conversions I have seen - each reindeer has a different expression (see left) on his face and the icing quality (skill) is very high. I had a go at making some a few days ago, the first few were hit and miss but after a few tweaks started to get better quality products. Will definitely try again next year but until then I will just look at these cute little fellas :) Happy gingerbreading :D 

  Guest Blog by CartBox   CartBox specialises in cooking, baking and all things Asian :) Click the CartBox link to the right to see all of her other guest blogs. I remember not too many years ago trying a rum ball for the first time, and wow, I hated it... Now this is a little disappointing as for many people in Australia, rum balls are a must at Christmas, so I always feel a little left out. I have always enjoyed making the rum balls with my mum nearly every Christmas, but of course never eat them myself. A couple of years ago I discovered chocolate balls, they are for all of you out there who don't like the taste of rum balls. However... I went to the bakery last week to sadly discover that they hadn't made them this Christmas. So what did I do? I found an even better tasting recipe! I make no exaggeration that I could eat these everyday and die happy. Not to mention, it's super simple! I did however tweak it to my liking ...

Guest Blog by CartBox   CartBox specialises in cooking, baking and all things Asian :) Click the CartBox link to the right to see all of her other guest blogs.      I have recently been baking quite a lot of  patty cakes and a lot of my  friends have been asking me for a tutorial to show them how I decorate using icing.  The piping bag I use is a Standard Loyal 2-34 with a size 7 Loyal nozzle, it is the best piping bag I've used so far, it also appears to be the most available  piping bag in my area. The video will give a better example of the technique i use to decorate my patty cakes a nd also has my patty cake and icing recipe.  

Guest Blog by CartBox   CartBox specialises in cooking, baking and all things Asian :) Click the CartBox link to the right to see all of her other guest blogs. Recently found a fantastic brownie tray when I was out shopping and because it was on special I just had to get it! At first I thought the frame in the center was used to cut even slices of brownie, but it's actually used during the cooking process to get the perfect piece of brownie, because the edge piece is always the best! The instructions recommend that you place the brownie tray in another tray because there is a small hole in the base (that gets covered by the edge of the tray) that a runny batter may seep out of, but I didn't have a problem with this because my batter was so thick. I probably didn't choose the best recipe to try the tray out with, but it turned out fine. It was just a bit thick and required some spreading around the pan. There were a few uneven pie...

Guest Blog by CartBox   CartBox specialises in cooking, baking and all things Asian :) Click the CartBox link to the right to see all of her other guest blogs. Ever heard of Melon Pan? No, it's not something used or made from a melon. In fact...melon has nothing to do with it so I'm not entirely sure why it's called melon pan. Pan however is Japanese for bread, so it really means melon bread. I guess it's melon bread because it looks a bit like a melon. Anyway, melon pan is basically a sweet bread roll with a biscuit dough crust and covered in sugar. It is absolutely delicious! Unfortunately there aren't any shops where I live that sell melon pan, so I have to make my own. I'm subscribed to the Youtube account Cooking With Dog , a cooking videos by a Japanese lady known as "chef" and she cooks next to a cute dog named Francis who is the host of the show and does the voice over in English, with a French accent. Most of the reci...

Guest Blog by CartBox     CartBox specialises in cooking, baking and all things Asian :) Click the CartBox link to the right to see all of her other guest blogs. I was sifting through some of my favourite Youtuber's videos the other day and a video on how to make chocolate bowls popped up in the related videos list. Thought it sounded pretty interesting so I decided to give it a go. It's rather basic, simply blow up a small water balloon to your desired size and dip them in melted chocolate. (Don't forget to wash and dry the balloons before dipping them in the chocolate). Sit them on a baking tray covered in baking paper (or wax paper), with the knot on top. Doing this will also create a flat base. Leave it in the fridge for about 5 minutes (or until hard) then repeat the process, the double dip will help create a thicker bowl so it wont break. When they're finished simply poke a hole into the thicker part of the...

Sugar craving's inspired me to do this.... :) Thick layer of Nutella and creamy vanilla ice cream in a Arnott's milk arrowroot sandwich. Yummo! Bede thought it tasted quite similar  to a Maxibon ice cream....

Having done a little bit of piping with macaroons and a few sweets, and having seen some of the cool cupcakes my sister ( cartBOX ) has created I have ordered some new nozzles from Ebay . This was helpful to watch... I also ordered a heap of disposable piping bags (so cheap) which I’m excited about. Fingers crossed the quality is good. When I have received everything and had a chance to give it all a go I will do another post and maybe even a video on the different types of nozzles and what effects you can get. YAY!

I originally learnt how to make fondant roses from  this video but there are plenty of other videos out there that teach the same method. This is the rose I created on my first go and I was really impressed! It is a very easy to follow process. And some others that I was experimenting with… instead of the plastic pocket I use clip lock bags because they are made of food grade plastic.  

I actually made these!! A little while ago Macarons or Macaroons became a huge hit in Queensland and in my kitchen. Bede and I got the book 'Secrets of Macarons' by Jose Marechal from his grandmother as a wedding gift. Didn't take me long before I was making an attempt at the yummy sweets. I also used another recipe for chocolate macaroons that I found somewhere on line but I can remember where it can from.  Basic equipment for making most macaroons: kitchen scales electric beater piping bag (pretty cheap from ebay) piping nozzle (round) large flat baking tray baking paper sieve whisk spatula thermometer (I just guessed) macaroon template   The template ensures that when you join them together they are all the same size. You can grab a template from here and just print it out (some you print twice and stick them together) and slip it under the baking paper - Don't forget to take it out before baking. So here you have it. This is a combi...

Made this delicious slice last night for work and everyone in the office loved it! I got the recipe from Taste.com.au and it was submitted by D. Elliott - thank you! The recipe is mega easy to follow and a little bit fun to do. INGREDIENTS 2 cup plain flour 1 cup caster sugar 125g butter 3 eggs 1 tsp vanilla essence 3/4 cup raspberry jam 2 cups desiccated coconut METHOD Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius. Grease and line a 3cm deep, 24x30cm lamington pan. Process flour, 1/2 cup sugar and butter to resemble breadcrumbs. Add 1 egg and vanilla. Process to form a dough. Press dough into the pan. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until golden. Spread jam (its says while warm but I did it when cooled because all the member feedback suggested it was better) over the base. Whisk (not meringue) 2 eggs and remaining sugar together. Stir in coconut. Spread over jam. Bake for 25 minutes, or until golden. Coll completely in pan. Cut into pieces.