The best chocolate mud cake ever!

Mr H and I baked this chocolate mud cake together and it is by far the best chocolate cake I have ever eaten.

The recipe is from Donna Hay's Simple Essentials - Chocolate cook book.

I'm very keen to make the chocolate and raspberry brownies next.

Do you have a favourite chocolate cake recipe?

Recipe below!

Ingredients

375g butter, softened
1 1/3 cups brown sugar
3 eggs
2 cups plain (all purpose) flour, sifted
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2/3 cup cocoa powder, double sifted
200g dark chocolate, melted
3/4 cup milk

Preheat oven to 160 degrees.

Place the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat for 8-10 minutes, or until the mixture is light and creamy.

Gradually add the eggs and beat well.

Fold through the flour, baking powder, cocoa and melted chocolate and stir in the milk.

Spoon the mixture into a 22cm round cake tin lined with non-stick paper and bake for 1 1/4 hours or until cooked when tested with a skewer.

Cool in the tin.

To serve, dust with cocoa and serve with cream.  Serves 10.

Enjoy!!!

We don't have an electric mixer, so did the mixing by hand.  Just took a bit longer - and the result I'm sure was the same as it was amazing.

Glass Lovelies

Yesterday morning was spent with friends and then lunch in town with my mum and sister in law.

I was early (for a change) so put the boys in the pram and raced around to my favourite op shop.

And who should also be in there but my sister in law and wee nieces - great minds ha!

After a search around I found 4 pretty glass dishes and a huge AGEE jar which I will use on our outside table as a vase.

But I think the find of the day was a stack of Thomas the Tank Engine books for Tom who has recently become a HUGE fan.

We both ended up being late for lunch with mum - but I think we had a very good excuse!

And for the Thomas Fan in our house:

Have a great weekend!

Vegemite Scrolls

Off to a friends house today for morning tea.  She has two kiddies of similar age and they play so nicely together at Playcentre so it will be great to see them today.

I will be baking a quick batch of Vegemite scrolls to take along with me to share. 

Below is the recipe - take note that I DOUBLE the butter amount.  So when you take them out of the oven the butter is bubbling away on the tray - Delicious!

VEGEMITE SCROLLS

Ingredients:

• 2 cups self-raising flour
• 80g butter
• 2/3 cup milk
• 1 cup of tasty cheese
• 1 tablespoon vegemite, heaped
• 1 tablespoon milk

Method:

Preheat oven to 200°C.

In a medium bowl, combine flour and butter.
Using your fingertips, rub the butter through the flour until you have a breadcrumb consistency, then add ¾ of the cheese combination and milk and work into a dough ball with your hands.

When these ingredients are combined, lightly flour your kitchen bench and gently push the dough out into a rectangle, approx 1 cm in depth.

Spread vegemite evenly over the top of the dough and sprinkle with remaining cheese.

Roll the dough into a long rope shape, rolling it away from you. When you have a rope of dough cut it into eight equal rounds and place them on a lined baking tray.

Brush with milk.

Bake for 20 minutes then remove from oven and cook on wire rack.

You can of course use Marmite and once again I'm pretty liberal with the cheese.  The more the merrier I say!

ENJOY!!!

Charlie

This is Tom with our Jack Russell pup Charlie who is now 5 months old.

 

 

I thought it would be great that now we are in the country the kids could have a puppy.

 

I wondered to begin with what on earth was I thinking.  With 3 kiddies it feels crazy enough somedays without adding a naughty puppy to the mix.  We had a love hate relationship to begin with as he seemed to like peeing and pooing inside and never outside!

 

He is starting to grow on me now though.  As it is still cold at night he sleeps in the laundry but is free range outside during the day which is exactly how I hoped it would be.

 

He is Tom's best mate.  I love seeing the both of them running around outside together.  Charlie loves his walks in the vineyard and chasing the rabbits if he can spot them.

 

He is (now) a lovely addition to our family.

 

 

 

 

Dulcie May Booker

I received this book (Gran's Kitchen) last Mothers Day and I love it.  It is filled with recipes from the Authors Grandmother - Dulcie May Booker.

It's not only filled with classic, practical and easy to follow recipes - but has pages and pages of beautiful photographs of Dulcie May's life who along with being a homemaker was also a dressmaker and market gardener.

Recipes for hearty breakfasts, morning teas, lunches, afternoon tea treats, dinners and puddings fill this beautiful book.  There are also wonderful glimpses of retro treasures too from the photos taken around Dulcie May's home.

I LOVE this book!

Next on my wishlist are:

Nigella Lawson

I am a very basic cook.  I'm not very adventurous I'm afraid when it comes to cooking and I don't seem to have the patience to follow recipes, although I am getting better.

I tend to use my Slow Cooker over winter a fair bit and now we are coming into summer we tend to use the BBQ alot.

I'm always after quick and easy meal ideas that hopefully all of the family will enjoy.

Although I love my Grans Table book which I received last Mothers Day my sister has recommended the Nigella Lawson cookbooks, in particular Nigella Express and Feast.

I've ordered Nigella Express and am hoping this will give me loads of inspiration.

Can anyone recommend any other cookbooks or recipes that they feel are quick and easy and have worked for their family.

Mr H is a fantastic cook - I would love to show him up with my amazing cooking skills every once in a while!

 

 

 

 

I love weekends

I love weekends.  Now it's getting warmer we are spending more and more time outside.

Also Mr H cooks English Breakfasts on Saturday and Sunday.

I managed to sneak out for a coffee in town on Saturday too.  Love drinking coffee, eating sweet treats and catching up on some magazine reading.

Bliss!