#29 White Chocolate Mud Cake

AWW Top Ten Cakes, cake #2 and it's a chocolate cake that I can eat. I know white chocolate may be anathema to dark chocolate lovers, but beggars can't be choosers and there is a dark chocolate mud cake to come.

This is an easy melt and mix cake with a white chocolate ganche topping. It is a dense cake and takes quite a long time to cook.

White Chocolate Mud Cake serves 12

• 180g good white chocolate
• 350g butter, cubed
• 2 2/3 cups caster sugar
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 2 cups plain flour
• 2/3 cup self raising flour
• 1 tspn vanilla extract
• 3 eggs

Ganache

• 1/3 cup cream
• 200g extra white chocolate

Preheat oven to 160*C (140 fan forced) and grease and line a 22 cm round tin.

Put the chocolate, butter, sugar and milk in a saucepan and melt over a low heat, stirring. Don't let it boil. I removed it before all the chocolate was melted and just stirred it until it was smooth. Cool for about 15 minutes.

Add the eggs and vanilla and then the flours and whisk till smooth. Pour into the tin and then bake for 1 hour and 45 minutes.

Cool the cake in the tin.

To make the ganache, heat the cream till it is almost boiling and then pour over the chocolate. I stood the bowl in some hot water and left it for a few minutes. Then stir till it is smooth. The ganache must then rest, either at room temperature in Winter or in the fridge or a cool place if it is a warm day, for about 30 minutes. Stir regularly, and it is ready when it is thick. Pour onto the top of the cake and then spread out to the edges.

The recipe actually calls for 540g of chocolate and 3/4 cup of cream, and this will be enough to cover the top and sides of the cake.

#28 Lemon Sour Cream Cake

And so it begins, My Australia Women's Weekly Bake-a-thon. I am starting with #2, mainly because I haven't quite got around to making the ganache for #1. I took this cake to afternoon tea at The GardyGardeners'. It is suggested the cake be served with a dusting of icing sugar and some strawberries.

Lemon Sour Cream Cake serves 12

• 250g butter, softened
• 2 tablespoons grated lemon zest
• 2 cups caster sugar
• 6 eggs
• 2 cups plain flour, sifted
• 1/4 cup self raising flour, sifted
• 3/4 cup sour cream

Preheat oven to 160*C or 140*C fan forced.

Grease and line a 25cm tin.

Cream the butter, zest and sugar until it is light and fluffy and pale in colour.

Then beat in the eggs, one at a time. I break each into a little jug first. If any eggshell falls in, use another big piece of eggshell to scoop it out. It really works!!

Fold in half the flours and half the sour cream, and then the remaining flours and sour cream until the mixture is smooth.

Spread the cake mixture into the tin and smooth the top.

Bake for 1 hour and 25 minutes or until a skewer pushed into the centre comes out clean. It will also come away from the edges of the tin.

I checked after 40 minutes and rotated the cake.

Stand the cake in the tin for 10 minutes in the pan and then turn out, upside down, onto a rack to cool completely.

To decorate: lay a doily on top and dust with sifted icing sugar. Carefully remove doily.

#27 Brunchy Fritatta

I saw this recipe recently in a magazine, but I have no idea which one. Indeed, I am just remembering the recipe a bit and checking the photo and general recipes to make sure the proportions are correct!! These were so nice that I ate them in two days: for breakfasts and lunches!!! There was no fresh basil to be had in our town at all last week, so I used parsley and chives instead.

Brunchy Frittata serves 3 or 6 or 2!!!

• 6 slices of pancetta
• 100g feta cheese, cut into tiny cubes
  
• fresh herbs- basil, but I used parsley and chives
  
• 50-100g Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
• 6 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/4 cup milk or cream
• 9 tiny Roma tomatoes, halved
• salt and pepper

This recipe calls for a Texas muffin tin, which means each little pan has a 3/4 cup or 180ml capacity. Preheat oven to 180*C.
The six steps start at the top left and then proceed in a clockwise direction to end at the bottom left!!

1. Place a tiny circle of baking paper in the bottom of each pan and then place one piece of pancetta on top.
   
2. Next put 1/6 of the feta into each.
3. I put two tablespoons of freshly grated Parmesan cheese next.
4. Then a sprinkle of chopped parsley and chives.
5. I whisked the eggs (I always use free range from the greengrocer or deli) with the 1/4 cup cream (or milk) and some salt and pepper and then pour it in evenly.
6. Finally decorate with three of the little Roma halves. And a little extra Parmesan if you like.

Bake for about 20 minutes. The frittata should be just set, but still a tiny bit wobbly in the centre. It will continue cooking and set after it leaves the oven. To release them from the pan, let them sit for about 10 minutes then run a knife around the edge. A plastic bendy implement is good and you can scoop it under each individual frittata and ease them out. These are delicious served straight away with a salad, but I can vouch for their tastiness later on!!!

#26 Raspberry Pudding Cake

I am quite surprised that I have stuck to my Monday Munchies, in sickness and in health, and today I am officially half way through the year. Which is both exciting and scary.

Today I have cooked Nigella's Chocolate Raspberry Pudding Cake. Back when I could eat chocolate and drink coffee this was one of my favourite desserts. What could be better than chocolate and raspberries?? This is also easy-peasy lemon-squeezy: melt and mix and pour into the tin, but it is very impressive. This recipe is from the Delicious Let's Entertain book which I won, with a recipe, from the ABC.

Chocolate Raspberry Pudding Cake serves 8

• 250g good dark chocolate, broken into chunks
• 3/4 cup espresso coffee plus 3/4 cup water OR 370ml hot water and 2 tspn instant coffee
• 250g butter, cubed
  
• 95g light brown sugar
• 95g caster sugar
• optional-2 tbspn Raspberry liqueur
  
• 185g self raising flour, sifted
  
• 3 tbspn cocoa, sifted
  
• 2 eggs, slightly beaten
• 250g raspberries

Preheat the oven to 180*C then grease and line a 22-23cm springform pan and then cover the outside with a layer or two of foil.

Put the chocolate, coffee/water, butter, sugars [and liqueur if using it] into a medium saucepan and melt slowly over a low eat. Stir frequently, if not all the time, till it is melted and glossy.

Stir in the flour and cocoa and then the eggs. Beat well by hand till it is smooth and glossy again. It will be quite runny, but Nigella says that as the chocolate in the pudding cake cools, it will set.

Pour 2 cm of the chocolate mixture into the pan and then pour in the raspberries and then cover with the remaining chocolate mixture. Push any raspberries that pop up back under the batter.

Place in the oven and cook for 40-45 minutes. I like to put it into another pan and add 2 cm of boiling water around the outside, bain-marie style, to help it cook more slowly and gently. That's optional.

After 40-45 minutes you can tell it is cooked when the top is firm all the way to the centre, and dry and slightly cracked. You can't test with a skewer!! It will be very fudgy in the centre.

Cool for 15 minutes in the pan and then turn out and dust with cocoa or icing sugar. Serve with yoghurt(!!) or whipped cream. Good hot, warm and cold.

#25 Pastisto

I won't lie to you, this is not a "Quick, I need something on the table in half an hour" kind of meal. Well, not unless you cook it the day before. This is more of a leisurely weekend kind of meal, but it is one of my favourites. It all started when I was a teenager and the Australian Women's Weekly had a recipe for Greek Spaghetti: pasta topped with a bolognaise and then a bechamel cheese sauce. My mum cooked it regularly and we delighted in her exotic fare!!

I later discovered it was a pale copy of the Greek Pastisto, so here is my cobbled together version.

Pastisto serves 8-10
Pasta

• 300g short macaroni-like pasta
• 1 egg and two egg whites* (see yolks in the sauce!!!)
  
• 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Meat Sauce

• 2 tbspn olive oil
  
• 1 kg lamb mince
• 2 onions, diced
• 3 tbspn tomato paste
• 1 tbspn brown sugar
• salt and pepper
  
• 100ml passata or diced tomatoes
• 1/4 tspn cinnamon
• 1/2 tspn nutmeg
• 3/4 cup white wine or chicken stock

Cheese Bechamel Sauce and Topping

• 100g butter
• 1/2 cup Plain Flour
• 1 litre milk
• 125g grated tasty cheese
• 1/4 tspn nutmeg
  
• 3 egg yolks*
• grated Parmesan cheese

1. Grease a 4 litre casserole dish, mine is rectangular. Cook the pasta according to the directions on the packet. Drain and then add the egg and egg whites and the Parmesan cheese. Cover the base of the dish evenly with the pasta. Set aside.
2. Cook the mince, making sure you break it up well so there are no lumps. Add the onion and cook till browned, about 5 minutes. Add the tomato paste and cook for a further minute or two. Then add the remaining ingredients. Bring to the boil and then simmer for 20 minutes or until the sauce is thickened. Spoon this over the pasta to create a second layer.
3. For the cheese sauce, melt the butter over a low heat, add the flour and cook over a medium heat till it boils. Cook out for 1-2 minutes, stirring well. Then remove from the heat and gradually whisk in the milk a little at a time. I find that heating the milk makes it easier. When the mixture is smooth, put back on a low-medium heat and stir till it boils and thickens. Take off the heat and pour a few tablespoons of the sauce over the egg yolks and whisk furiously. Then gradually pour back into the sauce, along with the grated tasty cheese and nutmeg. Stir till smooth then spoon over the meat layer. Finish with another generous grating of Parmesan cheese.
4. Bake in a 180*C oven for about an hour. It will be golden brown on top. Leave to rest for 15 minutes and then serve.

This freezes very well and it good hot, or cold with a salad. The cold Pastisto cuts into beautiful slices where you can see all the layers!!!This recipe works well if you cook the pasta, and then the meat sauce and while that is simmering away, you make the cheese Bechamel sauce. A very efficient use of your time!!!

#24 Upside Down Rhubarb Cake

Here is a delicious cake using rhubarb. This is a small cake, so it is quick to make and quick to cook. You need about half a bunch or 5-ish stalks of rhubarb. I found this recipe on the old AWW cooking website but I found one like it in one of their books as well.

Upside Down Rhubarb Cake serves 8 ( 4 really!!!)

Topping

• 60g butter
• 3/4 cup brown sugar firmly packed
• 2 cups chopped rhubarb
  

Cake

• 60g butter
• 1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
• 2 eggs
  
• 1 cup Self Raising Flour
• 1 tspn cinnamon
• 1/3 cup sour cream

Preheat oven to 180*C and line a 20cm square or round cake tin with baking paper. I line the base twice.

Put the sugar and butter for the topping in a saucepan and cook over a low heat for 3 minutes or until it is smooth.

Pour into the cake tin, swirl to cover the base and then tip in the rhubarb. Cover the base evenly and set aside.

Cream the butter and sugar for the cake and then add in the eggs, one at a time, beating slowly. Fold in the flour and cinnamon and then the sour cream.

Spread the cake batter over the rhubarb. I dip my spoon into some boiling water before each 'smooth' and I find this helps!!

Bake for 40-45 minutes. The top will be quite brown and the cake will come away from the side of the tin. A skewer will come out clean when the cake is tested.

Rest for 5 minutes and then turn out onto a plate.

Serve with cream, ice cream or custard.

#23 Very Lemony Tartlets

MrsDrWho's Dad really likes lemon and so at tea tonight there were lemon tarts. I cheated and bought the tart cases, frozen. Too many things are happening and I couldn't guarantee nice home made pastry. This is the easiest recipe and it tastes, and looks, pretty fabulous with minimum effort!!

Sometimes I don't want to make enough lemon filling to feed an army, so this is just enough for four people, I think.

Very Lemony Tartlets makes 12

• 12 small lemon tart cases or your own!!
• 1 egg
  
• finely grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
• 1/4 cup caster sugar
• 1 heaped teaspoon of cornflour
• 1 1/2 tablespoons of plain flour
  
• 40g of melted butter, cooled

Cook the tart cases as per instructions and cool. Set oven to 180*C while you make the filling.

Put all ingredients in a bowl and whisk till combined.

That's it. Make sure there are no lumps of flour.

Fill each tart case almost to the brim and then bake for 10-15 minutes. The filling should be set.

Cool for a few minutes to eat warm with cream and a sifting of icing sugar. Or refrigerate for delayed gratification.

#22 Old Fashioned Sausage Rolls

Old fashioned sausage rolls.

Tips and Tricks:

• Buy the best quality mince you can, HeartSmart or 5 Star here. The better the meat, the less fat, the better the finished sausage roll.
• Be prepared to squelch the mixture for a few minutes at least. Wear disposable gloves if you hate the feel of the meat. The more you mix it by hand, the more it emulsifies naturally, in fact you don't usually need to add an egg at all if you are prepared to mix for 5 minutes.
• Preheat the oven and line the tray

Old-fashioned Sausage Rolls makes 16

• 300g best beef mince
• 1 onion, grated or finely chopped
• 1 carrot, peeled and grated
• 1 egg
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup finely chopped fresh parsley or chives or a mixture of your choice
• 2 sheets of puff pastry, thawed
• milk or egg wash for brushing onto the rolls

Preheat the oven to 220*C and line two trays with baking paper.

Place the mince, onion, carrot, herbs, seasonings and egg into a bowl and squelch about, mixing with your hands until you feel the texture of the mince change. It will 'come together' (right now!!) If you don't wish to use an egg, you can mix for about 5 minutes.

Cut each pastry sheet in half, and leave the backing plastic on, if there is any.

Divide the mixture into 4 equal parts and then arrange each part down one long side of the pastry. In a sausage shape. Make sure you go right to the ends, no-one wants a half-empty pastry casing.

Use the plastic backing to help you roll the pastry, quite firmly, around the mince to make a 'roll' and then place seam side down. (Remember to discard the plastic!!)

Cut each roll into four equal parts, brush with milk or egg wash and then prick decoratively with a fork

Arrange on the tray and bake for 20- 25 minutes. Keep an eye on them, I rotate the trays. Peek underneath a roll, lift it up with the edge of a knife, they can catch quite easily. They will be a lovely golden brown when they are cooked.

Then cool for a few minutes and eat, piping hot or cool or cold, with tomato sauce.

These freeze well as cooked rolls, or at the ready to cook stage and really, they are quite healthy and economical to make. 16 sausage rolls at our local bakery cost almost $40.

#21 Pear and Berry Crumble

Pears are at their best in Autumn, and so I thought I would cook a few pear recipes. This week's is a crumble. A crumble is quick to make and very tasty. It can be on the table in about 45 minutes from go to whoa, or you can make it in the morning and just pop it into the oven in the evening.(I would add the crumble topping just before baking) I used Beurre Bosc pears, some Granny Smith apples and frozen mixed berries. I like adding apple because by themselves, pears can be a little bland I feel. You may not. Using fruit in season is also very economical!!! Don't use mixed frozen berries with strawberries. They just don't work.

My recipe is cobbled together from this month's Delicious Magazine and Stephanie Alexander!!

Pear and Berry Crumble serves 4

• 4 to 6 pears, peeled and diced
• 2 Granny Smith apples, peeled and diced
• 600g frozen or fresh mixed berries
• 50g butter
• 1/3 cup caster sugar
• 1-2 tspn cornflour if you like
  

Crumble

• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 150g plain flour
• 90g butter, cubed
• 1 tspn baking powder
• 1 tspn cinnamon

Preheat oven to 180*C.Place butter, sugar and pears and apples in a pan on the stove and cook over a medium heat for about 10 minutes. If you prefer your crumbles to be less runny, you can add a teaspoon or two of cornflour and boil for one minute to thicken the fruit. I didn't.

Make the crumble by sifting the flour and baking powder into a bowl, adding the sugar and cinnamon and then rubbing in the butter with the tips of your fingers. It is ready when it looks like fine breadcrumbs. Shaking the bowl gently will make any lumps of butter rise to the top so you can rub them in.

Pour berries into a 4-6 cup casserole dish or pie plate and then pour over the pear mixture. Cover with the crumble mixture and then place on a tray- to catch any juice that might boil over- and bake for 25-30 minutes. It will be cooked when the crumble is golden brown. I sometimes turn the temperature up to 200*C for the last 5 minutes and keep an eye on it.

Serve with cream, ice cream or custard. I used Ashgrove cream, it is wonderfully thick and from dairy about 40 minutes away from home.

#20 Creamy Brussel Sprouts with Bacon

Today's recipe is not for the faint-hearted. It contains Brussel Sprouts. They are ameliorated with bacon, stock and cream, but since I like them simply steamed with salt, pepper and butter, this is just fruit for the sideboard.

This recipe is in the Winter Family Circle, but I think sprouts are Autumnal. If you buy your Brussel Sprouts at the greengrocer they may be much larger than the magazine assumes and so they take two and a half times longer to cook. If you buy ordinary teeny tiny ones from the supermarket you will be OK.

Creamy Brussel Sprouts with Bacon for 4

• 4 rashers of bacon, chopped (rind removed)
• 1 kg Brussel Sprouts, trimmed and halved*
• 3/4 cup chicken stock
• 1/2 cup thickened cream
• salt and pepper

Fry the bacon in a non-stick pan over a medium/high heat for 3 or 4 minutes until browned, then remove to a plate with kitchen towel to drain. Leave the bacon fat in the pan.

*When you halve the Brussel Sprouts, cut a cross into the base, or even nick out the stem a little, it helps to cook them quickly.

Add the sprouts to the hot pan and cook for 4 minutes, turning two or three times. I start with them all facing one way and then it is easier to make sure you flip them all.

Add the stock and simmer for 5-8 minutes, turning the sprouts a few more times, until they are tender. This is where I found I needed to use more stock and increase the cooking time.

They should be ready when the stock has almost evaporated.At the last moment add the cream, bacon and salt and lots of pepper.

I think it could also have some grated Parmesan cheese on top.

#19 Pasta and Vegetable Soup

Today I made soup. It is a simple soup and I thought it needed something extra so I whipped up some Parmesan and parsley dumplings. They worked very well. (I forgot to wipe the bowl clean, I would be eliminated from MasterChef)

Pasta and Vegetable Soup (with optional dumplings)

• 1 1/2 cups small dry pasta
• 1 brown onion, diced
• 6 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
  
• 4 sticks celery, diced
• 3 carrots, peeled and coarsely grated
• a little oil for frying
• 4 cups stock, chicken or vegetables
  

1. Cook the pasta according to the directions on the packet, drain and set aside.
2. Put the oil in the pan over a medium heat and sauté the onions, garlic and celery for 10 minutes, so the onion is transparent but not browned.
3. Add the stock and carrot and simmer for 8 minutes. Add the cooked pasta and cook for a further 8-10 minutes till the carrot is tender.

Optional dumplings

• 1 cup self raising flour
• 60g butter, diced
  
• 1 egg
• 1-2 tbspn milk
• chopped parsley
• 125g grated Parmesan cheese

Sift the flour into a bowl and rub in the butter using the tips of your fingers. It should be as fine as breadcrumbs. If you give the bowl a shake, any big lumps come to the top. Stir in the grated cheese and parsley.

Make a well in the centre and add the egg and 1 tablespoon of the milk. Swirl to mix and then gradually stir in the flour. It should be not too sticky, not too dry. Add a little more milk if you need.

Roll the dumpling mixture into walnut or ping pong sized balls and drop gently into the boiling soup after Step 2.

#18 Golden Syrup Dumplings

It's very Autumnal here, icy crisp mornings and then sunny warm afternoons that draw slowly in at about 5 o'clock. So I want Golden Syrup Dumplings. I always make twice the sauce, I feel the dumplings need to swim in a puddle of sauce and custard. This recipe is for four people, but I would double the sauce. I was pleasantly surprised to find the dumplings were very light and fluffy: not that I thought they wouldn't be good, but they were extra good!!! You can whip these up in about half an hour too. Perfect.

Golden Syrup Dumplings serves 4

• 1 cup self raising flour
• 60g butter, diced
  
• 1 egg
• 1-2 tbspn milk

Sauce

• 30g butter
• 1 cup caster sugar
• 1 cup boiling water
• 1/4 cup golden syrup

Sift the flour into a bowl and rub in the butter using the tips of your fingers. It should be as fine as breadcrumbs. If you give the bowl a shake, any big lumps come to the top.

Make a well in the centre and add the egg and 1 tablespoon of the milk. Swirl to mix and then gradually stir in the flour. It should be not too sticky, not too dry. Add a little more milk if you need.

Meanwhile put the sauce ingredients into a large saucepan and bring to the boil over a medium heat, stirring every now and then.

Roll the dumpling mixture into walnut or ping pong sized balls and drop gently into the sauce. Boil for 20 minutes and then serve with custard and cream. These also reheat well.

#17 Fish Cakes

Remember the Mashed Potato from MM#15?? I mentioned fish cakes, and voila, here they are!!! I used salmon but any cooked fish you like is perfect. I have also used sweet potato and carrot as part of the mash depending on leftovers. And there are never many leftovers here!! (Two Labradors)

Fish Cakes makes about 18

• mashed potato for 4 or 6
  
• one onion, finely diced
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley
• salt and pepper to taste
• zest and juice of 1/2 a lemon
• 415g tin of salmon drained* and flaked
  
• two eggs, beaten**
• breadcrumbs
• oil/butter for frying

*It is better for one's health to add all the bones and skin, but I hate the bones and skin: and so I don't.

** You can add an extra egg to the potato mixture, but with refrigeration the mixture holds its shape and stays together when frying.

Start with cool mashed potato and add the parsley, salmon, lemon juice and zest. If you prefer, you can lightly sauté the onion, and I do, and then add it to the potato mixture. Gentle fold together so as not to break up the fish too much. Use a wet 1/4 cup measure and scoop out the fish cakes. Place on a tray and refrigerate for about 30 minutes.

Lightly beat the eggs, you may add a little water or milk and use just one egg if you like. Dip each cake lightly into the egg and then roll in the breadcrumbs. Refrigerate again for about 30 minutes or over night. They can be frozen at this point.

Heat the oil/butter over a medium heat and pop the fish cakes in. Cook for 4-5 minutes each side. Drain on paper towel and then serve with a salad or vegetables and mayonnaise. A wedge of lemon does just fine here too. The cooked cakes can be frozen as well. They are very versatile!!

#16 ANZAC Biscuits

Next Sunday is ANZAC Day, the 25th of April, and so I have baked ANZAC Biscuits. Not cookies, never cookies. It is against the law to call them cookies. Really. I never bake any kind of cookies, I always bake biscuits!!

I have baked two kinds on ANZAC Biscuits: one with coconut and one without. I like the one without much better, it must be like the recipe my mum used to make. The recipe tastes too salty for me, perhaps more salt was added to preserve the biscuits?? They do need some salt though.

One year my class researched and found out that in actual fact Hard Tack biscuits were sent to the troops. These biscuits were also know as ANZAC Tiles or Wafers. We cooked some, and ANZACs as well, and then pinned them to the wall in a plastic bag for weeks and weeks. The hard tack was still hard and edible. The ANZACs looked reasonably OK, but we were loath to eat them in case they were bad!!

The method/cooking time is the same for both biscuits, so I will list the ingredients for both recipes and then the Method.

ANZAC Biscuits - recipe with coconut makes about 36

• 125g butter
• 2 tbspn Golden Syrup

• 1 tbspn boiling water
  
• 1 tspn bicarb soda (Baking Soda in the US I think)

• 1 cup rolled oats
  
• 1 cup plain flour
  
• 1 cup desiccated coconut
• 1/2 cup caster sugar
• 1/2 tspn salt (recipe says 1 tspn)

ANZAC Biscuits- without coconut (my preferred recipe) makes about 16

• 90g butter
• 1 tspn Golden Syrup

• 1 tbspn boiling water
• 1 tspn bicarb soda

• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1/2 cup plain flour
• 1/2 cup caster sugar
• 1/4 tspn salt (recipe says 1 tspn)

METHOD - preheat oven to 175*C

• Gently melt butter in a pan and then add the Golden Syrup and stir. Remove from heat.
• Put the bicarb soda in a small bowl and pour over the boiling water. Add immediately to the butter mixture. It will foam up slightly.
• Place all the dry ingredients in a bowl and mix thoroughly. Make a well in the centre.
• Pour the butter mixture into the dry and then mix till combined. You have to mix well, because some flour and oats always hides at the bottom.
• Roll into tablespoon sized balls and place on a lined tray and press down gently with the back of the fork. The second recipe was wetter and so I just scooped out with a tablespoon full and rolled lightly. These also spread, so I only put 8 on the tray and that was perfect.
• Bake for 16 minutes, swapping trays halfway through. Check at 12 minutes just in case.
• Cool on trays for 5 minutes especially for the second recipe, they need to cool and 'set'
• Store in a sealed container.

You can, in a totally apocryphal way, add choc chips, or ginger or even spread the base of the cooled biscuits with melted chocolate!! I don't.

#15 Delicious Mashed Potato

I am a working family's dream. I will happily eat the same thing for tea every night for a week. My latest fad is grilled pork cutlet chop, gravy, local apple sauce, peas, local mint jelly, carrot batons and mashed potato.

On the other side of the world they are all gleefully starting to eat new potatoes, but as we gently fade into Autumn, I look for the starchy white fleshed potatoes to mash. And that's what I am cooking today: mashed potatoes.

Our local green grocer has quite a selection of potatoes and today I chose Kennebecs, but you should check locally to see what's best in your area. We are spoiled for choice. So here's how I make mashed potatoes.

Delicious Mashed Potato serves 4

• 800g mashing potatoes
• 1/3 cup hot milk - 30 secs in the microwave
  
• 40g butter
• salt, pepper
  
• garlic clove crushed, chives snipped

Peel your potatoes and then rinse and cut into cubes, I actually cut wedge shapes about 3 cm long. Place into the pan and then just cover with COLD water. This is very important because it allows the potato to cook evenly, otherwise the hot water cooks the outside too quickly and makes them crumbly. Add a pinch of salt. Place on the stove and bring to the boil. Once boiling, put the lid on the saucepan and turn the heat down so the water is just simmering. (I added a crushed clove of garlic for some extra flavour)

Check progress at about 15 minutes by sticking a knife or fork into a large piece of potato. It should be tender but not falling apart. Generally it takes 20 minutes. Drain the potatoes and then put back on the stove for a minute or two to make sure that the potatoes are dry, shake the pan a little to help it along. (Remove the garlic, or you can squeeze the flesh out and add it)

Roughly mash the potatoes and then add the hot milk and butter. Mash till all combines and then fluff by whipping with a fork. Serve with a scattering of chives, or add some Parmesan cheese, blue cheese, crispy bacon, the sky's the limit really. My plate shows one serve.

You can use the left overs to make some yummy fish cakes. Just add some finely chopped onion, an egg and some tuna or salmon. Form into cakes and refrigerate for about 30 minutes and then dip in egg and breadcrumbs and fry till crisply brown. Yum!!!

#14 TimTam Pops

Bakerella, she of the Cake Pops, also made some sort of Oreo Pop. I can't find it, but today I present TimTam Pops, and Mint Slice Pops. I can't taste them because they are chocolate, but they look pretty edible!!! I may try my hand at some Cake Pops before too long.

TimTam/Mint Slice Pops

• 1 packet of TimTams or Mint Slice or other chocolate biscuit
• 65g cream cheese (Philly)
• 300g more or less of chocolate, to be melted
• pop sticks, I cut some satay skewers

In your blender, whizz up the biscuits until they are crumbs and then add the cream cheese and whizz some more till it is all combined. Place in the fridge. When cold, cut into cubes of desired proportions, roll into balls. Insert sticks and refrigerate till 'set'. The dip into the melted chocolate and they are done!! I topped the Mint Slice Pops with a little crushed peppermint lolly. I poked holes in some polystyrene and then stood up all the pops to dry.

Peri Naughty and Lorelai Gilmore were stalking the photo-shoot.

I wonder why???

#13 Red Velvet Cupcakes

I had oft heard tales told of the Red Velvet Cupcake, but I had never seen or tasted one in real life. Sadly, there was no tasting as the cake has cocoa, but MrsDrWho inhaled the smell of the freshly cooked cakes and declared them delicious without even taking a bite. After a bite? Agree(1000)!!!

Also, gird your loins, because this is post #13,. It's not triskaidekaphobia, it's the fact that we are one quarter of the way through the year already, and I have stuck to my Monday Munchies for thirteen weeks.

For more Red Velvet Cupcake action, look here!!

Red Velvet Cupcakes makes about 20

• 125g butter
• 300g caster sugar (1 1/3 cups)
  
• 2 eggs
• 250ml buttermilk
• 30ml red food colouring*
• 1 tspn vanilla extract
• 1 tspn bicarb soda
  
• 3 tspn white vinegar
• 250g plain flour (1 2/3 cups)
• 30g very good cocoa powder

• 500g cream cheese (Philly)
• 125g butter
• 500g pure icing sugar, sifted
• 1 tspn vanilla extract
  

Preheat the oven to 180*C and line two 12 hole muffin trays with paper cases.Cream the butter and sugar and add the eggs, buttermilk, food colouring and vanilla and beat till combined. Stir in the bicarb soda and vinegar and then the flour and cocoa.Spoon into the paper cases and bake for 20-25 minutes, They will be cooked when the top springs back when pressed lightly, and the cake has shrunk from the edge of the tin.Cool on a rack and then ice when the cakes are cold..

To make the icing, soften the butter and cream cheese, add the vanilla and beat till smooth and fluffy. Slowly add the icing sugar. Whip till it looks like frosting.

*Some recipes say Cochineal, other red food colouring. I could only buy Pillar Box Red and so that's what I used.

#12 White Chocolate Scones

The Afternoon Tea-ish theme continues this week with scones, but not just any scones, these are the kind of scones I have always been fearful to try: Lemonade scones. However, seeing the recipe in this month's Delicious magazine gave me pause, so I decided to chance my cooking arm!! Beware though, these scones are big, big and fluffy and as light as air. MrsDrWho's only complaint is that there were mouthfuls without white chocolate, so I think more than doubling the chocolate content is warranted.

White Chocolate Scones -makes 8 large scones

• 3 cups self-raising flour
  
• 1 cup lemonade
• 1 cup thin pure cream
• 50g white chocolate-MrsDrWho thinks 150g to get some with each bite
  
• 50 ml cream extra
• strawberry jam for serving

Preheat oven to 190*C and line a tray with baking paper.Sift the flour into a bowl, make a well in the centre and add the cream, lemonade and chocolate. Stir with a knife and then bring together with your hands. Don't really knead, be gentle!!Turn out onto a floured surface and roll or press out to2.5cm thickness. Here I deviated from the recipe, they said to cut out eight round scones with a 5cm cutter, but I made a disc shaped dough and then cut it into eight wedges. Use the extra cream to brush the top of each scone. When I make these again I will make 12 or 16 from the same mixture.

Place carefully on the tray and bake for about 12 minutes, or until risen and golden. Cool on a wire rack and then serve dusted with icing sugar, filled with jam and maybe a dollop of cream on the side. MrsDrWho ate hers plain, and I tasted one too, I can eat these, and they were truly delicious!!!