Honey, passion fruit and sour cream cup cakes

2 cups plain flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

3 eggs

220g butter

1 cup caster sugar

About 4 passion fruits, pulp

70ml milk

2 tablespoons honey

1 cup sour cream

Preheat oven – 180 deg.

Whip butter and sugar together, til light and fluffy – add eggs slowly. Beat again between each.

Add in sour cream, honey, passion fruit and milk. Stir in.

Cook for 15-20 mins. Cool. I put on some cream, lemon thyme and vanilla. Mmmm.

Pumpkin, date and almond cup cakes/muffins

Sounds odd, but this is a very lovely combination. It actually tastes more like carrot cake than anything else. I whacked on some cream and a dash of maple, too.

400g pumpkin, cooked + mashed

2 cups self raising flour

1 teaspoon bi-carb soda

1 teaspoon all-spice

2 eggs

1 cup chopped dates

½ cup finely chopped almonds

Cook/steam pumpkin (I used the microwave) until soft. Mash, then cool.

Add all the other ingredients, then the mash. Mix well.

Put into the paddy cups (or you can make a big 'ol cake) and bake in a 160-180 oven for about 15mins. Easy.

*Special thanks to Mr.N for the cup cake holders :)

Thai Coconut Sticky Rice with Mango

Yeah yeah - another sticky rice recipe...But this one I have had to perfect over the years. It's something you really have to experiment with, otherwise it can turn out too gluggy/too dry and overall really awful. I use the microwave (I know right...), but it is definitely the best way, trust me (and the quickest way).

2 cups glutinous rice (Thai brand)

cold water

1 can 400ml coconut milk

1 tablespoon of salt

1 tablespoon of sugar

mangoes

mint

Rinse the rice several times with water, until it runs clear.

Cover rice with water - about a cm above.

Cook on high for about 10mins.

When the water is absorbed, place coconut milk, sugar and salt in a saucepan and gently heat (don't boil).

Add to the rice and mix.

Top with mangoes and mint.

You may have to add more salt/sugar to your taste. I like it quite salty, so yeah...

Caramel pear upsidedown cake with vanilla cream, walnut shards and cherries

I love upsidedown cakes. I got this recipe from here, but again, changed it a little. Turned out really well - it's a good light batter, which rose beautifully.

For the bottom:
2 medium firm-ripe pears
1 recipe basic caramel sauce
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces

For the cake
6-3/4 oz. (1-1/2 cups) unbleached all-purpose flour
1-3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon table salt
1/2 cup whole milk
1-1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 cup packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs

For the caramel:

1/4 cup water

1 cup sugar (white)

1/4 teaspoon lemon juice

Mix altogether in a heavy saucepan, careful not to touch the sides with the sugar (this will make it crystalise and it won't work!). Use a cup of water with a pastry brush, and brush the sides of the saucepan every now and then to get rid of the sugar if it comes up the sides. Simmer on medium-high for about 8 mins – maybe more, depends on your stove top. DO NOT STIR ! When it starts to brown, give it a little swirl so it doesn't cook in one spot. Once it's brown, poor some on a tray with the crushed walnuts, and the rest add the butter and whisk. Pour over the pear at the bottom on the ramekins. Whack the walnut toffee in the fridge.

Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 190 degrees. Butter and line small ramekins or a big cake pan – whatever you like.

Make the topping:

Peel, core, and cut the pears lengthwise into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Arrange the pear slices on the bottom of the pan in a circle around the edge, overlapping them slightly, with the pointed ends towards the center. If necessary, cut a little off the pointed ends to make the slices fit better. Or if the pear slices don't reach all the way to the middle, arrange a few of the shorter slices in the center to cover the bottom of the pan.

Make the basic caramel sauce according to the directions. Immediately remove the pan from the heat and whisk in the 4 Tbs. of butter one piece at a time, until they are completely melted. Carefully pour the hot caramel evenly over the pears (it should spread over the pears and onto the bottom of the pan).

Make the cake batter:

Sift the flour, baking powder, ginger, cinnamon, and salt into a medium bowl. Stir to combine. In a small bowl, stir together the milk and vanilla.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 1 minute.Turn the mixer to medium and slowly add the brown sugar. Increase the speed to high and continue to mix until lightened in texture and color, 2 to 3 minutes total. Reduce the speed to medium and add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.

Reduce the speed to low and alternate adding the flour mixture and milk mixture in five additions, beginning and ending with the flour. Mix each addition just enough to incorporate, as overmixing will lead to a tougher cake. Scrape down the sides of the bowl one last time and mix briefly to blend well.

Bake the cake:

Spoon the batter in large dollops over the pears and smooth it into an even layer with an offset spatula. Bake the cake until the top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 35 to 45 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes. Run a knife around the edge of the pan. Turn a cake plate upside down on top of the cake pan and, using pot holders, carefully invert the cake pan onto the plate.

Green tea cupcakes with vanilla honey cream

Easy, easy green tea cupcakes - got the idea for this recipe from here, but halved it and changed it a little.

1/2 cup of butter

1 cup of sugar (raw)

1 large egg + 1 egg yolk

1 and 1/2 cups plain flour

1 teaspoon of baking powder

pinch of salt

3/4 cup milk

1 tablespoon green tea powder

vanilla pod

cream

honey

1. Cream butter, add sugar until light/fluffy

2. Add eggs, one at a time.

3. Sift in flour, baking powder, salt

4. Mix green tea powder with the milk

5. Add to dry mix + the butter/sugar mix

6. Pour into cupcake patty pans - cook for around 15-20mins on 180 degree cent.

I split the vanilla pod, scrapped it out and whacked it in with the cream and some honey (teaspoon). Whisked it up, and dolloped it on top. Great tasting cupcakes, esp. with a cup of green tea itself.

Pasta Pasta Pasta

First thing's first: GO AND BUY A PASTA MACHINE. It will cost you around 20 dollars for an ok one, and about 80-100 for a nice nice nice one. Either way, it is well worth getting - you will not regret it.

I think I promised some people my fresh pasta recipe, so here it is.

For a regular, 4-6 person lasagne ( or 3 servings of fresh fettuccine/spaghetti), use the following quantities:

1 cup of plain flour

I tablespoon of olive oil

1 egg

(good) pinch of salt

Cold, cold water (depends on temp of air, flour used – add as needed)

Add all ingredients together in a bowl, and roll together til they form a loose dough. Turn out onto a board and knead for a good 8-10 mins, or until a). it bounces back when pressed, or b). is silky and pliable.

Refrigerate for at least 20 mins. Cut up into 4 (ish) equal sections and begin to run through setting 7 on your pasta machine. Run it through 7 a few times, then take it down gradually til you get to about setting 2 ( I use 2 - setting 1 is kind of thin and doesn’t really cook as well). Make sure to flour your machine AND the dough between rolling. Lay out the rolled pasta sheets on a damp tea towel, or else a floured surface. It should cook in 3-4 mins in a pan of boiling water, or about 30 mins as part of a lasagne.

Earl grey cupcakes with maple cream, orange zest and thyme

I have been trying to find a great earl grey tea cake recipe for ages, so decided to create my own.

I have used a basic cake base (see below) which is my fail-safe, fall-back-on cake base I've been using for years, and added some earl grey tea infused water and milk, and maple vanilla cream. I have fresh thyme growing in my garden, so thought it might add another element of earthiness to the cakes along with the tea. I also have rosemary growing too, but was unsure whether it might be a little too overpowering. I also grated some orange zest over it too, to go with the earl grey bergamot flavour. Don't add any earl grey tea leaves to the cakes – I find them gritty and they ultimately take away from the delicate tea taste.

Basic cake recipe

• 2 Earl Grey tea bags

• 60ml (1/4 cup) boiling water

• 80ml (1/3 cup) milk

• 100g butter, at room temperature

• 2 eggs

• 160g (2/3 cup) caster sugar

• 190g (1 1/4 cups) self-raising flour

Preheat oven to 180c and place 24 cupcake patty pans into a tray.

Infuse the tea with the water for 3 mins, discard teabag and add milk.

Add the tea mixture to the flour, butter, eggs, and sugar, and beat on low for 2 mins then medium for 2 mins.

Add to patty pans, cook for around 20 mins, but check after about 18.

Allow to cool, then dollop on the cream, thyme and orange rind.

Cream

• 1 cup of cream

• 1 tablespoon of maple syrup

• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

Whip all together until soft peaks form. Grate orange zest and place thyme leaves on top.