5min Chocolate Cake

No joke right. This cake takes 5mins to make. And that includes cooking time. How you ask? Put all the ingredients in a mug and nuke it for 1 min 30 seconds (depending on your microwave).

I got the recipe from here, but below is my slightly altered version.

Ingredients:
4 Tablespoons self raising flour
4 Tablespoons sugar
2 Tablespoons cocoa
1 Egg
3 Tablespoons milk
3 Tablespoons oil (I used vegetable oil)
1-2 Tablespoons of chocolate pieces
1 Mug

Instructions:
Mix flour, sugar and cocoa
Spoon in 1 egg
Pour in milk and oil, and mix well
Sprinkle pieces of chocolate on the top
Put in microwave for 1 minute and 30 seconds. If that's not enough give it another 30 seconds.
Eat straight from the mug or tip it out onto a plate


The original recipe doesn't have chocolate pieces in it but I think it's better to add some. The first time I made this I used Lindt 70% dark chocolate and the second time I used chopped up milky way - both worked a treat. Also, a scoop of ice cream or a squirt of cream really adds to it too. But seriously, you don't need all that. Especially if it's late at night and you want a chocolate cake fix but can't be bothered baking a full one, this is perfect. So simple and easy and you don't have to wait around the oven for 30mins to get a slice of chocolate cake - five mins is all it takes....5 MINUTES....go make one now!

White Wings Lemon Cheesecake

So far the best tasting packet/box mix I have made. And I don't normally like cheesecake (which might be why I enjoyed this one, who knows). It even looked like the one on the box (a first for me).

It was so easy to make. Add butter to the biscuit mixture (provided) and press it out evenly around the tin. Add milk to the cream powder (provided) and mix to make the main part of the cheesecake and finally add hot water to the lemon jelly powder (provided) for the topping. Then bung it in the fridge for an hour.

I would definitely buy this and make it again (I bought it on special for $3.50 but I think it's normally around $5)....still, how cheap is that!

Happy 4th Birthday, Jordan!

It was my neice's birthday on the weekend so the family got together to celebrate with her. She's a little too young to have a full blown kids party with all the screaming children, pass the parcel, pin the tail, red light green light, or jumping castles, farm animal themes or the worst ever would be a hired clown! No, that's saved for next year when she's in big school and has friends apart from her cousins.

And since it was more a party for adults, we got to have adult food (no fairy bread or baby frankfurts in sight!). Here's the menu:

Firstly, check out the awesome No. 4 cake. A great job by Chhay (she's really getting good at doing the numbers) and beautifully decorated by Aunty Amra. Butter cake with butter cream icing.....yum!

BBQ prawns

Tray of meat - sausages, chops, steaks...

Prawn Cutlets

Fried Rice - Chhay's mum made this and it was so tasty. Must remember to ask for the recipe

Creamy Mushroom and Bacon Pasta - Amra's pasta is always a hit. I can never make it as good as her. She somehow has that magic touch....this was sooooooo good!

Grilled Vegetable Salad with Pine Nuts - my contribution for the party (recipe provided below)

Jap Chae (Korean Potato Noodle Salad) - My mum made this and it was very nice

And here's the birthday girl! Sorry the photo is dark but I just love her expression whilst we are singing "happy birthday" to her. First time in 4 years she didn't cry during the song hahahaha!

And the recipe for my grilled vegetable salad:

150g baby spinach leaves

2 sweet potatoes

1 eggplant

3 zucchinis

1 capsicum

Large handful of mushrooms

100g pine nuts

1. Wash and drain the spinach leaves and place them in the bowl you will serving from

2. Peel and cut the sweet potato into thin slices (about 2mm)

3. Place the slices of sweet potato onto a hot gridle pan (or in my case I use my George Forman Grill) - cook for at least 3mins on each side

4. While the sweet potato is cooking, prepare the rest of the vegetables (wash, peel, cut)

5. After each batch is cooked, place them on a plate to cool

6. When the vegetables are all done, toast the pine nuts

7. Layer the vegetables on top of the spinach, with the pine nuts on last.

8. Serve with your choice of dressing the the side (I like to use caramelised balsamic vinegar)

Note: I always cook the sweet pototo and eggplant first because they take the longest. And with the capsicum or mushrooms you don't even need to cook them if you don't want to. It's all personal preference.

The longest this salad took me to prepare was 2 hours , the fastest was maybe an hour. It seems like a simple recipe but it takes so much time. Still it's my favourite salad.

Homemade Pizza

Pizza was not meant to be easy to make, at least this recipe proved to be so. It's not as though it's particularly hard, it's just fiddly and messy and time consuming. The waiting of the dough to rise is the most painful part really. And sometimes it doesn't turn out because maybe the temperature in the air wasn't right that day, or you didn't knead it long enough. And some people are particular about the thickness of the dough. I prefer mine thicker, whereas my husband likes it thin....so we try to do an in-between which doesn't always work either. I think that it just means I have to practice more. Also, this recipe provided instructions to make our own pizza sauce (normally we would just smear on a tub of tomato paste) so that also added to the preparing/cooking time.

Once you get the dough out of the way though it's plain sailing. Choose the ingredients you want as the topping, chop it up and chuck it on. You can make it as healthy or unhealthy as you like.

For the Pizza recipe click here.

White Wings Vanilla Cupcakes

I don't know anyone apart from my brother who doesn't like cupcakes. I think they are the perfect sweet to eat. They are individual mini cakes....perfect size, you can eat them with one hand (whilst blogging/facebooking/twitting with the other), come in so many varieties, etc. So it came as a surprise when he said he liked these. And from a box too.

The secret was to take them out a little sooner than the suggested cooking time. This made it more moist and just that little bit softer. Loved them...I could have eaten 4 in one sitting but I stopped at 2. The only thing about it was they didn't provide enough icing mix.

And judging by this photo, I think Keane loved it too. People say he's got my big mouth....hmmmm

Vietnamese Tomato Rice (Com Sot Ca Chua)

This is my version of the tomato rice you get when you order Crispy Skin Chicken or Pork Chops from the Vietnamese restaurants.

It's a good way to use up left over rice and very simple to make. I sometimes make it just as a snack in between meals. Yeah, no tea and biscuits for me, give me a bowl of rice/noodles or a pie or a slice of pizza thanks!

Bren's version of Tomato Rice:
2 eggs
3 cups of cooked rice
2 Tables spoons peanut oil
2 cloves of garlic (crushed)
3 Tablespoons tomato paste
Teaspoon of sugar

1. While the oil is heating in the pan, crack and mix the eggs in a bowl.
2. Once the pan is hot enough, pour the egg mixture in and cook (I prefer to scramble my eggs, but you can always cook it as an omlette and then transfer onto the chopping board to cut up neatly)
3. Add more oil in the pan and heat (on high), add crushed garlic and cook slightly, then add the cooked rice.
4. Once the rice is heated through (2-3mins), add the tomato paste and sugar and toss it really well.
5. Finally add the cooked egg tossing it through, serve immediately.

Serves 3 people as a side dish

Burwood Food and Wine Festival

I prayed for the rain to hold off so I could go get myself some Gozleme and Dutch pancakes....and lucky me, my prayers were answered.

I was so thrilled that the weather was good enough for us to enjoy some food, free minature train rides and I was even lucky enough to catch Janelle Bloom do her cooking demonstration woo hoo!

Hi Janelle! Thanks for the recipes

Communal dining tables (with white tablecloths, how swish!)

Chocolate dipped strawberries ($3.50 each)

Seafood Paella

Gozleme (Cheese, Spinach and Beef - $9.00)

Dutch pancakes (fresh strawberries with home made strawberry jam - $8.00)

A great day out for families or anyone who appreciates wine or food. Can't wait till Burwood Spring Festival!