Lemon and pistachio cupcakes

Fresh lemon cupcakes with pistachios.
Spring seems to have settled in properly now, in fact it feels more like summer this week. Sunny skies, short sleeves and (ah-choo!) hay fever – happy days! Except for that last point, hay fever – feel free to be on your way any time now. That biting morning chill that we became accustomed to in the winter months has all but gone and the promise of a glorious summer is quite literally in the air.

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Nutella and peach braid

I may have overdone it this time… dieters, look away now! I was recently invited to participate in a Mystery Box Challenge, and last week when I received my hamper full of tempting ingredients from the lovely folks at Today I just had to squeeze them all into my dish.

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Walnut, pecan and cranberry cake

A few years ago on my birthday I visited the Cape Town Good Food Show where I was fortunate to meet Gordon Ramsay. Gosh, as I sit here listening to the washing machine whirring away in the background, princess stickers strewn on the floor under my desk and my baby boy napping down the passage, going to shows and meeting celebs seems like another lifetime! Gordon was doing a book signing and this is where I picked up a copy of “World Kitchen”. The book is a collection of recipes from all over the world including France, China and America. It is one my favourites in my collection and everything I have tried so far has been delicious.

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Chocolate, walnut and cranberry brownies

Last Sunday the 18th of May was World Baking Day, and I was invited by Stork to pledge to bake for someone special. About a week later two friendly chefs arrived at my door bearing a hamper filled with all the ingredients I would need to make a batch of delicious chocolate brownies to mark the day. I thought this was a fantastic idea and was more than happy to get involved (although it doesn’t take much to convince me to bake!).

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A birthday celebration and carrot cake with cream cheese frosting

I started this blog a year ago, with the intention of sharing my favourite recipes and kitchen adventures. I had been mulling over the idea of having a food blog for quite some time before this, but kept putting it off thinking that no-one would read it, or that I would run out of things to write out. I am pleased, and relieved, to say that neither of those things has happened…in fact, little did I anticipate the adventure that lay ahead when I published my first recipe one year ago.

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Sugar and spice Christmas pecans

 
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas… the tree is up, the presents are wrapped, the Christmas album has been loaded onto the iPod (a necessity) and I have a stash of these in the cupboard – crunchy, candied Christmas pecans!

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Pecan, almond and honey nougat

 
A few weeks ago I announced that the “I Made It” challenge for October would be nougat. This is something that I have always wanted to try, especially when I see images of perfect slabs of nougat in magazines and recipe books or fresh nougat bars in our local delis. So when Tandy over at Lavender and Lime asked me to host the challenge this month I knew this was my chance to challenge myself to master this classic sweet treat.

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Double chocolate almond meringues

I whipped these up a while ago when I found myself sitting with a few extra egg whites leftover from a batch of fresh pasta I had made. The perfect excuse to make meringues! Not just any meringues, no no… but an extra special version with dark chocolate and crunchy almonds. They were so delicious that I have made them several times since. Continue reading “Double chocolate almond meringues”