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I'm busy working on something very exciting...details to follow very soon :-)

Sugarpaste

I finally made proper sugarpaste that moulded into decent shapes. It's like clay - so much fun to use and experiment with.

And the result...

Not perfect but an awesome start :-). It tasted awesome too...

Cheese cupcakes

I love love loooove baked cheesecake. Cheese cupcakes are just a cute way to enjoy it

Ingredients

• 40g butter
• 160g coconut biscuits
• 150g cream cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence
• 1/4 cup cream
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 85g sugar

Method

• Preheat oven to 180C
• Place 21 cupcake cases in your muffin baking tray
• Melt butter in the microwave, crush the biscuits and mix well. Spoon approximately 3/4 of a spoon into each cupcake case. Using a spoon, press mix into the case. Bake for approximately 8 to 10mins
• In a bowl, beat the cream cheese, sugar flour egg and vanilla essence until smooth and fluffy. Stir in the cream and mix gently until smooth
• I poured my mix into a milk jar which made it easy to pour into the cupcake cases. Fill each case to the brim and bake for approximately 20 - 30 minutes
• Once cooked, allow to cool before enjoying

 
Recipe adapted from Cakes by Callie Maritz and Mari-louis guy

Old school baby

The idea of a whistling kettle used to irritate me. Now that I've bought one of my own, I think it's kinda cute... :-)

Whoopie hearts

This American cake sandwich is so much fun to make and eat. It apparently has Amish roots which can be traced as far back as 1925.

Ingredients

• 100g unsalted butter
• 100g caster sugar
• 2 small eggs
• 125g self-raising flour
• 25g cocoa powder
• 2 tablespoons milk

filling

• 125g white marshmallows
• 50ml milk
• 125g unsalted butter

Method

• Preheat your oven to 180C
• Brush your silicone moulds with vegetable oil
• In a bowl, cream the butter and sugar until fluffy
• Add and mix well
• Add the flour, cocoa powder and milk and mix well
• Using 2 teaspoons, spoon the batter into the moulds and bake for 10 to 12 minutes
• Remove from moulds and allow to cool
• Melt marshmallows and milk in a pot. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly
• Add the butter until you get a smooth consistency
• Allow to cool before filling the hearts
• Dust with icing sugar and enjoy :-)

Recipe courtesy of Baked and Delicious

Amaskopas

I bought a pack of amaskopas and thoroughly enjoyed them. In case you are wondering what these are, take a look at the pic below.

Every black person of colour over the age of 20 that I know has very fond memories of this township delicacy.

The best and most comprehensible way to describe them: a really inferior yet colorful derivative of popcorn. They also have a slight sweetness to them. And, they can be a little chewy, depending on their 'freshness'.

Not sure how these things are made (like most things, I probably wouldn't eat them again if I knew)

They're enjoyable nonetheless.

Jacobs Kronung pop-up restaurant

My buddy and I visited the new Jacobs Kronung pop-up restaurant in Parkhurst. What a super experience. Coffee, muffins and board games are free[yes, free] and the setting is just too cool. They even have a cute little garden with faux grass.

One of the waitresses said the property is actually an art gallery and that Jacobs will be using the spot until the end of August [their bit to keep the masses warm and entertained during winter]. Awesome :-)

We even managed to fit in a game of Jenga.

Definitely worth a visit

69 11th street
Parkhurst

Some kind of blue

After much deliberation and careful consideration, I finally took the plunge and purchased my very first Le Creuset pot. This is their new blue range called Marseille.


It's some kind of blue - not quite as dark as their Cobalt blue but also not as light as the Caribbean blue. It's somewhere in the middle and suits me just fine.

I got home, unpacked it, placed it on the stove and just stared at it for while...I think it's a similar feeling one gets after giving birth and bringing their new bundle of joy home for the first time. Pure joy! :-)

So I made a chicken paella. To be honest, I really didn't care much for the food but was more fascinated by the pot. My Marseille [Le big smile]

Ebony and ivory

Live together in perfect harmony :-)

I made a yummy chocolate and vanilla dessert today. It was so much work though so I really felt I earned ever mouthful in the end :-)

CHOCOLATE SAUCE

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup of cocoa
• 2 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1 tsp vanilla essence

Method

• Bring all the ingredients to the boil in a saucepan for approximately 2 minutes

CAKE

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups self raising flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup milk
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 3/4 cup cocoa
• 80g margarine

Method

• Preheat your oven to 180C and lightly grease 2 pans
• Add butter and sugar in a bowl and mix well
• Add the flour, eggs, vanilla essence and milk and mix
• Pour half of the mix in one of the prepared baking pans
• Add the cocoa to the left over batter, mix well and pour into the second pan
• Bake for approximately 25 minutes
• Once cakes have cooled, take them out the pans and place on a chopping board
• Using a cooking cutter, cut out a few shapes (I got six out of each cake)
  

• I started with the vanilla first and then added a bit of the chocolate sauce and then did the same with the chocolate cake

• Another layer of vanilla cake and chocolate sauce
• I iced the entire thing with creamed cottage cheese and icing sugar and dusted with cocoa powder
  
  

Cauliflower mash

This recipe is a slight variation of the one I found on the Food Network

Ingredients

• 1 large head of cauliflower (cleaned and chopped)
• butter
• 2 medium sized potatoes (peeled and sliced)
• 1/4 cup of parmesan cheese
• parsley (chopped finely)
• salt and pepper

Method

• Boil cauliflower and potatoes in a medium sized pot and cook until tender (it should take approximately 15 mins)
• Add the butter (I used quite bit to make it a little rich) and mash
• Add the parmesan, parsley and pepper
• Add salt if necessary

It went down well with my chicken stew

Baker's block

I've had baker's block [writer's block for bakers] for the past few weeks and it has been rather painful. Today was the first time in a while that I've been really inspired to make something just for the hell of it. So I made cornbread :-)

Ingredients:

• 2.5 cups self raising flour (you'll need more for kneading)
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• teaspoon of herbs (I used oreganum and parsley)
• 3/4 cup buttermilk
• 2 eggs
• pinch of salt
• 3/4 cup canned corn

Method

• Preheat oven to 160C
• In a large bowl, sift the flour and salt
• add the mixed herbs
• In a separate bowl, mix the eggs, corn and buttermilk together
• Add this to the flour and mix well (I kneaded the bread for a few minutes until the dough was a smooth texture
• Roll into a ball and place on a greased baking sheet
• Bake for approximately 40 minutes

I had mine with a chunky beef and veggie soup. I died and came to with a smile... :-)

Agreed

Oyster, food and wine festival

Something happened this past weekend. I fell in love... with oysters! :-) :-)

The festival took place in Randburg this past weekend and was a little overwhelming. There were just too many people all a little too excited to be enjoying the slimy delicassy. We soldiered on nonetheless.


I've had oysters a few times before and never took a liking to them. I kept consuming them though, hoping I'd acquire the taste but it never happened. Not until this weekend :-). A bit of salt, pepper, Tobasco sauce and vinegar did the trick.

I must say though that I didn't enjoy them quite as much Kea did. She was all giddy, jumping up and down - in oyster heaven for sure. It really was quite a site and so cute to watch.

Dessert, as always, was the highlight. The Cupcake Lady was one the of busiest people at the festival and we soon discovered why. She had these gorgeous profiteroles and berries in a gooey chocolate sauce.
 
 
 

 
We each had two. They were that good :-)

Le Quartier Français

I finally made my way to this beautiful part of the country. Franschoek is breathtakingly beautiful and restaurants are fabulous.

Our first stop was Le Quartier Francais - an award winning restaurant run by executive chef Margot Janse. She unfortunately wasn't in that day but we still had a lovely experience.

I ordered from their tappas menu and thoroughly enjoyed all but 1 of my choices.

Delectable and fresh mussels

Goat and ham crumble, caramelized onion pizzette and Cesar salad

The crumble didn't agree with me at all. I only had one spoonful and had to give it up. The pizzette was great and the Cesar salad was the best I've had to date - I think it had a lot to do with the dressing.
 
My food buddy had a typical man's meal. Steak and veggies. He was pleased with it.

Sirloin steak with buchu bearnaise

 
 
The staff at the restaurant was great to us. They showed us around the estate which boasts a cinema, gorgeous rooms and an art gallery. We were even allowed to visit their kitchen where all the magic happens. Elrishka (the lady in the picture below) was particularly intrigued by us and asked for the blog details. :-)
 

 
What a lovely restaurant, setting and staff.
 
After lunch, we went sightseeing and took in the lovely scenery. We drove to one of the mountain slopes and got a full view of the town. This picture was taken there. Truly magical
 

We also made our way to the Huguenot Monument - Franschoek's very own Taj Mahal(I am quoting one of the locals we met at the monument) :-)

 
We agreed that we'll be making our way back there again very soon. Hopefully to stay a little longer next time
 
 

Le Quartier Francais

16 Huguenot Road Franschhoek 7690

021 876 2151

http://www.lqf.co.za/

Good food and wine show - Cape Town

I went to the Good food and wine show in Cape Town last week and Buddy Valastro was the star attraction.

He was charming as ever and told stories of his work, home town and family. He even took a few questions from the crowd and was entertaining. Sadly, he didn't wow us the way I expected him to. He decorated a cake very simply and called it a day. Perhaps I was expecting  a little too much and left the theatre disappointed. He's still my hero...

The rest of the show made up for it though. I sampled all my favourite things to eat and left very satisfied :-)

Macaroons are my new favourite thing. I had blueberry and lemon meringue...awesome

I also had the most amazing spinach and feta quiche. It had the yummiest flakiest pastry with the richest filling. That was awesome too

And then...the highlight...the prettiest, tastiest chocolate mousse cake ever

It had a wonderful biscuit base, chocolate mousse outer layer, custard centre and wrapped up in a rich chocolate ganache layer. I did feel a little queasy after it all but it was well worth it

Hermanus

I fell in the love with the Western Cape all over again this weekend. I even wished, just for a moment, that I lived there...

We spent a better part of Saturday in Hermanus which is about an hour outside of Cape town. What a cute little town this is. Picturesque and so laid back.

The town also has a lot of interesting restaurants but the main reason for our trip there was the Hermanus Fish Shoppe.

It's nothing glamorous and has very limited seating. Service isn't their strongest point either but boy do they make a mean fish and chips. The batter was awesome and the fish so fresh and cooked to perfection.
We had it as it should be had - with salt, vinegar and your fingers. Joy... :-)

 
The portions were very generous as well - one serving was more than enough for two.

I would've licked my fingers if there weren't any people around...