Baking is fun at the best of times, but when it’s for charity it is so much more fulfilling. My boyfriend works for IBM, and currently he is on a project in an ANZ office. One of the ANZ offices he is located at decided to host a Big Cake Bake fundraiser for the Red Cross. I was more than happy to oblige when asked to do a cake, and more than happy for the excuse to make a cake I’d been wanting to do for a while.
The dish for this week came from another op shop pickup by my dad: "Inspiring Tastes". This book is another of those promo dealies, this one by Masterfoods. The theme for this is that every dish uses a Masterfoods product or four. But, despite the fact that I usually do buy Masterfoods products, they can be easily subbed for any brand, or even fresh herbs.
Now, lamb is my favourite red meat in the world. In fact, it's my favourite meat period. But it is also one of the most expensive meats going around, so it's seldom had in my household. As a poor uni student, I usually only stock our freezer with chicken, mince and sausages where protein is concerned. So this dish was a bit of a special treat.
For Cupcake Day, I made a batch of lemon meringue cupcakes. I never did a recipe post on them, so what better excuse to bake another batch?
Some time ago, my father picked up Family Circle's "Crazy for Chocolate" book for himself. Now, this is a rarity, as most dessert books he buys on his op-shopping expeditions are for me. I didn't see it for the longest time until one weekend he handed it to me to have a look through. He told me it wasn't great, that there was "nothing really decadent in there". It was in this moment my father was classified as certifiably insane. Not is it the greatest chocolate cookbook I have ever seen, it is right up there with my favourite desserts of all time. I want to bake this book from cover to cover, and I probably eventually will. He told me I could have the book, but I think he already knew I was not leaving his house without it.
Last night, I turned to it in an attempt to rid myself of some of the 7 punnets of strawberries my dad bequeathed unto me. I came across the following recipe and decided that it would be a suitable dessert for a lazy Sunday in: Chocolate Shortbread Stacks…
The cookbook I use for this weeks challenge was one of those "if you buy this product, you get this book free!" type deals from Leggo’s. In said cases, I usually expect nothing much. A few pasta recipes, some spaggy bol, nothing I haven't seen before. I was pleasantly surprised by the diversity in this book, with twists on old classics like a gnocci bake, and then there's the diversity of meaty dishes. The catch with said books is that you usually have to buy their products to make the recipes, however the theme is simply that all use Leggo's tomato paste, which can be subbed by an sort of tomato paste or puree. Whilst trying to think of something to cook for dinner the other night, I rummage through this book and found something that I both had never made (or eaten!) before, and had the ingredients for.
Cakecrumbs 