Showing Tag: "frances" (Show all posts)

Spiced pumpkin granola bars

Posted by Bake Club on Tuesday, January 13, 2015, In : slices 

My main problem with making muesli bars is that the mixture doesn't bind and the slices just fall apart. So then I just chuck the crumbly bits back into the granola jar and have 'twice baked' crunchy granola. This recipe was a bit crumbly so I'd suggest using less nut mix or adding a bit more oil or sweetener. It comes from Sarah Wilson's I Quit Sugar.

2 c mixed nuts and seeds, roughly chopped
2 c rolled oats
2 c coconut flakes (I used thread)
6 Tbs coconut oil or butter
3/4 c rice syrup
1c pumpkin...
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Pepper crackers

Posted by Bake Club on Sunday, January 11, 2015, In : savoury 

These turned out so well! Crunchy peppery goodness. From Spice by Christine Manfield (Periplus, 2005)
2 c flour
1 tsp freshy ground black pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp fine sugar
3 1/2 tbs lemon juice
1/3 c water
3 1/2 tbs olive oil

Mix dry ingredients then process in food processor with the liquids to make a crumbly dough. Work the dough on a bench surface until it comes together in one mass. Roll in plastic wrap and rest at room temp for 1 hr.
Preheat oven to 160C. 
Cut dough into 6 pieces. The recipe u...
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Caramelised onion and courgette crackers

Posted by Bake Club on Saturday, January 3, 2015, In : savoury 

I appropriated this recipe from Megan May's The Unbakery cookbook (Beatnik, 2014), she of  Little Bird unbakeries - one of my favourite Christmas presents! I'm not a raw purist so I used caramelised onions I'd made before in the fry pan and put the crackers in the oven for 15 min first before dehydrating till crispy.

3 onions that have been caramelised
1 courgette, grated
1/3 c flax seed
3/4 c sunflower seeds (soaked 4-5 hours)
4 Tbs tamari
5 Tbs cold pressed olive oil
1/3 c date paste
1 Tbs chopped ...
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Sunflower crackers

Posted by Bake Club on Wednesday, December 31, 2014, In : savoury 

Really like these savoury biscuits that use seeds. Another Ceres recipe.
1 c flour (I used wholemeal spelt)
3 Tbs sunflower butter (I just used ground pumpkin seeds)
2 tsp sunflower oil
4 Tbs water
pinch sea salt
sesame seeds for topping

Preheat oven to 160C.
In a bowl combine flour, butter and oil. Gradually add water to make ball of dough. Knead until there are no lumps and dough is silky. Form into ball and leave to rest for 5 min (I wrapped mine in plastic wrap and put in fridge for 10 min).
Roll ...
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Almond butter cookies for Santa

Posted by Bake Club on Tuesday, December 23, 2014, In : cookies 

I made these with our 2 year old to put under the tree for Santa tonight. Super easy recipe from Ceres:
1 c almond butter
1/2 c brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 sea salt
chopped or slivered almonds for topping

Preheat oven to 180C. Line an oven tray with baking paper.
Mix all the ingredients in a large bowl until smooth. Scoop out tablespoon portions onto the baking sheet, allowing room for spreading. Flatten slightly with moistened fingers. Sprinkle almonds on top.
Bak...
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Pumpkin spice muffins

Posted by Bake Club on Sunday, June 22, 2014, In : small cakes 

By Frances
Cheap pumpkins! So this week I made pumpkin soup, pumpkin granola bars, pumpkin muffins, and froze a batch of pumpkin puree. These muffins are an easy alternative to the carrot version. The cream cheese icing really sets it off.
This recipe is adapted from The Pioneer Woman.

  • 1 cup All-purpose Flour
  • 1/4 cup Sugar
  • 2 teaspoons Baking Powder
  • 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon Ground Ginger
  • 1/2 teaspoon Nutmeg
  • 1/2 teaspoon Salt
  • 4 Tablespoons Butter, cut into pieces
  • 1 cup (heaping) Pumpkin Puree
  • 1/2 c...

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Salted caramel doughnuts

Posted by Bake Club on Thursday, June 12, 2014, In : small cakes 

By Frances

Been wanting to make these doughnuts for a while, from Pease Pudding.

My niece Sophie actually made some salted caramel beforehand and there was a lot left over so I had to make something to go with it!

350g plain flour

50g brown sugar

1 tsp instant yeast

165ml luke warm milk

1 free range egg

70g butter, melted

vegetable oil for frying

 

Combine the flour and sugar in a bowl.

Add the yeast to the milk and put aside for a few minutes until it starts to f...


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Mango & coconut chia pudding

Posted by Bake Club on Monday, June 9, 2014, In : desserts 

By Frances
A super easy breakfast or dessert from MoveNourishBelieve.com. Most fruits will work well, frozen or fresh, eg banana, berries, peach. You can add whatever fruit or nuts you like on top too.

2 c coconut cream or milk
1.5 c mango (frozen or canned, drained first)
8 Tbs chia seeds

Combine cream and mango in a blender until smooth, Mix in chia seeds, Evenly divide mixture between 4 jars/ramekins/bowls and leave in fridge overnight. I topped with banana and chocolate shavings.

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Cornbread

Posted by Bake Club on Sunday, June 8, 2014, In : savoury 

By Frances
I've had this cornmeal sitting in the pantry for AGES so had to make something to go with a lovely ripe avocado and chill adzuki beans. It was a little crumbly but still lovely and moist. I adapted the recipe from Simply Recipes.

  • 2 cups cornmeal OR 1 1/2 cups cornmeal and 1/2 cup flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/4 cups buttermilk (I used yoghurt)
  • 1 egg (optional)
  • 6 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted

Preheat oven to 180C. Line ...


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Chocolate cherry macaroon cake

Posted by Bake Club on Sunday, June 8, 2014, In : big cakes 

By Frances
Yet another great recipe from Julie Le Clerc's Favourite Cakes. Didn't rise a heck of a lot but still yummy with a macaroony taste with the coconut. Cross between a brownie and a cake.

100g butter, cubed
100g quality dark chocolate, chopped
1/3 c brown or dark sugar
1/2 c self-raising flour (I used rice and added 1 tsp baking powder)
1/4 c dessicated coconut
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 c chocolate chips (didn't use)
1 c pitted cherries (fresh or well-drained preserved che...
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Crusty no-knead bread

Posted by Bake Club on Friday, June 6, 2014, In : bread 

By Frances
I've made no-knead bread before, but this one has a real good crust by baking it in a casserole dish in the oven to form steam. It's from simplysogood.com.

3 cups unbleached all purpose flour (I used wholemeal spelt)
1 3/4 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon yeast
1 1/2 cups water

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, salt and yeast. Add water and mix until a shaggy mixture forms. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and set aside for 12 - 18 hours. Overnight works great...

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Pistachio cake

Posted by Bake Club on Thursday, June 5, 2014, In : big cakes 

By Frances
I'm on a roll with Julie Le Clerc's Favourite Cakes. I love cakes with nuts in them!
90g butter, softened
1/3 c sugar (I used organic golden)
2 eggs
1/3 c plain yoghurt
1 c gluten-free flour (I used rice)
1 tsp baking powder
2/3 c ground pistachio nuts
2 Tbs extra ground nuts
honey to drizzle

Preheat oven to 180C. Line a 20cm cake tin.
Cream butter and sugar until pale. Add eggs and beat well. Stir in yoghurt then sifted flour, baking powder and nuts.
Spread mixture into tin. Bake for 60 min or...
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Raw chocolate strawberry truffle pie

Posted by Bake Club on Monday, May 26, 2014, In : desserts 

By Frances
Found this recipe on Chocolatecoveredkatie.com. Very nice and went down well at a vegan party.
  • 2.5 cups strawberries, or other berries (250g) (I used frozen and Fresh As strawberry slices)
  • 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons cocoa powder or cacao
  • 1.5 cups cashews (150g)
  • 1/2 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1/3 cup virgin coconut oil
  • 3 NuNaturals stevia packets, or 1/4 cup agave or pure maple syrup
  • 1/8 tsp salt

Chocolate pie crust:

  • 2 tbsp cocoa powder (or cacao powder)
  • 1/2 cup raw cashews (or almonds, w...

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Upside-down caramelised banana cake

Posted by Bake Club on Sunday, May 25, 2014, In : big cakes 

By Frances
This was the second cake I made for Tui's 2nd birthday, also from Julie Le Clerc's Favourite Cakes (Penguin, 2011). My first attempt at an upside-down cake so was pretty chuffed it worked out. I'll be making more!

Caramel topping:
50g butter, melted
1/2 c firmly packed brown sugar
2 large bananas, sliced on an angle

Cake batter:
125g butter, softened
3/4 c caster sugar
1 very ripe banana, mashed
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
2 c self-raising flour
1 tsp ...
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Giant chocolate lamington cake

Posted by Bake Club on Sunday, May 25, 2014, In : big cakes 

By Frances
This was one of Tui's 2nd birthday cakes from Julie Le Clerc's Favourite Cakes (Penguin, 2011).
4 eggs
pinch salt
1 c caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 c plain flour
2 Tbs cocoa powder
1 c cream lightly whipped
1/2 berry jam, to fill
Chocolate coconut coating:
150g dark chocolate
100g vegetable shortening or coconut oil
1 1/2 c coconut thread

Preheat oven to 190C. Line 2 x 20cm sponge tins. Lightly butter the sides and dust with flour.
Whisk eggs, salt, sugar and vanilla in large bowl with ele...
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Super spread cookies

Posted by Bake Club on Friday, May 23, 2014, In : cookies 

By Frances
Wow - some reaaaaaally healthy oat cookies with no sugar, dairy or wheat and very delish. I've discovered wholesome-cook.com. She has a whole bunch of stuff I want to try.
Dry ingredients:
  • 1¼ cups rolled oats
  • ½ cup wholemeal flour (I used spelt)
  • ¼ cup coconut sugar* (I used organic golden sugar)
  • 1 teaspoon flax seeds
  • 2 tablespoons slivered almonds
  • 2 tablespoons dried organic blueberries, optional
Wet ingredients:

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Vegan peanut butter muffins

Posted by Bake Club on Friday, May 9, 2014, In : small cakes 

By Frances
Here's another recipe adapted from Egglesscooking.com. I used honey instead of sugar.
  • 1 cup All Purpose Flour
  • 2/3 cup oats
  • 1/3 cup Cocoa Powder
  • 3/4 cup Sugar (I used honey)
  • 1 tablespoon Baking Powder
  • 1/2 cup Peanut Butter (I used smooth)
  • 1 cup Rice Milk
Procedure:
  1. Preheat the oven at 400F/200C for 15 minutes. Grease with little cooking spray or line the muffin tins with paper liners and set aside.
  2. In a large bowl combine together the flour, oatmeal, cocoa powde and baking powder.
  3. In a sm...

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Vegan double chocolate banana muffins

Posted by Bake Club on Monday, May 5, 2014, In : small cakes 

By Frances
Found a great website called egglesscooking.com as I wanted to do some egg-free baking for our coffee group, as one of the toddlers has an allergy. Easy to make these vegan recipes sugar-free too. I adapted this vegan double chocolate banana muffin recipe.

Dry Ingredients:
  • 1 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 cup cocoa
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup white sugar (I used agave syrup and honey)
  • 1 cup mini vegan chocolate chips (did not use)
Wet Ingre...

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Vegetarian marshmallows

Posted by Bake Club on Friday, April 18, 2014, In : sweets 

By Frances
Found this great recipe for marshmallows on Be Miam that uses agar agar instead of gelatin! Turned out really well. The only thing I would change next time would be less sugar. I rolled mine in toasted coconut.

  • 3 egg whites
  • 250g/8,82oz sugar
  • 100ml/3,38fl.oz water
  • 1 tablespoon honey
  • 5g/1 teaspoon agar-agar
  • Icing sugar
  • 1 point of a knife of powdered red food colouring (optional)

In a small bowl, dissolve agar-agar into 100 ml of cold water.

In a small saucepan, boil the sugar, h...


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Apricot brioche breakfast plait

Posted by Bake Club on Saturday, April 12, 2014, In : bread 

By Frances
My first attempt at brioche turned out very well! Thanks to the straightforward recipe by Dean Brettschneider in Global Baker (Random House, 2007). So nice when fresh and still good toasted.

250g bread flour (1 3/4 c)
5g salt (1 tsp)
25g sugar (2 Tbs)
5g active dried yeast
4 small eggs, lightly beaten
125g butter, softened
100g dried apricots, diced
additional flour for dusting
1 egg, for egg wash
2 Tbs water for egg wash
50g flaked almonds

Place flour, salt, sugar and yeast into large bowl, ad...
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Lime shortbread

Posted by Bake Club on Friday, April 11, 2014, In : cookies 

By Frances
I wanted to use my stevia powder again so I found this recipe at I Quit Sugar. I must admit I still haven't likened to the taste of stevia so I'll just use agave or maple or rice syrup if I want a sugar-free treat.

150g
unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
1 tablespoon
granulated stevia (I used 1 tsp powder)
2 teaspoons
good quality vanilla extract, or vanilla bean paste
1 1/4 cups
plain flour
1 teaspoon
finely grated lemon rind (or lime)
2-3 tablespoons
...
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Raspberry agar agar jelly

Posted by Bake Club on Tuesday, April 8, 2014, In : desserts 

By Frances
This superquick recipe is by Alessandra Zecchini and featured on these very pages in the March Sweet New Zealand roundup! I had never made jelly before because I don't eat gelatin but agar agar is easy to find in Asian supermarkets and works perfectly well. Watch this space for my first attempt at marshmallows using agar!

You only need:
500ml water
1 tsp agar agar powder
1 Tbs Sweet As raspberry powder
1 Tbs sweetener (I used agave syrup)
Bring to the boil in a saucepan, pour into jelly m...
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Chocolate bliss bites

Posted by Bake Club on Monday, April 7, 2014, In : sweets 

By Frances

This super easy raw recipe is from Amaze Kitchen. A great sugar-, gluten and dairy-free treat. I made them into mini bites for my toddler, but didn’t roll them in cocoa as I thought it might be too messy for her.

250 grams dates or 12 medjool dates pitted

4 tablespoons cacao or cocoa powder
1 cup almond meal
1/2 cup desiccated coconut
2 tablespoons coconut oil
extra cocoa for rolling

1. Blend all ingredients in a food processor.
2. Wet or oil your hands, and ro...


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Tamarind, date and sour cherry muffins

Posted by Bake Club on Saturday, April 5, 2014, In : small cakes 

By Frances

 

I started out wanting to make lemon poppyseed muffins. A quick flick to the index of Marian Keyes’ Saved By Cake (Penguin, 2012) didn’t have what I wanted but I saw these muffins under M - mmm, tamarind, interesting. Indeed, Marian says tamarind is her ‘thing’ and these muffins have a ‘wonderfully intriguing sourness’. I used cranberries instead of sour cherries but they still tasted yummy and tangy.

 

100g dates

100g dried sour cherries (I us...


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Sourdough bread

Posted by Bake Club on Thursday, March 27, 2014, In : bread 

By Frances

This is my first sourdough loaf from a starter. Not too bad, didn’t rise very much, but definitely more flavourful than commercial sourdough loaves. The second loaf was a little better. This recipe is from Michael Pollan’s Cooked: A Natural History of Transformation (Penguin Press, 2013), which is a brilliant read. So much info to digest, so to speak. Michael adapted this recipe from Chad Robertson’s country loaf in Tartine Bread, which I found here on Mart...


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Florentine cake

Posted by Bake Club on Sunday, March 16, 2014, In : big cakes 

By Frances

A rich nutty cake by Annabel Langbein from the February issue of Life & Leisure magazine.

Base:

¾ c flour

¾ c wholemeal flour

¾ c oats

¾ c brown sugar

180g cold butter, diced

 

Process all ingredients in a food processor until it resembles a fine crumb. Press into a 20cm round cake tin.

 

Cake:

3 eggs

1 tsp vanilla essence

¼ c brown sugar

½ c walnuts

½ c flaked almonds

¾ c almonds

¾ c dates

¾ c apricots

¾ c choc melts

¾ c coconut

...
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Chocolate goji slice

Posted by Bake Club on Tuesday, March 11, 2014, In : slices 

By Frances

Don’t you just love it when you come across an inspired recipe in a most unlikely source? I was randomly looking through Look real estate freebie and Buffy-Ellen Gill of Be Good Organics had contributed this recipe for a raw goji chocolate slice.

Makes 16 slices

Crunchy base:

1 c caramelised buckinis

1 c goji berries

½ c raw cacao powder

¾ c melted coconut oil

1 Tbs coconut nectar (I used maple syrup)

 

Chewy topping:

½ c raw cashews

1/3 c raw c...


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Almond & lemon cake

Posted by Bake Club on Friday, March 7, 2014, In : big cakes 

By Frances

The neighbours were having a tapas gathering so I dipped into Fresh Spanish (Hachette Livre, 2008) and found this classic gluten-free Spanish almond cake beautifully scented with lemons.

 

4 eggs

175g golden caster sugar

finely grated rind and juice of 1 lemon

400g ground almonds

icing sugar for dusting

 

Grease a 20cm sq cake tin and line the base with baking paper. Preheat oven to 190C.

Beat the eggs with an electric whisk in a large bowl until pale an...


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Coconut oatmeal cookies

Posted by Bake Club on Sunday, March 2, 2014, In : cookies 

By Frances

This is from The Coconut Oil Miracle by Bruce Fife (Avery, 2005). It explains all the amazing benefits of coconut oil and includes recipes. I do a lot of raw baking with it and usually put a bit on my porridge. I made these cookies for our 21-month-old mainly, so she can have a sugar-free treat.

 

½ c melted coconut oil

¾ c sweetener (I used honey and agave syrup)

2 eggs

½ tsp vanilla extract

1½ c flour

1 c oats

½ c dried coconut (shredded, grated, d...


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Banana & chocolate chip loaf

Posted by Bake Club on Monday, February 24, 2014, In : big cakes 

By Frances
Long time no bake! Today I decided to peruse my collection of cookbooks to find a banana cake I hadn't tried before. Ravinder Bhogal's Cook in Boots had this decadent banana loaf - with lashings of chocolate chips and walnuts. I used chocolate drops, which could have been chopped, and I could have used less, as the batter overflowed in the tin. It was the perfect treat to take to visit a friend.
I'm entering this in February's Sweet New Zealand, hosted by Alessandra Zecchini. Enter t...
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Raw vegan chocolate brownie

Posted by Bake Club on Sunday, January 5, 2014, In : slices 

By Frances
This is from a Harvest Wholefood newsletter. The recipe is from Gabriel Power from nomnomnosh.com. Really rich! I'm entering this into this month's Sweet New Zealand, hosted by Alessandra Zecchini.


For the brownie:
1 c almonds (preferably activated)
1/2 c raw cacao powder
2 Tbs coconut sugar (or any sweetener - I used maple syrup)
2 Tbs cacao butter
1/2 c coconut oil
1 Tbs espresso coffee (I used decaf)
1 tsp vanilla extract
zest of one orange (I only had a lemon on hand)
pinch sea salt
sprink...
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Everyday chocolate cake

Posted by Bake Club on Sunday, January 5, 2014, In : big cakes 

By Frances
This is from The Complete Vegan Kitchen by Jannequin Bennett (Thomas Nelson, 2001). The foreword is an enlightening piece by Olympian Carl Lewis who attributes his athletic success to his vegan diet.
The cake turned out well, you'd never know it was dairy free.

3/4 c boiling water
1/2 c cocoa powder
1 Tbs instant coffee powder
1 c soy mayonnaise (but I made the substitute version combining a block of tofu, 2 tsp lime juice, 1 tsp lecithin, 1 Tbs vege oil, 1/2 tsp salt)
2 tsp vanilla extra...
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Raw chocolate raspberry slice

Posted by Bake Club on Saturday, December 14, 2013, In : slices 

By Frances
Got this one from the Amazing Paleo website. The banana gives it a softer texture than other raw slices I've made. Eat it straight from the freezer.

  • 2 ripe bananas
  •        ¼ cup fresh raspberries
  •        12 medjol dates
  •        ¾ cups unsweetened cocoa (divided)
  •        ½ cup almonds
  •        ½ cup walnuts
  •        5 tablespoons almond butter
  •        5 tablespoons RAW honey

Steps:

  1. Place dates, almonds, walnuts and ½ cup cocoa powder in food processor. Process for about 3-4 minutes, until all i...

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Chocolate, cranberry and honey muffins for National Honey Week

Posted by Bake Club on Saturday, November 23, 2013, In : small cakes 

By Frances

This is for the ‘Cook Something Yummy With Honey’ competition for the inaugural National Honey Week 25 Nov – 2 December. I read about it on Alessandra Zecchini’s blog. This year’s hero honey is manuka – yummmmm.  I just made up this recipe with what I had in the pantry. I like to contrast the richness of chocolate flavour with the tartness of a fruit such as cranberry. Any fresh or dried berry would be equally delicious – raspberry is a favourite. I...


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Raw caramel slice no. 3

Posted by Bake Club on Monday, November 18, 2013, In : slices 

By Frances
On my quest to find the perfect raw caramel slice, here is version no. 3 from Keilanaskye. The caramel part is particularly good - just tahini and maple syrup really. For the base I used sunflower seeds and activated buckwheat (buckinis) instead of cashews (just over 1/2 c each). I find the buckwheat gives a nice crunch that I really like.
I'm going to enter this in November's Sweet NZ monthly blog event, hosted by Toast.

For the base:
1 1/2 cups raw, organic cashews (pre-soaked for...

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Sesame honey kisses

Posted by Bake Club on Monday, November 11, 2013, In : cookies 

By Frances
These use a lot of sesame seeds! But they make a tasty crunch in the chewy biscuit. The recipe is from Annabel Langbein.
  • 2¼ cups flour
  • 2 cups sesame seeds, toasted
  • ½ cup desiccated coconut, toasted
  • ½ cup soft brown sugar
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • ½ tsp baking soda
  • ½ tsp ground cardamom
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 2 eggs
  • ¾ cup neutral oil
  • ½ cup light honey
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 160°C and line a baking tray with ...


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Soft treacle parkin

Posted by Bake Club on Tuesday, November 5, 2013, In : big cakes 

By Frances

I never knew a parkin was a traditional cake made from treacle and oatmeal, originating in northern England. This recipe from the 1830s was in Paul Hollywood’s Bread book. They used to measure from a breakfast cup but he’s given the metric equivalent too.

½ c treacle (200g)

½ butter (140g)

½ c brown sugar (120g)

2 c oatmeal (250g)

20g ginger

1 tsp bicarb soda

2 eggs

1 Tbs cider vinegar

 

Melt treacle, butter and sugar. Mix dry ingreds, pour in wet mixture. Stir ...


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Raw ginger cashew slice

Posted by Bake Club on Sunday, November 3, 2013, In : slices 

By Frances
An easy raw slice by Petite Kitchen.
for the base:
2 cups cashews (I used roasted, but raw is fine)
1 cup medjool, or soft pitted dates
2 tbsp water
1 tsp ground ginger

for the icing:
3 tbsp coconut oil
1 tbsp honey
2 tsp ground ginger

*this slice needs to be keep in the fridge. if you would prefer a slice that can be kept at room temperature, you can bake the base in the oven at  160°C until golden, then leave to cool before icing.

In a food processer, blend the cashews until...

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Miso walnut brownies

Posted by Bake Club on Monday, September 30, 2013, In : slices 

By Frances
I got this recipe from Sachie's Kitchen and thought miso in a sweet cake would be interesting. I adjusted the recipe though. After I put all the ingreds in the mixture looked so dry, so I added more yoghurt and one egg. I also added some cocoa powder. It definitely helped.

1 & 1/4 cup self-raising flour, sifted
125g butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
1 TBSP Miso
1 TBSP Yoghurt (unsweetened)
1 cup walnuts, coarsely crushed
I added 1 egg and few ...
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Raw peppermint slice

Posted by Bake Club on Saturday, September 14, 2013, In : slices 

By Frances
I found this recipe on Ascension Kitchen - a beautiful website. I tried making her coconut butter but it didn't work out so I just used more coconut oil. Really enjoying the raw treats at the moment.
I'm entering this into September's Sweet NZ, hosted by Easy Food Hacks.


Biscuit base:
½ cup roughly processed buckwheat flour* (I used buckinis [sprouted and dehydrated buckwheat], I like have the crunchy bits in the base)
¼ cup + 2 tablespoons cacao powder
1 cup pecans (I used almonds)...
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Another raw caramel slice

Posted by Bake Club on Wednesday, September 4, 2013, In : slices 

By Frances
I'm on a roll with raw caramel. This time I wanted more gooey caramel. This slice is quite soft all round, the choc icing didn't set hard like the first caramel slice recipe I tried. This recipe is from All in the Raw in Australia.

Base
1 cup dates
½ cup almonds
1 tsp coconut oil

Caramel
1 cup dates
½ cup coconut oil
1 ½ tbls unhulled tahini
½ cup pure organic maple syrup
1 cup raw cashews (covered and soaked in water for an hour and then rinsed)
1/3 cup water

Top Chocolate layer
...


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Raw caramel slice

Posted by Bake Club on Tuesday, September 3, 2013, In : slices 

By Frances
I had my first taste of raw caramel at Little Bird in Ponsonby - their caramel pecan bar is outta this world! This is not their caramel slice but it's still pretty good, found on the Triumph of the Lentil blog.

For the base:
1 1/2 cups almonds, walnuts or pecans
a pinch of salt
4 medjool dates, pitted
1/3 cup coconut oil, liquid

For the caramel filling:
18 medjool dates, pitted
2-3 pinches of salt
1/4 cup coconut oil, liquid
1/4 cup nut butter (hazelnut, almond, cashew or brazil nut)...


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Jumble muffins

Posted by Bake Club on Sunday, September 1, 2013, In : small cakes 

By Frances
I've called these jumble muffins cos they're just a jumble of whatever I had to hand in an effort to make my daughter some quick mini muffins that are free of gluten and sugar. We're not GF but it's good to have some food without.
1/2 c oat flour (I use the coffee grinder to grind)
1/2 c sunflower seed flour
1/2 c dessicated coconut
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 c carrot pulp leftover from the juicer
1/2 c melted honey
1 egg

Mix all together and plop into 24 greased mini muffins t...
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Coconut lime cookies

Posted by Bake Club on Friday, August 30, 2013, In : cookies 

By Frances

I've been making 'healthy' cookies for my 15-month-old so I can freeze them and have them on hand. This is another great sugar-free, gluten-free recipe by Dr Libby.

24ml coconut oil
1/4 c honey
juice and zest of a lime
1 c almond meal
12 c spelt flour (or any flour)
1/2 c dessicated coconut
2 tsp baking powder

Heat oven to 180C. Gently melt oil, honey and lime juice in a saucepan. Place all dry ingreds and lime zest in a bowl and mix well. Heap tablespoons onto a lined baking tray and bake ...
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Frances makes Dr Libby's beetroot chocolate mud cake

Posted by Bake Club on Thursday, August 8, 2013, In : big cakes 

I went to the Auckland Food Show this year and saw Dr Libby and Chef Cynthia's demo. They made this raw beetroot chocolate mud cake - turned out well. They also showed how quickly it is to make proper raw chocolate with cacao butter, cacao, nibs and peppermint oil so I'm gonna try that soon too.
I'm entering this into August's Sweet New Zealand, hosted by Sweets and Brains.


For the cake:
  • 2 cups Brazil nuts
  • 4 fresh medjool dates, pitted and coarsely chopped
  • 1/2 cup currants
  • 1/4 cup maple syrup
  • 3 medi...

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Raw berry cheesecake by Frances

Posted by Bake Club on Saturday, July 27, 2013, In : desserts 

After the success of my first raw 'cheesecake', I had the impetus to attempt a berry swirl cheesecake and experiment with the original recipe. It's a fine line with raw recipes and some things didn't work as well. The base is 1 cup almonds, 1 cup hazelnuts (instead of buckwheat) and 1/2 cup sunflower seeds but even the 1/2 cup of seeds meant there was too much base. I forgot the dash of coconut oil so it didn't bond together as well.
For the filling I used honey instead of maple syrup. I could...
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Frances's raw lemon cheesecake

Posted by Bake Club on Wednesday, July 24, 2013, In : desserts 

After several visits to Little Bird unbakery in Kingsland, I thought I'd try making my own raw cheesecake. Turned out rather well, I thought! The recipe is from a Pure Wellbeing newsletter.
I'm entering this in July's Sweet New Zealand, hosted by Homegrown Kitchen.


The Base
1 C almonds
1 C buckwheat
1/2 C dates (soak in water to soften first)
Dash coconut oil/pinch salt

Food process (pulse) the nuts and buckwheat leaving them a little chunky. Add the dates & coconut oil till the mix just b...

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Frances's chocolate chip, cranberry & almond cookies

Posted by Bake Club on Sunday, July 21, 2013, In : cookies 

The cranberries add a welcome tartness to these cookies. Quite a stiff mixture so flatten the cookies how you like, they won’t change shape much.

 

125g butter
¾ c sugar (I used a mix of demuera and golden)
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 ¾ c flour (I used mix of spelt and plain)
½ tsp salt
1 c dark chocolate chips
½ c cranberries
½ c flaked almonds

Preheat oven to 190C. Line 2 baking trays with baking paper.

In a  medium bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add egg and va...
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4-seed crackers by Frances

Posted by Bake Club on Saturday, July 13, 2013, In : savoury 

I got this recipe from Homegrown Kitchen - really easy!

1 cup sunflower seeds
1 tablespoon coconut oil or olive oil
1/2 cup sesame seeds
1/4 cup flax seeds of chia seeds
1 tablespoon poppy seeds
1/2 teaspoon sea salt + extra for sprinkling
1/2 teaspoon kelp granules (optional – add extra nutrition)

Put the sunflower seeds in a bowl and cover with water, soak overnight. The soaking releases phytic acid found in seeds and whole grains that can interfere with mineral absorption. It also plump...


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Frances makes oaty muffins with stevia

Posted by Bake Club on Monday, June 24, 2013, In : small cakes 

I wanted to make a sugar-free snack for my 1-year-old that's freezable too. So I adapted a couple of recipes to make this jumble of mini muffins. I used powdered stevia, which has an acquired taste - it's also green. I think stevia would work best in chocolate baking to disguise the colour. I'm entering this recipe into this month's Sweet New Zealand, hosted by Couscous & Consciousness.

Dry ingreds
1 c wholemeal spelt flour
1 c rolled oats
1 Tbs baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4...
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Savoury pinwheel scones by Frances

Posted by Bake Club on Thursday, June 6, 2013, In : savoury 

This recipe is from Gran’s Sweet Pantry by Natalie Oldfield (HarperCollins, 2013). I didn’t have cream cheese or parmesan on hand so I used a bit of sour cream, pesto and brie.

3 c self-raising flour

½ tsp salt

50g butter

½ c grated parmesan

1 ½ c milk

250g cream cheese

1 Tbs capers, chopped

1 c rocket, chopped

200g hot smoked salmon

Preheat oven to 210C. Line a baking tray or cake tin with baking paper.
Sift flour and salt into a bow. Rub in butter until...


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Frances’s rosewater chocolate cake

Posted by Bake Club on Thursday, June 6, 2013, In : big cakes 

I made this cake for Tui’s first birthday. It’s adapted from Julie Le Clerc’s Favourite Cakes (Penguin, 2011). She decorated hers with crystallised rose petals – fancy – but I just did ganache for another chocolate hit.

125g butter, really really softened

1 c caster sugar

2 eggs, slightly beaten

1 c sour cream

1 Tbs rosewater

1 c self-raising flour

¼ tsp baking powder

½ c cocoa

filling:

200g marscapone

¼ c pouring cream

¼ c icing sugar

½ tsp v...


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Frances's feijoa coconut loaf

Posted by Bake Club on Monday, May 27, 2013, In : big cakes 

I made these for my sister's birthday. One has lemon icing and one has chocolate - both good! It is Susan Fleichl's recipe in A Treasury of New Zealand Baking (Random House, 2009). What a delicious way to use the hordes of feijoas we get in autumn. I like that it uses oil instead of butter and you just mix it all together.

460g flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
pinch salt
3 eggs
420 g caster sugar
330ml vegetable oil
30ml vanilla essence
125ml buttermilk (I used yoghurt)
1 1/2 c feijoas, peel...
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Frances makes ciabatta

Posted by Bake Club on Wednesday, May 22, 2013, In : savoury 

I had such success with a loaf of ciabatta this weekend I made another one the day after. The recipe is from Alessandra Zecchini’s Savour (New Holland, 2006). Such an easy recipe and I didn’t even get my hands doughy.

300ml warm water

2 tsp active yeast granules

¼ tsp sugar

300g flour

pinch salt

Place water in bowl with yeast and sugar. After yeast starts to bubble, about 5 mins, add flour and salt and mix into a dough. (It is very sticky and runny so I just use a...


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Triple chocolate cookies by Frances

Posted by Bake Club on Sunday, May 19, 2013, In : cookies 

This is Nigella's evily good recipe for her Totally chocolate chocolate chip cookies. I have never made anything with three types of chocolate before. Seems so indulgent but just what the mental health doctor ordered on a rainy day with a hot cuppa and a lie down.
I always use less sugar than Nigella in all her recipes.

125 grams ...
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Frances's chocolate-coffee cake

Posted by Bake Club on Tuesday, May 14, 2013, In : big cakes 

This is called Superb Chocolate Cake by Robyn Martin in A Treasury of New Zealand Baking (Random House, 2009). I like it because it a one-pot cake.

125g butter
3/4 c sugar
2 eggs
1 c milk
2 c flour
1/2 c cocoa
4 tsp baking powder

coffee syrup
1/2 c strong black coffee
1/2 c sugar
25g butter

Preheat oven to 180C. Line base of 20cm round cake tin.
Melt butter in a large saucepan. Mix in sugar then remove from heat. Beat eggs and milk together. Sift flour, cocoa and BP and add to butter mixture with egg-milk...
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Frances's chocolate cherry louise cake

Posted by Bake Club on Friday, April 26, 2013, In : slices 

I adapted this recipe from Fiona Smith's chocolate, raspberry & coconut slice in A Treasury of New Zealand Baking (Random House 2009).

125g butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
3 eggs, separated
1 1/2 c flour
2 Tbs cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 c jam (I used cherry)
50g chocolate, grated
1/2 c dessicated coconut (or long threaded)

Preheat oven to 180C. Grease a 18cm x 28 cm cake tin with baking paper.
Cream butter and half the sugar till light and fluffy. Beat in egg yolks, Sift in flour, cocoa and...
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Frances's bluberry cake

Posted by Bake Club on Thursday, February 28, 2013, In : big cakes 

This is called Melt in your mouth blueberry cake, found on All Recipes. Separating the eggs really helps with the fluffiness. Serving with cream really adds to the calories (but it has to be done!).

1/2 c butter (140g)
1/2 c sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 egg yolks
1 1/2 c flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/3 c milk
2 egg whites
1/4 c sugar
1 1/2 c fresh blueberries
1 tbs flour
1 tbs sugar

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour an 8 inch square pan.
  2. Cream butter and 1/2 cup su...

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Frances makes gluten-free chocolate brownies

Posted by Bake Club on Monday, February 25, 2013, In : slices 

I had a GF friend staying and made these brownies for her (and me!). Recipe found here

100g butter
150g dark chocolate
100g gluten free plain flour
100g chopped hazelnuts or walnuts
200g sugar (I used 2 tsp stevia powder)
3 eggs
1 tsp baking powder

Preheat oven to 180C. Gently melt butter and chocolate. In another bowl mix dry ingreds. Beat in the eggs followed by melted chocolate. Sitr in nuts. Pour into lined/greased 150x200mm dish. Bake for around 30 mins, making sure the brownie doesn't dry out.
I...
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Frances's granola muffins

Posted by Bake Club on Tuesday, January 29, 2013, In : small cakes 

Another one from Nigella Feasts. I always use less sugar than her recipes though.

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (I used Healtheries gluten free baking mix)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
1 large egg
1/2 cup Golden Baker's natural cane sugar or other light brown sugar
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 cups granola (I used my raw granola with strawberries and apple)

Heat oven to 200 C. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners. In a large bowl combine the flour, baking soda and salt. ...

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Molasses spice cookies by Frances

Posted by Bake Club on Thursday, January 24, 2013, In : cookies 

Just the word 'molasses' conjures up deep, hearty flavour, and I really felt like a spiced biscuit with my coffee so I looked it up in the index of The Cookie Book and there was the recipe.

1/2 c / 250g butter
1 c sugar
1 egg
1/4 c molasses
2 1/2 c flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp ground cloves
3/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 190C. Line baking sheets with baking paper.
Beat together the butter, sugar, egg and molasses>
Sift together the flour, soda, spices and salt. Add to...
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Frances makes panforte

Posted by Bake Club on Friday, December 21, 2012, In : sweets 

My first attempt at panforte turned out pretty good. I used this recipe from the Healtheries website. Have wrapped up wedges for wee Xmas gifts.


250g oven-roasted mixed nuts (I used hazels, blanched almonds and pistachios)

1/3 cup each: glacé mixed peel, figs, apricots; roughly chopped

75g 70% dark chocolate, roughly chopped

1/3 cup Healtheries Gluten-free Rice Flour

1 tablespoon cocoa

1 teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon mixed spice

½ cup each: honey, caster sugar...


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Frances's raw chocolate mousse and cashew whipped cream

Posted by Bake Club on Tuesday, December 18, 2012, In : desserts 

I'm really enjoying making raw concoctions in the Omniblend blender I bought from Best Blenders. Comes with a recipe book for soups, sauces, savouries, spreads, dressings and desserts. Omniblend has 6 blades like the Vitamix that pros use but it's about a third of the price!

Chocolate mousse
2 med or 3 small avocados
1/2 - 2/3 c raw honey or agave nectar (I also use stevia)
1/4 c water
3 Tbsp cacao powder
2 Tbs carob powder (I don't like carob so just use more cacao)
12 tsp pure vanilla extract
pinc...
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Frances makes rainbow cupcakes

Posted by Bake Club on Sunday, October 14, 2012, In : small cakes 

I saw rainbow cupcakes in a recent Herald food section and was inspired to try it out. For some reason I forgot to follow the actual rainbow colour sequence (ROYGBIV) but they look pretty cool anyway, I thought. The oil in the recipe helps keep the cakes moist as I took them to a morning tea the following day.
I made double this recipe, which made 12 small cupcakes and 8 bigger ones.

I'm entering this into Nov's Sweet NZ, hosted by The Kitchen Maid

1 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2...


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Chocolate pavlova by Frances

Posted by Bake Club on Friday, October 5, 2012, In : desserts 

After making Nigella's semifreddo with 4 egg yolks, I had to make something with the whites - thank God for pavlova! And this chocolate version rocks! I made it in the evening but waited till the next morning when I had the toppings to photograph it, and ended up having pav for breakfast. Yes!

This recipe is shamelessly cut and pasted from Nigella:

6 medium egg whites (I used 4)

300 grams caster sugar (I used 200g for 4 whites)

3 tablespoon(s) cocoa powder sieved

1 teaspoo...


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Frances's honey semifreddo

Posted by Bake Club on Saturday, September 29, 2012, In : desserts 

I recently watched Nigella make this honey semifreddo. It looked so easy and delicious I decided to give it a go. Pretty nice. Recipe as posted on her website.

 

1 medium Eggs

4 medium Egg yolks

100 grams honey (best quality + 3 tablespoons for serving)

300 ml double cream

25 grams Pinenuts toasted ( I used pistachios)

 

  1. Line a 900g/1 litre loaf tin with clingfilm.
  2. Beat the egg and egg yolks with the honey in a bowl, over a saucepan of gently simmeri...

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Marble cake by Frances

Posted by Bake Club on Wednesday, August 29, 2012, In : big cakes 

Sorry, crap photo, but you can't see a marble cake without cutting it! This was the first time I'd tried marbling so next time I know to mix up the vanilla, red and chocolate batters more in the tin. I just used red food colouring as in the recipe but next time I'd also add a strawberry flavour to it or maybe even beetroot pulp?


This marble cake turned out better - chocolate and orange. I love jaffa flavours! I mixed yellow and red colouring to make orange and also added orange essence flavour...
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Frances’s raw chocolate macaroons

Posted by Bake Club on Sunday, August 19, 2012, In : sweets 


So easy, so delicious - a sweet treat that's healthy!

Makes 24-30 macaroons

3 c coconut (dessicated or flakes), 1 ½ c cocoa powder, 1 c maple syrup, ½ c coconut butter, 1 Tbs vanilla extract, ½ tsp salt

Mix together in a bowl. Take spoonfuls and press out on dehydrator trays. Dehydrate at 45C for 12-24 hrs or until crisp on the outside and nice and chewy on the inside. If you don't have a dehydrator you could bake in very low oven.

For blonde macaroons replace the c...


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Frances's lemon sour cream muffins

Posted by Bake Club on Saturday, August 11, 2012, In : small cakes 

I made Mama Chan's carrot cake the other day but didn't have any cream cheese for the icing so I used sour cream - parp - just didn't work. So what to do with a tub of sour cream? A quick search found this recipe on Food.com for easy muffins where you don't need to cream the butter and sugar.

1/2 cup unsalted butter
2 cups unbleached white flour (my GF friend suggested using coconut flour, which would be super)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoo...


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Raspberry yoghurt muffins by Frances

Posted by Bake Club on Saturday, July 28, 2012, In : small cakes 

I adapted this from a loaf recipe. You can put this batter in any size tin, really. I like the tanginess the yoghurt adds to the mix.

cooking oil spray

1 cup frozen raspberries

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 eggs, lightly beaten

3/4 cup low-fat vanilla yoghurt

1 3/4 cups self-raising flour

1/3 cup ground almonds

 

Preheat oven to 180ºC. Spray an 11x21cm loaf pan or 12 muffin tins/cases with cooking oil. Line the base and two long opposite sides with n...


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Chocolate swirl cheesecake by Frances

Posted by Bake Club on Sunday, July 8, 2012, In : desserts 

This recipe is from the Food Channel programme The Sugar Club with Dean Brettschneider and Julia Crownshaw. They added 25g brown sugar to the base, which I did not. Anyway, mine turned out really well. Super with yoghurt.

 

200g gingernuts
65g butter
1 tsp ginger
450 cream cheese
150g caster sugar
30g cornflour
2 eggs, 1 extra yolk
200g sour cream
1 Tbs lemon juice
2 tsp vanilla paste
100g chocolate

 

Method

Turn oven to 200°C. Line an 18cm-20cm springform tin with bak...


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Frances's carrot pulp crackers

Posted by Bake Club on Wednesday, July 4, 2012, In : savoury 

OK, these aren't baked, they're dried raw in the dehydrator. It's my new favourite thing. This excellent recipe is adapted from the Foods for Long Life blog. All this time I've been chucking the pulp from my juicer, now I'm freezing it to use later in crackers or baking.
There are 2 batches of crackers pictured here. I used carrot pulp in one and carrot/beetroot/apple in the other.


makes 60 crackers

1/2 cup flaxseeds
1 cup room temperature water

1/2 cup sunflower seeds, soake...


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Frances’s gluten-free chocolate roulade

Posted by Bake Club on Friday, June 29, 2012, In : big cakes 

A GF friend was coming to visit so I made this roulade sponge roll. First time for everything.

 

4 Tbs cocoa powder
100ml milk, plus 3 Tbs extra
5 eggs, separated
125g caster sugar
2 Tbs berry jam (I used cranberry)
whipped cream flavoured with vanilla extract
icing sugar to dust

Preheat oven to 180C. Line a 30 x 20cm Swiss roll tin with baking paper. In a bowl mix the cocoa ant 3 Tbs milk. Heat 100ml milk in a pan until almost boiling, then add to bowl, stirring. Leave...


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Frances makes mushroom and fennel ragout with cheese scones

Posted by Bake Club on Wednesday, June 27, 2012, In : savoury 

This is from Allison Pirrie’s wonderful Pease Pudding website. I saw the pic and was instantly craving its heartiness. Unfortunately I didn’t have fennel on hand, so I used celery and added a few more fennel seeds.

Ingredients for Scones
200g self raising flour
80g butter
pinch of salt
Pinch of cracked black pepper
100g grated cheddar cheese
150ml of milk
1 tblsp Dijon mustard
Handful of thyme

Ingredients for Ragout
800g white or brown button mushrooms, washed and ha...


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Frances makes apricot and chocolate chip cookies

Posted by Bake Club on Thursday, June 14, 2012, In : cookies 

 

This is my first batch of baking since our daughter Tui was born 3 weeks ago. Feels great to get back in the kitchen; baking relaxes me.

I have also recently formed a co-op with some friends to order Ceres organic products wholesale. A 3kg bag of sulphur-free apricots was in my first order so it was a good chance to use some! Apricots and chocolate are always a tasty combination.

 

Makes about 20

100g butter, softened
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla ess...


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Frances’s first cheescake - roasted banana cheesecake

Posted by Bake Club on Tuesday, May 22, 2012, In : desserts 


We recently visited the Green Snapper Café in Colville, Coromandel, on our babymoon, and had a cosy time sitting by the roaring fire looking out to the deserted road outside, reading the weekend paper and being thankful for living in paradise. We had a good ol’ seafood chowder and toasted sammie. Coffee was great. They had a lots of nice-looking cakes on the bench but then the blackboard special caught my eye – roasted banana cheesecake. Three magical words that go so...


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Frances makes chocolate chip and spice orange cookies

Posted by Bake Club on Monday, May 21, 2012, In : cookies 


Another recipe from Healthy Food Guide, May issue.

 

1 cup oats

½ cup flour

½ tsp baking soda

¼ tsp salt

½ c brown sugar

115g reduced-fat spread or butter

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla essence

1 tsp mixed spice

1 orange, zested

½ c dark choc chips

 

Preheat oven to 190C. Line 2 baking trays with baking paper. Mix oats, flour, baking soda and salt in large bowl.

In another bowl beat sugar, butter, egg, vanilla, spice and zest together.

Stir egg mixture into flour...


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Frances's gluten-free shortbread

Posted by Bake Club on Wednesday, May 16, 2012, In : cookies 

I can't remember which US website I got this recipe. Has some handy tips at the end for GF baking.


1 1/3 cups white rice flour

1/2 cup sweet rice flour (I just used the same rice flour)

1/2 cup cornflour

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum (this prevents the cookies from spreading)

7 ounces (14 tablespoons) butter, softened

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

 

Preheat oven to 150°C. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. In sma...


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Frances's lemon polenta cookies

Posted by Bake Club on Monday, May 14, 2012, In : cookies 

These cookies feature on the cover of May's Healthy Food Guide.

100g reduced-fat spread (I used regular butter)
75g caster sugar
1 lemon, zest finely grated
2 egg yolks
1 cup flouro (I used gluten free)
1/2 cup polenta
4 Tbs icing sugar

Beat butter, sugar and zest until light and creamy. Add yolks one at a time. Beat well. Sift flour and pinch of salt into a bowl. Stir in polenta. Add dry ingreds to egg mixture and combine well. Knead lightly for 1-2 min, shape into a ball, cover with plastic wrap an...
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Never fail fudgey chocolate cake by Frances

Posted by Bake Club on Monday, May 14, 2012, In : big cakes 

This is from the May Skywatch magazine - didn't know they had recipes! I have never made a cake with so many eggs - it turned out deliciously rich and intense and I used less sugar.

 

400g dark choc (I used Whittaker's Dark Ghana)

360g unsalted butter

360g caster sugar (I used under 350g)

6 heaped Tbs plain flour (could easily be gluten free)

pinch cinnamon or cardamom, optional (I used about 1 tsp of each)

6 eggs

icing sugar

 

Preheat oven to 200C. Melt chocolate, butter and sugar ...


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Frances's dark chocolate self-saucing pudding

Posted by Bake Club on Wednesday, May 2, 2012, In : desserts 

I'm sorry this doesn't look that pretty after being dealt to before the pic was taken, but sure tasted gooood. This saucy little number is from the June HZ House & Garden magazine. And this is my entry into the April Sweet New Zealand, hosted by myself this month!


1 cup self-raising flour
2 tablespoons good-quality dark cocoa
½ cup caster sugar
½ cup milk
1 large egg
60g butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
200g dark chocolate melts, buttons or pieces
1 cup boiling water
Icing sugar for dusting
T...
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Frances's gingery cookies

Posted by Bake Club on Monday, April 16, 2012, In : cookies 


These cookies are adapted from the coffee snaps recipe. They're not gingernuts, but gingery.

125g butter, softened
1 cup (275g) firmly packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
3/4 cup (110g) plain flour
3/4 cup (110g) self-raising flour
3 teaspoons powdered ginger
walnut halves

Preheat oven to 180°C (350° F). Line cookie/oven tray with baking paper.
In a bowl, beat butter, sugar and vanilla extract until pale and fluffy.
Add egg and beat until just combined.
Stir in ...


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Frances’s tower of super fudge

Posted by Bake Club on Tuesday, April 10, 2012, In : sweets 

I went to an inspiring raw chocolate demo by Chef Rene at Wise Cicada in Newmarket, Auckland. He showed us how to make lots of chocolate recipes and we tasted them all! The energy in the food was amazing. Here’s his recipe for super fudge, which keeps nicely in the fridge. Just one piece in the afternoon is a great pick-me-up - packed with super foods!

3 c date paste (dates soaked in enough water to blend into a paste)
1 c chia seeds
1 c sultanas
1 ...


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Oat biscuits with chocolate by Frances

Posted by Bake Club on Sunday, April 8, 2012, In : cookies 

These are a lot like Anzac biscuits but the butter and sugar are creamed.
Makes about 20 sandwiched biscuits

65g rolled oats
160g softened butter
160g raw caster sugar
55g golden syrup
150g (1 c) plain flour
75g dessicated coconut
400g chocolate, chopped (I always use dark)

Preheat oven to 160C. Process oats in a food processor or coffee grinder until finely ground.
Beat butter and sugar until pale and creamy. Add golden syrup, stir, then add flour, coconut and oats. Form heaped teaspoons into balls an...
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Frances makes Easter cherry and chocolate hot cross buns

Posted by Bake Club on Sunday, April 8, 2012, In : bread 

Confession: my very first batch of hot cross buns was a disaster - I used nearly 100% gluten flour by mistake! They looked great, iced and glazed, but they were balls of elastic - totally inedible. I didn't bother reading the back of the gluten flour packet, which said to use only 2 Tbsp of the flour in a recipe. But I managed to salvage the cherries and choc bits to use on the next batch, which was a raging success.

Recipe from April's Mindfood

750g plain flour
1/3 c caster sugar (I just used s...
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Frances's dried kumara

Posted by Bake Club on Friday, April 6, 2012, In : savoury 

OK, this isn't baking, but it does use the oven and I just wanted to share my all-time favourite snack. Mama Chan used to make these in her childhood in China - sweet potato slices dried in the sun. Then she made dried kumara throughout my childhood and I always gobbled them up.
Boil a pot of kumara with the skins on until just cooked through. Drain and leave to cool. Scrape the skin off with a knife. Slice into 1cm-thick slices. Spread on to a wire oven rack. Dry for several hours at 50-100C...
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Frances’s espresso pecan cupcakes

Posted by Bake Club on Thursday, March 29, 2012, In : slices 


I appropriated this from
Marian Keyes' espresso and walnut cake recipe in her latest book Saved by Cake. It's a great beginner's baking book with tips and witty repartee from Marian. She says baking didn't cure her depression but helped her along her way to happiness and peace. In her recipe she uses 2 sandwich tins and puts the icing in between the layers and on top.

50g butter
80ml milk
1 c espresso
2 eggs
225g caster sugar
100ml oil
100g chopped pecans
250g self-r...


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Frances’s amaretti morbidi

Posted by Bake Club on Friday, March 16, 2012, In : cookies 

After I made the chocolate fudge sandwiches I had 2 egg whites to use so I quickly made this batch of amaretti to bake after the chocolate biscuits came out of the oven.

The recipe is from Gino D’Acampo’s book Italian Home Baking (Kyle Books, 2011). Gino says the D’Acampo family always have freshly made amaretti biscuits when having tea or coffee. They’re also good crumbled on top of ice cream.

I used half portions in his recipe:

 

4 egg whites

350g caster sug...


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Chocolate fudge sandwiches by Frances aka homemade Tim Tams

Posted by Bake Club on Thursday, March 15, 2012, In : cookies 


This is from Recipes From the Baker (Murdoch Books, 2009). Thanks to Michelle who gave this sweet little book to me. She reviewed the baking and said: “Buttery, shorty and a hit of dark cocoa - they're better than TimTams, which I find too sweet!” Aw, thanks. I’ll be trying the two-seed crackers next!

This is my entry into March's Sweet New Zealand monthly blogging event, hosted by www.mydarlinglemonthyme.com -  check out Emma's lovely blog with loads of gluten and dair...


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Frances’s Italian carrot cake

Posted by Bake Club on Sunday, March 11, 2012, In : big cakes 

Another one of Nigella’s. Very moist and perfect with yoghurt. Gluten free!

 

150g caster sugar

125ml olive oil

3 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

150g ground almonds

1 tsp nutmeg

2 grated carrots

½ c golden sultanas soaked in rum (I just used normal sultanas soaked in brandy)

grated zest and juice of 1 lemon

pine nuts

 

Preheat oven to 180C. Whisk sugar and oil until thick. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Mix in rest of ingreds.

Pour into 23cm round lined tin. Sprin...


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Frances makes coconut & lemon cupcakes

Posted by Bake Club on Saturday, March 10, 2012, In : small cakes 


Made these quickly for a 1st birthday party - this melt and mix recipe is super easy.

 

150g butter, at room temp

¼ lemon juice

¾ c sugar

1 Tbs finely grated lemon zest

2 eggs, beaten lightly

1 ¼ c dessicated coconut, plus 2 Tbs for sprinkling

1 ½ Tbs bought lemon butter (I used lemon curd)

 

Preheat oven to 180C/160 fan forced. Line 12-hole muffin tray with paper cases. (I made 18 mini muffins for little hands.)

Place butter and juice in saucepan over moderat...


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Frances’s Fijian Black Forest gateau

Posted by Bake Club on Saturday, February 25, 2012, In : big cakes 

This cake is an adaption of two recipes: Fijian chocolate cake by Alexa Johnston from foodie.co.nz (http://foodie.co.nz/Recipes/Fijian-Chocolate-Cake-by-Alexa-Johnston.aspx) with a Black Forest-type filling. Alexa calls in Fijian because it uses coconut cream. It makes a really dark, moist chocolate cake. I made 1 ½ times this recipe to make a big cake to feed 10 adults.

210 g flour
55 g cocoa
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
200 g sugar
2 eggs
125 g melted...


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Coffee snaps by Frances

Posted by Bake Club on Tuesday, February 14, 2012, In : cookies 


Coffee and snaps. Two lovely words that go together. So when I saw this recipe on Shirleen’s Sugar and Spice and All Things Nice blog I had to make it (
http://sugarandspice-and-allthingsnice.blogspot.co.nz/2011/03/coffee-snaps_11.html). Shirleen said she had a ‘hankering’ for some cookies – I know exactly how she feels!

125g butter, softened
1 1/4 cups (275g) firmly packed brown sugar [next time I would just use 1 c]
3 teaspoon instant coffee, the stro...


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Frances's ajo blanco

Posted by Bake Club on Friday, February 10, 2012, In : savoury 


Okay, this isn't baking but as I have previously posted gazpacho, one of my favourite soups to make in summer  (http://bakeclub.yolasite.com/index/frances-s-favourite-summer-soup-gazpacho-), I had to also include ‘white garlic’ soup from the Spanish, which is equally easy to make and tasty.

 

4 oz (1/2 cup) blanched, peeled almonds*

3-4 slices stale baguette or white bread

3 cloves garlic

4 cups water

5 Tbsp extra virgin Spanish olive oil

3-4 Tbsp Spanish sherry...


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Frances makes Mairi's sticky date pudding

Posted by Bake Club on Monday, January 30, 2012, In : desserts 


Nothing like a steaming hot date pudding with caramel sauce and vanilla ice cream!


Recipe from Toast: http://www.toast-nz.com/2010/09/supper-club-4.html

Sticky Ginger Date Pudding with Caramel Sauce
200g dates, chopped
1 1/4 cups boiling water
60g butter
3/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
3/4 cup of brown sugar
1/4 cup golden syrup
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 1/3 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
50g crystallised ginger, finely chopped (I added powde...


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Frances makes one-pot chocolate deadline cupcakes

Posted by Bake Club on Saturday, January 21, 2012, In : small cakes 

On the last day of deadline week I made these for the work team, hence their new name – ‘deadline cupcakes’. This easy recipe is from Annabel Langbein’s Free Range in the City.

120g butter, in small cubes
½ c neutral oil
1 c water
100g dark chocolate, chopped
½ c cocoa, sifted
1 ½ c caster sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 ½ tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 c yoghurt or buttermilk
2 c flour
¾ c raspberries (or any fresh or frozen berries)


Preheat oven to 180C. Line 24 m...


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Frances's smoked fish pie

Posted by Bake Club on Friday, January 20, 2012, In : savoury 

Thanks Jamie Oliver for this recipe, which doesn't include a white sauce, you just grate the veg into the dish - simple and use less pots! I added a puff pastry top to impress our dinner guest. He had 3 helpings.

1kg potatoes
1 carrot
2 sticks celery
150g Cheddar cheese
1 lemon
1/2 fresh chili
handful fresh parsley
300g smoked fish (I used terakihi, Jamie used salmon and haddock)
125g king prawns (optional, I didn't have any)
olive oil
salt and pepper
chopped spinach, optional
couple of ripe tomatoes, opt...
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Frances's sponge cake

Posted by Bake Club on Friday, January 6, 2012, In : big cakes 

From the good ol’ Edmonds Cookbook

3 eggs

175 g sugar

1/8 tsp salt

125 g flour

1 tsp baking powder

50 g butter

2 tbs boiling water

Beat eggs with salt , add sugar and beat until thick. Fold in sifted flour and BP lightly. Add melted butter in boiling water. Bake in greased 20cm tin or sandwich tins for 25-30 mins at 190 C.

Serve with cream and strawberries. I also spread strawberry jam in between the layers.


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Cheesy zucchini muffins by Frances

Posted by Bake Club on Friday, December 16, 2011, In : savoury 

2 c self-raising flour
½ tsp salt
black pepper to taste
1 c grated cheese
50g butter, melted
2 large eggs
¾ c milk
250g zucchini, grated (about 3)

Heat oven to 210C. Line 12-muffin or 24-mini muffin tray with lightly greased muffin cases or just grease the tray. Mix flour and salt in a bowl with pepper and cheese. Mix eggs and milk in another bowl, add zucchini and butter. Fold dry ingreds into egg mixture and mix to just combined. Spoon into muffin cases amd bake for 12-15 min un...


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Spruced-up vanilla cake by Frances

Posted by Bake Club on Sunday, December 11, 2011, In : big cakes 

I’m actually quite enjoying Nigella’s Xmas shows on the box at the mo. She’s decadent, with rich recipes and no excuses. In my opinion, Xmas time is more a celebration of getting to the end of another year, and to treat ourselves with eating whatever we desire. Her recipes aren’t complicated and she uses pre-bought items if it helps make preparation easier. One of her simple ones was mixing up fruit cake with port and melted chocolate, roll into balls and refrigerate...


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Frances gets into the Xmas spirit – meringue wreaths

Posted by Bake Club on Tuesday, December 6, 2011, In : sweets 


At one of my jobs they like to decorate their offices with Christmas decorations. This is mainly because there’s a decorating competition at ACP Media and prizes to be won. Anyway, my contribution was these meringue wreaths from Alessandra Zecchini and Arantxa Zecchini Dowling’s book Party Food for Girls.

She says the recipe contains lots of sugar as the meringues are designed to be long-lasting Xmas decorations. They will keep for weeks. I haven’t done much icing in ...


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Frances's snapper pizza

Posted by Bake Club on Sunday, December 4, 2011, In : savoury 

I have to say, this is the best pizza I've ever made. It was almost as good as the Leigh Sawmill pizza. I made 3 kinds that day - snapper, capers and dill; aubergine and sage; and asparagus and roasted capsicum. I used Alessandra Zecchini's basic pizza dough from her book, Savour.

300ml warm water
2 1/2 tsp active yeast granules
1/4 tsp sugar
500g flour
pinch salt

In a large bowl dissolve yeast and sugar in the warm water. When it starts to bubble add flour and salt and mix into a dough for about 1...
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Fondant flower-making workshop

Posted by Frances Chan on Sunday, December 4, 2011, In : food blog 

Really enjoyed making these fondant flowers at a Slow Food Waitakere event hosted by Alessandra Zecchini at her lovely Oratia home on 22 Nov. Only 5 of us altogether but we had a great time chatting away and learning new skills with icing. My first attempts were the big yellow and pink roses, then we fine-tuned our petals till we could make mini versions. Then Alessandra showed us how to make real teeny flower buds and leaves, which look great as a trio.
Yellow and white fondant is available f...
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Renga coconut bread

Posted by Bake Club on Friday, November 18, 2011, In : bread 

This Cook Island loaf is really nice fresh with sweet or savoury toppings. Honey is my favourite. It also toasts well the day after.

1 c wholemeal flour
1 c white flour
100g desiccated coconut mixed
1 c hot water
2 tsp yeast
½ tsp sugar
½ c warm water
1 tsp salt
1 tsp tumeric

3 Tbs olive oil

Mix coconut and hot water. Blend yeast, sugar and warm water. When bubbly add other dry ingreds and oil and mix to a smooth and pliant dough, not sticky.

Cover and  rise until dou...


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Chocolate-dipped ginger biscuits

Posted by Bake Club on Monday, November 14, 2011, In : cookies 

Almost like shortbread, these biscuits are crisp and buttery.

Makes about 24

175 g butter (or spread)
50 g icing sugar
225 g flour
1 tsp baking powder
3 tsp ground ginger

Preheat oven to 190C. Beat butter and sugar until creamy and pale. Add flour, bp and ginger and mix to a dough. Turn out onto a clean surface and knead until mixed.
Roll out to 3-5 mm thick and cut into shapes. I roll inbetween 2 sheets of baking paper.
Bake for 10-12 min until pale golden. Remove from tr...


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Frances makes Nigella's macaroons

Posted by Bake Club on Friday, November 11, 2011, In : small cakes 

These turned out pretty good - firm on the outside and chewy on the inside.

Preheat the oven to 200 C.

In a bowl mix together:
200g ground almonds
1 cup of caster sugar
1 teaspoon ground cardamon
2 egg whites

You can use a mixer but just a fork or spoon does fine. My paste was a bit gloopy so I added some rice flour. Drop teaspoon fulls onto a greased baking sheet. Leave room for spreading. Press a blanched or sliver of almond on the top of each macaroon, bake for 10 minutes.
Thanks ...


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Coconut shortbread by Frances

Posted by Bake Club on Friday, November 4, 2011, In : cookies 

Makes 18
1 c all-purpose flour
¼ c rice flour
1/8 tsp salt
1/3 c granulated sugar
¼ c desiccated coconut
½ c/125 g chilled unsalted butter cut into pieces (I used olive oil spread)
½ tsp vanilla extract
½ tsp almond extract (didn’t have any)

Preheat oven to 180C and lightly butter a baking sheet or line sheet with baking paper.
Sift together flours, salt and sugar into a bowl, then sift together into another bowl. Add coconut and butter and mix in until crumbly. Add the extr...


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Frances makes Alessandra’s balsamic onion bread

Posted by Bake Club on Tuesday, October 18, 2011, In : bread 

This made a yummy half-time snack during the All Blacks’ whipping of the Wallabies in the RWC semifinal (20-6)!

It comes from Alessandra Zecchini’s book Savour.


Dough
250 ml warm water
2 1/2 tsp active yeast granules
1/4 tsp sugar
500 g high-grade flour
pinch salt


Filling
1 med red onion
20 g butter
pinch salt
1 tsp Aceto Balsamic di Modena (aged 12 yrs, if you have it)
1 tsp sugar (to add if you are not using real balsamico)


Put warm water, yeast and sugar in large bowl, and set as...


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Frances’s cheese straws

Posted by Bake Club on Monday, October 17, 2011, In : savoury 


I had a strange hankering for good ol' cheese straws tonight. That crunchy, cheesy, salty hit. Also it's my turn for the office morning tea so I'm serving these plus a date loaf.


2 cups all-purpose flour (I used spelt and white)

2 cups grated cheese

3/4 cup butter or butter substitute (about 180g)

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup water

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (205 degrees C). Grease or line a baking sheet with ...

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Frances's gluten-free vegan date loaf

Posted by Bake Club on Monday, October 10, 2011, In : big cakes 

No eggs, no wheat but still tastes great. The brown sugar and dates caramelised.
I found this recipe on bestrecipes.com.au that doesn’t use eggs.

1 c chopped dates
2/3 c brown sugar or even less
60 g dairy free spread or butter

1 c boiling water
1 and 3/4 c gluten-free flour

1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarb of soda

2 tsp vanilla essence

You could also add chopped walnuts and ginger if you're feeling spicy.

Put dates and sugar in bowl then add margarine. Pour in boiling water, stirring until ma...


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Frances's childhood chocolate slice

Posted by Bake Club on Wednesday, October 5, 2011, In : slices 

This slice reminds me of my childhood, making it with my cousin Suzanne. A hit with the kids - and adults.

base:
2 c self-raising flour
3/4 c sugar
2 c dessicated coconut
2 tbs cocoa
250 g melted butter

icing:
1 c icing sugar
2 tbs cocoa
75 g butter or margarine
2 tbs hot water
I also added some lemon juice, you could also add few drops of peppermint.

Mix together all base ingredients until well combined. Press into slice tin. Bake for 20 min at 180 C. Remove from oven and let cool a little. Make chocolat...
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Frances's pear & pecan tart and spinach & cheese pinwheels

Posted by Bake Club on Monday, October 3, 2011, In : desserts 


I have an music video edit session going on in our dining room – what can I feed two hungry media types? Pre-rolled puff pastry to the rescue! Only three sheets left so I made one pear and pecan tart and some spinach and cheese pinwheels.

For pear and pecan tart: peel 3 pears, cut into slices and toss with handful of pecans, some brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger. Spread evenly over pastry sheet, folding up the edges. Baste with some melted honey; you could also brush...


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Frances makes Heidi's brown sugar rosemary nuts

Posted by Bake Club on Saturday, September 24, 2011, In : sweets 


Mmm. Nice sweet-savoury snack to take down to Party Central tonight to see the All Blacks beat Les Bleus! (Postscript: NZ 37: France 17 woo ha!) See the full post on Heidi Swanson's site, www.101cookbooks.com. She just uses walnuts but I used walnuts, almonds, hazels and brazils.

1 cup / 5 oz / 140 g brown sugar or natural cane sugar
2 teaspoons fine grain sea salt
1 teaspoon chopped rosemary leaves
1/4 cup / 1 oz / 30g sesame seeds
2 large egg whites
1 lb / ~4 cups shelled walnut halves
1/...


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Grapefruit curd fairy cakes by Frances

Posted by Bake Club on Saturday, September 10, 2011, In : small cakes 

200 g butter or Olivani
1/4 c caster sugar
1 tsp lemon zest
3 eggs
1 1/2 c self-raising flour
1/2 c flour
1 c buttermik
370g jar lemon curd (I used my homemade grapefruit curd)
icing sugar to dust

Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Line 12 muffin tins with paper cases.
Cream butter, sugar and zest for 10-12 min until pale and creamy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Sift combined flour into a bowl. Add half flour and half buttermilk to egg mixture and stir until combined. Add remainin...
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No-knead bread by Frances

Posted by Bake Club on Friday, August 26, 2011, In : bread 

Super easy bread!

1 Tb dry yeast
1 c warm water
1 tsp salt
2 Tb vegetable oil
3 c whole wheat flour (I often use spelt, you can use gluten-free flour)
cornmeal

In a bowl, dissolve yeast in water. Add salt and oil. Beat in flour, 1 c at a time. Use your fingers to ensure that the ingredients have been thoroughly mixed. Bang down the dough on a counter surafce, Shape into a small round bread and place in a round pan or loaf tin sprinkled with cornmeal. Allow to rise until doubled. Preheat oven to 190 ...
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Frances hearts cinnamon hearts

Posted by Bake Club on Friday, August 26, 2011, In : cookies 


Bake Club is one year old! To celebrate I made some cinnamon crisps.


2/3 c (155 g) butter

1/3 c caster sugar

1 ½ c self-raising flour

½ c ground almonds

1 tsp ground cinnamon

pinch salt

 

Preheat oven to 180 C. Lightly grease baking sheets or line them with baking paper.
Cream butter and sugar. Sift together flour, almonds, cinnamon and salt and add to creamed mixture. Use wooden spoon to mix well.
Turn out onto lightly floured surface and roll out between 2 sheets o...


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Frances’s caramel almond popcorn

Posted by Bake Club on Sunday, July 10, 2011, In : sweets 

This is a wickedly good treat for watching films at home or in the cinema, or watching the Reds beat the Crusaders in the Super 15 final. Boo!


5 cups freshly popped popcorn
1 cup whole almonds
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
50 g butter
2 tbs golden syrup or maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon baking soda


Preheat oven to 100 C. Grease a baking sheet.
Mix popcorn and almonds in large bowl.
Over low heat, mix sugar, butter and syrup in medium sauce...


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Frances’s yoghurt and goldenberry cake

Posted by Bake Club on Sunday, July 10, 2011, In : big cakes 

I wanted to find a recipe to use my homemade yoghurt. I adapted Heidi Swanson’s buttermilk cake from her latest book, Super Natural Every Day. Her summer version uses sliced plums and she recommends a winter version of 12 chopped Medjool dates and 1 c toasted walnuts. I had neither so I used dried goldenberries, cranberries and hazelnuts.

 

1 ½ c spelt flour
1 c white flour
1 tbs baking powder
½ dark muscovado sugar
½ tsp sea salt
2 eggs
1 ½ c yoghurt or buttermilk
6...


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Frances makes Alessandra’s corn loaf

Posted by Bake Club on Saturday, July 9, 2011, In : savoury 


Alessandra
does a corn loaf with sultanas in her book Savour. I did a savoury version with cheese and gluten-free flour. Turned out to be a good firm loaf that cut easily. The slices toasted well too.

 

250ml warm water
2 tsp active yeast granules
¼ tsp sugar
200g flour (I used gluten-free mix)
100g fine ground cornmeal
pinch salt
1 c grated cheese

Place warm water in large bowl, add yeast and sugar and set aside. When yeast starts to bubble, add cornmeal, flour and salt...


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Frances makes mocha shortbread

Posted by Bake Club on Sunday, July 3, 2011, In : cookies 

Great to try a different kind of shortbread. The coffee/chocolate flavour came through really well. Took them to a function and they went like hot cakes.


1 c butter, softened
2/3 c icing sugar
2 c flour
1 tbs cocoa
1 tsp instant coffee granules
½ c chocolate bits

 

Preheat oven to 160 C. Line or lightly grease a baking sheet.
Using electric beaters, cream butter and sugar until light and creamy. Sift together flour, cocoa and coffee. Use a metal spoon to fold four mixtu...


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Frances makes polenta bean bake

Posted by Bake Club on Saturday, June 18, 2011, In : savoury 


This recipe is from Healthy Food Guide. It turned out really well and leftover lunch tasted good too.

2 teaspoons olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 carrots, peeled, chopped
2 stalks celery, trimmed, chopped
1 red capsicum, chopped
1 teaspoon dried oregano
2 cloves garlic, crushed
pinch dried chilli flakes
1/4 cup no-added-salt tomato paste
400g can no-added-salt diced tomatoes
1⁄3 cup chopped fresh basil
75g fresh baby spinach
400g can borlotti beans, drain...


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Singapore smells (mostly in a good way, and Hong Kong too)

Posted by Frances Chan on Sunday, June 12, 2011, In : food blog 


The Esplanade Theatre, nicknamed the “durian” as the “scales” look like a durian fruit.

Sticky, stinky, hot and humid. That is Singapore and Hong Kong in a nutshell - but don’t let the weather put you off. Just wear cotton and comfortable shoes, walk slowly, carry a fan and a bottle of water. I was in Singapore performing in Tempest: Without a Body with Mau dance group. We performed at the Arts Festival at the Esplanade Theatre.

Before I get to the food, the archit...


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Caramelised onion quiche by Frances

Posted by Bake Club on Thursday, June 9, 2011, In : savoury 

From my batch of caramelised onions I made lentil pie, used them as a topping on bread and also added them to these quiches. Again, I used ready rolled pastry for a quick baking effort. I blind baked the pastry for about 25 mins for the large quiche and 15 mins for the mini ones.
The filling is a mix of 6 eggs, 150 ml cream, caramelized onions, chopped green olives, roasted red peppers, brie, fresh mung bean sprouts, sprinkle of salt and pepper and topped with a little grated cheddar cheese. ...

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Frances’s spelt loaf with caramelised onions and apricot & walnut bread

Posted by Bake Club on Sunday, June 5, 2011, In : bread 

Spelt is one of my favourite grains to make bread with and I often use Alessandra Zecchini’s recipe from her book, Savour.

400 ml warm water
2 ½ tsp active yeast granules
¼ tsp sugar
250g spelt flour
250g white flour
pinch salt

Place warm water in bowl, add yeast and sugar and set aside for 5 mins until the yeast starts to bubble. Add flour and salt and mix with your hand then turn out onto a floured board and knead for 7-8 mins. Roll into ball, but back in the bowl,...


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Frances makes proper lentil pie

Posted by Bake Club on Thursday, May 26, 2011, In : savoury 

What to do with leftover cooked lentils and ready-rolled pastry? Make a good ol’ pie with bottom and top crust.
I blind baked the bottom crust for about 20-25 mins at 180 C.
I made the filling by sautéing these finely chopped veges:
1 onion
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 carrot
1 stick celery
1 pepper
few sundried tomatoes
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried marjoram
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp coriander powder
salt and pepper

To the cooked veges I added 2 cups cooked brown lenti...


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Dark chocolate and feijoa cake by Frances

Posted by Bake Club on Monday, May 23, 2011, In : big cakes 

This is my attempt at Alessandra Zecchini's chocolate and fig cake. She used fresh figs, which looked beautiful and pinky, but I didn't have any on hand. The feijoas aren't so aesthetically pleasing but it still tasted good; the tart feijoa contrasts well with the chocolate.

250 g bar of Whittaker's Dark Ghana Chocolate
100 g butter
3 eggs, whites beaten into stiff peaks
2 tbs sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract or paste
3 tbs self raising flour
10 feijoas peeled and cut in half

Melt chocolat...


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Frances does Jamie’s honey and pistachio semolina cake

Posted by Frances Chan on Saturday, May 21, 2011, In : big cakes 


I quite enjoyed Jamie Oliver's TV series travelling to different cities. In Athens he whipped us this cake and I recreated it with success using homemade yoghurt.
5 eggs
225g yoghurt
225g caster sugar
75g ground almonds
zest of lemon and orange
150g plain flour
200g polenta or semolina
2 tsp baking powder
200ml olive oil

Syrup:
100ml honey
juice of lemon and orange
150g toasted, chopped pistachios

Mix all the ingreds and pour into 20-22cm cake tin greased and floured. ...


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Super Size Me 5 – Taking bites of the Big Apple

Posted by Frances Chan on Tuesday, May 17, 2011, In : food blog 


Spring has sprung in NYC - tulips at the Rockefeller Center; view from the Top of the Rock

My final instalment of this trip is about our five holiday days in New York. Accommodation hassles and pounding the pavement tired us out somewhat, so we sought solace in good food, and weren’t disappointed. We arrived at Greenwich Village on a spectacular sunny Sunday and Bleecker St was buzzing. I had a hankering for comforting Italian and we fortuitously came across the original Ra...


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Super Size Me 4 – Old favourites in New Hampshire

Posted by Frances Chan on Wednesday, April 27, 2011, In : food blog 


Room with a view of Hanover's town green

What a culture shock to leave hip and happening colourful San Francisco, fly to Boston and bus three hours north to the township of Hanover, New Hampshire, home of ivy league Dartmouth College, founded 1769. The streets were spotless. Everyone was well dressed. There was an air of wealth and wisdom. The town green looked like the set from Back to the Future. It was flanked by grand university buildings that looked like facades (but the...


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Super Size Me 3 – Chez Panisse Special Edition

Posted by Frances Chan on Wednesday, April 27, 2011, In : food blog 


Chez Panisse - climb the stairs to food heaven

Now that our US tour has come to an end, I can say without a doubt, that nothing surpassed our dining experience at Chez Panisse in Berkeley, San Francisco.

Owner and organic/slow food guru, Alice Waters, first saw a MAU performance in Venice in 2003 and has been a supporter ever since. Eight years later, we perform in her town and she graciously invited us to lunch at her famous cafe and restaurant, founded in 1971. When the ni...


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Super Size Me 2 – I heart San Francisco

Posted by Frances Chan on Friday, April 15, 2011, In : food blog 


Spring blossoms in Union Square

What a joy to spend eight days in SF and NOT have a bad meal! First lunch off the plane was at friends Nick and Sabrina’s place in the Castro for homemade lentils and tortillas with all the trimmings – fresh avo, salsa, rice, chutney. It replenished our stomachs and our souls. Then Nick whipped up a Trader Joe’s brownie batch and even used vegan buttery sticks – moist and chocolatey.


Nick and the ingredients of his bodacious brownies

We...


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Super Size Me 1 – Lalaland and Hollyweird

Posted by Frances Chan on Saturday, April 9, 2011, In : food blog 


Downtown Los Angeles skyline around Pershing Square

Here is my first food report from the US while on tour with the dance group MAU. Nothing fancy, just miscellaneous observations on what I find as I travel across this great state…

In a nutshell, I had a week of very uninspiring food in Downtown LA. Broadway was the place of glamorous stars and movie premieres during the 1920s to the 50s but now it’s a wide treeless street of faded glory. It’s a primarily Hispanic area...


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Frances's lime shortbread with feijoa zest

Posted by Bake Club on Thursday, March 31, 2011, In : cookies 


What a surprise it was to find an email in the Bake Club mail box from Christoph Vogel from The Aucklander saying he would like to do a story about Bake Club! It was the day before I was going to the US for a month so I quickly answered some questions via email. Christophe also wanted a pic. I thought it would look much better if I actually had some baking in front of me so after dinner that night I made the quickest batch of shortbread ever. But because I was going away ...


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Kumara sesame balls – fabulous friedness de Frances

Posted by Bake Club on Wednesday, March 2, 2011, In : sweets 

Mama Chan taught me how to make these and I am pleased to have been able
to show a few friends the technique, and now I can share it with the world wide web!

Makes about 20.
1 c boiled kumara, peeled and mashed (purple flesh but you can use the orangey ones if you like)
1 ½ c glutinous rice flour (available at Asian grocers. This does not have gluten in it;
it’s called glutinous because of the sticky nature of the flour when it’s cooked)
½ c sugar (could be icing, ...


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Roasted tomato and paprika soup by Frances

Posted by Bake Club on Tuesday, March 1, 2011, In : savoury 

I'm on a roll with soup. I know this one looks a bit like the gazpacho I made (tomato is tomato is tomato)
but this one is roasted, and uses tomatoes from Nabby, a very special suburb in Auckland
(Nic and Ben’s Back Yard). The recipe is adapted from Heidi Swanson’s Super Natural Cooking.

5 tomatoes, cored and quartered
1 large red capsicum, seeded and quartered
3 onions, quartered (Heidi uses brown onions)
salt and pepper
5 cloves garlic, unpeeled
3 c vegetable s...


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Frances’s favourite summer soup – gazpacho!

Posted by Bake Club on Sunday, February 27, 2011, In : savoury 


Gazpacho! You need to say it several times in a Spanish accent. GazPAcho! Not baked, but that’s why it’s so easy and quick to make.

 

Chuck in a blender or food processor:
about 1/2 kilo peeled and chopped tomatoes, a variety if you like
1 cucumber peeled, seeded and chopped
1 red pepper seeded and chopped
2 cloves garlic peeled and chopped
1/2 onion chopped if you like, brown or red
1/3 c olive oil or thereabouts
2 tbs vinegar, any kind

1-2 tbs lemon juice
1 tbs wate...


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Frances makes perfect peanut butter cookies

Posted by Bake Club on Friday, February 25, 2011, In : cookies 

Well, I only call them 'perfect' cos that's what the recipe was called. But they did come out really, really well. Thanks to Jo from Dublin who gave me her jar of peanut butter before she left Auckland. I've used less sugar than the recipe I found.

1 1/2 cups flour (I used rice and spelt)
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 c creamy or chunky peanut butter
1/2 cup softened butter
3/4 cup brown sugar or raw sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

In a medium bowl sift to combine flour, baking powd...
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Gingerbread by Frances

Posted by Bake Club on Monday, February 14, 2011, In : small cakes 

Oh Nigella you do a scrumptious moist gingerbread! Even my partner Justin thought it was one of the best things I've made. No wonder, it's got butter, sour cream and stout in it!
melt in pot:
150 g butter
200 g golden syrup
200 g dark muscovado sugar
take it off the heat and add:
250 ml stout (I used Guinness)
whisk in 300 g flour (I used rice, buckwheat and spelt)
2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
2 tsp cinnamon
3 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp ground cloves
300 ml sour cream
2 eggs
Pour into tin lined with baking paper. Bak...
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Frances's new chocolate moulds

Posted by Bake Club on Thursday, February 10, 2011, In : sweets 

I bought two fantastic chocolate moulds in Venice - rose shapes and leaf shapes. No baking involved, but I thought I'd include my first batch to show you how easy it is.
Just melt dark and white chocolate. Filled the moulds halfway then added a toasted hazelnut or pistachio, and topped with more chocolate. For the leaves I mixed in chopped pistachios and dried cranberries.
Lately I've also made some batches of Annabel Langbein's espresso hazelnut chocolate ripple  - pouring dark and white choc...
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Espresso banana muffins by Frances

Posted by Bake Club on Saturday, February 5, 2011, In : small cakes 

This is the first recipe I have tried from my latest Amazon purchase, Super Natural Cooking by Heidi Swanson. Mine were a little misshapen as I didn't have a muffin tray at the time. That subtle coffee flavour is very nice. Lovely with a cuppa.

2 c flour ( I used rice and buckwheat)
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 1/4 c chopped nuts (I used hazels and pistachios, Heidi used walnuts)
1 Tbs fine espresso powder
6 Tbs unsalted butter at room temp
3/4 c natural cane sugar
2 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla...
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Lentil as anthing by Frances

Posted by Bake Club on Friday, February 4, 2011, In : savoury 


This lentil loaf was easy to make. I actually made two to feed 10 people. Start with 2 c of cooked lentils (I used puy).

Saute:
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed

Mix in:
1 c carrot, grated
2 Tbs tomato paste
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried parsley (or any herbs you like)
black pepper
salt

Put everything in a bowl with the lentils. Mix in 2 eggs, 1 c dried breadcrumbs, some chopped nuts (I used hazels). If you need more moisture add water or vege stock.
Pour into loaf tin and whack in an oven at...
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Frances's fun food times in Melbourne

Posted by Frances on Thursday, February 3, 2011, In : food blog 
Damn! Somehow, a ghost in the machine has wiped my whole Melbourne blog! I can't for the life of me remember what I wrote but I do have the pics...
Here are some enjoyable food moments:

Lindt Cafe hot chocolate and salt caramel macaons


Friends of Mine cafe, Richmond


Cacao cafe, GPO centre


Longrain desserts


Yarra Valley Dairy

Also recommended: Bar Lourinha, Little Collins St, for tapas, Cafe Segovia in Block Place, Hellenic Republic in Lygon St, Yering Station vineyard, Stokehouse in St Kilda. For fu...
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For the love of RAW - Frances's rice rolls

Posted by Bake Club on Tuesday, January 18, 2011, In : savoury 

OK, I'm branching out here on Bake Club by including something not baked at all! I am embracing raw food much more these days - we try for 50% raw in most main meals. I've been to some great raw/superfood talks and learnt a bit about the importance of enzymes in raw food and fermented foods. So here are some supereasy Vietnamese-style rice rolls. I had them once at my friend Lizzie's dinner party - she laid out all the fillings and we just made them up ourselves. I brought along some ajo blan...
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Frances's first macarons - rustic as!

Posted by Bake Club on Tuesday, December 28, 2010, In : small cakes 

Here they are, my first attempt at the fancy French macarons. They look pretty rustic with their cracked surfaces. I didn't have time to leave them for 20 mins before baking, hence the crackling, but you know what - I like this look. And it didn't affect the taste, it was still an intense sugary buttery mouthful. I followed the same recipe as Ginny used except I used lemon instead of lime and only put basil in the filling. Not as tangy but I still have plenty of ground almonds so will be mak...

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Frances makes ugly but good - brutti ma buoni

Posted by Bake Club on Friday, December 24, 2010, In : cookies 

I made these GF cookies for our Bake Club meet. The recipe is from my friend Sarah, via Ray McVinnie in the NZ Herald, thank you, and I used a technique from another recipe re heating up the egg whites. I bought bulk ground almonds from Davis Trading in Mt Wellington - very reasonable price for 1kg. I forgot to dust icing sugar on top. I think that's why they became sticky by the end of the day. But still tasted great.

1 c ground almonds (or hazelnuts. You can also finely chop instead of using...
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Frances's self-crusting quiche cake

Posted by Bake Club on Monday, December 20, 2010, In : savoury 

At the 2nd Bake Club meet I made a quiche in a fancy cake tin.

4 Free Range Eggs
1C Milk
1C Rice Flour
1t Baking Powder
1C Grated Cheese
Salt & Pepper
Any vegetables you like cut into small pieces. I used mushrooms, asparagus, tomatoes and purple basil

Mix together eggs, milk, salt and pepper, then add flour and baking powder until just combined. Add in vegies and cheese. Pour into 20/23cm greased tin and bake at 220 C for 20-25 mins. Leave 5-10 mins before turning out.

Recipe f...


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Frances doubles the fun - cinnamon rolls and parmesan buns

Posted by Bake Club on Monday, December 13, 2010, In : bread 

Aaaah…freelancing. In my world, it means more time to bake! I hadn’t made bread with gluten for a while so I thought I’d use up some spelt that I have at the back of the pantry. And if you’re going to make one batch you might as well double it and do two – one sweet and one savoury.

2 c warm water
4 tsp active dry yeast
2 tsp sugar
2 tsp butter or vegetable spread
2 tsp salt
6 c flour (I used 2 plain white and 4 wholemeal spelt)

savoury filling:
2 Tbs butter,...


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A plate of pakoras by Frances

Posted by Bake Club on Tuesday, December 7, 2010, In : savoury 


Now that I’ve set a precedent by adding the deep fried frittelle di pere to Bake Club, here’s another fried snack featuring a new favourite flour at the moment, chickpea flour (aka garbanzo, gram, besan) or pea flour. This recipe is from Annabel Langbein.


Prep time:  5 mins + standing
Cook time:  3-5 mins per batchjk
Serves: Makes approx 30

 

2 cups chickpea or pea flour
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp coriander seeds or mustard seeds
1 tsp fennel seeds, roughly ground o...


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Frances gets brownie points for GF vegan brownie

Posted by Bake Club on Sunday, December 5, 2010, In : slices 

I adapted this recipe from Miyuki McGuffie, the vegan baker on the Good blog. I made mine extra indulgent by using espresso coffee.

1 cup strong espresso
1 ¼ cup rice flour
1/4 cup muscovado sugar
½ cup brown sugar

¾ cup cocoa powder (I used fair trade cocoa but Valrhona from Sabato is excellent)

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup dairy-free chocolate chips (you can get them at New World and Pak 'N Save but I used...


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Frances’s gluten-free focaccia

Posted by Bake Club on Friday, December 3, 2010, In : bread 


I was inspired by Birg (see previous post) and Alessandra (from her own blog) to make a gluten-free olive focaccia. This was the first time I had used GF flour to make bread – my favourite recipe is usually spelt bread. I decided to use Healtheries GF bread mix and the result looks good but is quite firm throughout. After I baked it I realised the yeast I used was best before 2008! We’ve been enjoying it as toasted slices with pesto.

450 ml warm water
3 tsp yeast
3...


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Frances's frittelle di pere

Posted by Bake Club on Wednesday, December 1, 2010, In : desserts 


OK, these aren’t officially baked goods, they are fried, but definitely worth the effort. I made them for a little dinner party. They looked posh and went down a treat.

2 ½ cups flour (I used gluten free)
¼ c caster sugar
pinch salt
2 eggs, separated
1 Tbs olive oil
about ¾ c ice water
4 firm yet ripe pears, peeled, cored and cut into ½ inch thick wedges
½ c vin santo (I used port)
canola oil for frying
icing sugar for dusting

In large bowl whisk together 1 ¾ c of the f...


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Frances makes Ginny's pumpkin pie and adds kumara

Posted by Bake Club on Tuesday, November 30, 2010, In : desserts 

Hard not to be impressed by the deep, malty colours of Ginny's pumpkin pie (see below). So when I just happened to have some leftover roast pumpkin and orange kumara I decided to make a gluten-free version.
I followed Ginny's recipe and used cream instead of evaporated milk. I also made g-f pastry for the first time with butter and a g-f flour mix. I blind baked the pastry shell for about 15 mins. It turned out a bit too buttery and crumbles easily but still nice. I think the kumara and pumpki...
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Baked apples deluxe by Frances

Posted by Bake Club on Wednesday, November 24, 2010, In : desserts 


Don’t get me wrong – I’ve got nothing against Annabel Langbein’s recipes as featured on her TV programme The Free Range Cook. I just wish this obviously bright and successful woman could add a few more adjectives to her vocabulary! Her superfluous gushing of ‘so good’, ‘so delicious’, ‘so easy’ and ‘so yum’ send me into a groaning fit. On the other side of the culinary coin, Nigella finds ways to promote food porn unlike any other TV chef: everythin...


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Frances satisfies craving for gingernuts

Posted by Bake Club on Friday, November 19, 2010, In : cookies 


Contentment is: blogging on Bake Club while dunking homemade gingernuts into a big mug of peppermint tea. Don’t they look cute in my kilt-shaped biscuit tin?! I feel like a decidedly flat-chested Asian version of Nigella Dawson tapping away at my laptop, extolling the virtues of homebaking with a smug look on my face.

But there is a genuine reason for my domestic bliss – our oven has finally been fixed, six months after moving into our house! I have been surviving with ...


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Frances takes the easy road and makes gluten-free cookies from a packet

Posted by Bake Club on Tuesday, November 9, 2010, In : cookies 

These cookies using Sway's GF cookie mix are quick to make - just add some oil and an egg to the premixed organic ingredients and Robert is your father's brother. The packet made 17 little chocolate chip cookies. I tried it out because it was on special for $6.50. Not a cheap afternoon tea, considering you can get a packet of GF gingernuts for under 5 bucks, but you get a kick out of shaping the mixture and baking it yourself.



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Frances makes Ginny's cardamom and cashew shortbread gluten free

Posted by Bake Club on Monday, September 27, 2010, In : cookies 

This is what Bake Club is all about: getting inspired by what your friends have baked, and customising the recipe to suit what you have available. I only have a bench-top oven at the moment so the only baking tin that can fit is 28 x 22 cm.

I adapted GInny's original recipe a little:

250g butter, softened
1 cup icing sugar
1 cup cornflour
1/2 cup rice flour flour
1 cup gluten free flour mix
1/2 cup cashews, roasted and finely chopped
1 tsp ground cardamom
1/4 tsp ground pepper (I only had black...
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Inaugural Bake Club meeting!

Posted by Bake Club on Monday, September 20, 2010, In : food blog 

Our first official Bake Club tea was held on Sunday 19 Sep 2010 at Frances's house. What a great spread! All the recipes are below. As well as baked goodness Nic also brought her homemade homegrown broad bean dip and Frances made hummus. Can't wait for the next one. Perhaps the guys might like to take up the baking challenge?...

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Lamington love by Frances

Posted by Bake Club on Monday, September 20, 2010, In : small cakes 

I started out with a Genoese sponge by Alessandra Zecchini from her book Sweet As. Then used the Edmonds recipe for the chocolate icing.

I halved this recipe for the lamington sponge.

5 eggs, separated
140g sugar
grated lemon zest
120g flour (I used a bought gluten-free flour mix)
50g butter, melted

Preheat oven to 180C. Line base of 23 cm baking tin with baking paper, then grease and flour sides of tin.
Partly fill a small saucepan with hot water and set over medium heat. Set bowl over the simmering...
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Frank's feta, cashew & sundried tomato mini bites

Posted by Bake Club on Monday, September 20, 2010, In : savoury 

My muffins tend to come out dry because: I bake them too long, I probably don't use enough eggs and I need to adjust temps and times for my wee benchtop oven. Still edible though.

375g (2 1/2 cups) gluten-free flour
1 tsp baking powder
150g feta cheese, crumbled
1/2 cup chopped sundried tomatoes
1/2 cup chopped toasted cashews
finely chopped parsley
330ml (1 1/3 cups) milk
90g butter, melted
1 egg
Finely grated parmesan, extra

Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease 2 mini muffins trays (12 muffins in each).
Sif...
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Frances 'baked' a 3-minute cake in the microwave

Posted by Bake Club on Thursday, September 16, 2010, In : small cakes 

I got this recipe from a Trade Me newsletter and had to give it a go.

It's called: The most dangerous cake recipe 5-minute chocolate mug cake

4 Tb flour, 2-4 Tb sugar, 2 Tb cocoa, 1 egg, 3 Tb milk, 3 Tb oil 3 tablespoons, chocolate chips (optional), a small splash of vanilla extract, 1 large coffee mug
Add dry ingredients to mug and mix well. Add the egg and mix thoroughly. Pour in the milk and oil and mix well. Add the chocolate chips (if using) and vanilla extract, and mix again. Put your mug...
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Baked Mushroom Risotto - one of Frances' fave meals

Posted by Bake Club on Tuesday, September 7, 2010, In : savoury 

No more slaving over a hot stove waiting for risotto rice to cook! Bake it!

2 T olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, drushed
300g button mushooms, sliced or mix of dried porcini mushrooms that have been dehydrated and fresh shrooms
2 tsp thyme leaves or 1 tsp dried thyme
2 c arborio rice
5 c vegetable stock
grated parmesan
bunch of spinach leaves if you wish

Preheat oven to 200C. Heat large frying pan and add oil. Add onion and garlic and cook for 1 min. Add mushrooms and thyme and cook for 4-5 ...
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Frances' first attempt at a gluten-free, sugar-free cake (ok it's got chocolate bits in it)

Posted by Bake Club on Tuesday, August 10, 2010, In : big cakes 

I just freestyled this recipe so feel free to make up as you go along too!

1 cup brown rice flour
1 cup carrot pulp (from my Oscar juicer)
1/2 cup beetroot pulp
tsp each cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger (whatever spices you like)
1 tsp gluten-free baking powder (or make your own with 2 parts cream of tartar, 1 part baking soda, 1 part cornflour)
1/2 cup dark choc bits
another version I added chopped toasted hazelnuts and coconut
1 tsp vanilla essence
3 eggs
1/2 cup oil or 1/2 cup melted Olivani
about 4 tbsp Fre...
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WELCOME 2 BAKE CLUB -
MAY THE CAKE B WITH U

EST. 2010

Frances C loves to bake. She's also a freelance editor and DJ. She shares some of her adventures, culinary or otherwise, on Instagram.


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CAKE — THE FINAL FRONTIER

Special thanks to Kat Wade of 6twenty.com for our Bake Club cake monster logo.
 

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