Lemon Cream Pudding

"When life hands you melons, you know you're dyslexic."

I feel like the luckiest girl in the world. I have friends in California with the most amazing Meyer lemon tree.  This tree of theirs makes the sweetest juicy lemons I've ever had. When you cut into them they are spilling with juice. My sister and I are always raving about these gems, so I feel super fortunate to have in my possession a large bag of these babies. Thank you Charles and Michelle!

Think creme brulee, only lighter, and smoother, silkier. That's what this pudding is like. There are no eggs in this recipe, but the cream transforms into a perfect pudding texture.

It makes an elegant make ahead springtime dessert, fresh, bright and satisfying.

 It needs so little effort, it's almost embarrassing. Almost.

Meyer lemons are sweeter than traditional lemons. You can use one or the other in this recipe, I don't adjust the sugar either way because with Meyer lemons I just know to expect a sweeter end result.


Lemon Cream Pudding

This needs to be made at least 4 hours ahead, or overnight, so plan accordingly.

2 cups (500 ml) heavy cream
3/4 cup (192 g)  sugar
1/4 cup (60 ml) fresh lemon juice
2 tsp finely grated lemon zest-use a microplane, you need to get the zest very fine

In a medium size saucepan over medium high heat,  place cream and sugar, stir until dissolved. Bring to a boil stirring very frequently. You will need to be standing there monitoring it to make sure it doesn't boil over. Bring it to a boil and boil for 3 minutes, stirring constantly.

Remove from heat and add the lemon juice and zest. Stir and let it sit on the counter for 15-30 minutes. Stir it again, and pour it into ramekins, tea cups, martini glasses etc. Make sure the mixture is cool enough for the vessels you are pouring it into, for example you probably don't want to be pouring boiling hot liquid into a martini glass.

Refrigerate the puddings for 4-5 hours or overnight then serve cold. The pudding will firm up and set up, once cooled.

This makes about 5, 1/2 cup servings.

Spring Vegetable Pasta with Mushroom Butter Sauce

To the best I can tell, it is pretty much spring around these here parts.  We have had beautiful weather and I sure hope it stays that way.  This is pretty much one of the freshest pastas I have ever made with so much flavor.  A co-worker shared this recipe with me (thank you, Christy!) after going to a cooking class and I just had to try it.

I usually do not like my pasta to be bothered with any sort of vegetable, but the long ribbons that you make out of carrots, zucchini, and squash intrigued me.  The ribbons were so delicate and soaked up the mushroom butter sauce to just melt in your mouth.

From my little kitchen to yours... Enjoy.

Spring Vegetable Pasta with Mushroom Butter Sauce

Recipe Notes

The original recipe called for pappardelle pasta.  This is basically a skinny version of lasagna noodles, but I could not find it so I used fettucine.  Use whatever you can find.  If you are unfamiliar with leeks, they are really just a larger version of a green onion.  Wash them well and slice just the white part.  See picture above. 

Ingredients

1 lb. fettucine or pappardelle pasta *see recipe note

2 zucchini

2 yellow squash

2 carrots 

1 cup chopped white button mushrooms

2 leeks, washed and sliced *see recipe note

2 cloves garlic, minced

6 tablespoons butter

1/2 cup white wine

1/2 lemon, zested and juice

Step by Step

Peel carrot with vegetable peeler and throw away outer layer.  Continue to peel long ribbons of carrots and set aside.  Peel squash and zucchini into long ribbon pieces, stopping at seeds.  Make long strands one side of squash until you hit seed.  Then, rotate to another side and repeat until all sides have been peeled; set aside.

Saute leeks with butter on medium heat, 4-5 minutes until translucent.  Add garlic and continue to cook until fragrant, 2-3 minutes.  Add mushrooms and wine and cook an additional 10 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper.  Mushroom butter sauce can be covered and stored in the refrigerator up to one week.  Boil pasta according to directions on packaging in a large pot of salted water.  When pasta has 3 minutes left, add ribbons of vegetables to pasta and cook together.  

Drain pasta and vegetables and place in a large bowl.  Pour butter sauce on top and mix to combine.  Serve immediately. 

Makes 6 servings. 

over the weekend.....

sun. snow. snow. snow. sun. melty snow.the recipes:black bean and hominy soup
Sometimes I just dump stuff in a pot and call it soup....so here's a soup that there isn't really a "recipe" for, but if you like to throw things together too, I'm sure you will figure it out easily.
1 onion, 3 garlic cloves, large handful roasted red peppers, 1 can black beans (drained and rinsed), 1 can hominy (

Chasing Purple Cherries

How about a drive to the farm for a little relaxation today?  "No worries" replies my Hubby.  "By the way, look what I found the other day". 

Out from his working shirt pocket he produces a couple of berries.  Purple ones.  We gather round.  A search on the internet and it seems they are called 'purple cherries'.  Purple they are, cherries - well not as I know them to be.  I break one open and I'm immediately in familiar territory.  A lilly pilly.  Hubby has his doubts.  After all, lilly pillies have little hairy beards underneath and these didn't have those. 

They smell like lilly pillies and they have that distinct, white, powderiness in the fleshy part.  Mitch and Hubby do more research.  The purple cherry tree can grow up to 45 metres and is native to our corner of the world.  Sounds promising.

Hubby tells us he saw scatterings of the berries in the river beside our bridge.   They have come downstream.  The question is how far did they travel?  Where is the tree?  The current in our river is fairly strong, so they could have travelled from anywhere up the valley.  Wouldn't it be lovely if the tree were on our place.  The next thing I know, I'm changing into long pants and boots.  My afternoon of relaxation was about to turn into an afternoon of adventure and discovery. 

Half an hour and we're at the farm.  The afternoon is glorious, overcast with a slight breeze.  Not too hot.  We hop on the quad and head up the hills to check all the cows.  Looks like the "fly and tick deterrent rubs" are working well.  The cows look clean, healthy and happy.  Back down to the river. I spot some purple cherries in the water that have been trapped  in floating debris.  Aren't they a pretty colour?

We follow Hubby along the overgrown river bank.  During the recent floods this was all under water, so I walk very cautiously.  Before you know it Hubby is out of sight, but Mitch has kindly decided to stay behind his plodding mother.  We begin to spot some of the fallen cherries along our trail.  We come to a clearing and Hubby stands there looking up at this particular tree.  There are cherries under the tree but we can't sight anything directly above.  This is one tall tree.  We climb up the river bank hoping to have a better view to the tree tops.

There they are.  We spot a sprinkling of them dancing in the breeze.  There are birds in the tree.  Good. They must be safe to eat.  As for getting to the cherries.  Forget it.  The tree is right on the river, metres away from the bank and ridiculously tall.  There is no way we can reach them.  It wouldn't be worth it anyhow, as there are hardly any left.

We all feel chuffed that we have discovered this tree on our property and we head back to our undercover area to have a beer and a chat.  After about ten minutes, Hubby looks up, points and belts out "Hooley Dooley!  There are heaps of them".  We look over and we have a view directly of the tree from our rest area.  Overhanging the river, were a mass of purple cherries. 

A zoomed in picture as close as I could get to the purple cherries.

"You'll never know if you don't have a go!"  These words need to be engraved on my Hubby's headstone.  It describes him to a tee.  Any 'normal' person would think, that's it, they can't be reached, let's be grateful we found the tree and be done with it.  Not my Hubby.  The mind is ticking.  A plan is hatched.

I'm standing on the bridge listening to the loud antics in the bushes.  I can't see a thing.  The next thing, Hubby races down the bridge holding a strainer he finds in his shed.  He sits by the bridge.  Waiting.  He begins to scoop.  One cherry.  Another. And another.  Oh look out.  There's quite a few going by.  Quick. Catch them.

I'm handed the strainer and ordered to not let any cherries get away.  The problem is there are two directions from which they are coming, so this was one rather demanding request!  I begin dashing up and down the bridge, bending over, scooping as I go.  The run ceases.  I don't have many, but it's a start. 

I see Hubby disappear along the bank carrying a rope with a huge metal bolt attached to one end.  Heaven knows what he is up to.  I hear Mitch and Hubby.  Loud exchanges.  Water splashes.  Trees swaying.  Bushes bending.  "Watch out!"  Crashing sounds. 

My orders resonate from somewhere in the bushes.   "Hun!!! Get ready!!! They're coming!"

I stand at the bridge, armed with my strainer, whilst my eyesight strains trying to spot them. 

It doesn't take long.  One cherry.  Two. Three. One. Two. One.  Quick. To the other side.  Oh know, missed one.  Back to the other side.  A whole group of them.  Forget bending.  I'm lying on the bridge, desperately scooping with one hand whilst trying to stop the others with my other till I can get the strainer facing them.  Ahhh. Some are getting away. 

This went on for half an hour.  No kidding.  Hubby came down and relieved me for a bit, while I took some photos.  Then I took my station again.   Another fifteen minutes and I gave up.  Enough.  I spotted the odd one here and there.  The bucket was surprisingly filled and my bottom was unsurprisingly sore.  Enough.

My goodness.  My afternoon was an entertaining, unpredictable and a scrambling affair.  I had a ball.  I later learned that Mitch had a near disaster with the bolt.  It just missed him as it swung past in the air.  Turns out he was in the tree!!!! Lucky I couldn't see any of this from the bridge, or I truly would've been ranting.  

I'm home.  I only learned of purple cherries this morning.  After a "Basil Fawlty" afternoon, I have enough cherries to justify making a preserve.  Looks like Lilly Pilly Jelly is on the cards.  Hopefully a beautiful jewelled purple one.   Hubby fears the preserve may turn out to be a murky brown colour.  The colour purple is very tricky to achieve, I'm told.  And the colour on these cherries don't seem to be as concentrated as it is in the pink or the red lilly pilly.  Those varieties I know very well. 

As for the purple cherry; I have decided to continue on with this journey and see where it leads.  Hopefully, Purple Lilly Pilly Jelly is coming up.

PS:   Twenty nine years today.  My life has been unpredictable, never boring, challenging, exciting, fortunate and blessed.  All because of you.  And like your purple cherries; I never know what's around the bend.

Happy Anniversary Dear.

Changes

I've been making changes to this blog, as you can probably tell. I'm trying to make it easier to read, as well as make other improvements. For example, I've added a printable button to the posts, to make it easy to print a recipe. More changes will be coming, but all for the better.

Thank you for your support in this process, and thanks for reading!

Passionfruit Bars with a Shortbread Crust

"This special feeling toward fruit, it's glory and abundance, is I would say universal... We respond to strawberry fields or cherry orchards with a delight that a cabbage patch or even an elegant vegetable garden cannot provoke."

-Jane Grigson

I have never eaten a passionfruit. Oh sure, I've had passionfruit tea, passionfruit liqueur, and lately I had a passionfruit cupcake while I was in Los Angeles. I love the flavor, but have never had one. Didn't even know what one looks like. A few days ago I was on a quest to find said passionfruit because I wanted to make something with it, anything. I searched for this tropical fruit, in places I was sure I would find success. A huge Asian grocery, a gourmet grocery store, nothing, not canned and certainly not fresh. Damn, I thought.

I came home and did some research. I found out I may have some luck at a Hispanic market, since they are popular in Columbia and Venezuela. So out I went. After striking out at a few Mexican markets, it happened, I found a market that not only sold Mexican goods, it was labeled, Hispanic market as well.

my passionfruit puree

The woman at the counter was busy, so I roamed the aisles looking for this elusive fruit. Canned fruit aisle, nothing. I thought while I was there I might as well look at other things. So while I was looking at the fresh Mexican cookies and candy I saw the freezer aisle and proceeded. Yes!! There it was. They had many exotic fruits I've never heard of in puree form, for smoothies, the label says.

I took home my puree and went to work. I made a cake that originally called for pineapple, switching out the passionfruit puree in it's place. I thought this is a fruit puree too, like crushed pineapple, what's the difference? Bad idea. Don't do this. I measured out the puree in a measuring cup, then I tasted it. (Thankfully) Wow. Did you know passionfruit is like, super tart? I mean like a lemon. I had no idea.

It was like I was from another planet and had never seen a lemon, but I had a piece of lemon cake and really enjoyed it, so I assumed that if I bit into a lemon it would taste like cake.

I added sugar (alot) to the puree and proceeded. The cake didn't work. It's a stronger flavor than pineapple, and it was too.. well, it had lots of problems.

I decided I needed to treat it for what it is, "it is what it is".. the most popular catchphrase of late. Anyway, I thought I needed to use a passionfruit recipe. Or use a lemon recipe but one that relied on juice for flavor, not zest. So that's where these bars came from. This is my favorite lemon bar recipe only with passionfruit puree replacing the juice.

The sky was really beautiful today. Can you believe we have snow in late February?

They are clearly passionfruit tasting, sweet and tart, with a browned butter shortbread crust. Really lovely. They did indeed satisfy my craving for passionfruit. I purchased quite a few of these, so my passionfruit escapades aren't over.

 My chickens looking for something to eat in the snow.

Passionfruit Squares With A Shortbread Crust

Ingredients

For Crust

1/2 cup (100 g) powdered sugar
1 1/2 cups (150 g) all purpose flour
12 Tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) (172 g) unsalted butter at room temperature
pinch of salt

For filling

1/2 cup (50 g) all purpose flour
2 cups (383 g) sugar
1 cup plus 2 Tablespoons (264 ml) passionfruit pulp, or puree. I found it at a Hispanic market in the frozen section Make sure it's the tart yellow passionfruit, not the purple sweet variety
6 eggs
1 egg yolk
pinch of salt

For Topping

powdered sugar

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, 180 degrees Celsius, or Gas Mark 4.

Grease a 9x13 pan and place a piece of parchment paper that hangs over the sides, to act as a sling. (as pictured above.) To lift them out easily after cooking. Then spray or grease the paper.

Make the crust. Add all of the crust ingredients to a bowl of an electric mixer and beat on low speed until it forms a dough. (This takes 3 or 4 minutes, be patient.)

When your dough is ready, press it into the pan. To get it into the corners evenly, use the bottom of a measuring cup to press it in, and up the sides by 1/2 inch or so. It should be 1/4 inch thick.

Line the crust with parchment or heavy duty foil and place pie weights (or dried beans) on top to weigh it down. Bake until it turns golden 30-40 minutes.

In the meantime, make the filling. Whisk together the flour and the sugar. Add the passionfruit puree, and stir. In a separate bowl whisk the eggs with the salt. Add the eggs to the passionfruit mixture and whisk until well blended.

When the crust is done, pour in the filling. Turn the oven down to 300 degrees Fahrenheit, 150 degrees Celsius, Gas Mark 2. Bake until the center is set, 35-40 minutes.

Cool on a wire rack, then refrigerate. When cold, lift the bars out with the parchment sling, dust with powdered sugar and cut into squares.

friday senses

....a little look at the past week...


Making: A mess. I am having that get-rid-of-everything-spring-cleaning/purging feeling but I don't really have the time to fully execute it yet. So I'm just pulling stuff out of closets and making piles all around the house. Awesome, huh? Anyone have any awesome spring cleaning tips?Laughing at: Modern Family!Seeing: Quails everywhere....I can't wait for

Pulling Strings

Jean-Pierre the butcher bird

Meet Jean-Pierre.  He's been visiting us for about five months.  Early January, Mitchell and I went to Sydney for a week and after we returned there wasn't any sign of him.  No more Jean-Pierre.

Mid February morning and it was Mitchell's birthday.  I glanced through my kitchen window and there was our beautiful butcher bird. He was sitting on the chair that I dared not move since he last visited.  It was his stage.  He used to sing us songs from that chair. The most wonderful warble I have ever heard.  One particular morning he sang his little heart out.  It was mesmerizing and I was actually moved to the point of tears.  He has never quite repeated that performance.

Mitchell was so happy to see his little friend had returned.  Their relationship had been slowly developing.  Naturally food has been the motivation for Jean-Pierre's visits.  It's amazing what stringy little bits of meat can bring.  He was confident enough to sit and eat from Mitchell's knee.   Then he disappeared.  It's been a while now and I guess a little trust needs to be built up again before that happens.

What a wonderful birthday surprise!  After all this time, fancy Jean-Pierre showing up on my birthday,  he said.  I told my son we mother's can pull strings when the need arises.  I had organised for Jean-Pierre to come precisely at that time.  What?  You don't believe me!  Wait till I tell you what I pulled for my son's birthday two years ago.  Mitchell still shakes his head in disbelief. 

 Here's a clue. We're going to see John Williamson's 40th anniversary concert in Brisbane soon.  Mitchell's favourite songwriter and singer.  He absolutely adores him.  We went to Twin Towns last November to see his show and we haven't stopped playing his songs ever since.  Gosh, that man has written some great and memorable songs.  He is our very own dinky di Aussie living legend.

Now, what do you think the chances are of getting this Aussie legend to phone my son and wish him a happy birthday.  Not great?  Never underestimate the power of a determined mother.  Like I said, we sure can pull some strings.  Arranging for Jean-Pierre to come and sing precisely on his birthday was actually harder than getting John Williamson to call my son and say "gudday".  But I did. 

Now. I rather fancy the idea of John writing a song about our Aussie butcher bird.  Somehow I don't think he'll like his name.  'Jean-Pierre' isn't very Aussie after all.  Jeepers. Maybe they could sing together.  Imagine John singing and Jean-Pierre warbling in the background.  Or maybe John can whistle or play the harmonica with Jean-Pierre out front.  Ohh the possibilities. Must dash.  I hope I haven't run out of string.

running 201

disclaimer: These are all opinions. Of mine. Because this is my blog. I never "learned" to run, and I probably do a lot of things wrong. I never had a coach. I'm sharing what I've learned from experience, and like most things in my life (baking, photography, parenting, this blog), I make it up as I go.
disclaimer: I got a few comments and one nasty email about how running is not the only form of

Gold cake!

Här kommer ytterligare en tårta! Jag fick sådan lust att prova min nya guldfärg, så jag gjorde en liten testtårta att måla på. Färgen ser nästan ut att vara orange på bilderna, men den är guldig! Tårtan innehåller återigen citronbottnar, men denna gången fyllde jag den med swiss meringue buttercream med jordgubbssmak.

På tal om något helt annat så åker jag till Paris imorgon för att spela med mitt band! Det ska minst sagt bli fantastiskt kul! Jag kan lova att jag kommer äta många bakverk och förhoppningsvis lyckas jag ta lite fina bilder. Dock tror jag inte det kommer vara lika vackert och somrigt som sist jag var där. Men det ska nog gå ändå! Jag är glad bara jag slipper mer snö.





In English:
Here is yet another cake! I felt like trying my new gold color, so I made a small cake. The color almost looks orange in the pictures, but I assure you that in reality it is not! It is a lemon cake filled with strawberry SMBC, delicious!

Speaking of something completely different. Tomorrow I'm going to Paris to play with my band. I'm really looking forward to it! I can promise you that I'm going to eat lots of pastries and hopefully I'll be able to take some photos too. I don't think Paris will be as summery and lovely as it was last time I was there though, but I'll manage. I'm happy as long as there is no snow.

winter wednesday

winter survival tip #8:
if you can't beat 'em, join 'em.
"'em" being the snow.
I promise you, bundle up, grab a sled, climb up a hill and push your babies down it.....you'll feel great!





happy wintering!

Best Ever Dark Chocolate Mudcake

I don't recommend having mudcake too often.  Sinfully rich? Yes.  Deadly on the waistline? Yes.  Momentary bliss?  Yes, yes, yes!

My son made one request for his birthday last week.  A mudcake.  I've made quite a few in my time and at a guess I would say we'd average one mudcake a year.  The last mudcake I made was for my 50th, which was December 2009.  I do receive an order from time to time, but that doesn't count.

For this particular mudcake I used a good quality chocolate containing 70% cocoa.  I also used for the very first time a high baking tin, lined inside and outside too.  I poured the mixture into the tin only to discover it reached the top of the tin.  There was no allowance for the cake to rise and I didn't think one lining of baking paper would be able to support heavy mudcake mixture. No panic.  I lined the outside of the tin a few times and tied with twine.   The cake rose beautifully and  the lining did it's job.

The cake stood tall and high.  I iced it with the ganache until it set.  It took about fifteen minutes of swirling and twirling with a steel spatula and a serrated knife.  The weather was humid which didn't help.  It did however help to produce a beautiful gloss.  Mitch was tickled when he saw it.  Philomena thought I bought if from the shops.  I finished it the day before his birthday.

Mitch cut into it and a piece came out beautifully dark, rich, intact and oh so moist.  Evenly all the way through.   The trick is to enjoy wafer thin slices.  It can keep for ages.  Ten days later and we still have some left.  I've had four visitors at different times this week who all sampled the cake. Serve with some cream and fresh raspberries soaked in Cointreau.  I simply can't describe it.  The silence at the table whilst eating was a good indication.  At least I hope!  Take it slow, enjoy every mouthful and make sure your piece is thin.  Pure indulgence.

If you'd fancy a go; here is my chocolate mudcake  recipe.  

My tip: enjoy it long, enjoy it slow, enjoy it once a year.

Dino Cupcakes for Jace

A birthday Dino! Made out of my homemade marshmallow fondant.

Swimming in a sea of buttercream frosting.

Spikey

This view is just cute... ♥

Jace Jurassic Park Style!

Fresh not-so-prehistoric moist cupcakes waiting to be eaten by Jace for his birthday!

Billy The Exterminator Cupcakes for Cohan

 

The Billy The Exterminator Skull Logo Made out of Chocolate!

Cohan's name framed by a chocolate Billy Bone & Black Licorice pieces!

A Slithery Snake sticking out its Starburst tongue (I made the tongue out of melted Starburst!)

Ok, typical snakes don't have confetti around them. They are more creepy.
But this is a birthday snake! And it is for Cohan this time, not for Billy!
So I had to add some classic Birthday Sprinkles!!!!!!!!!
And the snake is made out of my homemade marshmallow fondant. Yum.

Edible Worms.



A Scorpion Toy to play with later!



All the creepy crawlies captured in a box, waiting to jump out at the birthday boy!



What a fun birthday party!
And a fun order.
So honored. ♥