Banana Muffins

These muffins are very easy to make. Enjoy them with a cuppa. A great way to use up those very soft bananas you have lying around your breakfast table.

Ingredients:

125 g butter or margarine
1 cup caster sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
2 eggs
2 cups self raising flour
¼ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 cup mashed ripe bananas (approximately 2 large bananas)
1/3 cup natural yoghurt (I used 1 small tub of whatever yoghurt I have. The recipe is very forgiving)
1 cup chopped nuts (pecan, walnuts, hazelnuts or combinations)
1 cup sultanas (I also tried 1 cup of chopped prunes)

Directions:

1. Cream butter and sugar until soft and fluffy.
2. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition
3. Add flour alternately with the combined mashed banana and yoghurt.
4. Stir through Nuts and Sultanas, mix thoroughly.
5. Pour in the prepared muffin pans (spray your muffin pans or line them with paper cups)
6. Bake in a moderate oven, 180 C or 160 C for fan forced oven, for 12 – 15 minutes

Pandan Chiffon Cake

This is a very light and fluffy cake. You will enjoy it as is .. or if you want a fix of cream, you can use the ready to squirt cream. Or whisk some double cream and serve it with perhaps strawberries or raspberries. Sky is the limit. I just enjoy it by itself. Once you have a slice, you can't stop.

Ingredients:

1 cup cake flour (I used sponge cake flour)
½ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
8 egg yolks
300 ml coconut milk/cream
1 tsp pandan extract
¾ cup caster sugar
9 egg whites
1 tbsp caster sugar
1 tsp cream of tartar

Directions:

Pre heat the oven to 160 C or 350 F

Preparation for the Batter

1. Pour the coconut milk into a saucepan and add the caster sugar. Bring to a boil, stirring slowly to dissolve the sugar. Set aside to cool.



2. Sieve the cake flour, baking powder and salt.



3. In a bowl, combine the egg yolks, coconut mixture, pandan essence and drops of food colouring. Use food colouring so that your cake is green, which is the colour of pandan. But if you don’t use colouring, the taste of pandan is still there.



4. Whisk lightly, and then add the flour to the egg yolk mixture. Mix until the batter is smooth. Set aside.



5. Whisk the egg whites lightly and add in the cream of tartar and the caster sugar. Continue to whisk until the mixture is stiff. Do not overbeat or allow the mixture to become dry. Set aside.

Baking the Cake

1. Gently fold half of the beaten egg whites into the egg yolk mixture and blend well.



2. Fold in the remaining egg whites and work very lightly with a spatula. Make sure the mixture is well mixed.



3. Place the finished mixture in an ungreased 10 inch chiffon cake/tube mould. Level and bake in the oven until golden brown (about 45 minutes)



4. Remove the cake from the oven and invert the mould. I usually invert it onto a bottle with a long neck/handle. Allow it to cool completely. Do not remove the mould while the cake is still hot.



5. When it has cooled, use a long, fine palette knife to loosen the sides of the cake to remove it from the tin.
   

Penne pasta with Seafood

This is another favourite in our house. When pasta is cooked like this, then I love it. I love it even more if it is spicy. But of course, you don't need to put the chili if you don't like it spicy. There's no set rules in cooking any food. You cook it the way you want it. Or at least, that's always been the rule I live by. After all, it's me who is cooking it, and eating it.

Ingredients:

500 grams of Pasta Penne (cook as per direction in the packaging)
3 tablespoon of olive oil
3 cloves of garlic, chopped finely
1 medium onion, chopped finely

2 - 3 medium tomatoes, chopped
200 grams of prawns (frozen is quite ok)
200 grams of scallops (again, frozen is ok)
Salt
Pepper
Chili flakes (to taste)

Directions:

Sauté the garlic in the olive oil until fragrant
Add the minced onions; keep stirring until it’s translucent.

Add the tomatoes, stir until cooked.
Add the prawns and scallops. Stir for a minute. Do not overcook the seafood as they will turn rubbery if they are overcooked.
Season with salt and pepper.
Add chili flakes if you like a bit of spice, or more if you like it spicier.
Mix the pasta, and mix well.

Brownies (Microwaved)

Brownies come in a variety of forms. They are either fudgy or cakey, depending on their density. They may include nuts, icing, cream cheese, chocolate chips, or other ingredients. Brownies are typically accompanied by either milk or coffee. In our house, it doesn't matter whether they are fudgy or cakey, they will be gone in a jiffy. Sometimes we just eat it as is, especially if they just came out of the oven, sometimes, we serve it with whipped cream or sometimes, just dust with icing sugar. One thing is definite, whatever we put on top, it will be eaten, because it's one of our favourites. This recipe is a very simple one and a quick one too. If you need a quick fix of chocolate, this is for you. Enjoy ...

Ingredients:

METRIC/IMPERIAL

75 g/3 oz plain chocolate, broken
100 g/4 oz butter
2 eggs
225 g/8 oz sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
100 g/4 oz plain flour, sifted
100 g/4 oz mixed nuts, chopped

AMERICAN

3 squares semi-sweet chocolate, broken
½ cup butter
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour, sifted
1 cup chopped mixed nuts

Directions:

Line a 20 cm/8 inch square box or dish with plastic cling film. I used a rectangular pyrex dish.

Put the chocolate and butter in a bowl and Microwave on high for 1 ½ minutes until the chocolate is melted.

In another bowl, beat the eggs, sugar and vanilla essence (extract) together until thick and creamy. Fold in the flour and chocolate mixture in alternate spoonfuls. Fold in the nuts.

Turn the mixture into the lined box and spread smoothly. Microwave on high for 5 – 6 minutes until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean; give the dish a quarter turn every 1 minute during cooking.

Leave in the box or dish until cold, then turn out and cut into squares.

MAKES 16 TO 20 BROWNIES

Peach Kuchen

This is a very refreshing cake. Considering the amount of sugar I used in this recipe, surprisingly, it's not very sweet. It's best to eat when it's been in the fridge for 2 hours or so. Of course, that's not a rule, if you want to eat it as soon as you finished decorating it, go for it. Alternatively, you can use mangoes when they are in season. That's also very very delicious. It will be called mango cake then, right? Left, my sons will tell me. Hope you enjoy this as much as we enjoy it. Cheers!

Ingredients

10 egg whites
1 cup caster sugar
10 egg yolks
¼ cup water
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 cup caster sugar
2 cup sifted self raising flour

Directions:

Preheat oven to 180 C/350 F. Spray a square or round pan.
Beat egg whites until foamy.
Gradually add 1 cup of sugar, continue beating until very stiff but not dry. Set aside.
Beat egg yolks with water and vanilla until creamy.
Gradually add the other cup of sugar, beating well until thick and lemon coloured.
Fold half of the egg whites into the egg yolks. Mix well.
Then, fold the egg yolks mixture alternately with flour into egg whites.
Pour in the prepared baking pan and bake for 20 -25 minutes or until done.
Cool. Ice and decorate.

To decorate.

Beat/whip some double cream (I use 400 ml) until thick and spreadable. Or you can buy the ready mix stuff.
Split the cake in the middle. Make the cut even as much as possible.
Spread the whipped cream on the bottom cut layer. Arrange the slices of peaches.
Place the other half of cake on top and spread the remaining whipped cream. Sometimes I also spread whipped cream on the bottom side of the top cake before I lay it on top so that the peaches are sandwich with whipped cream.
Garnish with the rest of the peaches. Chill and serve.

Beans with Meat Balls

This dish is my experiment. I had this spice - Chinese five spice powder - sitting in my cupboard for a long time and I don't know what to do with it. So one day I tried mixing it with this dish and it worked so well. My family just loved this dish. Even friends of my kids enjoy this one. I like using frozen baby beans because I find them handy and they work well in this dish as well. And one seldoms find fresh baby beans in the supermarket anyway. Usually, the beans in there are old and stringy, unless of course, one spends heaps of time picking all the small beans. And one advantage of using frozen beans, I can cook this dish anytime I want, I don't need to wait until the beans are in season. Clever!!!

Ingredients:

For the meatballs:

500 grams minced beef or pork
1 onion, minced
1 tsp of minced dried garlic
Salt to taste
Pepper
1- 2 eggs, whisked
2 – 3 slices of bread, soaked in water, squeezed out extra water

Mix all ingredients. Make small balls and bake in 180 C oven until cooked.

For the beans:

2 tbsp olive oil
2 500 grams packet of frozen baby beans (or fresh if you prefer – top and tail)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, chopped finely
1 tsp five spice Chinese powder
1 – 2 tsp of fish sauce
1 400 ml can coconut milk/cream

Directions:

Sauté garlic in oil.
Add onions, stir until translucent.
Add the five spice powder, stir thoroughly.
Add the beans, cooked until soft.
Add the fish sauce.
Pour the coconut milk and let simmer.
Add the cooked meat balls, stir through. Remember, the meatballs are cooked already.
Thicken the sauce with corn flour dissolved in water if necessary.

Pavlova

Pavlova is a meringue dessert named after a Russian Ballet dancer Anna Pavlova. The dessert is believed to have been created to honour the dancer during or after one of her tours to Australia and New Zealand. Australians say it's an Aussie dessert, New Zealanders say it's a Kiwi dessert. One thing is for sure, it's a popular dish and an important part of the national cuisine of both countries, and is frequently eaten during celebratory or holiday meals such as Christmas dinner. But we don't have to have something to celebrate to eat pavlova, I just have to be in the mood to make one ...

Ingredients:

6 eggs separated
1 ¼ cups caster sugar
2 tsp cornflour
1 tsp white vinegar
300 ml thickened cream
Any fruits you want to decorate it with. I used peaches (from a can) and fresh bananas.

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 120°C.
2. Line an oven tray with foil. Brush with melted butter and dust with cornflour, shaking off excess. Mark a 24cm-diameter circle on foil.
3. Use an electric mixer to whisk egg whites in a clean dry bowl until soft peaks form.
4. Gradually add sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating well after each addition, until meringue is thick and glossy and sugar dissolved.
5. Rub a little meringue between fingers. If still "gritty" with sugar, continue to whisk until sugar dissolves.
6. Add cornflour, vinegar and vanilla and whisk until just combined.
7. Spoon meringue onto the foil, using the marked circle as a guide.
8. Smooth sides and top of pavlova.
9. Use a small spatula to forms little peaks around edge of pavlova.
10. Bake in oven for 1 ½ hours or until pavlova is dry to the touch.
11. Turn off oven.
12. Leave pavlova in oven with the door ajar to cool completely.
13. When completely cold, transfer to serving plate or store in an airtight container until required.
14. Use an electric mixer to whisk the cream in a medium bowl until firm peaks form.
15. Spoon cream onto the top of pavlova.
16. Decorate pavlova with peaches and bananas,