Victoria sponge cake

Original recipe by Therese

Ingredients for sponge cake

• 225g caster sugar
• 225g self-raising flour
• 225g butter
• 225g eggs (4 eggs)
• 2 tsp baking powder

Method for sponge cake

Preheat oven to 190C

Put all the ingredients together in a large bowl and mix them until there are no more lumps. 

Pour the cake mixture into a 20cm round cake tin and bake the cake for approximately 20 minutes or until the skewer comes out clean when tested.

If you would like, you can pour the cake mixture into 2 20cm cake tins rather than the 1. If you pour the mixture into 2 cake tins, you won't have to slice the cake into 2 once the cake is baked.

Ingredients for raspberry jam 
Go to my blog on raspberry chia jam for the recipe.

Ingredients and method for whip cream

Hand beat 150ml thick cream by hand until thick and fluffy 

Assembly

Once the cake is cool, slice the cake into 2 half's (if you baked it in 1 cake tin)

Spread the raspberry chia seed jam over the bottom half of the cake.

Spread the whipped cream over the raspberry chia seed jam.

Lastly put the top half of the cake on and ta-dah you are done.

Now cut yourself a BIG piece of cake an enjoy. 

Raspberry Chia Seed Jam

Ingredients
Recipe by Therese

• 2 cups of frozen or fresh raspberries
• 1 - 2 tablespoon brown sugar (to taste)
• 1 - 2 tablespoon maple syrup or honey (to taste)
• 3 tablespoon chia seed
• 1 teaspoon vanilla essence

Method
Mix all the ingredients together and boil it in a pot until thick. Keep stirring and be careful to not burn it

Once the mixture is thickened, cool the jam in a bowl and once cooled, pour it into a jar and keep it in the fridge. It should last a week, but it is so yummy that I guarantee that it won't last that long.

What I learned
Try not to burn the jam so boil it for about 3-5 minutes.

For fun
You can use different berries  if you do not like raspberries.

Hummingbird muffin

Ingredients
Original recipe by Nadia Lim

• 2/3cup standard flour/gluten free flour
• 1tsp cinnamon powder
• 11/2 tsp baking soda mixed with 2 tbs warm milk
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup bananas mashed (approximately 2 large bananas)
• 2/3 cup grated carrot 
• 1/4 cup butter/coconut oil
• 1/4 cup honey/ rice malt syrup
• 1 tsp vanilla essence/paste
• 2/3 cup pineapple chunks
• Zest of 1 lemon/lime
• 1/3 cup desiccated coconut

Rasberry Louise slice

Ingredients
Original recipe by Chelsea Winter

Base

• 150g butter
• 1/2 cup caster sugar
• 2 large free-range egg yolks
• 2 tsp vanilla essence or paste
• 1 cup plain flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/3 cup ilk
• 1/3 cup desiccated coconut

Berry filling

• 3 cups frozen raspberries
• 1/3 cup sugar
• pinch salt

Meringue topping

• 2 large free-range egg whites
• 1/3 cup caster sugar
• 1/3 cup shredded coconut

Method
Preheat the oven to 180C regular bake and set a rack just below the centre of the oven. Line a 20cm square slice tin with baking paper so it goes right up the sides.

To make the base, cream the butter and sugar with an electric beater or cake mixer for 5 minutes until pale. Add the egg yolks one at a time, beating for 30 seconds after each addition. Beat in the vanilla. Sift in the flour and baking powder, and stir to combine. Add the milk and coconut and fold to combine. Press into the slice tin (it will be sticky so place a sheet of cling wrap over it before you press it with your fingers). Bake in the oven for 15 minutes. Set aside to cool.

To make the filling, add the raspberries, sugar and salt to a medium saucepan with a tablespoon of water and set over a medium heat. Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally for about 15 minutes, or until thickened. Remove from the heat and leave to cool.

To make the topping, add the egg whites to a clean mixing bowl. Add the sugar a tablespoon at a time beating at a medium speed until stiff peaks form. The mixture should now be thick and glossy.

Pour the berry filling over the cooled base and spread it out to the edges with a spatula. Scrape the meringue over the top, smooth with a spatula. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes until the meringue is golden brown. Add the shredded coconut with 10 minutes to go. Remove from the oven and allow to cool then lift from the tin.

Cut into squares and serve. Once cooled, it will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for a few days.

What they learnt
If the raspberry sauce does not thickened, increase the heat and don't stir too often. The slice is also easier to cut when it is chilled. So, try to be patient and wait till it is chilled before cutting.

For fun
Replace the raspberries with mix berries or blue berries.  You can also replace caster sugar with muscovodo or brown sugar.

Daddy's birthday

Daddy celebrated his birthday recently and as usual it was all about food. We took daddy to Nishiki at Freeman's Bay and enjoyed a scrumptious Japanese meal of sashimi, takoyaki, yakitori sticks and lot and lots of sushi.  My favourite is takoyaki and salmon rolls.

Mummy got daddy his favourite fruit, durian. Peee Yew!!!! They sting but daddy loves them so I am ok with it. Not! Common! Look at my face in the photo! It says it all.

Mummy bought daddy's cake this time. I told her to bake it but she said she was too busy this time. It was a mango mouse cake, another of daddy's favourite and mine.

We had full tummies at the end of the night, best of all my daddy was super happy and I think that beats any present we can get him.

Therese

A very berry breakfast smoothie

Ingredients
Original recipe by Anna (mummy)

• 1 cup milk
• Handful of raspberries 
• Handful of blackberries
• Handful of blueberries
• 1 banana
• 1tbs chia seed

Method

Put all ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth.

Pour into a glass and enjoy.

What she learnt
Substitute with almond or coconut milk for dairy free.

Keep refrigerated for a nice cool smoothie

For fun
Replace berries with any of your favourite fruits for a yummy fruity smoothie.

Japanese cotton soft cheesecake

Original recipe by Christine recipes

Ingredients

• 250ml milk
• 250g cream cheese, cubed and softened at room temperature
• 60g butter, softened at room temperature 
• 6 egg yolks
• 55g cake flour (see tips below on how to make cake flour)
• 20g corn flour
• Zest of 1 lemon
• 6 egg white
• 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
• 130g sugar

Method

Preheat will oven to 150C

Pour the milk into a bowl. Place the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Be careful the bottom of the bowl don't touch the water. Add the cream cheese and stir occasionally until completely dissolved. Stir in the butter until completely dissolved too. Remove from heat. Leave to cool. Once cool, add in the egg yolks and combine well.  (Make sure the mixture is not too hot otherwise you will end up with scramble eggs)

Combine and sift  cake flour and corn flour. Add flours into the cream cheese mixture, a small amount at a time. Mix well between every addition, and make sure there aren’t any flour lumps. Stir in freshly grated zest. Set aside.

Place egg whites in a large clean bowl. Use an electric mixer to beat the egg whites for 3 minutes, then add cream of tartar and blend again. Pour sugar in the egg whites and blend until very stiff peaks form. 

Fold-in the egg whites into the cream cheese mixture gently with a rubber spatula just until all ingredients are incorporated. (Do not stir or beat.) For a better result, fold in egg whites with a small amount at a time, at least for 3 times. 

Pour the mixture into the two baking pans. Place the pans into another larger baking tray. Add hot water in the tray up to half way. Bake for about 50 to 60 minutes. Test with a needle or skewer that comes out clean.

Turn off the oven. Leave the oven door ajar for 10 minutes so it can cool down a bit. Remove from the oven and remove from the pans. Let cool completely on a wire rack. Chill in a fridge for about 3 hours or overnight.

What I learned
Do not fold too hard or it will not be soft. When you line the baking tin do not make it over lap or the cake will be uneven and it will leave rough parts in the cake. Also do not make creases when lining or the cake will leave wrinkles and lines. For the meringue do not over beat it or it will be hard or it will make it too hard to fold.

Netball

I love food and I love to eat! I also love to read, write and talk. I am also a sports nut. My favourite sport is netball. I am quite good at it too. I usually play defence or centre. I play for the Halsey Drive Primary School team. Last year I got best player in the seasonWhen I started playing netball I was in the D squad, sad eh. However I got so good at it I made it to the B squad this year . Next year I will start at St Mary's College and fingers cross I will make it into their netball team.

My mum took me to watch the Silver Fern play against the Australian Diamonds. Our team lost badly to the Diamonds and because there was so many people at the restaurant we wanted to eat at we ended up getting takeaways from Countdown.  I still had a good time and so did mummy even though we were hungry by the time the game ended. Do you know why? I got all the autographs of my favourite players even an Aussie player.

So, still a good night.

Therese

Spiralizer salad with sesame seed dressing

Ingredients
Recipe by Therese (me)

Sesame seed dressing 

• 8 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon sesame dressing
• 1/4 Italian white whine vinegar
• pinch of salt
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 3 table spoons white sugar
• 2 tablespoon roasted sesame seeds

Method

Add all ingredients except the sesame seeds.

Once you have done that get a pan and toast the sesame seeds on it.

Now mix it in with all the ingredients until the dressing is evenly mixed.

Spiralizer salad

Ingredients 

• beetroot 
• carrot
• cucumber
• apples
• sesame seed dressing

Method 

To do this you will need a spiralizer

Stick the veges in the spiralizer to make them curly but if you are a kid like me then ask an adult to help you.

Now add the sesame seed dressing.

For fun
You could get your favourite veges spiralize them and add pesto sauce on it and boom vege pasta. You can also make curly fries if you use the spiralize potatoes. Delicious!

Banana, Coconut and Lemon Loaf

Ingredients
Original recipe by Nadia Lim

• 1/2 cup butter/ coconut oil
• 1/2 cup honey
• 3 large ripe bananas
• 2 cups dessicated coconut
• 1 cup plain flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 4 eggs
• zest of 2 lemons
• a pinch of salt

Method

Preheat over to 180 C

Melt honey and butter in a small pot

Mash the bananas up with a fork.

Add the mashed bananas, coconut, flour, baking powder, honey mixture, eggs, lemon zest and salt together in a large mixing bowl.

Combine all ingredients together, be careful not to over mix or you will have a hard cake.

Pour ingredients into a greased and lined loaf tin and bake for 1 hour or until skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.

What I learned
When you mix all the ingredients together mix it slowly and gently because if you do it to hard and fast then the loaf will be really hard and it will not be edible. If you want you can replace the honey with rice malt syrup or fructose free sweetener.  Also you can replace flour with almond flour for a gluten free option.  Check the cake around 5 to 10 minutes before the one hour mark to make sure you don't over bake it.

For fun 
If you want to have an awesome treat then warm up a slice of the loaf and spread lot's of butter on it. It will be a great start to your day.

Chocolate Berry Fudge Brownie

Ingredients
Original recipe by Nadia Lim

• 1 cup of fresh or frozen berries (blueberries, raspberries, boysenberries)
• 1/4 cup of butter
• 4 tablespoons of honey or maple syrup
• 100g of dark eating chocolate 
• 1 x 400g canned black beans or kidney beans
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 eggs

Method

Preheat the oven to 150C.

Grease a square 18-20cm square cake tin with baking paper.

Place coconut oil, honey and dark chocolate in a medium sized saucepan and gently heat on medium heat stirring frequently until chocolate is melted.  Allow to cool slightly.

Transfer to a food processor with the black beans, baking powder and eggs. Blitz all ingredients until smooth and well combined, scraping down the sides a few times with a spatula.

Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin.

Scatted the berries over the mixture and press the berries into the mixture.

Bake the mixture for 20-25 minutes until the brownie is mostly set around the edges but still slightly soft and fudgy in the middle.

What they learnt
Make sure to drain as much liquid from the berries if you are using frozen berries otherwise the mixture will be too wet and it will take longer to bake.  Also place the brownie in the fridge for at least 10 minute to allow it to firm up before cutting it. 

For fun
Substitute butter with coconut oil to make it dairy free.  Substitute the honey with rice malt syrup for a fructose free sweetener. 

Raw Raspberry Brownie

Ingredients
Original recipe by Megan May

• 2 cups Brazil nuts
• 2 1/2 cups pitted dates
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 avocados
• 3/4 cup raw cacao powder or good - quality organic cocoa powder
• 3 tbsp melted coconut oil 
• 1/4 cup freeze-dried raspberries or 1/2 cup fresh or frozen raspberries

Method

Pulse Brazil nuts in a food processor until slightly chunky, then add in the dates, salt, vanilla extract, avocado, cacao powder and coconut oil. Keep pulsing until all combine.

Add 2/3 of the raspberries and pulse them into the mixture.

Line a baking tray (12cm x 20cm) with plastic wrap or baking paper and press the mixture into it. Top with remaining raspberries.

Cover and leave in fridge for 2 hours or freezer for 1 hour.

Cut and enjoy!

What they learnt
If your food processor can't take all the ingredients, pulse each ingredient separately then mix it all in, in a big bowl. Get your hands in there to mix as then you are guaranteed to combine all ingredients evenly. Also once the mixture is in the tray, use a coaster to press it all down so the brownie will be nice and evenly flat. 

For fun
If you don't have Brazil nuts, replace with cashew nuts, If you don't have raspberries or freeze dried raspberries, use any berries or berry flavoured jelly powder If you live in Asia and can't find cacao powder, replace with Milo (but bare in mind, that will be sweeter).

Plaited scones

Ingredients
Original recipe by Dean Brettschneider

Sweet filling

• 100g dates, pitted and chopped
• 25ml dark rum
• 25g butter, softened
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon

Savoury filling

• 75g tasty cheese, grated
• 1/2 small egg
• 15g red onion, finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 15g red capsicum, finely chopped
• 15g green capsicum, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp. fresh parsley, finely chopped
• 30g pitted olives, chopped
• 1.2 tsp smoked ground paprika

Scone dough

• 400g plain flour
• 20g caster sugar
• 25g baking powder
• good pinch of salt
• 705 butter, softened
• 1 1/2 eggs (use other half for above - savoury filing)
• 200ml milk
• 1 tbsp. water
• additional flour, for dusting

Method
Sweet filing: mix all ingredients together in a bowl, ensuring that the dates are broken down a little; cover and set aside for a few hours or overnight, then mix again. You will notice that the dates will break up easier as they soften, so the longer the soaking time the better.

Savoury filling: mix all ingredients together in a bowl to form a rough, spreadable paste. Cover and set aside until ready to use.

Pre-heat oven to 190-200C.

Dough: sift flour, sugar, baking powder and salt into a large mixing bowl. Add butter and rub in, using your fingertips and thumbs, to form coarse crumbs. Whisk 1 egg and the milk together and pour into the dry ingredients. Using a wooden spoon, mix together to form a soft dough. Tip dough onto a floured surface and knead for 10 to 20 seconds - be careful not to over knead otherwise the dough becomes too elastic.

Cut the dough into 2 equal pieces and share into squares. Using the rolling pin, roll out each dough piece on a floured surface to a 25cm square.

Whisk the 1.2 egg and water together to make an egg wash.

Evenly spread one dough square with the sweet filing and the other with the savoury filing, leaving about 1 cm fee along one edge of each. Brush egg wash along that edge.

Working towards the edge painted with egg wash, firmly roll up each dough sheet to achieve a Swiss roll or log share. Using a large knife, make a single lengthways cut along the middle of each log, right the way through.

For each log, take one strand in each hand, with the cut side of each strand facing towards you, and twist the strands around each other. Press the ends together firmly to make sure they don't unwind during the baking process. Place the twists on a baking tray lined with baking paper, keeping them well apart so they don't join together during baking. Brush the twists with the remaining egg wash and allow them to rest for 10 minutes.
Bake for 30-35 minutes. Halfway through the baking time, turn the tray to ensure an even colour. Remove from the oven and transfer to a cooling rack.

What they learned
If the dough is to soft then curl it up like a croissant. If you love baking then you should start with these because they are the easiest to master.

For fun
Make your own cool patterns.

My cousin's holiday in NZ

My cousin Julia came to visit us a month ago. It was her first trip travelling by herself overseas. She is so brave. Julia is a foodie like me and we are both chubby and sweet. During her trip here, my super grandma took my sister, Julia and me skiing at Mt Ruapehu. We took the Naked bus there. Our bus broke down during the journey, some tree branches broke the windows and so we got stuck in a farm for 2 hours. The bus company sent a new bus, guess what happened? It broke down again. So another bus was sent to rescue us. Finally after 8 hours stuck on 3 busses we arrive at Whakapapa. Thankfully there was wifi in the bus. Otherwise I think I would have gone crazy. Mum googled and found us a nice place to eat. It was called Tussock Bar and Restaurant. We ate a yummy dinner of burgers and pizza. Nom, nom. We were so tired and now with our full tummies we went to sleep to prepare for our skiing day the next day. The next evening after a whole day skiing, grandma tested us to a buffet dinner at the Chateau restaurant. Wow, the food was super super yummy. It's a good thing we exercised the whole day because we just ate and ate and ate. Definitely a must to do if you ever visit Whakapapa and stay at the Chateau. The following day we headed down to Taupo and stayed the night there. I wanted to try the hole in one golf thing at the lake but grandma said no. We visited the gardens and spent time walking around the town. The next day we went back home to Auckland. I miss home and I miss my mum, dad and brother but most of all I miss my dog Patrick. Home sweet home! When we got home I had to teach her how to make my specialty cotten Japanese Cheescake, it was fun but really messy.

 Therese

Raspberry Lamingtons

Ingredients
Original recipe by Kate Fay

Milk Sponge

• Butter for greasing
• 1 cup (200g) plain flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• pinch of salt
• 3 eggs, separated
• 2/3 cup (140g) sugar
• 65ml milk
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Coconut crisps

• 50g desiccated coconut
• 200g caster sugar
• 20g plain flour
• 100g cream

Raspberry icing

• 125g white chocolate
• 20g butter
• 250g icing sugar
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 tbsp. raspberry powder

To finish

• 1 cup desiccated coconut
• whipped cream, for serving
• a few fresh raspberries

Method
Pre-heat the oven to 180C. Butter and flour a 16cm x 26cm sponge tin ( butter the tin).
Sift flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl and set aside. Whisk egg whites with an electric mixer until frothy and then gradually add sugar, continuing to whisk until a stiff meringue forms. Reduce and add egg yolks, one at a time, whisking until just combined.

Fold milk and the flour mixture alternately into the egg mixture, then fold vanilla in. Pour into the prepared tin, then bake for 20-50 minutes or until the cake springs back when lightly pressed. Allow to cool then cut into 12 mini squares.

Leave the oven at 180C for the coconut crisps. Line a baking tray with baking paper. Combine coconut, sugar and flour in a food blender ( processor). While the motor is running slowly pour in cream until it is incorporated (mixed)

Spread very thin strips of the coconut mixture on the baking paper ( or spread all over baking paper to make one large biscuit), then bake for 8-10 minutes until golden and crisp. Cool on wire rack. If you have baked a single sheet of biscuit, break it into smaller pieces.
For the icing, place the white chocolate and butter into a heatproof bowl set over saucepan of simmering water. Heat, stirring, until melted and smooth. Remove bowl from the heat and stir in icing sugar milk and raspberry powder, then whisk until smooth and combined.

To assemble, place desiccated coconut on a plate. Dip milk sponge squares in icing to coat, then roll in coconut. Serve lamingtons with whipped cream, whole raspberries and coconut crisps.

What I learned
The icing can be very sweet so do not put too much icing sugar.

For fun
If you are allergic to milk than replace it with almond milk our coconut milk. If you are allergic to butter then use coconut oil. Pour a glass of milk for a snack, it goes well with the lamingtons

Ginger Kisses

Ingredients  
Original recipe by Helen Jackson

• 200g butter
• 3/4 cup (185 g) sugar
• 1 tbsp golden syrup 
• 2 eggs  
• 1 1/4 cup (180g) plain flour
• 1/2 cup ( 55g) cornflour
• 1  tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp ground ginger 
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon

Icing

• 1 1/2 cups (225g) icing sugar 
• 2 tbsp butter, melted
• zest of half a lemon, grated
• 2 tsp lemon juice 
• a little boiling water

Method
Pre-heat the oven to 170C. Lightly grease 1 or 2 baking trays or line with baking paper.

Beat butter, sugar and golden syrup together until pale and creamy,  about 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after every addition.

In a separate, combine all dry ingredients. Fold into beaten mixture.  Drop 40 dessertspoons of mixture onto the trays and bake for 12-15 minutes until it is firm to touch. After that lift the kisses from the tray and lay them on a cooling rack.

In a small bowl, mix together icing sugar, butter, lemon zest, lemon juice and enough boiling water to form a spreadable icing (3-5 tbsp). Sandwich the kisses together with the icing.


What I learnt
When you put the dollops of ginger mixture do not make them to big because they grow very big while in the oven so put about a table spoon or half a tablespoon so they do not stick together in the oven. Remember try to not put too much icing sugar or it will be way to sweet, so if you do not want it too be too sweet then only put half of the icing sugar ( 115g).

For fun
If you have leftover Icing then you can put cool smiley faces on top of the ginger kisses, leave them in the fridge to cool and to set, then yay cool, fun and yummy ginger kisses.

 

Red Velvet cupcakes

Ingredients
Original recipe by Laurel Watson

• 340g caster sugar
• 300g plain flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 12g cocoa powder
• 230g buttermilk
• 300g canola oil 
• 1 tbsp vinegar 
• 1 tbsp good-quality vanilla essence 
• 2 tbsp red food colouring 
• 60g water 
• 2 eggs

Method

Pre-heat oven to 190C. Line with cupcake papers ( 20).

Sift all dry ingredients together in one bowl and mix all wet ingredients together in another.

  

Place all dry ingredients in the bowl of a cake mixer, then pour in wet ingredients. Mix on a slow speed to combine, then scrape down the bowl and mix again until just smooth. 

Divide batter into cupcake papers. Bake for 15 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean with no batter on it.

Cool on a wire rack, then ice with flavoured cream cheese icing.

Cream cheese icing 

Ingredients

• 100g butter, at room temperature ( warm) 
• 150g cheese, at room temperature 
• 3 cups icing sugar
•  pinch of salt 
• 1 tsp vanilla essence or Lorann flavour ( brand)

Method

Blend butter and cream cheese in a bowl ( hand mixer) or a food processor until smooth. Beat ( or blend) in icing sugar, salt and vanilla essence, adding a little icing sugar or water if necessary to achieve a spreadable consistency, Spread over cool cupcakes in a swirly patter or any pattern you want.

What I learnt
Do not put too much icing sugar in the icing or it will be way to sweet.The combination of the baking soda and vinegar makes a chemical reaction helps make the cake smooth and velvety so remember always put the exact amount of baking soda and vinegar to make the cake soft.  

For fun
You can make the cupcake different colours like blue, red, yellow, ect, you can also make the icing different colours to match just by adding food colouring, so you can these velvet cupcakes fun, colourful and delicious.