Cute funny Nepali

The playground "before" shots

Note the piles of rubble and rubbish the kids are playing in.

Storm coming

See the clothesline where 1/3 of my wardrobe was stolen

If I stood at my window all day I would have seen who stole my t shirt. When you only have three t shirts the stealing of one of them becomes fairly significant. Now I only have two shirts.



And this is the hospital. It is actually really beautiful and nice.



But around the corner is the rubbish river, which feeds the rubbish pigs, rubbish goats, rubbish chooks, rubbish dogs... rubbish children?



But the goats are pretty cute. I like rubbish goats.

The very tall temple and beautiful

Nyatapola temple, bhaktapur
Five stories, 30m higher than rest of town.
Perfect proportions. Survived earthquake of 1934.
Stairway flanked by stone figures. Each level you step up the figures are ten times as strong as the one below.

Monkeys have rabies and funny bums

But for some reason they have their own temple - swayambunath

Scooting from Kathmandu to bhaktapur is not covered by my insurance policy

But it was more fun than the bus!



My friendly driver, bag carrier, sim card seller, tea drinking, fish feeding, tour guide partner, Sanu. He spent 4 hrs driving me around and wouldn't let me pay him. But he did get my phone number so maybe his plan worked..










Mooooove off the road!

Pigs eat rubbish

Yum

get your salsa on and grab a lamb lollipop

Salsa for French-trimmed Lamb Chops

1 1/2 tbsp good quality olive oil

1 onion, sliced

1 clove garlic, chopped

2 punnets cherry tomatoes (400g total) chopped in half

2 tbsp chopped olives - use really nice kalamata olives

2 tbsp basil, sliced

160g feta cheese, crumbled

Fry the onion gently in the olive oil with salt and pepper until soft but not golden. Add the garlic and cook for a minute longer before tumbling in the cherry tomatoes. Add a dash of water to wet the mix, put a lid on top and simmer for 10-15 minutes or until all soft and mushy and super sweet.

Stir in the olives and basil just before serving. Sprinkle with feta cheese and drizzle with more olive oil.

Dip your beautiful lamb chops into the salsa and enjoy.

BBBB: beautiful blueberry boy bait

this is yummy!

i imagine it would be as equally delicious if you substituted the blueberries with raspberries, peaches, pears, apples... etc etc

Lemon zest is imperative

Once again I must credit Smitten Kitchen for this recipe. My change was the addition of the lemon zest.

This makes an absolutely huge amount of slice. And it is very rich.

230g butter, softened

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar

Grated zest of one large lemon

3 eggs

2 cups plain flour

1 tbsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup yoghurt

3/4 cup blueberries

Topping

1/2 cup blueberries

1/4 cup sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 170C. Grease and line a 35x20cm pan.

Cream the butter, sugars and lemon zest until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time. Fold in the flour, baking powder and salt, alternating with the milk and yoghurt. Stir gently until just combined.

Gently fold in the blueberries. Spread into prepared pan and flatten.

Scatter the top with topping blueberries. Sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon.

Bake for 40-45mins or until a toothpick in the centre of the cake comes out clean. Cool in pan 20 minutes then turn out and place on a serving platter (topping side up).

Serve warm or at room temperature dusted generously with icing sugar. I think this would be amazing with vanilla ice cream.

Get your Maroc in this, Chick ... (Moroccan chicken)

Moroccan Chicken

I hate errands. Everyone hates errands. But they are kinda fun when you have someone else to do them with.

I managed to drag sister to the post office and on my errands today. We walked to the shops and I left her outside the post office (they are not usually such exciting places). I found her outside the post office sitting in the sun waiting for me with Leonardo. We spent a good 20 mins sitting on the ground outside the post office soaking up the late-winter sun. So lucky to live in a place with winter-sun.

I also managed to get her to help me choose dinner ideas... She wanted fish... I didn't think Dad would pay for fish so we had to go for something else.

Chicken Maroc? Ok. Deal

Thanks Epicurious app on my iPhone. Epicurious credits the recipe to chef Lafridi from Jnane Tamsna (wherever that is!). I did (of course) have to make a couple of changes. The couscous combination is my own invention.

This is actually really good! Wow. It is also pretty cheap if you have the spices in your cupboard already. Chicken thighs - tender and cheap and the best cut from the chicken.

There were three of us and a lot of leftovers - this would easily make enough for 4.

For the chicken...

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp turmeric

1 tsp salt

Olive oil

6 boneless chicken thighs, chicken marylands or a whole chicken cut into joints

1 tbsp buter

1 red onion, sliced into 1cm slices

4 garlic cloves, sliced thinly

1/2 bunch coriander, chopped (plus 1tbsp extra to serve)

1/2 bunch parsley, chopped (plus 1tbsp extra to serve)

2 tbsp good quality honey

1/2 cup Turkish apricots, cut in half

1/3 cup whole blanched almonds, toasted

In a bowl combine the chicken, the cinnamon, ginger, turmeric, salt and pepper and a good glug of olive oil to moisten. Massage the spices into the chicken. Leave to marinate in the fridge for 1-2 hours or longer if you have the time.

In a large heavy based casserole dish melt the butter and a glug of olive oil. Brown the chicken on all sides (you may need to do this in batches). Return all the chicken to the pan and add the onion. Cook for 5-6 mins or until softened. Add the garlic and cook for 2-3 minutes longer. Add the coriander, parsley and 1/2 cup water. Put the lid on top and simmer for 25-30 minutes or until the chicken is tender and cooked through.

In the meantime, place the apricots, 1 cup of water and the honey in a small saucepan. Simmer gently until the liquid is syrupy, about 10-15 minutes.

When the chicken is cooked, add the apricot and honey mix and the blanched almonds. Scatter with reserved herbs and serve with couscous and some greens (we had broccoli, but a salad or other greens would work well too).

For the Couscous...

1 cup couscous

1 tsp stock powder

1 knob of butter

2 orange sweet potato, peeled and chopped into 1.5cm dice

1 white sweet potato, peeled and chopped into 1.5cm dice

1/2 head of garlic, divided into cloves, but left unpeeled

Moroccan seasoning (I used masterfood seasoning)

1/2 bunch coriander, chopped

1/2 bunch parsley, chopped

1/4 cup chopped apricots

1/4 cup chopped sultanas

1/3 cup blanched roasted almonds, chopped

In a heatproof bowl combine the couscous, stock powder, butter and 1.5 cups boiling water. Cover with glad wrap and set aside.

Place the sweet potato and garlic on a baking sheet and sprinkle generously with the spice powder, pepper and olive oil. Roast in a 200C oven for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown and soft.

Fluff the couscous with a fork. Mix together the couscous and all remaining ingredients. Season well with pepper and salt. Serve with the chicken.

To roast almonds...

Place almonds in a small pan over a low flame. Cook until lightly golden - do not burn!

almost greek pear and turkish fig muffins with yoghurt and olive oil

I say almost greek because of the use of olive oil and greek style yoghurt as the wet ingredients.

These are a very loose adaption of bran and raisin muffins made my Deb from Smitten Kitchen.

I say very loose because I switched the butter for olive oil, the molasses for golden syrup, the raisins for figs, changed the flour/bran combination, added oats and added chopped pear.

The result is a super-moist gem of a muffin. They still do not look super beautiful. I think it is difficult to make muffins look beautiful. Maybe next time I could try prettier cases....

I think this could also be made with berries, banana, apple.. whatever takes your fancy.

They are really easy and quick, so could potentially be in the oven while you drink your morning cup of tea and then in your tummy before you finish the pot.

Makes 16 small muffins

1/2 cup good olive oil

1/4 cup dark brown sugar

1 large egg

1 cup greek style full fat yoghurt

1/4 cup golden syrup

1/2 cup dried figs, chopped

1 pear, chopped into 1cm dice (don't worry about peeling it)

1 cup plain whole meal flour

1/2 cup oats

1/2 cup plain flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 200C. Line a muffin pan with patty pans (I made 16 medium muffins so needed two pans).

In a large bowl whisk together the olive oil, brown sugar, egg, yoghurt and golden syrup.

In a separate bowl mix the figs, pear, flours, oats, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.

Gently fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Do not overmix. Mix until just combined. It will be lumpy.

Spoon into cases until 3/4 full. Bake for 15-20 mins or until golden and springy to the touch. Cool on a wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature (with butter if you are that way inclined).

back on the running... ouch

ouch.. this hurts

mmm yum pasta with clams and chorizo with cider and make sure you have some bread to mop it up

this is seriously good

Make it now. Don't worry if it isn't dinner time, you will enjoy this any time of the day.

Make it for someone you love or someone you want to love you because it is that good.

Thank you again to Gourmet Traveller for this recipe.

As usual I cannot stick to the recipe, so have posted it with the changes I made.

I halved the amount of clams to make this for two, but kept the other ingredients in the original ratio to end up with a delicious soupy pasta. The sauce needs to be mopped up with bread. The flavour is too good to waste.

I made it for two people, but there was enough for a third person (male) and I think he was satisified.

Serves 2 generously

2 tbsp olive oil

1 spanish onion, chopped

2 cloves of garlic, chopped

2 tsp chilli flakes

1 fresh hot chorizo sausage, chopped

2 large ripe tomatoes, chopped

Juice of half a lemon

3oomL cider (we used pear cider)

600g clams, soaked for 15 minutes in fresh water

1/4 cup parsley, roughly chopped

Pepper and salt, to taste

Cooked Angel hair pasta

Fresh bread and butter, to serve

Heat the olive oil in a large pan. Gently saute the onion, garlic and chilli until softened. Add the chorizo. Cook until brown (5-7 minutes). Add the tomatoes and cook until thickened (6-8 minutes). Add the lemon juice, cider and clams. Bring to the boil, put a lid on top, then cook for 6-9 minutes or until the clams are open. Stir through the pasta and parsley and enjoy.

Polenta cake for someone who thinks that they do not like polenta

Someone I know said they don't like polenta. They have obviously never had nice gooey polenta with parmesan cheese and mushroom ragu. They had never had this cake either. Now I think they like polenta!

This cake seems weird. But it is delicious.

This is a true Italian Cake. If you like Italian cakes you will like this. Wow.

It is a kind of cup of tea cake.

Or I guess dessert cake if you add a bit of cream/ice cream or some nice poached fruit would be amazing.

The mixture is super sloppy when you put it in the tin. Don't worry at all. It will thicken up when it is cooked and the pine nuts will float to the top and it'll go golden and delicious.

40g (1/3 cup) sultanas

2 tbsp brandy

225g ricotta cheese

250g caster sugar

225g polenta

pinch of grated nutmeg

grated zest of one lemon

seeds from one vanilla bean (or 1/4 tsp extract)

1 generous tbsp butter

2 tbsp pine nuts

Icing sugar, for sifting

Soak the sultanas in the brandy with enough water to just cover them. Leave for 30 minutes. Drain. Dry well on paper towels. Discard brandy (or drink it).

Preheat the oven to 160C. Grease and line the base of a 25cm springform cake tin

Put the ricotta in a large bowl. Add 440mL of cold water. Mix until smooth. Add the sugar and mix until dissolved. Add the polenta, nutmeg, lemon zest, vanilla and sultanas and mix until smooth.

Pour into the prepared tin. Dot the surface with butter and sprinkle with pine nuts. (At this stage I was sure this cake was going to be a complete failure. It was completely liquid and the butter and pine nuts had disappeared beneath the waves of polenta. Don't worry if yours is like this.)

Put the tin on a baking tray to catch drips. Bake for about 1 1/2 hours or until golden and set.

Serve warm or cold, dusted with icing sugar. Accompany with whipped cream and poached fruit.

Slow cooked Andalucian Lamb with Saffron

This is great! (That is all I need to say about this one)

From Gourmet Traveller.

Serves 6 generously

1 tsp saffron

4 cloves

8 black peppercorns

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

4 cloves garlic

2 tbsp flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped

1 tbsp sea salt

6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1.5 kg lamb leg, cut into 4cm chunks

1 green capsicum, cut into thick slices

1 yellow capsicum, cut into thick slices

2 onions, sliced

2 carrots, sliced

2 tomatoes, chopped

3 potatoes, peeled and cut into wedges

200mL red wine

Steamed rice and vegies to serve

Pound saffron, cloves, peppercorns, cinnamon, garlic, parsley and salt in a mortar with a pestle into a rough paste. Add 100mL warm water.

Heat oil in a large casserole dish over medium heat. Fry the lamb in batches for 5-7 minutes or until nicely brown on all sides. Remove to a large bowl.

Fry capsicum, onion, carrot in a saucepan for 10-12 minutes or until softened. Add tomato and cook for 5 minutes.

Add lamb, spice and water mix and red wine. Bring to the boil, cover, and simmer for 1 hour over low heat. Add more water as necessary.

Add the potatoes and cook for 20-30 minutes or until the potatoes are tender, lamb is cooked and the sauce is thickened.

Serve sprinkled with fresh flat leaf parsley, with steamed rice and greens

I wish I had an excuse to make such an extravagant looking delicious banana-rum cake with cream cheese icing and walnuts.. but I don't

We had three bananas ready for banana cake last Thursday. It is now Monday and I decided they were more than ready for banana cake. Completely black and super mushy!

I wanted something a little more indulgent than the typical banana bread. Try banana cake. The cake mixture is from Smitten Kitchen "Caramel Walnut Upside Down Cake". I altered it slightly and added a cream cheese icing - good move.

1/2 cup butter, room temperature

1/2 cup caster sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla essence

2 large eggs

1 generous cup of mashed very very ripe bananas (3-4 bananas depending on size)

3 tbsp sour cream (or yoghurt or buttermilk)

1 tbsp dark rum (I used bundy..)

1 3/4 cups plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp bicarb soda

1/2 tsp salt

Preheat the oven to 170C fan forced. Grease and line two 20cm sandwich tins.

Cream the butter and sugars. Add the vanilla. Add the eggs one at a time and beat well. Add the banana, sour cream and rum and beat again. At this stage my mixture curdled and looked entirely unappetising - don't worry if this happens because when I added the flour it all turned lovely and shiny again.

Fold in the sifted flour, baking powder, bicarb soda and salt very gently.

Divide the mixture between the two greased cake pans. Bake on the middle shelf in the oven for 25-30 minutes (mine was 29 mins) or until they spring back when touched and start to pull away from the sides of the pan.

Leave to cool in their pans for about 5 minutes, then put onto a cake rack to cool completely. Ice when cold.

Cream Cheese Icing

In a bowl beat together 250g cream cheese, 3 tbsp butter, 1 tsp of rum (or more to taste) and the zest and juice of one large lemon. Gradually add 4 cups of icing sugar. Mix until you have a smooth consistency.

Place one cake (rounded side down) onto the serving plate. Cover generously with icing, and then sprinkle with lots of roughly chopped walnuts. Place the second cake on top, rounded side up, and cover with more icing. Decorate with more walnuts.

Store it in the fridge.

McKenzie's ham and vegetable soup like a minestrone

Who is McKenzie? I have no idea... but their "Italian style soup mix" does the trick for me. A packet of dried "peas, beans and legumes".

This recipe is one of my favourites. It comes off the back of the packet of peas/beans/legumes that form the base of the soup. You can go from nothing to warm tummy soup in about 2 hours (most of that time is spent sitting around).

This makes a gigantic pot of soup.. probably enough for lots of people (I'm bad at estimating volumes so I'm not going to try.. just trust me that this is one huge pot of soup)

Be careful with your knife skills - however nicely you cut all your vegies will determine how nice the final dish looks.

1 bacon hock

1 pack of bacon bones (I think I had about 8 small bones)

375g Italian Style soup mix (or mixed dried lentils, chickpeas, beans)

1 large brown onion, diced

2 stalks celery, diced

2 carrots, diced

4 tbsp flat leaf parsley, finely chopped

4 cloves garlic, finely chopped

2 cans chopped tomatoes

3 cups cabbage, chopped (about 1/2 a small cabbage)

4 tbsp brown rice

3/4 cup small shell pasta

Salt and pepper

Parmesan cheese and fresh bread, to serve

In a saucepan place the soup mix and the bacon bones and hock. Cover with 5 cups of water. Bring to the boil. Simmer gently for 45 minutes with the lid on. Keep an eye on it and add more water as necessary.

Remove the bones from the mixture. Carefully remove all the meat off the bones, removing all fat and skin. Cut the meat into small dice and set aside.

Skim the fat and scum off the top of the bean mixture water.

In a large saucepan gently saute the onion in 2 tbsp olive oil for 3-4 minutes. Add the celery, carrot, parsley and garlic. Saute for another 5-10 minutes or until the vegies are soft.

Add the canned tomatoes, reserved bacon meat, cabbage, rice, pasta bean mixture and liquid and 3 cups of water. Simmer gently for 20-30 minutes or until the vegies are tender.

Thin with water as necessary. Season very generously with pepper and salt.

Serve with parmesan cheese and bread and butter.

home-made oreos - better than from the packet. oh yum!

I almost fell over when I tasted my first bite. These are seriously good.

Just make them. Today.

Then share them with someone you will have a friend forever. They really are that good.

I haven't even tried one dipped into icy cold milk yet.... I can't wait.

Thanks to Deb from Smitten Kitchen for the original recipe which I did change slightly.

I made 33 little sandwiches of perfection

1 1/4 cups plain flour

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup caster sugar

1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp room temperature butter

1 large egg

Preheat the oven to 190C.

Place the flour, cocoa, baking soda and powder, salt and caster sugar into a food processor. Pulse until smooth. Add the butter and pulse until you get coarse breadcrumbs. Add the egg and process until you get a ball. You may need to add a touch of cold water to make it come together.

Roll the dough out on a floured bench until 5mm thick. Cut into circles (mine were about 1 inch across). Place onto lined baking trays (they will only spread slightly so can be close).

Bake in the oven for 8-9 minutes. They are really quick at cooking so keep a close eye on them. They will puff up in the oven and look super cute. Remove from oven. Cool on trays for 2-3 minutes then move to a rack to cool completely. Fill them when cold.

Filling

1/4 cup butter, room temperature

1/4 cup copha (vegetable shortening)

2 cups icing sugar

2 tsp vanilla essence

In the food processor pulse the butter and copha until smooth. Add the icing sugar and vanilla and mix until smooth and fluffy.

Sandwich two biscuits together with a generous spoon of filling. You can be quite generous - I had lots of leftover filling. Be a bit delicate with the filling so you don't break the biscuits. My filling was quite thick, but if it is thin enough you could pipe it onto the biscuits.

fish pie is nice in rainy cold windy weather

This is my rendition of Jamie Oliver's fish pie. From his ministry of food book.

Delicious.

It sounds strange and looks strange before it is cooked. It is great once cooked.

Eat it in cold weather with tomato sauce.

Maybe put some green stuff on the plate to go with it - salad, beans, peas.. your choice (or just be lazy and eat pie by itself)

I do not like food that has had all the flavour sucked out of it in the interests of being healthy, gluten free, lactose free etc. This meal is actually super healthy and doesn't sacrifice flavour for the healthy factor. Yay. It is also gluten free (amazing).

Serves 6-8

300g salmon, skin removed, cut into bite sized chunks

300g smoked cod fillet, skin removed, cut into bite sized chunks

150g peeled and deveined prawns

1 carrot

1 bulb fennel

2 stalks celery

150g cheese (I used 80g cheddar and 70g parmesan), plus extra for sprinkling

1 tbsp grainy mustard

1 red chilli, roughly chopped

Zest of 2 lemons

Juice of 1 lemon

Handful of chopped flat leaf parsley

A large handful of baby spinach leaves

800g potatoes

Olive oil

Salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 200C.

Cut the potatoes into chunks and put into a pot of salted water on the stove. Bring to the boil then simmer until tender. Drain well. Mash the potatoes, add a good glug of olive oil and plenty of salt and pepper.

Grate the carrot, celery, fennel and cheese. Mix with the mustard, chilli, lemon juice and zest, parsley, baby spinach and seafood.

Pile the mixture into a large casserole dish. Smooth out gently. Pour over the mashed potatoes. Make a nice spiky design on top - this will help it go crispy. Sprinkle over extra parmesan cheese.

Bake on a tray in the oven for 40 minutes or until cooked through. Yum.

Finally I feel like I deserve to have a blog with these red velvet cupcakes

These cupcakes are everywhere. And rightly so. They are delicious. There is something beautiful about the delicate red crumb. Sour cakes with chocolate and vanilla smothered with cream cheese icing. Wow.

Thanks to the "Cake Mistress" for her recipe. I didn't have buttermilk, so did a direct substitution with nice sour greek yoghurt.

I made 9 big ones.

60g butter, room temperature

150g caster sugar

1 egg

10g cocoa powder

20mL red liquid food dye

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup greek-style yoghurt

150g plain flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp bicarb soda

1 1/2 tsp white vinegar

Preheat the oven to 170C (160C fan forced).

Cream the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the egg, beat until well mixed.

In a small bowl, mix together the food dye, cocoa and vanilla essence. Beat into the butter mixture and mix thoroughly.

Gently whisk in half of the yoghurt, followed by half the flour and repeat until it is all mixed in. Do not overmix.

Sprinkle over the salt and bicarb, then the vinegar. It will froth up. Mix in gently.

Fill the patty cases until 2/3 full (do not overfill).

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the tops are springy, and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.

Cool slightly in the tray, then remove to a wire rack. Ice when completely cool.

Cream Cheese Frosting

In a food processor combine 50g softened butter and 300g icing sugar until smooth. Add 125g cream cheese and mix until smooth and fluffy.

crocodiles can climb trees especially when they are cut-out cookie crocodiles

It is commonly said that if you are ever unlucky enough to be chased by a crocodile you should run in zig-zags and climb a tree. Contrary to this belief I have found that crocodiles can climb trees. Do not climb a tree to escape, run in zig zags.

Cut-out cookies, courtesy of Nigella Lawson "Feast".

These are very strongly vanilla and super delicious.

Makes 20-30 depending on the shape/size you choose

90g soft, unsalted butter

100g caster sugar

1 large egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

200g plain flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

Cream the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Gently stir in the sifted flour, baking powder and salt. Mix very gently until you get a stiff dough.

Form into a lump, wrap in plastic wrap and put in the refrigerator for at least one hour.

Preheat the oven to 180C. Roll out the pastry on a floured bench to 1/2 cm thick. Cut into shapes. Put onto baking sheets lined with baking paper. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until lightly golden around the edges. Watch them closely as different shapes take different times to cook. They will firm up when they come out of the oven.

Cool on trays for 3 minutes then move onto cooling racks. (they look so naked without icing!) Ice when cold.

Icing

Place in a bowl 3/4 cup icing sugar and 2 tsp butter. Add a couple of drops of food colouring. Add boiling water and stir until you reach the desired consistency.

Wintery Marmolada steamed puddings with ginger

These are really what you need when the temperature is dropping below 3 degrees celsius at night time. Especially if you are a cold-blooded, warm weather-loving girl. I seem to spend my whole life with goosebumps so this weather is not helping. There was actually ice on the grass at the hospital on friday. Ice. In Perth. Luckily these puddings warmed me up from inside my tummy (or abdomen as we are told to refer to it as).

They are steamed puddings so need little hats with pleats put onto the moulds - this is quite fiddly. You need three hands to do this so get a friend or (one-armed mum) to help you.

I had a taste with ice cream. Original recipe calls for custard. Whatever tickles your fancy really.

The 1/2 cup moulds sounds small - but do not be sucked into making bigger ones - they are super rich (and super tasty).

Thanks to Gourmet Traveller Annual Cookbook 2007.

Makes 8 delicious puddings

200g soft unsalted butter

200g brown sugar

3 large eggs

80g glace ginger, coarsely chopped (try to source some nice glace ginger from a deli)

Finely grated zest of two oranges

200g self-raising flour

1/4 tsp ground ginger

1/3 cup orange marmalade

Preheat the oven to 180C. Butter 8, 1/2 cup capacity dariole moulds (small metal moulds). Divide the marmalade up between the moulds - about 1 tsp per mould, use it all.

Cream the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the glace ginger and orange zest. Sift over the flour and ginger and gently fold into the eggs.

Divide batter among dariole moulds. Fill to the top and then smooth them over.

Make a little top out of baking paper. Put a pleat in the paper to allow for rising. Tie up with kitchen string to secure.

Place in a roasting pan. Put them on the shelf in the oven and then pour in boiling water to come halfway up the sides of the small pans.

Bake for 30 minutes or until cooked through when tested with a skewer (logistically I don't know how you would do this without unwrapping one or making a hole in the paper).

Puffed up, looking delicious.

Pull out of the water, stand for 5 minutes, then invert onto serving plates. If you want them to stand up nicely on the plate you may have to cut the top to make them flat.

We made these in the morning and Mum is taking them to a friend's house for dessert tonight. We are planning on reheating them in a bain marie at 180C for 10 minutes.