Pink Smarty cupcakes for Hannah's cupcakes-filled birthday

Hannah requested that Angela make her vanilla cupcakes with pink buttercream icing and smarties. I wanted in on the action. The result - delicious fluffy cupcakes. Delicious icing. Hannah was thrilled. I think she asked too many people for cupcakes because she ended up with three different plates. I may be biased - but ours looked and tasted the best!

We made 24 mini and 26 regular sized cupcakes

200g butter, softened

1 3/4 cups caster sugar

1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped

1 tsp vanilla extract

4 eggs

2 +3/4 cups (405g) SR flour

1 cup milk

Preheat the oven to 180C. Line the cupcake pans with patty pans.

Cream the butter. Add the sugar and vanillas. Mix until smooth. Add the eggs one at a time and beat until combined (it may curdle slightly, but dont worry as it will be fine once the flour is in).

Fold in the milk and flour in alternate batches.

Spoon into patty cases (only fill about 2/3 of the way). Bake for 15-20 minutes for the regular sized ones and shorter for the mini ones. I have a habit of not using a timer and just stay in the kitchen and check on them regularly. They are ready when they spring back to the touch and are lightly golden. If they peak in the middle like nipples the oven is too hot or they are too close to the element.

Butter Frosting

100g butter, softened

3 cups (450g) icing sugar

Vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped

Milk

Food dye

Use a blender to cream the butter and vanilla bean. Add the icing sugar and food dye and mix well. Add the milk, in tbsp increments until desired consistency is reached. I like a thick buttercream icing that will hold its shape when decorated.

Two summery cocktails for a hot night

Dinner at Eloise's place. Must find some nice cocktails. We decided on two fruity ones.

Carpe Diem

10 strawberries, hulled

2 tbsp sugar

1 vanilla pod, split and scraped

90 mL clear apple juice

30 mL lime juice

150mL gin

8 basil leaves, torn

Champagne or soda to serve

Basil leaves - to serve

Cucumber slices

Blend strawberries, sugar, lime juice, apple juice and vanilla bean until smooth. Pour into a 1L capacity jug. Add gin and basil and stir well. Top up the jug with champagne or sparkling water.

Serve over crushed ice in a tall glass. Garnish with a basil leaf and a slice of cucumber.

Ying Sling

This was definitely the favourite of the night. Not too sweet. Nice and strong. A little bitter. Beautiful pale pink. Super easy.

450 mL bacardi rum

300 mL lychee puree (blend a can of strained lychees. Strain the puree to remove gritty bits)

300mL ruby grapefruit juice

Dash of Campari

Mint Leaves, to serve

Mix all ingredients in a jug. Serve in a short glass with plenty of crushed ice. Garnish with mint leaves.

becks beer garden at piaf

mmm fun

also liking the greenhouse on st georges tce

Beefy Beef Satays with Bry

Cooking with bry. Very hot day. Asian spice appealed to me. Vaguely remembering an amazing satay sauce we made a few years ago. Cannot find the recipe. Instead combine a couple of other recipes - one from Maggie Beer and another from Gourmet Traveller. The result - exceptionally good! Please make this. There was enough sauce and food for four of us. It is so delicious I would recommend increasing the ingredients proportionally if you are expecting more people. Believe me - you wont want to share your sauce with someone else. We served it with a simple carrot salad and a cucumber/pineapple salad. It would be nice with rice, but in this weather it is unnecessary.

Serves 4

800g rump steak

Marinade

2 sticks lemongrass, chopped into 3cm lengths and bashed with a knife

1 shallot, finely chopped

3 cloves garlic, crushed

2 tbsp brown sugar

2 tbsp tamarind pulp (made by mixing tamarind paste with boiling water and straining through a plastic sieve)

1 tbsp grated ginger

2 tbsp soy suace

Juice 1 large lime

Combine all ingredients in a flat dish large enough to fit the beef. Cut the beef into cubes ~1-2cm square. Mix well with the marinade (use your hands). Leave in the fridge for 2-3 hours.

Thread the beef onto bamboo skewers that have been soaked in water.

Grill for 2-5 mins on each side. The rump steak is so delicious it can be left slightly rare.

Serve with satay sauce, rice, cucumber salad and carrot salad.

Satay Sauce

1 tbsp peanut/sunflower oil

4 garlic cloves, finely chopped

2 shallots, finely chopped

1 long red chilli, chopped

1 tbsp ginger, grated

250g roasted, then ground unsalted peanuts (we roasted them in a dry frying pan and then ground in the food processor until quite fine)

1/3 cup brown sugar

1 tbsp soy sauce

3 kaffir lime leaves, shredded

270mL cocnut milk

2 tbsp tamarind pulp

Fry the garlic until golden. Reduce the heat and add the shallots, chilli and ginger. Fry gently for 2-5 minutes or until softened. Add the peanuts and fry for 1 minute before adding remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil and simmer gently until warmed through. Season to taste with salt. At this stage it can be cooled down and refrigerated until needed. Reheat in a saucepan, it may need extra coconut milk to thin it if it gets too thick on cooling.

Cucumber Salad

1 continental Cucumber, peeled, deseeded and chopped

Red Onion, finely chopped

1 can pineapple slices in juice, chopped

Lime juice

Slice the onion finely and then soak in iced water with a dash of vinegar to take out the biteyness. Mix with chopped pineapple and cucumber. Dress with salt, pepper and lime juice.

Carrot Salad

2 Carrots, juliened (I used the mandolin to save time - and almost lost my fingers in the process)

Handful chopped mint

Olive oil

Lime juice

Salt & pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients well.

Tamarind pulp - if you cannot find this, replace with lime juice and fish sauce, to taste

remember the old eggplant stack?

Mum used to make this ages ago. I remembered it yesterday and so we dug up the old recipe and made it again. Just as delicious as I remember (maybe even more yummy if possible)

Eggplant Stack

1 batch of sauce provencale

1 medium sized eggplant, cut into thick slices

Danish feta cheese

Parmesan cheese

1 red capsicum

Rocket, lightly dressed with olive oil and vinegar, to serve

Cover the eggplant slices with salt and leave for 30 mins to draw out bitter juices. Wash thoroughly and pat dry. Brush with oil and grill until golden brown and soft.

Place the capsicum in a brown paper bag in a 200C oven. Cook until the skin is charred and the flesh is soft. Leave to cool slightly in bag, then de-seed and finely slice.

Place a slice of eggplant on a tray. Top with sauce and both cheeses, then another slice of eggplant. Repeat. Finish with a dollop of sauce and a layer of cheese. Place under the grill and cook until golden and bubbly. Top with red capsicum slices and serve with a simple rocket salad.

Sauce Provencale

1 large onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, finely sliced

~1/2 cup white wine

2 cans chopped tomatoes, juice drained and reserved (we used my favourite tomatoes which are the canned cherry tomatoes)

1/2 cup pitted, chopped kalamata olives

Big handful of fresh basil, finely sliced

Salt and pepper, to taste

Soften the onion in olive oil. Add the garlic and cook for a couple of minutes. Add the wine, then the tomatoes. Cook for 10-20 minutes or until nice and thick. If too thick add some of the reserved juice. Season with olives, salt and pepper. Add the basil at the last second.

Visiting Edwina, baby Sam and Max

Choc Chip Biscuits

According to Smitten Kitchen's Deb - these are her favourite choc chip cookies. Although I must admit, as usual my complete lack of ability to follow a recipe has made these a bit different to the original. Despite these changes they are lovely! I had no vanilla essence so put in cinnamon instead - a very nice change. I also had only 1/2 cup worth of a mixture of roasted hazelnuts, and pepitas, pine nuts and pumpkin seeds. I made this mixture up to a cup with rolled oats. The result was delicious. The hazelnut flavour was fantastic with the chocolate.

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

115g butter

1 tsp vanilla

1 egg

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 1/4 cups plain flour

1/4 tsp salt

230g pack of dark choc chips

1 cup nuts, roasted and then finely chopped

Preheat the oven to 150C. Cream the butter and sugar then beat in the vanilla, egg and baking soda. Gradually mix in the remaining ingredients.

Place large teaspoonfuls of mixture onto a baking sheet lined with baking paper. Put in the oven and bake for 15-18 mins or until very lightly golden.

I made about 50 small biscuits.