I LOVE waffles. In fact it’s usually by birthday meal – Waffles with Ice  cream, chocolate sauce and berries.
Belgium is one of my favourite places. Some of my all time favourite memories is having waffles in Belgium and the amazing chocolate sauce I would have with it. Â Usually waffles were eaten simply dusted with powdered sugar, but I love mine with ice cream and chocolate.. OMG the chocolate sauce. Belgian chocolate of course, but I digress..
I overslept this morning and was going to make smoothies for breakfast, but as we were discussing what kind of smoothies to have, smoothies turned into scrambled eggs, then omelets, then pancakes, and before I knew it, I was getting the waffle iron out. Traditional Belgian waffles is usually made with yeast and requires some planning ahead.. but who’s got time for that! I most certainly didn’t this morning.
I didn’t have any buttermilk, and I didn’t feel like making any (Milk + Vinegar). Â This recipe was so quick and easy and most importantly DELICIOUS! Crisp on the outside and soft and light on the inside. These were the best waffles I’ve made since buying a waffle iron a few months ago. (And that includes the decadent cake mix waffles!)
Hubby likes his with butter and syrup. 
And of course I had mine with ice cream, actually gelato, and strawberries. No chocolate sauce for me this morning, but these waffles were so yummy not only did I not need or miss the chocolate sauce, but I could have eaten these waffles naked. Of course I mean nothing on the waffle, not me wearing nothing. Which co-incidentally is how I ended up after I ate these. Thats how good these waffles were! 
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Chocolate Mousse was one of the very first gourmet recipes I made, the first recipe I followed that didn’t come from my mums handwritten recipe book. I think I was 15 at the time, and I thought anything with whipped egg whites was technical. Cream and chocolate were expensive ingredients we only used on special occasions. And there I was just making it for a middle of the week dinner. I felt so fancy. Melting chocolate, separating and beating eggs and then piping whipped cream on top, I had never made anything so pretty. Â I was so proud of myself.
It’s been years since I made a chocolate mousse. I was feeling nostalgic and wanted to make something classic. No new version or the quicker mousse recipes I’ve sometimes used. And the farm fresh eggs I had just bought seemed like perfect excuse to make a classic French mousse.
Rich creamy velvety decadent chocolatey mousse.
Adapted from Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child
ingredients
6 ounces (170g) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
6 ounces (170g) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1/4 cup (60ml) dark-brewed coffee
4 large eggs, separated
2/3 cup (170g), plus 1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons (30ml) dark rum
1 tablespoon (15ml) water
pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
instructions
- Use a double boiler, or fill a saucepan 1/3 full with hot water and set a bowl on top. Over barely simmering water, melt together chocolate, butter and coffee until smooth. Remove from heat, set aside.
- Fill a large bowl with ice and water, set aside.
- In a bowl large enough to nest securely on the saucepan of simmering water, whisk egg yolks with 2/3 cups of sugar, rum and water until mixture is thick, and light coloured like mayonnaise, about 3-5 minutes. (You can also use an electric hand mixer)
- Remove from heat and place the bowl of whipped egg yolks in the bowl of ice water, and beat until thick and cool
- Fold the chocolate mixture into the egg yolks
- In a large bowl, beat egg whites and salt until they hold their shape. Whip in the 1 tablespoon of sugar and continue to beat until thick and shiny, but not completely stiff, then add the vanilla
- Fold one third of the beaten egg whites into a the chocolate mixture, then fold in the remainder of the egg whites until just incorporated, be careful not to over mix it or the mousse will lose volume.
- Spoon mousse into serving bowl, or divide into individual serving dishes, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or until firm
I love bread. Â I would happily pass up a steak or lobster or any other amazing food for good bread with butter and cup of tea. Bread is 80% of the reason I like going to eat out at fancy restaurants. Â Sometimes after I get bread and a drink, I don’t really care about ordering food.
Bread is one of the few things I haven’t been making from scratch. Â I’ve decided its time to change that. Â I thought a good place to start is the easy, no knead artisan bread recipe thats been floating around for the past few years.
No knead bread is exactly that, no need for kneading. Â Simply mix ingredients together until combined. If you’re using instant yeast theres no need to proof yeast or use warm water, simply mix it all together and let the yeast do the work. Â The hardest part of this recipe is planning ahead, the dough needs at least 12 hours to proof and make bread magic happen.
Once the dough is ready for baking, most recipes call for baking it in a preheated lidded pot or covered dish. Most recipes call for a cast iron or enamel pot. I used a stainless steel pot and lid. But you can use just about any oven safe dish –
- Glass pyrex dish with lid
- Clay baker with lid
- Pizza stone with stainless steel bowl to cover
- Heat proof bowl with foil to cover
You’re essentially creating an oven in your oven. This creates steam as it bakes which gives the bread a crusty exterior. Â Some recipes use an uncovered baking dish and a container of water in the oven to create steam.
ingredients
3 cups flour (all purpose or bread flour)
1/4 tsp instant yeast
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 cups water
instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk flour, salt and yeast
- Add water and mix to combine to form a shaggy soft dough. This is a no knead bread so you just want to mix everything until uniformly moist, without any dry patches. Your dough will be wet and loose.
- Cover bowl and set aside for 12-18 hours. Â I left it on the kitchen counter overnight.
- When you’re ready to bake – preheat oven to 450 degrees.
- Meanwhile, pour dough onto a floured surface and shape into a ball or oval shape (depending on shape of your baking dish or pot). Let dough sit while oven is heating.  Don’t worry if it looks like it hasn’t risen much – it will in the oven. This is called “oven spring”.
- When the oven has reached 450 degrees, place pot with lid in the oven and heat for 30 minutes
- Dust the top of loaf with a little flour and slash the top with a sharp knife to release some of the trapped gas. It also makes the top of your bread look pretty – you can slash the bread in a tic tac toe pattern, a cross, or just parallel slashes.
- Remove hot pot from the oven and put dough in the pot. Cover and bake for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes remove lid and bake for a further 15 minutes.
- Remove from oven and place on a cooling rack.
Theres just nothing like freshly baked bread out of the oven. It has to be one of the most comforting aromas to come out of your kitchen. We could not stop eating this bread. Even hubby who doesn’t like bread ate four slices! Â After eating half a bread in record time, I had to remove this from sight to save us from ourselves!
There are so many options with artisan bread. I added fresh corn to the next batch.
O.M.G.
It tasted like home – the South African cornbread, known as farm bread, I remember from my childhood.
Next time I’ll try some of my favourite Artisan bread flavours like olive or onions or cheese. Â And costing just pennies to make, its so much cheaper than the $6.95 Artisan olive bread I buy at the farmers market.
Cashew nuts are not only delicious, they are one of the healthiest nuts you can eat.
Cashews have a lower fat content than most other nuts. Over 80% of their fat is unsaturated fatty acids and nearly 70% of that unsaturated fatty acid content is heart-healthy monounsaturated fats, similar to olive oil.  And with no cholesterol, a rarity for such a tasty, crunchy treat, cashew nuts are a healthy fat food for heart patients.
High in magnesium, cashews help promote healthy bone and muscle development. Â Cashews and other nuts are also beneficial to diabetics and people at risk for diabetes.
Basically, cashews are good for you! Â Just remember avoid buying salted or flavoured nuts.
Instead just make you own. Its not only easy and cheaper than store bought varieties, it’s better for your body and the taste is far superior.
ingredients
1 lb Roasted, unsalted Cashews (if using raw cashews toast them first)
2 tablespoons Olive Oil
1 teaspoon curry powder (I used Roasted Curry Masala)
1 1/2 teaspoons smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice powder (optional)
3/4 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
instructions
- In a large pan, heat olive oil to medium hot
- Add curry powder, and fry for a few seconds to release flavour
- Add smoked paprika.
- Add cashews, toss to coat with seasoned oil, Stir fry for a 1 -2 minutes, being careful not to burn them
- Turn heat off, add lemon juice powder, and salt.
- Spread out on paper towels to absorb any excess oil.
- When cooled, store in air tight container. They taste even better after a day or two!
I think this Italian donut recipe is quite possibly be the easiest quickest donut recipe ever.
Dare I say foolproof? That is in no way a challenge for fools to prove me wrong! This recipe is so easy, hubby usually mixes this batter (he isn’t allowed to fry anything since burning down a kitchen, a story for another day)
Usually donuts or light pastries require a delicate touch and care when making them, not these, he usually beats the poor batter to death, but it always still turns out beautifully. Again, not a challenge!
I adapted LaDolce Dolls Zeppole recipe. This time I omitted the yogurt and used ricotta cheese and cream cheese. I think I might prefer this version without yogurt.
I used room temp cream cheese, ricotta and eggs.
ingredients
1 cup whipped cream cheese (room temp)
1 cup ricotta cheese
2 eggs
1 cup flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons vanilla, or vanilla pod scraped
oil for frying
instructions
- Heat oil
- Mix together cream cheese, ricotta, eggs and vanilla.
- Fold in flour and baking powder
- Drop spoonfuls into hot oil, keep em rolling for a 2-3 mins until golden brown and cooked all the way through
- Dust with powered sugarÂ
- or coat with donut glaze (1 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted to remove any lumps, mixed with 1-2 tablespoons milk)
Zeppole are Italian donuts. Like a cross between a donut and a fritter. Often made with ricotta cheese, or a choux-like pastry. Fried and dusted with sugar.
The lovely chefs from La Dolce Dolls shared their recipe with me. Their clever twist on the traditional recipe uses cream cheese and yogurt. So light and moist. Just perfect.
I had to Americanize the original UK recipe because of differences in ingredients like cream cheese and flour. English cream cheese softer than the dense block of cream cheese that is most commonly used here. So I used whipped cream cheese. You can buy ready whipped, or whip your own.
I used room temp cream cheese, yogurt and eggs.
ingredients
1 cup whipped cream cheese (room temp)
1 cup plain yogurt
2 eggs
1 cup flour
2 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons vanilla, or vanilla pod scraped
oil for frying
instructions
- Heat oil
- Mix together cream cheese, yogurt, eggs and vanilla.
- Fold in flour and baking powder
- Drop spoonfuls into hot oil, keep em rolling for a 2-3 mins until golden brown and cooked all the way through
- Dust with sugar and serve with salted caramel sauce.
These donuts had a mild delicate flavour. Remember there is no sugar in the batter. I would like to play around with flavouring next time I make these.
I want to invite friends over just so I can make this again.
Old fashioned toffee sauce, or as the kids are calling it these days, Salted Caramel Sauce.
The key to caramel making is melting the sugar to just the right colour. The caramel should be a deep amber color.  If you don’t cook it long enough it will be too sweet with little caramel flavour, but cook it too long and it will be burnt and bitter.
If its your first time making caramel here are a few tips:
- only stir the sugar initially until the sugar has melted. then don’t touch it.
- if you’re new to caramel making you can use a thermometer to guide you. The caramel should reach 350. It should be a deep amber colour. Be careful you have a very small window here.
- use a large saucepan. The caramel will bubble up more than you think when you add the cream and butter
- always remember when working with sugar – its HOT!
ingredients
1 cup Sugar
1/4 cup Water
1 cup Heavy Cream
4 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon sea salt
instructions
In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, combine:
1 cup Sugar
1/4 cup water
Over medium-low heat, until the sugar dissolves. You can stir to help the sugar dissolve, if needed.
Increase heat and bring to a boil, without stirring.
If necessary, use a wet pastry brush to wash down any crystals on the side of the saucepan.
Boil until the syrup is a deep amber colour, about 5 minutes.
Remove the sugar from the heat and carefully whisk in the butter. Be careful, The mixture will bubble up quite violently.
Whisk in the cream.
Add salt.
Transfer to a dish to cool. Caramel sauce will keep in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.
The Panna Cotta I made was so delicious and since I still had cream left I thought I’d make more Panna Cotta. I had chocolate brown sugar shortbread cookies in the freezer so I thought why not make Panna Cotta Pie. I crumbled up the cookies and made a crust, top and bottom.
I used this recipe. Just add 1-2 tsp of coffee or espresso powder when you add the vanilla.
Press crumbled cookies into a pie pan, pour Panna Cotta mixture into pan. Let the Panna Cotta set in the fridge for about 20-30 mins, till its slightly more set so the cookie crumbs won’t sink. Then add the rest of the crumb topping. Set till firm.
This is one of those desserts that taste even better the next day.
Panna Cotta is one of those desserts that sound so fancy, but so simple and easy to make.
Panna Cotta is basically creamy jello. I used half milk and half cream to cut down on fat. And Agave instead of sugar.
This Panna Cotta tastes even better the next day. Â I topped it stewed strawberries. I simply cooked down fresh berries from the market until they were soft and syrupy and finished it off with a squeeze of lemon juice.
ingredients
- 4 cups heavy cream (or half-and-half)
- 1/2 cup (100g) sugar (I used Agave to taste, about 1/3 cup)
- 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract, or 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
- 2 packets powdered gelatin (about 4 1/2 teaspoons)
- 6 tablespoons (90ml) cold water
instructions
- Sprinkle the gelatin over the cold water in a medium-sized bowl and let stand 5 to 10 minutes.
- Heat the cream, milk, sugar (if using) and vanilla bean (scrape the seed from the bean) in saucepan. Remove from heat, add agave.
- Pour the warm mixture over the gelatin and stir until the gelatin is completely dissolved.
- Lightly grease 4 custard/pudding cups.
- Divide Panna Cotta mixture into the prepared cups and chill until firm (2-3 hours)
- If you want to unmould your Panna Cotta, run a sharp knife around the edge of each cup and unmould onto serving plate.
ingredients
- 1 cup All purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons corn starch
instructions
- Measure out 1 cup of all purpose flour and take out 2 tablespoons of flour
- Add 2 tablespoons of corn starch
- Combine well and sift. Then sift again. And again. And again.
- Voilà ! You have cake flour.
Self Rising Flour is one of those ingredients I never seem to have on hand. Making my own has  saved many cakes and scones.
ingredients
- Â 1 cup All Purpose Flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
instructions
1. Combine all of the ingredients. Then, use a whisk or sieve to mix thoroughly.
Baking powder is a combination of potassium bitartrate (cream of tartar) and sodium bicarbonate (baking soda). Usually cornstarch is added to prevent clumping.
Not only is making your own baking powder cheap and easy, it’s also free of unnecessary additives and aluminum free.
Make 1 Tablespoon of Baking Powder:
ingredients
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
- 1 teaspoon corn starch (optional)
instructions
- Mix the baking soda and cream of Tartar together until well combined.
- Use Immediately
- If you plan to store your baking powder, add cornstarch to prevent clumping. Store in air tight container.
Oh Sweet Holy Mother of Chocolate Deliciousness, this dessert right here.
Brownie. Batter. Dip.
Let that sink in for a second.
Have you ever enjoyed licking a bowl of chocolate cake batter or brownie batter?
Have you ever wished that there was just a little bit more velvety batter on the spoon?
Have you ever wished you could have the whole bowl of batter?
Have you ever wished you could sit in a tub of cake batter while surfing the internet?
Do you like brownies?
Do you like cake?
Do you like chocolate?
(If you don’t like cake batter or chocolate, my heart goes out to you and whatever childhood trauma you have you suffered that left you so sad and without a soul.)
Do you like to be happy?
Do you like to make others happy?
Do you like puppies?
Do you like sex?
If the answer to any one of the above is yes then you have to try this recipe. At least once.
Brownie. Batter. Dip.
A bowl of brownie batter.
And you can put stuff in it if you like!! I added chopped snickers bar, because it’s his favourite. Â I’m still giddy with happiness about this. Â Such a fun and delicious desert. I served it with shortbread cookies and strawberries.
You’ll want to invite friends over just so you can make this!
ingredients
- 8 ounces cream cheese, softened to room temperature
- 1/4 cup butter, softened to room temperature
- 2 cups powdered sugar, plus more if you want a firmer consistency
- 5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 5 tablespoons cocoa powder
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2-4 tablespoons milk
instructions
- In a stand mixer, whisk together cream cheese and butter.
- Add 2 cups of powered sugar, 1 cup a time, add 1 tbsp milk
- Add flour, cocoa powder, brown sugar and 1 tbsp of milk if needed.
- Whisk until smooth. Add remaining powdered sugar and milk until you have your preferred consistency.
O.M.G! Chips!
Next time I made this we tried it with chips. Â I LOVED it with potato chips. It was so good that I was expecting a knock on the door and at any moment someone would confiscate it because chips and brownie dip was so good its illegal.
Eat responsibly.
Friends don’t let friends eat brownie batter dip by themselves.