Dulce De Leche Tart

Spread the pastry with dulce de leche and pour white chocolate ganache over it. If you want to have a signature design:

• before the white ganache sets, pour dark chocolate ganache over it and design it. For a heart, place a drop of it and a line thru it with a knife.
• or, if you want a silver fern, then follow instructions for making a rosetta for latte art! (the back tarts in the photo have silver ferns on them).

Dulce De Leche Gelato

It actually turned out alot better than I thought. Serve these with a dollop of dulce de leche straight from the jar, and it was muy delisio!

When Argentina and Italy Combine

I haven't made ice cream in a few years. So, today when I saw receipes of home-made ice cream sundaes in Viva, I put my ice cream maker in the freezer and cooked my vanilla gelato. Last week, I popped into Farro and saw a jar of duck fat, and thought to myself .... duck confit? NO! then, down the isle, there it was! a lovely little jar ... Dulce de leche from Argentina! The real thing from Argentina! ... and I grabbed one. So, fingers crossed, tomorrow my ice cream maker can do it .... Dulce de Leche Gelato!

Almond Butter Cake with White Chocolate Ganache and Passionfruit Curd

Almond butter cake is a real tea cake, not too dry and not too moist, just perfect with a cuppa. No real need to be iced but passionfruit curd and white chocolate is a winning combo, try it and you won't be disappointed.

Fruit and Oat Cookies

120g butter, 1 cup soft brown sugar, 3 eggs, 2 cups self-raising flour and 2 cups oats, and 1 cup dried fruits.

Mocha Mud Cake

My apologies for not uploading the photos sooner. The cake disappeared pretty quickly. A big thank you to the photographer, I think the photos look amazing.

Caffeinated Cake ... Decaf Drinkers Beware!

Coffee beans .... hmmm ... what an important role the beans play eveyday around the world. If you are like me and can have your coffee short or tall? or a soy latte? or a standard trim flat white? or in some rare occasions a soy mocha? then why not .... combine it all in a little fancy cake? I guess the soy is out for the cake, but seriously, chocolate and coffee is a match made in heaven.

So, this afternoon, I started the long journey. The mocha cake with a double shot of espresso is done and the icing, a white chocolate ganache with a shot of espresso also done. So that, tomorrow, I'l be back in the kitchen and whip my ganache and put the final touches on the cake.

Honey and Nut Loaf

When it comes to honey, New Zealand has it all. The variety is unlimited! and if you love honey, then you are in for a real treat ... I guess the hardest part is what would you choose?????

In a saucepan, place 200g butter, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup liquid honey and 1/4 cup golden syrup. Turn the gas on very low heat and stir until the butter is melted and the mix is smooth.

Beat in 3 eggs with a fork. Add in 1.5 cups flour with 1.5 cups baking powder. Mix with a big spoon until the flour is mixed properly. Add any nuts you like (or leave it out). Bake at 160C.

Viennese Fingers

Almost a melting moment but with a twist. If you are good at making melting moments, then this is a breeze for you. Coat with melted chocolate. Send me a quick email for the recipe.

Ingredients: Butter, icing sugar, egg yolk, flour.

Jam Drop Muffins

Make them the same way as you would with normal muffins, but reduce sugar to half. Serve with whipped cream.

Almond Yoghurt Cake

Yoghurt is full of good bacteria, saddly not in this case. The fat and sugar content of this cake, most likely, destroys all the good bacteria. Luckily, it is moist and rich so, most likely it will be enjoyed!

Ingredients: (make this as you would with a traditional cream&fold method and bake in a moderate oven)

150g butter

1 cup caster sugar

3 eggs

1 3/4 cups self-raising flour

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup yoghurt

1 cup almond meal

Sacher Torte Cupcakes

Turning sacher torte into cupcakes was a breeze! When the need came for plenty of gorgeous cupcakes, I wanted them to be moist and super rich and sacher is just one of those amazing cakes that fits the description. The icing is a white ganache.

Cranberry and Pistachio Slice

Bought too much for the holiday season and now you have leftovers? .... If you are like me and eats no leftovers, then you have a hard task of making leftovers edible or even slightly appetising! The pink icing is using the cranberry sauce from the bottom of the jar so, this slice is really for limited time ;)

Hello 2011 ... Hello ... 2nd Decade of the 21st Centuary

Start of a new year and start of a brand new decade! Summer fruits are plentiful and at their best. My new year's resolution of "calorie count diet", where everything I eat is counted to match my daily calorie goal, allows plenty of summer fruits, so far so good! ... and my love of summer berries and stone fruits is working to my advantage.