Why is it that whenever I visit the local grocer, I always seem to bring home more than expected? Am I just a sucker for fresh produce? Does the big green enviro bag I carry need to be brought back filled to the brim? Can I not resist the colourful rows of fruit and vegetables just begging to be brought home? Does the big fat Italian man at the front of the store yelling at me, “ah, molto bella! Fresh-a peach-a for you-a dahling! Cheapa, cheapa! For you bella, only dollar fifty a kilo! Just for you, buy please!” tempt me into parting with more money? I have no idea!

I had the intention of only buying a few potatoes and carrots for my mum to make soup today, but instead, I came home with a kilo each of plums, bananas, peaches, nectarines and two punnets of strawberries and four pineapples (they were 50c each and no, that’s not a typo). With so much beautiful fruit and summer nearing its end in a few weeks, I thought a few batches of fruity ice-cream would be one of my last hurrahs to seasonal fruit. Enjoy! :)

Ice-cream

Both recipes follow the exact same steps and the ingredients are pretty much the same, with a hint more sugar for the plum version and a bit of water to help cook the peaches.

Plum

800g ripe plums, halved and stoned

200g sugar

500ml cream

200ml full-cream milk

2.5 teaspoons vanilla extract

6 egg yolks

Peach

800g ripe peaches, halved and stoned

180g sugar

¼ cup (60ml) water

500ml cream

200ml full-cream milk

2.5 teaspoons vanilla extract

6 egg yolks

1. Place the fruit and 50g sugar in a medium saucepan, cover with a lid and cook over medium heat for around 10-15 minutes or until the fruit is just cooked and soft (for the peach version, add the 60ml of water). Allow to cool. Blend the cooked fruit until smooth. Strain the puree and discard the skins and other bits and pieces. Set aside in the fridge.
2. In a bowl, whisk the remaining sugar and egg yolks. In a medium saucepan, heat the cream and milk and bring it to the boil. Remove from heat, add the vanilla extract. Add this hot liquid to the egg/sugar mix and whisk until combined. Pour this mixture into a clean saucepan and cook over moderate heat, stirring constantly until it is thick enough to coat a wooden spoon. If you find that there are little eggy bits floating in your custard, grab a balloon whisk and whisk like mad.
3. Once the custard is ready, transfer to a clean bowl and place in the fridge until thoroughly chilled.
4. Combine the chilled custard and fruit puree and churn in an ice-cream maker for 30 minutes or until thick.

Each recipe yields around 1.5L.

I have also made a strawberry version on this blog. See here.

Being unemployed, or a ‘lady of leisure’ as I like to call it, is absolutely great. I can sleep in, spend all day at home in my pajamas if I wanted to and I can take my time in making a tasty breakfast instead of the usual boring tub of yoghurt and piece of fruit or toast.

I woke up at 9.30am today (yes, yes, I know you hate me) and whilst sleepily perusing the fridge this morning, I realised I had half a carton of buttermilk left since making a chocolate buttermilk cake a few days ago. With the buttermilk nearing it’s expiry date, I decided that a stack of banana pancakes for breakfast would be perfect. I had all of the other ingredients ready in the fridge/pantry and it only took me 20 minutes from start to finish.

I absolutely cannot stand morning television (it’s those damn infomercials) so instead I sat in my dad’s garden (it’s his garden, not ‘our garden’ – he’s so possessive of those plants it’s ridiculous. I can’t even water them correctly according to him). I happily ate my pancakes, swimming in a pool of real maple syrup mind you, sitting cross-legged on the grass with the newspaper and a glass of fresh orange juice. It was beautifully sunny and a warm 28°C (82°F) at 10.15 in the morning! It was the perfect breakfast :)

Wholemeal Banana Pancakes

¾ cup wholemeal flour

¼ cup plain flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

2 heaped tablespoons of caster sugar

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

40g butter, melted

300ml buttermilk

1 large egg

1 very ripe banana, mashed

sliced banana and maple syrup, to serve

1. In a large bowl, combine the flours, baking powder, baking soda, sugar and cinnamon.
2. In another bowl or jug, combine the melted butter, egg, buttermilk and mashed banana. Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix until just combined.
3. Heat a large non-stick frying pan over moderate heat and pour ? cup of batter into the pan. Depending on the size of your frying pan, you can cook more pancakes simultaneously. When bubbles are formed evenly over the surface, flip over and cook for a further 20 seconds or so.
4. Once all your pancakes are ready, top them with sliced banana and drown them in maple syrup.

Makes two large servings.

In five hours, yesterday afternoon, I managed to whip up four cakes: hummingbird cake with cream cheese icing, orange poppyseed syrup cake, peach raspberry almond yoghurt cake and a chocolate buttermilk cake with chocolate ganache. I made them for the christening celebration of my friend Chloe’s beautiful daughter Alyssa today.

The party actually finished a few hours ago and all of the cakes were a hit. Not surprisingly, the first one demolished was the chocolate buttermilk cake :)

Try it yourself, share it with your friends and family and you’ll see why it’s such a crowd pleaser.

Chocolate Buttermilk Cake

250g butter

300g caster sugar

3 eggs

275g plain flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

75g Dutch-processed cocoa powder

250ml buttermilk

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Grease a 25 centimetre ring tin with oil spray.
2. Cream the butter and the sugar until very light and fluffy. Add the eggs one by one, beating well within additions.
3. Add the sifted ingredients (cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, flour). Mix in the buttermilk until just combined.
4. Pour the batter into the prepared tin and bake for approximately 40 minutes or when a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Allow to cool on wire rack.

Chocolate Ganache

250ml thickened cream

200g good quality dark chocolate, chopped

25g unsalted butter

1. Place all ingredients in a heatproof bowl (metal, glass or ceramic).
2. Balance the bowl on top of a saucepan which is a third full of simmering water. Make sure the bowl does not touch the water. Stir the ingredients until the chocolate has melted and becomes smooth and shiny.
3. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.

You can use the ganache while it’s still rather warm and runny and pour it over your cake, or you can leave it to thicken and spread it on your cake.

Alyssa is just so darn cute that I just had to post a photo of her! Just gorgeous :)

Note: The original photo of the cake I used was terrible, so I have replaced it with another one :)

My boyfriend has promised me a nice dinner tonight, so in return, I will be taking care of dessert. I’m feeling so lazy today and don’t really feel like making anything fancy, so I think an easy spiced chocolate mousse would be perfect.

This dessert is a bit like love really… it’s spicy, it’s sweet and you always end up wanting more :)

Happy Valentine’s Day everyone!

Spiced Chocolate Mousse with Almond Praline

You can use any kind of unsalted nut for the praline: macadamias, hazelnuts, cashews. I used flaked almonds as they were in my pantry at the time.

(adapted from a recipe found in Gourmet Traveller, by Matt McConnell, executive chef of Bar Lourinhã in Melbourne)

250g dark chocolate (minimum 60% cocoa solids)

4 eggs, at room temperature and separated

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon chilli powder

¼ teaspoon allspice

300ml thickened cream, lightly whipped

Almond praline

100g flaked almonds, lightly toasted

100g caster sugar

1. Melt the chocolate and allow to cool slightly. Whisk in the egg yolks and add the spices.
2. Gently fold the whipped cream into the chocolate mix. Place in the fridge whilst you prepare your egg whites.
3. Whip the eggs whites until they reach soft peaks and gently fold them into the chocolate cream mixture. Divide the mousse into bowls/cups/whatever and place in the fridge to chill.
4. Lightly grease a baking tray with oil or non-stick baking paper. Pour the toasted almonds on top and set aside.
5. Place the sugar and two tablespoons of water into a small, heavy-bottomed saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Increase the heat to high and allow the toffee to boil and colour. Do not stir the toffee, just swirl the pan if need be. Once the toffee has reached a dark golden brown colour, carefully pour over the almonds and mix it around with a metal spoon. Allow to cool and set.
6. To assemble, roughly chop the praline and sprinkle over the mousse. Serve immediately.

Makes quite a lot, but it should be able to serve 4-6 people. Just depends on how greedy you are with the portions :)

When I started this blog, I discovered the wonderful world of Flickr. It’s basically an online photo sharing community with millions of great photos. I love posting my own photos and being inspired by the brilliant photography and creativity of others.

One recurring theme I’ve come across on Flickr are people sharing thirteen random points about themselves, so I decided I’d share my own ‘13 Things About Me’ with you here. :)

13 Things About Me

1. I was an only child until the age of 11. My parents tried hard for many years for another child, but it was really difficult. When my sister Rosie was born, I really resented her because I was so used to being spoilt and having all the focus on me. Being an older sister has taught me so much about myself and I am grateful for it.

2. I am of Vietnamese heritage and I can understand and speak the language, but rather poorly. It’s a bit embarrassing really, considering I went to Vietnamese school for 6 years as a kid and it’s the primary language we speak at home. I can hold a normal conversation, but if you want to me to talk about politics or climate change in Vietnamese, forget about it! When the time comes, I don’t think I’ll be passing the language onto my children which is sad.

3. I appear very confident and self assured in person, but deep down, I have my own insecurity issues. I constantly stress about my appearance, the way my body looks and worry about what other people think of me. I’ve always had self-esteem issues and I think I’ll have them forever.

4. I have a few nicknames: Indy, Linny, Lin and Linds. I love them all with Indy being my favourite.

5. Ice-cream is my weakness. I can eat it at any time of the day and have been known to eat 1-litre tubs in one sitting. Sorbet, gelati, semifreddo, parfait, whatever you want to call it. Bring it on!

6. I’m in love. I have a boyfriend, Z, and we’ve been together on/off for nearly five years. It hasn’t always been easy and at times it’s been harder than anything, but he is my best friend in the entire universe, my partner in crime and he is literally an extension of myself. I love him more than the world and I think he is the one.

7. I love to sing, but only when I’m by myself. I enjoy belting out a good song or two and dancing around in my undies in my bedroom when no-one is watching. I can carry a tune and I know I can kick ass in karaoke, but am too shy to show it. I am also very fond of singing in the car!

8 . I love my friends and spending time with them. Apart from Z, I have three different best friends: Bree, Paula and Eloise. Each girl is unique in her own right and each girl makes me feel at home. I can tell them my deepest secrets and I would do anything for them. Some people think that you can only have one best friend, but that’s a load of crap. More friends equals more love, more hugs and more laughs!

9. There’s nothing I love better than being curled up on the couch with a good book or the weekend newspaper and a big cup of tea. It’s my favourite way to unwind and relax.

10. I find it strange that a lot of my food dislikes are because of the texture, not the flavour of the food itself. Mushrooms, celery and olives are the three that I hate the most. Urgh…

11. I have terrible eyesight and received my first pair of glasses when I was 10. I had difficulty reading the blackboard and my grade 4 teacher caught me constantly squinting and suggested to my mother that I should have my eyes tested. The first time I visited the optometrist, I sneaked into the testing room and tried to memorise the letters and numbers so that I wouldn’t have to get glasses and look like a dork. Despite my best efforts, I still failed that eye test and have had to wear corrective lenses ever since. As I grew older, my eyesight became much worse and I now wear contacts 24/7. I cannot see anything without them and I carry a spare pair of contacts around everywhere I go. Just in case.

12. I know I’m a smart girl, but I don’t know where I’m headed, career-wise. I’m capable of anything and I know one day I’ll be successful and enjoy what I do, but not knowing what that is right now frustrates the hell out of me.

13. I really didn’t think I’d write this much! :)

To make up for boring you silly with my ‘13 Things’, I’ll share a recipe for the lemon slice I made today.It’s a really simple slice recipe which has a wonderfully tangy and oozy lemon topping on a crunchy shortbread base. Enjoy! :)

Lemon Slice

(adapted from a recipe found at Smitten Kitchen)

Base

225g unsalted butter, softened

½ cup caster sugar

2 cups plain flour

¼ teaspoon salt

Lemon Topping

6 large eggs

2 ¼ cups caster sugar

zest from 6 small lemons

1 cup lemon juice

1 cup plain flour

icing sugar, to dust

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Grease and line with non-stick baking paper a 30 x 20cm tin. Allow the baking paper to overhang the sides of the tin for easy removal (you don’t want boiling hot lemon filling all over your hands when you remove it from the tin).
2. For the base, cream together the butter and the sugar until light. Add the flour and salt and mix until until well combined. Tip the dough into your prepared baking tin and press it evenly into the tin. Place it in the freezer for 10 minutes to chill.
3. Bake the base for around 15 minutes or until golden brown. Allow to cool on a wire rack and get ready to make the topping. Reduce the oven temperature to 160°C.
4. Combine the eggs and sugar into a large bowl and mix well using a whisk. Add the zest and lemon juice. Add the flour bit by bit, ensuring that there are no lumps. Pour the filling on top of the base and bake for around 25 – 30 minutes or until it is light brown and the filling is just set. Unfortunately I was distracted today and overcooked it. #$&@!!!
5. Allow to cool to room temperature. Cut into bars and liberally dust with icing sugar.

At the end of this week, I will be unemployed. For most people it is rather depressing to have no job. But not for me… I’m elated! :)

For the last seven months I’ve been working as an adminstrative assistant and it has literally bored me to tears. Sitting on my arse all day long, answering phone call after stupid phone call, the constant tippity-tappity on the keyboard and doing the same mundane tasks every single day has made me go crazy/depressive/unhappy. The work is boring, so unchallenging and there is no support or positive acknowledgment in my workplace. I’ve also managed to stack on the kilograms from being inactive for the majority of the day (5kg to be exact) and my skin has become so dehydrated from the recycled air in the building. Urgh…

So, two weeks ago I handed in my resignation and by this Thursday, I will be unemployed. I know I should have found another job to move onto first, but to be honest, I’m just too happy to care. :)

Happiness and joy aside, just like any typical 20-something year old, I’m still struggling to find out what my ‘calling’ is and I don’t know which career direction to head into. I have so many different interests but unsure of what to focus on and pursue as a career. It upsets me sometimes, not knowing where I’m going, but then again, I am 21 and have the whole world at my feet. I can and will do anything I want to do. I know I can…

After this Thursday, I’m going to have a bit of a mental break and might do some volunteer work. Wish me luck everyone, hopefully I can find a job/career that I love soon! :)

Caramel Honey Pecan Slice

I made this slice today simply because I wanted something with pecans and too lazy to make pastry for a pecan pie :)

Curled up on the couch with a piece or two of this slice, a big cup of milky tea with the Sunday newspaper and knowing that I’ll be leaving my crappy job soon has made me a happy girl indeed :)

(adapted from recipe by Belinda Jeffrey in delicious. June 2006)

2 cups (300g) plain flour

½ cup (100g) brown sugar

¼ teaspoon salt

180g cold unsalted butter, diced

Topping

100g unsalted butter

1 cup (200g) brown sugar

3 big tablespoons of honey

2 tablespoons of cream

¼ teaspoon salt

250g pecans

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Grease and line a 21 x 30cm lamington tin with non-stick baking paper.
2. In a food processor, whizz together the flour, salt and sugar until combined. Add the cold butter and process until the mixture resembles damp sand. Tip the dough into the prepared pan and press firmly using your, ensuring the base is even. Bake the base for approximately 15 minutes or until the base is golden brown.
3. In the last 5 minutes of baking time, prepare the topping. In a small saucepan, melt the butter. Add the sugar, cream, honey and salt and constantly stir to combine. Bring the mixture to the boil and cook for a further minute. Remove from the heat, add the pecans and vanilla extract.
4. Pour the topping over the biscuit base, spread evenly over the surface and bake for a further 12 minutes or until the topping is bubbling and a deep golden brown. Allow the slice to cool completely in the tin before you cut into portions.