Yeah, I know what you’re thinking: “zucchini in cake?!” You’re  probably used to sweet baked goods made with chocolate or fruit, but using vegetables in cakes isn’t as odd as it would seem. There are so many different sweet recipes out there that use all kinds of vegetables; think traditional favourites of pumpkin pie and carrot cake, and more unusual recipes like chocolate beetroot cake or spinach brownies! After being in a bit of a baking  funk, I wanted to make something that was not only delicious but also something a little different. I thought about making Jessica Seinfeld’s recipe for brownies with spinach, but I wasn’t in the mood for something chocolatey. After searching through my very disorganised folder of online recipes I’ve bookmarked, I came across this recipe and knew it was the one to make.

It’s very similar to a carrot cake, only with grated zucchini and different spices instead. It is a very simple recipe and takes hardly anytime to prepare at all.  I didn’t follow the recipe as printed (I’m such a rebel!) and used walnuts instead of pistachios and added cinnamon and cloves to the mix. I’m quite time poor these days, so I didn’t even bother with the frosting and it’s a one-bowl recipe which means less time washing up and more time eating!

Zucchini Spice Loaf

Adapted from recipe found in Delicious magazine, February 2007 here.

3/4 cup (185ml) sunflower oil

1 cup (220g) caster sugar

3 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup (75g) walnuts, finely chopped

1/2 cup (60g) almond meal

2 cups grated zucchini (about 2 big ones)

1 teaspoon ground cardamom

1/2 teaspoon ground mixed spice

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

dash of ground cloves

1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 1/2 cups (225g) self-raising flour

1/2 cup (75g) plain flour

1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease a loaf tin and line base and sides with baking paper.
2. Using a whisk, combine the oil, sugar, eggs and vanilla until thick. Stir in chopped nuts, meal, zucchini and spices. Sift over baking soda and flours, and stir to combine. Pour into pan and bake for 60 minutes or until a skewer inserted in centre comes out clean. Cool in pan for 20 minutes, then turn onto a wire rack and cool completely.

Thirty things that make me smile…

A perfectly baked sponge cake with jam and cream.

Photographing in natural light.

Reminiscing about my first kiss.

Soulful music.

Eating anything wrapped in pastry.

Laughter and uncontrollable giggles.

Receiving a compliment from a stranger.

Birthday and festive season celebrations with family.

Deep and meaningful conversation with close friends.

The kind of love that makes your heart ache when you’re not with them.

Ice-cream in summer anytime of the year.

Kindness. Gentleness. Understanding. Patience.

That look on someone’s face when they open up their gifts.

Farmers’ markets and fresh, seasonal produce.

Shopping until my feet hurt and so much money is spent.

Cupcakes with frosting and sprinkles.

Making new friends.

Flicking through design magazines for inspiration.

A coffee made from ground beans, perfectly steamed milk and served at the right temperature. Then drinking another one.

Fruit smoothies with honey.

Being loved for who I am.

Spending hours and hours in a bookshop, trying to find the right book to take home.

Turning the mobile/laptop off and being disconnected.

Being appreciated and acknowledged.

Log fires, hot chocolate and marshmallows in winter.

Watermelon, floral dresses, flip-flops, last minute BBQs and trips to the beach in summer.

Finding that perfect dress/top/skirt/jeans/shoes that actually fit for a bargain price.

The sense of accomplishment when something difficult has finally been completed.

Reading a book from beginning to end in one sitting.

Thick slices of banana chocolate bread, still warm from the oven…

Banana Chocolate Bread

250g plain flour

2.5 teaspoons baking powder

big pinch of salt

125g dark or milk chocolate, finely chopped

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup caster sugar

2 large eggs

4 large, ripe bananas, mashed (don’t add anymore bananas – it will be too stodgy).

1. Preheat oven to 200C. Grease and line a loaf tin and set aside.
2. In a bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Stir through the chocolate.
3. In a larger bowl, mix together the eggs, sugar, vanilla and banana.
4. Gently combine the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and be careful not to overmix.
5. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 45 minutes or until golden brown and a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.
6. Cool on a wire rack, but eat it warm. It tastes good toasted the next day too :)

To tweet or not to tweet? That is the question that has been on my mind for the last few weeks or so (well that and “should I pay $3000 for a new MacBook Pro?”). It seems that Twitter is “like, the coolest thing everrrrr” right now and I’m wondering if it’s worth jumping on the bandwagon. Do people actually want updates on what I am doing? Do I want to hear about Oprah gushing about puppies, or when Ashton Kutcher reaches his two million followers or what my boss’ wife made for dinner last night or what every other person in the world is doing at that very second? I know it’s a great networking tool and understand that technology is just evolving by allowing us to communicate and connect  with each other more easily, but do we really have to go this far now?

It’s similar to the Facebook phenomenon. Everyone seems to be on Facebook, making ‘friends’, joining common groups and generally spending hours stalking ex-boyfriends/ex-girlfriends/potential partners/friends you wish death upon. Don’t get me wrong, I have a Facebook account and I quite like it. I can see what my friends and family are up to, from those that live down the road, to workmates I see five days a week, to family on the other side of the globe. It’s great… but  the constant status updates of pure drivel from everyone are really starting to do my head in. Worthy examples include:

‘Amy just ate a bowl of milk-less cereal’

‘Christine wore purple socks today!’

‘Kevin is waiting for the 501 bus’

I either have really dull ‘friends’ or just really unimaginative ones, haha! But seriously, before Facebook and Twitter came along, who would have thought to share with the world every boring detail of our lives?

But back to the original point, to tweet or not to tweet? Do I join? Hmm… not sure yet. Maybe I should only follow people who actually compose interesting tweets (but we all know that the majority don’t!).  I’m a bit unsure at this point, but I reckon if I joined today, my first tweet would be:

Hungry? Get this French toast in your belly. You know you want to :) http://tinyurl.com/r6avpd

French Toast with Spiced Pears

Serves 4.

3 eggs

½ cup milk

1 tablespoon caster sugar

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

8 thick slices of white bread

butter, to fry

Pears

3 large pears, peeled, cored, quartered

30g butter

¼ cup brown sugar

good splash of maple syrup

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

maple syrup, to serve

1. For pears: in a small saucepan, melt butter until slightly foamy and the crackling noises stop. This is the water coming out of the butter. Add pears, sugar, cinnamon and maple syrup and mix well. Cook over moderate heat until pears are cooked through.
2. For French toast: in a large bowl, combine all ingredients. Melt a tablespoon or so of butter in a large non-stick saucepan. Wait until foamy, then dip the bread into the egg mixture, place into hot pan and fry until golden brown. Repeat with remaining bread.
3. To serve, place the French toast on a plate, topped with pears and extra maple syrup.

Cream, vanilla ice-cream or plain yoghurt make nice accompaniments.

*Update: 9 October 2009 – Considering this post, I’ve actually joined Twitter now. Follow me @_lindanguyen_ if you are a fellow foodie or friend.

I. LOVE. GRANOLA.

Yep, I love it so much, I had to declare it in capital letters. I know everyone else does too. My first granola recipe is one of the most popular recipes visited on my blog and I thought another version might be appreciated.

What I love about this particular granola recipe is that it’s sweet without being overpoweringly sweet, it has that warm homely smell of cinnamon and vanilla, the apricots had a different textural dimension and it has the perfect amount of crunch. Delicious for breakfast in the morning with yoghurt, yummy as an on-the-go snack and yummy with milk for a late-night treat in front of the TV.

Enjoy!

Apricot Granola

I particularly don’t like clumpy granola, but if you do, simply ensure that you firmly compress the granola into the trays before you let it cool. Then, once it’s cool, you can break it up into clumps.

7 cups rolled oats

2 cups slivered almonds

1 cup brown sugar

¾ cup raw sunflower seeds

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

? cup vegetable oil

½ cup honey

1½ tablespoons vanilla extract

1½ cups diced apricots

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Line two large baking trays with baking paper.
2. In a large bowl, combine the oats, almonds, sugar, sunflower seeds and cinnamon. In a small saucepan, heat the oil and honey over medium heat until just simmering.
3. Pour the liquid mixture over the oat mixture and thoroughly combine with your hands (careful it’s hot!) until everything is coated. Spread the mixture onto the prepared trays.
4. Bake for approximately 25 minutes, stirring every ten minutes to ensure even browning. Bake until golden brown. Stir in the apricots as soon as you remove the trays from the oven. Allow to cool completely on trays.

I have a little confession to make. We’ve all been told that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, yet I hardly ever eat a proper morning meal. And when I mean hardly, it’s probably once a week!

It’s been drilled in my head for years at university throughout my nutrition classes that it’s crucial as it re-fuels the body after rest and it “switches on” the metabolism to help burn kilojoules, yet I still can’t wake up, sit down and eat something simple as toast or yoghurt everyday. Don’t get me wrong, I do eat “breakfast” occasionally, but it’s usually at 9am and isn’t enough food to sustain me through until lunch. Some days I will eat breakfast, but only when I have had a really really early dinner the previous night and I am totally famished at 6am the next day. I don’t know if it’s the laziness factor or if it’s because my stomach can’t tolerate large amounts of food in the early hours of the morning.

It’s funny, although I studied nutrition, I have no real intentions of following a career as a nutritionist, but if I did, I’d be a huge hypocrite as I cannot even follow my own dietary advice! So, as of yesterday, I have decided to change my ways and force myself to eat a healthy breakfast every morning. I’ll start small and build my way up. I had two crumpets, a banana and a glass of orange juice yesterday at 6.30am and I know it doesn’t sound like much, but for my little morning stomach, it was a feast!

Today’s breakfast was a tub of mango yoghurt and a small bowl of granola with soy milk. It was wonderfully nutty with a mixture of raw nuts and seeds, with a subtle sweet hit from a sticky blend of brown sugar, pureed apples and liquid sweeteners . A few teaspoons of cinnamon and ginger provided a hint of spice and the texture of the raisins juxtaposed well with the crunchiness of everything else. In summary, it was awesome!!

A small bowl of this granola a few times a week in the morning will definitely help me adapt to eating breakfast everyday!

Best Ever Homemade Granola

Adapted from a recipe by Nigella Lawson in ‘Feast’.

I couldn’t find a small jar of applesauce in my local supermarket, so I substituted it with pureed apples found in the baby food aisle. Also, Nigella’s original recipe uses brown rice syrup, but I used maple syrup instead.

I like mine with soy milk instead of cow’s milk. The nuttiness in the soy complements the granola well.

Dry

5 cups rolled oats

2 cups raw almonds

1 cup raw sunflower seeds

¾ cup sesame seeds

¾ cup light brown sugar

3 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1 cup raisins

Wet

¾ cup pureed apples

¼ cup maple syrup

¼ cup golden syrup

¼ cup honey

1. Preheat oven to 140°C.
2. In a large bowl, combine all of dry ingredients except the raisins. In a small bowl, combine the wet ingredients. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients and mix well.
3. Spread the mixture over two baking trays and bake for 45 minutes until golden brown. During baking time, stir the granola every 10 or 15 minutes and rotate the pans.
4. Once ready, remove from the oven and continue to stir well. If you don’t, it will set into a huge slab!
5. Add the raisins and stir well.

Makes 10 cups. Store the granola in an airtight container. Pop it in the fridge as the nuts can go rancid quickly.

With this post, you’re either going to love me or hate me. You will love me because I’m going to share a recipe for delicious brioche that you can make yourself, but then you will hate me because you’re going to take one look at the loooong list of steps, not even bother to attempt it, then have dreams of freshly homemade brioche for the rest of the week and you’ll simply salivate at the sheer thought of it. Yeah, you will! :)

I have never made brioche before because I am an extraordinarily lazy person and it all seemed like a big fuss which I could not be bothered with . I don’t know where the motivation came from, maybe my stomach, but last night I finally decided to give it a go and you know what? It is a huge fuss! There is a lot of preparation and so much waiting time, but it really is worth it. I actually didn’t think I’d have the patience to complete the recipe, or even type up the method as it’s so bloody long, but I’m glad I did. I really want you to try it for yourself as freshly baked brioche is simply magnificent!

Brioche is lovely eaten on its own, or toasted and spread with good butter and/or jam, but I thought I’d go the extra mile and make Twice-Baked Almond Brioche instead.

Brioche

Brioche recipe adapted from ‘Baking with Julia’ by Dorie Greenspan.

Sponge

2 teaspoons instant yeast

½ cup (125ml) full cream milk, just warm to the touch

½ cup (70g) plain flour

Dough

? cup (75g) caster sugar

1 ½ teaspoons salt

4 large eggs, beaten

3 cups (420g) plain flour

250g unsalted butter, at room temperature

1. For the sponge, place the yeast, milk and flour into the bowl of a heavy-duty stand mixer. Stir with a whisk until the yeast has dissolved. Cover the bowl with with a tea-towel and allow to rest for 30-40 minutes. During this resting time, it should bubble up.
2. Add the sugar, salt, eggs and flour to the sponge mix. Attach the dough hook to the mixer and mix on low speed until the ingredients come together and begins to resemble a dough. Cover again and allow to rest for 10 minutes. Increase the speed to medium and beat for 15 minutes, scraping the hook and sides of the bowl as necessary. During this time, the dough should come together, wrap itself around the hook and ’slap’ the sides of the bowl. If after 8 to 10 minutes, you don’t have the audible ’slapping’ of the dough, add a tablespoon of flour at a time until it comes together.
3. With the mixer on low-medium speed, add the butter a few tablespoons at a time. The dough will look like a huge, lumpy mess, but persevere until all the butter is incorporated. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat for 5 minutes or until you can hear the dough slapping the sides of the bowl again. The dough should be very shiny and elastic.
4. Transfer the dough to a large, oiled bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap and allow to rise and double in size. This will take around 2 to 2.5 hours.
5. Deflate the dough by folding it over itself several times using greased hands. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and allow to rise for 6 to 24 hours in the fridge.

The dough is now ready to be used as you wish. To make two loaves, simply divide the dough, roll each portion out to the length of your tins, rest for an hour, egg wash them and bake until dark golden brown, but I will be using half the dough for Twice-Baked Almond Brioche and the other half later in the month for Sticky Cinnamon Pecan Buns (blog post will follow of course!). So, divide the dough in two and wrap one portion up tightly with plastic wrap and store it in the freezer.

With the other half, here we go…

Twice-Baked Almond Brioche

Instead of flaked almonds, you can use other nuts, or fresh fruit such as sliced strawberries, raspberries, pears, peaches or nectarines. Whatever!

The syrup and almond cream can be prepared a day in advance and stored in the refrigerator overnight.

Almond cream recipe adapted from ‘Daily Adventures in a Parisian Kitchen’ by Clotilde Dusoulier.

½ quantity brioche dough

Syrup

½ cup (110g) caster sugar

¼ cup (60ml) water

¼ cup (60ml) orange juice

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Almond cream

¼ cup caster sugar

½ cup ground almonds

¼ teaspoon salt

60g unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 large egg

flaked almonds, to sprinkle

icing sugar, to dust

1. Grease an 8-hole mini loaf pan, with each loaf measuring approximately 10 x 5 x 3 cm. Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces. Roll each piece of dough into a rectangle slightly larger than the loaf pans. With the shorter end of the rectangle at the top, roll the dough into a tight coil. Turn in the ends to seal and place the rolled dough piece, seam side down into the pan.
2. Cover the pan with greased plastic wrap and let it rise at room temperature until doubled in size. This should take around an hour.
3. Whilst the loaves are resting, prepare the syrup. Combine the sugar, water, orange juice and vanilla extract in a small saucepan. Cook over moderate heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Allow the syrup to boil or a minute or two. Remove the pan from the heat and allow to cool completely.
4. Bake the loaves in a preheated oven set at 165°C for 15 to 20 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove the loaves from the pan and allow to cool on a wire rack.
5. For the almond cream, beat all the ingredients together until creamy.

Assembly

1. Preheat the oven to 165°C. Line a baking tray with non-stick baking paper.
2. Slice the tops off the brioche loaves so that they are level. Dip the brioche loaves into the syrup, ensuring that all sides are coated and moist. Spread two tablespoons of almond cream top of each loaf (you can lightly coat the sides of each loaf with the almond cream if you want, like I did, but the almond cream kind of all melted off onto the tray during baking, so there’s no point really). Sprinkle the loaves with the flaked almonds and place onto the prepared tray.
3. In the bottom third of the oven, bake the loaves for around 15 minutes or until golden brown.

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.