All posts tagged: featured

Orange and coconut cake (gf,df)

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It has been two months since I’ve posted anything. It is really hard to find time to bake and post now that I am working almost full time. I finally had some time this week to catch up on the things that I love to do – that is of course baking. I like to bake according to the seasons and being in Australia, it means that I get one of the best fresh produce. Mandarins and oranges are in season now. Since I’ve made mandarin cakes before, I decided to make orange cakes this time round. The recipe is similar to the mandarin cake recipe, I’ve just added desiccated coconut for that extra flavour. I made this cake last week for a dinner party and I didn’t get much time to take good photos of it before it was devoured completely. Ingredients for the cake  4 large oranges 5 large eggs 100g caster sugar 200g almond meal 30g desiccated coconut 1 tsp vanilla essence Directions Preparation time: 80minBaking time: 40-45min or until the top is …

South Island New Zealand

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The South Island of New Zealand is a more popular tourist destination than the North Island. An ideal amount of time in the South Island would be at least two weeks. If you are thinking of doing any over night hikes especially for the Milford track, do remember to make bookings at least six months in advance because it is extremely popular during the Great Walks Season. Initially I had booked for the Routeburn track. Unfortunately, due to an accident in October, I was physically unable to complete a 3D2N hike so I had to make last minute changes to my itinerary. As it was over Christmas period, most of the accommodations were fully booked in Queenstown or ridiculously expensive, we ended up staying at Cardona Alpine Resort which has got to be one of the best places I’ve stayed in New Zealand! Here I am sharing my South Island itinerary, hope that you’ll enjoy it as much as I did!  Destination Duration of stay Distance to next destination Picton 2 nights (N) ~279km Waipara …

Gluten free hot cross buns

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The annual hot cross buns baking begins. This year, I’m making gluten-free hot cross buns so that Mr X can enjoy. Making gluten free bread is a real challenge. I analysed a couple of recipes and looked at the type of ingredients they had included before coming up with one. The first buns I made tasted good but resembled more like a scone then a bread. So I did more research and read about adding xanthan gum to give it more elasticity. On my second attempt, I’ve added Xanthan gum and there was a difference in texture of the dough as I was kneading it. The end result was softer and tasted so much better! I was on a baking craze yesterday and I made both gluten-free and non-gluten free hot cross buns. I still prefer my non-gluten free ones but the gluten free ones tasted good too! I’ve chosen to add dates instead of sultanas into the buns but feel free to add whatever ingredients you like. Both buns are best served heated up …

Rock cakes (Gluten and dairy free)

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It has been a while since I’ve made a post. I graduated last year and moved down to Sydney. I’ve been trying to juggle with work, yoga and baking. Thank goodness I’m more or less settled now so I can start on sharing my recipes again. Rock cakes… honestly, I had no idea what they were until Mr XX requested for them. His mom used to make it for the children and it was his favourite snack growing up. Apparently its an English dessert. The method is similar to making scones – rub the butter and flour together until it resembles bread crumbs. As Mr XX is gluten and dairy sensitive, I had to adapt the original recipe so that it is friendly for his gut. I love how these rock cakes turn out, it’s like half cookie, half cake like texture. He loves it so much that I make them at least once a fortnight. You may also substitute the Nuttelex with butter and gluten-free flour for normal plain flour. Hope that you’ll enjoy …