by Jess
March 26, 2013 in Baked Goods, Recipes, Sweets
Looking for something simple to make this Easter? How about my Easter S’mores
Or, perhaps you are feeling a bit more adventurous. Why don’t you try my Easter chocolate kisses? Hollow chocolate Easter eggs, filled with home made ice cream. Yum!
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by Jess
March 4, 2013 in Baked Goods, Recipes
I think I have gotten to the point when I can admit that I am totally obsessed with carrot cake. I’m not sure if it’s the fragrant spices that permeate through the house when it’s baking, or the fact that I can consider it healthy because it contains a vegetable. 
So when I came across carrot cake cookies on pinterest, I knew I had to make them. I adapted Martha Stewart’s recipe from her Cookies recipe book.
These carrot cake cookies, with white chocolate chips, are complemented beautifully by a lime buttercream frosting.
by Jess
January 2, 2013 in Baked Goods, Recipes
I have finally found the ideal cookie recipe for using with cookie cutters. And luckily my friend Brad, happened to give me a whole lot of Christmas themed cookie cutters for my birthday (the perils of having a birthday in December). I made these condensed milk cookies for a Christmas party I had with my friends. The recipe makes a ton of biscuits. I.e. unless you have an industrial sized oven, expect to spend a lot of time putting cookie sheets in and taking them out, however the end result is completely worth it!
My boyfriend ate most of these condensed milk cookies. And he isn’t one to actively choose sweet things to nibble on.
Click here for the recipe.
by Jess
October 2, 2012 in Baked Goods, Recipes
So my favourite online store in the entire world (for realsies – they are epic) Yuppiechef, has decided to host a “Spring Cake Pop Challenge” and they have got Bakerella (the cake pop prodigy) on board to help judge the entries!!!
I love entering competitions – especially food related ones, so how could I pass up this opportunity? What ensued was a 2 day kitchen takeover. Chocolate and sweets covered every available surface, and cake crumbs littered the floor (sorry Tyron).
Since pictures speak louder than words, this is how the troll doll cake pops came to be:
I was action tweeting and instagramming during this challenge
You can follow me on twitter – @JessKa_F and on instagram just search for @jesska_f
by Jess
May 20, 2012 in Baked Goods, Recipes, Uncategorized
I hate bananas. I really can’t stand their taste or texture. Banana flavoured sweets and ice cream make me gag. However, this being said, there is very little I wouldn’t give up for a fresh slice of banana bread, spread with melting butter, a crust that crunches as you take your first bite, and a soft stodgy centre with black flecks, hinting at what you are about to consume.
As kids, we were very fortunate enough to have a mom who enjoyed baking, and one of our favourite treats was her banana bread, made with the bananas that were slowly blackening in the fruit bowl. No one wants to eat a blackening banana (least of all me – eugh), but their extreme ripeness lends them well to be smooshed up and added to a batter to make the most amazingly flavoured banana bread.
This recipe from my mom’s recipe book, is one of many that I’m glad to have the privelage of owning.
Ingredients:
125g butter/margarine
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
4 ripe bananas
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
a pinch of salt
1 tsp bicarb dissolved in 1/4 cup of water
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Method:
Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F)
In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar together, until light and fluffy.
Beat in the eggs
In a separate bowl, peel and mash the bananas (a fork works best for this). Add to the mixture and beat again.
Add the flour, baking powder and salt, and mix together.
Add the bicarb and water mixture, as well as the vanilla extract and mix.
Pour into a greased loaf tin and bake for 45 to 60 minutes.
The banana bread is done, when a cake tester inserted in the middle, comes out clean.
Since today is World Baking Day, this is my contribution to the #caking phenomenon (a bit like planking, but putting a cake in random places and taking photos of it)
by Jess
May 2, 2012 in Baked Goods, Recipes
I was beyond excited when I first laid eyes on the bunches of purple carrots at Pick ‘n Pay William Nicol (a local supermarket chain in South Africa). I had never in my life, seen a vegetable so exciting before. After a bit of research it turns out that purple carrots are nothing new, in fact they have been around longer than orange carrots!
Heirloom veggies are making a comeback, and I can’t wait for more exciting varieties to hit our shelves. Even Yuppiechef recently did an article regarding these new, but old vegetable favourites.
What better use for a bunch of carrots, than a carrot cake, and after browsing the multitude of recipe books I own, I settled on using the easiest recipe (as well as the recipe for which I had all the ingredients).
This recipe comes from the You – Let’s Cook, Top 500 Recipes recipe book, by Carmen Niehaus. The nice thing about this recipe book is the fact that the recipes come from a South African publication that has been around for decades. This book features the best of the tried and trusted recipes from the Huisgenoot and You recipe books, and I must say, this carrot cake recipe is going to be one I have to share.
Purple Carrot Cupcakes (makes ±24)
Ingredients
3 eggs
1 ½ cups sugar
1 cup oil
3 cups grated purple carrots (you can use the orange variety if you want)
2 ½ cups flour
1 ½ tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon
Pinch of salt
Method
Preheat the oven to 180° C (350° F)
Grease/Line your cupcake tins with cupcake liners
Add the eggs to a bowl of an electric mixer and beat while slowly adding the sugar
Add the oil, and beat again until incorporated
Add the grated carrots, and mix again. (I use the grater attachment on my KitchenAid to grate carrots quickly, alternatively your food processor may have a grating attachment, or you can go old school and use a box grater – just mind your fingers)
Add the flour, baking powder, bicarb, cinnamon and salt, and mix again.
The batter is now ready to be spooned into your cupcake trays. Fill each cupcake to about ¾ full.
Bake in the oven for 20 to 30 minutes, until a cake tester (or a toothpick) inserted into the middle of a cupcake, comes out clean.
I initially wanted to ice my cupcakes with a purple lime glaze, but unfortunately, my purple food colouring, lost its colour, and it came out turquoise instead. I had also finished my icing sugar, so I had to use something else.
I melted white chocolate for a couple of minutes in the microwave, and dipped the top of each cupcake into the chocolate. The chocolate complimented the carrot cakes beautifully, so it really was a happy improvisation.
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by Jess
April 7, 2012 in Baked Goods, Gadget, Recipes
A couple of years ago I bought a mini doughnut maker from a homeware shop at Brightwater Commons. This was before the machines got all popular and were available at Clicks and Boardmans and the likes. It cost me R200 (I think you can get one from Clicks now for about R180). This gadget is incredibly easy to use, and works as promised, every time you use it. It comes with a little recipe booklet, that has a basic doughnut recipe, as well as a list of variations.
D is for Doughnut
I made mini doughnuts for Easter, covered them in melted white chocolate, and decorated them with various colours of sprinkles.
Ingredients
200g flour
125g sugar
2 tsp baking powder
a pinch of salt
125ml milk
50g melted butter
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
For decorating:
100g white chocolate
Your choice of sprinkles
Method
In a bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder, milk, melted butter, vanilla extract and egg.
A thick batter will form.
Spray your doughnut maker with a non-stick spray, and preheat it for at least 5 minutes.
Add a heaped teaspoon of batter to each section, and close the lid.
After 2 to 3 minutes lift the lid to check the progress of your doughnuts. Leave them for a minute or so more if they aren’t done yet.
The doughnuts are done, when they they are a golden brown colour.
In a microwaveable bowl, add the white chocolate and melt for 2 minutes of high, stirring half way.
Dip each doughnut into the chocolate, and decorate with sprinkles.
