baking | date with a plate.

Rhubarb, strawberry & blood orange crumble

September 8, 2015 by date with a plate.

Where does the time go? How is it September already? It’s like I’ve blinked and an entire month has completely flashed before my eyes while I semi-consciously continue to live. Perhaps it’s time to slow things down? I live just as busy a life as anyone else; forever balancing the scales of social life and work life, friend time and family time…but it can get a bit overwhelming at times. It seems there is always something to do, somewhere to […]

Categories: Dessert • Tags: baking, blood orange, crumble, dessert, easy, ice cream, rhubarb, strawberry, zest

Carrot, apple and walnut cake with cream cheese frosting & praline (shhh…it’s gluten free too!)

August 5, 2015 by date with a plate.

So here it is folks, Part Two of my awesomely fun collaboration with Katey from Little Bit Bakery (read more about Part One if you missed it). I feel so privileged to be able to share this recipe with you for Katey’s drool-worthy gluten free carrot cake – please do not underestimate the enormity of this momentous moment…this cake is Katey’s best seller and for good reason. Lusciously moist cake, which is light and practically falls apart in your mouth, […]

Categories: Afternoon tea, Cake, Dessert, Special Occasion, Vegetarian • Tags: apple, baking, cake, carrot, carrot cake, cream cheese, dessert, frosting, gluten free, Granny smith apple, icing, icing sugar, walnuts

My Grandma’s Apple Roly Poly

July 6, 2015 by date with a plate.

When I was a little girl, my family would travel to Adelaide to visit my Mother’s parents for a holiday. I have the most wonderful memories from my trips to this beautiful part of the world, it really is very special to me and as I have grown older I have come to appreciate it more and more. The city has a wonderful relaxed charm to it (much like Perth does), that is somewhere between familiar country town and bigger […]

Categories: Dessert • Tags: apple, baking, cinnamon, Granny smith apple, sugar

Donna Hay’s lemon meringue pie

May 19, 2015 by date with a plate.

I love the tangy sweet smell of citrus fruits and jump at the opportunity to take a bag of lemons home whenever the tree at my Mum’s house is in season – and what a season it has been, for the second weekend in a row I made Donna Hay’s lemon meringue pie because, well, LEMONS. The first time for my Mum on Mother’s Day and the second for friends who came for dinner. There is no good reason for […]

Categories: Afternoon tea, Dessert, Special Occasion • Tags: baking, Donna Hay, Italian meringue, lemon, lemon curd, lemon meringue pie, lemon zest, meringue, shortcrust pastry

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Peanut butter ice cream sandwiches

March 18, 2015 by date with a plate.

Yep, this happened and it was glorious. I made peanut butter ice cream, sandwiched in between chocolate cookies and went into a deep food coma…and it was worth every single bite. Forget that sugar free, fat free, enjoyment free dessert you were thinking about making and make these. I’m not saying you should be enjoying ice cream sandwiches daily, but an occasional dose of really naughty dessert is a must in my books. This all started when a girlfriend and […]

Categories: Chocolate, Dessert, Special Occasion • Tags: baking, chocolate, cookie, dessert, ice cream, peanut butter, Reese's

Hot cross buns

March 16, 2015 by date with a plate.

As Easter fast approaches, I naturally felt the need to bake hot cross buns and I am so glad I did because these beauties are not only easy but so freaking tasty that you won’t be able to stop at just one. I was inspired by a recipe from last year’s April Gourmet Traveller – ever since I saw this recipe I have been wanting to try it. Since I was too lazy to make my own hot cross buns […]

Categories: Afternoon tea, Bread, Breakfast, Special Occasion • Tags: baking, cinnamon, cranberries, Easter, gourmet traveller magazine, sultanas

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Vanilla cake with hazelnuts and fresh figs

February 24, 2015 by date with a plate.

It’s my favourite time of the year: fig season. No joke, I eat so many when they’re in season, it’s like my body knows I only get a small window of opportunity before “poof!” they’re gone… So I decided on Saturday morning as I strolled through a local fruit and veg shop, which was selling packs of six for $3.99, that I would make something special to celebrate the glorious fig. And as I like them best the way nature […]

Categories: Afternoon tea, Cake, Dessert, Special Occasion • Tags: baking, cake, cream, dessert, fig, hazelnuts, icing sugar, mascarpone, praline

Le Creuset no-knead bread

February 2, 2015 by date with a plate.

Bread. One of the most simple and delicious pleasures there is in life. Hot from the oven and slathered in butter….it doesn’t get much better. Baking your own bread can be a bit of a skill. I have been lead down the garden path on multiple occasions by “easy”, “fool-proof” recipes – and ended up looking the fool as I took a flat, hard, inedible rock from my oven. That is until now. A colleague, who is as in love […]

Categories: Bread, One Pot Wonder • Tags: baking, easy, flour

Sponge cake with strawberry jam icing

December 15, 2014 by date with a plate.

A couple weeks ago I made five jars of strawberry jam…awesome huh? Well, it would have been, had I managed to make proper jam, but alas, somehow mine became runny…very runny. I’ll blame it on overly juicy fruit, totally unrelated to my technical prowess – because I rock at making jam (well usually – see here). So runny is my homemade jam that its realistically just liquid strawberry with a few chunks of fruit – think Macca’s strawberry topping for […]

Categories: Afternoon tea, Cake, Dessert, Jam • Tags: baking, cake, strawberry

Dark chocolate and coconut cookies

December 8, 2014 by date with a plate.

Somewhere between work and life, I lost the time to cook in the past month. Sure, there’s been the standard stir-fry or steak and chips for dinner, but it’s not the same as cooking for pleasure. That time when you have no commitments, no concerns….just a clean kitchen and a desire to create. I miss having this time to myself when I am busy. So I made time for it over the weekend. I didn’t make anything particularly exciting or […]

Categories: Afternoon tea, Chocolate, Dessert, Snack • Tags: baking, chocolate, coconut

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Quince & yoghurt cake

June 11, 2014 by date with a plate.

Just for the record, a quince is a fruit. A delicious, fragrant and golden yellow fruit. Don’t be fooled into thinking this little gem is just some purple sticky blob served alongside cheese – it’s so much more than that. In fact, it’s scent is a portal to my childhood – my Grandparents used to cook quinces whole to serve alongside breakfast. I used to watch as they slowly turned from a vibrant yellow to the a deep ruby red. […]

Categories: Afternoon tea, Cake, Dessert • Tags: baking, cake, cinnamon, icing, icing sugar, quince, vanilla

Braised beef cheeks with cauliflower puree & salsa verde

April 29, 2014 by date with a plate.

We have a ritual every Monday night, we get together with two of our favourite people, eat good food, drink wine and indulge in an hour of blissful silence where we become lost in the world of Game of Thrones. It all started over a love affair for the show and the fact that we didn’t have Foxtel, thus needing to find friends who did….that being said, I actually look forward to Mondays over most other days now (Friday, Saturday […]

Categories: Beef, Dinner, Lamb, One Pot Wonder • Tags: baking, basil, bay leaves, beef, beef cheeks, butter, carrot, cauliflower, celery, cream, dinner, garlic, Italian flat leaf parsley, onion, puree, red wine, salsa, salsa verde, slow cooking

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date with a plate.

food for everyday.

Tag: baking

Rhubarb, strawberry & blood orange crumble

Carrot, apple and walnut cake with cream cheese frosting & praline (shhh…it’s gluten free too!)

My Grandma’s Apple Roly Poly

Donna Hay’s lemon meringue pie

Hot cross buns

Vanilla cake with hazelnuts and fresh figs

Le Creuset no-knead bread

Sponge cake with strawberry jam icing

Dark chocolate and coconut cookies

Quince & yoghurt cake

Braised beef cheeks with cauliflower puree & salsa verde