Category: Baking

Two-ingredient Date Paste

admin
date paste ritual feasts

Quick and easy Date Paste Recently I have made improvements to my personal eating habits.  More greens and less processed ingredients.  It goes without saying that every now and then I would still like to have a little extra sweetness in my life.  While looking at different recipes I picked up that many recipes call for date paste or Agwa. Instead of heading out and buying a ready-made jar or date paste, make your own.  It’s easy!  You can use fresh or dried dates.  For this recipe I used dried…

The best peanut butter cookies to make with your kids

admin
peanut butter cookies baked

These are the best peanut butter cookies to make with your kids. That is a big statement to make, but I stand by it.  When it comes to making something with young children it should be easy and straight forward.  It is more fun for them and less stressful for the adults with them.  My daughter loves cracking open eggs and mixing the batter.  She is able to mix up this cookie recipe with very little problems and almost zero mess. Another bonus for me!  Portioning out the little balls…

How to make lavender sugar

admin
How to make lavender sugar

How to make lavender sugar When it comes to baking especially, there are small little changes that can uplift a recipe from.  Every day tastes can become something special with some thought and planning. Lavender sugar is one of these little changes.  It’s ridiculously easy to make and will give delightful results (and lavender has many health benefits).   I am very lucky to have extensive gardens available to me during the day with several different types of lavender.  Any type will do.  Some are more fragrant than others –…

Basic Brioche

admin
How to make basic brioche

Brioche is rich and buttery with a beautiful crumb.  What’s not to like?  There are also so many meals that you can prepare with it, it makes sense to keep some sliced and ready in the freezer. This is another very straightforward recipe once you have mastered how to proof your bread properly.  A simple rule of thumb for your final proof is if you make a small indentation with your finger the dough will come up slowly.  If it happens too quickly you need to wait longer. Print Making…

Chocolate Chai Cookies

admin
Vegan chocolate chip chai cookies

Like most of us, I love a good Chocolate Chip cookie.  There are so many different variations out there, it can be hard to choose which one you should make.   I find that a lot of these recipes are too buttery with not enough flavor to back it up.  I really like the big flavors in this cookie.  It’s a definitely a cookie for grown-ups.  The Blackstrap Molasses and dark chocolate come through intensely.   The boldness of the chocolate can be toned down by using a lower cocoa…

How to make Ciabatta at home

admin
How to make Ciabatta

Everyone has that one thing they can’t wait to cool down for.  Cookies, pastries, pie… Mine is Ciabatta.  To be very precise, it’s the end pieces of Ciabatta hot out of the oven with a smear of salted butter. It’s food heaven for me. Ciabatta is also not something you would normally consider to make at home.  I spent years making it in professional kitchens with huge stand mixers.  The dough needs a good, fast beating which these machines provide with no problems.  I tried making a single batch at…

Buttermilk Rusks

admin
Buttermilk Rusks

Ever since I was a child I loved home-made buttermilk rusks.  South African’s just love to dip one into their tea or coffee – many times with a spoon ready to scoop up the piece that will inevitably fall into the cup. If you haven’t come across them yet, consider them the more generous, Tannie Evita version of Italian Biscotti.  My mother bakes them religiously to this day and even though I prefer hers, it’s really easy and fun to make a batch. It’s a relatively quick process, excluding the…

Mint Top Deck Chocolate Cake

admin
Mint Top Deck Chocolate Cake

  When it comes to chocolate cake I have three go-to recipes that I always use: a fantastic moist vanilla cake, a recipe for Devil’s Food Cake from a friend’s Texan grandmother and a decadent dark Black Magic Cake from My Baking Addiction. It’s sometimes hard to decide between the three. And this Mint Top Deck Chocolate Cake now makes four! A happy accident as I tweaked a recipe that I had on hand (always take notes when you are experimenting!), this cake ticks all the boxes: It has a…