Orange & Cardamom Cupcakes, with Orange & Whiskey Icing

Today Caitie and I made Orange and Cardamom Cupcakes, using a recipe from the Wild About Cupcakes book by Rachel Lane, published 2009.
The recipe calls for combining 1 cup flour, 1/3 cup ground almonds, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger and 1/8 teaspoon salt in a bowl. Separately, beat 90g butter, 1/2 cup sugar, 2 teaspoons orange zest and 5 cardamom pods, ground.

Caitie had fun opening the cardamom pods, and then using Steve's mortar and pestle to grind the cardamom.






The beaten mixture didn't seem to be turning creamy, but with perseverance (and a lot of beating), we got it there.




Then we added the dry ingredients to the wet ones, along with 2 eggs, 3 tablespoons orange juice and 2 tablespoons of plain yogurt. We actually used sour cream instead of yogurt. They were baked for 25 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius.

While the cupcakes were cooling, we made Geoff Scott's Orange & Whiskey Icing - 1 cup icing sugar, 50g butter, 1 teaspoon orange juice, 2 teaspoons whiskey. So yum.


We took the cupcakes around to Sue & Jim's house. Everyone enjoyed one, and Uncle Jon and Steve had two each! I call that a success!

American Brownie

Steve made American Brownie this morning, using one of his old Eves Pantry recipes.
The original recipe called for:
875g butter
1.3kg chocolate
1.75kg sugar
25g vanilla essence
700g egg
10g baking powder
900g flour
185g cocoa
490g pecans

I think Steve ended up using a quarter measure of everything. It was a bit too rich for me, but Steve and the kids really liked it.

Carrot Cake

I made some carrot cake yesterday, using Jim's recipe. I haven't scrapped the recipe yet, but I needed a cake for my birthday morning tea shout at work that wasn't overly sweet.



It was very moist and quite tasty. I didn't ice it, because it was moist enough that it didn't need it, and the guys at work aren't really into sweet things. It makes two cakes, and I took one into work. The whole thing was eaten! Success! :) We'll use the remaining cake for school lunches, etc this week.

Vanilla Bean Scones

We made Caitie's Vanilla Bean Scones today.












They didn't rise as much as last time, but they were still yummy.

Frangipani

Steve made a peach frangipani today, using one of his old Eves Pantry recipes.
The original recipe used:
1.8kg butter
1.8kg sugar
1.5kg egg
1.8kg milk
1.8kg flour
1.8kg ground almonds
170g baking powder
So it was a big recipe! Steve made a tenth of it, I think.














It was a variation of almond cake, but quite tasty. I don't think the kids were as keen on it.

Squidgy Chocolate Brownies

We tried to make Caitie's Squidgy Chocolate Brownies. Something went wrong, and I'm not sure what. It didn't rise at all - was hard and flat and not even remotely squidgy. :(

Scones

Steve made sultana scones today. He likes scones and barely needs a recipe to make them.



When they were finished, he ate one while it was still warm and with a mouthful of scone said "Mmmm, fresh warm scones always remind me of Gran. Whenever we went to her house, she'd have just whipped up a batch of scones and we'd eat them warm and fresh from the oven." I must remember to add that quote when I scrap the recipe for scones that Gran used.

Cherrie Cake

Weight Watchers Malteser Fudge Slice

Savoury Slice

Green Sick Cake

Choc Mint Marble Cake

Pork Pies

Chapter headings

I've been making some good progress on the recipe book project lately, scrapping more of the recipes ready for the book. I decided that I would do a 'title page' for each 'chapter' of the book, with a quote from a family member. Some of the quotes we've got are so good, but don't relate to a particular recipe. Like Poppa Pete's one about his mum's cooking. So I'm working on getting one for each chapter. This is where I'm at so far...

Starters & Snacks

Soups

Main Meals

Side Dishes

Desserts

Baking

Condiments & Sauces
I might see if I can get a quote from Jim about his aioli or hummus for this one.

Preserves

Drinks

Special Occasions

Sundries
I might ask Rhonda to give me a quote for this, so I have a Burland quote. That will help even it all out, so each part of the family is in there. :)

Hot Cross Buns

Honey Muesli

Shortbread

Nestle Melts Chocolate Cake

Mum's Secret Marzipan Recipe

Mary's Chocolate Cake