Baked Vanilla Mochi Cake aka Crack Cake *updated recipe*

This Vanilla Mochi Cake is called "Crack Cake" in our household. Crispy flaky edges. Gooey chewy center. Heavenly vanilla. It is seriously addictive. And super easy to make. A very dangerous combination.

Cheesy Creamy Shin Ramyun Korean Spicy Noodles

I saw a post pop up on my Facebook feed talking about ramen with milk and cheese and it was just one of those trainwreck dishes that sounds terrible but you can’t stop thinking about.  So bad it must be amazing right?? Ramen + spicy Korean chilli kick + creamy cheesy sauce. Like an asian style spicy mac and cheese amiright? And in the aftermath of the horribleness our little old NZ had been through over the weekend, I am all about comfort eating.

Cauliflower Tabouli with Fennel and Sweet corn

 

This tabouli/tabbouleh has so much going for it. It's packed with vibrant vegetables. And the flavours are phenomenal. It tastes like summer. Zingy fresh mint, sweet kernels of corn, lemony garlicky dressing, all bound together with nutty cauliflower rice.


It's quite filling on its own for a vegan meal, or add some extra protein with grilled tofu/tempeh or falafel. If you're in the paleo space, this salad is dreamy with grilled seafood (fish, prawns, calamari), chicken or pork chops - dusted with sumac spice and drizzled with olive oil.

Raw Beetroot Salad with Beet Greens and Tumeric Roasted Nuts

We are in the middle of a super hot summer down here in the Southern Hemisphere and I’ve caught myself the flu. Yes, the flu. In the middle of summer. Of all the rotten luck 🤦🏻‍♀️.

At least it's a good excuse to share my super flu fighting salad recipe that's packed with vitamins and immune boosting antioxidants 💪🏼 .

Honey & Vanilla Muffins: inspired by Ilona Andrews

Curran popped the lid off. Six perfect golden muffins. The aroma of honey and vanilla floated around the table. [...]
Curran took one muffin, passed it to me, and bit into a second one. “We came to your house last week.”
“I was out on clan business. That doesn’t count.”
I bit into the muffin and, for the five seconds it took me to chew, went to heaven.

~Magic Binds, by Ilona Andrews

I have a confession: I am hopelessly addicted to urban fantasy books.

I just love being transported to another world where there are heroes and heroines, magic is real and there is a mystery to be solved. 

One of my absolute all time favourite series is the Kate Daniels series by the urban fantasy royalty duo Ilona Andrews. A wisecracking badass heroine, magic, mystery, were-creatures, vampires and monsters - what’s not to love? I was doing a reread of the whole series because the tenth and *sob* very last book came out, when this passage stopped me in my tracks:

Six perfect golden muffins. The aroma of honey and vanilla floated around the table.

Holy honey muffins, Batman, do those sound freakin' amazing or do those sound freakin' amazing?

Grammed: Miso Kimchi Udon Noodles with Kale and Tofu

Kimchi miso udon noodles with fresh kale, bok choi and spring onions from our vege garden 🌱🍜 #sofresh #gardenbounty #plantsusuallydieonus

A post shared by Nessie@bakingequalslove (@bakingequalslove) on Feb 11, 2017 at 1:39pm PST

This is a super quick super yum meal we have pretty regularly on our weeknight dinner rotation.  We usually have it as a vego meal but you can add some pan fried chicken or a softly boiled egg for extra protein

Happy New Year, Happy New Things and a Nutty Quinoa & Roasted Kale Salad

Happy New Year everyone!

Hope you had a spectacularly awesome holiday period with your loved ones.

My goodness, I can't believe it is 2016 already!  Where has the time gone? Looking back it has been a couple of months since I last posted. Well, have I got lots of catching up to do with you, dear readers.

They say things in life often happen in threes.

Luckily, it was three good exciting new things that have come our way.  

Life changing, mind blowing, wondrous things.

We will remember them: Anzac Crumble Ginger Muffins

We do not gather together to glorify war - but rather to remember the men and women who served their country, and especially those who made the ultimate sacrifice.
 ~Lt Gen The Rt Hon Sir Jerry Mateparae, Governor-General of New Zealand.

Today, 25 April 2015, marks the 100 year anniversary of the Anzacs landing in Gallipoli in the Great War.

We huddled this morning with our fellow Wellingtonians at the Pukeahu National War Memorial Park in the dark before dawn and contemplated all the brave souls who lay down their lives for us a century ago and in the conflicts in-between, those away today, those who didn't make it home, and those who come home forever changed. 

It was particularly special for us: both my husband's great grandads served in World War I, his maternal grandad was a prisoner of war in WWII and our friend Curt lost both his legs in Afghanistan 3 years ago while serving for the Australian Army.  

We remember and honour them not to glorify war but with gratitude that their sacrifice means that we may never need to know the atrocities of the battlefield.

In the Governer-General's address, he spoke of "mateship" and camaraderie as enduring ideals we should aspire to. Wonderfully positive, don't you think? And boy was it in full force today.  Forty thousand strong at Pukeahu Memorial Park alone and hundreds of thousands more kiwis and aussies banding together across both countries and in Turkey.  So incredibly moving.

We carried on the mateship theme with the rest of the day by having a good goss and photo-nerding sesh with the very gorgeous Katie over copious cups of tea and these Anzac Crumble Ginger Muffins. 

Happy Valentines Day! Raspberry Chia Pudding

Happy Valentines Day everyone!

We are heading off for a 2 week camping trip in the beautiful Hawkes Bay today woop! Super exciting but this means we are packing and on the road for most of Valentines Day.  Not the most romantic date ever so we celebrated instead with a Valentine's themed brekkie: a super healthy, oh so pretty in pink, totally swoon-worthy Raspberry Chia Pudding.

Coz nothing says I love you better than chia pudding.

Lol jokes, we all know chocolate = love. But this is pretty darn delicious and a healthy breakfast in your belly is sure to put a little love in your heart.

But first, cake: Cheat's Orange Blueberry Sour Cream Cake

Before I launch in to my HK foodie musings, I wanted to share with you this amazingly quick and incredibly easy cake recipe. 

I'll warn you straight up that this recipe uses boxed cake mix. I know baking purists out there are horrified right now but a box of cake mix can be a total life saver in baking emergencies.

 

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for making things from scratch. There's a certain meditative quality to measuring out your flour, butter, eggs but every once in a while you need to produce baking in a bind and tout suite and for those situations I always keep a couple of boxed cake mixes in the pantry.  

Think of cake mix as a baking emergency kit. You have a bare bones pantry, a friend is popping round in an hour, what do you do???

Black forest chia chocolate pudding and a favour

First, I'd like to ask you a favour.

10 years ago today, my dad turned 48.
For his birthday, he cooked us dinner.  Even though he was really sick.
That's the kinda person he was, always putting others before himself. Always putting us first.

That was the last birthday we got to celebrate with him.  He passed away five months later.

The older I get, the more I appreciate the things he did for us and the person he was.  There isn't a day that goes by that I'm not thinking about him, missing him, and wanting to be more like him.

So today I'm celebrating his memory with you all: those of you who knew him, those of you who loved him, those of you who he never even met - because he was too good a person not to share.

And my favour is this: Let's all do something nice for someone today. Even if it is only a little thing, the world would be a little bit of a better place today, because of you, because of my dad.

Happy birthday Dad.

Every year on Dad's birthday, I try to make something black forest because that was his favourite type of cake. So this year, since I'm on a bit of a health buzz, I made Black Forest Chia Chocolate Pudding. Even though I know Dad would've scrunched his nose at all the hippy stuff.

Procrasticooking: Grilled paneer, edamame & asparagus salad with soy coriander dressing

procrasticooking
prə(ʊ)ˌkrasti /ˈkʊkɪŋ
noun 
    the act or practice of  preparing elaborate meals to delay exam study
    Variant of: procrastibaking 

It's med finals.
It's peak exam stress time.
No sleep. Gallons of coffee.
And of course, plenty of procrasticooking.
A girl's gotta eat right?

I went a little crazy at the butchers last week so we've been having lots of gloriously carnivorous creations recently: slow roasted lamb shoulder, chicken cacciatore, steak with pepper cream sauce, so last night to balance things out, we went green with a Grilled Paneer, Edamame & Asparagus Salad with Soy Coriander Dressing.

If you want a super quick, healthy, mid-week, mid-exam meal - look no further.

Guilt-free chocolate mousse with boysenberry jelly

Fact: This chocolate mousse has no cream in it. 

I know right? Mind blowing.

There had been a lot of water cooler chatter about chocolate mousse recipes at work in the last little bit.  Debs had been trialling out chocolate mousse recipes for dinner parties and the lovely Shanti had recently made the Hervé This Chocolate and Water Mousse.  I had chocolate mousse on my brain.

I wasn't brave enough to tackle the chocolate and water mousse (maybe next time) but it did set me on the track to find a not-so-sinful-but-still-decadent chocolate mousse recipe.

Enter the celebrated Raymond Blanc OBE and his Chocolate Mousse Maman Blanc.

Broccoli & Feta Harissa Salad with Spicy Roasted Pepita for Lucy

 

Every intern wants to perform their first surgery. That's not your job. Do you know what your job is? To make your resident happy. Do I look happy? No! Why? Because my interns are whiney. You know what will make me look happy? Having the code team staffed, having the trauma pages answered, having the weekend labs delivered and having someone down in the pit doing the sutures. No-one holds a scalpel until I'm so happy I'm Mary Freaking Poppins. ~ Dr Miranda Bailey, Greys Anatomy.

Before we started our surgical rotation, I thought I had a pretty good idea as to what it was going to be like.

I've watched Grey's Anatomy.  I knew how it was going to go down.

But I'm no Meredith.  I never ever thought I'd want to be a surgeon.  High stress, long hours, super competitive people and lots of yucky stuff.  Did not sound like my cup of tea.

AND I was bracing myself to be that girl. 

Boy, was I ever wrong.  I have absolutely loved it.  Surgery is amazing.  Sure, I probably won't get to even look at a scalpel for about a million years but it's enough just to be there and get to watch it up close. Gah so much awesomeness.

One of the downsides of watching surgeries though is that you're on your feet for hours on end, so if you haven't eaten a big enough meal beforehand your face-plant risk is pretty high. 

My friend Lucy and I pondered this very dilemma: what would be a good pre-surgery lunch that's filling enough to keep you on your feet but refreshing enough to not give you a food coma?  My answer: Broccoli & Feta Harissa Salad with Spicy Roasted Pepita.

Mint and Coriander Zucchini Ribbon Salad for one

We should look for someone to eat and drink with before looking for something to eat and drink. ~ Epicurus

I love cooking. 

Before this weekend, I thought I knew why I loved cooking.  Turns out, I had no idea.

I thought I loved cooking because of the process of turning raw ingredients into something delicious. A love for the magical alchemy of spices, heat, and seasoning.   See when I lived on my own in Dunedin, the reason I lived off eggs on toast and frozen meals and didn't cook myself proper dinners, I told myself, was because I didn't have a proper kitchen and all my gadgets.

However, when my husband went away on a boys trip this long weekend and I found myself cooking for one again. And despite having a perfectly equipped, well-stocked kitchen, I reverted to the old eggs on toast for dinner.  Sacre bleu! 

Talk about a revelation.  Cooking for one is no fun.  Looks like, my love cooking isn't for any poetic enjoyment of the art itself, but simply a love of sharing good food with people I love.   Food and kisses are made to be shared no? 

Spinach, Lemon & Feta Filo Pie and To Do Lists

Do what you need to do, so that you can do what you want to do. ~ Denzel Washington in The Great Debaters

Much easier said than done though, no?

It's a funny rule of the universe that big jobs on the To Do List that have to be done are always the hardest to get round to.

I always find myself getting the little easy jobs out of the way and leaving the big intense job to sit in the corner, sulking moodily.  I'll tidy the house, vaccuum, rearrange the pantry, update contacts on my phone, trawl the web for jobs, sofas, anything.  You know, little niggly things that really should get done but aren't exactly urgent, all the while the hefty HAVE to do pile sits there.  Waiting.  Looming.

It's the story of my life at the mo and of this post.  I have a big back log of baking posts from ages ago to write up but instead I will post about this delicious Spinach, Lemon and Feta Filo Pie I made for a picnic last week.

{a perfect wellington day for a picnic}

It's that time again: Bacon and Egg Pie with Kumara and Caramelized Onions

Lisa: I'm going to become a vegetarian. 

Homer: Does that mean you're not going to eat any pork? 

Lisa: Yes 

Homer: Bacon? 

Lisa: Yes, Dad. 

Homer: Ham? 

Lisa: Dad, all those meats come from the same animal. 

Homer: Right Lisa, some wonderful, magical animal. 

~ The Simpsons

It is that dreaded time of the year again...exam time.  Time for long late nights trying to cram pages and pages of info into a sleep-deprived, caffeine-fuelled, very over-it brain.  Oh the joys of being a student!

It is batten down the hatches time, which also means I'm going to be a wee bit slacker with posting and replying in the next little bit.

So I'm going to apologize in advance, with bacon.  Wonderful magical bacon.

'Cause every little thing scone be alright: Cinnamon Currant Scones with Mascarpone & Quick Berry Jam

Some called for ale, and some for porter, and one for coffee, and all of them for cakes; so the hobbit was kept very busy for a while. 

A big jug of coffee had just been set in the hearth, the seed-cakes were gone, and the dwarves were starting on a round of buttered scones, when there came - a loud knock. 

~ JRR Tolkein,  The Hobbit.

I don't know what it is about this year but it seems like too many amazing people that I know are going through heart-breakingly horrendous times.  Just want you to know, you're constantly in my thoughts and prayers and you will always be welcome in my wee hobbit hole for a big jug of coffee and a round of buttered scones.

I guess if I'm gonna be offering scones, I better make sure I can whip up a decent enough batch!  While I can't say I've had a heck of a lot of experience making scones, I do have plenty of experience eating them.

For me, the best scones are fluffy and tender, still warm from the oven, with a big dollop of whipped cream and raspberry jam, served with a strong cup of tea.  Devonshire tea at it's best.

However, unbeknownst to me, there appears to be a great debate as to what the 'proper' way of assembling ones scone is.  Move over chicken vs egg dilemma, in the world of scones, the million dollar question is: cream first or jam?

According to those far more proper than I, the Devon way of preparing the scone is to butter the scone, then add cream, and then the jam.   However the way to do it in the rival county of Cornwall, is to put the jam on before the cream.

Not being the most proper person in the world, I had no idea there was a proper way of having a scone though it looks like I've inadvertently ended up going the Cornish jam-first method.  Whichever way you like to assemble your scone, it really makes little difference 'cause after all once you eat it, it's scone.

Keep calm and have Earl Grey Currant Loaf

Tea? It's a hug in a cup ~ Patrick Jane in The Mentalist

You know you're a coffee addict when you're on a first name basis with the local cafes and they can whip up "the usual" without you needing to even order.

Ahhh coffee: bringer of awakeness, elixir of life.

That magical first cup in the morning to render me human, a second steaming hot flat white at lunch to get over the 2 o'clock dip, and perhaps a cup with an afternoon biscuit.  Coffee is always a good choice.

But despite my OCD (Obsessive Coffee Disorder), a simple cup of tea also has a place in my heart.  Whereas coffee is an invigorating, life-giving brew, sometimes, when you're really stressed out, studying to all hours,  under-slept and over-worked, what you find yourself craving is not necessarily an caffeine hit but a soothing, calming, comfy cup of tea.

And hey if it's good enough for The Mentalist, it's good enough for me.

So when I was heading over to the in-laws for a cuppa a while ago, I whipped up this Earl Grey Currant Loaf in homage to the humble cup of tea.

Lest We Forget: White Chocolate Anzac Biscuits

They shall not grow old 

As we that are left grow old, 

Age shall not weary them, 

Not the years condemn. 

At the going down of the sun, 

And in the morning  

We will remember them 

Lest we forget. 

~ Laurence Binyon "For the Fallen"

The 25th of April marks Anzac Day, a public holiday in New Zealand and Australia that commemorates the day the Anzac troops landed in Gallipoli, Turkey in WWI.  The campaign was disastrous: they were under-resourced, out-numbered, and overwhelmed.  Thousands perished.  So why celebrate such a bleak event at all?

Well, while it might have been a military defeat, what was not defeated was the spirit, courage, and bravery of those soldiers fighting for their country.  So on Anzac Day we remember them and their sacrifice at dawn services and through Anzac biscuits.

As a Gen Y'er brought up in peaceful little New Zealand, I grew up going to dawn parades and eating Anzac cookies and more importantly I was lucky enough to grow up never having to live through any war of any kind.  But just because we live in a time of peace, it's still hugely important to keep remembering and talking about war and sacrifice so that we can fully appreciate the freedom and peace we are fortunate enough to enjoy.  So as my way of remembering those heroic young men and women, I made White Chocolate Anzac Biscuits on Anzac Day.