Australia Day is one of my favourite holidays. It’s by far the most relaxed, a great excuse to spend time with friends over a few beers and fire up the BBQ. I also like showcasing some classic Australian dishes here on my blog, with one of my favourite (obviously) being the Lamington. Last year I recreated it in doughnut form, … Read More
Peach Melba Panna Cotta
With Australia Day coming up next weekend, I thought I’d start the celebrations early with a cute new take on an Aussie dessert. Simple and unfussy but beautiful and summery, I think these would be the perfect sweet ending to a long weekend picnic or backyard BBQ! The Peach Melba was created in the late 1800’s at a dinner party … Read More
Sweethearts Rooftop BBQ, Kings Cross
In one of my recent posts I mentioned one new venue that we opened recently, but we actually have another new baby – yes, that’s right, we opened two new venues within two weeks of each other (phew)! Sweethearts BBQ is located on the rooftop of the Sugarmill building in Kings Cross, which also houses Kit & Kaboodle nightclub… and … Read More
Vanilla Passionfruit Slice
When I got home from Perth, there was a gorgeous and unexpected surprise waiting for me at home – a beautiful basket of passionfruit, sent by the lovely folks at Impact Communication. While I love passionfruit, it’s not something I bake with very often and I was thankful for this little reminder to do so. It took me a little … Read More
Lamington Doughnuts
Given that today is Australia Day, I wanted to make something suitably patriotic to celebrate. I wanted to have a bit of fun, with a twist on a classic Australian icon, and given my predilection towards cake, choosing the lamington was a no brainer! I’ve had plenty of average lamingtons in my time, and I’ve learned that nothing beats homemade. … Read More
Brown Sugar Pavlova
Pavlova is a classic Australian dessert consisting of a baked meringue base, usually topped with lashings of whipped cream, berries, kiwi fruit and other summer fruit. It’s made appearances at summer BBQ’s, picnics and Christmas parties all over Australia. It’s also a great way to use up leftover egg whites, a little problem that is constantly overrunning my freezer. But … Read More
Veal and Fennel Sausage Rolls
An impromptu picnic with Bourke Street Bakery goodies on our walking tour of Surry Hills I have extolled more praises about Bourke Street Bakery than I can count, from my daily trips to the Broadway store for coffee and crossiants, and my love of the recipes from the beautiful cookbook. There’s something magical about actually snagging a table at the … Read More
Cultural Cuisine
Most Australians are very passionate about their vanilla slice, and rightly so. Much like the lamington or pavlova, it is part of our cultural cuisine. I guess you could call it the laid-back Aussie cousin to the well-dressed French mille-feuille. National events are held annually in its honour where bakers from around the country compete for the coveted title of … Read More
Cooking Outside
Sometimes I wonder if there is anything my dad Alan can’t do. He can fix cars and computers, he can do woodwork and metalwork, he knows just about everything there is to know about nuts and bolts, he has a keen eye for antique furniture, he’s currently doing just about all the work on our new house extension – from … Read More
Lord Lamington
Being Australia Day today, I thought I’d bake appropriately. The British landed with the First Fleet on Australian shores and declared it a colony 220 years ago, so Happy Birthday Australia, why don’t you have some cake? The lamington is undeniably an Aussie icon, much like the meat pie. It was most likely named after a 19th century Queensland Governer, … Read More