Lemon syrup bundt cake

While I'm a fan of pretty much every dessert flavour out there, citrus holds a special place in my heart. While everyone else is struggling with the sourness of a citrus packed tart, I'm the person who always thinks... it needs more lemon.

But really, lemon is such a tremendous flavour, what excuse is there to tone it down? It packs a strong, loud punch - one that I absolutely adore in dessert.

Something that's been on my to-do list for a long time now is a classic syrup cake. As a syrup cake can't hide behind a decadent frosting, I believe the flavours need to be bold. Lemon makes the perfect base, and using syrup to serve will allow diners to ramp up the lemon as much as they wish. 

This delicious, moist cake produces the most incredible aromas once laced with hot syrup. It makes an excellent warm pudding (with some double cream) or a delicious accompaniment to your cuppa.

As this cake easily serves 12 and I live in a household of two, I ate mine both ways today :)

Lemon syrup bundt cake

Serves 12.

Ingredients:

• 2 2/3 cups self-raising flour, sifted
• 2 cups caster sugar
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 250g unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup lemon juice, divided
• rind of two small lemons
• 1 cup natural yoghurt
• 4 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method:

• Preheat oven to 175 degrees C, and grease a large bundt tin.
• Cream butter, caster sugar and finely grated lemon rind until pale and fluffy. Add vanilla and eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. 
• Add flour and natural yoghurt one third at a time, mixing gently after each addition. 
• Add 1/4 cup lemon juice and mix gently to combine. Scoop into prepared bundt tin.
• Bake at 175 degrees C for 45 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean.
• To make the syrup, combine granulated sugar and remaining lemon juice (3/4 cup) in a small saucepan. Cook, without stirring, until syrup reaches 215 degrees F on a candy thermometer. Try not to get curious and dip a finger into the syrup to taste - it hurts (trust me!)
• Once syrup is ready, invert the cake onto a serving platter and poke holes with a skewer. Using a pastry brush, liberally brush approximately half of the syrup onto the cake.
• Serve slices of cake warm with remaining syrup and double cream, if desired.

Passionfruit marshmallow tart

It's been a really overcast, rainy and miserable week here in Brisbane. While it's not even remotely cold (actually it's hideously humid), there's something about this weather that makes me want to believe it's winter and bust out some cold weather cooking.

The best thing about cold weather for me? Dessert. Whether it's a hot or cold pudding (as we call it), it's such a comforting thing to curl up and watch the rain with. Plus, if I crank the air-conditioner up enough, I can almost convince myself it's winter.

The great thing about making a wintry dessert in summer is I can still incorporate the fantastic summer fruits that are about at the moment. While this marshmallow tart is delicious with lemon, or even a layer of caramel,  passionfruit just imparts such a wonderful, summery flavour that really goes beautifully with the coconut-ty base.

On another note - if you've never made marshmallow before, please try! It's such a simple and rewarding sweet treat to make, and it never fails to impress. Plus, it holds up much better than a more traditional meringue topping - it doesn't weep and it stays fresh for several days.

Passionfruit marshmallow tart

Ingredients:

• 1 cup self-raising flour
• 3/4 cup shredded coconut
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 150g butter, melted
• 1 can sweetened condensed milk
• 2/3 cup passionfruit pulp (canned or fresh)
• 2 egg yolks
• 1/2 cup glucose syrup
• 10g powdered gelatin
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup water, divided
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• Passionfruit curd, to serve 
• Toasted coconut, to serve

Method:

• Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Combine self-raising flour, shredded coconut, brown sugar and melted butter in a bowl. Press into a greased, loose base flan tin and bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden.
• Combine sweetened condensed milk, egg yolks and passionfruit until just combined. Pour over tart base and bake for 10 minutes or until just set. Refrigerate to cool.
• Combine gelatin with 1/4 cup water in a stand mixer bowl. Leave to bloom.
• Combine remaining water, sugar and corn syrup in a small saucepan. Simmer, without stirring, until the syrup reaches 115 degrees C. Once at temperature, pour into prepared gelatin in stand mixer and mix on high speed for 5-7 minutes or until very thick and white.
• Scoop onto the cooling tart, and sprinkle with coconut if desired. Allow to set for 2-3 hours and slice with a warm knife when ready!

Caramel popcorn cupcakes with white chocolate buttercream

These cupcakes were probably the first thing I ever baked that was good, like eat half a dozen at once good. I've always enjoyed baking but I think this was my first invention that really worked out and definitely gave me some confidence to experiment.

The beautiful thing about the base cupcake recipe listed below is that it is gloriously simple. I've adapted this base for mocha, red velvet, hummingbird, matcha, hazelnut, orange - pretty much every flavour imaginable - and it's worked perfectly every time. So even if the caramel popcorn doesn't inspire you, consider taking the basic recipe and making your own modifications.

While I don't bake that many cupcakes anymore, I still whip these ones up from time to time as they are absolutely a nostalgic favourite. My now-boyfriend (previously flatmate) has told me how he used to enviously watch me bake these - occasionally I'd offer him one. Now we're dating. So these cupcakes are pretty special :)

Also, for fairly minimal fuss and effort, they look pretty alright!

Caramel popcorn cupcakes with white chocolate buttercream

Makes 12.

Ingredients:

Cupcakes:

• 1 cup self-raising flour, sifted
• 3/4 cup caster sugar
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup thickened cream, approx
• 1 teaspoon vanilla (I used 1/2 vial butter vanille)

Frosting:

• 1/4 cup rice bran oil
• 1/3 cup popping corn kernels
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 250g butter, divided into 2 x 125g
• 120g white chocolate
• 2-3 cups pure icing sugar, approx

Method:

• Preheat oven to 170 degrees C, fan-forced.
• Crack two eggs into a one-cup measuring cup. Fill measuring cup to top with thickened cream and add to bowl of stand mixer. Beat for 3 minutes.
• Gradually add in 3/4 cup caster sugar and vanilla, beating well after each addition. Sift in flour and fold until just combined.
• Divide between 12 cupcake cases and bake for 13-15 minutes, or until cooked and golden.
• Cover a large baking tray with non-stick baking paper. Heat 1/4 cup rice bran oil in a heavy bottomed saucepan with tight lid. Once hot, add a corn kernel. If it starts to 'move' in the oil - it's hot enough. Tip all the corn into the pan and cover with the lid. Allow corn to pop, shaking frequently and tip into a large bowl once popped.
• Combine 3/4 cup sugar, 125g butter and 3 tablespoons honey in a small saucepan over low heat. Cook, swirling until mixture is boiling. Allow to boil, without stirring, until golden brown. Pour over popcorn and quickly mix together. Tip coated popcorn out onto the large baking tray, and press into a single layer of popcorn. Allow to cool.
• Whip remaining 125g butter until pale and creamy. Slowly sift in the icing sugar and continue whipping until a light, creamy buttercream is achieved. Melt white chocolate on a low heat in the microwave, pour into the buttercream and fold through.
• To assemble: top each cupcake with a generous swirl of buttercream and some caramel corn kernels.

White chocolate hazelnut berry muffins

Today, I caught up with a couple of friends who are heading off to the USA in three weeks. As I'm also penny pinching for my trip in July, we decided to do brunch in and try and save a few dollars.

I'm always tempted by a good old pancake stack whenever I make a nice breakfast - the lure of warm, fluffy pancakes dripping in butter and maple syrup is hard to resist. However, the thought of standing over a hot stove in 35 degree heat wasn't overly appealing, so I decided to do something I rarely do and make muffins. I threw them in the oven and hid in the airconditioning for 25 minutes - happiness.

Ok - so they aren't the most breakfasty of flavours - but they are seriously delicious. While my recipe calls for mixed berries, white chocolate and hazelnuts, almost any combination of chocolate/nut/fruit would work spectacularly. Adding a crumb, or streusel, makes the muffins look even more appetizing.

White chocolate berry muffins with hazelnut streusel

Makes 12.

Ingredients:

Muffins:

• 2 cups self-raising flour, sifted
• 2/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 3/4 cup white chocolate chips
• 1 cup mixed berries
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup rice bran oil
• 3/4 cup buttermilk (or whole milk with 1 teaspoon lemon juice)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Streusel:

• 1/2 cup plain flour
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup hazelnuts, crushed
• 50g butter

Method:

• Make streusel: combine dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Rub in butter until mixture resembles crumbs.
• Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Mix together flour, sugar and chocolate chips.
• Lightly beat the egg. Stir egg, oil and buttermilk into dry ingredients, being careful not to overmix. Fold in berries.
• Divide among a greased 12-cup muffin tray, and top with one teaspoon of streusel per muffin.
• Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.

These muffins are wonderful warm, but will keep in an airtight container for a couple of days.

Honey roasted pumpkin risotto

In an effort to save for our next holiday, our household has jumped on the meat-free Monday bandwagon.

While my carnivorous boyfriend wasn't thrilled by the idea, I've been trying to convince him that yes, it will still taste good and no, you won't wake up ravenous in the middle of the night and proceed to die of hunger due to a lack of steak in your dinner. Despite his irreverence, I faithfully ploughed on with the cause and decided some carbo-loading might help change his mind.

To try and win him over, I made one of my favourite dishes - honey pumpkin risotto. This delicious dish combines roasted butternut pumpkin with flavours of ginger, lemon, honey and sage. To top it all off, it's got a naughty splash of thick cream and a sprinkle of parmesan. It's a wonderfully satisfying meal that even my in-house carnivore devoured with happiness.

Honey roasted pumpkin risotto

Serves 3-4.

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon each butter and rice bran oil (or similar)
• 1/2 medium size butternut pumpkin, cut into 2cm cubes
• 1 cup Arborio rice
• 1 brown onion, finely chopped
• 2cm piece ginger, grated
• 3/4 cup verjuice or white wine (substitute for more stock if you don’t have any on hand)
• 900ml (approx) vegetable stock
• 1/3 cup honey
• ½ cup cream
• 15 sage leaves, chopped
• Juice of one lemon plus extra, to serve

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 190 degrees C. Place pumpkin on a baking tray lined with non-stick paper and roast for 40 minutes. After 20 minutes, baste with half of honey.
• Heat oil and butter in a large saucepan over a medium heat and add onion. Cook, stirring frequently for 3-5 minutes or until onion is softened. Add ginger and rice and cook until the rice is beginning to turn translucent.
• Add verjuice and cook until absorbed. Slowly add stock, one ladleful at a time, until rice is tender (usually 800-900ml).
• Stir through cream, sage leaves, lemon juice and roasted pumpkin. Season to taste.
• Serve with shaved parmesan and lemon wedges on the side.

Burnt sugar bundt cake

Ahh caramel - you're such a quintessentially autumn/winter food, and yet I love you all year round. I think many bakers share in my madness in heating up the oven and dragging out the cake tins on a 35 degree celsius + day - and for something this beautifully flavoured, being a hot, sweaty mess was completely worth it.

I've done loads of cooking with caramel and caramel flavours, and have developed a real taste for that slightly bitter, dark amber taste that comes with burnt sugar - an unfortunate misnomer for such a delicious taste.

While diluted significantly in this cake, it does really stand out in the frosting (should you choose to use it). You could also cook your caramel to a lighter shade - each to their own :)

Burnt sugar bundt cake

Makes 12 generous servings

Ingredients:
Amber caramel:

• 200g white sugar
• 1 cup thickened cream

Cake:

• 280g salted butter, at room temperature
• 220g white sugar
• 100g brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 cups plain flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 cup amber caramel, as per above

Frosting:

• 200g butter, at room temperature
• 2 1/2 cups pure icing sugar, sifted
• Remaining amber caramel, chilled until thickened
• Toffee shards, to serve

Method:

Let's start with the amber caramel:

• Place your sugar in a medium saucepan and cook, without stirring (swirling the pan gently is fine) on a medium heat until sugar is dissolved and your caramel has turned amber. Slowly stream in cream, while whisking vigorously, to achieve a runny sauce. If the caramel clumps up, keep stirring it over a medium heat until it smoothes out. Place in fridge to cool.

The cake:

• Preheat oven to 160 degrees C. Cream together butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and eggs, one at a time, mixing after each addition.
• Sift in flour, baking powder and bicarb soda and stir until loosely combined. Pour in cooled amber caramel and fold gently until mixture is uniform.
• Grease a large (23cm) bundt tin, and pour in batter.
• Bake for approximately 55 minutes, or until skewer inserted into cake comes out clean.

The frosting:

• Beat together butter and icing sugar until very pale and thick. Slowly add in leftover amber caramel, and beat until combined. Cover cooled cake with frosting.

To make your own toffee shards, combine 1 cup castor sugar and 1/4 cup water in a small saucepan on medium heat. Cook, swirling not stirring, until sugar is dissolved and caramel (above 60 degrees C on your candy thermometer). Pour into a baking dish lined with non-stick paper and allow to set for 30 minutes. Smash into pieces and scatter over cake.

Gianduja panna cotta

After a busy, exciting week - nothing seemed more fitting than a special meal cooked in-house. As much as I love to eat out and have others do the dishes, I get immense satisfaction out of cooking something fabulous at home.

So, as a special finale to last night's dinner, I decided to make gianduja panna cotta. This dark, heavenly set cream - rich and extravagant - was the perfect way to end a big week.

I adore panna cotta - really. It's a simple, elegant dessert that has yet to fail me - and that's despite my attempts to tuck every type of ingredient into the cream. In this case, I went for a mixture of dark chocolate and hazelnut ganache - toned down (only ever so slightly) by a tart raspberry sauce.

Gianduja panna cotta

Serves 4.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup thickened cream
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 2/3 cup hazelnut ganache (nutella is great, or better yet - make your own)
• 75g best quality dark chocolate
• 2 scant teaspoons gelatine
• 2 tablespoons boiling water
• Chopped toasted hazelnuts and raspberry sauce, to serve

Method:

• Sprinkle the gelatin over the boiling water and stir gently. Set aside.
• Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, combine cream, milk, ganache and chocolate. Stir over a medium heat until mixture is completely combined and is just starting to simmer.
• Working quickly, whisk in the gelatin mixture.
• Pour into four dariole moulds, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until set (approximately 4-6 hours).
• To unmould, dip moulds quickly into a bowl of boiling water and invert onto plates. Or, run a thin-edged knife around the edge.
• Serve with raspberry sauce and chopped toasted hazelnuts.

To make your own raspberry sauce:

• In a juicer with a coulis attachment: Juice 250g frozen raspberries while still partially frozen. Stir through 2-3 tablespoons of caster sugar, or to taste. Refrigerate until needed.
• In a saucepan: Combine 250g frozen raspberries, 75ml water and 3 tablespoons caster sugar in a small saucepan. Cook over low heat until berries are mushy and breaking down (5-7 minutes). Push mixture through a fine sieve to remove seeds. Refrigerate until needed.

Spicy belgian biscuits

Despite admitting that I'm a pretty average biscuit baker, I've been baking loads of the pesky little things this week!

After the sugary, buttery blowout that was passionfruit melting moments, I really wanted to make a biscuit that was more tart and spicy. Rex hails from New Zealand, and one of his favourite sweets are Belgian biscuits. Humble spice cookies are transformed into delicious sandwich biscuits with a good layering of tart raspberry jam and a slick of pink icing.

My standard recipe doesn't even come close to Rex's Aunt Evie's gorgeous creations, so I decided to mix up the flavours a bit. New Zealanders be warned - these are not your typical belgian biscuits. They are closer to a classic speculaas cookie, packed with cardamom and ginger. They are delicious however - and I'm looking forward to getting Aunt Evie's feedback on my adulterated recipe :)

Happy baking!

Not-so-Belgian-anymore biscuits

Makes approximately 20 sandwiched biscuits.

Ingredients:

Biscuits:

• 250g unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon cardamom
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• Scant 3 cups plain flour

Icing and filling:

• 1/2 cup good quality raspberry jam
• 1 1/2 cups icing sugar
• 2-3 tablespoons milk
• 1 package pink jelly crystals (strawberry or raspberry work well)
• few drops red food colouring

Method:

• In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add the egg and beat until just combined.
• Sift in spices, baking powder and plain flour and mix until a soft dough forms.
• Divide the dough into two discs, wrap in plastic wrap and leave in the fridge for 30 minutes, or until firm.
• Once firm, preheat your oven to 180 degrees C, and line 2 baking trays with non-stick paper.
• Roll out your dough between two pieces of non-stick paper, until it is approximately 3mm thick. Using your favourite cutter, cut out shapes and place on prepared baking trays approximately 3cm apart.
• Bake for 11-13 minutes, or until just turning golden. You may find you have two two-tray batches (one per disk). Leave on a wire rack to cool completely.
• Once cooled, help biscuits make friends! Match up all your biscuits into pairs and glue them together with jam (a heaped 1/2 teaspoon or so per biscuit sandwich).
• Mix icing sugar with milk and food colouring until a moderately runny icing is formed. Spread prettier half of biscuit sandwich with icing, and sprinkle with jelly crystals.

Passionfruit melting moments

Ahh, biscuits. One of many reasons I get anxious if there's no butter in the fridge (a rare occasion, believe me). Simple, quick and gratifying - what's not to love?

Although not usually my first choice to bake, I absolutely love a good, buttery biscuit - but generally I dry them out. While this is a great excuse to slather them with even more icing/buttercream/deliciousness, I have been practising my biscuit baking quite regularly over the last six months so I can stop hiding behind the yummy extras.

After failing miserably at shortbread over Christmas, I was hesitant to try the latest revision of my melting moments recipe. To my absolute delight - they turned out perfect! Crumbly, rich and delicious. Unfortunately in my haste, I pulled them off the baking paper a little early so there were a few casualties, but overall these are fabulous - and by far this is the best recipe I've tried.

As for the passionfruit buttercream? If the biscuits hadn't worked out, big spoonfuls of buttercream would have made an equally delicious afternoon coffee treat!

Passionfruit melting moments

Makes 15 sandwiched biscuits.

Ingredients:

Biscuits:

• 250g butter, at room temperature
• 1/3 cup pure icing sugar, sifted
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 3/4 cups plain flour
• 1/3 cup custard powder (substitute cornflour if you don't have any on hand)

Passionfruit buttercream:

• 250g unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2 cups pure icing sugar, sifted
• 5-6 tablespoons passionfruit pulp (I used 3 medium passionfruit)
• Rind of one small lemon, finely grated

Method:

• Preheat your oven to 160 degrees C, and line two large baking trays with non-stick baking paper.
• In a stand mixer, cream the butter until softened. Add the sifted icing sugar and vanilla, and cream all together, mixing on medium high for 2-3 minutes until very pale.
• Sift in the plain flour and custard powder, and gently fold together until a buttery dough is formed.
• Roll heaped teaspoonfuls of your dough into balls and place on your prepared baking trays, about 5cm apart. You should get about 30 from the mix.
• Dip a fork into plain flour, and flatten each ball to approximately 1cm thick.
• Bake for 15 minutes, or until just set. Impatient bakers beware - these biscuits will crumble if you try to pick them up while they are too hot! So wait a few minutes before transferring onto a wire rack to cool completely.

While the biscuits are baking, crack on with the buttercream:

• In a stand mixer, whip unsalted butter until softened and turning pale. Add sifted icing sugar and whip on medium high speed, or until the mixture is light and fluffy.
• Add in tablespoonfuls of passionfruit pulp and all the finely grated lemon rind, beating well after each spoonful to check the consistency. Add as much or little of the passionfruit as you like!
• Refrigerate approximately 20-30 minutes, while biscuits are cooling, to firm up.

To assemble your melting moments:

• Help your biscuits make friends! Pair them up into similar sizes.
• Once your buttercream has firmed up, place it into an icing pipe with whichever tip you like. Pipe generous half-teaspoons of the mixture onto one biscuit and sandwich together.
• You can also spread one biscuit with the mixture - piping optional!

These are gorgeous biscuits - enjoy :)

No-knead artisan's bread

As you know, I'm impatient. Not just a little bit, but recipe jeopardising, throw kitchen into chaos impatient. It's a problem.

So in making this no-knead bread, my patience was really pushed to the limit! I made the dough just before bed last night, so the temptation to tinker or interfere before the appropriate time passed without fuss luckily.

Now that I've made it once, I'd be more than willing to let this beautiful dough do it's thing over and over again.

This bread is amazing. It's got a gorgeous crunchy crust, and a beautiful, chewy middle. And it is practically zero effort - just patience, patience, patience!

A caveat - it doesn't stay fresh all that long due to the high water content - a couple days at best. However, I've been craving panzanella, so I've already found a fantastic use for the leftovers if it lasts that long!

No-knead artisan's bread

Recipe adapted from Jim Lahey. 

Start this bread the night before you want it. You'll need a heavy bottomed casserole dish with a lid. I used a 24cm Le Creuset French Oven.

Ingredients:

• 3 cups plain flour + extra, for dusting
• 1/4 teaspoon instant dried yeast
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 1/2 - 3/4 cups lukewarm water

Method:

• Tip the flour into a large mixing bowl, and sprinkle salt around the edge. Make a well, and add the yeast to it.
• Slowly pour some water into your well. Using a wooden spoon, start gently mixing from the inside of the bowl out to form your dough.
• Keep slowly adding your water until you have a moist mess! Use at least 1.5 cups, however if the dough looks dry - keep going.
• Cover your bowl with plastic wrap and leave in a warm place to rise for 12-18 hours.

12-18 hours later... Congratulations on being patient! Your dough should now have tiny little bubbles all over the surface, and look like an even bigger hot mess.

• Flour the crap out of your hands. No, really! Then poke the dough around the edges to ease it away from the bowl. Very gently shape it into a bread-like blob, and leave it in the bowl while you get on with the next step.
• Grab two cotton tea-towels, and some flour. Flour the inside of one tea-towel generously, as well as your hands.
• Grab the dough out of its bowl and place it on the floured tea-towel, working it gently into a round (this really doesn't have to be perfect!). Try and make a thick disk smaller than the base of the pot you'll use to cook it in. Dust the top with flour, cover with your other cotton tea-towel and leave to rise for two hours.
• After 90 minutes of rising, grab your pot with lid and put it in the oven at 250 degrees C, for 30 minutes.
• After 30 minutes of pre-heating, grab your pot out. Carefully remove the top tea-towel from your dough, and slip your hand under the other tea-towel to pick up your dough. Invert the dough straight into the casserole (no greasing required!) and dust the top with flour. Put the lid back on and bake for 30 minutes, covered.
• After 30 minutes, take the lid off the casserole and return the pot to the oven. Leave to bake another 15-20 minutes, or until bread sounds hollow when tapped. Cool on a wire rack, and enjoy as soon as possible!

This bread has to be attempted! It works just as beautifully with herbs, olives, cheese - anything you might like to tuck into a loaf of bread. You can also slash the top of the loaf prior to baking to pretty it up - but I was far too impatient to do that :)

Hi!

About Pony and Rex...

Who are you?

I’m Ani. I’m a twenty-something  cooking enthusiast who sadly works a regular office job to pay for the cost of my baking habit. I’m a journalism/science grad working in the public service, but I spend my spare time dreaming up and testing out new recipes.

Why Pony and Rex?

Despite being an enthusiast for some time, I’m also an excellent procrastinator – it’s now 2013 and to be honest, all the cool names are taken.

Pony and Rex does have significance to me, however. Ever since I discovered Suri Cruise’s Christmas list, I’ve been (semi-seriously) nagging my partner (Rex) for a pony. No, really. Not because I want one, but because I’m sick of constantly being outdone by a seven-year-old.

So, instead of buying me a pony, Rex bought me my other dream gift – a kitchenaid – which I quickly nicknamed pony and it’s stuck. So without Pony, supplied by Rex – my adoration for cooking and creating wouldn’t have been reinvigorated.

What do you like to cook?

Everything! There’s not much I won’t have a crack at, and trust me – plenty of it turns out terribly. I’m notoriously impatient and I’ve had my fair share of disasters – beef wellington with pastry running everywhere (who has time for the seared meat to cool!), sunken cakes, curdled sauces and custards. You name it, I’ve probably done it wrong. But, through trial, error and lots of excellent books by my side, I’ve kept trying until it’s right.

I have a particular affinity for sweet things – however, as much as I love a delicate cupcake, there’s not much in the world a big plate of lamb shanks and mash won’t fix. I’ll be trying to post a mix of savoury and sweet creations, depending on what’s available, what’s in season and honestly, what I feel like eating J