By Angie McGowan over on The Family Kitchen

Click over to their blog for the full recipe, but remember: American tablespoons are only 15ml (not 20ml like in Australia). PROTIP: Use 3 teaspoons (i.e. 1 teaspoon = 5ml) for every tablespoon in the recipe.

I dare say this will be a dead-set easy cake to make and am off to the shops tonight to buy the necessary ingredients. NOM!

I was sent this alternative recipe, which I think I prefer (for no particular reason other than I like the way it’s written)

Chocolate Biscuit Cake

Ingredients:

• 100g Butter
• 400g Milk Chocolate / 400g White Chocolate
• 1 can of condensed milk
• 150g/250g rich tea or digestive biscuits

Method:

1. Melt your butter and preferred type of chocolate in a bowl over a saucepan of near boiling water. Turn on the hob (stove) and melt it slowly because if it melts too quickly it will curdle and you will have to start again!
2. While the two ingredients are melting break up the biscuits either by hand OR with a rolling pin in a bag, put the broken biscuits in a bowl and leave to the side.
3. Open the can of condensed milk.
4. Remove the melted chocolate and butter from the hob when there are no lumps left in the mixture and the ingredients are a shiny, rich, brown/cream colour.
5. Gradually add the condensed milk to the chocolate mixture.
   The ingredients will look as if you have done something wrong as they will combine and then separate. DON’T WORRY, this is normal. KEEP adding the condensed milk until there is none remaining in the can. Eventually the mixture will get thicker and smoother than before
6. Gradually add the biscuits to the mixture, as much or as little as you want.
7. Line a squared baking tray with tinfoil. Add the chocolate biscuit mixture.
8. Refrigerate for 4-6 hours.
9. Cut up into squares of 16 or 20 and Enjoy!

(Image source: unknown. Please let us know so we can credit this image correctly)

The Swedish cookbook Hembakat är Bäst which means homemade is best, is a collection of 30 recipes all with this wonderful styling.

The styling of the ingredients is just mind blowingly beautiful, like no other cookbook I’ve ever seen…I love it!

Photography was by Carl Kleiner.

Via craftzine

Ever wanted to recreate them at home? Well now you can!

I finally got around to trying this recipe on the weekend, it was very similar to my regular recipe..but some tweaking..and adding vanilla O M G they totes taste just like McDonald’s hotcakes!

Many thanks to the lovely Liss at Frills in the Hills, you should totes jump over and check out her other amazing recipes!

But..onto the pancakes..

What you’ll need….
2 cups plain flour
2 tb caster sugar
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarb soda
1 tsp salt
600ml buttermilk (i.e. one carton)
80g butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs

Method:
Put your buttermilk into your bowl. Then add your sifted dry ingredients and melt the butter. Beat with an electric mixer until the mix is fluffy.

Please don’t tell me you need guided instructions on how to actually cook them?

I doubled the recipe, cause my lot are pancake pigs. Serve with butter and maple syrup, although my fave pancake topping is dulche de leche (or Top N Fill)

Don’t forget to check out Frills in the Hills, she even made her own oreos!

Did you know that there are rules about ANZAC biscuits? Mostly because of the ANZAC reference, but they must always be biscuits (not bikkies or cookies) and there is only one approved recipe for the approved term ANZAC biscuits:

Ingredients

1 cup of flour
1 cup of coconut
1 cup of rolled oats
1 cup of sugar
125 grams (4oz) of butter
1 tablespoon of golden syrup
1 teaspoon of baking soda
2 tablespoons of very hot water.

Method

Preheat oven to 180.

In a large bowl, mix flour, coconut, rolled oats and sugar.

Melt together butter and golden syrup. Dissolve baking soda in very hot water. When the baking soda is thoroughly dissolved, pour the water into the butter and golden syrup mix.

Make a well in the dry ingredients, pour the butter, golden syrup and baking soda in, and mix through.

Take teaspoonsful of the mix, roll them into balls, and using a fork, press them down on the baking slides, leaving room for spreading. Bake for about 10 minutes, until the biscuits are golden brown.

When you take the biscuits out of the oven, leave them to rest on the baking slide for 5 minutes, before putting them on cooling racks. When they are cool, put them in an airtight tin.

But, while this recipe is easy-peasy to make,  it can be hard to make chewy biscuits. BUT! You didn’t hear this from me, but perhaps if you switched half the flour for self-raising flour, then perhaps you’ll get guaranteed-to-be-chewy ANZAC biscuits.

(h/t to Larvatus Prodeo for the info on the biscuit that deserves to be enjoyed all-year round!)

Time for Noice-ities….this week we are asking What is your favourite winter recipe?

Nothing better than warming comfort food on those chilly winter days. Although with the lovely warm weather in Sydney of late you wouldn’t think winter is on it’s way.

By the way, have you check out some of the great recipes we have on That’s Noice?

If you missed last week Noice-ities (i.e. niceties, but noice!) is a new weekly meme/blog carnival/attempt to get everyone out of the woodwork.

Basically, it’s a chance for our friends to share their noice finds – every Friday with a new theme. Something that you can all get involved in, even if you don’t have a blog of your own!

If you have a blog, you can write a post and share the link with us in the comments below. But even if you don’t have a blog, tell us about it in the comments below! As we go along, we’ll add you all to the bottom of this post as well.

• Liz shares her Liz and Jarod  special dinner pie
• I shared some of my fav packet recipes as well a potato and ham pie
• Rah – A Donna Hay Corned Beef
• Kay- Rubbed in the the lack of winter in QLD and shared her sort of winter Chilli Con Carne
• Alivicwil shared a Jamie Oliver recipe for baked lamb shank

The weather is starting to cool down a bit now so it’s time to get those soup recipes out of storage.

Soup is an excellent way to feed the family on a budget and it does wonders to fill you up without too many calories (that’s if you skip the dollop of sour cream!).

This soup isn’t particularly low fat but it’s super tasty.

Happy cooking! Christie x

This delicious recipe is brought to you by the lovely Christie from Fig & Cherry, our resident foodie expert on All for Women. If you’ve got a question for Christie, pop it in the comments. Otherwise, just enjoy the mouth watering recipes and helpful kitchen hints.

RECIPE

Pumpkin, chorizo and chickpea soup
serves 4

1kg Japanese pumpkin* (whole weight)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium brown onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, finely sliced
1 tablespoon sweet Hungarian paprika
2 small Spanish chorizo sausages, sliced into rounds
1 litre chicken stock or water
400g can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
sea salt and black pepper
lime and olive oil to garnish

1. Peel, de-seed and chop the pumpkin into large chunks about 3cm big.

2. Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion and sweat for 5 mins until translucent. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute until it is fragrant and the onion is just starting to brown at the edges.

3. Remove the pot from the heat and and leave for 1 minute. Then add the paprika and stir to combine thoroughly. It’s very important to take the pot off the heat because the paprika will taste very bitter if allowed to dry out over high heat.

4. Add the chorizo and stir to coat in the onion mixture then return to the heat with a splash of water. Cook for 2 minutes or until the chorizo begins to crisp, then add the pumpkin and stock or water. Bring to the boil, then turn the heat down and simmer for 15 minutes until the pumpkin is tender.

5. Transfer half the soup to a blender, allow to cool slightly** and then blend until smooth. Return the soup to the pot, add the chickpeas and simmer until heated through. Taste and season. Then drizzle with olive oil and serve with lime wedges

*Japanese pumpkin is also known as Kent pumpkin. Any variety of pumpkin can be substituted.
**It’s important to allow the mixture to cool slightly before whizzing in the blender because too much steam inside the jug will cause the lid to pop off and your kitchen to turn orange! Trust me, I’ve done this before and then had little spots of pumpkin soup in every nook and cranny of my kitchen. I was very unimpressed with myself!

Got some diced lamb in the fridge and fancy your man doing the cooking tonight? Knock these up and send him out to the backyard to fire up the barbie!

It doesn’t take long to thread the meat onto the skewers and brush them with the marinade. All you need is a little time to let the flavours mingle in the fridge while you do a quick tidy up.

Make the salad while hubby is cooking (or burning!) them on the BBQ and dinner is served. Easy!

Happy cooking! Christie x

This delicious recipe is brought to you by the lovely Christie from Fig & Cherry, our resident foodie expert on All for Women. If you’ve got a question for Christie, pop it in the comments. Otherwise, just enjoy the mouth watering recipes and helpful kitchen hints.

RECIPE

Marinated Lamb Skewers
serves 6

12 wooden or bamboo skewers
1kg lamb fillet, diced into 2cm large chunks (48 pieces total)
1 large red capsicum (pepper), diced into 2cm large chunks
1/4 cup olive oil
1 lemon, juiced
2 tablespoons fresh oregano leaves

1. Soak the skewers in cold water for at least an hour to prevent them burning and disintegrating.

2. Thread a piece of capsicum onto a skewer and then 4 pieces of lamb. Place in a shallow dish large enough to fit all 12 skewers. Repeat with the rest of the skewers.

3. In a small bowl whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice and oregano to combine thoroughly. Pour over the lamb skewers and turn to coat. Season generously.

4. If you have time, leave to marinate in the fridge for about an hour. Otherwise BBQ or grill for 2-3 minutes each side or until done to your liking. Serve with salad and pita bread.

Here’s a great way to keep the kids occupied for a few hours. These muffins are super easy to make and you can hide a serving of fruit in them too – it’s the perfect Mummy disguise.

I used a piping nozzle for the icing but you don’t have to be so fancy, a spoon, spatula or palette knife will do the job just as well. If kids are involved then some 100s and 1000s and maybe some chocolate buttons are in order to really take these muffins to the next level.

However you decide to dress them up, make sure you enjoy every last bite.

Happy cooking! Christie x

This delicious recipe is brought to you by the lovely Christie from Fig & Cherry, our resident foodie expert on All for Women. If you’ve got a question for Christie, pop it in the comments. Otherwise, just enjoy the mouth watering recipes and helpful kitchen hints.

RECIPE

Chocolate & banana muffins w/ chocolate ricotta icing
makes 12 mini muffins (or 6 larger ones)

1 cup self raising flour
1 cup caster sugar
1 tsp bicarbonate soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
100g dark chocolate (70% or more), grated
1 egg, lightly beaten
125g butter, melted and kept warm
1 tsp vanilla extract
2-3 medium very ripe bananas, thoroughly mashed

For the icing:
400g ricotta
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbs cocoa powder
1/4 cup dessicated coconut

1. Preheat the oven to 180C. Grease and lightly flour a 12 hole mini muffin tin.

2. Sift the flour, sugar, bicarbonate soda, salt and cinnamon into a large mixing bowl. Add the grated chocolate and stir to combine.

3. Make a well in the centre and add the beaten egg, warm butter, vanilla and bananas. Fold until all ingredients are just combined, taking care not to over mix. The warm butter should melt the grated chocolate and turn the batter a gorgeous brown colour.

4. Spoon mixture evenly into the 12 muffin holes and bake for 25 minutes or until a skewer inserted appears with moist crumbs. Turn out onto a rack to cool completely while you make the icing.

5. Place the icing ingredients into a clean bowl and whisk until smooth and combined. Pipe or spread onto the cooled muffins and serve.

Red wine lamb shanks with herb mash

1 cup plain flour

sea salt and black pepper

4 lamb shanks, frenched

4 tablespoons olive oil

1 brown onion, diced

4 garlic cloves, finely chopped

2 cups full bodied red wine (such as Cabernet Sauvignon)

1 cup beef or chicken stock

2 bay leaves

For the mash

4 large Desiree potatoes, diced

2 tablespoons butter

1/2 cup hot milk

1 tablespoon chives, chopped

1 tablespoon flat leaf parsley leaves, chopped

sea salt and black pepper

Pre-heat the oven to 180C.

Place the flour, salt and pepper on a plate and stir to combine. Roll each of the lamb shanks in the flour and shake off the excess.

Heat one tablespoon of the olive oil in a large, deep heavy based fry pan. Add two of the shanks and brown on all sides. Set aside on a plate, then repeat with another tablespoon of oil and the other two shanks.

In the same pan, heat the remaining olive oil, add the onion and saute for 5 minutes until just starting to brown. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute further.

Add the wine, stock, bay leaves, salt and pepper and bring to the boil. Boil rapidly for 2 minutes then remove from the heat.

Place the lamb shanks in a single layer in an oven proof casserole dish with a lid.

Pour the red wine mixture over the shanks, cover with the lid and bake for 2 1/2 – 3 hours or until the flesh comes away easily but isn’t actually falling off the bone. Check once during the cooking time to make sure there is enough liquid. If becoming too dry add a little more stock or water.

Meanwhile, make the mash.

Place the potatoes in a large pot and fill with enough cold tap water to cover. Bring to the boil and simmer for 10-12 minutes until tender. Drain and mash with the hot milk, butter and herbs. Taste and season, then serve with the lamb shanks.

This delicious recipe is brought to you by the lovely Christie from Fig & Cherry. Check out her foodie blog for loads of other mouth watering recipes and keep your eye our for more from Christie on All for Women in the coming months.