This is a quick fix for your sweet tooth and if it has fruit, it must be healthy.

• One pineapple, peeled and cored. Or, if you have two seconds, canned, sliced pineapple.
• Pineapple cake mix, or butter cake mix with one teaspoon pineapple flavour
• Whatever eggs etc. the cake mix requires.
• 1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter
• 1 cup brown sugar

Method:

1. Preheat the oven according to the cake box directions. Make your cake batter as directed.
2. Put your cake tin over a medium heat and add the butter to the bottom. Once the butter is melted, make sure the whole area is covered and add the brown sugar so it’s evenly covering the tin. It should resemble wet sand, don’t freak out.
3. Lay out the pineapple rings on top of the sugar. If you want to be kitsch, put cherries in the middle of each ring.
4. Gently fold the cake batter into the cake tin and bung it in the oven.
5. In 40 minutes, check the consistency by having a peak through a crack in the door. If it looks like it’s not cooked, close the door gently so the cake doesn’t flop. When it looks done, skewer the middle of the cake with a toothpick. When it comes out clean, take the cake out. Grab a fork. Let the cake cool in the tin for 20 minutes then gently turn it upside down onto your serving dish. If any of the rings stick to the pan, use the fork to take it out put it quickly in place on the cake.

Enjoy!

This took around two hours to make, including cooling time. I thought that wasn’t too bad, I had plenty of time to run around and do my thing.

First things first, take out three eggs and two sticks of butter (225g) so they get to room temperature by the time you need them.

Ingredients for cake:

• 2 large eggs, at room temp.
• 1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 3/4 cups good cocoa powder
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 cup buttermilk, shaken
• 1/2 cup vege oil
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup hot black coffee

Ingredients for buttercream icing:

• 6 ounces (170g) semi-sweet chocolate, either in chips or broken up
• 2 sticks (225g) unsalted butter at room temp
• 1 large yolk, at room temp
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cups sifted icing sugar

1. Butter and flour the inside of your two 8 inch cake tins. Line the bottom with baking paper and preheat the oven to 350 F (175 C).
2. Sift the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, sugar and cocoa into a mixer bowl and mix quickly with a wooden spoon for 30 seconds.
3. In a medium bowl pour the buttermilk, oil, eggs and vanilla.
4. Using a mixer on slow, add the wet ingredients into the dry. Add the coffee and stir just to combine. It’ll have a runny consistency, don’t freak out.
5. Scrape the bottom of the bowl with a spatula and pour the batter evenly into the two cake tins. Bake for 40 mins or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 30 mins then turn it onto a wire rack. Make the frosting during this time.
6. For the frosting: Put the chocolate into a glass bowl and blast it in the microwave for 15 second intervals. Mix thoroughly after each blast, otherwise the chocolate will burn. Once it’s melted, set it aside so it reaches room temp. Boy, we’re loving things at room temperature, aren’t we?
7. Using the mixer, beat the butter on medium speed until it becomes lighter in colour, should take around 3 mins. Add the egg yolk and keep on a-mixing for another 3 mins.
8. Turn the mixer to low and add the sifted icing sugar in four intervals. Scrape down the side of the bowl occasionally. Add the chocolate on the mixer’s lowest speed and when just combined, start spreading it on the cooled cake immediately.

Adapted from a wonderful Ina Garten recipe.

Jamie Oliver is a food god. A king of the culinary. I was hesitant about this recipe but it turned out better than expected, the perfect combination of crunchy walnut, sweet butternut pumpkin and little bursts of brown sugar lumps. Resist eating this straight out of the oven, it tastes better after the flavours get to mingle and know each other for a day or two.

ingredients:

• 400g butternut pumpkin with the skin on, it seems odd but it works
• 350g light soft brown sugar
• 4 large free-range eggs
• sea salt
• 300g plain flour
• 2 heaped teaspoons baking powder
• handful of walnuts
• 1 heaped teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 175ml extra virgin oil

for the frosting: (I love that word, frosting, so much better than icing)

• zest of 1 clementine, I used an orange instead
• zest of 1 lemon
• juice of 1/2 a lemon
• 140ml sour cream
• 2 heaped teaspoons sifted icing sugar
• 1 vanilla pod, split length ways and seeds scraped out

1. Preheat oven to 180 C/350 F. Line muffin tin with paper cases, or grease cake tin.
   

   Notice the skin still on!

2. Whiz the squash in a food processor until finally chopped. Whiz for 30 seconds with the walnuts. If your food processor is big enough, add the sugar, salt, eggs, flour, cinnamon, virgin olive oil and baking powder. If it’s not, mix all of these in a big bowl until everything is combined and moist. Don’t over-mix, you don’t want this to look like cake batter.
   
3. Fill the muffin tin or cake tray with the mixture. Bake for 20-25 mins. If a wooden skewer comes out clean, it’s cooked. Remove from the oven and leave to cool on a wire rack.
4. Make the runny frosted topping by mixing the clementine zest, all the lemon zest and the lemon juice into a bowl. Add the sour cream, icing sugar and vanilla seeds. Mix well and taste. If you think you want more sour, add more lemon juice, if you want more sweet, add icing sugar. It’s a personal taste. Put it into the fridge. You want to put the toppings on just as the cakes are served, otherwise it doesn’t keep that well. Jamie recommends decorating with rose petals and dried lavender flowers, but I didn’t have any around.
5. Eat and know that you’ve done your healthy deed for the day. Yum!

The recipe was taken from the wonderful book Jamie at home.

Post-eating note: If someone isn’t used to eating desserts, you might want to try serving this without the icing. One of my friends found the sauce too rich and distracting for her taste buds.

Some cookie recipes require you to mix, fridge, cut, fridge, cook, cool. Well, I say “screw that!”. I know you want to cook a Sunday indulgence, but nobody wants to stand around for that long. This is a basic, delicious choc chip cookie that will keep for a week and a half, if you have any sense of control that is.

These were delicious, soft and doughy on the inside with a crisp, brown sugar taste on the outside. Next time, I’m adding more choc chips!

Gather to your bosom the following:

• 2 and 1/4 cups baking flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 cup softened butter
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 3/4 cup brown sugar, pack it in baby.
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups choc chip cookies
• 1/2 cup of any nuts you like, I put in sliced and toasted almonds.

1. Preheat the oven to 375 Farenheit or 190 Celsius. Sift the flour, baking soda and salt together in a medium sized bowl. Put the butter and white sugar in a bowl and using a mixer, beat until it’s incorporated well. If you’re feeling like the hulk, whisk by hand. Add the brown sugar and mix again. Add the teaspoon of vanilla extract, more if you like your vanilla.
2. Break and add the eggs, beating after each one. Don’t taste it by the spoonful after this.
3. In thirds, add the flour mixture. It should be really thick now. It will taste floury but don’t freak out. Using a wooden spoon, gently mix in the choc chip chocolate and nuts. If you use your mixer, be wary of blitzing the choc bits into tiny, tasteless pieces.
4. Plop tablespoons of the mix onto an ungreased baking tray. The cookie will expand to nearly triple the size of what it is now, so leave space accordingly.
5. Cook for nine minutes, leave to cool on the tray for two minutes and then transfer to a wire rack.
6. Eat two immediately with a glass of milk.
   

When storing left overs, use an air tight container with a slice of bread. The bread controls the moisture, making sure your cookies stay fresher for longer.

You can store the uncooked dough for a week in the fridge and two months in the freezer.

Let me know if you make it!

I took a long break, sorry, the Australian Summer called and I answered. For three whole weeks I stayed and got crispy. It was wonderful. I didn’t wear jeans, not once, all through out the Christmas and New Year celebrations.

Admittedly, I’m feeling home sick now that I’m back in Washington D.C. It must have something to do with the minus degree average temperature. I spent today moping about in tracky daks and indulging in hot dogs and smoothies. Jet lag is a bitch, but only when you’re getting into your schedule back home.

So, without further ado, here’s something uber easy that would make going back to regularity and routine seem not so bad. Serve this with coffee for afternoon tea or show up unannounced with this wrapped in a warm cloth.

You will need: