If you know someone who doesn’t like overtly sweet baked goods, this is the thing to make them. Mixing the sugar in at the last minute ensures that the muffins have a crunchy, crisp outside with a cinnamon scented scone inside.

This is a very slip slop mix it all together kind of batter until the last five minutes. But once you add the blueberries you have to treat this with love otherwise the whole batter turns blue and not that many people will eat it.

Once baked, this is on the verge of savoury, I’ve been eating them with unsalted butter.

• 3 cups plain flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 & 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 1/4 cups milk
• 2 extra large eggs, slightly beaten with a fork
• 225 gm unsalted butter, melted
• 1 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 cup fresh blueberries
• Diced strawberries or raspberries if you like them.

1. Preheat oven to 190 C/375 F. Line a 12 holes muffin tray with paper liners.
2. Put the butter in a medium bowl and blast in the microwave until melted.
3. Sift the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and baking soda together in a fairly large bowl. Stir with a wooden spoon to combine.
4. Mix the milk and eggs with the melted butter. Make a well in the middle of the dry mixture and pour the wet mixture in.
5. Stir until just combined. Lumps are all good. Add the sugar until it’s well mixes.
6. Add the berries and fold them in very gently. Don’t over mix unless you want to look like Violet from Willy Wonka.
7. Spoon the batter into the muffin liners and bake for 20 – 25 minutes. Check with a skewer to make sure it’s cooked all the way through. If it comes out clean, you’re good to take the muffins out and let them cool.

This is adapted from the wonderful Ina Garten’s cookbook, barefoot contessa at home.

Emma, 23, lives in Perth, Australia and has a gift for baking cupcakes, compiling daily outfits and sending funny tweets. She has a cute (very pink) blog and I’m glad that I know her over this sprawling, confusing web.

Lately she’s been feeling a bit down so close to her birthday, so send her some love at Lick My Cupcakes.

Here’s her shopping list and if you don’t know what I’m talking about read The Mystery of the Shopping List.

Is that a pink keyboard?

Hong Kong’s Disneyland was surreal. I spent the longest time photographing all of the fake cakes, with their perfect pastel icing and disturbingly universal proportions.

If you have a fake food you love, send to tash[at]littleflutters.com

Bread is an amazing thing to make; the magic of mixing flour and water, the anticipation waiting for the yeast to rise and the wonderful smell that fills the home as it cooks in the oven. Some things are just as good as running the heater after a cold walk. Here’s five easy to follow steps and a chance to punch the shit out of something inanimate, twice.

• 500 grams bread flour
• 315 mls warm water
• 10g yeast
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 teaspoons fine salt
• extra flour and water

1. Pile the flour onto a clean surface. I just give my tabletop a quick wipe down, dry it off and then plonk everything down. If you want to be a neat freak you can put some baking paper down first. Add half of the water then add the yeast, sugar and salt on top and slowly mix it in with a fork. Make a very deep well in the flour and ensure the walls of the well are strong, otherwise, like me, water will leak everywhere and drip onto the floor. I’m all class.
2. When it looks like porridge, add the rest of the water and when it’s mixed in well, start pushing and pulling the sticky dough with your hands. If it’s a bit dry, add a splash of water and keep on kneading. If it’s too wet, add a touch of flour. Put your whole body into it. Play some loud, fast music and knead. Sing along and head bang a little. When the dough comes away from your hands, you know it’s perfect.
   
3. Sprinkle with flour, put it in a glass bowl and cover with cling wrap. Put it on top of the fridge for 40 minutes if it’s cold and dry. If it’s warm, it’ll be ready in half an hour. Don’t clean up, relish the mess you’re making.
4. Take the bowl off the fridge and out turn it onto your floured surface. Punch that dough down like there’s no tomorrow for 30 seconds. Again, loud music helps. Place the dough onto the flour-dusted container or tray you want to cook your bread in/on. Wait until it’s doubled it’s size again, the air that’s making it’s way into the dough will make the bread soft and light later on. Be patient. Use this time to clean up the mess you made and to preheat your oven to 230 Celsius/445 Fahrenheit.
5. Gently place your dough onto the middle rack of your oven and close the door very, very slowly so you don’t add any more cold air than is necessary. Check in 25 minutes and if it looks ok, tap the bottom of the bread. If it sounds hollow then it’s cooked. If not, put it back in and check in eight minute intervals. Once done, place on a wire rack and leave it to cool for 30 minutes.

This recipe is adapted from the wonderful Jamie Oliver.

I’m posting this cause it’s a rarity: yummy greens. Not only that, these greens I would eat over a burger any day. You heard right, Tash is officially crazy.

The ingredients are cheap, the food is fast and it makes you feel good afterwards.

Get cracking on:

• A dash of sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon grated ginger
• as much baby bok choy as you please. Remember that it shrinks down to 1/3 of the size.
• 1/4 cup water
• chopped coriander (cilantro), sesame seeds or anything else.
• cooked rice, kept warm.

for the killer sauce:

• 4 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1/4 cup oyster sauce
• 1/2 lemon, juiced
• 1 teaspoon sugar, brown or white
• 1 tablespoon honey

1. Put all of the sauce ingredients into a small pan and start it on a low heat.
2. Get a bigger pot and splash the sesame oil into it. Grate the ginger into the sizzling oil. Add the baby bok choy. Stir every now and again for a minute.
3. Mix the sauce, it should start to thicken.
4. Add the water to the bok choy, bung the lid on and it’s going to steam for four minutes.
5. The sauce should be thicker, take it off the stove and let it cool a little.
6. Get your rice plated. As fast as possible, pull out the bok choy, cover it in the magic sauce and serve.

You need to eat this as hot as possible, otherwise it gets limp, cold and not so yummy.

Tip: You can buy ginger in bulk, peel them, shove it in a ziploc and put in the freezer. Grate straight out of the freezer as needed.

Another tip? Oh ok: Buy most of these ingredients at your local Chinese store, it’s cheaper, fresher and you get more.

The sesame oil on the left cost $7 from a Chinese market, the one on the right cost $14 from Safeway (Woolworths)

Balsamic vinegar has a sharp tart flavour but this draws out the sweetness in the freshly sliced strawberries, add a tablespoon of sugar and the whole thing caramelises to give you a rich sauce.

Run to the shops and grab these items:

• 2 cups strawberries, washed and sliced in half
• 1 tablespoon good balsamic vinegar
• 1 tablespoon sugar

1. Wash then cut the strawberries in half. Remove the tops.
2. Add the balsamic vinegar and sugar. Mix very gently.
3. Leave to sit for 45 minutes at room temperature.

I normally make the strawberries before I make pancakes, so that way they’re done around the same time. Or, if you want to be really decadent, put seven grapes at the bottom of a wine glass, fill with strawberries and top with whipped cream. A fancy and healthy breakfast. Yum.

Check out the juices at the bottom of the bowl. Drizzle it over pancakes or a scone and you're in heaven.

For those of you enjoying Summer, take full advantage of the abundance of strawberries. As for me, Winter is just ending so I’m making frozen strawberry smoothies to pass the time.

Gemma Palmer is a writer and blogger living in Brisbane, Australia.

Here’s her shopping list. I think someone made killer sushi that night.

For those of you who want to know what this is all about, read this.

Send your shopping lists to tash@littleflutters.com. Join in the fun.

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.

If I could use four words to describe this recipe it would be: simple, easy, tedious and time. Don’t let the tedious part deter you, I did this while watching T.V and it took half an hour, I’ve been reaping (a.k.a drinking) the benefits for the last three months and it has been yum!

You’ll need:

• 2 liters of vodka
• 12 lemons
• a peeler
• a big jar
• a strainer
• someplace dark

1. Wash all the lemons. Get a scourer and rub down the skin with soap and water. We’re doing this to get rid of any pesticide or wax. A thin layer of edible wax is put on the lemon skin to preserve them for longer and to deter bugs. If you get lemons from a farmer’s market, you’re laughing.
2. While the lemons are drying, fill the biggest pot you have with hot water and bring it to a rolling boil. Put in your big jar and it’s lid for ten minutes. Drain and leave to dry on absorbent paper. This sanitises it so you eliminate any chance of mold growing on your vodka. Ew.
   
3. Start peeling your lemons and putting the rind into the jar. This is the tedious part so watch T.V or listen to an amusing podcast at the same time. DO NOT get any of the pith (white stuff) into the jar, avoid it like the plague. It’s bitter, nasty stuff. The lovely lemon flavour only comes from the zest. Once all the lemons are peeled, fill the jar with vodka. Keep the original vodka bottle.
   
4. Place in a dark corner for six weeks. Once a week, give it a swirl. Marvel at the change of colour. The vodka is going to suck out all the good stuff from the peel. You’ll know your vodka is ready when it’s a bright yellow colour and the lemon peels are drained white and brittle when you break them.
5. Strain the vodka twice into the original vodka bottle. It’ll smell and taste like lemons. Yum. Enjoy the potent mix.

If you want to be really decadent, make a simple sugar syrup by boiling a cup of water, taking it off the heat and mixing it with two cups of white sugar. Wait to cool then mix this with a liter of the lemon vodka and shot it down like an Italian, or even better, with an Italian.

Last night I went over to a friend’s place and made a Lemon Vodka mojito with mint, sugar syrup, 7-up, loads of ice and lemon vodka. It went down a treat and didn’t leave me with a nasty hangover this morning. The options are endless.

When I was a young teenager, every school holiday my father and I used to travel an hour into Sydney to visit the library. We lived out near the suburbs of Blacktown and while it would have been easier to go to the local library, my father and I were convinced that Sydney’s books were magical, brand spanking new and packed with ten times more knowledge than the battered versions we had at the local. Maybe it was the journey that made the books that much worthwhile, or maybe I’m showing too much of my nerd streak right now.

The Sydney library had the most extensive Anne Rice collection I’ve ever seen. The goth that I was drooled at the collection. These books took commitment to carry around, they were bigger than the bible and weighed twice as much, yet I found myself borrowing and re-borrowing them, I even lugged a couple to Sri Lanka and back! My parents were so proud of my vivacious reading, if only they knew what I was reading; delicious illusions of immortality, love between men whispered in French, bisexuality and explicit slivers of porn. One of the books even had a lusty hermaphrodite in it. I’m laughing as I think about my informal education.

Eventually it got to this stage where I was re-borrowing these books but getting frustrated because other (presumably) teenagers were putting holds on my books. Filled with the romance that these novels imparted, I wrote on a Post-It note something similar to this:

Hi there,

I don’t know you, but I love Anne Rice. My favourtie book is Merrick. What’s yours? I also like Dimmu Borgir and Cradle of Filth. Do you like death metal?

Enjoy this book

Lots of love, a fellow fan

Yes, I’m serious. I stuck that to the inside cover of a library book in the hope of finding a kindred spirit. Needless to say, I didn’t, although when I checked last, nobody removed the note.

Ten years and a one-way trip to Washington D.C later, I was borrowing this library book to find someone has left a shopping list in there. I couldn’t be more stoked.

A shopping list is completely voyueristic. One can only guess at the type of person who felt the need to write cheese and crackers twice. And on the back of a church’s form. I’m imaging a fit woman in her 50s with blue-tinted hair and wrinkles around her eyes. She has to be F-I-T, look at her diet.

Click through for higher res version.

Click for larger pic.

This brings me to our first ever adventure on Little Flutters.

I want your shopping list! I want us to reach out to complete strangers like a love-sick teen, to show a window into our stomachs. To look for similarities and hope for a connection.

I will only link if you want to, otherwise it’s totally anonymous. It can be scanned or photographed, let your creativity reign.

Send to tash@littleflutters.com and have some fun with this.

Lots of joy and hugs,

Tash