We love coffee and we love cake, so it makes sense to combine the two with spectacular results. This cake is based on MasterChef 2011 winner Kate Bracks’ ‘Retro Coffe Cake’ — the one that had the judges rolling their eyes in supplication to the Culinary Gods.
We made this for a very special family member’s birthday afternoon tea — with a few FFF twists — and our loved ones have been begging for the recipe ever since. Enjoy!
***Download the recipe here***
Image: by FashionFoodFatale
Man cannot live on bread alone, but Annabel Langbein’s simple recipe for Busy People’s Bread could make it a distinct possibility. Langbein’s book The Free Range Cook is one of our favourites, and is currently on high rotation in our kitchen — she has a knack for creating simple, homespun recipes that are a cinch to prepare but don’t pull any punches on flavour.
This bread is a great example: although it contains that often terrifying ingredient yeast, there is no waiting for the dough to prove. The initial slow temperature of the oven does that for you, then you turn up the heat and finish with a crusty, more-ish loaf that you will be hard-pressed to stop eating.
This bread is more damper like in texture than a regular loaf, and works equally well spread with butter and a favourite jam for breakfast; with a smear of horseradish cream, smoked salmon and dill for a light lunch; or toasted and grilled with cheese along a bowl of soup for a light supper.
So who says, with the right accompaniments, you can’t live on bread?
***Download the recipe here***
Image: by FashionFoodFatale
Around these parts, we never say no to cake if we can possibly help it. Particularly in the morning or afterrnoon with a piping hot pot of tea. There is something so delightfully old fashioned about home baking, hot tea and the excuse to down tools, pick up cake forks and spend time catching up with family and friends.
This simple cake is old school baking 101. Based on a recipe by Merle Parrish, a Country Women’s Baking Champion, the cake is similar in flavour to a sponge, but slightly more dense in texture yet still light. And the fresh strawberry icing? Well, it’s strawberry season here so any excuse to eat cake and strawberries at once is good enough for us. Enjoy…
***Download the recipe here***
Image: by FashionFoodFatale
My lovely friend Kathryn invited me over for dinner recently, and she made a fabulous Italian feast for all her guests. How could she not? Her family is Italian and her mother is a superb cook, so it’s in her blood. One of the dishes Kathryn served was cloud like gnocchi bathed in a delicate yet rich tomato and meat sauce. Some might say it was a Bolognese, but it was much more than that…
It was robust with tomatoes, yet the meat was tender and light and didn’t overtake the sauce element, and the whole combination was smooth on the palate. I asked her the secret and she shrugged her shoulders and said ‘It’s my mum’s sauce, and it’s the way we always make it’. It’s the way I will always be making my ‘Bolognese’ from now on too. Kathryn was kind enough to share the recipe, so here it is — Mrs Montafia’s (magic) Pasta Sauce!
***Download the recipe here***
Image: by FashionFoodFatale
Earlier this year FFF stayed at The Greenwich Hotel in New York, and we couldn’t get enough of the food from the hotel’s restaurant Locanda Verde. Think fabulous urban Italian that wraps you up in its delicious arms and comforts you with simple yet outrageously good flavours.
Karen DeMasco, head pastry chef at Locanda Verde, continued this theme with some of the best breads, cakes and cookies we’ve managed to get our mits on. In fact, her baking is so good we could not leave town without her cookbook The Craft of Baking so we could indulge at whim in our own kitchens. These Banana Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting are a perfect example of Karen’s whisk wielding genius and quite frankly defy description.
So if you want to know what they taste like, make this your FFF DIY project for the weekend… and shout yourself a copy of Karen’s bible of a baking book for your library!
***Download the recipe here***
Image: by FashionFoodFatale
We created this curry as the perfect weekend project for the busy FFF. It’s made from scratch with sweet and smokey spices and requires a long and languid cooking time to achieve melt in the mouth lamb, so it’s a braise you want to cook when you have a few hours at home. Fragrant and not too spicy, serve strewn with herbs alongside simple steamed rice, chutney, a tomato and onion salad, some tart yoghurt and a wedge of lime.
***Download the recipe here***
Image: by FashionFoodFatale