This is my super simple Prize Winning Blue Ribbon Chocolate Cake recipe, this amazing recipe helped me win heaps of first prize ribbons at the Royal Melbourne Show & various Country Shows too.  It's the perfect recipe for a large cake or cupcakes, it's soft,  moist & keeps for a week, I actually thinks it better a day or 2 after its been baked.


Blue Ribbon Chocolate Cake Recipe
Oven Temp 160 C (325 F)
24cm round - Cooking time 1hr
24 cup cakes - Cooking time 25-30min

Ingredients
2 cups plain flour
1 tablespoon of baking powder
1 teaspoon instant coffee
2/3 cup coco powder
185gm butter softened
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 ¾ cups of castor sugar
3 eggs (60’s)
1 cup of water

Prepare you cake tin or cup cake trays
Place all of the ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer. Mix together slowly to combine all the ingredients then slowly turn the speed up to high beat on high until mixture is pale & has doubled in volume.
Pour mixture in to cake tin or fill cupcake liners 3/4 full
Place in the oven and bake for required time or until an inserted knife comes out clean.

Let me know what you think :)
♥Kerri

Rhubarb, Blueberry & Apple Crumble

Rhubarb, Blueberry & Apple Crumble

I love crumble of any kind really but this one has to be my fave at the moment.
I think its the colour is so in your face & the taste is pretty good too :)

It's really easy to make & you can make them ahead of time & pop them in the fridge.

Recipe
Pouched Fruit
I bunch of Rhubarb washed with the leaves removed cut into 2cm pieces
2 apples (I used Granny Smiths but any kind will do)
1/2  punnet of Blueberries
2 tablespoons of sugar
2 tablespoons of water.  

Crumble Topping
1/3 cup brown sugar
1  teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
60gm butter
100gm plain flour
 Oven 200 c
Method
Remove leaves from rhubarb & wash stems, then cut into 2cm pieces.
Peel, core & chop apples into chunks.
Put the rhubarb, apples,  sugar & water into heavy based pot with the lid on & cooked over a medium heat for 5min, then stir, cook for a few more minutes until the apple is soft the rhubarb will have cooked to a soft puree. Remove from the heat.
While the fruit is cooking, crumble butter into the flour with your fingers to making small pea sized pieces then mix sugar, cinnamon & baking powder with butter & flour crumble. 
Spoon poached fruit into 6 cup sized oven proof bowls or 1 large oven proof dish scatter blueberries over the top  & sprinkle crumble over it all then bake until golden  ( small bowls approx 15min, large dish approx 30min).
Serve with cream or ice-cream or both.
Enjoy ♥
Kerri.

fruit puree

crumble on poached fruit

just out of the oven

Brownies stuffed with Oreos & Peanut Butter

My darling daughter found a picture of Oreo & peanut butter stuffed Brownies on FaceBook yesterday, so we had to make them.
It's not the best photo but you get the idea.

Oreo, peanut butter stuffed Brownie

We used my tried & true Brownie recipe. It's not as rich as some recipes that I have, so it great for this as it's super rich with the Oreo & peanut butter.

Brownie                   Oven 170C.
250gm butter
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
4 eggs
1 1/3 cups plain flour
3/4 cup cocoa
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp baking powder

Preheat oven.
Place butter, sugars & vanilla into the bowl of an electric mixer & beat until light & fluffy.
Add the eggs one at a time, beat well.
Sift the flour, baking powder & cocoa over the mixture & fold through.
Place patty pans in a 1/2 cup 12 hole muffin tray, spoon a tablespoon of mixture into the patty pan. Spread one Oreo with peanut butter then top with an other Oreo to make a sandwich. Lightly press the Oreo sandwich into the brownie mixture, top with a small amount of brownie mixture.
Bake for 15-18min 
Cool in the tray.

We only had 1/2 packet of Oreos so we made peanut butter stuffed Brownies & a loaf pan too. The loaf pan brownie is in the freezer for later.

Peanut butter stuffed brownie

Enjoy ♥ Kerri

Lemon Muffins with lemon curd center

Lemons are in season & just about every Lemon tree in  Melbourne is bending under the weight of a bumper crop. So I have gotten creative with ways to use them up. Use the  Lemon Curd on ice cream or as the filling for lemon tart.

Lemon Muffin with Lemon Curd Center.

Lemon Muffin Recipe  makes 12

2 cups of SR flour

3/4 cups of sugar

1 cup of low fat yoghurt

2 eggs (60gms)

1/3 cup of vegetable oil

1 teaspoon of grated lemon rind

1 tablespoon of coconut (optional)

Method

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius

Put the flour, sugar & lemon rind in a bowl, stir to combine.(add coconut now if you like)

In another bowl whisk eggs, yoghurt & oil until smooth.

Stir the wet mixture into dry ingredients until just combined.

Half fill 12 half cup muffin tins with batter, make a small hole in the batter(don’t go to the bottom of the pan) spoon 1 teaspoon of lemon curd into the hole, cover the lemon curd with more batter.

Bake for 20 -25min or until cooked. (can be frozen)

Lemon Curd (makes about 1 1/2 cups)

1 cup of water
1/2 cup of lemon juice
1/2 cup of sugar
3 tablespoons of cornflour
grated rind of 1 lemon
2 egg yolks
60gms butter
Method:
Put the water, lemon juice, rind, sugar & cornflour in a small saucepan & whisk until smooth.
Heat the saucepan of ingredients over a medium-high, whisking until it boils, then boil until it thickens it takes about 5 minutes. (it will go from cloudy to sightly clear).
Remove from the stove, whisk in the butter & egg yolks .
Set aside to cool slightly. Keeps in the fridge for a week.

 Enjoy
 ♥ Kerri