the mother of all chocolate cakes

Yummo! Katie's chocolate cake so easy and delicious!

Yesterday when I was doing my usual blog roll scan, I came across a fantastic guest post by Katie at Planning with Kids. Katie is a mother of eight children, and her guest post Our Big Family Story was so inspiring and uplifting to me. At the end of her post, Katie shared a recipe for her chocolate cake that she often bakes to feed the tribe when they come home from school. As an avid baker, and a working mother, I am always looking for an easy recipe for something delicious. And well after reading this post and recipe, I just HAD to bake it!


Katie's really easy chocolate cake recipe (as it appeared on Planning with Kids). 

Katie says she uses a large square cake tin or two loaf tins, how ever I used a large round spring base cake tin, and it worked a treat!

Ingredients:

• 125 grams unsalted butter (softened)
• 2 eggs
• 1 ¼ cups sugar
• 1 ¾ cups SR flour
• ½ cup cocoa
• ½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• Dash vanilla in 1 cup full cream milk

Method:

1. Mix dry ingredients (I don’t sift – ever!)
2. Add wet ingredients
3. Beat together with electric/hand mixer for approx 5 mins
4. Bake in moderate oven (160 C) for 40-45 mins.

Ice with chocolate icing. Approx two cups icing sugar, 1/3 cup of cocoa, one tablespoon softened butter and water to mix.

Do you have a favourite cake recipe that is really really easy?

Be Happy,

Nicola 

It's Green, it's Pesto, it's Good!

Pesto is a staple in our family, along with vegimite, yoghurt and weetbix. It serves as an easy Sunday pasta dinner or a base for pizza's. Many friends and family have even received a jar of our Pesto for Christmas or a welcoming home baby gift. We love to make our own Pesto using ingredients fresh from the garden, where possible. And the rest sourced from local producers in the Margaret River Wine Region.

On a rainy Saturday just gone, when the heavens had opened up, the kids were climbing the walls. I'd had enough of football on the telly. I rounded up the boys for a good old fashioned Pesto making session. Junior went out to pick the remainder of the leaves and stems from the basil plants. And Mini Hoges enjoyed the task of picking the leaves off and putting them into the blender.

Add a good parmesan cheese, nuts, garlic and olive oil, and the pesto was processed to a chunky paste of green goodness.

      

Pesto

Large Bunch of basil leaves
1/2 cup of pinenuts, lightly toasted
2 large garlic cloves
3/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
Olive Oil, anywhere between 3/4 cup to 1 cup, depending on your tastes.

Place basil, garlic and pinenuts into processor and blend. Add parmesan cheese and process. Add lemon zest. While machine is still going, pour in olive oil to combine it all together, achieving your desired taste and texture. Don't forget to season with salt and pepper.

Five Ways With Pesto

1. Pesto Pasta, serve it with spaghetti or penne. Sneak in some more veggies like grated zucchini and finely shredded spinach, add bacon or prosciuto, sun dried tomatoes....yum!

2. Green Eggs, and Ham. Add a good dollop of Pesto to your scrambled eggs the nest time your have eggs and bacon for breakfast...delicious!

3. Lamb lollipops with Pesto. French lamb cutlets, grilled and served with a spreading of Pesto on the outside, mash potato and green beans, cherry tomatoes....mmmmm!

4. Pesto tart. Puff pastry with a thick spread of Pesto on the base and topped with tomatoes, feta, roast pumpkin and spinach leaves, bake in the oven....lovely light lunch!

5. Savoury cheese and pesto muffins. Add a tablespoon or two of Pesto to your favourite cheese muffin recipe.

Have fun on your Pesto Adventures!

Be Happy, 
Nicola