With it being Easter holiday in SA at the moment, I’m finding it hard keeping the twins busy. When they’re not watching movies or playing outside, they’re under my feet and are always asking to help in the kitchen. I paged through my mom’s numerous recipe books and found this ridiculously easy recipe for peanut butter cookies. Four ingredients and one bowl? Seriously? I measured out the ingredients for the twins and told them to mix it all together, form balls, press on them with a fork and then popped them in to the oven. They absolutely loved it! You could enjoy the cookies as is but I…
Simply Delicious
A general food and cooking blog. I like to experiment and try all different types of cuisine and I have a passion for food photography and styling.
Archive for the ‘Baked Goods’ Category
People often ask me why I bake (why I cook as well but, well, I like to and need to eat so that’s easily answered). But baking is different. Yes, of course I like to eat baked goods. There are very few people on earth (if any) who don’t. But baking awakens something inside me. I always say that baking makes me feel like a true domestic goddess. You see, I loathe all other domestic duties, other than shopping and cooking. I can clean if I’m forced but I truly hate every second of it. I can wash and iron clothes but never, ever do it with any enthusiasm and…
When I was in Cape Town for the launch and some publicity for my new cookbook, I visited a friend that I have been dying to see for a really long time. This friendship was started on Twitter (which is happening more and more often) and as I drove to her house, I couldn’t wait to see her home, meet the dog I had heard so much about and eat an apple cake she tweeted a picture of earlier. This friend is the incredible Errieda du Toit. Food writer extraordinaire and PR Queen and has so aptly called herself “Huiskok” (Home cook in Afrikaans). When I entered her house I felt right…
Therapy. Google defines Therapy as “The treatment intended to relieve or heal a disorder”. Now, I know most of us need traditional therapy, myself included but what I’m talking about today, is the type of therapy found in the kitchen. Yes, many people claim (again, myself included) that cooking is therapeutic, soothing, calming, etc and sometimes I can see people rolling their eyes when they hear that. But these people have no clue. People who haven’t spent time in the kitchen because they want to, as opposed to need to, will never understand how cooking can alter your mood. Chopping vegetables, stirring risotto.. there’s a certain calmness that comes over…
The first time I saw Hummingbird cupcakes was on the Martha Stewart website. They were gorgeous and I loved the idea of a cupcake filled with banana, pineapple and coconut as I just adore these tropical flavours. That was almost 2 years ago. I finally decided to give them a whirl this week and I was not disappointed. I adapted the banana cake recipe from my new book and the end result was a beautifully moist, incredibly flavoured cupcake. I used tinned crushed pineapple (with all its liquid) which kept everything moist and the coconut added just the right amount of texture. I topped the cupcakes with a lemony…
Last week Eat Out published this article written by my good friend Sam Woulidge. I read through the “30 Things to eat before you die”, salivating as I read. I have not eaten most of the things listed in the article but I have at least heard of all of them. Afterwards, the article created some buzz on Twitter and the conversation revolved mainly around the Crack Pie that Sam had listed. Over the last year, Crack Pie had popped into my life quite prominently. It has been on almost every food show I watch, I’ve met people who have eaten it and I have always wanted to make it…
As a proper Afrikaans girl, I find complete comfort in the smell and flavour of cinnamon. I’m not sure why it is but most of our (Afrikaans) comfort foods has cinnamon as an ingredient. Pancakes (crepes) is just not the same if it doesn’t have a generous sprinkling of cinnamon-sugar in the centre. The same with melkkos. And of course, milk tart. Milk tart is for me, the ultimate. I love how the creamy, custardy filling rests ever-so-gently on the crust. And that sprinkling of cinnamon just adds perfection. I decided to make this cake because I wanted to do something a bit different with the components of Milk…
As a child eclairs always amazed me. The first time my mom took me to our local bakery I spotted the eclairs through the shiny glass, beautifully presented on a mirrored tray. That day I wasn’t allowed to get one as we had gone there to pick up a birthday cake but my mom promised we would go back soon. I’ll never forget the morning my mom took me to choose my first eclair. I was excited to see if it would live up to my expectations. I imagined the eclair to be quite dense (as that is how it looked) and thought the glossy chocolate glaze would be sickly…
As I mentioned in Yesterday’s Post (Win with Woolworths & Simply Delicious), I promised to share a recipe or more an idea of what to do with pre-mixed baking goodies. The Woolworths range is really superior and their brownie mix is perhaps my favourite at this moment. I wanted to show my readers how you can take a pre-mix and add extra deliciousness to turn it into a seriously stunning dessert. It of course helps to start with a good pre-mix so choose one where you can taste the quality of the ingredients. Woolworths’ brownies are made with only the best ingredients and I love that they are deliciously dark…
This post is going to be short and sweet (as is sometimes necessary). When I saw this recipe by one of my foodie icons, Donna Hay, I knew I would love it once I tasted it, and I wasn’t wrong! As a little girl I used to love eating lamingtons (we called them Ystervarkies in Afrikaans) and even at the age of 7, I could appreciate how the chocolate ‘icing’ kept the mild-flavoured vanilla cake moist while the coconut not only added flavour, but also lovely texture. It was (and still is) one of my favourite treats. This ‘slice’ delivers everything a traditional lamington does and more as it is…
