Ginger Walnut Fudge with Coffee Icing

With temperatures hovering in the 30s in Christchurch last week, the last thing anyone has really wanted to do is turn the oven on. We've all been baking outside the house, let alone in it. So with this in mind, I turned to the cute little book I picked up at a Vintage Market a few weeks ago, for some unbaked inspiration.

I'm not sure when it was published as it doesn't have a date, but it is full of loads of old fashioned fudgy recipes to try out. Here is a modified take on their Ginger Square. I've converted the weights to metric for you. 















Ginger Walnut Fudge with Coffee Icing

115g butter
half a cup brown sugar
4 tablespoons condensed milk
250g crushed wine biscuits
half a cup crystallized ginger
1 cup walnut pieces
1 teaspoon ground ginger

Melt the butter, brown sugar and condensed milk together. 

Crush the biscuits in the food processor. Once finely crumbed, add the ginger and walnuts and pulse until they are broken up but not crushed. 

Pour the crumb mixture into the melted butter mix and fold together. 

Press into a lined slice tin and refrigerate until hardened. 













Coffee Icing

3 tablespoons condensed milk
1 tablespoon softened butter
1 shot of espresso coffee
about 2 cups of icing sugar

Blend the condensed milk and butter together. Stir in the hot espresso, followed by the icing sugar. Blend to a smooth paste and spread onto the chilled fudge slice. 


Cut up into small squares once the icing is set. Store in an airtight container. 

Happy baking!

Shortbread shapes for the lunchbox

It's getting to that time in the school term when lunchbox filling inspiration starts to wear thin. Sometimes the biscuit choices of 6 year old's can be a little fickle, so I was more than happy when our Little Miss settled on a shortbread making project. 
This is a recipe I make often. Most people appreciate the fruit and nut variation, but this time I decided on adding a little chia. The chocolate is a concession to our Little Miss. 

Fruit, Nut and Chocolate Shortbread Shapes

255g butter
115g icing sugar
115g flour
115g custard powder
115g cornflour
1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons chopped preserved ginger
2 tablespoons chopped walnuts
2 tablespoons chopped cranberries
2 tablespoons chia seeds
2 tablespoons white and dark chocolate buttons
a beaten egg white 

Preheat the oven to 150deg. C and line a large baking sheet

Cream the butter and icing sugar until pale and fluffy.

Sift the flour, custard powder, cornflour and salt.

Fold the dry ingredients into the butter and sugar and turn out onto a sheet of plastic wrap.

Chill for half an hour. 

Prepare the ginger and walnuts by slicing them into chunks.

Roll the shortbread out between two sheets of plastic food wrap. 

Gather your selection of biscuit cutters and press out as many biscuits as will fit on the shortbread. 








Place the biscuits onto a lined baking tray. 


Gather up the off cuts and re-roll them between the plastic. Continue to cut the biscuits until all the mixture is used up. 






Beat the egg white until fluffy. 

Brush onto each biscuit and sprinkle with the toppings. I combined the cranberry and chia, and the walnut and ginger. Little Miss arranged hers with chocolate drops and mini teddies. 

Bake for 20 - 25 minutes. They will brown a little where they have been glazed. 

Little Miss was very happy to take a little parcel of biscuits to both her classroom and ballet teacher. Happy baking xx

Anzac Inspired Slice Recipe

I made this slice for our neighbour as a thank you for kindly lending us his trailer after our big garden tidy-up session. Given he and his house mates are all hungry young tradies, I thought a hearty mixture of tradition and healthy oats and nuts would be an appropriate combination. So I adapted a traditional Anzac biscuit recipe to enhanced its nutritional value by substituting oil for butter and adding extra oats, along with walnuts and pumpkin seeds.

Anzac Slice

1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup plain flour
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup walnuts
1 cup pumpkin seeds
1/3 cup oil
1 tablespoon golden syrup
2 tablespoons boiling water
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Preheat the oven to 160deg. C and line a 30 x 20cm or equivalent slice tin.

Use a rolling tin to roll over and break the walnuts into small pieces.

This is a more efficient way then slicing, and just as effective.








In a large bowl mix the rolled oats, flour, brown sugar, walnuts and pumpkin seeds.

In a measuring jug mix the oil and golden syrup. Microwave for 20 seconds to warm.

Mix the boiling water and baking soda together in a separate bowl. Add the soda and water to the oil mixture and stir to combine. It will start to froth.

Mix the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir to combine.

Spread the mixture into the slice tin and smooth over the top.











Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until golden and risen.

Leave in the tin to cool and harden for 15 minutes before using a serrated knife to slice into squares. This is best done when the slice is still warm.

Now that the school term is about to start, this slice also makes a great lunchbox filler.

Apple, Apricot and Walnut Loaf

There is nothing like the Sunday night empty cake tin feeling when time is running short and the working week is just hours away. Here is a handy little loaf recipe that will fill the tummies and the lunch boxes all the week through. It takes 50 minutes to bake, but mixes up in a flash. Then you can leave it to its own devises in the oven while you put your feet up on the couch for a while. 

I adapted this recipe from one of Edna Low's. Part of my inspiration came from these great New Zealand dried apricots I found at the vege market. They come from central Otago, are available at Growers Direct in Christchurch, or straight from the growers stall at the Dunedin Saturday Market.








Apple, Apricot and Walnut Loaf

1 cup caster sugar
2 tablespoons softened butter
1 apple - grated
1 egg
1/2 cup dried apricots
1/2 cup walnuts
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup milk

Preheat the oven to 175deg. C and line a loaf tin with baking paper.

Beat the butter and sugar together well. It will look quite grainy. 

Beat in the grated apple, followed by the chopped apricots and walnuts. 

Lastly beat in the egg. 

Sift the flour, baking powder and cinnamon together, and warm the milk. 

Alternatively stir the flour and the milk into the wet mixture, a third at a time, to form a smooth batter.

Pour the batter into the lined loaf tin and bake for 50 minutes. 

Leave to cool in the tin, then use the baking paper to pull the loaf out. 

You can serve the loaf either plain or buttered. 
It will store in an airtight container for about a week. 

Happy baking, and happy week!

Absolutely Delicious Ginger Cake Recipe

I feel I've been cheated out of this lovely long weekend. While I should have been caking and crafting my weekend away, instead I've been coughing and sniffing, and residing on the couch for most of the time. 
While most people will tell you to lie back and relax through the germ invasion, I've got things to do, cakes to make, garments to sew and knitting to stitch. 

Little Miss 4 was all ready to do some baking this morning. She had all the basics out of the pantry, the old Edmond's Cook Book out of the drawer, her 'proper stool' all set up, apron on and hands washed. Trouble was I felt so rubbish that finding the caster sugar on the bottom shelf sent me back to the couch. Anyway, after a day of rest and telling myself I was well again, we started our baking project after tea. Nothing like baking in your PJ's.  

We randomly chose this recipe and it is absolutely delicious. Typically I recombined and tweaked a couple of things, and the result was excellent.

Ginger Cake with Ginger Whisky Icing

120g butter
120g sugar
3 tablespoons golden syrup
2 eggs
240g flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon all spice
1/2 cup crystallised ginger - chopped
1/2 cup walnuts - chopped
1/2 cup raisins

1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup milk- warmed

Preheat the oven to 175deg. C. Line a 22 x 30 cm baking tin with baking paper.


Cream the butter, sugar and golden syrup together until pale, light and fluffy. Beat the eggs into the butter mix, half at a time.

Fold in the sifted flour, baking powder and spices until partly combined.











Mix the milk with the soda and fold into the mixture a third at a time. Lastly, fold in the fruit and nuts.

Pour into the baking tin and spread into the corners. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until golden and well risen. A cake tester inserted into the centre should come out clean. 

Whisky Spiked Ginger Icing

While the cake is cooking, mix up the icing:
Combine 2 tablespoons butter, 4 tablespoons icing sugar, 2 teaspoons golden syrup and 1 teaspoon ground ginger in a small saucepan. 

Melt the icing then take from the heat and whisk until it forms a smooth paste. 

While the icing is hot add about a tablespoon of whisky. I used a single malt Glenmorangie; nothing smoky or it will ruin the taste. 

The heat of the icing evaporates the alcohol content, making it fine for everyone to eat.

Spread the icing over the hot cake and leave to cool.

This was a delicious supper treat enjoyed with a cup of rose hip tea, and it will be a great lunch box filler for the working week.

Sunday Slap Dash - Quick Orange and Passionfruit Honey Muffins

If you asked my darling partner, he would tell you that most of my baking usually seems to occur after 9pm at night. Spare time always brings its sly friend procrastination. With Little Miss in her bed at 7, then a little tidy up followed by a brief piece of 'me-time' spent on the couch, and it just always seems to be bordering on 9.
Under a little time pressure, with plenty to do preparing for the market, I whipped these up in a flash ready for the working week's lunch boxes. I adapted the recipe from an old Alison Holst Muffin book.

Orange Passion fruit Honey Muffins

2 cups flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 cup caster sugar
The rind of 2 oranges
100g butter
1/4 cup honey
3/4 cup orange juice and passion fruit syrup - Juice the 2 oranges then top the liquid up to 3/4 cup with the passion fruit syrup

Preheat the oven to 200deg. C and line 12 muffin pans.
Measure the flour, baking powder, sugar and orange rind into a large bowl. Lightly mix making a well in the centre.

In a microwave proof jug melt the butter. Add the honey and stir together. Mix in the egg, followed by the orange juice and passion fruit mixture.

Pour the wet mixture into the dry ingredients being very careful not to over mix.








The mixture will be quite light as the baking powder reacts with the acidic liquids.

Gently spoon the mixture evenly into the muffin pans. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes until well risen and golden in colour. 

Dust with a little icing sugar to serve.

This super quick bake can be all done in half an hour leaving plenty of time to get to bed early for a change. If you want to keep them for the week, then I suggest freezing. I little burst in the microwave will freshen them up.

Have a great week!

Spicy Fruit Loaf

Our Grandmothers knew a thing or two about domestic harmony. Keeping everything and everyone happily ticking along nicely. Seemingly simultaneously attending to the baby, keeping the coal range stoked, cooking the dinner, and mending the children's jerseys.
Many of that generation's recipe books are packed with recipes for loaves of every description. I've never been one for making fruit loaf. It never seemed enough of a challenge, or even technically interesting enough to worry about. But when I dived into my copy of Recipes from Edna's Kitchen in a desperate search for quick Sunday night lunch box bakes, the significance of the good old fashioned loaf all fell into place: made with good pantry staples, melted and stirred up in a flash, and happily left to bake for an hour while more pressing matters are attended to.

I adapted this recipe from Edna Low's Ginger Fruit Loaf recipe.

Cranberry and Sultana Spicy Fruit Loaf

125g butter
1 cup caster sugar
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons golden syrup
2 cups flour
50g slivered almonds
2 teaspoons baking soda
pinch salt
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon mixed spice
200g dried cranberries and golden sultanas

Preheat the oven to 175deg. C.
In a saucepan, melt the butter, sugar, golden syrup and milk. Leave to cool then stir in the dried fruit.
Sift the dry ingredients into a large bowl. Add the nuts.












Make a well in the centre and fold in the butter mixture until smooth.












Pour into a greased and lined loaf tin. I used a silicone tin that doesn't require lining as the sides just peel away.











Bake for approximately 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted into the centre of the loaf comes out clean.











When cold slice and butter to serve.

And so on a Monday morning domestic harmony has been restored, and Little Miss 3 heads off to her day job with a tasty snack in her lunch box.