Brenda's Brilliant Brownies

I used to think the Ghiradelli brownie, made from the packet, was the BEST but then I came across this recipe with obscene amounts of butter and sugar. Yummo!

250g (80z) butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 brown sugar
4 eggs
1 1/3 plain (all purpose) flour
3/4 cocoa powder
1/4 tsp baking powder

Preheat oven to 170 C (325F).

Beat the butter, vanilla, sugar and brown sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. (It helps to start with soft butter.) Add the eggs one at a time and beat well.

Sift the flour, cocoa and baking powder over the butter mixture and fold through. (The resulting mixture is quite dry, not runny.)

Plop the mixture into an 20cm (8in) square cake tin base lined with baking paper and bake for 40-50 minutes or until set. Cool in the tin. Cut into squares and serve warm or cool.

Girdle Date Scones

Need to whip up a quick dessert or morning tea but don't want to turn on the oven? Here's my variation on an old classic:

1 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
1 tbsp butter
milk (or buttermilk) to mix*
chopped dates

Sift dry ingredients. Rub in butter and add dates. Add sufficient milk to make a fairly soft dough. Roll out fairly thin, make into a round and cut into eight or so segments. Cook on a hot greased girdle (I use my le creuset frying pan) five minutes of each side. Serve with lashings of golden syrup.

*I distinctly recall the first time I made scones when we were living in Bertram Street. The directions said "milk to mix" and I poured in too much resulting in a gluggy mess that not even Cindy, the dog, would eat.

Simnel Cake

Well, I've had to have helpers come over to help me eat the trial run of Hot Cross Buns, and a friend came over with some Simnel Cake that we could help HER eat! This scrummy cake is found in the Edmonds cookbook and is also an Easter tradition in the Wong household. Placed around the edge, are eleven marzipan balls to represent the true apostles of Jesus; Judas is omitted. (I notice that Wikipedia tells us there is also a layer of marzipan icing on top, but Kay did not ice it this time)

350g Marzipan
250g butter
1 cup sugar
4 eggs
2 1/2 cups plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 cup sultanas
1 1/2 cup currants
1/2 cupmixed peel
1/2 cup glacé cherries, chopped

Roll out marzipan on greaseproof paper dusted with icing sugar to fit a 22cm round cake tin. Cream butter and sugar till light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Sift flour and baking powder together. Mix in sultanas, currants, peel and cherries. Fold into creamed mixture. Place half the mixture in the greased and lined cake tin. Cover with marzipan layer then the remaining cake mixture. Smooth top. Bake at 150 degC for 2 hours. Reduce heat to 130 degC and bake a further 1/2-1 hour or until an inserted skewer comes out clean when tested. Leave to cool in tin.

Trial run before Easter....

They taste good too!