Made with Love (Post-Apocalyptic) Apple Pie

In a post-apocalyptic world, I wouldn't survive.

I think often about what skill I'd offer the hardened band of survivors living off the land.

I'm not a genius to find an alternative energy source, or way to purify water. I can't kill a bug, let alone dinner, so what would good would I be against zombies, aliens or fellow man? I'm not the hot one, the funny one or the weird one. I have no medical knowledge, no survival skills, no building skills, but I could communicate the shit out of the rallying groups and throw a really nice party after.

With this in mind, I know I can cook, but I need to learn to do it without store-brought cheats. Feeling a little House on the Prairie I mucked in to make an apple pie, completely from scratch, with love, just to see if I could learn a survival skill. You always need a good dessert after a hard day of fighting zombies.

Apple pie, made from scratch

My week as a vegetarian (with one slip up)

In my attempt to become an earth-loving hippie (remember no plastic bags as part of my new year's resolutions), I did a lot of research and a big tip was to go meat free once a week.

Did you know, one meat-free day a week reduces 213kg of global warming CO2 gases? That's what nine, five-metre tall tress can absorb in a year. So in one little week I helped fill the gap of what 63 trees could do. Given the rate we cut rainforests, I think that was rather helpful of me.

Doing the annual work of 63 trees in one week equals a happy planet

This isn't just a fad or a bunch of made up statistics (67% of statistics are made up according to the University of Me), even the United Nations is behind it. I really respect that organisation, and if you want something to help put you to sleep, you can read about it here.

Bake Test: Hummingbird Bakery chocolate muffins

When I lived in London Hummingbird Bakery was the must pit-stop at Portobello Market.

Those fluffy little cakes with an equal portion of sugary, cream cheese icing were the rush we needed after a sleepless night out.

So I was pretty excited when a friend brought me the recipe book for my birthday a few years.

I've tried time and time again to recreate their cupcakes, but I seem to always do something wrong. Maybe it is the drier, warmer weather in Perth that stops the cakes from rising? Maybe I'm making excuses.

Determined to get it right, number 69 (he he) on my 101 in 1001 is to cook every single cupcake and give them away to others (that second part was for my hips).

To treat my dad and say thank you to my sister for looking after him for the week, I made the chocolate cupcake.

One of the problems I have with every single recipe I've ever made from this cook book is I can only get six cupcakes. Without fail. The recipe clearly says you can make 12 normal cupcakes. No. I can make 12 mini cupcakes, but six normal sized cupcakes. Or is miniature normal in the UK?

I was once again consistent in getting only six cupcakes out of the mixture.

As I put them into the oven I realised I had a brain burp moment... I had forgotten the baking powder. But it didn't seem to change the end result. The cakes were still fluffy and rose ever so slightly. Go figure.

The hero of this recipe was the chocolate icing. I had never made it before and am kicking myself. It was sugary, it was chocolaty, it was damn good icing. I brought nice, fancy cocoa and I think it did the trick.

My bake test score... six cupcakes out of ten (since it is all I can create!)

Mad for mandarins: Flourless Chocolate Mandarin Cake

Nonna's mandarin tree is the tree that keeps giving. This week we picked three buckets and there's more to come.

Looking to create a citrus treat, I found a gluten-free chocolate cake. Every workplace now has someone who won't have gluten. It's the 'vegetarian' of years gone by. And I've always wanted to make a gluten-free dessert.

Flourless Chocolate Mandarin Almond Cake

 

I adapted a Flourless Chocolate Mandarin Cake to take away some of the tartness. It felt odd blending the entire mandarin, skin and all, but it gives the cake a nice moistness (I know people hate that word) and bitterness, which the nuttiness of the almond offsets. The chocolate and honey give it that hint of sweetness.

It's a really light cake that works great warm or cold with a side of mandarin flavoured cream (beat the cream with the juice of one mandarin).
 

You can boil the mandarins (peel and all) the day before.

Flourless Chocolate Mandarin Cake
8 mandarins
2 tablespoons honey

500g almond meal
12 eggs
500g caster sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 cup dark cooking chocolate

1. Place mandarins in a heavy based saucepan, cover well with water and bring to the boil. Boil for about 2 hours, drain and set aside to cool.
2. Grease and line 28cm cake tin. Set oven to 180°C.
3. Chop and seed mandarins and place in food processor with the honey. Transfer to another large bowl and add eggs, sugar and baking powder. 
4. Melt the chocolate and fold into the mixture with the almond meal.
5. Bake for approximately 1 hour or until firm to touch (in my oven I baked it for two hours).

NOTE: The purée can be made the day before.

The disappearing cake.

 

Mad for mandarins: Mandarin Mousse

Do not judge a book by its cover. Or in this case, a mousse by its photo.

Rather than look at my boring, dull photo, clear your mind and imagine feathers - light and fluffy. Now imagine the feeling of smooth silk - soft and cool to touch. Bring those two things together and weave through it the lightest zest of freshness. 

That would describe the Mandarin Mousse I made with my cousins yesterday.

The deliciously light, fresh and zesty mousse - image does not do it justice.

 

Hot, hot, hot: Chilli oil

If your cooking needs some spicing up or your chilli plant grows like wildfire, here's a spicy old recipe from my Nonno to preserve them to keep the heat going.

Homemade chilli oil - it's as easy as 1,2,3

Chilli oil. A little mix that fired up so many meals - stir-frys, marinades, sauces. Our family always competes to see who can stomach the most as we dribble a bit on our pastas.

It's so simple, Hubby threw it together with no chilli eye or sliced fingers, despite a raging hangover from his birthday festivities the night before.

Hubby being careful not to touch his face as he slices and dices

The key is the chux. My grandparents swear you need the oil to breathe for it to infuse.

Chilli Oil
6 - 12 chillies (or as many as you have)

Glove of garlic

Olive oil 

Jar

Chux clothes

Method

1. Sterilise the jar with hot water and leave to air dry. 
2. Crush garlic glove into the jar and season with salt.
3. Slice the chillies, and put into the jar with the seeds.
4. Fill the jar with the olive oil. Shake for a couple of minutes.
5. Cut a chux in half, fold and rubber band it on the top.
6. Leave for at least a week in the pantry before using. The longer it's left, the chillier the oil.

A hungover masterchef at work

 

Mad for Mandarins: Homemade marmalade

I still have 20 of the mandarins Nonna dropped off last week, and I can only eat so many a day. I've always wanted to make jam and number 66 on my 101 in 1001 is just that.

Marmalade, jam - given the amount of sugar in both of them I figure they're practically the same thing. But making it wasn't as easy, or healthy, as I thought.

When life gives you mandarins...

Mad for mandarins: Zesty Mini Mandarin Muffins

I love this time of year, and its not because of the jackets and scarves that hide all of your sins. I'm obsessed with mandarins.

Those little orange orbs just brighten the boring winter fruit bowl and are so tasty.

Every year I vow to use the juicy fruit that overloads my grandparent's mandarin trees in my cooking. But we always seem to be overseas when they ripen.

This year I'm tied to the house thanks to Mini Me, so I can finally achieve this dream (sadly not one of my 101 in 1001 though). First up Mandarin Muffins.

Zesty Mandarin Mini Muffins