Fiona Poole

Brown Sugar Pound Cakes

Posted on June 27, 2010 2 Comments

A new baby in the street gave me the chance to make some cute baby cupcakes. After three boys my neighbour had a girl!!!

I have a wonderful friend who shares a passion for all things food with me. He regularly sends me recipes and links to food related posts from all over the place. Way back in October 2008 he sent me a wonderful recipe for Bliss Balls and we have been making them in our house ever since. These can be made dairy free if you choose your chocolate carefully. So quick and easy to make and the kids love them.

Recipe:
1/2 cup tahini butter
3/4 cup peanut butter
1/3 cup agave or maple syrup
1/4 cup cocoa powder
3/4 cup sesame seeds
1/2 cup coconut, shredded – I use desiccated
3/4 cup sunflower seeds
1/4 cup raisins
1/2 cup chocolate chips

In a medium-sized mixing bowl combine the tahini, peanut butter, syrup, raisins, chocolate chips and cocoa powder.

Lightly toast the sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, and coconut in a dry pan.

Set aside to cool for ten minutes and then add to the mixing bowl and mix well.

Form into small balls by hand.

Roll the balls in a small amount of extra coconut.

Place them on a cookie sheet and put into the refrigerator for 20 minutes to harden.

Enjoy!

Hamburger Cake

Posted on May 19, 2010 Leave a Comment

My youngest recently turned 7 and requested a Scooby-Doo cake. We had a look online and found a giant hamburger with Scooby-Doo on top and decided that this was the one! With all the hype regarding Angus Beef lately and every fast food outlet having their own version of an Angus Burger, we thought it appropriate that our Angus have his own 🙂 Read More

Chocolate Mousse

Posted on May 19, 2010 Leave a Comment

My kids both love dessert, especially anything chocolate (must take after their mum!). I did a search for chocolate mousse and found this one on www.taste.com.au. The reviews were all fabulous so I gave it a go. It is a wonderfully rich mousse resulting in small flecks of solid chocolate through it. Even us chocoholics found the serving size a little too much and I will divide it into smaller glasses next time.

choc mousse

Ingredients (serves 6)

300g good-quality dark chocolate, roughly chopped
3 eggs
1/4 cup (55g) caster sugar
1 tbs good-quality cocoa powder, sifted
300ml thickened cream, plus extra whipped cream to serve
Grated chocolate, to serve

Method

Place the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pan of gently simmering water (don’t let the bowl touch the water). Stir until melted. Remove bowl from heat and set aside to cool slightly.
Place eggs and sugar in a large bowl and beat with electric beaters for 5 minutes, or until mixture is pale, thick and doubled in volume. Fold in cooled chocolate and cocoa powder until combined.
In a separate bowl, whip cream until thickened (be careful not to over-beat). Use a large metal spoon to carefully fold the cream into the chocolate mixture, trying to keep the mixture as light as possible. Spoon into 6 serving glasses and chill in fridge for at least 1 hour. Remove from fridge 15 minutes before serving, then top with extra whipped cream and grated chocolate to serve.

Flourless Chocolate Cake

Posted on February 14, 2010 2 Comments

My lovely sister-in-law is intolerant to dairy, gluten, soy, and some other miscellaneous ingredients so you can imagine how hard it is for her to find a good cake! The week after her 30th birthday she came to visit so I made her a birthday cake to celebrate this significant milestone. Read More

Onigiri

Posted on January 26, 2010 2 Comments

I’m not sure what made me remember these handy ‘rice balls’, I have not come across them since leaving Japan in 1994. I would often grab one of these fast food items on my way to/from work from the local 7 -Eleven for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. As it is Australia Day and we will soon be making our way down to the beach I thought these would be the perfect lunch to eat in the sand! Read More

Baklava Icecream, Bunco, and Bubbles!

Posted on January 23, 2010 Leave a Comment

This month was my turn to host Bunco. Bunco is a fun, easy, social dice game that gets a group of 12 of us together for a night of games, dessert, and bubbles. Read More

Ben O’Donoghue’s Mixed Berry Meringue Swiss Roll

Posted on December 30, 2009 Leave a Comment

A catch up with our neighbours from 3 years ago got me back into the kitchen briefly after the Christmas gluttony. Read More

Cookie Exchange

Posted on December 22, 2009 3 Comments

With Christmas drawing near I thought it might be nice to have a few friends over for a coffee and gossip before the silly season really hit us. So I thought I would host a cookie exchange! There were 5 of us participating and each of us made half a dozen cookies or similar for each person attending. We had lunch and a chat, the tea and coffee was exchanged for bubbles (it is almost Christmas after all), and then we exchanged the loot! The aim was to have a selection of goodies to keep us going over the Christmas period, as it turns out almost all of the exchanged goods in my house have already been eaten. Read More

Dark Chocolate Sorbet

Posted on December 19, 2009 Leave a Comment

I made this one a while ago, back in October I think. It is a beautifully rich sorbet with a hint of cinnamon. I can’t remember where I found the recipe, perhaps from Not Quite Nigella, a blog that I have been following for a while. Read More