Idea: sweet lasagna

So my dad and I were talking the other day about making 'ordinary' lasagna and suddenly started brainstorming about a sweet version. Sort of like a trifle with a twist.
We haven't tried it out yet, but here's what we came up with:

What you need (approx. 8 servings):
1 loaf cake (homemade or store-bought)
a few bananas, thinly sliced.
chocolate mousse (homemade or store-bought)
rum (or flavouring if you don't want to use the real thing)
whipped cream, to serve

Line a loaf tin (the same size as your cake) with cling film. Cut the cake in thin slices, lengthwise. Put one slice at the bottom a the loaf tin and sprinkle with some rum. Spread a layer of chocolate mousse evenly on top and layer with banana. Repeat a few times, ending with a layer of cake.
Keep in the fridge for a little while to set. Turn the cake tin on a serving dish and remove the cling film. cover the top with whipped cream and cut in slices to serve.

Don't know about you, but it sounds yummy to me!

Blueberry pancakes

I often get a bit too excited buying summer fruits, only to realise halfway through the week that I won't be able to eat all of it by myself... I know, poor planning on my part.
However, that does pose the perfect 'excuse' to play around a bit :-)

This is a recipe from one of my American cookbooks (hence the measurements), and the result is quite tasty. They freeze well too.

What you need (approx. 12 pancakes):
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup buttermilk
1/2-3/4 cups milk
1 tsp honey or sugar
2 tsp melted butter
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 fresh blueberries
melted butter, for cooking
butter and maple syrup, to serve

Stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl and make a well in the center. In a separate bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, 1/2 cup milk, honey or sugar, melted butter and vanille extract, and poor into the well of the flour mixture. Stir with a whisk or fork until just combined and add a little more milk id the batter is too thick. Stir in the blueberries.
Brush some melted butter in a heated griddle or skillet and drop large spoonfulls of batter in the pan. Cook for about 1 minute until the edges are set and the surface is covered with bubbles. Flip the pancakes and cook for another 30 secs.
Serve with a knob of butter and maple syrup.

Try this:
Serve with cinnamon sugar instead of butter and maple syrup.


(recipe from 'The I Love Elvis Cookbook')

Black Forest muffins

A variation of this recipe that my dad and I came up with recently while discussing baking... (he's a closet chef disguised as a docker :-) )

What you need (12 muffins):

225g self-rising flour
1,5 tsp baking powder
125g caster sugar
4 tbsp cocoa powder
50g dark chocolate sprinkles (or a chopped up piece of dark chocolate)
1 egg
225ml milk
75g butter, melted
approx. 100g stoned cherries from a jar, drained and roughly chopped
pinch of salt
2 tbsp cherry jam or jelly


Pre-heat the oven at 220C (200C fan oven). Grease a muffin tin or line with cupcake liners.
Sift the flour with the baking powder, sugar, cocoa powder, and salt, stir in the chocolate sprinkles and make a dip in the middle.
In another bowl, beat the egg with a fork and stir in the milk and melted butter. Pour into the dip of the dry mixture, add the chopped cherries as well and mix the batter with a fork until just mixed.
Spoon the batter into the muffin tin and bake for approx. 20 mins. Let cool for a few mins, take the muffins out of the tin and let them cool on a wire rack.
Melt the jam (or jelly) in the microwave or on the stove. Brush some melted jam on top of each muffin and let cool completely before serving.

If you want to go all-out, add some kirsch (real or flavouring) to the batter and serve the muffins with some whipped cream.

Blueberry lemon bread

What you need:

145 g fresh blueberries, rinsed and drained

2 tsp flour

75 g butter, softened

200 g caster sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp grated lemon zest *

190 g self-raising flour

1 tsp salt

120 ml milk

Preheat oven to 175C (160C circulation oven). Lightly grease a loaf pan.

Mix the blueberries in 2 teaspoons flour (this will prevent the blueberries from sinking to the bottom), remove the excess flour and set aside.
In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar with a handmixer  until light and fluffy. Stir in eggs one at a time, beating well with each addition. Mix in the lemon zest.
In a separate bowl combine flour, baking powder and salt.
Stir the flour mixture into the egg mixture alternately with the milk. Fold in the blueberries.
Pour batter into prepared loaf pan and bake in preheated oven for 50-60 mins, until a knife inserted into center of the loaf comes out clean. Allow bread to cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan.

* I used store-bought lemon zest and added a few drops of lemon extract (both Dr Oetker).

No fresh blueberries on hand or want to make this cake out of season? Use frozen blueberries instead!

Note: while the cake tasted really nice, it did not rise as much as I anticipated. Next time, I may add some bicarbonate of soda.

Based on this recipe on allrecipes.com.

Apple and plum cake

Really simple to make and absolutely delicious.

What you need (6-8 servings):
120g sugar
120g butter
2 eggs
120g self-rising flour
1 tsp cinnamon
2 apples, peeled, cored and quartered
160g plums, halved, stones removed
pinch of salt

Pre-heat the oven at 190C. Beat together the butter and sugar until creamy, then mix in the eggs. Fold in flour, cinnamon and salt. Arrange the fruit in a greased oven dish and spread the batter on top. Bake for 30-40 mins until golden brown. Let the cake cool before serving.

Try this:
- omit the cinnamon, add cocoa powder to the batter and replace the fruit with peeled, cored and quartered pears.
- use apples only.
- cut the fruit into small pieces, fold through the batter and scoop the mixture into a muffin tin. Bake for approx. 30 mins.

Rhubarb pie

Even people who say they don't like rhubarb, will change their mind after tasting this pie...

What you need (24cm pie, 8 slices):
1-1,5 jar rhubarb compote or home-made rhubarb compote
90g crystal sugar
80g white almonds, ground
175g self-rising flour
170g cold butter in cubes
Butter to grease the pie dish
1 egg
1 package of vanilla sugar
1,5 tbsp custard powder
3 tbsp oatmeal
4 tbsp flour
3 tbsp light brown caster sugar



Grease the pie dish. Knead the crystal sugar, ground almonds, self-rising flour, vanilla sugar, 120g butter and the egg into a dough. Roll out and transfer to a 24cm round pie dish. Sprinkle the custard powder onto the dough using a tea strainer and pour in the rhubarb compote.
In a separate bowl, use your fingertips to make a crumble of the oatmeal, flour, caster sugar and remaining butter. Sprinkle on top of the rhubarb. Put the pie into the fridge for approx. 20 mins.
Pre-heat the oven at 180C. Bake the pie for approx. 50mins until the crust is nice and golden.

The Hummingbird Bakery's Banana Loaf Vegan Copycat Recipe

What can I say?? To. Die. For.
Great way to use those overripe bananas that are sitting in your fruit bowl too...

What you need:
270g soft light brown sugar
120ml unsweetened apple sauce
200g peeled bananas, mashed
280g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
pinch of salt
140g unsalted vegan margarine (suitable for baking) or coconut oil, melted

A 23 x 13-cm loaf tin, greased and dusted with flour

Preheat the oven to 170C/325F/Gas 3.

Beat together the sugar and apple sauce in a bowl until well incorporated. Beat in the mashed bananas.

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, cinnamon, ginger and salt, then add it to the sugar mixture. Mix it thoroughly until all the dry ingredients have been incorporated into the sugar mixture. Pour in the melted margarine and beat until all the ingredients are well mixed.

Pour the mixture into the prepared loaf tin and smooth over with a palette knife. Bake in the preheated oven for about 1 hour, or until firm to the touch and a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Leave the cake to cool slightly in the tin before turning out onto a wire cooling rack to cool completely.

Makes 8-10 slices, ca. 15-20 cupcakes (bake 30mins) or approx. 30 mini cupcakes (bake 20-25mins)


[adapted from the Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook]

Red pears

We don't have many holiday traditions in our family, but the one thing we do each year is serve these pears at our Christmas dinner, no matter what else is on the menu :)

What you need:
- cooking pears, peeled, quartered, core removed (we always use Gieser Wildeman pears)
- red wine
- sugar
- cinnamon stick

Put the pears in a pan with a little bit of water, a good splash of red wine, a few tablespoons of sugar and the cinnamon stick. Bring to the boil and let them gently simmer for a few hours until the pears are nice and red. Serve chilled.

Rhubarb compote

What you need:
-rhubarb, peeled and cut into pieces of approx. 3cm/1,25inch
-sugar (I used 100g/4oz to 400g/16oz of rhubarb)
-cinnamon stick

Wash the rhubarb and put into a pan. Do NOT add extra water as the rhubarb will release a lot of liquid when cooking. Add the sugar and cinnamon stick and let simmer for approx. 30 min. Remove the cinnamon stick and let cool completely.
Eat by itself, with custard or use as a pie filling.