GRANDMA’S EASY APPLE CAKE RECIPE.

Ingredients.... 1 and 2/3rds cup of self raising flour, pinch of salt, 1/4 cup of castor sugar, 60 gm of butter/ marg, 3/4 cup of milk, 2 cooking apples, peeled, cored and sliced, 1 tsp of cinnamon, extra 2 tbs of castor sugar. Preheat your oven 160n deg C. Grease a 23 cm / 9" round cake pan and lightly sprinkle with fine dry breadcrumbs. Mix together the flour, salt and castor sugar in a large bowl. Rub in the margarine / butter with your fingertips. Add the milk all at once and mix quickly to a soft batter. Place the batter intio the prepared pan. Press the apple slices around the edge and in the centre of the batter. Mix together the cinnamon and extra sugar and sprinkle all over the top . Bake in the preheated oven for 50 minutes or until cooked, test with a skewer inserted, comes out clean. Turn out onto a wire rack and invert right side up, to cool completely. Can be sliced and spread with butter/ marg, if you like.

EGGPLANT AND WHITE BEAN BALLS. (V).

Ingredients......Oil for frying, rice bran / canola, 1 eggplant diced, 1 tsp of cracked black pepper, 1 onion, finely chopped, pinch of cayenne pepper, 2 tbs of minced garlic, 400 gm can of cannellini beans, drained, 1/4 cup of chopped flat leafed parsley, pinch of chilli flakes, 3/4 of a cup of breadcrumbs, steamed rice and tomato sauce to serve. Preheat your oven to 200n deg C. Line an ovenproof pan with baking paper. Heat 2 tbs of oil in a frying pan and saute the eggplant for 5 minutes over a medium heat. Season with the cracked pepper. Carefully add just enough water to cover the eggplant and cook until tender. Place the cooked eggplant in a processor ... Reheat the same pan and add 1 tbs of oil add the onion, cayenne pepper and minced garlic and saute until heated through and well combined. Pulse the eggplant, cannellini beans, parsley, chilli and onion mixture in the processor until well combined. Turn the processed mixture into a large bowl with the breadcrumbs and mix with your hands until well combined. Form small balls with the mixture and place in the prepared pan. Bake for 15 minutes in the preheated oven. Turn off the oven and let cook in the unopened ovcen for a further 20 minutes, until heated through and golden. Serve on rice or grain of your choice with tomato sauce and some torn parsley.

RHUBARB AND APPLE STREUSEL SLICE.

Streusel is the German name for sprinkle. Streusel is a mixture of flour or breadcrumbs with sugar, butter / marg amd spices used as a crumble topping on baked goods. Ingredients......100gm butter/ marg, at room temp, 110 gm of castor sugar, 1 egg yolk, 100gm of plain flour, 35 gm of self raising flour, 1 tbs of custard powder, 440 gm of chopped rhubarb, 400 gm of Granny Smith apples, peeled and thinly sliced, 2 tbs of honey, 1 dsp of finely grated orange rind. Streusel Ingredients.....75 gm of plain flour, 35 gm of self raising flour, 75 gm of firmly packed brown sugar, 1 tsp of ground cinnamon, 80 gm of butter / marg, chopped. With this recipe , you have to make the streusel first.... Streusel ... Blend or process the flours, sugar and cinnamon intil combined. Add the butter / marg, and process until all ingredients just come together. Now wrap the mixture in cling wrap and freeze the streusel for an hour or until firm. Preheat your oven to 160 deg C. Line a lamington pan 20cm x 30cm with baking paper, extending the paper 3cm over the sides of the pan. Beat the butter, egg yolk and sugar with an electric beater until light and fluffy. Stir in the combined flours and custard powder. Use your hand to press the mixture into the prepared pan. Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove the slice from the oven and cool for 15 minutes. Increase the oven temp to 180 deg C. Cook the rhubarb, apple, honey and rind in a medium saucepan, stirring over a medium high heat, until apples are just tender. Remove from heat and cool for 15 minutes. Now spread the fruit mixture over the slice base, coarsely grate the streusel over the fruit. Bake uncovered in the preheated oven for 15 minutes or until golden. Cool in the pan before slicing.

STRAWBERRIES WITH BALSAMIC VINEGAR

This recipe is really simple combining sweetness, spice and acidity. Be sure to to use only ripe strawberries. strawberries contain a lot of vitamin C and are a good source of fibre and maganese. Ingredients.....2 tbs of castor sugar, 1 tbs of balsamic vinegar, 400gm of fresh, ripe strawberries, hulled and halved, cracked black pepper to serve. Place the vinegar and sugar in a non metallic bowl and stir. Add the strawberries and stir well, set aside and let stand for 60 minutes. Stir again, add extra sugar or vinegar, to your taste. Sprinkle over a little cracked pepper to serve, the pepper really brings out the flavour of the strawberries.

ROSEMARY PUMPKIN LOAF.

This loaf incorporates polenta as one of the ingredients. Polenta is a flour like cereal made from ground maize / dried corn and is readily available in your supermarket. Ingredients....500 gm of pumpkin, peeled and cut into 1 cm pieces, 1 tbs of canola / rice bran oil, 1 tbs of dried rosemary, 260 gm of self raising flour, 125 gm of polenta, 40 gm of finely grated Parmesan cheese,2 eggs, lightly beaten, 300gm of sour cream, 55 gm of pepitas. Preheat your oven to 200 deg C. Grease and line a loaf pan with baking paper ( 14 cm x 21 cm ). Place the combined pumpkin, oil and half the rosemary in a large ovenproof dish in a single layer and bake in the preheated oven, for 20 minutes or until the pumpkin is tender. Cool for 10 minutes and then mash in a large bowl. Reduce oven temperature 160 deg C. Mix together the flour, polenta and the remaining rosemary and then add to the mashed pumkin mixture Whisk eggs and sour cream together and then pour onto the mixture, stirring until just combined. Spread the mixture into the prepared pan and sprinkle over the pepitas, pressing gently into the surface. Cover loosely with a piece of foil. Bake in the preheated oven for 1 hour. Remove the foil and continue to bake for a further 20 minutes. Leave the loaf to stand in the pan for 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

MIXED BERRY BAKED CHEESECAKE

There are so many different ways to prepare cheesecake along with an assortment of ingredients. The mixed berry cheesecake is very easy to prepare and none the the less delicious. This one is for you Robyn, 'happy birthday'. Ingredients....250 gm of plain chocolate biscuits, 125 gm of butter/ marg , melted, 2 x 250gm tubs of cream cheese, softened, 110 gm of castor sugar, 1 tbs of lemon juice, 2 eggs, lightly beaten, 80 gm of sour cream, 1 tbs of plain flour, 225 gm of frozen mixed berries, thawed. Preheat your oven to 160 deg C. Grease and line a 20 cm x 30 cm lamington pan. Process the biscuits until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add the butter/ marg and process until just combined. Use your hand to press the biscuit mixture into the base of the prepared pan. Refrigerate intil firm. beat the cream cheese and juice in a large bowl with your electric mixer until smooth. Add the flour, sour cream and beaten eggs, beat until combined. Spread the cream cheese mixture over the biscuit base, sprinkle with the thawed berries. bake the cheesecake in the preheated oven for 35 minutes. Cool to room temperature, refrigerate until firm.

BRIOCHE .

Brioche is a rich, light yeast bread of French origin. It is made with a good amount of egg yolks and butter, usually baked in fluted oven proof moulds, though a traditional muffin pan is quite acceptable. There is no rule as to what shape you bake your brioche. Ingredients......375 gm of plain flour, 5 gm of dried yeast, 1/4 tsp of salt, 55 gm of castor sugar, 180 ml of warm milk, 5 egg yolks, lightly mixed, 125 gm of butter / marg, 1 extra egg yolk, lightly beaten, 1 dsp of castor sugar. Combine flour, yeast and salt in a large bowl. In a separate bowl mix together the sugar and milk, until the sugar dissolves. Add the milk mixture to the flour mixture, then stir in the egg yolks. Using a wooden spoon, stir until the mixture stiffens. Now your hands to mix until a firm dough forms. Divide the butter into 10 portions. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and work each piece of bvutter/ marg into the dough, kneading well after each addition and the dough becomes smooth and glossy. Place the dough in lightly oiled large bowl, cover and stand in a warm place for about 2 hours or until the dough doubles in size. Grease 12 fluted ovenproof moulds or 12 hole muffin pan. Preheat your oven to 180 deg C. Divide the dough into 12 portions, remove about a 1/4 of each portion. Roll both the large and small portions into balls. Place the large portions in the prepared pan / moulds, make a small indent in the top of each portion with your fingertip. Place a small round on each indentation. Brush each brioche with the extra egg yolk and sprinkle with a little castor sugar. Stand uncovered, in a warm place for 1 hour or until the dough doubles in size. Bake the brioche in the preheated oven, uncovered for 20 minutes or until golden brown.