Do you like Dulce de Leche?  I love the stuff.  I could sit and eat it with a spoon. Dulce de leche is a South American confection prepared by slowly heating sweetened milk to create a product that derives its taste from the Maillard reaction of the product, changing the flavour and colour to a deep rich caramel.  You can buy it ready made from a variety of sources, but it's also very easy to make your own.  (See note below.)



One of my favourite ways to use it is in this fabulously moist and rich Dulce de Leche cake.  That lovely rich caramelized sweetened milk is used not only in the batter but also in it's indulgent and delicious filling and frosting.



The batter also uses soft light brown sugar.   Any time you use brown sugar in a batter, it will result in a terrifically moist cake.  There is also ground almonds in it (almond meal.)  This also helps to make a moist cake into a light cake.



The Dulce de Leche is used as well to help create a fabulously rich filling and frosting for the cake.  It's absolutely delicious.  Just look at the richness of that filling and that moist crumb  . . . and then that frosting over the top.   Just beautiful.  Rich flavours, beautiful textures . . . moist caramel deliciousness!  In any case, it makes full use of one tin of dulce de leche without any leftovers.  (I would have had to eat it with a spoon, and we can't have that!)



A bit of crunch is added by scattering a handful of toasted flaked almonds over top, adding to the pleasure of this cake.  By all means leave them out if you are not fond of them, but if you are . . .  then do add them.  They add yet another depth of flavour and texture to what is already a beautiful cake.



Do give your cake plenty of time to cool down prior to frosting it.  I was a bit impatient and so my frosting got a bit warm and didn't say on the top like it should have done, but never mind . . .  it tastes just as good oozing down the sides as it does laying on top. It's just not as pretty as it could have been.  You will want to enjoy this with either a nice cold glass of milk, or a nice warm cuppa.  Either way, frosting dripping down the sides or not . . .  this is a cake that pleases on multiple levels.   Go on . . .  make it for Dad. It's his weekend after all!

  

I wanted to do a special bake for Easter this year.  Something sweet to celebrate this special holiday.  

Place all of the ingredients into a blender and blitz until smooth.  Cover and chill until needed.  Place into a serving bowl.  Drlzzle the top with some extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle with a few thyme leaves.  



I also made these lovely little Lamb Kofta Meatballs.  Spicy and just wonderful served with some pita breads and Tzatziki for dipping.    You could fry them if you wanted to, but I just bake them in the oven because they brown nicely, evenly and as lamb is a rather fatty meat anyways it helps to cut down on some of that extra fat.



Crumble the meat into a bowl.   Add the chopped onion, parsley and cooled spices.   Season with salt and pepper.  (If you wish you may cook a small bit of this in the frying pan and taste it to see if you have seasoned it correctly.)   Shape the mixture into 1 1/2 inch balls and place them evenly spaced on the baking trays.  Bake in the heated oven for 25 to 30 minutes until nicely browned and cooked through.  Serve warm or at room temperature with sauce for dipping if desired.  

Note: These are also nice served hot and tucked into warm Pita Breads with some lettuce and sauce. 

Happy New Year!  Have fun and stay safe!

I just love using mincemeat during the Christmas season.   It's one of my favourite ingredients and I am sure I go through several jars.  Each year I try to do something different with it if I can.  There has been a photo circulating on the net and Pinterest over the past couple of months of a nutella bread which is layered and twisted and I got to thinking that the same thing done with mincemeat would be really nice.



I decided early on though that I would use puff pastry instead of bread dough however, because I wanted these to be like mince pies.   I also decided that if they were going to work properly I would have to puree the mincemeat a bit so that it wasn't too lumpy.



As you can see they turned out really pretty.   Golden on the edges . . . lovely to look at . . . flakey and sweet and spiced just nicely.  I created a thin icing, lightly flavoured with cinnamon (if you want) to drizzle over top once baked and I sprinkled them with some white sparkle sprinkles.



I was really pleased with how they turned out!  They tasted really nice as well.   I think they were just that little bit different than the usual mince pies! In short, I fell in love with them.  Very Festive.  And no . . . they were not as fiddly as they look to make.  Trust me.




Blitz the mincemeat in a food processor until the particles in it are very small.  Almost, but not quite a paste.


Remove from the oven and allow to sit for just a minute or two before scooping off onto a wire rack to finish cooling.   Whisk together the icing sugar and enough milk to give you a thick drizzle icing.  



You can flavour it with a bit of cinnamon if you like.  Drizzle this over top of the snowflakes and sprinkle with the sparkle sprinkles.   Store in an airtight container.  Will keep several days.

Divorce is a funny thing.   You not only lose your spouse but in most cases you lose an entire branch of people that have been your family for a very long time, as if by still associating with you they are being disloyal or some such.  Fair dues.  I completely understand.   This is my ex sister in law's recipe that she shared with me eons ago it seems.  It's the best bean salad you could ever eat.   I love it around the holidays because it goes great on the buffet table, lasts forever and tastes better with each day that passes.  Oh, and it serves a lot of people!  The lime juice is my addition to the recipe.  I like the extra tang it gives.



I dug it out and made it recently for a party we were having at church for the ladies.   Each had been asked to bring a salad to share and I thought this would be the perfect one to bring as it makes a lot and everyone always loves it.



I was completely wrong.   I was the only one who ate any of it.   The British don't seem to understand bean salad.   To them it's like eating a kangaroo, or an armadillo . . . maybe even snake.   They avoided it like the plague.  Nobody else touched it at all.   I was quite fascinated by their disdain of it actually.  Perhaps someone can enlighten me?  In any case, this is the best bean salad ever.   And I stand by that statement.  Unless you are a Brit, in which case, it's extremely suspect and to be avoided at all costs! ha ha



Whisk all of the ingredients together for the dressing in a large bowl.  Taste and adjust seasoning as necessary.   Dump in all of the well drained tins of beans along with the chopped vegetables.   Toss to coat. Cover and chill in the refrigerator for several hours to allow the flavours to meld, giving them a stir every so often.  (This is a salad which gets better with sitting.  In fact I usually make it the night before I want to serve it, storing it in a well sealed plastic box and giving it a good shake every so often.)  Use a slotted spoon to serve.

One thing that I like to make each Christmas is Peanut Brittle.  It's easy to make and makes a nice hostess gift if you are invited out.  I have never had anyone turn their nose up at a pretty little box of it yet!



Making it in the microwave takes all the guess work out of it.  It goes together easily and always turns out.  I have never had it fail.   Just be sure to check it frequently and if you think it is getting too brown, stop.  It should never be more than a golden brown.



It's made in less than 10 minutes, and that is 10 easy minutes where you aren't standing laborously over a stove, stirring and watching.  The microwave does all the work.  The only thing you need to be careful of is that you use a glass bowl that is truly microwaveable safe and that you use oven mits taking it out of the microwave.  Glass conducts heat very well and this is candy.  Candy is hot.



Also be very sure to take great care in handling the sugar mixture, once again . . . it's really hot and it will stick to your skin, so do please be very careful.  I would hate for anyone to get burnt badly.



This year I added a chocolate dip to mine . . . if there is anything that tastes better than homemade peanut brittle . . . it's homemade peanut brittle dipped in chocolate.  Semi sweet chocolate flavoured with peanut butter.  



Oh baby.  This is good.  I may have to make another batch to give away!  This first batch seems to be shrinking rather quickly.  Oh I do so love the Holiday Season, don't you!




Place the chocolate pieces into a smaller microwaveable bowl.  Cook on high for 1 to 2 minutes, until the chocolate melts when stirred.   Stir in the peanut butter until it melts.  Dip half of each piece of peanut brittle into the chocolate, scraping any excess off on the edge of the bowl.  Place on a wire rack to set.  Alternately you can let it set in the refrigerator.  



Note:  If you are not fond of chocolate and peanut butter, then just leave that final bit out and just make the brittle.  Store in an airtight container.

Note:  If you bake in an 8 inch square pan you can cut into squares to serve and you will get approximately 4 decent sized servings, or 8 smaller ones..