Hello Kitty - My first adventure into baking for pay

So as the times are what they are and I am confident in my skills in the kitchen I decided to offer my services for money. Luckily some one responded :) I was asked if I could do a "Hello Kitty" cake. I said I could try and this wonderful person offered to pay full price for both the trail AND if she likes it the real deal.

I looked around for a good recipe for the sponge and decided on a hot milk and oil sponge my good friend browniegirl posted a while back. You can find the recipe here (minus the orange zest) and you can find browniegirl in her new home here. Not only does she make the most delicious looking food, she helped me a lot yesterday with cutting the cake in half without making an oopsie.

It was an adventure, especially with me not being able to find a "Hello Kitty" cake tin and having to be creative :)

The good news is, with only a few changes (jelly beans for eyes, pink icing, diffrent icing recipe), I am making the cake again!! Thank you browniegirl for the recipe and the cake and my good friend Cricket for ordering the cake.

With much further ado here it is:

Tuna Salad - A quickie for lunch

Since WFL has abandoned us I decided that today I will blog my lunch. This takes a little prep time at home but very well worth it.

What you need:

1 tin tuna in brine

½ tin sweet corn (not creamed)

1 tbs lite salad cream (or if you not being health conscious, mayonnaise)

1 boiled egg

1 spring/green onion

a few lettuce leaves

Salt and pepper to taste

What to do:
Mix everything together and enjoy

Next time I think I may add some paprika :)

The Shopping list

Store cupboard shakshuka (healthy Israeli breakfast)

I dont know what came over me, possibly being sent a link to another blog where this was made, or my dad discussing it with some one but I woke up Sunday morning craving Shakshuka. Shakshuka is basically eggs poached in a spicey tomato relish. Some people break them in whole, others scramble everything together.

Unfortunately for me this craving came when I had no fresh food in my house, well except eggs. So I raided my cupboards and managed to find most of the stuff I needed. I would normally also add some peppers but I had none :(

What you need (for the store cupboard version):

1 tin tomato and onion mix

1/4 cup water

1 tsp dried chillies

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp dried garlic

2 eggs per person

Za'atar or dried origano

Olive oil

Salt and Pepper to taste

Pita bread to serve

What to do:
1. Heat up a pan with some olive oil.

2. Add all the ingredients except the eggs and the za'atar/origano to the pan.

3. When it come to the boil, crack the eggs in and lower the heat, sprinkle the herbs

4. When the eggs are done take it off the heat and serve it with warm pita breads

The Shopping List 

Milk Tart (a traditional recipe)

For Christmas J's mom gave me the most thoughtful and beautiful gift. A note book in which she stuck in some of the families traditional recipes. From brown pudding to koeksisters and of course J's great gran's Melktert. The story is that this Milktart is so good, it was eaten in parliment.

That is why I am not giving you the recipe. I will put here a recipe for a milktart, just not THAT milktart...sorry but some secrets stay in the family :)

What you will need -

For the crust: 

2 cups Flour
1 egg
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
125 g butter
pinch of salt

For the filling:

4 1/2 cups milk
2 1/2 tablespoons cornflour
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
pinch of salt
2 1/2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
big spoon of butter

What to do - 

For the crust:

1. Cream butter and sugar well together and add eggs, beat well.

2. Add all ingredients, making a stiff dough. 

3. Press into two or one round cake tins/pie dish and bake in moderate oven untill light brown. (180 deg)

For the filling:

1. Let milk boil

2. Beat eggs well and add sugar, flour, cornflour and salt.

3. Mix well

4. Pour boiling milk on this mixture and stir well.

5. Return to stove and stir well until mixture thickens.

6. Add butter and vanilla essence and now pour into cooked shell.

To decorate – sprinkle with cinnamon

Shopping List