One Minute Self Saucing Nutella Mug Pudding for One

Movie ticket for one. Table for one. Pudding for one.
Sounds lonely.
I don't like doing those sorts of things on my own. Never really have had to fortunately. But it sounds way too lonely to be any fun.
Until last night.
I did it.
I went solo.
My husband said it was the perfect night for pudding. It was cool--the type of night you just want to roll up in a ball in front of a log fire like a cat and bask in warmth and hibernate there forever.
But what to do when you can't be bothered cooking pudding for an hour because you're way too tired and it feels like a hundred hours past your bed time?
One minute self saucing microwave mug pudding. And even better, it's choccas with Nutella. Can't really go wrong there.
I can tell you I got a little excited seeing the pudding magically rising before my eyes in the coffee mug and it made its way slowly around the microwave carousel. Nothing really beats chocolate self saucing pudding made in the oven, but this came pretty close, and considering it took so little time, it turned out to be a winner. It's a self saucing pudding, and the sauce sits awaiting at the bottom of the mug, making it fudgy the further you dig the spoon down. Ooh laa la! So good with ice cream...and perfect consolation food for those damn heartbreaks and breakups most people suffer at least once in their lives. Forget eating out of a tub of ice cream. Get to it! It will only take two minutes of your time to put together, and another in the waiting for it to cook, and voila! Better than tall, dark and handsome? Yes...it's rich too.
This decadent recipe makes one generous serve in a large mug (my mug wasn't on the large side, hence the explosion)...so if you're in a wonderfully happy loving relationship, grab two spoons and share it with your significant other. You could even add walnuts to this recipe for something really special--and I also like to add a dollop of cream for nice contrast. Dessert tonight--sorted! In less than 5 minutes from beginning to end.

ONE MINUTE SELF SAUCING NUTELLA MUG PUDDING FOR ONE (from Live Love Pasta)

1 egg
4 tbsp self raising flour
4 tbsp sugar
3 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
3 tbsp nutella
3 tbsp milk
3 tbsp oil

Place all the ingredients in a large mug. Thoroughly whisk with a fork until well incorporated and the egg is well broken down. Place in the microwave and cook on high, for approximately 1-1.5 minutes. Cooking time will vary due to the differences in strength from microwave to microwave. Serve with cream or ice cream if desired.

Banana Cinnamon Puddings with Butterscotch Sauce

My kids are what I call faze-eaters or gorge-feeders. My daughter has a bird-like, grazing appetite, and my son is a heavy snacker and eats small main meals. But when they discover something new, they gorge themselves on it like they cannot get enough. I don't mind this when it's a healthy thing, and it always is, or I wouldn't let them do it. For the duration of a week it was strawberries. Now they wont look at them. For two weeks it was bananas. Now they wont touch them. It's been beans, chickpeas, pasta, mandarins and yogurt. The banana faze left me with tonnes of bananas I had to cut up and freeze, hence this recipe perked my curiosity and made me feel I could get a little condensing done from the freezer.
And who doesn't love that banana cinnamon and butterscotch combination? Its like a match made it heaven, and its also made with greek yogurt which makes it light and airy with a bit of a tang. Scrumptious!

BANANA CINNAMON PUDDINGS WITH BUTTERSCOTCH SAUCE (From Taste)

100g butter, softened
1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
2 eggs
1 1/4 cup self raising flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
3/4 cup mashed banana
2/3 cup greek yogurt

Sauce:
1/3 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1/2 cup cream
25g butter, chopped

Preheat the oven to 180C. Beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, then add one egg at a time and beat thoroughly between each addition. Add the flour and cinnamon and mix until combined. Fold in the mashed banana and yogurt. Divide between 6 greased ramekins or 6 greased Texas muffin tins.
Cook for 30-35 minutes or until the tops are golden and a skewer comes out clean.
To make the sauce, place the brown sugar, cream and butter in a small saucepan. Heat on low, stirring for 3 minutes or until the butter melts. Increase the heat and bring to the boil. Lower the heat again and continue cooking for a few more minutes until the mixture thickens. Pour over warm puddings to serve.

SERVES 6.

Banana Cinnamon Puddings with Butterscotch Sauce

Caramel Injected Cinnamon Carrot Cake

There are certain things that terrify me in the kitchen. One is that moment when you have your hand inside a wine glass trying to clean it (my hands are small, okay) and for a moment you hope that it hasn't broken between plopping it in the water and putting your hand in there. Another is choux pastry. Attempting things that are infamously difficult, like french macarons, croissants. Using every possible dish and then having to clean the mountain that's looming over your head.
And following recipes that sound scarily daring. Disastrous. Just plain wrong. Too risky.
Usually I avoid these guys like the plague. But I was so curious and so excited by the idea of this Caramel  injected Carrot and Cinnamon cake, I just had to make it anyway.
The Secret Recipe Club helped me discover the lovely blog Life's Simple Pleasures by Jess, and through her, this decadent, gooey recipe had us all drooling as it was cooking and as we waited for it to cool.
Nuts, fruit and vegies rolled into one divinely moist cake, seeped with sticky caramel and topped with cinnamon spiced cream cheese icing...oh my! It had us all on our knees begging for more. Fortunately for our hips, it got shipped off to hubby's work come morning, to the strong protestation of my taste buds. It was too dangerous to have in the house. Me, alone all day in the house with two small non judgmental babies, and that cake staring me in the face? You've got to be kidding! So off it went.
Fortunately Hubby and I got a good taste of it before we bid it farewell, and it was as scrumptious as it looks and sounds. Luke said it was the best carrot cake he had ever tasted, and I couldn't have agreed more. MAKE IT! It's no ordinary cake.
The thing that scared me about this cake, was that the instructions ordered holes to be poked into the surface of  the cake when it was removed from the oven, and a buttermilk caramel was to be smoothed over the top and into the holes to form a moist, gooey and delicious cake. I envisioned a soggy, crumbling cake being the end result. But the caramel set nicely in the wells, and thickened there, and when I iced it, the caramel didn't budge. When I cut it, caramel slowly oozed from it's sweet hiding place and drizzled onto the plate. The cake stayed dense and firm, softened only a little by the caramel. I think I may have over-mixed the batter because it was a lot denser in texture than the pictures Jess posted on her blog. Never the less, it didn't detract from the glory of the cake, nor the taste. It was so rich, so decadent. Who ever knew something as ordinary sounding as carrot cake could be something so extraordinary? Thanks to Life's Simple Pleasures I now have a new favourite for my must-keep recipe book.

CARAMEL GLAZED CINNAMON CARROT CAKE (Adapted from Life's Simple Pleasures)

Cake:

3 large eggs
3/4 cup buttermilk
3/4 cup light vegetable oil
1 tsp. vanilla essence
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 cups plain flour
1 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
pinch salt
2 cups grated carrot (about 2 large carrots worth)
220g crushed pineapple, undrained
1 cup (110g) chopped pecans

Glaze:

1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup butter
1 tbsp. golden syrup (or corn syrup)
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. vanilla essence

Icing:

350g (about 12 oz) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter
2 tbsp. brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla essence
3-4 cups icing sugar

Preheat your oven to 180C. Grease and line a lamington tin (13x9 inch) with baking paper and set aside.
To make the cake, place the eggs, buttermilk, oil, vanilla and sugar in a large bowl and beat until smooth.
In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt and stir to incorporate.
Gradually add this dry mix to the wet mix and stir until just combined. Fold in the carrot, pineapple and pecans. Pour into the prepared tray and smooth the top with a spatula. Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until the cake springs back when lightly pressed on the surface.
Once you have removed the cake from the oven, take the handle end of the spatula, or spoon, and randomly poke holes into the cake (see picture. I poked about 30 holes in the cake.)
Set aside to cool.

Meanwhile, to make the glaze, place a medium saucepan on the stove. Place the sugar, buttermilk, butter and syrup into the saucepan and then add the baking soda. Place over a medium heat and stir constantly, as the soda causes the liquid to foam and stirring helps it subside. Stir until the mixture turns a walnut colour, for about 5-8 minutes. Stir in the vanilla essence and pour over the cooling cake. Smooth with a spatula so that the glaze covers the whole of the cake and seeps into the holes.

To make the icing, place the cream cheese and butter in a large bowl, and beat until light and fluffy. Add brown sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla essence. Slowly add the icing sugar and mix until you get the desired texture. When the cake is completely cooled, either spread the icing over the cake or pipe it as preferred. Garnish with a little extra cinnamon or pecans, if desired.

Makes about 24 serves, depending on how you cut it.

Sticky Date Puddings with Toffee Sauce

I once heard a real estate agent giving a client tips on improving the chances of selling their house, which had been on the market for some time. I have never forgotten it because it was to do with food. It was such a simple, clever idea and it won me over.
Brew some coffee. Bake some biscuits. Fill the house with comfortable, homey, delicious aromas. Take the time to do these simple things before a home inspection and the chance of pleasing the inspectors greatly increases.
The scent of cinnamon, the smell of freshly baked bread...these and many more smells are often nostalgic, aromas people enjoy and feel comfortable with.
Need to sell your house and have a home inspection coming up? Whip up a batch of these delicious individual sticky date puddings and your house will smell divine. Drizzle it in a splashing of toffee sauce with a ball of ice cream to top off your day!

"This has to be the stickiest, most wicked dessert recipe I know. Its texture is rich and gooey, and the stickiness contrasts beautifully with the vanilla ice cream. Serve the pudding as hot as possible. It also freezes very well, so is a great standby for busy cooks."

~Simone Logue, Simone Logue Food Company, Sydney

STICKY DATE PUDDINGS WITH TOFFEE SAUCE (by Simone Logue, from "Wicked")

180g dried dates, pitted, chopped
1 tsp bicarb soda
1 cup water, boiling

50g unsalted butter
150g brown sugar 
2 eggs
180g self raising flour, sifted

Toffee Sauce:


150g brown sugar
1 cup thin cream
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
20g unsalted butter 

Preheat oven to 180C.
Combine the dates and bicarb soda in a bowl. Pour over the boiling water, and set aside for 20-30 minutes, or until room temperature.
Cream together butter and sugar in a large bowl until pale. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well between additions until smooth. Use a metal spoon to gently fold in the flour, then stir in the date mixture.
Pour the mixture into regular sized muffin pans (we used silicone for ease), and bake until cooked through, for about half an hour. Set aside for 5 minutes before turning out.

To make the sauce, combine all ingredients in a saucepan over a low heat, stirring, until the butter has melted. Simmer for 5 minutes. Pour hot sauce over individual sticky date puddings with a scoop of ice cream. Serve.

Serves approximately 10
 

Butterscotch Self-Saucing pudding

If someone came into your house unannounced, what would they see? If they came into my house they would undoubtedly see food...firstly, a trail of foody little hand-prints over some of the furniture, thanks to the small man of the house. Then Mummy's mess in the kitchen. Yes, it always looks like a bomb has gone off in there. Its not that it doesn't get cleaned, its just as soon as it's clean I'm cooking again and there's another pile of dishes to be done and benches to be re-wiped...floors to be re-swept and that highchair...seems to be a food factory! I once heard someone quote "a clean kitchen is a sign of a wasted life." I wonder...anyway, here's something that recently came to live on my refrigerator. Did it create itself from the kitchen mess? We will never know.

I'm sure my husband comes home sometimes and wonders what the dickens happened all day because the house looks worse than when he left in the morning. Have I been sitting on my little derriere all day eating bonbons and ice-cream and watching chick flicks while the cat and baby run riot? He still smiles, kisses me and asks how my day was and how the babies are. What a lucky woman I am! He never complains. Besides, more often than not, there's something scrumptious waiting for him in the kitchen.
Butterscotch pudding anyone?
This recipe is a family favourite. My mum used to make it in a large casserole tray and we would all go crazy for it when we knew it was coming up as dessert. The best thing is, its super simple and super delicious--just my type of recipe!

BUTTERSCOTCH SELF SAUCING PUDDING

1 cup self raising flour
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
2oz melted butter (4 tbsp)
1/2 cup milk
2 tbsp. golden syrup
1 1/2 cups hot water
1 oz butter, extra (2tbsp)

Mix together flour, sugar, salt and melted butter and milk in the pudding dish until smooth.
In a separate bowl, combine water, extra butter and syrup and stir until well combined and the butter has melted. Pour over the top of the pudding mixture. Cook at 180C for 30-25 minutes until golden. Serve with cream or ice-cream.
Serves 4

Never Trust a Skinny Cook

After browsing my whole blog, I realised that the Heart Foundation would probably be closing me down with red tape and a big danger sign on the door before long. A lovely friend of mine even commented that she thought she had gained weight by looking at the chocolate fudge brownies.
All good things in moderation I say! All my recipes are fat free though. Here is proof:

My Husband and I cooking.

See, you can make and eat as much delicious food as I do and still stay skinny. Here's some more proof. Everyone says a man puts on weight after he married because of his wife's cooking. In the year and a half my husband and I have been married, he has actually LOST half his weight. It's true, I weighed him on our kitchen scales and the mixing bowl now weighs more than he does.

I have to say though, my husband and I recently discussed cutting back on the frequency of my sweets-making. We decided that one lot of sweets a week is probably sufficient--just in case our bodies do decide they would rather be more lard than guts and bones. Ah me, it has been hard to resist.
But speaking of weight, they say you should never trust a skinny cook...why would someone trust a fat cook over a skinny one? Maybe the fat one has just eaten all their mistakes? I like to think the skinny ones share their mistakes too!
Food for thought anyway...

CHOCOLATE FUDGE SELF-SAUCING PUDDING

1 cup Self Raising flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup milk
2 tsp. cocoa powder
1/2 tsp. vanilla essence
2 tbsp. butter
1/2 cup walnuts

TOPPING:

1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp. cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups hot water


Sift flour, cocoa and sugar together in a bowl. Add melted butter, then milk, vanilla and walnuts. Mix until smooth and well combined. Place mixture in a greased pie dish. Take all ingredients for topping and mix until combined in a separate bowl, then pour over pudding mixture. Bake in moderate oven for 3/4 hour.