If you are looking for an activity to host the perfect play date this summer...look no further. 
Here's what I did when I had eight, 5 year old girls over for a play date the other day. I made some cupcakes  in advance so they'd be cool enough to ice, and then we  made some more with the kids later. All the girls got a ball of gum paste to colour and cut little cupcake decoration. I know, you do get a lot of cup cake decorations readily available at the store, but its so much more fun to make and the kids love it!
This is my quick melt and mix "child friendly" cupcake recipe.

Chocolate Cupcakes

Ingredients

Butter – 75 grams

Dark Chocolate – 75 grams

Caster sugar – 80 grams

Eggs – 2

Flour – 60 grams

Baking Powder – ½ tsp.

Method

1. Place cupcake cases in 14 holes of the cupcake tray and set the oven to 180 degrees C.

2. Melt butter on low heat or in a water bath. One melted stir in the pieces of chocolate till dissolved.

3. Stir in the eggs and then the sugar.

4. Sift and fold in the flour and baking powder.

5. Pour mixture into a jug and then fill the cases till 3/4th full.Bake for 20 minutes or till a skewer when inserted in the center comes out clean.

6. Cool on a wire rack

Chocolate Icing
Ingredients
Chocolate – 225 grams
Fresh cream – 150 ml
Butter - 1tbsp
Method      
Chop the chocolate and place it along with the butter in a bowl. 
Scald cream and pour over the chocolate. 
Make sure the chocolate is completely covered with the cream. Allow it to stand for 2 to 3 minutes. Then mix till smooth and free of lumps.
Once at room temperature, place in the refrigerate till semi set.
Fill chocolate icing in a piping bag fitted with a star nozzle and pipe on cooled cupcakes.

      Decorate with sugar decorations. 
      For the gum paste place 100 grams of icing sugar in a bowl and make a well in the center. Pour 2 tsp of cold water in a microwave safe bowl and sprinkle over 1/2 tsp of powdered gelatin. Once swelled up, microwave for 10 seconds and pour into the icing sugar. Bring together to form a soft dough using a little more water if required. Cling wrap tightly and store till required 

      

   

     So mums please send out those play date invites soon for what's going to be an unforgettable time!

Mini Marzipan Easter Eggs

It was the last day of school, before the summer break. My daughter's teacher requested that I do a little workshop for Easter. She suggested I show the children how to make marzipan eggs. I showed them how to make a simple marzipan recipe and then, they each got a piece of marzipan to colour, mold and decorate and then pack to take home to mum and dad. I made mini eggs for the kids to taste in school itself, so they would refrain from tucking into the egg before they got home. When the teacher asked the 40 little girls, "why do you think Christina has made these little eggs for you", one little girl said, it's because she loves little children. And so I had a great time with the children. I also gave them a little recipe card to take home, so the mummies and daddies can have a great time with their kids in the kitchen as well. It was fun fun fun.

 Recipe: Marzipan Easter Egg (makes 8x50 gram eggs)

Ingredients

ground almonds – 200 grams

Icing sugar – 200 grams (sifted)

Egg white – 1

Whole egg – 1

Few drops of almond essence

Food colour

Sugar flowers to decorate

Method

Whisk the egg, egg white and icing sugar in a heat proof bowl over hot water, till thick and creamy.

Add in the ground almonds and essence and mix well. When cool enough to handle, knead in the

desired colour. Make 50 gram balls and push into the egg mold.  Remove and allow  to dry and firm up.

Decorate with sugar flowers. 

Gooey Chocolate Brownie

I've tried a lot of brownie recipes over the years, and they've all been good...but not great. I came upon this recipe in a 'woman's weekly' recipe book gifted to me by my aunt Margaret and I must say, it's a gold winner. Sarah put the batter together, once I had everything weighed. She wanted to make them for her pediatrician because he did not give her a poke, the last time we visited him when she had a fever. Unfortunately, it never made it to the doctor’s room; it was walloped before it could even get cold to cut.

Here is the recipe!

Chocolate  Brownies

Ingredients

Butter – 250 grams

Chocolate – 250 grams (chopped)

Caster sugar – 550 grams

Eggs – 5

Cocoa powder – 50 grams

Self Raising Flour – 150 grams

Method

Grease and line a 9” square tin with baking paper. Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Sift dry ingredients together and set aside. Bring butter to the bowl in a saucepan, lower heat and dissolve chocolate in it. Transfer to a mixing bowl, add in sugar and mix till almost dissolved. Add in eggs and combine well. Fold in the dry ingredients. Pour into the prepared tin. Bake for about 30 minutes, till the crust forms, but center is still wobbly. Allow to cool completely in the tin before removing. Cut with a warm knife. Dust with icing sugar.

This is a great melt and mix recipe, so it's really quick and easy to make. Something you must remember when you are making brownie... the baking time. Too long in the oven and the brownie, will turn out "biscuity" and dry.

Banana and Walnut Bread

When I lived in Perth, one of the jobs I worked, was as a Catering Coordinator, where I catered to 90 children 5 days a week; 3 meals a day. Preparing Afternoon Tea was my favourite, because it involved baking yummy things. Banana Bread was one of the children's most looked forward too, treat. After trying and testing over a hundred recipes in the last eight years, I must say this is my favourite. Quick and easy to make and great to taste.

Here's the recipe!

Banana and Walnut Bread (makes a 1 kg. loaf)
Ingredients
Over ripe bananas - 4
Walnuts - 50 grams roughly chopped
Plain Flour - 200 grams
Milk - 40 ml
Caster Sugar - 100 grams
Brown Sugar - 70 grams
Baking powder - 1 1/2 tsp.
Baking Soda - 1/4 tsp.
Cooking Oil - 170 ml.
Eggs - 4
Method
Set the oven to 180 degrees C. Grease and line a 1 kg loaf tin with baking paper. Mash the banana and both the sugars together in a bowl. Drizzle in the oil, constantly beating with a balloon whisk till the mixture is emulsified. Add the eggs in one at a time and mix well after each addition. Beat in the sifted flour, soda and baking powder and stir in the nuts. Pour into the prepared tin and bake for 45 minutes or till a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.

Just a few tips.
1. Make sure the bananas are over ripe, because thats what gives the bread a beautiful flavour.
2. I say beat in the flour and not fold it in, like in other cake recipes, because I want the banana loaf to have a "bready" texture.

Caraway Seed Cake

 A close friend of mine, who lives in my building, cooked us Mutton Dhansak for dinner on Navroze, and brought it over. It was absolutely delicious. I had to return her utensils, so I decided to bake a seed cake for her family. So, that's what my daughter and I did, Friday evening. It was great fun and I am so glad I baked a small one for my family because the beautiful aroma of the Caraway seed toasting in the oven was wafting through the house and tickling by taste buds.

Spring Jam Sandwiches

Spring Jam Sandwiches

Makes 25 to 30 cookies

Ingredients

Plain flour – 150 grams

Butter – 150 grams

Caster sugar – 100 grams

Almond meal – 150 grams

Finely grated zest of 1 lemon

Lemon juice – 1 tsp.

Any Fruit jam or preserve (pineapple, marmalade, berry)

Method

Beat softened butter and sugar in a bowl. Fold in the flour, almond meal and lastly the zest. Divide dough in half. Cling wrap, flatten and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Roll out dough to 3mm. Use a 4 cm flower shaped cookie cutter to cut out the cookies. Place 1 inch apart. on a tray lined with baking paper. use a 2 cm flower shaped/round fluted cutter to cut the centers out of half the cookies. Repeat till all the dough is used up.

bake cookies for 6-8 minutes, or just golden brown around the edges. let it cool.

Heat jam to thin it. Place a little softened jam in the center of the uncut cookie and then stick the cookie with the hole, on top. Leave to set and stick together.

I promise you there will be none left for storing!

My favourite Tea cake recipe I made with my mum.

Seed Cake
Ingredients
Butter - 250 grams softened
Caster Sugar - 250 grams
Eggs - 4
Self Raising Flour - 250 grams
Milk - 50 ml. at room temperature
Vanilla Essence - 1 teaspoon
Caraway seeds - 1 tablespoon, plus some to sprinkle on top.
Method
Set oven to 180 degrees, and grease and line an eight inch round tin. In a large bowl or basin, cream butter and sugar together, with a wooden spoon or electric hand beater, till light and fluffy. Start adding in the eggs one at a time, making sure it is combined well before adding in more. Finally fold in the sifted flour and caraway seeds and stir in the milk and vanilla. Pour batter into the tin and spread to the sides. Sprinkle some more seeds on the top and bake for 35 minutes or till a skewer when inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from tin and allow to cool on a wire rack.

Mum's tip - when I made this cake with mum, my job was creaming the butter and sugar with the eggs using a wooden spoon, and she'd always tell me to mix it in one direction. Its to help the aeration so you get a light fluffy cake, changing direction will just knock the air out.