I have a habit of planning to do far more in a day than I possibly could. Some days start out in an impossible rush and fizzle into a reality by morning tea time. Thursday, two weeks ago, was one of those days, but it was not so bad.

I was planning to drop E off at crèche, drive up to the next town to get some fabric and make it back in time to get to a mother’s group an hour later. E was stalling, my bags weren’t packed for town and we were even late getting to crèche.

On the way home I noticed the car making a funny noise. It appeared to go away when I slowed a little. I got myself together and cruised slowly to the Mother’s group. I had a chance to stop, sit, catch my breath, adore my child and admire a few others.

Noticing the noise at 60 km, I returned even slower and made a detour to the garage. We went for a bit of a test drive. There was no noise at 60. I was beginning to wonder if I had imagined it. When we got to 70 the noise started up again and got worse. The mechanic decided that it must be the CV about to go so we slowed and turned to go back. The noise got even worse and then there was a crunch.

Yes, it was the CV. No, the cell phone wasn’t in the car. Yes the baby was in the back seat. It all sounds pretty bad, but it wasn’t.

The mechanic pulled out his cell phone and called the apprentice. Miss H cooed contentedly in the back seat and we were towed back to the garage. I have never been so delighted to break down. I could have been on my mad fabric dash, no phone, between towns with a distraught Miss H. The Mechanic was surprised too. He had never actually heard a CV go before.

The garage was wonderful and had my car back to me the next day in one piece. Service like that deserves a chocolate cake. All up it was a not so bad, bad day.

Today’s Cake is a tad fancier than yesterday’s. Sometimes it is handy to know at least one recipe for gluten free guests. Amongst the ingredients you’ll find lots of chocolate, copious eggs and cream but no flour or gluten. While I haven’t always got these ingredients in the pantry it’s well worth stocking up for the occasional special event. The photos below are of my sister’s 16th birthday present before being devoured by a dormitory of hungry girls. It is taken from “Nigella Bites” by Nigella Lawson. (for the sake of copy right this link should take you to the recipe, and here’s a brief summary anyway)


Chocolate Cloud Cake

250 g dark chocolate ( 70% + cocoa solids)
125g unsalted butter
6 eggs (2 whole, 4 separated)
175g caster sugar
2 tablespoons Cointreau
Grated zest 1 orange

Grease and line a 23 cm spring form tin. Preheat oven to 180 celcius.

Melt chocolate in a double boiler. Cut butter into cubes and add to chocolate to melt. Stir to combine and set aside to cool.

Beat 2 whole eggs and egg yolks with 75g of sugar. Fold in chocolate and butter as well as cointreau and orange zest.

Whisk egg whites until foamy. Slowly add remaining sugar and whisk until whites form soft peaks. Add a spoonful egg whites to chocolate mix and stir. Fold chocolate mix into egg white mixture.

Pour into prepared tin. Bake for 35-40 minutes until cake has risen and cracked, and centre is no longer wobbly.

The cake settles and falls as it cools, becoming a wonderfully dense chocolaty mass. This is best served with whipped cream, which also helps to hide the crater like surface.

A big thank-you to everyone for your kind words on Miss H’s arrival. Amongst the care packages from an aunt I received a cardigan for E with this insightful note:

“I couldn’t decide on buttons, so feel free to change them. I thought it was important that the cardigan was instantly wearable because it might be a while before Amy has a spare moment to buy and sew on buttons.”

She knows me well. It took over a week to get the thread and turn on my sewing machine to finish a project . I still have to bind the wedding quilt and finish my outfit for the event. In the meantime I have been baking, as new mums need calories, and I thought I’d share a few recipes.

Today’s recipe is from “The Destitute Gourmet” by Sophie Gray. It’s wonderfully simple and most people will have all the ingredients in their pantry. There’s no fancy stuff like real chocolate, cream or liqueur* here. The frosting is simple too and really adds to the cake however it isn’t by any means compulsory.

Destitute Gourmet Chocolate Cake

Cake

1 2/3 Cups flour
1 ½ tsp baking soda
1 ½ cups sugar
2/3 cup cocoa
1 tsp salt
1 ½ cups trim milk (normal milk is ok too)
100g butter (melted)
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla

Heat oven to 180 Celsius. Grease and line 20 cm round tin.
Put all ingredients in a bowl and mix until smooth (I told you it was simple). Pour into prepared tin and bake for about 50 minutes.

Frosting

100g butter
250g icing sugar
1/3 cup cocoa
Milk to mix
1 tsp vanilla

Place butter, cocoa and icing sugar in food processor and pulse to combine. Add spoonfuls of milk one at a time, until mix is thick and spreadable. Add vanilla. Cut cake in half, spread centre with raspberry jam and icing, assumable cake and then cover the whole thing with icing.

If you haven’t a food processor, soften the butter and while beating, slowly add the icing sugar and cocoa. Continue mixing until combined and then proceed as above.

To date I have used this cake for numerous birthdays and office morning tea shouts.


*I have found that a tablespoon of Cointreau adds quite well to the mix but I have to sneak it past my tea totalling husband.

edit: I just read this over and saw all my spelling errors and had to fix a few. It's not that I can't spell, I just can't type.

I thought I'd share my last minute flurry of Christmas Gifting and Baking. Today saw me at the kitchen bench making Christmas cake and another batch of mustard. I am pretty good at leaving things until the last minute and so treasure the things that I know I can get done quickly.

If you are like me and put off making a Christmas cake until the very last minute, here is the recipe for you – Nigella Lawson's Chocolate Christmas Cake. The cake doesn't immediately taste like chocolate, more like fruit and honey and the mixture smells deliciously like pan forte. My husband who will not touch alcohol, likes the cake because it doesn't have any alcohol (well, not after I've substituted the liqueur with coffee). It doesn't have any candied peel so pleases the anti candy peel brigade too. I especially like that it is really moist and doesn't need the usual seasoning over time to be ready before Christmas.

I change the mustard recipes I use every year. As Molly asked, I thought I should share one or two. Last year I stumbled upon Spicy German Mustard and have made this recipe again this year.

I have used the recipe below a number of times including this afternoon. If you get the seeds soaking today, or tomorrow, you can jar it on Tuesday and still be ready for Christmas.

Honey and Cardamom Mustard

Makes approx. 580 g

2/3 Cup Whole Yellow Mustard Seeds
2/3 Cup Whole Black Mustard Seeds
1 1/3 Cup Cider Vinegar
2 Teaspoons Cardamom Seeds
6 Tablespoons Water
6 Tablespoons Liquid Honey

Combine mustard seeds and vinegar in a non-reactive bowl. Leak to soak for 24 hours.

Dry fry the cardamom seeds until fragrant. Grind seeds roughly with a pestle and mortar.

Add cardamom, honey and water to mustard seeds and grind until the desired texture.

Spoon into small clean preserving jars.

Tips:

Grinding -The texture of the mustard is a matter of taste. The mustard seeds tend to elude the blade of a food processor. I use a stick blender to mix all of the ingredients and spice grinder to grind small portions till smooth and then stir back through the main mixture

Whole Mustard Seeds – If you are buying only small amounts of mustard seeds, I recommend using your local Indian spice store. If you are buying a lot, or well away from spice stores a wholesaler like Moore Wilson is good too.

Jars – You will probably be looking for small jars. I find these ones from The Warehouse (I admit, I was surprised) are the best. The seals do not have any metal in contact with the mustard and consequently don't corrode. If you are using jars with metal next to the mustard, try not to keep the mustard for more than 6 months as the lids corrode slightly. Otherwise, baby food jars are just ideal.

Timing – Most mustards need about a week for the flavours to blend. So if you are making mustard for a gift this week, let the recipient know they need to wait a little bit longer to taste it.

Variations – The general rule for mustards appears to be equal parts of seeds and vinegar soaked for 24 hours, season, grind and thin with water or more vinegar if needed.

When my father passed me some zucchini seedlings in early October, I was a bit skeptical. Now, I'm convinced as we have a steady flow of one ready every few days. Then there are those we miss and they go to Zucchini Heaven.

Zucchinis always seamed to be something that was ready around late January. This year we've beaten the target with some early planting bloody minded good luck with the frosts.

The first one was ready just before we went on holiday. I had planned some noble feast for it, but as there was only on we had it in Peruvian Stew from on of the Moosewood cookbooks. Those flowers are great too. I have no idea when I'm supposed to pick them without destroying the fruit but I'm open to advice.

While we were away I had organised my mother to stop by occasionally and water the garden (turn the dial on the timer anyway). I forgot to let her know that she could and really should pick the vegetables if they were ready. I had been looking forward to getting out the Moosewood again – Ok we have four of the books, my husband gets a kick out of trying new vegetarian meals. However, the recipe for marinated zucchini specifically asked for SMALL zucchinis and it looked like we had a marrow on our hands.

The oversized zucchini, not quite a marrow, was consequently sent to Zucchini Heaven. There is such a place. Stuffed zucchini is a thing of the past. I'm converted to Zucchini Chocolate Cake. If my child didn't already eat her greens, I would say she is now converted too.

At the moment it is all quite novel. I hadn't thought I would be eating the garden quite so early. I may be over it all after 2 months of zucchinis, but for now I'm making the most of it.

This time last year a friend of mine had some Sri Lankan boarders. There was an intense discussion about buying powdered milk. My friend explained that while it is sometimes cheaper, no one in NZ buys powdered milk because the fresh stuff is so cheap.

When I was growing up, powdered milk was a strange concept too. It was the abandoned packet at the back of the cupboard for emergencies.

I have had a rethink. In the last few years the price of milk has shot through the roof, doubling even. It's cheaper to buy coke. I now have to admit that powdered milk has its place and that place is in hot chocolates (courtesy of the Destitute Gourmet)

You will need:

2 cups Milk Powder
1 ½ -2 cups icing sugar
½ cup cocoa
¼ teaspoon salt

Sift it all together. This will make enough to fill a large preserving jar.

Mix boiling water with ¼ cup of mixture to make up to a cup of hot chocolate. Recipe should make around 16 hot chocolates.

I had an excuse to make real cupcakes over the weekend. These opportunities don't come along often so I grabbed it with both hands. Blemgorf had some beautiful panda cupcakes a while back so I just had to try them. So here goes...

I don't often get time to make real cupcakes. Though, I do use my silicon cupcake moulds a lot. They spend most of there time in the freezer holding & moulding baby food. It's also nice to know that there is always something cool in there to chew on for sore little gum.

I got excited about cupcakes last year. Patty cases were hard to find here so I bought everyone that caught my eye. I get a excited about the decorating rather than the recipe as no recipe has been able to match the Edmonds Cookbook one. When I confessed to a friend that I now have 7 different cases, she told me it was OK. If it's a hobby you can have as much as you like. I'm clinging to this as I justify my various stashes.

It's OK, It's a hobby. .

Edit: I have just found out about a cupcake swap over at Rachael Rabbit. The timing is very co-incidental and I'm really looking forward to it. Thinking up non-edible cupcake recipes already.

While cleaning up I found this stack looking photogenic and couldn't resist. The plates are a collection of Johnson Brothers and Crown Lynn. The crumbs are a new chocolate brownie recipe that I have stumbled across and am quite impressed with. Only 3 eggs, as opposed to Nigella's 6, don't need to melt the chocolate and cheap chocolate works well. Trust me I have tried it.

Double Chocolate Mocha Brownie (thanks to an old NZ H&G magazine)

125g butter (melted)
60g cocoa powder
250g caster sugar
1 t vanilla extract
1T coffee liqueur (or 1 t instant coffee in 1 T hot water)
3 eggs, lightly beaten
50g flour (no, this is not a typo)
½ t baking powder
125g chocolate chips

Heat oven to 150 Celsius.

Grease and line 20 cm x 30 cm slice tin.

Mix butter and cocoa.

Stir in caster sugar, vanilla and liqueur.

Add eggs and mix.

Sift over flour and baking powder.

Fold into mixture with chocolate chips.

Pour into tin and bake for approx 40 minutes (check at about 30 min).

I have been tagged by Twenty Cent Mixture for the Seven Things Meme. It took me a while to think up seven things about myself so here goes:

1, My favourite Cream Egg flavour is Caramello.
I wasn't too keen on Caramello until one sunny afternoon when it was the only junk food left in the work snack box. I have been a convert ever since.


2, My car is purple.
It's not a subtle purple either. Think a bar of Cadbury chocolate with trade mark swirl and purple wrapper (must not think of aforementioned cream eggs).

3, I tried to teach myself to crochet and it didn't work.
I was only 9 and have since been told that it is something you have to be shown. Still, the one failure may have scared me off.

4, My favourite piece of music as a child was “Music Box Dancer” by Richard Clademan.
It was a matter of putting that record on (more specifically asking Mum to) and I was off spinning until I fell down dizzy or hit some furniture. Some time this would take more than one playing and there was certainly no technique to the spinning.

5, I have a love hate relationship with housework.
I love having it finished, but am rubbish at getting it done. I would like to be thought of as a tidy and orderly person. I would also like to achieve world peace.

6, I am can follow instructions, but often choose not to, or consult them only when lost.

7, Seven is my favourite number. For numerous reasons. The number seems to occur everywhere and more specifically is the day and month of my birthday.

This meme came with some rules so I had better include them.

Rules for tagging:
1. Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 random and/or weird things about yourself.
3. Tag 7 random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs.
4. Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Back to number 6, I feel a bit shy about tagging people I haven't met. I could even go so far as to say I am not worthy of tagging the blogs I read. Some of them are listed to the side of this. I find them such an inspiration and love going off on tangents following the connections to see where things end up. Instead of tagging I will ignore the strict letter of instructions 3 & 4 and leave you with a list of seven blogs I am humbled by:

This Vintage Chica - She's so busy

Bella Dia – The advent countdown of Christmas books kept me guessing and introduced new treasures.

Heart Felt – Bringing new life to beloved jerseys and I've met her now.

Mama Urchin – She sews, she quilts, she home schools. Where does she find the time?

Sew Mama Sew – So many reasons, but the current Quilting Month sealed the deal.

Eat Your Words – Adventures to be had for a Salsa dancing, velo rider New Zealander in Paris.

And of course, Twenty Cent Mixture – Cool name, cool crafts. Need I say more?