Kugelhopf

This is Dorie Greenspan's recipe for kugelhopf: I made the recipe as written here.

It's technically a kugelhopf made in the wrong pan. This is a rose-shaped bundt pan. A kugelhopf is traditionally supposed to be in a tall swirly turban-like shaped pan.

I found out a few things while planning this cake:

1. A bundt cake in modern parlance is an American term for anything baked in a bundt tin of whatever shape, typically some sort of pound cake or heavy cake in any flavour. You can get bizarro bastardised versions in sour cream and carrot, black forest, pecan caramel, etc.

2. A bundt cake in the traditional sense is a German chocolate-laden thing, still in the fancy shape but with cinnamon-coffee-mocha-type flavouring.

3. A kugelhopf is not a bundt cake. It is like a brioche, but not. It has raisins in it and runs on yeast, not self-raising flour. So it is like a half-bread, half-cake bakery mutant.

I also learned that flour can Do Things I Did Not Know It Could Do. When the dough was first mixed, it was super-sloppy, almost like pancake batter. I was all like "whatever, it's screwed, I put too much milk in it". Then Dorie was all like "beat it in the mixer until the end of time." I was like "whatever Dorie, that's never going to become a cake, or even remotely dough-like. Good luck, lady." But anyway, I did the eternal mixing, and slowly it came together and all the gluten strands stretched and stretched and eventually it was like smooth stretchy chewing gum. No joke. I was amazed. Then it had to rise and be knocked back about six times, then sit overnight, then rise again for hours. By the end of all that I was like "THIS BETTER BE WORTH IT". Anyway, it totally was.

This thing came out of the oven and it was light, richly flavoured (no doubt from maturing and rising and yeasting for so long) and the raisins were soft and juicy, and it was awesome. I also dusted it with cinnamon along with the sugar. It was delicious with coffee.  Perfect for afternoon tea. Or breakfast. Or dessert. Incredible.

My tip: if you use a bundt pan or a rose pan or anything with tons of ridges or moulded detail, butter it real good, butter it again and then lightly flour the tin as well. I hate it when things stick to pans.

Taco night

Crunchy taco shells

Soft tortillas

Mexican spiced rice

Fresh tomato and coriander salsa

Refried beans with cumin and roasted capsicum

Lettuce

Buttered corn cobs

Avocado, jalapenos and lime

Tabasco

Strawberries, raspberries, apple, grapes and white cherries

Cheeses (baked ricotta, blue-vein, semi-hard goat's cheese, vintage tasty)

Lindt chocolates

Liqueur shiraz

Tokyo Milk

Tokyo Milk: my latest obsession. Magnolia at New Farm has a couple of the hand creams, but for the rest of the range I need to go online and order from the US. Such deep, dark temptation...

Easter Feaster 2011

Mmm. Good work everyone. The Feaster returned this year, after a few years' hiatus. There was a USA theme to the food: here's what we ate. Maple syrup and paprika-flavoured meatballs Cheerios and tomato sauce Corn cobs Buffalo wings Potato casserole Cornbread Barbecued pork ribs Coleslaw Potato salad Stuffed tomatoes Ambrosia salad Brownies Easter eggs

My best and worst fashion of the Golden Globes 2010

Hate. Sir Paul, I don't care for your scarf. And Friend, it's the Globes, not a swingers fondue party.

Hate. Put them away, everyone's seen your personal golden globes more times than we care to remember. And maybe try a different hairdo or shade of fake tan in the future.

Love. Simple, great dovegrey colour, structured draping.

Love. She is SIXTY-FIVE! Good on her. Super hot.

Hate. Gorillaface. Try not to get it so wrinkled.

Love. Everything but the hip shelf.

What the hell? Hate! Is she a washed-up 1970s casino dolly? And the SHOES! Ugly, ugly, ugly.

Love. Mini-hive, French attitude, panache, relaxed.

Love. Mr Schue, TAKE ME HOME.

Love. Emily looks soft and glowing and John looks sharp. Pull your pants up though.

For some reason, love. Unusual. Colour a bit beige though.

Love. Worthington, you arrogant bastard. You look foxy and confident and so does Natalie. When she is gone we will be married and I will be your red carpet arm candy.

Hate. Chick from The Office, sort your bodice out and DO YOUR HAIR PROPERLY.

Hate. Patricia. You are not a bag lady / a million years old.

Hate. Cory Monteith- GET ONE THAT FITS.

Love. Clooney and Friend- she somehow gets away with the twisted midriff bits.

Love. Sparkly, structured, simple.

Love. This is weird but she pulls it off.

Blue Smoke BBQ

Well, hush my mouth. Apparently the best (read: only) BBQ and rib joint in Brisbane. Perhaps I agree.

I first heard about Blue Smoke via Urbanspoon, weirdly enough. It looked interesting. Then I googled it, to find reviews praising the food and damning the service. Despite that, we decided to go, and prepared ourselves to eat well while fending off possibly abusive waitstaff.

However. Arrived, given reserved table promptly. Friendly, positive, energetic staff. Complimentary cornbread turned up. Soft, spicy, warm cornbread with creamed honey butter. SIN. FANTASTIC.

Ordered, with help from the manager who was very lovely and straightforward. A plate of buffalo wings with blue cheese sauce ("original" spiciness level), half size servings ($21 each) of Kansas babyback ribs and Memphis ribs, each served with chips and coleslaw, a Budweiser and a Heineken. Total cost $35 each, not cheap, but not over the top either.

Buffalo wings JUICY. I sucked those wing bones clean.

We were both VERY glad to have chosen the half-serves of ribs, because they were insanely huge, and on top of the ten giant wings with sauce and the cornbread, it was getting crazy in there. And delicious. And with great atmosphere and service. (Kansas ribs with sauce, Memphis ribs with dry-rub and tomato sauce)

Maybe Blue Smoke read the internet reviews and lifted their game, or maybe all those other reviewers were nuts. Either way it was great, the food was great, service was great, fun night. Yumbo.

Glazed maple cookies

From Martha Stewart. These are really, really beautiful. I love their glassy mirror finish and their rich gorgeous colour. Maplelicious.

In the recipe, Martha says to "drop the batter" onto the baking trays, but my mix turned out more like a dough, so I just rolled it into balls, flattened each ball with a flat-bottomed glass dipped in flour, and reduced cooking time to about 10 minutes instead of the 12-15 that Martha says.
The finished bikkie is firm but chewy, with a soft caramel-like glossy top. I sprinkled each one with a couple of grains of Maldon salt.

They remind me of imaginary honey biscuits that Winnie the Pooh might have had in the treehouse with Christopher Robin, or maybe something that The Famous Five would have packed in the hamper for adventurous afternoon teas.

Seven terrible breakfast ideas

Aren't you glad that these aren't even an option in Australia?

Jelly Belly rotten flavours

So it looks like Jelly Belly aren't content with chocolate pudding, butterscotch and (my favourite) watermelon flavours. The latest lineup is called Beanboozled and it comes in a Russian roulette-style game box: will you get Buttered Popcorn, or Rotten Egg? Coconut, or Baby Wipes? Juicy Pear, or Booger?

I really want to buy this and try it out. What's even more creepy than the concept is that some poor work experience guy at Jelly Belly had to sit there and taste-test all those rotten flavours. Imagine that guy's day at work.

Natural Harvest recipes

I have seen this cookbook with my own eyes.

Lindt sea salt chocolate

My friend Jem brought this rare Lindt chocolate back for me from Los Angeles. I wish it was available easily in Australia: it is to die for. The usual creamy Lindt mouthfeel, sparked off and contrasted by flakes of crunchy sea salt. Surprisingly, they don't detract from the sweetness at all. The salt enhances the flavour.

I think I will start adding chocolate to my savoury dishes, like the Spanish do.