Microwave popcorn

I tried this for the first time today, and I can't believe how simple and easy it is! I don't know why I waited so long but I think it's going to become a household staple.

What you need:

Paper bag- just plain brown lunchbags from Coles worked for me

1/4 cup popping corn

1. Put 1/4 cup popcorn in a brown paper bag. Fold top over a few times and tape it.
2. Place in microwave folded side up for 2 to 3 minutes or until there is 5 seconds between pops.
3. Eat plain or add flavours (such as salt, butter, sugar, etc.)

And that's it! Easy peasy, no mess, healthy, plus the bag can be reused next time. The bags are actually a bit small for that amount of popcorn, so next time I'd probably use less popping corn.

And how's this for affordable- 1/4 cup popping corn is approx 50g, so you can get 10 serves for $2. Pretty cheap, huh? You can't buy the commercial pre-made stuff for that price.

Here's the website that I stole it from. Now I want to go and find how to make caramel popcorn!

Vegan Birthday Cake

I used this recipe to make cupcakes for G's birthday. One of her special guests is allergic to egg so I needed to make something he could eat to share in the festivities (though the actual birthday cake ended up being a butter cake out of a box!). It was given to me by my friend Kate.

1 3/4 cups SR flour

1 cup caster sugar

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 cup water

1 tbsp white vinegar

2 tsp vanilla essence

Place all ingredients in a large mixing bowl in the order listed and beat with an electric mixer until smooth. Pour into a lined, non-stick 20cm round cake pan and bake for 55 mins or until a skewer inseted in the middle comes out clean. Leave in the pan for 10 mins then remove from pan and cool on a wire rack.

Ice and decorate as desired.

Icing

Combine 1-2 tbsp of dairy-free margarine with 1 1/2 cups icing sugar with a spoon until mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add a little water and mix until icing is desired consistency. Add food colouring as required and according to your child's colour preference, lol).

Variations:

Substitute 1/2 cup flour with 1/2 cup cocoa for a chocolate cake and ice with chocolate icing.

Add 1 cup fresh or frozen raspberries to vanilla or chocolate cake mixture before baking. Ice with chocolate icing.

(The vanilla version is probably safest for children's parties because of berry and/or chocolate allergies.)

Polka Dot Cookies

This is taken from the book "Ready, Steady, Bake" by Lucy Broadhurst. I've only made them once but they were a big hit. I didn't have a biscuit cutter the right size so I just used a glass.

Makes about 50

125g unsalted butter, cubed

125g caster sugar

1 egg

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

125g plain flour

125g self-raising flour

1 cup smarties

1. Preheat the oven to 160˚C. Line a baking tray with baking paper.

2. Beat the butter and caster sugar using electric beaters until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla extract and beat well.

3. Sift the flours and fold in to form a soft dough.

4. Turn out onto a sheet of baking paper, cover with another sheet and roll out to 5mm thick.

5. Using biscuit cutters, cut out circles and place on the tray. Press the smarties into the biscuits.

6. Back in batches for 10-15 minutes, or until golden. Cool on a wire rack.

Cupcakes

I tried this recipe for the first time today. I found it at the Essential Baby forums, here's a link to the thread where it's discussed. This recipe couldn't be easier, because it's just adding ingredients into the mixer. The batter was so light and aerated, I've never had a cupcake mix look like that before! I didn't use the icing recipe though, I'll have to give that a go next time...

Here's the recipe:

Into 1 metric measuring cup (250ml) place 2 eggs then fill to the top with thickened cream. Pour into a mixing bowl.

Beat 1 minute with an electric mixer.

Add 1 tsp vanilla extract and 3/4 cup caster sugar. Beat for 3 minutes.

Add 1 cup of SR flour (sifted 3 times) and fold into the mixture.

Spoon into patty pans and bake in a 160 degree oven until golden on top (this takes 17 minutes in my oven)

Buttercream icing

125g margarine at room temperature (it won't mix properly if too cold)
1 1/2 caps icing mixture
2 tbsp milk
colour if desired

Beat the margarine until white. Stir in the icing sugar then add the milk and beat for about 30 seconds.