A few years ago, while I was still actively caking I decided that the world needed a sticky date cupcake. It was easy, I basically baked the mix instead of steaming it and turned the butterscotch sauce into a buttercream. Then I tasted it and I couldn’t stop. I think I had it for dinner…
Category: Sweet Treats
Mini Baked Cheesecakes (Gluten Free)
I want to talk a little less about the cheesecake here and more about the gorgeous cake stand that my girlfriends got me for my birthday. Isn’t it darling? It sits on our buffet and generally looks beautiful but today it was put to real use! I’m strictly in the baked cheesecake family when it…
Vanilla Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Buttercream
I suspect Mr Firehouse was duped. You see, a few weeks ago he came to me and asked for some salted caramel cupcakes for the following week. I agreed of course, this wasn’t an unusual request. When I asked why, he commented that a colleague was adamant that salted caramel could not work as a…
Salted Caramel Sauce
When I first arrived in the States and was looking for something to do, I joined a volunteer group that worked in schools during Summer and helped out teachers. This was pretty soon after we’d moved here. Everything was just new and we were just learning how to speak American. During a lesson about…
Lankan Butter Cake
Have you ever heard of a cake smash? If you have a little tyke, you probably would have. It’s a uniquely American, though now a much more ubiquitous concept, of presenting a child with a cake on his/her birthday that can be smashed to their hearts content. The more mess, the better. Owing to…
Brown Sugar Swiss Meringue Buttercream
The Aussie blogger, Not Quite Nigella once commented that most people have a celebrity cook or chef who’s recipes never work for them. She remarked that Karen Martini’s recipe always flopped for her. For me, that cook was always Martha Stewart. Living in Australia I thought her recipes would be foolproof, her shows were staged in…
Cranberry Orange Loaf with a Crumble Topping
Here’s something ironic. I write a food recipe blog and I have trouble following recipes. I’m forever substituting, deleting, thinking I know better and generally being a know-it-all. Mr Firehouse is always commenting on this fact. Recently he spied me working in the kitchen, pen and paper in hand. He wanted to know what I…
“Pancakes” and Pani Pol
Afternoon tea is just about my favourite time of the day. Sitting down to a hot cup of milky, black tea accompanied by something sweet or some cheese and biccies (crackers). This Sunday just gone I told Mr Firehouse that I had a real hankering for Sri Lankan style pancakes with their sweet coconut filling….
Banana Cake with a Maple Glaze and Pecans
Me and measuring cups have a checkered past. When Nuwan and I were getting ready for our wedding, we went to Myer (big Aussie department store) and registered. That’s the fun part where they give you scanners and you can walk around the store scanning items that your guests will hopefully buy for you. We…
Dairy-free Chocolate Cupcakes
A few weeks ago someone in my mother’s group suggested going to a pumpkin patch. I was all in, it sounded fun and exciting and so quintessentially American! We found a good time and decided to go before the weather “turned”. A few days before the event when Mr Firehouse asked “what exactly is…
akkis kitchen 