I have just found the easiest cupcake recipe, ever- and better yet, the end result absolutely doesn't give it away. This minimum-effort-maximum-result recipe is simply too good not to share, especially during this time of copious chocolate chomping,!


Ingredients
•    1 1/2 cups self-raising flour, sifted
•    1/2 cup cocoa powder, sifted
•    3/4 cup caster sugar
•    3/4 cup milk
•    125g butter, melted, cooled
•    2 x 59g eggs, beaten
•    1 cup dark or milk choc bits
•    1 shot of espresso, cooled

Topping
•    1/2 cup cream
•    100g dark chocolate, roughly chopped
•    green fondant
•    Jaffas

Method

1.  Preheat oven to 200°C. Grease a 12 x 1/3-cup capacity muffin pan. Alternatively, line holes with paper cases. Combine flour, cocoa powder and caster sugar in a bowl. Make a well in the centre.
2. Add milk, butter, eggs and espresso to flour mixture. Using a large metal spoon, stir gently to combine. Stir in chocolate chips.
   
3. Spoon mixture into prepared muffin pan. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Stand in pan for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool.
4. Make icing: Place cream and chocolate into a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Stir with a metal spoon until smooth. Remove from heat. Refrigerate for 30 minutes, or until a spreadable consistency. Spread over cupcakes. Shape fondant into leaves, press onto cupcakes with a couple of jaffas.

(Slightly modified recipe from SuperFoodIdeas)

Some time last year, we saw a sign at a round-about saying 'plants for sale'. We followed the sign to a beautiful garden belonging to a charming lady, Judy. We had a nice chat, bought some chocolate mint and promised to come back in the future.
 
After a wet winter and blazing summer, we soon forgot about this special find. 2 weeks ago, while in the area again, we saw her sign up and remembered the previous visit. We stopped by and Oh, What a Ball we had! Judy was so full of joy, so enthusiastic about gardening, and so generous with her tips and advice.


Then last week, when we dropped in Judy presented us with a wonderful and rare gift - a baby banana tree to call our very own!  Its truly a treasured and proud addition to our little garden family. I'm so excited about its potential!

Access to the executive lounge at the Sheraton during a Christmas stay meant we had all sorts of treats available to us throughout the day. One of the little complimentary snacks was afghan biscuits. Now, prior to this, I had never had one of these before, so I was pleasantly surprised by how crisp they were.

Last weekend, while I was flipping through my Women's Weekly "Old fashioned recipes" cookbook, I was reminded of these cookies. They are quite easy to make (took me 1.5hrs including cleaning up!) and just remind me so much of my secondary school afternoons spent with friends making cornflake cookies!


I have to admit I was greedy with the icing and melted a bar of lindt 85% with the butter and icing sugar (omitted water) instead of using cocoa. I imagine using nutella would also work very well.

Ingredients (Makes about 30)

• 180g butter, softened at room temperature
  
• 1/3c caster sugar
• 1 1/2c plain flour
• 3 tablespoons cocoa
• 2 cups cornflakes
• 30 or so almonds
  

Chocolate icing

• 1/4c icing sugar
• 2 tablespoons cocoa
• 1 teaspoon soft butter
• 2 tablespoons water, approximately

Method

1. Beat butter and sugar in a bowl with an electric mixer until light & fluffy. Sift in flour and cocoa, mix. The dough may look dry but keep mixing and it will come together.
   
2. Stir in the cornflakes, and don't worry if it crushes.
3. Roll 1 tablespoon portions into a ball and place about 3cm apart on a tray lined with greaseproof paper. (You need to roll it into a firm ball or the cookie will crumble too easily)
   
4. Bake in a moderate oven (180degC) for about 12 minutes or until biscuits are firm and lightly browned. Stand for 5 minutes before lifting onto wire rack to cool.
5. Spread warm chocolate icing quickly onto biscuits and top with an almond.
   

Chocolate icing: Combine sifted icing sugar and cocoa in small heatproof bowl. Stir in butter and enough water to make a stiff paste. Sitr over hot water until spreadable.