little citrus cakes & browned buttercream

It is no secret that I am obsessed with browned butter. I truly believe it is the best form in which butter can exist. This is one of my all time favourite recipes, I've shared this browned butter pecan pie recipe with you, and I've even written a patronising post on how to brown butter for those who are yet to discover this culinary delight. So simple, so rewarding.

I don't know why the thought hadn't occurred to me - to turn it into icing - but when I stumbled upon it during a casual internet food blog trawl, I discovered that it was an actual thing that people have been doing for years. It is difficult to describe the taste - nutty, caramel-y, a much deeper flavour than your average buttercream. It is very easy to make, and particularly shines when paired with citrus fruits. Try it with some little citrus cakes!

evening flower crowns

Some time ago I had the pleasure of spending the evening with a beautiful bride-to-be and all her fun friends in a room full of flowers. Flower crowns are quite the thing at the moment - and understandably so! They're so fun to wear and surprisingly easy to make. Get yourself some blooms and some floristry wire and you're good to go.

Photos by my incredibly talented friend, Linda. Click for more!

fig tart & a new adventure

I have two very exciting things to share with you today. Number one, I made a delicious tart out of figs and pecans and maple syrup. Number two, I've totally levelled up in the blogesphere game by becoming a guest blogger! (ha, I'm such a dork.)

But seriously, over the last few months I've had the pleasure of meeting and getting to know a whole bunch of creative, blogging geniuses across Sydney. One such lady goes by the name of Nia Neve, and she is proving to be just as cool as her name sounds. She has the most lovely blog and is the mastermind behind the whole #postaparcel operation that has taken instagram by storm. (If you want to learn more about postaparcel click here, here & here.) Little did I know that while I was busy putting a parcel together, Nia was stalking this blog and hatching a plan for me to become a regular contributor to Life & Co. I was seriously so blown away by her proposition and am so excited to work with her.

So, voila! The guest blogging begins with a warm, gooey, autumnal fig tart that is sure to please fig lovers and fig doubters alike. Head on over to Life & Co for the recipe and more pictures!

a wedding: jess & dan

Some floral work I did for a wedding a little while ago. Stunning photography by Jo Bartholomew - I have fallen in love with her photography, so please check her out! 

strawberry & rose petal jam

Strawberries are crazy cheap in Sydney at the moment! 

I grew up in Asia, where we did not have access to any of the colder climate fruits (think berries, peaches, nectarines...). We could eat all the mango, honeydew melon, and coconut we wanted - but berries were not an option. No, berries were the things of fairy tales, the things you ate once you'd travelled the long journey home to the far-off land of Australia. As a result some part of my brain still thinks of strawberries as an incredibly luxurious fruit, bought only in small proportions for special occasions. I've been back in Sydney for twelve years already and I still can't shake the feeling that turning a whole bowlful of beautiful fresh strawberries into a little jar of jam is doing them an injustice! 

But it isn't! Because when the strawberries cost less than a jar of store bought jam, and the jam tastes this good - justice is served in the berry kingdom. This jam is thick, sweet and caramel-ly and would make a great spread for some sourdough toast, but should probably be eaten with whipped cream on some lemonade scones. 

spiced pear & ginger crumble

I love winter.  Oh boy, do I love it. I love a serious, committed winter, where the snow sticks to the ground and it is an invigorating kind of cold that makes your cheeks go pink and makes you wonder whether you still have all ten toes. But at the same time I love winter in Sydney because the breeze is cool and brisk but the sunshine is so warm. You get to sleep under a big cozy doona and wear clunky old ugg boots. It makes running much more pleasant and means you can sit by a fire and drink tea cups full of mulled wine.

And you get to turn winter fruits into crumble. Delicious. I've made a bazillion many apple crumbles, which are always the classic cinnamon-y, caramel-y kind of crumble that is a sure crowd pleaser. But when I was asked to make a crumble for a dinner party, I wanted to make something a little more interesting. 

Behold, the spiced pear and ginger crumble. I was told by guests that it tasted warm and spicy and even a little middle-eastern. All good things. It's up to you if you want to be a little less heavy handed with the spices.  

Have you worked with fresh ginger before? It is ugly. It's covered in this papery bark and comes in all kinds of strange shapes and sizes. Don't be intimidated, it isn't at all difficult to work with. All you need it a vegetable peeler.

panna cotta with raspberry and thyme

Sometimes food is better in single serves - do you agree? 

When I have to share food I often get a case of food anxiety. I feel like I have to eat really quickly if I'm going to get my fair share and end up stressed. I dread the moment when you sit down for dinner in a restaurant and someone in your party says "how about we get a few plates to share?"

No, no, no. I want my own meal, on my own plate, so that I can eat in my own weirdly organised way (I have this thing about piling food neatly on the back of my fork which can be ... time consuming). Just let me be! Okay, the truth is I don't always feel this way. There is definitely something lovely about having a long table of old friends sharing a classic family style feast - but let's just make sure we each have our own plate, why don't we?  

Phew. Lucky for freaks like me this particular dessert is best made in single serves, that way you'll have the best chance of having a panna cotta that will hold its shape. Or you can be lazy, like me, and not even bother turning it out - just eat it right out of the mould. I served these at my mother's 50th birthday and they went down a treat. 

Spiked with real vanilla bean and covered in tangy, herbed raspberries, this panna cotta is easy to love and very easy to make!