I feel so satisfied when a meal tastes exactly as I imagined. Especially when the recipe is my own or one that I have adapted from a published source. This evening’s dinner falls in the latter category, based on recipes from both Karen Martini and Yotam Ottolenghi. I could easily eat ALL of their dishes. I never tire of them and find them to be a never ending source of inspiration in my own home kitchen. 

I had previously made the Baked Salmon with Spiced Minty Labna (recipe posted on Cabinet of Cookery on the 25th August 2014). This dish is a HUGE HIT with my children. An easy and impressive way to encourage little ones to enjoy nutrient rich seafood. This evening I paired it with Toasted Spiced Pumpkin Seeds and a Saffron Rice with Sweet Carrots, Currants and Mushrooms. A hunk of savoy cabbage sat forlornly in the fridge (the last of veggie supplies before tomorrow’s replenishment) so I sliced this finely as a quick and crunchy Cabbage Salad dressed simply with apple cider vinegar and olive oil. 


My home cooking repertoire spanned the flavour spectrum today, with sugary sweet dominating the morning. I iced these two Chocolate Fudge Cakes for our local primary school fete. You can find the cake base recipe on Cabinet of Cookery, posted on the 18th April 2015. The bases were baked last night once my little ones were asleep, then left covered with thin, breathable muslin cloths to cool overnight. A classic, Fluffy Buttercream Icing was whipped up this morning and generously smoothed over each cake, before adding edible rose petals to one (wow, what an enticing fresh, floral fragrance!) and textured coconut shaving to the other (available from The Essential Ingredient in Rozelle and Thomas Dux stores). Decadent Lindt balls adorned the top of each cake for added interest. 

I can’t stand scooping a spoonful of dessert into my mouth and realising that it tastes ordinary, or even worse simply awful. Especially when it looks inviting. My tastebuds feel deceived when this happens. I guess that is why I am so selective about the sweet treats I choose to eat. If they are not destined to be utterly delicious, then I would rather go without. 

This is why I make just as much effort to create dishes and desserts that are delicious, as they are appealing to the eye. The decorations are the fun, frothy, fancy element of the cake. But it is just as essential that the actual cake or meal TASTES GOOD, REALLY, REALLY GOOD. This gives the overall dish substance and leaves a lasting fond food memory for your fellow diners. These cakes pictured could easily serve as celebration cakes or as a centrepiece to be enjoyed at the end of a dinner party. 

Saffron Rice with Sweet Carrots, Currants and Mushrooms to serve 6 -8 people as a side dish

Olive oil
50 g unsalted butter
4 golden shallots (the shallot knobs are often clumped together in bulbs, so prise off the number you require)
1 medium carrot
4 medium mushrooms of your choice 
2 decent pinches of saffron
1/3 cup dried currants
sea salt to taste
2 1/2 cups long grain rice, rinsed in a sieve under running water
3 3/4 cup water

I like to use a deep, non stick saucepan when cooking rice dishes because it makes cleaning up so much easier. Add a glug of olive oil to the pot along with the butter and melt on a medium heat. 

Add the shallots, carrot and mushrooms, along with the saffron, currants and sea salt. Sauté on a LOW heat for 10 minutes. 

Turn up the heat to medium once again and add the rice and stir until the grains turn opaque (about 3 minutes). 

Add the water and lay a piece of baking paper over the rice pressing it down gently. This prevents the steam from escaping. Put on a lid and bring briefly to the boil, then immediately turn the heat down to LOW. Cook for 15 minutes. 

Turn out into a serving bowl, add the chopped fresh dill and fluff up with a fork. 

To serve, add a generous spoonful onto each person’s plate. Top with a piece of salmon, smooth over the labna, add some spiced pumpkin seeds and sprinkle a little extra dill for garnish. 

Toasted Spiced Pumpkin Seeds 
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
a grind of sea salt

Warm up a small frypan over a high heat. Add all of the ingredients and toast until the pumpkin seeds darken in colour. Toss the seeds around to prevent burning. Scrape into a serving bowl and sprinkle over the labne. 


Fluffy Buttercream Icing – this quantity is enough to cover the top and sides of two 20cm cakes. Assuming of course that you don’t scoop any out with a spoon and eat it!

Even the most icing – incompetent home cook can master this one. Just pop all the ingredients into an electric mixer and whisk away until smooth and combined. An important tip is to have the butter soften at room temperature. Do not attempt to melt in the microwave or your icing will be sloppy and will split.  easy!

250g unsalted butter at room temperature – 
650g icing sugar mixture (fewer lumps, no need to sieve)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon milk

Add all of the ingredients to the bowl of an electric mixer. I use my KitchenAid for efficiency but a hand held electric beater will also do the trick. Whisk until all the ingredients are combined and the icing is smooth and fluffy. This will take about 5 minutes. 

If you would like to tint the icing, add your choice of colour with the ingredients. 

To make a light chocolate icing, melt 50 grams of dark chocolate and scrape this into the bowl prior to whisking. For a richer icing, double the amount of chocolate used.