​I love a good Cannoli, they are amazing, so when I came across a recipe for a cannoli cake, I had to try it.

What a great cake. It is made from two sponges, soaked in an orange syrup, sandwiched together with a ricotta 'cannoli' filling. Then it is all covered in a vanilla cream icing. 

Do not forget to add the choc chips into the cake, they are needed for the chocolate hit. The orange liqueur is optional, but I love it, so I add it. If you don't want to use it, just add more orange juice.

I recently changed the sponge part of this recipe, as this is a better sponge, than the one I had on here previously.

I have made this as a birthday cake for a friend of mine, and I have made it to take to a barbecue recently. So far it has been a hit with everyone that has tried it. This cake is more an adults cake than a kids cake. But my daughter who is eleven loves it.

The cake can be made the day before.

You may not need all of the icing. I like to ice the cake, leaving some icing aside, then set it in the refrigerator for an hour, then touch up the icing, if needed with leftover icing.

I love it, it is light, it is fresh. Give it a go, you won't be disappointed.

​​From the oranges you need to grate 2 teaspoons of zest. Once you have zested the oranges, juice the oranges, you will need 5 tablespoons juice (if you are not using the liqueur increase the juice to 8 tablespoons). Stir liqueur (if using) into the orange juice, stir, set aside.

In a large bowl of an electric mixer, add the cream cheese, beat for a minute. Add the ricotta and beat another minute. Now add the icing sugar and grated zest and beat until smooth. Stir in 45g of the chocolate chips.

Brush both the tops of the cakes with the orange juice mixture.

​​Place the remaining chocolate into a heatproof bowl, place the bowl over a pan of simmering water, don't allow the chocolate bowl to touch the water. Stir until the chocolate has completely melted and is smooth. Spoon the melted chocolate into a piping bag. Cut a 3mm hole in the tip of your piping bag.

Find the centre of your cake, now starting from the centre, make concentric circles, moving out to the edge of the cake. (Below is my first ever attempt at doing this, so it shows it is not that hard).

Now before the chocolate sets, get a cocktail skewer and draw spokes around the cake about 4cm apart. Start from the centre of the cake and drag the skewer to the edge. The next spoke should start from the edge and drag it to the centre. Keep alternating directions of your spokes i.e. edge to centre, centre to edge.

​You can also just go crazy like the top photo and just drizzle chocolate all over the cake.

Refrigerate the cake for a minimum of 4 hours.

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​This recipe came from a friend of mines mum, Anne. According to her granddaughter she is the best cook ever. After tasting this Zucchini slice I would not dare question that. I first got to try this zucchini slice at a party at my friends house, Anne was there and happily shared her recipe (I love people that share recipes) and I have since then, made this so many times, as my family absolutely love it.

This is delicious, this is moreish, I cannot stop at one slice after I make this. My husband loves it, my kids love it, my mother loves it, I just don't know anyone who has tried it that doesn't love it.

The recipe is not Gluten Free, 
but to change this recipe to Gluten Free, just omit the self raising flour and substitute with ​
1 cup of Gluten Free Plain Flour 
1 teaspoon baking powder

This is perfect picnic food as it travels well and doesn't have to be eaten hot.

It is great for parties, as it is great eaten, hot or at room temperature. 

Sometimes, when I serve it for lunch I add a sliced tomato on top of what would be each piece. The tomato adds a lovely flavour to it. If you are very patient, you could slice up cherry tomatoes for finger food sized pieces.

If you are looking for a simple yet delicious lunch idea, school lunchbox treat, a light dinner, try this you will love it.

​2 zucchini (350g), grated
1 onion, finely chopped
3 bacon rashers, finely chopped
1 cup grated tasty cheese
1 cup self raising flour
1/2 cup vegetable oil
5 eggs
Salt and pepper, to taste

​
Preheat oven to 200C/180 fan forced.

Line with baking paper a 23cm x 33cm baking tin.

In a large bowl add the zucchini, onion, bacon, cheese, flour, oil and eggs. Season with a little salt (keep in mind the bacon can be salty) and pepper. Give it a good mix until it is all combined.

Pour it into your prepared tin, spreading it out evenly. If you have some spare grated cheese I like to sprinkle a little on top.

​Place into your preheated oven for about 30-35 minutes until is golden brown.

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​Looking for a quick midweek dinner to make, look no further. This pasta is not only quick to make it tastes amazing. The combination of chicken, bacon, garlic, cream, and shallots is just delicious. 

My husband was someone who when I met him said he did not like creamy pasta sauces, he loved this, he has now converted into a creamy pasta eater and really enjoys it. My kids cannot get enough of this, if there are leftovers, they want it for school the next day.

Any type of dried or fresh pasta can be used here.

To make the herb bread: Combine 120g butter (softened) with 1/2 cup chopped mixed fresh herbs and a finely chopped garlic clove. Slice a medium breadstick diagonally; spread each piece with the herb butter. Reshape into a loaf, wrap in aluminium foil and bake in a moderate 180C oven for 30 minutes or until the loaf is crisp and hot.

My family love it hope yours does to.

​Recipe adapted from an Australian Women's Weekly Cookbook

330g chicken thigh fillets, you can use breast
1 tablespoon olive oil
30g butter
2 rashers bacon, trimmed and cut into thin strips
2 cloves garlic, crushed
250g button mushrooms, sliced
1/3 cup white wine
1 teaspoon vegeta
300ml thickened cream
4 shallots, chopped
1 tablespoon plain flour
2 tablespoons water
Salt and white pepper, to taste
400g fettuccine
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
​
Trim chicken of excess fat and sinew. Cut chicken into thin strips.

Heat oil and butter in a heavy based frying pan; add chicken and cook over a medium heat for 3 minutes or until browned.

Ad bacon, garlic and mushrooms; cook over a medium heat for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally.
​
Add wine and cook until the liquid is reduced by half. Add the vegeta, cream and shallots and bring to the boil. 

Blend the flour with the water until smooth. Add to the pan and stir over heat until the mixture boils and thickens; reduce the heat and simmer for 2 minutes. Season to taste.

Cook fettuccine in a large pan of rapidly boiling water. Once cooked, reserve 1/2 cup of the pasta water, then drain the fettuccine. Add the pasta water to your sauce along with the fettuccine and stir until combined. 

Sprinkle with parmesan cheese.

​Serve immediately with a green salad and hot herb bread.

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​Nachos is something my kids absolutely love, make this and I have three very happy children. My husband on the other hand, does not appreciate it all, so this is something I make for my kids when my husband is not home for dinner.

Well I am modifying my original opening paragraph. After many times of not even wanting to try nachos, but saying he doesn't like it, my husband has finally given nachos a go and said it was actually nice, he actually enjoyed it. I am seriously surprised. 

I love making this, as it is super simple to make, it is made relatively quickly, really, while your meat sauce cooks, you prep all you sides, so in about 40-45 minutes, dinner is on the table. That's pretty quick for me.

Now I love to double this recipe, as on the first day we have nachos, usually a Friday night, pub night for my husband, on the second day lunch is Tacos (just shred up some lettuce to add to the tacos), so we have a bit of a Mexican feast for two days. 

I also have found individual serving dishes which I love, as they look great and there is no more bickering on who got more. But feel free to make one large nachos dish to share, completely up to you on how you serve it.

With the seasonings, this is how we like it. But after you taste the sauce, add more chilli, if needed, or any of the other spices. That is completely up to you, here the recipe is really just a guide.

I love a mix of pork and veal/beef mince, but if you like just beef mince, use it, that is also up to you.

So is you are looking for a fun, easy dinner idea, give this a go, we love it, hope you do to.

​2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 brown onion, diced
2 tablespoon olive oil
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoons ground coriander
2 teaspoons smoked paprika
1/4 teaspoon ground chilli
500g pork and veal mince
400g tin chopped tomatoes
400g tin red kidney beans
1-2 packets corn chips

Salsa:
2 tomatoes, diced
2 shallots, thinly sliced
1/4 cup coriander, chopped
​Juice of 1/2 lemon or 1 lime

Guacamole:
2 avocados
2 shallots, thinly sliced
Juice of 1/2 lemon or 1 lime
​
3/4 cup grated tasty cheese
1/2 cup grated mozzarella
3/4 cup sour cream, to serve
sliced jalapeno, to serve
​
Preheat oven to 180C/160C fan forced.

Put a chef pan over a medium-high heat. Put the oil in the pan, add the garlic and onion and sauté for 3-4 minutes, stirring, until the onions soften.

Add the mince, cumin, coriander, paprika and chilli, break up any lumps in the mince with a wooden spoon. When the mince is separated and browned, add the tin tomatoes and simmer for 20 minutes.
​
While the mince is cooking, make the guacamole. Peel and remove stone from the avocado, place the avocado flesh in a medium sized bowl, add the lemon juice. Using a fork, mash it all up. Add the shallots, season with a little salt and pepper, mix it well. Set aside until needed.
​
After the mince has simmered for 20 minutes, add the red kidney beans, stir, continue simmering for 5 minutes.
​
Meanwhile make the salsa. Add the diced tomato, shallots and the chopped coriander to a medium sized bowl, season with a little salt and pepper. Add a teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil, and the lemon juice. The dressing is to taste, so add the lemon juice in a bit at a time until you have the flavour you love.

Mix together the tasty and mozzarella cheese. I add mozzarella, as tasty cheese alone as it cools hardens quickly, the mozzarella allows the cheese to melt better and become stretchy as it cools, for longer.
​
To assemble, place an even amount of corn chips in the base of 4 individual serving dishes or in one large serving platter. I like to decorate the sides with larger corn chips so they stick out a little.

Ladle over the mince evenly into the centre of the dish. 

Top with the cheese.

Place the dishes onto an oven tray and place in the oven for 10-15 minutes until the cheese has melted and the corn chips have warmed up.
​
Put the salsa, guacamole and sour cream in individual serving bowls and place on the table.

​Once the nachos are ready, serve immediately.

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​I love spring rolls, but quite often you get them at take away stores and they are filled with noodles or just cabbage. These are delicious, the filling is very flavoursome, it has mince, prawns, cabbage, just to name a few ingredients.

They are not too hard to make, quite simple really, (once you get the hang of it). I made these from large spring roll wrappers for lunch, however just buy the mini spring roll wrappers for parties, or cut the large sheets into 4 squares, fiddily to do, but you can. They are also great for parties as they can be made in advance and frozen, ready to fry straight from the freezer when needed.

I say in the ingredients 2 cups of cabbage, I don't actually measure, If you add say 1 cup shredded cabbage you have a stronger saucy flavoured spring roll, my family find it too strong. I tend to buy 1/2 a Chinese cabbage and shred say 3/4 of it, I leave about 3cm of the very thick core. This gives a lighter flavoured spring roll.

The chilli is optional as I like to serve it with sweet chilli sauce, so if you know your family doesn't like spicy spring rolls, don't add the chilli in the roll.

When adding the filling to the pastry, try not to add too much of the liquid, it wets the pastry and makes it difficult to roll without tearing.

This could also be a lovely Sang Choy Bow filling, just top with some bean sprouts.

​Makes about 20 large spring rolls or about 40 mini spring rolls

1 tablespoon peanut oil
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 teaspoons grated ginger
125g pork mince
125g chicken mince
50g prawn meat, finely chopped (4 medium sized prawns)
1 cup chopped mushrooms
2 cups shredded Chinese cabbage
1 carrot, finely chopped
1/4 cup chopped water chestnuts
1/4 cup chicken stock
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon chilli sauce or 1 small red chilli, finely chopped
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/2 cup chopped green onions
20 spring roll wrappers
Oil for frying
​

Heat oil in a wok or large frying pan. Add garlic and ginger and stir fry for 1 minute.

Add the pork, chicken and prawn. Cook, stirring, breaking up any lumps in the mince, for 3 minutes or until cooked.

Add the mushrooms, cabbage, carrot and chestnuts. Stir fry for 1 minute. 

Mix in the stock, oyster sauce, soy sauce, chilli sauce and sugar. Stir fry for 3 minutes. Remove from heat, stir in the green onions. Cool.

​Working with one wrapper at a time. Place the spring roll wrapper on a work surface with one corner pointing towards you. For larger spring rolls, place a heaped tablespoon of mixture in a sausage shape in one corner of the wrapper. For mini spring rolls use a teaspoon.

​Brush edges of pastry lightly with water. Fold corner over filling, then begin rolling up the spring roll firmly, folding edges in. Press to seal. Repeat with remaining wrappers and filling. Cover with cling film, refrigerate until needed. These can also be frozen at this stage. If you have leftover wrappers, cover with cling film and place back in the freezer for another time.

​Heat enough oil in a frying pan, so when the spring rolls go in, the oil comes halfway up the spring roll. When a cube of bread is added to the oil and it sizzles immediately, the spring rolls are ready to fry. In batches, fry the spring rolls on one side until lightly browned, turn over and fry the other side. Drain on crumpled paper towels. You can deep fry them, however I found they were hard to flip over, plus less oil is used this way.
​

​Serve with dipping sauces. I like it with sweet chilli sauce.

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​Recipe adapted from a Better Homes and Gardens Magazine

Serves 4-6

8 skinless chicken thigh fillets, halved
Salt and pepper, to season
2 tablespoons plain flour
2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil, plus extra 
250g chorizo, cut into 1cm thick slices
250ml dry white wine
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 teaspoons smoked paprika
500ml chicken stock
8 eschalots, peeled
3 cloves garlic, smashed, roughly chopped
1 carrot, sliced into 1cm thick rounds
1 stick celery, diced
4 sprigs thyme
1 fresh bay leaf
2 x 400g tin cannellini beans, drained, rinsed
​​
Preheat oven to 140C/120C fan forced.

Put the chicken pieces in a large zip lock bag, season generously, add flour and shake well to coat.

Heat oil in a large heavy based ovenproof saucepan (it needs to have a lid) over a medium heat. Add the chorizo and cook, stirring occasionally, for 8 minutes or until the chorizo is golden and the fat has rendered from it. Remove chorizo from pan and set aside on a plate, leaving the oil in the pan.

Cook chicken in batches, turning occasionally, for 5 minutes or until golden, but not cooked through. Add a little extra oil between batches, if necessary. Remove the chicken and set aside on a plate.
​
Add wine, tomato paste and paprika to the pan and cook, stirring to incorporate anything stuck to base of the pan, for 5 minutes.

Return chicken and chorizo to the pan along with 1 cup water, chicken stock, eschalots, garlic, carrot, celery, thyme and bay leaf. Stir to ensure everything is covered by the liquid. Bring to a simmer, then cover with a lid and transfer to your preheated oven.

Cook, covered, for 2 hours.

After 2 hours, add the beans and cook a further 30 minutes, but this time on the stove top with the lid off over low-medium heat, stirring occasionally so it does not catch on the base of the pot as it reduces.

​Serve hot with tagliatelle or mashed potato.

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​If you need a quick breakfast or lunch idea, look no further, these mini frittatas are delicious and take about 2 minutes to prepare.

The original recipe used only egg whites, so feel free to use just egg whites, but I do prefer to use the whole egg.

These are great hot or cold, and I know I'll be making them again and again.

Super tasty, super easy.

​Recipe adapted from bzfd.it/2cRQblL

Makes 6

2 cups English Spinach
1 Roma tomato, seeds removed, diced
6 eggs
Salt and Pepper, to taste


Preheat your oven to 180C.

Lightly spray a 6 x 80ml muffin tin with cooking spray.

Place a few spinach leaves in each of the muffin holes, distribute evenly.

​Add in the diced tomato, evenly distributed.

Carefully crack an egg into each muffin hole. Season with salt and pepper. Carefully break the egg yolk and gently swirl it around, not too much though.

Find the recipe at www.whatscookingella.com/egg-breakfast-cups.html 
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​I'd love to know what you think about this recipe, and please let me know if you have made it, I do like to get feedback. Name and comment only required.

​Here is a dessert that everyone needs to try. This is so easy to make looks amazing and tastes amazing.

The champagne adds a touch of class to this beautiful pannacotta and as I am a champagne drinking kind of a girl (I absolutely love the stuff), this jelly is fabulous to me. Use whatever champagne or sparkling wine that you like to drink, as the recipe needs only so much and you will need to drink the rest, no waste policy in my house haha.

As for the pannacotta it sets perfectly, it is wobbily and creamy and smooth and just delicious.

For the gelatine leaves I will give you a grams and size measure as it is important to get this right. There are several different brands of gelatine leaves, if you use the wrong size the pannacotta may set too hard or not enough. But I will give you all the information you need to get this perfect.

The pannacotta and jelly only require about 20 minutes of actual preparation time, chilling time is required, but it is so easy to make and takes so little time to make for something so delicious.

This is coincidentally gluten free, so it is great for those looking for simple yet great gluten free recipes.

Now the brand of gelatine I used was from Coles (Australia) McKenzies gelatine leaves, they are the perfect sized gelatine leaves. The loaf tin I purchased from Myer and it is a large loaf tin. You will need a long cake server for this as the slices are long and fragile and it will assist in transferring to your plate.

Give this a go for your next dinner party, valentines day or just for fun, it is one of my favourite desserts, hope it becomes yours.

Recipe adapted from the Good Housekeeping magazine Christmas Collection 2011

​8 gelatine leaves, each about 11.5cm x 6.5cm (about 14g in total)
150g small strawberries
150ml rose champagne or sparkling wine
150g caster sugar
600ml thickened cream
1 vanilla pod, halved lengthways, seeds scraped
300ml full cream milk
​
Put two gelatine leaves (4 grams) into a bowl and cover with cold water. Leave for 5 minutes while you prepare the champagne.
​
Meanwhile, line a 11cm x 21cm (base measurement) loaf pan with clingfilm. Try and make it not too wrinkly, but it doesn't really matter as there is no way it will be completely smooth.

Slice the strawberries and arrange in the base of the tin.

Pour the champagne or sparkling wine into a medium saucepan and add 25g of the sugar. Lift out the gelatine, squeeze out the excess water, and add to the pan. Heat gently until the gelatine just dissolves, do not heat more than needed, you just want the gelatine to dissolve. Pour it over the strawberries in the loaf tin-the mixture should just cover the strawberries. Chill in the refrigerator until set, about 2 hours.
​
Meanwhile, put the remaining gelatine leaves (6 leaves or 10 grams) into the water bowl and leave for 5 minutes.

In a clean medium sized pan, add the cream, remaining 125g sugar and vanilla pod and seeds. Heat gently, stirring, frequently to release the vanilla seeds and dissolve the sugar. Lift the gelatine out of the water, squeeze out any excess water and add to the cream mixture, stir to dissolve. Do not allow the cream to come to the boil, you want it heated only enough to dissolve the sugar and gelatine. Once the gelatine has dissolved, take off the heat and pour in the milk. Leave at room temperature for about 2 hours.
​
Take the loaf tin out of the refrigerator after 2 hours (the champagne jelly should be set, if not return to the refrigerator until it is) and carefully pour in the cooled cream mixture. I pour the cream onto the back of a tablespoon to break the stream so it distributes lightly over the jelly. Chill for a least 6-8 hours, preferably overnight, until set.
​
To serve, place a serving plate over the loaf tin, and quickly invert onto a serving plate, centre it as best you can as once inverted you can't really move it. Carefully lift off the tin and peel off the clingfilm. 

Decorate with extra strawberries. Serve pannacotta in slices.

Find the recipe at www.whatscookingella.com/vanilla-pannacotta-with-strawberry-champagne-jelly.html  
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​Sydney has been a little hot lately, quite a heatwave we are experiencing. So when planning my menu I try to think simple, easy cooking. And as for dessert I like them to be cold and light.

I first made these caramel poached peaches years ago and then forgot about them (easily done when you have as many cookbooks, magazines and recipe cutouts as I have). But my daughter reminded me of them and asked if I could make them again. I do love when my kids request things they loved from the past, the fact that they have memory of something they ate is quite special for me.

This is quite simple to make and is perfect in summer, as it is hot and peaches and blueberries are at their cheapest. I like to make them in the morning and refrigerate them until needed. You can make it the day before, however the peaches change colour, they get stained by the blueberries and although taste great, they don't look as great. So it is up to you when you make it.

I love it served over vanilla ice cream, it is a perfect summer dessert this way. I have doubled the recipe and it works perfectly, you just need a pot large enough to fit all the peaches in.

The peaches need to be just ripe, slightly harder is better than over ripe peaches, so choose peaches that are not too soft.

This is a dessert my family gets excited over, give it a try and see if yours does to.

Recipe adapted from Good Food Magazine

250g caster sugar
1 lemon, strips of zest, juiced
1 vanilla pod, cut in half, seeds scraped out
3 just ripe peaches
125g blueberries
​
Place sugar into a heavy based saucepan, place over a medium heat. Watch the sugar, it will start to caramelise. Swirl the pan as the sugar dissolves and turns a golden colour, but do not stir.

When most of the sugar has caramelised, carefully pour in 500ml of just boiled water, and stir with a long handled spoon. It will spit, so take care. The sugar will become firm, but keep heating and stirring and it will dissolve again.

Add the lemon zest strips and vanilla seeds and pod. Simmer for 5 minutes.

Score the peaches in half and twist to seperate. Remove the stones. Place a peach half onto your long spoon and slip it into the syrup in a single layer, repeat with all peach halves. Return the caramel to a gentle simmer and turn down the heat until it barely simmers. Cook for 5 minutes or until the peach flesh feels tender when pierced. 

Remove the pan from the heat, mix in the lemon juice and blueberries. Allow to cool for 30 minutes.

Once cool place in a large bowl or into sterilised jars and refrigerate for at least 2 hours to chill.

​Serve with vanilla ice cream.

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​Serves 1-2

4 eggs
3 large button mushrooms, sliced
2 shallots, sliced
1/4 cup shredded tasty cheese
Salt and Pepper, to taste
​
Before you start, turn on the grill in your oven, so that it heats up.

Place the eggs in a bowl, add 1 tablespoon water, season with a little pepper and beat lightly with a fork until just combined.
​
To a medium sized frying pan, add a teaspoon of oil. Place over a medium heat, add the mushrooms and shallots. Season with a little salt and saute, stirring, for about one minute or until the mushrooms soften. Place mushroom mixture into a bowl until needed.
​​
Allow the pan to cool off the heat for about 30 seconds, then pour in another teaspoon of oil. Place over a low-medium heat, add the eggs and allow them to cook gently, season with a little salt. As the egg looks nearly set, it still needs to be a little soft/wet on top, place the mushroom mixture on one half of the eggs. Sprinkle with the shredded cheese.

Place under a preheated grill for about 30 seconds, just to start the cheese melting and to allow the egg to set on top a little more. Remove from the oven.

Carefully flip the egg half with out the mushrooms, over the mushroom covered half. 

Slide the finished omelette onto a serving plate and sprinkle with a few extra slices of shallots. Serve immediately.

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