June desserts

June is chock full of family birthdays and this year Eid-ul-Azha also fell in that month. So I took out my apron and got to work :)

Collage of four photos. In the top left is a chocolate cheesecake with a chocolate cookie base and a chocolate ganache top. In the top right is a tall, plain looking cake with yellowish/white frosting. In the bottom left is a bowl full to the brim with seviyan (vermicelli) kheer. In the bottom right is an apple pie with a lattice pastry design on top.

The no-bake choc ripple cheesecake (top left) was for Nadia’s birthday, and it is based on Gemma Stafford’s no-bake Oreo cheesecake recipe. This was both gluten and lactose free.

The funfetti (aka sprinkles) birthday cake with lemon buttercream frosting (top right) was for my niece’s birthday. This is based on two of Gemma’s recipes: one for the cake and one for the frosting. I didn’t decorate the cake because the kids wanted to decorate it themselves.

The seviyan (vermicelli) kheer (bottom left) was for Eid-ul-Azha, and I made it using my mother’s recipe (which is a pretty standard recipe, tbh). This was lactose free.

The apple pie (bottom right) was for my older sister’s birthday. The pie is based on an SBS apple pie recipe and the crust is based on Sarah Howell’s gluten free shortcrust pastry recipe.

Delightfully dessert-ey

I’ve had a delightfully dessert-ey few days.

First I made a (gluten and lactose free) three-tier carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. Plus a basic fruit trifle. Both turned out really well :)

Photo of a dining table (with a flowery table cloth) around which people are standing. On the table is a large cake with rustic cream cheese frosting and the numbers 5 and 0 stuck on top of it. Also on the table is a trifle bowl containing fruit trifle that’s topped off with vanilla custard.

Then yesterday I made two pies: one apple and one sweet potato.

I made the gluten free sweet pastry for these from scratch too.

Close up photo of an apple pie cooling on a rack. Behind the apple pie, and slightly out of focus, is a sweet potato pie.

The apple pie even featured an unintentional alien face :)

Close up photo of an apple pie that has three slits cut into it so steam can vent during baking. The slits are arranged in a way that looks like two angled eyes and a vertical mouth.

And since I had some leftover pastry, I made a few mini apples pies for good measure!

Photo of four mini open apple pies cooling on a rack on a kitchen counter.

Those turned out pretty well too.

Close up photo of a mini open apple pie with crispy, caramelised apples and a nicely browned crust. This pie is lying on a cooling rack, along with a couple of adjacent mini pies.

So yay for some successful weekend baking!

Friday night baking: apple pie

Turns out I’m pretty decent at making pies :)

#WinningAtLife

Photo of a large slice of apple pie on a red coloured plate that’s being held up outdoors.

I made this pie using leftover gluten-free pastry from last week’s sweet potato pie – hence the sparse and rather amateurish lattice work with the remaining few bits of extra pastry!

And, for those who are interested, I followed this American apple recipe from SBS Food.

Photo of an apple pie cooling in a pie dish that’s been placed on a wire rack. This is an open pie with a sparse pastry lattice on top.

Peanut butter bread

Turns out peanut butter bread is super easy to make and is quite delicious.

The recipe I followed made a relatively mild loaf, so next time I’ll make a richer, more cake-like version.

Photo of a home-baked loaf of rich brown bread cooling on top of a wire rack on a kitchen countertop.

FYI: I followed the 1932 recipe in this video (which is from the US Great Depression) and I’ll try Dylan’s own peanut butter bread recipe for the next loaf.

Mini apple pies

Home made, gluten free, mini apple pies on a Saturday afternoon.

My mother loved apple pie. Had she been alive, today would’ve been her 75th birthday. *sigh*

Photo of a few square, single-serve apple pies with a rich, brown, caramelised crust lying on a cooling rack.

Important Sunday breakfast update (lactose free vanilla ice cream in slightly warmed pie)…

Photo from the point of view of a man holding a yellow plate. The plate contains a square piece of pie with a scoop on vanilla ice cream on top of it.

Lunchtime baking on a rainy Friday

When life gives you lemons you make lemonade.

When life gives you leftover fruit — and you’re working from home on a rainy Friday afternoon — you make a mixed berry crisp…

Photo of a baked berry dessert with one portion scooped out. The dessert consists of dark red berries underneath a golden-brown chewy top layer.

And a pear crisp!

Photo of a baked pear dessert with one portion scooped out. The dessert consists of several layers of cooked pears underneath a golden-brown crunchy top layer.

Life can be good. (And delicious.)