Baking & Dessert

I recently bought a 2nd hand copy of the Women’s Weekly Cakes, Slices & Biscuits cookbook. I need another cookbook like a hole in the head however, it was for a pop up op shop fundraiser at work. So, I bought the book. I spotted this recipe for Cranberry & Coconut Biscuits whilst flicking through… Read more

I’ve had an excess of sourdough starter recently. It’s really only flour, water and some wild yeasts but I can’t bear to throw any away. As a result, I’ve been turning our a variety of breads, including this sourdough focaccia. But why do I have such an excess of sourdough starter? My poor old sourdough… Read more

I’m always on the hunt for recipes for homemade lunchbox treats. Muffins are a firm fave but I like to mix it up. I recently made a seed and oat dense baked muesli slice but wasn’t particularly happy with it. It didn’t spark joy. There had to be a recipe out there somewhere. I kept… Read more

When you own a sourdough starter or ‘levain’, you draw off some starter each week to make a new loaf. After this, you feed the original starter with flour and water and put it back to bed in the fridge. The trouble is, I don’t always want or have the time to bake a loaf… Read more

It’s a very low key Christmas at Tiffin HQ. Some of this is because we have been travelling quite a lot and some of this is because we have chosen to simplify our approach to Christmas. We are aiming for quality, not quantity. We still enjoy delicious Christmas foods and sharing home made gifts, which is… Read more

Last week I had a baking failure. In fact, I had two of them. I decided to add something to my repertoire so I tried a couple of new recipes. An apricot slice and some fruit biscuits. They were horrible. The slice was heavy and not sweet enough. The biscuits were doughy. Despite large amounts of… Read more

I have two recipes on TIFFIN that are by far and away my most popular posts. They vie for top billing, depending on the time of year. They are Slow Cooker BBQ Ribs and Gem Scones. Ribs are most popular in winter and gem scones the rest of the year round. As they are so… Read more

It’s mango season! The first mangoes have started making their way down from the Northern Territory and are surprisingly cheap, so early in the season. Mangoes from the NT are smaller than the bigger Kensington Pride (Bowen) mangoes that are just on the horizon. They are the perfect size for a snack for one. Mangoes… Read more

I have this ‘just in case, rainy day’ mentality for some of my pantry items that’s not really necessary in this ‘online, open 24 hours, available everywhere’ world, but I can’t seem to shrug it off. In recent weeks I have been making a concerted effort to use some of my many premium products. By premium… Read more

Spring has most definitely sprung. One clear sign of this is the mulberry tree in the kindy down the road is fruiting. Who does that? Who plants a mulberry tree in the playground of 3 and 4 year old pre-schoolers? Someone who doesn’t have to wash the stains out of their kid’s clothing, that’s who. Between the… Read more

A month or so ago, we visited the area of coastal Queensland known as Wide Bay-Burnett. The area contributes a vast amount of fruit and vegetables to our tables including the humble sweet potato. Driving back and forth from Bundaberg to the coastal town of Bargara, we passed a huge sweet potato farm selling large bags of… Read more

International Scone Week 2016 coincides nicely with a recent dilemma I have been having. That of, excess pumpkin. Pumpkins are well and truly in season so it’s not uncommon to arrive at work to pumpkins sitting in the kitchen with a ‘please take me’ sign. If you do take a whole pumpkin, then there is… Read more

The original recipe that this Caramel Fig & Pear Loaf is based on had been bookmarked for years but I never seemed to have the time, ingredients or inclination to get it made. It’s physically bookmarked with a little tab of paper that pre-dates virtual bookmarking. My ‘to review’ board on Pinterest tells a similar story, as… Read more

Yes, I know it’s fete season because hot on the heels of publishing a recipe for Old Fashioned Rock Cakes, I got an email from a friend asking for suggestions about what to make for a cake stall. Whilst Rock Cakes are an option, I have another old favourite up my sleeve for those who may… Read more

It’s Fete Season and that can only mean one thing. Cooking for the Cake & Sweet Stall or, if you have a really posh school, cooking for the Cake Stall AND the Sweet Stall. I recall many aspects of my own school fetes, a particular stand out being the White Elephant Stall. Who would give… Read more

This year is a biggie for Paniyiri, Brisbane’s Greek Festival. They are celebrating their 40th anniversary. It’s come a long way from a small celebration within the Greek community to a huge festival over an entire weekend where the whole of Brisbane comes together to celebrate all things Hellenic. Paniyiri is actually Australia’s Big Fat Greek Festival… Read more

A couple of years ago, QAGOMA ran an exhibition called ‘Harvest‘, which brought together food themed art from its collection. Alongside the gallery installations they ran a food themed film festival. I tried to see at least two movies a week, sometimes with Anthony, sometimes with my Mum but often by myself. I got to… Read more

We’re not big on celebrating Valentine’s Day in our house. In fact, we’re not big on celebrating most festivals, high holy days or nation building activities, preferring instead to keep our money in our wallets and celebrating events that are meaningful to us rather than to retailers. Having said that, there’s no harm in cutting… Read more

Regular readers will know that the TIFFIN kitchen and surrounds are in renovation mode. After waiting a long time for building to commence, we were unexpectedly catapulted ahead of schedule. Every day for the past few weeks our builder, Robert and his trusty assistant Mario, have been visiting the house on a daily basis preparing… Read more