Book 5 : Easy Baking - The Australian Women's Weekly

I have come to the conclusion (brace yourself!) that the blame for my cookbook obsession can be firmly laid at the feet of the Australian Women's Weekly!  I'm not saying AWW has made me buy all the cookbooks I have, neither am I saying that I am blameless!  BUT, my first memories of cooking with my Mum generally involved me trying to convince her that I needed to have the train cake, NOT the mouse, from the AWW Kids cake's book (the train carried a stack of lollies, where the mouse only had coconut!).  I'm pretty sure most houses either had this amazing book in their house or knew somebody who did?  Every year my brother and I would study the book before we made our decision, mine was often overruled (Mum seriously didn't get my logic with the train, it has mint slice wheels!!!!!)  Anyway, I really love AWW cookbooks, they cover everything, slow cooking, slices and soups!  If you want to cook something AWW will have a book for it.  They have been around for years and best of all are really cheap! (hence why I have so many) SO, in my waffling, round about way they are kinda (not really sure how? I got a bit confused!) to blame for my massive shelf of recipe books.....end waffle  :)

Recipe:  Orange Blossom Cakes

100g Butter, softened
1 tsp Orange blossom water
110g Caster sugar
2 eggs
150g self-raising flour
30g almond meal
125ml milk

Orange Blossom Glace Icing
160 Icing sugar
10g Softened butter
1 tsp orange blossom water
1 tbsp water, approx

Preheat oven to 180c/160c fan-forced.  Grease six-hole mini fluted tube pan or Texas muffin pan.

Beat butter, blossom water and sugar in a small bowl with electric mixer until light and fluffy.  Beat in eggs, one at a time (mixture will curdle).  Stir in sifted flour, meal and milk, in two batches.

Divide mixture into pan holes; bake about 25 minutes.  Stand cakes in pan 5 minutes before turning, top-side up, onto wire rack to cool.

Meanwhile, make orange blossom glace icing.  Drizzle icing over cakes.

Orange Blossom Glace Icing

Sift Icing sugar into small heatproof bowl;  Stir in butter, blossom water and enough of the boiling water to make a firm paste.  Stir over small saucepan of simmering water until icing is pourable.

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This will hopefully be quick :)  Great book, very basic easy recipes to make (I enlisted the kids help).  If you aren't very comfortable with baking this may be the book for you.  The little cakes are delicious, although they dry out freakishly quickly!  The icing isn't anything much like the picture and sets really quickly, but they may have to do with the children fighting around me while I was trying to make it?  (that's my excuse anyway :)).  Next time I would actually make the icing while the cakes are cooking and pour it over them while still warm.. 

Anyway to make a long, waffley story short, this is a great book that I think will be perfect for the kids to learn from.  Also it has a recipe for upside down pear and pistachio cake, that I'm going to make when no-one home so I don't have to share....  drool

Thanks
Kate
xx

Sam and Charli, licking the bowl..