The Easiest Cake Recipe In The World: As Seen on Everyday Gourmet

As seen on Everyday Gourmet Season 8, with Justine Schofield on Channel 10.Click here to watch the episode!

As seen on Everyday Gourmet Season 8, with Justine Schofield on Channel 10.

Click here to watch the episode!

Everybody needs a simple, please everybody pudding you can quickly throw together when entertaining, or just because. This baked pudding is part cake, part cobbler, with golden, almost crunchy bits on the outside and fabulously crumbly and cakey on the inside. And the best bit is you can use any fresh or tinned fruit you like. You could even swirl a few spoons of your favourite jam in, instead! 

The basic principle is EQUAL WEIGHTS of butter, sugar, eggs and flour. Only one egg in the house? Just weigh it and mix it with the same of the other three! Then add your favourite fruit (tinned, fresh, frozen, it doesn’t really matter! You can even add a swirl of your favourite jam, some extra cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger or vanilla…. whatever you like, really!

Batter

125g butter, softened 

125g caster sugar

2 large free range eggs

125g self raising flour 

Pinch of salt 

1 tsp vanilla paste (optional)

Flavouring

Let’s do one with something seasonal: 1-2 pears, peeled, cored and quartered. 

Method 

Preheat oven to 180c. Meanwhile, combine the butter, sugar and eggs in a stand mixer and whisk until thick and glossy. Sift in flour gradually and combine thoroughly. Add in the vanilla and salt at the end and quickly combine. 

Place the pear pieces in a buttered and floured cake tin, then carefully pour the batter over the top and shake the pan a little bit so that everything settles evenly. 

Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until a skewer when inserted into the centre, comes out clean. Let rest for a few minutes before serving. Serve warm, with whipped cream, custard or ice cream. 

Pork and Prawn Wontons with Black Vinegar and Chilli Oil

I’ve been making this recipe since I was probably about 3. Like many kids who grow up in families who love to cook, you start with the most basic of cooking skills and build from there. From mixing the filling to forming the dumplings and cooking them, it’s the first recipe I remember my mother teaching me… and probably the last one I will forget . Over time, this recipe has evolved and that’s the beauty of it; once you understand the base recipe, you can customise it to your taste. Add chilli, XO, Chinese five spice, add mushrooms to the mix, like most great Chinese recipes, they’re open to a little free will and imagination.

Boil them, steam them or fry them, they’re a sure fire crowd pleaser. Click here to watch me make them while guest playing guest host on Studio 10, Australia’s favourite breakfast television show!

Ingredients

3 stalks shallots (scallions), green part finely chopped

1/2 bunch coriander, very thoroughly washed, stalks and roots very finely chopped, reserve leaves for garnish

1 thumb sized piece ginger, finely grated

1/2 small tin water chestnuts, coarsely chopped

150g green prawn meat, coarsely chopped

500g pork mince (nothing too lean as you need the fat content to make these babies succulent)

2 tbsp Kecap Manis

1 tbsp light soy sauce

1 tsp ground white pepper

Salt to taste

1 packet wonton wrappers

Dressing

1 tbsp Kecap Manis

2 tbsp Chinkiang Chinese black vinegar

1 tsp Lau Gan Ma chilli flakes in oil (from any Asian grocer)

Method

In a clean mixing bowl, combine the chopped shallots, coriander, grated ginger, chopped chestnuts, prawns and pork mince. Add the seasoning ingredients and mix well to combine.

Heat a small frypan with some vegetable oil to a medium high heat and fry off a teaspoon of mixture to check the seasoning. Once you have adjusted the dumpling mixture to your liking, you’re ready to make a batch!

Assemble the wontons by filling each wonton with about one teaspoon of mixture and sealing two adjacent sides with water to form a triangle. Make sure the edges are completely sealed to avoid unfortunate explosions if you fry, and to keep all the flavour and juiciness where it should be. If you want to get fancy, wet the two longest corners of the triangle and squeeze them together to make a tortellini shape (as pictured). Continue until all the mixture has been used up (though I love using this dumpling filling recipe as meatballs, or in a stir fry, too).

Heat a pan of water and place an oiled bamboo steamer on top. Steam the dumplings for 10 minutes or until the mixture is cooked through and the pastry is tender). While the dumplings are steaming, mix the dressing ingredients to taste. Dress the wontons in a bowl and then transfer to a serving bowl. Garnish with more sauce and the reserved coriander leaves. 

Featured
hong shao rou red braised pork belly
Pork, Chinese, Hunanese, Pork Belly
Easy Recipes, Recipes, Indulgence
Hong Shao Rou - Sticky Red Braised Pork Belly
Pork, Chinese, Hunanese, Pork Belly
Easy Recipes, Recipes, Indulgence
Pork, Chinese, Hunanese, Pork Belly
Easy Recipes, Recipes, Indulgence
Pork and Prawn Wonton with Black Vinegar and Chilli Oil
Prawns, Pork, Mince, Wontons, Chinese, Chilli Oil, Dumplings, As Seen On TV, Asian Food
Easy Recipes
Pork and Prawn Wontons with Black Vinegar and Chilli Oil
Prawns, Pork, Mince, Wontons, Chinese, Chilli Oil, Dumplings, As Seen On TV, Asian Food
Easy Recipes
Prawns, Pork, Mince, Wontons, Chinese, Chilli Oil, Dumplings, As Seen On TV, Asian Food
Easy Recipes
Lo Mai Gai Sticky Rice in Lotus Leaves
Lo Mai Gai, Sticky Rice in Lotus Leaf Parcel, Yum Cha, Dim Sum, Chinese
Easy Recipes
Sticky Rice Lotus Parcels aka. Lo Mai Gai
Lo Mai Gai, Sticky Rice in Lotus Leaf Parcel, Yum Cha, Dim Sum, Chinese
Easy Recipes
Lo Mai Gai, Sticky Rice in Lotus Leaf Parcel, Yum Cha, Dim Sum, Chinese
Easy Recipes
Chinese Eggwhite Omelette with Prawn, Caviar and Mushroom Floss
Healthy, Pinbone, Eggwhite, Eas, Prawns, Caviar, Eggs, Floss, Chinese, Pork Floss
Fast and Furious, Easy Recipes, Carb Friendly Zone, Healthy, Recipes
Chinese-style Egg White Omelette with Prawns, Chilli and Mushroom Floss
Healthy, Pinbone, Eggwhite, Eas, Prawns, Caviar, Eggs, Floss, Chinese, Pork Floss
Fast and Furious, Easy Recipes, Carb Friendly Zone, Healthy, Recipes
Healthy, Pinbone, Eggwhite, Eas, Prawns, Caviar, Eggs, Floss, Chinese, Pork Floss
Fast and Furious, Easy Recipes, Carb Friendly Zone, Healthy, Recipes
IMG_9588.jpg
Vegetarian, vegan, Chinese
Healthy, Fast and Furious, Mid Week Meals, Easy Recipes, Carb Friendly Zone, Budget Friendly
A Vegan Chinese Hot Pot
Vegetarian, vegan, Chinese
Healthy, Fast and Furious, Mid Week Meals, Easy Recipes, Carb Friendly Zone, Budget Friendly
Vegetarian, vegan, Chinese
Healthy, Fast and Furious, Mid Week Meals, Easy Recipes, Carb Friendly Zone, Budget Friendly

Chicken, Ginger, Sweetcorn & Egg Drop Soup

As seen on Everyday Gourmet with Justine Schofield Season 8

As seen on Everyday Gourmet with Justine Schofield Season 8

There are certain dishes you need to learn when you move out of home and start cooking for yourself. I would highly advise 1. A good hangover cure (mine's a 3 cheese toastie with heaps of black pepper and Dijon mustard), 2. Something to impress any guest (a cracking roast chicken is a solid submission), 3. A mid-week no-brainer (my braised lentils with bacon as seen in Good Food)...and 4. A sick-remedy cure-all. 

While I've painstakingly perfected my Jewish Chicken Soup, I've evolved my mum's chicken and sweetcorn soup over the years for maximum ease (handy when you're the sick patient in question), speed (takes about 15 minutes all up) and deliciousness (even less than that to slurp down). It is, also ideal as a quick and healthy snack even if you're not ailing. 

Watch the how-to below!

Makes 4 serves

Ingredients

8 cups chicken or vegetable stock (bonus points if you make it yourself!)

4 chicken thighs, skin off

1 thumb sized knob of ginger, peeled and finely sliced

1 x 410g tin creamed corn

1 x 125g tin corn kernels

1 egg, lightly whisked

Sea salt flakes

White pepper

1 stalk spring onion (scallion), finely chopped into rounds

Sesame oil

Method

In a large pot, add the stock and ginger, then bring to a boil. Carefully add the chicken thighs and simmer for 15 minutes or until the chicken is tender and cooked through. Carefully remove the thighs and allow to cool slightly before handling, then coarsely chop, or shred the meat. Return the chicken pieces to the stock, then add the creamed corn and corn kernels. Bring the soup back to the boil and when it has reached a rolling boil, slowly pour in the egg mixture a little ribbon at a time, gently stirring through the soup as you go (the egg flowers will form while gently moving around the soup - too slow and you'll have a rubbery clump, too fast and you'll just have a cloudy soup). Continue until all the egg is poured into the soup. Season to taste with salt and white pepper, then remove the soup from heat to cool slightly before serving.

To serve, garnish with more white pepper, a few drops of sesame oil and the chopped spring onions. Feel the life flooding back into your body!

Tom Yum Sausage Rolls

Adding a Thai twist to one of Australia’s favourite meaty pastries, lemongrass and ginger add zing, while the shrimp paste and coriander adds to that savour flavour we all love. Best of all, you already know this recipe…just add (tom) YUM!

Makes: About 16 rolls 

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 25 minutes

Chilling/freezing time: 20 minutes

Level of difficulty: easy

Ingredients

 500 g pork and veal mince

2 tbsp tom yum paste

1 small carrot, peeled and finely chopped

1 brown onion, peeled and finely chopped

1 stick celery, finely chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1 tbsp potato starch

½ tsp ground white pepper

2 sheets frozen puff pastry, partially thawed

1 egg

Nuoc cham (or if you’re feeling super Aussie, sweet chilli) sauce, to serve

Method

In a large mixing bowl, combine the mince, tom yum paste, carrot, onion, celery, garlic, potato starch and white pepper and mix well with clean hands to combine until everything is emulsified. Throwing the mixture vigorously against the side of the bowl or on a clean bench top will help. Work quickly, keeping the mixture as cool as possible, then cover and refrigerate until needed. When you are ready to assemble, place a sheet of thawed puff pastry onto a clean surface and cut in half, lengthways.

Remove the sausage mixture from the fridge and roll a log about 2.5cm in thickness and place it lengthways onto the pastry, closer to one edge. Carefully roll the pastry, making sure the filling is snug to the pastry with no gaps, and seal the edge where the pastry meets with egg yolk. Set aside in freezer to allow the mixture to firm up.

Repeat until you have used all of the filling. When ready to cook, preheat the oven to 200˚C. Remove the sausage roll logs from the freezer and allow them to thaw slightly. Cut into desired size, brush with remaining egg yolk and place on a baking tray lined with baking paper.

Bake for 20 minutes or until the pastry is golden. Set aside to cool slightly, then watch them disappear!

Note

Tom yum paste can be found in the Asian aisle of most major supermarkets and Asian grocery stores. Because the paste is very salty, there’s no real need to season with additional salt. These sausage rolls work really from frozen to the oven, so make a batch ahead of time and just pop them in the oven when unexpected hungry visitors come calling.

Gluten Free Gingernut Biscuit Berry Crumble

As seen on Channel 10's The Cook's Pantry

As seen on Channel 10's The Cook's Pantry

A lot of the food I cook for myself at home happens to err on the side of 'healthier'... simply because when I eat out, working on food shows or testing recipes, I'm not exactly going to not the pasta special, spit when judging cheese soufflé, or say no to the foie gras parfait.

IMG_1229.JPG

This berry crumble recipe came about one recent cold night when I felt like something warm and comforting without wanting to go OTT on the indulgence factor. I like to keep frozen berries on hand for smoothies, and quick snacks because they're a great way to get a sweet hit without reaching for the chocolate every time (not to mention, they're a great antioxidant and vitamin boost).

This recipe happens to be gluten free, but if that doesn't bother you, you can always substitute with your favourite sweet biscuits (milk arrowroot or shortbread would be ACE!). If you're dairy free, feel free to replace the butter with coconut oil, but work quickly with your hands, so it doesn't melt completely.

Screen Shot 2017-10-11 at 10.58.16 pm.png

Serves 1 sweet fiend or 2 normal people

Ingredients

3-4 gluten free biscuits

2 tbs almond meal

A good knob of butter

1 pinch ground cinnamon

1 pinch sea salt

1 cup frozen mixed berries

A drizzle of honey

Method

Preheat your oven to 180c. Place the biscuits inside a clean tea towel and using a rolling pin or a heavy saucepan, bash the biscuits up into uneven, crumbly chunks (you could use a food processor, but that'd be far too civilised and quite frankly, you want chunks of biscuit to exist, rather than a fine, uniform crumb). In a bowl, rub together the crushed biscuits, almond meal and butter with your fingers until it comes together as a coarse crumb. Add in the cinnamon and salt and lightly combine. 

Pour the berries into an oven proof ramekin. Drizzle with honey and top with the crumble mixture. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until the top is golden and the berries are bubbling and juicy around the edges of the ramekin. Serve with Greek or coconut yoghurt...or a little double cream if you're feeling like taking it there.