1 2 3 o'clock 4 o'clock ROCK!

I hope you're ready for a little nostalgia because we can all use a little trip down memory lane once in a while!

Maybe you had to be a certain age to have grown up with them but even though there are no shops dedicated to it nor cookbooks singing its praises, the humble Rock Cake has survived. Ever since it was first made as a wartime treat in Great Britain (due to the lesser quantities of eggs required, a luxury during rationing), we have been able to buy these from almost every suburban cake store, some supermarkets and the odd patisserie.

Although this is the case, the quality of them differs from baker to baker and I have bought some truly disappointing ones. The best that I could find came from a patisserie but paying $4.50 for something the size of a flattened cupcake made my blood boil. After indulging a few times, I said to myself, they can't be that hard to make so I took up the challenge!

I searched the internet and found a recipe on taste.com.au that was originally sourced from Delicious Magazine's Valli Little. Hers is an orange flavoured one and there are many variations from pear & sultana to cinnamon & choc chip but to me a lemony rock cake, spread with good quality butter accompanying a cup of tea is the ultimate afternoon treat. I also don't like sultanas much so I substituted currants and was very happy with the result.

So here are my Rock Cake Jewels!

Chouquettes

This should have been my inaugural post considering my nom de plume, but I had some difficulty in finding a recipe to work for me - better late than never right?

I was introduced to these sweet treats by my husband who was living in Paris at the time. Chouquettes were his favourite morning coffee/afternoon snack and depending on the boulangerie, were usually really cheap (a couple of euros for a bag of roughly ten chouquettes or sometimes they are sold by weight).

Chouquettes are really just egg-y, light choux pastries, usually covered in perle sucre - really more-ish as the only sweet taste comes from the little crunchy bits of sugar on the outside.




Since coming home to Sydney, I haven't been able to find these delightful little pastries anywhere! So I had to work out a way to make them myself ... With the help of Google of course! :)

Momofuku Crack Pie - (for us XGLUTs)

Hi, my name is Shanks ... and I'm an XGLUT.

What is an XGLUT you ask?
XGLUT is the self-proclaimed-name (patent pending) I call a person whose world is turned upside down through the diagnosis from a blood test. A person who has loved and cherished gluten-based delicacies but is no longer loved back in return. A person who can no longer tolerate a loveless relationship, who takes hold of their life, and divorces (ex or X) the constitution of Gluten (GLUT). A person who is unique and now lives abroad (ex-pat) from the world of gluten.

Well it's not official but I am the chairman, secretary and single honorary member of the XGR, XGLUT Revolution. And to celebrate this occasion ... we're having pie!!