Cafe Sofia

Homemade baked beans with chorizo and sourdough bread.

Toasted bagel with turkey, brie, avocado and cranberry sauce.

My favourite meal of the day is definitely breakfast and to me there is nothing better than going out for a lazy brunch on the weekend. One of my favourite places is Cafe Sofia. The coffee is great, delicious food, generous portions and good value with most meals averaging $12 which is pretty good for an inner city cafe if you ask me. Now I have never been a big fan of baked beans...they seem a bit ordinary to me, but since having them at Cafe Sofia I absolutely love them! I'd also highly recommend the potato hash (side dish) and the potato and haloumi omelette. I love potatoes! Mi xo

Instagram Camera Cake

My sister loves cameras and all camera related items. I wanted to bake a cake for her birthday and a camera cake was an obvious choice! She loves digital cameras, vintage cameras and uses Instagram. I thought that a plain black digital camera cake might look a little boring so I made a cake that looks like the Instagram app! This cake was a bit of a challenge to make and I would call the end result "rustic". Let's just say that I have a new found respect for the folks on Ace Of Cakes.

The actual cake base is a vanilla sponge made using my favourite basic sponge recipe that I adapted from you guessed it, Nigella Lawson's How To Be A Domestic Goddess, but you can use any basic sponge recipe that you like for the base. Once the cake is baked and completely cooled it's time to decorate! Clear everyone out of the kitchen because things are about to get serious!

MiNa Softie Dolls

This post falls under the category of miscellany (that's for you Na), while not food related it is a project that was inspired by our blog. A few years ago, Mr Mi and I were at the art gallery shop browsing through some books when all of a sudden Mr Mi with much excitement shows me a book he has found Softies: Simple Instructions for 25 Plush Pals. Really? I mean sure, I thought it was a pretty cute book but had no idea that Mr Mi was interested in making hand sewn toys made out of felt! And so began our softie adventure.

Luxe Bakery

Mi and I recently had lunch at a wonderful little bakery in Newtown called Luxe. The sourdough bread here is amazing! Besides bread, they have a great selection of lunch time eats and a wide range of sweeties. We both had two poached eggs, a perfectly toasted slice of sourdough bread and the most delicious, crispiest potato hash. The hash had the right balance of crispy exterior and soft tasty potato interior. Thanks Mi for introducing me to it! After our lunch, we couldn't resist trying out the custard tart and orange flourless cake. I love custard tart and this one was particularly delectable with a crispy pastry shell, smooth custard and a sprinkling of nutmeg on top. The orange flourless cake was lovely and moist as well. Luxe has a really relaxed feel about it, like you're having lunch in someone's home. In fact, I think the building was once a home! The service is really friendly and welcoming too! What more could you ask for? Luxe is open 7 days and can be found at 195 Missenden Rd, Newtown, NSW.  MiNa xo

Spanish Paella

I love paella! Now I've never been to Spain nor am I an expert in authentic Spanish cuisine but we tried a recipe for Spanish Paella recently and it tasted pretty good. I halved all the quantities of ingredients as I was only making it to feed two people (Mr Mi & I) and made the following replacements: peas and chicken instead of green beans and rabbit. You had better be hungry as this recipe yields a lot of paella! As mentioned in the recipe directions, "patience is the key" resist the urge to continually stir the rice. If you do, it won't work trust me. Mi xo

Beetroot Cake Part 2

You may recall the beautiful beet cake video that I posted earlier well....today was the day that I finally tried it out. The actual recipe can be found in written form at the Tiger In a Jar blog. Having now baked and eaten this cake, I can say that it's essentially a chocolate cake with some beetroot in it, which makes it quite lovely and moist.

Chocolate Brownie Recipe

OK, so I'm just going to admit it...I've never made chocolate brownies before! There I said it. A few years back, I tasted the most amazing chocolate brownies made by a friend of a friend. I subsequently asked for the recipe but have never actually made them. I was rummaging through my recipe book the other day and came across it. I don't know the original source because she typed it up in an email for me, perhaps it was a family recipe? In any case, they taste really good and the glossy ganache is so decadent. Enjoy! Mi xo