Articles by Kate Delbridge

This is an easy, cheats version of a cherry Danish. To make proper Danishes takes quite some time – all that flaky pastry rolling and folding. For this version however I use bought puff pastry. If you’ve got the time then by all means make your own pastry, but if not a good quality butter puff pastry works really well. I make my own custard, but if pressed for time you can use shop bought. I’ve made these with cherries, but they are equally delicious with any fresh or tinned fruit.

If I’m pressed for time I buy hamburger buns, but I usually make my own for all the usual reasons – I know exactly what’s in them, they are healthier, cheaper, smaller green footprint and air miles etc. You just need ot make sure you have about 2 hours earlier in the day for prep and cooking, though the actual work time is about 10 minutes – quicker than it takes to go to the shops and buy some! You can brush the tops with milk before cooking for a soft bun, or brush with water and top with sesame seeds if you prefer that. Brushing just plain water on the top will give you a crustier top. Alternatively you can dust with flour or just leave plain.

This cake is super easy – once the oranges have been poached you just throw 5 ingredients in the food processor. After it has cooked you can cover it with the orange syrup, top with caramelized orange slices or dust with icing sugar. Because it’s so moist it keeps really well. Like all dessert cakes it should be served with cream and / or ice cream. Just don’t buy reduced fat cream as i accidentally did last night, as it will never thicken!

With lime and coconut, this cake has the flavours of my favourite icy pole. I got this recipe from a free Coles supermarket mag, and it’s a cracker. All I did to change it was adjust the cooking time as the original recipe suggested to cook the cake at 160 degrees for 2 hours, but I prefer to cook my cakes slightly higher and for less time. It’s delicious, makes a really large cake and it keeps well as it is so moist – ticks all the boxes! You can decorate it however you like. I’ve just piped circles on the top of this one, but I have also topped it with lime slices and also flaked coconut. Anything that carries on the lime/coconut theme works well.

Wreath-shaped pavs seem to be all the go at the moment. They are of course just a regular pavlova mix shaped differently. If you don’t have any raspberry essence you can just make a regular vanilla pavlova. Top with whatever fruit is in season. As a tip, make sure you measure your largest serving plate before making the wreath, you don’t want to be in the awkward position of not having a plate big enough to put the pavlova onto. I also mark out the shape I want on the back of the baking paper first – for me making an even circle shape is harder than it seems!

Rice paper rolls don’t really need a recipe – veggies, noodles, meat, whatever, wrapped in rice paper. However this chicken recipe is great, and adds extra depth to rice paper rolls. The veggies I’ve listed are of course just a suggestion, use whatever you have to hand. I tend not to put noodles into my rolls, but if you like you can cook up a pot of thread noodles and add them to the mix. Regarding herbs, any combination of Vietnamese mint, coriander or regular mint works really well. If you’re pressed for time and can’t make the sticky caramel mix you can just poach or pan fry the chicken thighs, or just use a BBQ chook.

This slice has 3 stages but it’s well worth giving a go because it’s delicious. You can change it around pretty easily by omitting the cocoa and having a plain base and switching the essence and food coloring around – lemon essence and yellow colouring for a chocolate lemon slice, orange essence and orange coloring to make jaffa etc. The top doesn’t have to have the swirls of chocolate, but I think it adds to it.

Allow to cool completely, then top with chocolate. Melt the chocolate in two separate bowls. Add the oil to the milk chocolate and stir until very well combined. Pour evenly over the caramel, then drizzle with the white chocolate. Use a skewer or the tip of a knife to create marbled patterns through the chocolate. Allow to set completely and slice into squares.