Rum Balls

The birthday party is over, my baby is now a toddler and I have some free time again! First up, I'm going to cheat and share a recipe from the party but it's a treat that my Mum made for me 100's of times over the years as I grew up so I hope you enjoy them as much as I always did. In terms of the title "Rum Balls", I'm not quite sure why they are called that since there is no rum but you are welcome to re-name them whatever you like in your home!

1 packet of Marie biscuits (plain sweet biscuit)
1/2 cup coconut
1 tablespoon sherry
1 tablespoon cocoa
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tin condensed milk

Crush biscuits in the food processor and place into a bowl. Add coconut, cocoa, vanilla extract and sherry and combine. Mix in condensed milk.

Form balls and roll in additional coconut and place on a tray. Chill balls in the fridge for at least 1 hour and continue to store in the fridge until eaten.

Results: What a simple recipe! It is very easy to make, the only time consuming part is rolling the balls. If you make small balls (bite size - still a reasonable size) then you will get approximately 40-50 out of one mixture. You can double the batch fairly easily but anymore than that and it gets very difficult to mix and you'll need a little extra condensed milk. These balls are always a hit and even my nephew loves to make them now!

Source - my gorgeous Mum

Giant Cupcake

I just wanted to reassure you all that I haven't abandoned you! I have been very busy with my son's birthday and his party this weekend so haven't had time to test any recipes. In the meantime, I thought I'd post up a photo of Evan's birthday cake that I made for him earlier this week.

I used a recipe that I've posted up on this website previously, originally I made it as cupcakes but this time I made it in a giant cupcake tin and baked it for approximately 1 hour. If you ever decide to try something similar, just test the cake intermittently with a toothpick/skewer.

Link to Donna Hay Chocolate Buttermilk Cake mixture.

Results: A success again! Always a lovely moist cake and Evan certainly loved his first taste of cake so well worth the effort.