Crock-pot dessert

Always wondered why people made dessert in crock pots.. I mean, really, they only take about 5 mins to prepare then chuck em in the oven. Not hard right? Well, I did this one the other day. Put it on same time as I put in the roast, and I am so pleased I did. Meant I could eat dinner, and not worry about doing 100 jobs at once to get dessert on the table after!

So, here is the Butterscotch self-saucing pudding recipe I made. Sorry, forgot to take photos - too busy eating!

1 3/4 C self raising flour
 (or 1 3/4C flour, with 2 tsp baking pdr)
1/4C sugar
2T melted butter
3/4C milk

Sauce
4T golden syrup
1T butter
1C boiling water

Preheat cooker for 20 mins
Lightly grease 6 cup capacity casserole type dish (that fits in your crock-pot!)
Sift flour and sugar (and baking pdr) into mixing bowl.
Combine melted butter and milk and add to dry ingredients. At this stage I found I needed to add more milk to make a cake ixture type consistency, so up to 1/4 c  more milk may be needed
Spoon into casserole dish.

For the sauce, mix all the ingredients together until butter is melted. Then pour gently over pudding mixture.

Place casserole dish on trivet (or upturned bread and butter plate) in crockpot.
Cover crockpot with lid.

This is how you set it to cook... (with upside down bread & butter plate under white casserole dish)

Cook for about 2.5-3 hours.

Serve with cream, or ice cream....

Apple choc cake - easy as!

Topping
1/4C brown sugar
2T flour
1t cinnamon
25g cold butter
2T chopped walnuts (optional)

Cake
2-3  apples (with stickers taken off!)
125g melted butter
1 egg
1C sugar
1.5C flour
2T cocoa
1t cinnamon
1t baking soda

Put ingredients for topping in food processor. Chop. Remove and save for later.

In unwashed processor add apple and chop. The add rest of ingredients in order listed. Chop/mix.

Put cake mix into round tin, sprinkle topping over, then cook for 30-40 mins at 180.

Can be served with cream or ice cream or eaten plain.
Yum (except the sticker!).

Berry Cake - yum!

75g butter
1 egg
3/4C orange juice (I used 'raro')
3/4C sugar
1 1/2 C self raising flour
1/2 C walnuts
1/4C sugar
3tsp cinnamon
1-2C fresh (or thawed) berries (I used red and black currants, white and black raspberries)


Oven at 180. Spray or line a 23cm square tin.

Melt butter in bowl big enough for whole cake mixture. Take out 1 tablespoon of melted butter and set aside for nut mixture.
Add egg and orange juice to melted butter in bowl. Mix until combined.
Sprinkle sugar and flour over egg mixture and fold. Do not over mix.

Mix together reserved butter and finely chopped walnuts, sugar and cinnamon.  Sprinkle two thirds of nut mixture over cake mixture then spoon into tin so nut mix is marbled through cake mix.

Press berries evenly over cake mix.
Sprinkle remaining nut mixture over berries.

Bake for 45 mins or until evenly browned.

It recommends serving warm, and it is very delicimo when warm, but equally edible when cold!!

This recipe doesn't take long to do - my time was spent cracking the walnuts!

4 min Choc Cake - yes, really!

Quick and easy cake.

But... must be eaten reasonably quickly too, or it goes dry.. and then must be heated again and served with icecream!

50g butter
2tsp golden srup
1/2C sugar
1 egg
1C flour
1/2t baking pdr
3/4 tsp baking pdr
3/4C  milk
1t vanilla ess
2T cocoa

Melt butter and golden syrup in bowl. Add sugar, mix, then add egg and mix.
Then add flour, cocoa, and baking pdr and mix.

Dissolve baking soda in milk and vanilla.
Mix altogether.

Pour into 20cm microwave ring tin. Cover with waxed paper. Microwave for 4 minutes. If slightly doughy cook for another 20 seconds and recheck.

If you want instant icing before puttin the cake mix into microwave dish sprinkle a small portion of choc chips in so they melt while the cake is cooked.

I also sprinkle icing sugar over it. I mean, if it takes 4 minutes to cook, who really wants to spend another 4 mins making and spreading the icing!

Rainbow cake turned birthday pinata!

SO, Miss 9 turning 10 wanted a pinata cake....
This is how I did it.

Raibow Surprise Cake

160g butter
3 eggs
2C flour
1/8 tsp salt
1C sugar
3T milk
2t baking pdr
4 food colourings


Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, beat well. Add milk and all dry ingredients. Mix. 


Divide mixture into 4 bowls, add food colouring to each one to make different colours.
Grease a round tin.


Add spoonfuls of each colour to the tin, one spoonful at a time till no more mixtures left. With a wet spoon smooth the top of cake.


Cook at 180 for 45 mins.

To create the pinata cake....
I sliced out top of cake, and filled with coins/pebbles/m&m's and iced around outised of it.

Then I needed to create a chocolate cover, so I greased the inside of a metal bowl that fitted over the cake, and put the bowl in the freezer.

I melted about 400g of dark chocolate.

Then, taking the bowl out of the freezer, I smoothed the melted chocolate over its inside surface till it was all covered and as even as I could get it, and then ut bowl (with chocolate now) back in freezer.

Then..... took bowl out of freezer when chocolate was hard. Carefully tipped it over the cake, and the chocolate slipped out. If it sticks, you can use a wet teatowel and heat up the outside of the bowl if necessary..


Then, I melted more chocolate (about 50g) and used it as glue to stick pebbles/m&ms/cake decorating shapes to outside of chocolate shell.

Then I put some bluetac to the side, and stuck 10 candles in - so at least she had something to blow out!

Then, using a hammer or, in our case, a rolling pin, Miss now 10 smashed it to smithereens!

All b-day party kids were suitably impressed!

A lot of time consuming work, but was worth it inthe end.. It isn't a hard cake to make, just have to have the right equipment!

'Cake-in-a-cup', for when it's just you that's hungry!

4T flour
4T sugar
2T cocoa
1 egg
3T milk
3T oil
3T choc chips
1/2t van ess

Take one decent sized coffee cup.
(no need to oil/spray beforehand)
Mix dry ingredients in the cup.

Add egg, mix.
Add milk, oil, van ess and mix thoroughly.
Lastly, gently mix choc chips in - not too much or they sink to the bottom.


Cook in microwave for three minutes. Eat!
This is fantastic when it is just you that needs something scrummy, or ideal for a treat the kids can make, but can be more annoying if you are trying to feed a few!

Peach Custard Pud!

This is very easy, and versatile!
Can be cooked just before eating, or made up to a day before and reheated or served cold..

2 Cups flour
100g butter
1 can fruit (I used peaches)
1/2 C sugar
1t cinnamon
3 eggs
1C syrup from fruit (Make up to one cup with water if necessary)
1 1/4 C evaporated milk

Oven at 180.
Sift flour into butter and rub until crumbly (Or be like me and use the food processor!)
Press into square tin with loose bottom, or line with baking paper or foil.
Drain fruit well, and spread evenly over the flour/butter mix.
Mix sugar and cinnamon together and sprinkle over fruit.
Bake for 20 mins.

Beat eggs, syrup and milk together until blended but not foamy. Pour over hot fruit and bake for 30 mins longer or until custard has set in middle. Serve with cream!!!

Could use apricots or pineapple instead of peaches.
Enjoy!