Author: chefalice

It’s well worth cooking a big batch of this version of Italian ragù and freezing some if you don’t need it all at once. It’s no more trouble to cook extra and saves you loads of time in the end. I’ve added lots of vegetables and some lentils to this recipe to eke out the meat and I really love the creamy texture that the lentils bring.

Read More

The most versatile cupcake in all the land, the vanilla cupcake is the true universal cupcake base. You can pretty much do anything you want with this cupcake and it will taste amazing. Top it with any of the frostings in this book and enjoy all the different flavours of the cupcake spectrum! You can add flavour extracts or fillings if you wish (see the instructions for filling cupcakes in the Caramel Cupcakes recipe, page 159). That said, in my opinion, nothing is better than a fresh vanilla cupcake frosted with creamy vanilla buttercream. It’s total perfection in its simplicity.

Read More

Panna cotta is a lovely custardlike Italian dessert made with heavy cream. Instead, I use cashew milk with gelatin. Cashews come from the tropics, so acting on the theory of food combinations that says “if it grows together, it goes together,” I decided to add tropical fruits. Finally, for reasons only known to my subconscious, I thought cilantro would do something nice by way of tying it all together.

Read More