Pizza: Greek Meetlovers i-Vefa style

The motto for this Pizza is quick & easy, healthy, gourmet and the NO NEED TO BUY JUNK from Maccas, Burger King, Pizza Hut etc.

Not a great deal to say for this one, I honestly wanted this post to be as non-complicated as possible. Don't be discouraged by the list of ingredients, the ONLY musts here are the FIG, the Pesto/Tomato Sauce spread, Zucchini & cheese (yes both).

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Prep-time:  15 mins

Ingredients: 

- a single wholemeal pita bread

- pesto/tomato sauce spread

- a handful of sliced lamb bits (as you know from the rocky road, i have big hands)

- 1 medium size onion (chopped in half rings)

- 1/2 a zucchini

- rocket & baby spinach mix

- 1 medium size fig

- 1 cherry tomato

- 50g mushrooms (sliced)

- buffalo mozarella

- regular mozarella (thinly sliced pieces about twice the size of a 50c piece + some for grating)

How to work the magic: 

1. Half the fun is putting these together in your own special way, so enough said

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HINT: Eat it quick before your husband, wife, partner, house mate, etc eats it first! The sweetness of the fig compliments the rest of the pizza toppings perfectly, though it doesn't offer much to texture, it is a must!

Oh! and if they're figs from your tree at home (a standard in most Greek gardens) be sure to check the inside of the fig thoroughly for little wormies. 

Cup Cakes

Coming home after a hard working week to a house that smells like fresh cake baking is by far my ultimate culinary pleasure, either that or waking up to that smell of fresh bread baking...Well, I actually just missed out on that experience sadly and caught my other half as the cupcake mixture had just been poured and ready for the hot over. They were vanilla & strawberry cupcakes and probably the second best home made cup cakes I've ever tasted, this year at least.

Though I wasn't given the recipe of these little delights, my other half allowed me to at least take a happy snap for you, so enjoy.

For the ultimate cupcake experience, while the cupcake is hot out of the oven, dunk it into a cold glass of milk and enjoy *said as I salivate and my tummy rumbles*

I think I may just knock back one of those beauties right now, daringly BEFORE dinner if I can get past security..shhh.

The penultimate step:

Crème Brulee

Well you know what they say, "if at first you don't succeed, just dust the flour off the table, go buy more cream and try again..." ok, so maybe that's just what I say, but however you put it, my first attempt at crème brulee was a fail...to put it nicely.

Needless to say, persistence paid off and the second time was a hit. The only down side was that the first time, it was served to a dinner party of 6, all of which were very much looking forward to it, but oh well; onwards and upwards.

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Prep-time:  55 mins

Ingredients: 
- 600ml thickened cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla paste (or any flavour will do fine i.e. peppermint)
- 6 egg yolks
- ¼ cup caster sugar
- teaspoon vanilla sugar
- demerara sugar for dusting

How to work the magic: 
1. Place the cream and vanilla in a saucepan over medium heat and bring to the boil, then remove from heat. Preheat the oven to 130°C.
2. Whisk together egg yolks and vanilla & caster sugar in a bowl until pale.
3. Pour hot cream over egg yolk mixture, continuing to whisk until combined. Evenly divide between 4  ramekins.
4. Place ramekins in a roasting pan lined with a tea towel. Pour boiling water into pan to come halfway up the sides of ramekins. Using a kitchen blowtorch go over the mixtrue removing any bubbles. Cover pan with foil.
5. Bake in the oven for 45 minutes or until custard has just set. Remove ramekins from the tray and set aside to cool.
6. Once custard has set, sprinkle the demerara sugar evenly over the surface of the custards. Run a kitchen blowtorch over the custards (place under a grill if you don't have a blowtorch or a mum you can steal one off ;) ) until the sugar caramelises. They're now ready to serve.
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HINT: place a second coating of the demerara sugar to get the extra hard top layer and that glassy break on top.

Some pics below of the ones the failed..! I was afraid of over boiling the cream so it ended up being bloody raw!!

Greek style jam donuts with cinnamon sugar

Much to the distress of my other half, I made these on a Sunday night at about 10.30 and after knocking back 10 or so, getting to sleep that night was no easy feat ;)

These can be used as a sort of pre-dessert or a kids snack and should preferably be eaten warm. They make a great treat or dessert for a brunch style gathering but be sure not to make too many because trust me, if they’re hot…they’ll go, every single one…


The thing that gives these that real personality / homely type feel is their shape. I think they look great if they’re not that super perfect ball shape, but each to there own.

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Prep-time: 20 mins not including proving the dough

Ingredients:
- 200ml milk
- 50g unsalted butter, softened
- 40g caster sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 cups, self raising flour
- Vegetable oil (for deep frying)
- Strawberry jam to fill
- Caster sugar & cinnamon for coating

How to work the magic:
1. Heat milk in a saucepan until tepid [approximately body temperature - 37°C].
2. Whisk in the butter, caster sugar and eggs.
3. Combine flour and ½ teaspoon of salt in a large bowl and make a well in the centre. Gradually pour in the milk mixture, whisking until smooth. Cover and set aside in a warm place to prove for about 40 minutes - 1 hour. Meanwhile mix in the cinnamon and caster sugar, approximately 1 part cinnamon to 4 parts sugar or to taste
4. Pour oil into a saucepan until one-third full. Heat over medium-high heat until approx. 160°C. Spoon donut mixture into 4cm round balls into the hot oil. Cook for about 4 minutes or until golden brown
5. Fill with jam using a piping bag.
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Hint: be sure to eat one as soon as you can, because if you have people hovering nearby, don’t expect leftovers.