Valentines Rocky Road treats

It's got to be the easiest treat to make, but looks so adorable when it's all wrapped up and tied with ribbon. I couldn't resist making these for all the teachers at work. I whipped them up pretty quickly the night before and had them all packaged up and ready in no time. The great thing about rocky road is that you are not tied to any particular ingredient. For the chocolate you can use white, milk or dark or evencombine all three to make a lively tri-coloured version. For the surprises inside there's the choice of maltesers, marshmallows, snickers bars, rice krispies, dried fruits, jellies to name a few...you are only limited by your imagination! Melt your chocolate, toss in the goodies, pop into a flat tin (lined with cling wrap) and leave in the fridge. These are great to make with kids. Just make sure you're not around when they start eating them! After 15 years of teaching one thing I know for certain is that children + chocolate = DISASTER!

Lemon crepes...lovely and light

The lemon kick continues...and as well as being a cake snob I am also a pancake snob. There's nothing I hate more than being served a big thick greasy pancake...especially one with doorstep sized chunks of banana or pineapple. Believe me, what I have just described are served up on a daily basis in just about every bungalow and homestay across Bali. When I make pancakes they MUST be like crepes...wafer thin. I have an amazing pancake pan that aids me wonderfully in this process. A simple batter of 1 cup of flour, 1 cup of milk and 1 egg usually does the job. Today however, I decided to put in 2 tablespoons of my deliciously divine vanilla infused whiskey. The concoction has been brewing away quietly in a dark corner for a few months and has now turned into a very rich vanilla essence. The addition of this ingredient really managed to enrich the batter with such an amazing vanilla aroma while they were cooking in the pan. It made the pancakes taste completely different. This will certainly be an ingredient that will be included every time. And how do I like my pancakes? With a sprinkling of sugar and a squeeze of lemon, of course. How do you like yours?

lovely lemon scones

I can still recall when I was working in Singapore not all that long ago, the lemon scones that were sold in the basement coffee shop. They were so good that fellow teachers and I used to gloat if we were lucky enough to get one of the few they had on sale each morning. And the reality...how incredibly simple they are to make. There is something about scones that is just so wholesome and good. Even more so when flavoured with one of my absolute favourite flavours - lemon. Of course, the key to it all is a generous lemon drizzle on the top and suddenly you have a fabulous start to the day...