We’ve had a solid week of rain in Sydney.
I’m not exaggerating – we only had 45 minutes of Spring sunshine last week, which led to a mild case of cabin fever and culminated in a manic baking frenzy. I made several batches of chestnut flour brownies – they’re gluten-free, simple to bake and perhaps just a little too easy to eat!
I also whisked up a batch of Anna’s Canelés – the only time a silicone baking mould ever gets used in our kitchen. I made big ones…
…and baby ones, all flavoured with a hint of dark rum…
A wet week necessitates lots of custard (according to my Pete), which resulted in a glut of egg whites. I turned some of them into friands – these blackberry and Valrhona chocolate ones are a variation on our original recipe. The red wrappers were very cheery…
…and matched the rosy filling!
The remaining four egg whites were turned into a baby pavlova…
…which was topped with whipped cream, strawberries, kiwi fruit and a drizzle of vanilla syrup just before serving.
Serendipitously, Nic at Dining with a Stud is hosting the Great Australian Pavlova Blog Hop. Nothing marks the start of summer in Australia like a pavlova…
The sun finally returned on Saturday afternoon, and we were able to head out to inspect our soggy garden. Thankfully it was mostly intact, although parts of it were very muddy!
How’s the weather in your part of the world?
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
Oh my, how wonderful your pavlova looks! Please pass me a plate and dessertspoon! Now that is a classic pavlova. LOL, how do you stay slim with all this wonderful, wonderful baking!? I’m coming over for a cuppa xox
Lizzy, I’m not slim at all, I’m slowly turning into a beached whale! The pav was for dinner last night – my folks were over, and it’s my mum’s favourite! What time will you be over? I’ll have the kettle on… :)
LOL, you are too funny! I love your blog and your beautiful garden and baking! So delighted to have met you. It’s a cracker of a pavlova!
A baking frenzy indeed – yum! I had two days in cairns so I missed the worst of the rainy week thank goodness.
You’re up late, love! The rain was unrelenting, and it knocked all the baby lemons off the tree, and cucumbers off the vine. The zucchini seedlings tripled in size though!
Oh Celia, how I wish I was ensconced in your cabin during your mini rainy season – it all looks so fabulous, my mouth is watering. Still haven’t made friands and those caneles are a new one on me. Love the cheery red wrappers and as for pavlova, well …….!
Thanks Choc, it would be lovely if you were here – there’s lot of chocolate, so we’d have a ball! The caneles are very moreish, and quite easy to make once you get the hang of it. Interestingly, they go crispy as they cool, despite being baked in silicone!
We’re waiting for winter to start properly here – November has been the stangest month of a very strange year, weather-wise.
I’d love to have any of your goodies, Celia – my own baking isn’t going too well at the moment. Perhaps I should stop looking for new recipes!
Suelle, at this time of year, I tend to default to the tried and tested – mainly because I don’t have the mental energy to wrap my head around new recipes! It’s nearly the end of the school year for us, and everyone’s exhausted, so we’ve been sending out sugar care packages.. :)
I want to come to your place!
I want you to come to my place! :)
The weather in Dubai is just perfect right now – although there are a few storm clouds in the sky. As we only have about 5 days rain a year, we don’t mind – in fact welcome rain. Approve of the custard making :) Your pavlova reminds me of one made at a dinner party by a friend from New Zealand. She shaped it into North and South Island, covered both in Kiwi fruit and put a toy sheep on one.
Sally, that must be an interesting change after growing up in the UK, to only have five days of rain a year! I wish you could have had some of our rain..and Pete’s custard! :)
Sorry, got carried away – meant to say how amazing all your baking looks.
Thank you! :)
Wow, I think I’m speechless! Everything looks so beautiful and I can’t believe how much you were able to prepare in such a short time.. incredible energy! I’m so glad the rain prompted you to be so creative and now we can benefit:)
Smidgen, thank you! :) None of them take very long to mix up – the chestnut flour brownies are literally made in minutes, and baked in under half an hour, as are the friands.
Our poor chickens got a little damp this week (their dome is mostly covered though, so it wasn’t too bad), but they still laid beautiful eggs for us, albeit a little muddy. They very kindly kept us in custard all week! :)
They all look fabulous. I really like the look of the caneles. Haven’t come across those before, but they sound lovely. I really like the look of your pav – I’ve never eaten pavlova, and would love to be in your kitchen to try some! Hope your folks enjoyed it.
I love weekends where I just spend the whole time in a baking fug in the kitchen, it’s really lovely. As Suelle said, November has been weird here, really mild. I don’t mind because I hate cold weather, but now it’s almost December even I am waiting for cold to hit!
C, thank you! You must have had a very long growing season in your gardens! The weather has been bizarre here too – last week we had winter coats and blankets back out. I hope you get around to making a pavlova one day, it’s a treat, although it does need to be shared. An Eton Mess could probably be regarded as a deconstructed pavlova.. :)
Meringues don’t work well in wet weather, so I made the pavlova on the weekend after the rain stopped!
Well, I’ve had Eton mess, so I’m half way there! Didn’t know that about meringues and wet weather – handy tip!
Not so sure about the growing season, as I’m not growing anything. But mild is about 9C, so not exactly hot!
Aaaah, C, 9C is a cold Sydney winter! :)
I adore Caneles and eat them in France. I nearly bought some of the small copper moulds there but had to think about the luggage allowance, did not know you could get silicone version. Yours look as good as any I saw in France.
Roz, thank you, that’s high praise! :)
Those little copper moulds cost a fortune here, and apparently they’re tricky to unmould! The silicone version is a very affordable alternative – Anna sent mine from France, but I recently saw some on sale in Marrickville at Southern Cross Supplies (no idea how much they were though).
Finally the sun shone in the Berra yesterday. However it’s been bloody wet for what seems ever here too. Love all your baking, how fantastic, and glad the garden is okay. Hope your weekend was lovely. And, have a great week.
Hey darlin’, how’ve you been? Hasn’t it been wet? The sun is out today though, which is wonderful. Have a great week!
Soggy, soggy it’s been hasn’t it. Hopefully there will be a flurry of growth in your garden with this weeks now sun Celia.
Just so wet, Brydie! And today it’s HOT, Pete just said there’s a UV warning not to go out between 9am and 5pm. We can’t win.. :)
It looks as though too much bad weather could be seriously challenging to your waistline in your house, Celia. All your baked goods look just glorious – especially the friands. Might have to make some of those myself, actually, although we’ve run out of eggs for now.
But not for long. We bought 6 new hens 3 weeks ago and were given 4 more yesterday. Things could be a little unpleasant in the hen-house for the next week or so.
New chickens sound fun, Amanda, but as you say, not for the first few weeks. Lots of feathers and blood in the coop for the next little while, I suspect.
As another Sydneysider I know where you are coming from. But wasn’t yesterday beautiful?
We too went on a bit of a baking frenzy but it was tinged with a bit of guilt as an astronomical electricity bill had hubby pointing the finger at the time kids and I spend with the oven ( not that he doesn’t devour all that bursts forth from within most gratefully!) It’s terrible that it has come to this as we all enjoy cooking together – even hubby!
So we are trying to be mindful of power use without spoiling the fun but looking at your beautiful baking has me itching to bolt to the kitchen regardless!
Hi Sue, thanks for stopping by. Yesterday really was beautiful, such a nice change from the previous week. The electricity rates have been soaring, the bills are getting very scary lately…
Will be dropping by regularly – it’s all too good to miss!
you really have been busy and I also love a good pav, i shall bring my recipe out for an airing at christmas time, no-one even knew what they were here until i made one and a lot of friends at the same time!! Hope you have a good brolly!.. ?..c
C, you’ve taken a little of downunder to the prairies! :) Rain has eased up, but apparently it’s on its way back soon!
You made it :D well done. Its perfect!!
I see what you mean about those brownies too – they look divine!
Hope the blog hop goes well, Nic! It’s perfect pavlova weather today! :)
I wouldn’t mind being locked in your house on a wet weekend Celia. How delicious! I was going to mention the pavlova blog hop but you found it yourself. Yours looks very pretty and much neater than mine.
Claire, your pav is made with brown sugar, which I find intriguing – I bet it has a wonderful caramel note to it! :)
I’ve decided it is torture for me to read your blog at night when I’ve just cleared the kitchen. Now all I want is pavlova. And friands. Tomorrow! I’ll trade you Thanksgiving leftovers baked into a pie PLUS the dark chocolate and almond bark I’m serving tomorrow for just a whack at the pavlova. I grew up eating Eton mess…
Emily…oh why did you have to mention pie? Now I’m going to have to make one.. :) A big Thanksgiving leftovers pie sounds amazing, I hope we get to see photos?
What a varied bake of beautiful goodies. Now quickly get outside to work off the excess because the rain is coming again later this week!!!
Liz, thanks for the headsup! We planted out the empty bed today in anticipation of more rain – baby pumpkins, more beans, lettuce, celeriac (somewhat optimistically), carrots, basil, apple cucumbers and parsley. Hope it survives the next downpour!
Hi Celia, what a wonderful weekend of baking. Your chestnut brownies look wonderful, but where did you get the chestnut flour from? It is $35.00 a kilo in Melbourne.
Miranda, I buy my chestnut flour at the Italian supermarkets – try Italian delis, it might be cheaper there. It’s still quite expensive, but about half the price you’re paying, $8 per 500g bag. It’s imported from Italy, here’s a photo of the brand we buy…
Haha did you have a lot of drop ins that week? Because if I knew all of this deliciousness was happening, I would have popped in! ;)
Hehehe…a few drop ins, but more deliveries – we dropped off chestnut brownies to Carm and cake and custard to other friends. Would love to catch up!
So sorry about your rain. We’ve had quite a bit here too. If it doesn’t quit raining its liable to turn to snow, though when it inevitably turns cold. I always associate pavlova w/ Ina Garten for some reason, but yours looks much better than any I’ve seen Ina make!!! Wish I could’ve shared some w/ you. Don’t tempt me w/ those friands, cause I’m liable to make more. I love those!!! Hubby and I really, really enjoyed the Muppets clip. Thank you for the laughs/smiles:)
Mel, I guess it must be getting cold over there now. Glad you enjoyed the Muppets, we’re all huge fans over here! :)
Hi Celia!
We went from a week of -20 – -30C to +2C today. Now it’s getting cold again, below -15C. Temperature dropped steadily all day. Yesterday we had freezing rain and snow, so the roads are slippery. Otherwise I’m very busy at home; it seems the work never ends!
The garden will probably grow well once it gets warm again, after all the rain!
Have a great week.
.
Manuela, I hope so! That’s wild cold weather you’re getting, and so early in the season! Stay safe on those roads.. x
First thing I thought of was your chooks, hope they didn’t get too wet. What a lovely assortment Celia. I would put on far too much weight in your home with all the decadent treats all the time.
Our weather has been equally as missy – hope the sun will stay our long enough to dry my 3 loads of laundry today.
Have a super week.
:-) Mandy
Mandy, it really isn’t good to be baking all these treats with swimsuit season just around the corner, but we really were feeling locked in by the rain! Hope your washing dried – the sun stayed up all day for us! Yaaay! :)
Have a great week too!
I thought that we were the only ones to have crazy bumps in the weather. It’s been classic fall, and then today, hot dry and in the eighties. (Fahrenheit, I’m not sure what that translates into Celsius.) Here we are putting up our Xmas lights and it’s desert weather. Odd.
I’ve been in a kitchen mood too, egg bread, apple pie, enchiladas, carrot ginger soup, minestrone…
Maz
Darling, we always put up Christmas decorations in the heat. :) And our schools close for six weeks between December and February! Your kitchen sounds like it’s buzzing right now, so many yummy things!
Pavlova for me, any day :) Oh, and the weather? Unseasonally warm and dry, but I think that is about to change……
Claire, I hope it doesn’t get too cold! :)
You are such a talent, Celia. Where’s the passion fruit for the gorgeous Pavlova?
Misk, thank you, and good pick up! Pete forget the passionfruit, but a proper pav really should have some.. :)
This looks amazing – what a wonderfully yummy wet week!
Craig
Craig, thank you! I’m sorry we haven’t called, will email you now!
Wow! All of this looks terribly delicious! I followed your link over here from Bagni di Lucca. My mouth is watering, I only wish I could bake like this. I’ll be back when I have the courage to try something new in the kitchen.
Jennifer, thanks for popping by. Isn’t Deb and Liz’ blog amazing? :)
Your baking is incredible. So many of my favourites so well represented there. I know what you mean about last week’s weather – what was with that??? I had a sister out from NYC who was hoping to take her young son to the beach, the park, the zoo – anywhere outdoors really, and all they did was feel trapped inside. We are a city where there’s nothing to do unless we can be outdoors.
Charlie, thank you! I was going nuts with the rain. I fed everyone last week – family, neighbours, shopkeepers, friends with new babies, school teachers – I couldn’t keep it all here or we’d eat it all, but I just couldn’t stop baking! Now the sun’s come up and the urge has subsided somewhat, it’s very interesting… :)
I’ve been wanting to make caneles for ages, but haven’t got around to getting the moulds yet either, but heard the silicon ones were the best. Friands, chestnut flour brownies, and pavlovas- my best gluten free dreams come true!!
Becca, I’ve made the caneles with lactose-free milk before, and they’ve worked well! x
Friands! I do believe these are in need here. You have been very busy but with the weather you’ve had, I would expect nothing less.
We’ve had rain, rain and more rain with the odd hot day thrown in here and there. The grass has become a weekly battle *sigh*.
Sigh…I wish all the other veg would react to the rain and odd hot day in the same way! :)
These are so beautiful, I can eat all of them :) You did great dear Celia. In here the weather is cold but not rain today… Of course we miss the sunny days… Thank you, have a nice week, with my love, nia
Thanks Nia! I guess it’s winter soon in Turkey – does it get very cold?
Everything looks so good. I am a pavlova maniac…yours is divine. Stay dry my friend!
Thanks Norma! It’s dry right now, but apparently we have another week of rain coming!
Celia- your baking frenzy is a wonder to behold!
I love all the different flavors and textures- I usually just bake bread when the need to bake arises here. Although, I have been baking a LOT of sweet stuff lately. My husband’s birthday is the 30th I should check and see what he wants for his dessert. :)
Heidi, I’ve been baking bread too – those pics are coming tomorrow! I’ve just taken a batch of SD fruit rolls out of the oven, and Pete is scoffing them! Can’t wait to see what you made for Frank’s birthday! :)
Wow! Everything looks so gorgeous! I bought silicone canele pans but have yet to try my hand at making them. Yours look so utterly fabulous I think I’ll go get these pans out right now!
Kathleen, thank you! The secret with the canele batter is to let it rest overnight in the fridge (or so I’m told!). Hope you enjoy them!
Wow, you certainly have some gorgeous looking treats there Celia. But I don’t want to see another pav for a while. I made two big pavs for my neighbour Philomena last weekend -was her Hubby’s birthday with over fifty people. The intense humidity drove me nuts. I reheated them both on the morning and it helped to regain their crispiness. I topped one with raspberries and blueberries and a homemade raspberry sauce. The other with mango, blueberries and passionfruit. And cream of course!! They were the only desserts to be totally polished off – she had about twenty desserts there. The good old pavlova remains as popular as ever.
Mariana, I know exactly what you mean! I had to make the pav after the rain stopped – I’ve had trouble with meringues in humidity before! Twenty desserts, sounds like a big do, and not surprising that your pavlovas were the first to go! :)
What a great baking weekend it was – they all look scrummity! My sister arrived today Celia, I hope the sun shines a bit for her :)
It was gloriously sunny today, Tandy! :)
Absolutely teeming with rain in Canberra tonight, Celia, after such a hot afternoon. Hailstones as well, big ones. Love the sound of the thunder. It augers well for a peaceful slumber. My newly planted cos lettuces will benefit, as will the self sown tomato plants. Is it raining in your neck of the woods tonight?
Liz, I saw there were storm warnings last night, I hope your lettuce survived the hail! No rain here last night…