Easy Egg-Stuffed Avocado!

This morning for breakfast I was feeling a bit adventurous. I wanted to try something new and yummy and awesome, and we had some avocados laying on the counter and I got super excited! Egg-stuffed avocado! 

I actually had visions of a beautiful soft baked egg that you could break the yolk with a piece of toast. Awkward, my avocados were too small! They were tiny and wouldn't fit a whole egg!

I used two avocados, 3 eggs, some bacon, some red onion, spinach, and topped it all with salsa and parmesan cheese! I baked the avocados in the oven by themselves for approx 5 mins with salt and pepper while I cooked the eggs. Once the eggs were done I spooned them into the avocados and baked until the cheese was melted! Enjoy! 

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Sassy Strawberry Streusel Cake

There is something kinda badass about strawberries, don't you think? You can put them in anything, on anything or with virtually anything and they're still amazing. But don't think these strawberries are bland or unoriginal, they're ever changing in a world of tantalizing taste bud delights. Strawberries remind me of perfect summer days with a big bowl of fresh whipped cream. They also remind me of Disney World, with a cute little chocolate Mickey Mouse tuxedo. The other day I decided to whip up this super easy and sassy strawberry streusel cake! 

Preheat the oven to 175 C/350 F. Whip together the butter, sugar, and yoghurt until pale and fluffy. Add in the eggs 1 at a time. Add vanilla and almond meal. Toss strawberries with 2 tbsp flour. Beat flour and milk into batter alternating, but end with the flour. Add orange juice and zest. Gently fold strawberries into batter until combined. Pour into 2 loaf pans or one cake pan. 

In a bowl with an electric mixer, beat together oats, brown sugar, butter, and almond meal until combined and crumble-y. Sprinkle evenly over the top of the cake. 

Bake cake for approximately an hour, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

This cake is pretty slutty because you can use and abuse her to fit your needs. (Was that rude? Well this cake isn't I promise.) If you don't have any yoghurt, use 1 cup butter. If you only have 1 kind of sugar use 1/2 of all of it. If you don't have any almond meal, just use flour. If you don't have strawberries or oranges, maybe try blueberry and lemon (yum. that would be soo good). Whip her up and enjoy!

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Thursday Treat (on Friday): Lemon Meringue Pie

pie no. 2: Lemon Meringue Pie

occasion: I watched The Great Australian Bake Off and they made lemon meringue pie. I said to the boy that I could make better and he said well, here are some lemons and eggs, go ahead!

crust: Basic Shortcrust... I'm less sure about this one now, I think I'm going to have to keep experimenting. Shortening here isn't the same, anyone have any buttery pie dough suggestions?

filling: I used this recipe, although I added 2 egg yolks/whites to the curd and the meringue. I also added an extra 1/2 cup of lemon juice and the zest of 1 lemon to the curd. 

thoughts: Well I was going to say lemon meringue pie reminds me of my dad, but I'm pretty sure pie in general just reminds me of him. Besides the sub-par crust, I would have added more corn starch to the base to thicken it more. It didn't set properly but the meringue was fluffy and didn't weep, the crust was sweet and flaky (although just not what I was looking for) and the curd was bittersweet. All in all I was pretty happy with this pie!

days it took to finish: Two, between 4 people. 

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If you're wondering what this is all about, check out my 21 before 22 list here, and my previous pies here!

Thursday Treat: Hot Apple Pie 1/40

pie no. 1: Good ol' apple pie

occasion: Well I made apple pie for a dinner party and accidentally put cayenne instead of cinnamon. Yuck. So this is actually pie no. 2. Make up pie. 

crust: Basic Shortcrust (btw, pie dough is my jam. Like I can do this shit, but in Australia pie dough is different and I have to measure and think about things... what? Everything really is upside down)

filling: Apples, cinnamon, brown sugar, and honey, yum!

thoughts: Apple pie reminds me of my dad, he absolutely adores it. I've heard this thing and that thing about having to use the "right" apples for baking but I don't listen to that nonsense. FYI I used pink ladies and this pie rocked. I think I may have left the apples a bit too big, but I'd say cut half of the apples in snack size and the other half small and thin. That would make a good balance of soft and still kinda crunchy. I don't like my apple pie to taste like baby food, yah know? And yes, don't worry, I put a heaping scoop of vanilla ice cream on top. Yum!

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Sage and Butternut Squash Hash and How To Poach Eggs

Ok ok, maybe it's my age or my generation or WHATEVER, but anytime someone says they're gonna go eat some hash I giggle a little and think of them tripping out with "maddd munchies maayyunnn."

This is not that kind of hash.. don't worry mom. This is better. (Except it would probably make for some pretty excellent munchies..)

(click picture for larger image)

Okay so get your butternut squash. Be warned, 1 does not go a very long way... maybe 3 servings.

Peel, chop, slice, and dice. Into approximately uniform pieces (just so they'll cook more evenly!)

Preheat your oven to 350F. Cover squash with olive oil, kosher salt, coarse black pepper, and fresh chopped sage! Bake for 15-20 minutes until softish (think the way you like your pasta).

Ok so get your other ingredients ready. Onions, bacon, and cheese are a must in my books, but the ham, avocado, and tomato add another something special. You could also put in fresh herbs, other meats, spinach, brocoli.. basically anything your heart desires!

Now for the part people are scared of... POACHED EGGS!

Check out how much water is in there. Approximaely 1.5 inches from the bottom of the pan. Add in 3tbsp of white vinegar and 1 tsp salt. Bring water to a rolling boil.

Crack the eggs into the water one at a time (if you're worried about shells crack eggs into a bowl and pour into water, 1 at a time). Turn the burner down to medium/high heat aka "simmering". Really. That's it. Don't stir, dont gently fold, don't do anything.

NOW, you wait. 

When the water looks like this, it's a good sign your eggs are poached soft. (Soft poached, 1 min. Medium poached, 3 mins. Hard poached.. WHY?! 4-5 mins.) Turn off heat, let foam disappear, and then pull them out with a slotted spoon! Either spoon onto your plate or drop immediately into an ice bath and then reheat in boiling water when needed. 

Sautee (in olive oil) onions, ham, bacon, and finally add in the butternut squash until outsides are brown-y and crisp.

Mix in the cheese until it gets all melty and delicious. Mmmm. Put in a bowl, mix in tomatoes and avocado. Spoon eggs over top. 

See that? That's what a perfectly poached egg looks like. Yum.

Now eat and enjoy!! Omnomnomnomnom.

xo Becky

Another Unpopular Opinion and an Excellent Chocolate Cake

I don't really like cake. And I certainly don't like it with ice cream. Ew. (It's a texture thing) I tolerate cupcakes just because they're cute. I don't like pancakes, or anything with molasses or raw onions.  (Those last two were irrelevant, but just in case you were wondering). I'm not actually a picky eater - give me some octopus risotto or a good slice of apple pie any day and I'll be happy. I just know what I like.

And I don't like cake.

Mostly because I've never been very good at making them. The shortening frosting disaster of '08 anyone? I bought this fancy pants book of cake decorating and every single recipe failed. And not in the well, that wasn't great I guess I'll feed it to my friends way... in the please dear lord what is this and why am I eating it get it out of my mouth kind of way.

Ina Garten be my wife. I'm not kidding you. Lesbihonest here, I would do dirty things to the woman who could make me want to eat an entire cake. Miranda Hobbes have to throw it in the garbage and spray it with windex to stop eating it style. Just kidding I never did that.

I probably would have, but I haven't actually sliced the cake yet. It's sitting pretty on it's cake stand waiting to be adorned with candles for a special birthday someone. (Happy Birthday Harry!) I'd like to say I adapted the recipe, but really I just changed a couple things because I felt like it. Hey, I do what I want!

(Preheat oven to 350F) Measure out all cake ingredients. 

PROTIP: No need to fear if you don't have any buttermilk - measure out a cup of milk and add 2 tbsp of lemon juice and let sit. Mmmm, curdled "buttermilk".

"Sift" all the dry ingredients.

PROTIP: Put away your sifter, just put the dry ingredients in a bowl and whisk them together. This effectively "sifts" your flour/sugar/etc. 

Vanilla, Coffee, Oil, Buttermilk (Missing? Eggs)

On low, add all the wet ingredients into the dry!

Divide into two cake pans and put into preheated oven. Boom. Set a timer for 37 minutes. Bang. (In my oven this was the exact time that it took to bake!)

On to the buttercream...

Measure out your chocolate. Ou baby, gimmie some of that good stuff. 

Just for funzies, this is what I cut my 6oz of chocolate off of... We have another one of these + 2 white chocolate bricks downstairs. 

I guess you should probably measure out your other ingredients too. I guess. 

PROTIP: If you're like me and forgot to leave your butter out to get to room temp, put it in the microwave for 26 seconds. DON'T QUESTION ME.

Flame, meet pot. Pot, meet water. Water make your steam to high five the bowl of chocolate.

PROTIP: This is called a bain marie. Fancy shmancy french for boiling water and putting something over top of it. If you're like me, you probably also didn't think to boil water earlier, so put on your pot and go do something productive. Like dishes or something!

Hiiii melty chocolate!

Mix the butter, than add the eggs and vanilla and sugar and everything else. Then the chocolate and coffee. (So boring, everything is white, so here's a picture of the eggs because I feel like I neglected them in the cake... because I almost did. Shhh, don't tell them)

BEEPBEEP Cake's donneeezooo (: Pull them out, take the sides off, and let them fully cool before frosting them. 

CAKE, ASSEMBLE. 

PROTIP: Cut the tops of the cakes to get rid of that dome bit. Eat all of it. Especially if you're not sure if you're going to be able to actually eat the cake later. Slather that baby with buttercream and maybe go to a private room or something...

Cut some lady fingers in half and place them like a fence around your cake.

PROTIP: This is what I do when I think the sides of my cake look ugly and I don't want to be bothered putting more frosting everywhere and getting it on my hands and blah blah... this also works with almonds (classy cakes), sprinkles, etc. 

For the whole recipe with the actual measurements and everything, ch-ch-ch-eck out the printable recipe!

Perfect Chocolate Cake Printable Recipe

Instagram Lately

 1. Fancy desserts 2. When I bake, I typically end up covered in flour 3. Currently reading, Kitchen Confidential.

 4. Giant burger - so good! 5. Shoppin with my momma! 6. Flatbread for momma's birthday

7. Strawberry smoothie, yum! 8. Boyfriend appreciation dinner <3 9. Superfun socks!

As always, feel free to follow me on instagram! @seductivemania! (I post a lot of food :p)

Fancy French Toast

I love breakfast.... Obviously. To be completely honest though, I don't really eat it a whole lot. Why? Well... I love sleep. I guess more than I love breakfast.  Ooops.

Some simple French bread  picked up on a whim from the grocery store. 50% off "fresh baked" multigrain to be exact. Don't worry about stale bread, in fact embrace the day old bread. It's crustiness makes it the perfect candidate for a delicious french toast. 

Now, you wanna know my secret to perfect french toast? You sure? Ok.

Vanilla, cinnamon, cream, brown sugar, SALT AND PEPPER, and hot sauce.

Yes, salt and pepper and hot sauce. You read correctly. The salt and pepper are so important - you would never forget to put them on your eggs would you? And the hot sauce? Well... it adds a much needed contrast to the heaviness of french toast.

What is your french toast secret recipe? (Everyone has one!)

Bits and Pieces

This week has been so busy! Between school and work and Easter and my new camera, I've started to neglect myself. Which means, of course, I've gotten sick. Strep throat. Woooohooooo. Just in time for exams.

So here's some bits and pieces from my camera this week:

Pretty Flowers for my momma.

A food truck, Blue Donkey Streatery came to our school this week, and we had some excellent Greek street food. Chelsea and I loved stuffing our faces. Oh, the perks of being a culinary student!

Yummiest chicken gyro I've ever had! They put fries inside their wraps. Yum. I'm hungry just thinking about it.

Carrot cake cupcakes with maple cinnamon cream cheese frosting. Again. Yum. And aren't these the cutest plates? 

Cadbury Cream egg brownies on another cool plate - I actually never tried these. Because (sorry goo fans!) I really don't like cream eggs!

Me, Momma and Daddy on Easter Sunday. Love them so much <3

Easter egg hunts, it's a family tradition that'll never get old. :)

Yum, chocolate covered peeps in the sunlight. Sparkle, baby. Sparkle!

Food truck food lab - root beer pulled chicken on 7up buns and gingerale relish. Just one of the  9 dishes we made, all featuring some sort of pop as the star ingredient.

Cool picture featuring cream soda white chocolate dipping sauce for our orange crush pop rock churros!

L-R, Steve, Joe, Me, Chelsea, and Taewon in the front. My favourite culinary crew!

What has your week been like? Full of as much food as mine?