Sun-dried tomatoes and sausage quiche

Big's back!!! ^^ ^^ ^^

Sun-dried tomatoes and sausage quiche
Pastry (recipe from Dean Brettschneider's Sausage, Sun-dried Tomato & Potato Tart)
160g flour
120g butter, diced
a pinch of salt
2-3 tbsp fresh milk

Filling
5 sausages, sliced
1 medium onion, sliced thinly
6 sun-dried tomatoes, sliced thinly
250g (or more, or lots!) of grated tasty cheese! ^^
3 eggs
1 1/2 cup fresh milk I used skinny
some japanese mayo ^^ I added for fun ^^, optional
salt and pepper, to season

1. Prepare pastry. Blitz flour, butter and salt together with an electric mixer or processor, till they resemble breadcrumbs. Add fresh milk and mix till a dough is formed. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 mins or overnight. Or shortcut by rolling out pastry immediately and place on greased 22-cm round or rectangular tart tin, prick the base and then cover and refrigerate ^^.

2. Bake-blind pastry shell at 200C for 15-20 minutes. Remove foil and weights and bake for another 5 mins. Or just use as it is, straight from the refrigerator, no baking required.. that's how I do it! ^^

3. In a non-stick pan, saute onions till slightly soft and fragrant. Add sausages and cook for a bit. Remove from pan and leave to cool.

4. In a bowl, mix eggs, fresh milk, japanese mayo, salt and pepper till well blended.

5. To assemble, place onions, sausages and sun-dried tomatoes evenly on the pastry shell. Then generously place grated cheese all over.

6. Gently pour the egg mixture over. And top generously with more grated cheese.

7. Bake in a preheated oven of 200C for 40 minutes, or 220C for 30 minutes, till golden.

Big pig says it's been a while since he had good quiche! Aaaaawwwwww... Isn't he the sweetest?! And this quiche didn't even have bacon in it!!! ^^

Big's back! Big's back! La-la-la-la.... ^^ ^^ ^^

Coffee walnut.. and raisin cake

I totally planned this.

Yeah, right?! Who am I kidding! Most of my bakes are the result of leftovers or failed ideas! Haha!

Well, this is a combination of both.. a failed attempt at making crystallized sugar coated toasted walnuts and leftover raisins drowning in rum!

Coffee walnut raisin cake (recipe inspired/adapted from espresso almond butter cake)
~ makes an 8-inch square cake
250g salted butter
180g sugar (good enough for me, as my walnut meal is laced with caramel)
4 eggs
120g toasted walnut meal
240g flour, sifted (use cake flour, preferably)
1 tsp baking powder, sifted
80-100 g raisins, mix with a bit of flour
2 tbsp coffee powder + 120ml milk (+ a dash of bailey's irish cream ^^, optional)
toasted chopped walnuts for topping, optional

1. Beat butter and sugar till light and fluffy.

2. Add eggs one at a time, and mix till well combined. Or use the egg separation method the way I prefer ^^.

3. Fold in 1/3 sifted flours and walnut meal into the batter. Alternate with coffee milk. (F-C-F-C-F)

4. Pour batter into a greased 8-inch baking tin, and top with toasted walnuts if you like. Bake in a preheated oven of 170C, for 45-50 minutes or till skewer comes out clean.

Coffee walnut cake (with buttercream frosting) is a pretty popular cake. With raisins.. hmmm, less so, haha. Even I was sceptical of how it would taste like.. but I have raisins to clear ^^! Well, you now have my word it works beautifully! Delish! And it's not just me, fatty hubby and friends enjoyed it too ^^

Ah,,,,,,,, a simple treat, perfect with a spot of tea.. or coffee. Just the thing for me ^^