I ran my Easter cooking workshops this week and we had great fun with all sorts of Easter recipes, but I particularly loved teaching the baking of hot cross buns from scratch. It sounds terribly daunting but they’re actually a doddle – if you can get past the waiting time for the dough to rise….

Whenever there’s a Bobotie cooking in my kitchen, I always have good chutney on hand. My favourite is definitely Mrs. Balls! Chutney is a delightful condiment that you’ll find in many South African grocery stores or a “padstal” (or farm stall) that’s worth its salt. Find your favourite and serve it with this classic Cape…

Rice Krispie treats can be made to suit any theme or colour. This recipe is taken from my book “Pink Gin and Fairy Cakes”, originally for blue cookie monsters, adapted here more appropriately for Valentines Day. My daughter pressed the mixture into a large heart shaped cookie cutter to get the shapes, but you can…

Mealies are such a South African thing. They are available all year round and we find so many wonderful ways to eat them – best of all, on the cob! I use leftover corn in salads, or combine whatever I have with canned kernel corn or sweetcorn to use in things like cornbread, sweetcorn fritters…

This is a lovely summer salad, appropriate for a South African Christmas, especially if you’re cooking outdoors and serving lunch on a warm day. It will give your table a burst of Christmas colour and the flavours are piquant and refreshing. Here’s what goes in:1 pineapple, slicedMaple syrup for basting1 red pepper, chopped¼ cup sweet…

It’s Turkey time again! For some of us, this is very exciting, but for others, a daunting task. Even if you’re not an experienced cook, I have some great tips here for you. There are several ways to ensure you don’t serve up a dried out turkey on Christmas day and a large part of…

Love it or hate it, no Christmas is complete without a fruitcake of some kind. This is a rich, dense cake encompassing all the flavours of Christmas – including a healthy dose of brandy! Made all the more special by the bits of marzipan inserted here and there, like little treasures in every bite. The…

At this time of the year, I’m guessing you’re gearing up to celebrate the festive season. And for the first time in a long time, we can look forward to celebrating without restrictions. If you know anything about me at all, it’s that I love to celebrate – always with food! My debut cookbook “Pink…

This November rain has been relentless, bringing with it an unfamiliar chill at this time of year. The upside is that we don’t have to reserve delicious, warming dishes like Oxtail for winter… this dish is rather welcoming right now. So easy to prepare and leave to almost self-cook while you get on with your…

Happy Halloween! This has become my favourite trick or treat item, and I love sitting on the pavement handing these out to happy little faces!They’re easy and inexpensive to make, and personally I prefer to not have all the plastic wrappers from store-bought candy floating around. For the candy: (yields enough for 9- 10)1 cup…