Courtesy pippalou @morgueFile free photos

Fleeting sight through the dappled shade of stately trees

A man walking
Red setter dogs on long leash in one hand
Long Whipper snipper brush cutter in the other hand

I could have imagined it were a laird on his croft
Or a master of his estate
Tramping his lands

Minutes later I heard and saw this same man about his gardening and handyman duties at an Assisted Living residence.

It is so still here beyond these old stones. Just a narrow entrance which is so easily driven past and missed. Yet looking through the wire fence of the tennis court parking lot and beyond the bushes, Sydney city traffic flows.

Safety glasses on and a big shady sun hat.
His brush cutter roaring, seemingly at odds in this setting.
Dogs safely tethered out of sight near the gates at a distance, no doubt enjoying their moment of bliss. Snapping at and devouring the shifting gusts of wind.

Courtesy pippalou@morgueFile free photos

Courtesy terryballard@morgueFile free photos

One brief moment in time.
The “pause button”
A brief escape to another time and another place

Refreshment for the soul on a Tuesday

Now what do I need to do in this my home.
Well there is a cake I could bake
There is another shrub to plant to complete the hedging
There are weeds to pull
Fertilizer of the Cow Manure variety to be sprinkled and watered in
Cane mulch to be spread around the shrubs
Tis a very messy and itchy job even with a face mask on
Some carpets and stairs to be vacuumed …

All the above done except for the cake. I can always eat a muesli bar!
Muscles creaking from an overload of bending….you know how it is when you start with one thing and it just snowballs.

But such a great feeling on a Wednesday night walking into a clean house. It makes the creaky-ness worth it.

Even more so for next time with cake

Care Alert for peace of mind

Dairy and egg intolerant.

Stuck for dessert recipe…or simply

Run out of eggs

Want to save money

Run out of shopping money

Well, I have a recipe I’ve used and adapted for our taste.

My writing this post comes about because of a comment a friend made having run out of eggs in the middle of a big baking storm….and I think that’s exactly the reason why I initially found this recipe. There are so many variations out on the web, some using Lemon juice others using vinegar. I chose the vinegar option as there is always some vinegar in a home!

PRETEND WHITE CHOCOLATE MUD CAKE…my title

This is an all in one bowl cake. Easy, no creaming, no eggs, no milk. A rich tasting cake with a scrumptious mud cake texture.

Photo courtesy pippalou @ morgueFile free photos

1 and half cups Plain Flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup water
1 to one and a half teaspoons Vanilla essence- I use pure like Queens brand
1 Tablespoon white vinegar
6 Tablespoons oil – I use light Olive oil
1 teaspoon Baking Soda (Bi-Carb)

Heat oven to 180C less for Fan forced. Oil 20cm tin or and line tin with Baking Paper. As I use a round silicon tin I also add Baking paper to base, oiled.

Put flour, sugar and water into bowl. Add Vanilla, vinegar, oil and Baking Powder. Mix with beaters till smooth. The mixture will be runny. Pour into tin. Bake 35-40 minutes or until inserted skewer come out clean. I have found mine takes longer to cook being in the silicon cake tin.

Cool for 10 minutes and take out of tin. When cold ice with your favourite icing. I make orange icing using icing sugar, dab of butter, bit of powdered milk, squeezed orange juice and some of the grated zest. If you want plain vanilla butter icing omit orange and add more butter and milk powder with the tiniest drip of vanilla if you wish.

Or serve plain dusted with icing sugar….lots of choices for any palate.

Being done in a round tin (mine is 22cm) the cake when cut looks like the large pieces of the gourmet cakes at coffee shops that we drool over, but at a fraction of the cost.

Also when you take your cake to an event you can say that people with certain allergies ie, dairy and egg can readily enjoy.

Photo courtesy earl53 @morguefile.com

There is scope for lots of variations on this cake the main and most favoured being CHOCOLATE…mmmm…add 3 Tablespoons and up the sugar a bit. Once cooled cut cake in half so you have two rounds. Spread base with red jam then add beaten/whipped cream. Gently replace top circle of cake. The cake can be left plain with its jam and cream filling or have lots of chocolate icing on top and you are set…..or you can put cream on top and grate some chocolate as we did to a trifle when we had family together over the holidays. Grand children’s hands trying to catch the stray gratings of chocolate. Depends how decadent you want the cake to be. Place in fridge. Again lots of compliments….and wouldn’t it go as a fabulous dessert with these chocolate hearts and freshly brewed coffee if you are looking for Valentine’s day ideas.

Need a bigger cake to feed a group, then double the quantity, use larger tin and bake longer, checking with skewer!

Enjoy….invite some friends round for morning tea instead of going out for coffee and save everyone a bundle. Your friends will thank you for thinking of this.

….but my most favourite chocolate cake is a microwaved cake recipe I have which includes eggs but I use Orgran Egg Replacer. The ultimate Black Forest Cake for pennies.

So some letters on a screen…printed words….
One recipe but many variations,
Quantities for a few or a crowd,
saving money ideas,
about food allergies,
Substituting ingredients,
Everyday happenings snippets
Thankfulness
Brilliant colours
And of course food…
…and what say you dear readers?

With that, for now I’ll leave you drooling over cake whilst I go and prepare our evening meal.

By for now
Alexa

Words and photographs belong to Alexa from www.Alexa-asimplelife.com except as stated courtesy of.