I’m thrilled to be back into the kitchen and baking up a storm this Valentine’s Day (Feb 14) at 12:00pm noon on Channel 7 with my latest TV series, Lyndey Milan’s Summer Baking Secrets, the sequel to the one we produced for winter 2014, Lyndey Milan’s Baking Secrets! While baking is traditionally more popular in winter, it’s a shame not to be using one of the largest appliances in your kitchen all year round. Especially as once your goodies are in the oven, you can walk away and do other things! It’s a lighter, quicker form of baking, reflecting the brightness and joy of the Australian summer but with the oven only on for short bursts. Especially when so many fabulous summer dishes can be created using your oven! For this series I’ve teamed up with the Devondale Aussie Farmers Co-op. I am a massive fan of Australian producers and like to support them in every way I can.
Over six episodes, I’ve drawn on my 30+ years of experience in the Australian food industry to create low stress/high impress occasion cakes, tarts, crumbles, pies and breads. Think beautiful summer fruit tarts and savoury strudels, to petite cupcakes and baked seafood. You’ll be itching to get off the beach and into the kitchen for some of the best summer baking recipes you’ll ever see!
Episode 1 begins with muffins three ways. Different flavours, which are perfect for picnics & lunchboxes for you and the kids. With my savoury spinach muffins with a walnut rosemary streusel, peach and raspberry swirl and corn & jalapeno, there’s a muffin for everyone’s tastebuds!
Next up, I’m baking some easy yet stunning strawberry sponge puddings featuring Victorian Strawberries – the freshest, juiciest and sweetest strawberries I’ve tasted in a long time! As you know, cooking seasonally ensures you get the best bang for your buck as well as supporting Australian local farmers and the best produce money can buy. Fortunately for us Aussies, Victorian Strawberries are available from October to May due to different growing areas and varieties which ensures we can access the best Australian strawberries for a longer season. Great news for strawberry lovers! I’m sharing some of my best tips for taking care of your strawberries at home, but you’ll have to watch the episode for that!
For my next recipe, I’m creating a lovely fruit & nut bread which is stuffed to the max with figs, raisins and hazelnuts. My top tip of the day is kneading your bread dough on top of Glad Baking Paper – this helps avoid mess all over your counter and boards and helps stop the dough from sticking everywhere. That way you use less flour when kneading which can make your bread tough!
My fruit and nut bread would be just perfect to go with your next party cheese board, OR it’s fabulous if you make your own yoghurt “cheese”, otherwise known as labna. On this episode I’m showing a very nifty trick that I sometimes use at home when I make homemade cheeses. Instead of going to craft or cooking shops to purchase cheesecloth, did you know that you can actually use a clean chux cloth instead? This is a much easier option as chux is much more easily available from your supermarket than cheesecloth as well as far cheaper. To strain your cheese curds, or yoghurt to make labna, simply pour your curds/yoghurt into the chux over a colander and tie the ends to a wooden spoon. Hang over a large bowl in the fridge overnight and voila – homemade cheese in the morning! It couldn’t be easier than that.
Well, I don’t want to share *all* my tips ahead of the show – after all I still want you to tune in! Catch all the rest of my great baking tips and recipes by tuning into the first episode on Valentine’s Day, February 14 at 12:00pm noon on Channel 7. See you then!
xo
Lyndey
Lyndey’s Bake Range is now available to purchase in store from Blueprint Retail in Potts Point! They are located at 46A Macleay St, Potts Point NSW 2011 and are open every day from 10:00-6:00pm (except Sundays – close at 5:00pm).
