Salted chocolate and caramel tart

Here is my birthday cake from this year. I didn't plan any celebration this year, being a little tired still from our return flight from Australia. But my good friend subtly suggested that a celebration would be in order, which got me thinking, 'Why not?' A quick flick through my library of cooking books for some ideas, a bit of grocery shopping and we enjoyed a little mid-week dinner party on the balcony.

The 'birthday cake' is a salted chocolate and caramel tart; very 'on-trend' I know, but combining all my favourite things; chocolate, caramel and salt. There are a few steps to this tart, but you could make and bake the pastry case the day before if you like. And it looked very pretty holding my birthday candles.

Gingerbread muffins

Christmas baking today. The house smells wonderful. I wanted to make some muffins, as I had some beautiful little Christmas muffin cups in the cupboard, and I just love the smells of cinnamon and ginger in baking. Given that the weather is also freezing cold today - currently it is 1 degree Celsius outside - what better than warming up the house a bit with the oven.

I didn't ice my muffins; you could if you like, but they are lovely to eat warm, directly from the oven with a cup of tea. Did I mention the divine baking smell?

Baked eggplant with feta, tomatoes and herbs

Yes, I admit it, I have a thing for eggplant. I am seeing someone about it - my green grocer. He's very helpful.

Here is another way to cook this most wonderful fruit (yes, it is a fruit!)

Broccoli with mushrooms and bacon

It is mushroom season in Europe at the moment. Due to a wetter-than-normal summer, there is a plentiful supply of many types of mushrooms.

In this recipe, I've used Eierschwammerl, a mushroom type native to central Europe, but you could use whatever mushrooms you have handy.

The Eierschwammerl have a short season, between July and October, depending on the weather. For this reason they can be expensive, unless you know where to go mushroom hunting to pick some for free. But the wonderful flavour and texture of these mushrooms is unlike anything I've ever had, so well worth the expense. A small amount of these mushrooms go a long way too as they are quite strong in flavour, but generally hold their shape quite well once cooked.

They go best in a creamy sauce for meat, game or bread dumplings (knodel). But I think this combination with broccoli and bacon is rather nice too.

Kaiserschmarrn (shredded pancakes)

This is my version of the typical Austrian dessert - Kaiserschmarrn. Basically, it is a large pancake that is shredded/chopped and is then served warm with fruit, a sweet sauce or some icing sugar. I've seen this dish served as an evening main meal, especially to children and especially in cold weather. It is also really wonderful for lunch after a day on the ski slopes.

In my version, I used dried cranberries, fresh strawberries, maple syrup and some icing sugar, although the icing sugar was only for decoration.

Eggplant schnitzel

These schnitzels are really gorgeous; crunchy, crispy coating and silky, soft eggplant inside. So, so delicious to eat. If there is anyone if your family who doesn't like eggplant, give them these and you might find they are converted. My grandmother used to make these when I was a child, so I have some nice memories of eating these too.