Modern Australian

Place the unused vanilla bean in a jar of caster sugar to make your own vanilla sugar. Note

Inserting the base of the springform pan upside down will make it easier to slide the cake from the base. Note

Use frangelico (hazelnut) or crème de cacao (chocolate) flavoured liqueurs. Cut cakes with a serrated knife. Note

Sandwiches can be prepared several hours ahead. Keep wrapped in plastic wrap in the refrigerator until required. Bread is an excellent source of energy-giving carbohydrates. Wholemeal and wholegrain breads are also a rich source of dietary fibre and other nutrients because they contain the natural goodness of the entire grain. Note

Store cake pops in an airtight container at a cool room temperature until ready to serve. Pipe eyes and mouths on the day of serving. They will keep for up to a week. Note

A bright, colourful and exquisite lamb, spinach and spiced peach salad.

Soba noodles are long, flat thin Japanese buckwheat noodles from Asian food stores and major supermarkets. Note

The only spider you'll ever want to drink.

Reserve some of the feathery fennel fronds to sprinkle over the soup at serving time. Note

Éclairs are best made on day of serving, but do not fill until ready to serve. Unfilled éclairs can be frozen. Note

Sandwiches can be made up to two hours before the picnic. Note

Clarissa the cow is out in the paddock, eating the flowers and generally getting into all kinds of mischief. Note

Aïoli is garlic mayonnaise, available from the condiment aisle in most supermarkets. Note

We used desiree potatoes in this recipe. Season this dish carefully as the haddock and stock are already salty. Note

We used blue-eye trevalla cutlets in this recipe, but you can use any white fish cutlets. Vietnamese mint is not a mint, but a pungent and peppery narrow-leafed member of the buckwheat family. Also known as laksa leaf and cambodian mint. It is available from Asian greengrocers. Note

You need two oranges for this recipe – one for the salad and one for the juice. You can substitute fresh baby beetroot with canned baby beets, or the chicken with pork fillet or salmon, if you like. Note

A light and summery dish of char-grilled scallops with a zesty corn salsa.

Pink petal dust can be purchased at specialty baking or cake-decorating shops. Note

You can turn this into an ‘eggless processor fruit cake’, if you like. Omit the eggs, and increase the golden syrup by 1 tablespoon to ⅓ cup (155g). The cake doesn’t keep quite as well without eggs, about 5 days, but will freeze for 3 months. Note

Place any leftover lime leaves in a resealable plastic bag and freeze for another use. Add three or four to a curry, scrunching the leaves first to release the flavour; toss thinly sliced leaves through a tropical fruit salad; or add sliced leaves to a jug of iced water for a refreshing citrus flavour. Mango […]

Who said sausage sausages have to be boring? These ones are packed full of strong flavour, and are presented beautifully - perfect for a picnic lunch with loved ones.

You can find artificial spider’s web at novelty shops. If you can’t find it, use fairy floss or cotton wool instead. Be sure to remove spider’s web or cotton wool and skewers before cutting and serving the cake. You will need approximately 3 x 100g bars of Toblerone for this cake. Note

Dried lavender is available from selected delis and spice shops. If you prefer, you can use 1 teaspoon finely grated orange or lemon rind instead. Note

A perfect summer dish of barbecued sausages with tomato relish.

Flavoured Milk Bottles can be found in packets of Allen’s Milk Bottle Mania; you will need about 3 x 170g packets. Note

Ask your fishmonger to butterfly the sardines. It is correct that the sardines are not cooked in this recipe. Note

Seasoned flour is plain flour with added seasonings of choice such as salt, pepper, mustard, herbs. Note

White icing is also known as fondant (it’s the traditional icing used on wedding cakes). It is available in packets from the supermarket and cake decorating shops. Note

You need about four trimmed rhubarb stalks for this recipe. Calcium is well absorbed from dairy products, but poorly absorbed from foods rich in oxalic acid, such as spinach and rhubarb. So stick to dairy foods as the main source of dietary calcium, but enjoy rhubarb as a tangy, vibrant, stewed fruit. Note

Equipment you will need for this recipe, 23cm x 34cm number 4 cake pan and a 25cm x 40cm rectangular cake board. You can decorate this cake with single or multi coloured lollies. Place lollies such as Smarties on butter cream close to presentation time to prevent the colours running. Note

You need two passionfruit for this recipe. Note

To get ½ cup of pomegranate pulp, use a medium pomegranate. To remove the pulp, cut pomegranate in half, then hit the back of the fruit with a wooden spoon ­ the seeds usually fall out easily; if not, dig them out with a spoon. Discard the shell and white pith. Note

The chicken can be marinated a day ahead. Recipe best made close to serving. Note

Use hundreds and thousands as an alternative to the orange sprinkles. You can use cream-filled rollettes, if you prefer. If using butter cream instead of the vanilla frosting, you will need two quantities. White icing is also known as fondant (it’s the traditional icing used on wedding cakes). It is available in packets from the […]

Some butchers sell a pork and veal mixture, this is fine to use here,­ buy 625g. Note

More fun and delicious animal cupcakes that the whole family will love.

Tart will keep in an airtight container, in the refrigerator, for up to three days. Note

If you don’t have a candy thermometer, boil the syrup until it’s thick with heavy bubbles. Remove from heat, let bubbles subside, then reassess the thickness of the syrup. Note

Top puddings with a slice of glacé orange. It is available from gourmet and health-food stores. If the six 30cm squares of unbleached calico have not been used before, soak them in cold water overnight. The next day, boil them for 20 minutes then rinse in cold water. Puddings can be cooked in two boilers […]

Lamb noisette is a round, rather thick, cut of meat taken from the loin. We used a basil pesto dip from the refrigerated section of supermarkets, but you can use any pesto you like. Some major supermarkets and greengrocers are now selling bunches of baby carrots of different colours. We used a bunch each of […]

We used thick-cut ling fillets in this recipe. Soak skewers in cold water for at least an hour before using, to prevent scorching during cooking. Note

Available at some nurseries, rose geranium is an aromatic member of the geranium family. Use the leaves to scent a madeira or butter cake, before baking, line cake pan with leaves. The tart shell is suitable to freeze. Note

You will need to make this recipe the day before. You will need about 8 passionfruit for this recipe. You can substitute canned passionfruit pulp, if you like, however to compensate for the sugar added during canning add a teaspoon or two of lime juice. This recipe can be made up to 1 week ahead, […]

Garlic is easy to roast and has a more mellow taste than it does raw or fried. Make it and freeze it by the tablespoon wrapped tightly in plastic wrap. Roasted garlic beaten with softened butter adds a whole new dimension of flavour to mashed potato or steamed corn cobs. Note

You need one trimmed corn cob to get the amount of corn kernels required for this recipe; canned corn kernels or frozen corn kernels, if you prefer. Note

You can use soft goat’s cheese in place of the feta. Note

For an impresive starter or light lunch cut one sheet of ready-rolled puff pastry into four equal squares. Place the pastry squares on an oven tray, bake in a moderately hot oven for 20 minutes or until golden. Serve the pastry squares topped with a dressed salad and a slice or two of pan-fried haloumi. […]

One-year-olds may be too young to eat the cachous, but they’ll certainly love the cake. Tiny heart-, star-, moon- and other-shaped cutters are sometimes sold as aspic cutters. Note

Pinky bunny is a small cute cake, ­just enough for a small cute person’s birthday. You’ll have ½ cup of the cake mixture left over, enough for another mini loaf. Note

The sherbet is also delicious served on its own as a dessert. Do ahead: Make the sherbet up to 2 days ahead; cover and freeze until required. You will need to start this recipe the day before. Note