Brownies

Serves: 8
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes

½ cup cocoa powder
125g butter
3 eggs
1½ tspns vanilla essence
1½ cups caster sugar
¾ cup plain flour

1. Preheat oven to 160°C.
2. In a medium bowl sift the cocoa.
3. Melt the butter in the microwave. Add butter to the cocoa stirring with a metal fork as you go. Continue to whisk until smooth.
4. In a small bowl, whisk the eggs and vanilla essence. Add to the cocoa mixture, whisking with the fork as you go, until mixture is smooth.
5. Add caster sugar mix well.
6. Fold in the flour and stir gently until well combined.
7. Place in medium square baking dish lined with baking paper.
8. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes. Allow brownies to cool in the tray before cutting and serving.

Savings To Be Had:
This recipe will make 724 grams of brownies. But you will save around 30% compared to buying it at a supermarket in a ready to make box. Plus the taste is at least twice as good.

Apple Pie

Serves: 6 people per pie
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 2 hours

Please note this recipe will make 2 pies however you can halve the ingredients if you only want to make one.
1.6 kilos of apples (You can use Granny Smith or Red Delicious Apples) - peeled, cored, and thinly sliced.
¾ cup sugar
1 tspn fresh lemon juice
½ tspn ground cinnamon
½ tspn pure vanilla extract
1 tblspn plain flour
3 tblspns unsalted butter
1 tblspn full cream milk
4 sheets shortcrust pastry

1. Preheat oven to 190°C.
2. Place sheets of frozen pastry on their side to thaw a little.
3. In a large bowl add apples, sugar, lemon juice, cinnamon and vanilla, mix well.
4. Let mixture stand for around 15 minutes until juices form.
5. Then mix in flour.
6. In a well-greased pie dish put one sheet of pastry on bottom, top with half the apple mixture.
7. Place dots of butter on top of apples.
8. Place second pastry sheet on top of apples, crimp the pie edges.
9. Slit some steam holes in the top of the crust. Repeat for second pie.
10. Brush with milk, place in preheated oven and cook for 2 hours.
11. Let pie cool for 30 minutes before serving.

Savings To Be Had:
This will make a total of 1582 grams of apple pie. The great part is you will save from 45% to 55% when buying a mid-priced apple pie from the supermarket. But even if you buy a cheap generic on sale, you will still save around 21%. But the great part is like all homemade things the taste is great. It is so rich and full of real apple flavour which has not been sitting in a freezer or back of a truck for God knows how long.

Vanilla Ice Cream

Serves: 4
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes

300ml thickened cream
300ml milk
2 tspns vanilla extract
6 egg yolks
175g caster sugar

1. In a medium saucepan, add the cream and milk.
2. Add 1 teaspoon vanilla extract.
3. Bring to the boil, then take off the heat and set aside for 10 minutes.
4. In a large bowl add the egg yolks, sugar and remaining vanilla extract; using an electric mixer, beat until pale.
5. Slowly pour the milk over the egg yolk mixture, and place in a clean large saucepan.
6. Cook over low heat, stirring, for about five minutes until it is slightly thickened and coats the back of a wooden spoon.
7. Place mixture in a plastic container in the freezer until it starts to freeze at the edges. Remove from freezer. Beat with an electric beater. Place back in the freezer. Repeat this process two more times.

Savings To Be Had: Unfortunately this is the only recipe which is more expensive to make than the store bought option. In fact this ice cream versus a cheap generic in the range is about 165% more expensive. However it is on par with the high quality expensive ice creams. And taste wise it is so much better than the cheap stuff.

However if you have chickens and can get the eggs for free! Well this works out to be around the exact same price as the cheapest generic ice cream at the store. But far nicer.

Pavlova

Serves: 6
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 75 minutes

4 egg whites
1 tspn vanilla essence
1 tspn white vinegar
1 cup caster sugar
1 cup cream, whipped
150g strawberries

1. Preheat oven to 120°C.
2. Line a baking tray with baking paper.
3. Draw a circle on the baking paper — 22cm in diameter.
4. In a glass bowl beat egg whites, vanilla, and vinegar until soft peaks form.
5. Very slowly beat in the sugar adding a tablespoon at a time.
6. When sugar is fully dissolved into egg mixture, pile it onto the baking tray, keeping the mixture within the circle, smoothing the top.
7. Bake in oven for approximately 1¼ hours.
8. Once finished turn oven off and open door, leave Pavlova in oven until cool.
9. Take out of oven and coat Pavlova in whipped cream with a wooden spoon, until evenly coated. Add sliced strawberries on top for flavour.

Great fruits to decorate Pavlova are strawberries, kiwifruit, sliced banana or canned passionfruit pulp.

Savings To Be Had: OK, not only will this dessert save you from buying the store bought one, but it is cheaper as well. In fact you will save around 63% compared to buying a decorated one from the supermarket. And if you buy one from a cheesecake store chain (you know which one I'm talking about, you will save well above 60%). Incredible! Plus it is just so easy.