The weather has been crazy hot in Adelaide for three days now.

Now I love hot weather but when it’s hot I want to be eating hawker noodles in Asia, swimming at the beach or lazing by a hotel pool, cocktail in hand. When I’m trying to shoot ice cream, working on a client project or doing the school run, a very hot day is rather a bore because I focus on how hot and uncomfortable I am, rather than the job at hand.

Enter this icy dessert, designed to blow all those heat-cobwebs away and leave me feeling refreshed and energised.

This Strawberry Granita is so easy to make — my 6 year old could do it without any trouble — and it’s absolutely delicious. It’s healthy, too, as I’ve used rice malt syrup as a sweetener instead of sugar.

So when I found out the theme for Sweet Adventures’ new hop was License to Chill I knew I had to make this.

For those new readers, Sweet Adventures is a group of Aussie foodbloggers – 84th & 3rd, The Capers of the Kitchen Crusader, Dining With a Stud, and I, The Hungry Australian, who host a monthly, dessert-themed blog hop.

Previously, we have hosted: Tropical Paradise (January 2013), Sweets for Santa (December 2012), Cake and Three Veg (November 2012); High Tea (October 2012); Feeling Saucy (September 2012); Berry Nice to Meet You! (August 2012); Nuts About Sweets (July 2012); Sweet as Pie (June 2012); What’s Your Cup of Tea? (May 2012); Lemons (April 2012); Layer upon Layer (March 2012); Love at First Bite (February 2012); Death by Chocolate (January 2012); Festive Favourites (December 2011); and Great Australian Pavlova (November 2011).

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I’ve had one of those weeks. You know, when nothing goes quite to plan and everything feels simply impossible.

While not rocking backwards and forwards in the fetal position, this is what I’ve been thinking:

NO ONE UNDERSTANDS ME.

I CAN’T DO THIS ANYMORE.

WHERE DID ALL THE CHOCOLATE GO?

All these cheery thoughts have been playing in high rotation, spiralling out of control until I get my period. Wham! Suddenly sanity returns.

Too much information? Sorry. But you know what? Hormones can be a bitch so I’m going straight back on the pill to tame mine.

Now when life feels impossible there is comfort in domesticity. So it’s a perfect time to bake…. wait for it…. an Impossible Pie.

You didn’t see that one coming, did you?

Impossible Pie is one of those great Australian desserts that is regularly trotted out at dinner parties, picnics, church socials and barbecues. My mother has been making this for years so when Sweet Adventures Tropical Paradise rolled around I knew it’s time had come.

For those new readers, Sweet Adventures is a group of Aussie foodbloggers – 84th & 3rd, The Capers of the Kitchen Crusader, Dining With a Stud, and I, The Hungry Australian, who host a monthly, dessert-themed blog hop. You can visit the other blogs taking part in our hops via the thumbnails at the bottom of each post.

Previously, we have hosted: Sweets for Santa (December 2012), Cake and Three Veg (November 2012); High Tea (October 2012); Feeling Saucy (September 2012); Berry Nice to Meet You! (August 2012); Nuts About Sweets (July 2012); Sweet as Pie (June 2012); What’s Your Cup of Tea? (May 2012); Lemons (April 2012); Layer upon Layer (March 2012); Love at First Bite (February 2012); Death by Chocolate (January 2012); Festive Favourites (December 2011); and Great Australian Pavlova (November 2011).

This month, Nic from Dining with a Stud was our lovely host and she opted for a tropical theme. You can check out her post on how to join in this hop.

Now go eat some pie. There, don’t you feel better now? :D

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Ingredients

• ½ cup softened butter
• ½ cup plain flour
• ¾ cup caster sugar
• 1½ cups milk
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup desiccated coconut
• 2 teaspoons vanilla essence or paste

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
2. Spray a 10 inch pie plate with baking spray (I find this so much better than butter/margarine).
3. Beat together all ingredients until thoroughly combined and then pour into pie plate.
4. Bake for one hour or until set (use a skewer to test).
5. Leave in pie plate to cool.
6. Dust with icing sugar and serve with thick cream.

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Ever since I started cooking with quinces a few weeks ago I’ve been dreaming up ways to enjoy this magnificent fruit.

So when Sweet Adventures‘ Sweet As Pie bloghop rolled around, I decided quinces had to be the star ingredient. But what type of pie would I make?

After a couple of false starts I settled on this Quince Meringue Pie, a kind of mish-mash of my Free-Form Apple Tart and my Mini Lemon Meringue Pies, using slow-roasted quinces.

Yes, roasting the quinces takes some hours. I’m not going to lie; this is not a dessert that can be made on the spur of the moment. But good things come to those who wait so think of this pie as the culinary equivalent of your perfect partner – chances are, it won’t be the first person you fall for.

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I love winter food and fashion but could do without the chill factor. All I want to do is stay indoors with the heating on. No wonder there are so many books on my list this month, but first up there is some very exciting news…

(1) Eat Drink Blog 3: the Australian Food Bloggers Conference in Adelaide!
Amanda from Lambs Ears and Honey and I recently received an unexpected email from the Sydney organisers of the second Australian Food Bloggers Conference. Trina, Simon and Jen wanted to know if we’d be interested in organising the next conference in Adelaide later this year. After discussing the idea with the Adelaide Food Bloggers Group we were delighted to accept! So if you’re an Australian food blogger, watch out for an official announcement soon. There will also be a number of excellent sponsorship options for companies keen to partner with Eat Drink Blog 3, so please do drop me a line if you’d like to know more.

(2) Sweet As Pie blog hop
Food blogger? Love pie? Then you must join us for this month’s Sweet Adventures‘ blog hop, Sweet As Pie. Hosted by the lovely KC at Capers of the Kitchen Crusader, this month’s blog hop is a celebration of pie in all its glory. So check out KC’s post, put on your thinking hat and get baking.

(3) Bedside table books
I’m reading a half dozen Australian cookbooks and memoirs at the moment thanks to Wakefield Press, Penguin/Lantern, and Hardie Grant. On my bedside table are Barbara Santich’s tome on Australia’s gastronomic heritage, Bold Palates, the charming Blue Ribbon Cookbook by Liz Harfull, Stephanie Alexander’s epic memoir, A Cook’s Life, the mouth-watering French Food Safari by Maeve O’Meara with Guillaume Brahimi, Barossa Food by Angela Heuzenroeder and Seasonal Fare by Susan Johnson.

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Although I’ve flirted with coffee over the years I am, at heart, a tea drinker.

I like English Breakfast or Japanese green tea in the morning, Earl Grey or Lady Grey in the afternoon and Rooiboos (African bush tea) or peppermint tea after dinner. Not to mention the endless cups of Gook Bo – a heady mixture of whole chrysanthemum flowers and pu-erh tea – I consume when enjoying yum cha (literal translation: ‘drink tea’).

So I was quietly thrilled when we decided to go with a tea theme for this month’s Sweet Adventures‘ dessert-themed blog hop hosted by the lovely JJ from 84th & 3rd. Check out JJ’s post for all the details of how to join in the fun. We also have a special give-away this month courtesy of Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea – scroll to the bottom of this post for all the details.

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Sometimes one bite is all it takes for you to fall in love.

I should know. I fell head over heels the first time I tasted Floating Islands or île flottante.

I first experienced the delectable French dessert while holidaying in Paris with my dad in the early 2000s. I was working in London at the time and my dad had come to visit me. We spent 10 days travelling around the UK before taking the Eurostar to Paris.

It was my second visit to the eternal city and my dad’s first so we did all the usual tourist activities: we visited the Musée du Louvre, La Tour Eiffel, Cathédrale Notre Dame de Paris, the Arc de Triomphe, the Place Vendôme and Fauchon. We shopped and we strolled happily around the streets, loving being in such a picturesque city.

But mostly, we ate.

We ate croissants, confit de canard (duck confit), soupe de fraises (strawberry soup), foie gras, plateau de fruits de mer (seafood platter), pommes frites (French fries), bouillabaisse (fish stew), macarons, mousse au chocolat, crème brûlée, coq au vin, boeuf bourguignon, cassoulet and Niçoise salad.

One day we were sitting in a bistro, having finished yet another wonderful dish when I spotted île flottante on the dessert menu.

Île flottante. Floating island?

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One of the wonderful things I love about food blogging is that you meet all kinds of people who are mad about food: chefs, producers, restauranteurs, home cooks, people who love to eat out, people who love to entertain, and, of course, other food bloggers.