Christmas Cake

This Christmas Cake Recipe is from Nana Ling's handwritten collection and dated 5 December 1941. It's a little slice of history and – today – a cake to make your Christmas extra special.A slice of historyThis recipe was recorded by Nana Ling just two days before the...

Pavlova Grazing Board

A Pavlova Grazing Board is always a hit! We've used a summer fruits theme to prepare our version of this popular dessert.Pavlova – just how you like itOver Christmas 2019, Shalini Nestor of Swish Biscuits shared her pavlova grazing board creation. Pavlova lovers went...

Mini Trifles

Updated: 20 October 2020The Christmas table isn't quite complete without a Christmas Trifle. These layered, individual Mini Christmas Trifles can be made up a day ahead and are always a huge hit. And the best thing about a Mini Trifle is that you can have it all to...

A recipe blog that began 80 years ago

During the 1930’s and 40’s, my great grandmother – Nana Ling – carefully recorded hundreds and hundreds of recipes in small notebooks.

She was prolific and precise, recording everything from classic sweets that we still love today to forgotten gems. She even had her own star rating system.

Thanks to a love of home cooking that’s wound its way down the maternal line, that notebook eventually found its way to me, Libby, one of her many great grandchildren.

In 2018, I started testing, tweaking and recording Nana Ling’s recipes and other family favourites here on the blog.

Making time for Cooking with Nana Ling every week – learning, remembering, and creating – has made me a happier home cook.

It’s inspired me to better align my cooking with the seasons, and reminded me of the memories that home cooking creates and the connections that can be made through a shared recipe.

The creativity and productivity that happens here on the blog simply makes me a happier person. I hope these shared recipes can add a little extra joy to your life too.

Welcome

Here you’ll find classic Australian recipes, all cooked up with a pinch of nostalgia.

Libby x

As featured on

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Nana Ling favourites

Cream Scones

If you're searching for the best scones recipe around, add this Cream Scones recipe to your list of contenders. It's simple to make – no rubbing in butter required – and the texture is deliciously light. A scone recipe with creamIn my search for the best scone recipe,...

Weetbix Slice

Weetbix Slice is one of those slices that's great to pop into lunch boxes or enjoy as a sneaky snack. It's also one that'll quickly become a family favourite – if it's not already.I don't remember a time when my mum didn't make this slice. When I think of it, I can...

Lamington Recipe

This Lamington Recipe delivers everything that is wonderful about the Aussie icon – perfect sponge cake and a rich chocolate sauce, all rolled up in plenty of coconut. Here, we'll take a quick peek into the history of the Lamington before running through the steps...

Rum Balls

Updated: 25 October 2020These rum balls are made with good ol' Aussie Weetbix. (If you don't have weetbix in your country (or cupboard), don't fear. You can use 140 grams of a wheat breakfast cereal instead of weetbix.) I researched several old-fashioned recipes to...

Lemon Cake

Updated: 28 October 2020 This old-fashioned lemon cake recipe has a charm that defies the years. Bake it now and bring some sweet, lemon-y loveliness to your day. Lemons: always in season and always usefulWhile lemons are more plentiful in winter, they're generally...

Honey Joys

Honey Joys are the sweet, crunchy and golden treats many of us first discovered at a kids party many years ago. If you're looking for the best Honey Joys recipe, you're in the right place. We've perfected the recipe to deliver this one you'll want to add to your...

Anzac Biscuits

Anzac Biscuits are an iconic Australian biscuit, known to have been baked by Aussie wives and mums and sent to the front during wartime. We’ve long loved these crunchy and chewy biscuits, defined by their key ingredients – oats and golden syrup. There's also,...

Caramel Slice

This baked Caramel Slice recipe combines three wonderful layers: a buttery biscuit base, a rich baked caramel in the middle and a smooth milk chocolate topping. Although there is some baking involved, the recipe is still a simple one. The baking guarantees a gorgeous...

Pavlova

It's the wonderful dessert that both Australians and New Zealanders call their own. This pavlova recipe creates pav perfection, with a smooth and fluffy marshmallow centre encased in a delicate and crisp meringue shell. Top it with whipped cream and fruit, add a...

Cherry Ripe Slice

This Cherry Ripe Slice recipe uses just six ingredients and involves absolutely no baking. It's one of my mum's old recipes and was yet another of my childhood favourites.Cherry Ripe Slice: everybody's favouriteThis slice is based on the popular Cherry Ripe Bar, which...

Mars Bar Slice

Mars Bar Slice has been around for decades in Aussie home cooking, and was hugely popular in the 80's and early 90's. While padded shoulders, perms and neon are best left as memories, this slice is in an entirely different category. It's just as good today – and I...

Victoria Sponge

Is there any dessert as regal as the Victoria Sponge? Perched on a cake stand, with a jam and cream filling and icing sugar dusting , the Victoria Sponge is a quintessential afternoon tea treat. I've added some strawberries and cream on top of the sponge here, though...