Coconut Ice
Coconut Ice is the pretty sweet we fell in love with at fete stalls all those years ago. Biting into the lovely layers of pink and white sends us directly to coconut heaven (and delivers a mighty good sugar kick in the process!)This old-fashioned Coconut Ice Recipe...
Ginger Biscuits
This Ginger Biscuits Recipe is an old-fashioned recipe which delivers a thin, crisp biscuit that's the perfect little accompaniment to a warm cup of something.These biscuits are just the thing to remind you how the simple things in life can be the most wonderful and...
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...
Welcome
Here you’ll find classic Australian recipes, all cooked up with a pinch of nostalgia.
Libby x
As featured on
Channel 7’s The House of Wellness
ProBlogger Podcast
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.
Our most popular recipes
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...
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,...
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...
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
These rum balls are made with good ol' Aussie Weetbix. I researched several old-fashioned recipes to come up with a recipe that delivers perfectly soft and delicious balls of rum bliss. (If you don't have weetbix in your country, don't fear. You can use 120 grams of a...
Lemon Cake
This old-fashioned lemon cake recipe has a charm that defies the years. Bake it now and bring some sweet, lemony loveliness to your day. Lemons: always in season and always usefulWhile lemons are more plentiful in winter, they're generally available year round. Which...
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...
Sponge Cake
It may have taken the efforts of four generations of mums, but I finally managed to bake a Sponge Cake that doesn't sink. This Sponge Cake recipe has been taunting me for a few months. Until now – I've finally found the courage to give it a go.Sponge Cakes: the most...
Choc Ripple Cake
The Choc Ripple Cake is perfect for those who want to impress with minimum effort and maximum impact. You will need to plan ahead a little. This dessert needs at least 6 hours standing time in the fridge, preferably 12 hours. However, provided you're organised, this...
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