Pavlova Grazing Board
Pavlova Grazing Boards became a huge hit recently. 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...
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...
Tomato Sauce Recipe
This Tomato Sauce recipe will take you back to a time when the internet, Uber and Insta didn't exist – but tomato sauce tasted a whole lot better. Remember what tomato sauce used to taste like? You will once you cook up a batch of this! Enjoy it slathered on a meat...
Cherry Ripe Love Cake
This one's for you Cherry Ripe lovers. This heart-shaped cake is packed with the gorgeous flavours of Australia's favourite and oldest chocolate bar, the Cherry Ripe. You'll need just minutes to whip up this Cherry Ripe Love Cake. And it might disappear just as...
Welcome
Here you’ll find classic Australian recipes, all cooked up with a pinch of nostalgia.
Libby x
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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.
As featured on
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ProBlogger Podcast
The Maitland Mercury
Our most popular recipes
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...
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...
Mock Chicken
This old fashioned Mock Chicken recipe is a firm family favourite. All of my aunts and cousins will think of just one person when this recipe is mentioned: our Nan MacDonald, Nana Ling's daughter. Nan Mac, as we all called her, would turn up at our family gatherings...
Coconut Biscuits
Who loves coconut biscuits, or coconut macaroons as they are sometimes called? I certainly do. I've tried countless recipes over the years, some quite fiddly, searching for the perfect coconut biscuit. However, I've never quite been satisfied with my coconut...
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