"The Best Ever" Challenge

I like to bake. But I like to bake those recipes that everyone likes. I believe the fancy has room in life - as everything does. But I am trying to accumulate a folder of those recipes that get handed down through the generations, that you whip out when hubby says "I need morning tea for work" or you need to take a plate to something. The recipes I hope my children will cook in their homesand tell their children "Oh your gran made this all the time when I was growing up".

I have a special folder with all these recipes hand written and tucked into. They have a bit of egg yolk here and some cocoa there...maybe a smudge of butter - and one day I will type them up.

I posed the question to my friends over at Crafty Mamas yesterday asking them to provide me with the best piklet recipe. I wanted to make some for the children for afternoon tea and I have never really had a good stable staple piklet recipe.

So I put out the call which was answered by, amongst others, Andrea. She furnished me with the Best Ever Piklet Recipe. So, eager to see if she was correct I tried it and yes Andrea - they are the best I have ever made.

So it gets to go into the recipe folder.

I also believe that the best recipes are sometimes not the ones that come from the glossy pages of a magazine or a book (although many a lovely meal has come from those pages) but rather from the heart of someones kitchen. The food lovingly made from the recipe diligently tried and tested...tweaked and moulded into a family favourite.

So I am embarking on a challenge.."The Best Ever" Challenge. I will ask people through various mediums to provide me with a recipe in a particular category. I will make them and then have my family judge them. The best of what they like will go into the recipe folder. You will get some reviews and a stack of recipes to try for your gang. Maybe you might find a new best ever.

The first category is chocolate cake. I asked the mamas at CMs to give me their recipes as its just something I have never had a fall back recipe for. My family love chocolate cake - and like who doesnt! So I have a number of recipes to try. The first in in the oven and I will post it when we have tried and judged it.

If you have any suggestions for categories then please leave a comment. Im game for just about anything - and it doesnt have to be baking.