Breakfast cereal biscuits
A week ago I completed a 12 week low carbohydrate "lifestyle" program. I don't like to exaggerate, but eating meal after meal loaded up with protein, with almonds constantly subbed in to cover for grains, is really the pits. And you can trust me when I say neither cauliflower "rice" nor zucchini "noodles" will never fool a preschool diner. It was with much delight that the family welcomed our old friends wheat, rice and potatoes back to the table. I've been carb binging ever since.
These little biscuits were supposed to be apricot and oat flavoured, but tragically the pantry moths beat me to the oats. (I blame the 12 week porridge hiatus, as well as the Tupperware lady who assured me that there is simply no way a pantry moth can get into super oval modular mate). So I looked around the pantry and decided to try adding some toasted muesli instead. Lucky for me, the moths seem to prefer their oats uncooked, because the biscuits turned out delicious.
Muesli biscuits
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup rapadura sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 cups plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
2 tbs greek yoghurt
1 cup toasted muesli
Method
Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Cream the butter and sugar. Add the egg and mix well. If the mixture starts to look a little curdled, add a small amount of the flour and continue mixing until completely incorporated. Sift together the flour and baking powder. Add to the butter mix and stir to form a dough. Add the yoghurt and muesli mix well. Roll into small balls, then press down with a fork. Bake until golden brown.
NOTE: I used Woolworths' Coconut and Macadamia toasted muesli because it has no sultanas. Plus it has the added bonus of tasting like the muesli I ate growing up, back in the day when adding fat and sugar was considered the only way to deal with oats. You can use whatever brand takes your fancy.
3 - 2 - 1 cookies!
Biscuit recipes don't get any easier than this, with just 3 ingredients you can't go wrong. The added bonus is that these biscuits make a fantastic base recipe. You can change them by icing them, adding cocoa or vanilla, using coconut oil instead of butter, honey or maple syrup instead of sugar, so many possibilities for one little recipe. Try sandwiching them with lemon butter cream; you won't regret it.
3-2-1 Coconut cookies
Makes 20 small cookies
1/3 cup coconut sugar
2/3 cup butter
1 cup coconut flour
Method
Preheat the oven to 180 Celsius. Line a biscuit sheet with baking paper.
Cream butter and sugar. Add flour and mix well.
Form dough into small balls. Flatten with a fork. Bake for 8 - 10 minutes until base has just browned. Allow to cool slightly on tray before removing.
Tres leches with a twist
Pastel de tres leches is right up there as one of the most delicious things I've ever eaten. Which is why I'm somewhat perplexed that it isn't more popular in Australia. In fact, the only place I have visited which has this most divine of desserts on the menu is Spice Temple. Great place for food, but a little on the expensive side if you're just looking for a slice of cake.
For those not in the know, pastel de tres leches is essentially a genoise sponge soaked in a mixture of evaporated, condensed and plain milk. The twist in this recipe? Coconut flour, to give my grain and nut-free friends an opportunity to partake in the sweet, milky goodness. As a bonus, you can easily substitute coconut milk and cream for the milks and coconut oil for the butter to make it grain and dairy free. Winning!
Pastel de tres leches
Cake
10 eggs, separated
1 cup panela*
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
3/4 cup coconut flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup butter, melted
Topping
395g sweetened condensed milk
375ml evaporated milk
1 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
2 cups cream (35% fat)
Icing sugar to taste
Method
Preheat oven to 180 Celsius. Grease and line 30cm cake pan.
Combine egg yolks, vanilla and panela. Beat at high speed until light and fluffy. Add coconut flour and baking powder. Fold through, trying not to lose too much volume. Add melted butter, a little at a time until well combined. Set aside. Beat egg whites until stiff peaks appear. Gently fold through batter. Place in prepared pan and bake 45 - 60 minutes until mix comes away from the side of the pan. Remove from oven and allow to cool before turning out. Set aside to cool completely.
Meanwhile, mix condensed, evaporated and plain milk together. Pierce top of cake repeatedly with a skewer or fork. Pour over milk mixture and allow to soak in. Refrigerate if time allows (a minimum of 2 hours recommended). Whip cream, vanilla and sugar. Spread on cake.
* Note that you can substitute any sugar or honey. Panela, also known as rapadura, has a great flavour and is readily available at metropolitan supermarkets.
Lemon and coconut treats
Seems to be everywhere I look someone is talking about reducing carbs, or increasing protein, or coconut being the answer to all of life's ills. Then there are the people who are avoiding gluten, soy and animal products. And then there are those who are proponents of the raw food movement. These little snacks tick nearly all of those boxes, and if you use honey, maple or agave as the sweetener, they even tick the last one. So what's the down side? Each tiny little ball contains over 400 kilojoules, with nearly 9 grams of fat each. That's fine if you're particularly active, but if you're sitting at a desk most days, then enjoy responsibly.*
Lemon and coconut balls
1 1/2 cups almond meal
1 1/2 cups shredded coconut
1/3 cup coconut flour
2 tbsp glucose syrup
4 tbsp lemon juice
zest of 1 lemon
2 tsp vanilla bean paste
1/4 cup coconut oil
Method
- Mix together the dry ingredients.
- Combine the glucose, lemon juice, lemon zest and vanilla bean paste. Add to almond mix and stir well.
- Melt the coconut oil and drizzle in to the almond mix. Mix until a ball forms.
- Roll the mixture into balls and refrigerate until firm.
Makes around 20 balls. If glucose syrup is not available, replace with honey or you sweet liquid of choice.
*Of course, there are also plenty of people who say that you won't get fat from eating fat, but I don't want to risk it.
Caneles
Confession time. I sign up for loyalty programs. All of them. I know they're just a way to track spending by precisely targeted demographics, but I just can't resist the lure of a discount voucher, even when it only adds up to around 1% discount. Any discount's ok, right?
Anyway, the point of all this owning up is that I recently managed to spend enough to get a $25 voucher from one of my favourite kitchenware shops (it only took two years... hmm). Now having spent enough to get my voucher, clearly I have pretty much every kitchen gadget I need. Which meant that I had to think outside the square, and is the reason why I came home with a silicone mini canele pan.
Caneles have a reputation of being somewhat difficult to get right, so I set to researching and found that not only was the pan supposed to be made of copper, but that I would have to grease it with beeswax. Feeling somewhat daunted, I set about using my silicone pan, sans wax. The results are delicious, with a crispy outside and chewy, custard-flavoured centre. Thanks to a little coconut oil in the pan, they even have the gloss that the beeswax is normally responsible for. Stopping at one is just about impossible; I'm super glad the recipe makes around 72.
Caneles a Bordeaux
(Recipe based on that supplied with the Mastrad Mini Cannele Pan)
500 ml milk
25 g butter
20 ml vanilla bean paste
2 egg yolks
1 egg
250 g caster sugar
125 ml rum
125 g flour
Method
Combine milk, butter and vanilla. Bring to scalding point, then allow to cool until lukewarm. Meanwhile, whisk together the egg yolks, egg and caster sugar, being careful not to incorporate too much air. When cooled, slowly add the milk to the egg mixture, stirring well to combine. Add the rum, stirring through, then the flour. Stir well to remove lumps. Refrigerate overnight. Heat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Grease the pan with melted coconut oil, then add the mix. Cook for 20 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 180 and continue cooking until dark brown.
Icy poles
It's been a long time between posts, and even though I've been home full time for two months, I have to confess to not doing a lot of cooking recently. Mostly I've been busy with projects around the house, but it's also been pretty consistently hot this summer, and not at all conducive to baking.
1/2 cup milk
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
Blend then freeze as directed. Makes 3
Instead of baking, Ive been freezing using my new Quick Pop Maker.
Recipes so far:
Creamy banana
2 bananas, mashed1/2 cup milk
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
Blend then freeze as directed. Makes 3
Peaches and cream
125ml peach nectar
30ml cream
50ml milk
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
Blend then freeze as directed. Makes 3
Virgin pina colada pops
1 pineapple, peeled and chopped
425ml coconut milk
Blend then freeze as directed. Makes 9
Summer stripes
1/4 cup pomegranate juice
1/4 cup orange juice
1/4 cup coconut water
Pour equal amounts of pomegranate juice into each mould. Freeze. Add equal amounts of orange juice to each mould. Freeze. Add coconut water and allow to finish freezing. Makes 3
Frozen milkshakes
3/4 cup milk
Topping to taste
Blend, then freeze as directed. Makes 3.
Drip-free icy poles
1 pkt jelly crystals
500ml water
Make jelly mix as directed. Chill without setting. Pour into moulds and freeze as directed. Makes 9.
While I love the Quick Pop Maker for its convenience - icy poles are only 7 minutes away at any time - any of these could be made just as easily in traditional moulds, plastic cups or even lined muffin trays as long as you've got a way to keep the sticks upright.
Pumpkin ice cream
Before you close the page in disgust, let me just say that this stuff is delicious. Seriously.
So what motivates a person to make ice cream from pumpkin? Our ex-pat friends scheduled Thanksgiving dinner for the last Thursday in November. Normally this wouldn't be a problem, but in 2012, there were five Thursdays in the month, and so dinner was out by a week. Again, this normally wouldn't be a problem for anything apart from the host's pride - it is kind of embarrassing to get the date wrong - but the selected Thursday happened to fall on a 40 degree day. To those of you who prefer their temperature in Fahrenheit, that's 104 degrees. Or very hot.
I'm normally in charge of two things at Thanksgiving; the gravy and the pie. Clearly the gravy still needed to be made, but I decided to mix things up a bit with the pie. Voila! Pumpkin ice cream. Perfect for a hot Thanksgiving, and if you have to have something more pie-like, you can always make it into an ice cream sandwich.
So what motivates a person to make ice cream from pumpkin? Our ex-pat friends scheduled Thanksgiving dinner for the last Thursday in November. Normally this wouldn't be a problem, but in 2012, there were five Thursdays in the month, and so dinner was out by a week. Again, this normally wouldn't be a problem for anything apart from the host's pride - it is kind of embarrassing to get the date wrong - but the selected Thursday happened to fall on a 40 degree day. To those of you who prefer their temperature in Fahrenheit, that's 104 degrees. Or very hot.
I'm normally in charge of two things at Thanksgiving; the gravy and the pie. Clearly the gravy still needed to be made, but I decided to mix things up a bit with the pie. Voila! Pumpkin ice cream. Perfect for a hot Thanksgiving, and if you have to have something more pie-like, you can always make it into an ice cream sandwich.
Pumpkin ice cream
1 cup sugar
4 eggs
1 cup milk
1 cup cream
2 cups mashed pumpkin
Method
Beat the sugar and eggs together until pale and fluffy. Meanwhile, bring the milk and cream to scalding point over low heat. Remove from heat, and add the egg mix. Mix well to make sure there are no eggy bits. Add the pumpkin, stirring to make a smooth custard. Return to heat, and cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens. If the mixture boils, remove from heat immediately and stir until it is no longer curdled. Allow to cool, before chilling for at least two hours. Churn according to your ice cream maker's specifications, or if doing it by hand, allow it to freeze for an hour or two, then remove from the freezer and beat until smooth. Return to the freezer and allow to become solid again. Repeat until the ice cream is as fluffy as you want it.
Oat biscuits
On Friday afternoon - the last time I checked - there was a full biscuit container in the pantry. Somehow between then and now, a plague of locusts descended on the box and ate the lot. It must have been locusts; there's no way three small boys could go through an entire biscuit box in approximately 24 hours.
This afternoon, we reached crisis situation, when the smallest one desperately needed a biscuit - "I'm not hungry for fruit!" - and there were none to be found. Lucky for all, I was able to provide biscuits within the hour.
Following is a foundation recipe. It's quite plain, so I added a packet of caramel chips. Too sweet for me, but the small one and the man of the house were both impressed. Next time I'll be adding dried fruit. Grab a glass of milk and see what you think.
Rolled oat biscuits
2/3 cup butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
1 cup plain flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 cups rolled oats
Method
Preheat the oven to 180 Celsius. Cream the butter and sugar. Add the egg and beat well to combine. Stir through the vanilla essence. Sift together the flour and baking powder. Add to the butter mixture. Stir through the oats and any added agreements (chocolate chips, nuts, dried fruit).
Line a baking sheet with baking paper. Roll the biscuit mix into small balls. Place on the baking sheet and cook until golden brown - around 15 to 20 minutes.
Makes 45.
Walnut tarts
Despite my best efforts, there's just no convincing some family members that fruit mince tarts are awesome. They acknowledge that the scent of fruit mince is truly delicious, but when push comes to shove, just can't get past the fact that its made from dried fruit. These tarts are for them.
So good you'll want to eat them all year round.
So good you'll want to eat them all year round.
Walnut tarts
Pastry
2 1/4 cups plain flour
1/3 cup sugar
3/4 cup butter
2 egg yolks
2 tbs water
Filling
1/2 cup golden syrup
1/4 cup butter
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste
1 cup walnuts, roughly chopped
Method
Combine the flour sugar and butter. Rub in the butter until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add the eggs and enough water tho bring the pastry together into a ball. Cover with cling wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile combine the syrup, butter and sugar over low heat. Stir until the butter and sugar melt. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Add the eggs and vanilla bean paste and stir well.
Roll out the pastry and using a 6 cm round cutter, cut 24 discs. Line two 12 cup patty pan trays with the pastry. Bake at 180 Celsius for 10 - 15 minutes until just golden.
Remove from the oven. Add walnuts to each tart and pour over caramel filling. Bake a further 25 - 30 minutes until set. Allow to cool completely in trays.
Chocolate baked ricotta
The second of my attempts at cheese making was fresh ricotta. Just like mascarpone before it, ricotta is dead simple to get right. The only question is what to do with it once you've made it. Baking it makes for a delicious dessert or very special afternoon tea. Adding cinnamon and vanilla to the mix gives the chocolate flavour greater depth. For a mocha version, substitute instant coffee for the cinnamon.
Chocolate baked ricotta
2 cups fresh ricotta
1/4 cup pure cream
1/4 cup Greek yoghurt
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 tbsp cocoa
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
1/2 cup caster sugar
Method
Preheat oven to 180 Celsius. Lightly grease a loaf pan. Combine all ingredients and mix until smooth. Pour into prepared pan and bake until set - around 1 to 1 1/4 hours. Allow to cool, then refrigerate until ready to serve. Serve with whipped cream and dusted with extra cocoa.
Citrus mascarpone pots
Mascarpone has to be the easiest of cheeses to make at home. Granted, it takes a bit longer than heading to the supermarket to pick up a carton, but it certainly works out cheaper to whip up a batch overnight. If you happen to give it a shot, then these little dessert pots will put your mascarpone to good use.
Citrus mascarpone pots
300g mascarpone
1 cup caster sugar
Finely grated rind of 2 lemons
1/3 cup lime juice
6 eggs, lightly beaten
Method
Preheat the oven to 160 Celsius. Lightly grease 8 small ramekins or custard pots.
Whisk together the mascarpone, sugar, and lemon juice. Add the lime juice and eggs and beat until smooth. Pour into ramekins and bake until set - around 30 - 35 minutes. Allow to cool before serving with whipped cream or extra mascarpone.
Note that baking the pots gives a texture similar to flan. For a smoother, more custard-like texture, place the ramekins in to a baking tray half-filled with hot water before baking.
Very berry citrus slice
Very berry citrus slice
Makes 24 squares
Biscuit base
150g butter, melted
1/3 cup caster sugar
1/3 cup shredded coconut
2/3 cup rolled oats
1 1/3 cup flour
Topping
4 eggs
zest of one orange
1 cup caster sugar
1/3 cup cornflour
2/3 cup fruit juice
1 cup mixed berries
Method
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Line a slice pan with baking paper, leaving overhang along the long edges.
Stir the sugar and coconut in to the melted butter. Add the oats, then the flour, stirring until the mixture creates a soft dough. Press into the prepared pan and cook for 15 to 20 minutes until the base has browned.
Meanwhile, mix the eggs, zest, sugar and cornflour until smooth. Stir through the juice and add the berries. Pour over the base and bake for a further 15 minutes or until just set.
Allow to cool completely in the pan. Dust with icing sugar before serving.
Not quite angel food cake
I recently had need of twelve egg yolks, which left me with quite the dilemma. What on earth do you do with twelve egg whites when meringue isn't an option? I'm not much of an omelette fan, and just wasn't in the mood for macaroons. After a little searching of the interwebs, two things stood out. First of all, meringue is pretty much the number one suggestion when it comes to cooking with egg whites, and secondly, angel food cake uses a lot of egg whites while simultaneously being one of those things that can either go very right or very, very wrong.
Armed with the knowledge that my cake could end up tasting like sweet polystyrene, I set out to give it a shot. I used gluten-free flour, because I have loads of it after making the chocolate cupcakes last week. If you want to use regular flour, substitute 2 tablespoons of cornflour for part of your flour. I also used a bundt pan instead of an angel food cake tin, as realistically, 12 spare egg whites is not a situation I normally find myself in. Plus the cake tin cupboard is already bursting at the seams! Hence the "not quite".
The verdict? I think it would be much improved by serving it with whipped cream instead of the vanilla glaze I added. The kidlets would disagree, they devoured it in an afternoon.
Angel-food cake
12 egg whites
1 cup smart sugar
1 cup gluten-free flour
1 tsp cream of tartar
2 tsp vanilla bean paste
1/2 tsp lemon extract
Method
Preheat the oven to 180 Celsius. Beat the eggs until they reach soft peak stage. Gradually add the sugar, beating until it is fully dissolved. Add the vanilla bean paste and lemon extract. Sift the flour and add around a third to the egg mixture. Fold through carefully, making sure not to lose too much volume. Add the remaining flour in batches, folding through the egg mix. Place in a tube tin or bundt pan, and cook until the cake springs back when touched, around 50 minutes. If the cake browns too quickly, reduce the temperature to 160 degrees. Allow the cake to cool completely in the pan before turning out and serving.
Gluten-free goodness
I really enjoy cooking for people who have diets a little bit different to the every day. It's just a little bit more challenging than whipping up any of my regular recipes. My most recent challenge was to make a dessert that was both gluten and dairy-free. Since baking is my thing, I decided to try my hand at gluten-free chocolate cupcakes with dairy-free ganache.
The recipe is both easy and delicious. You can't ask for more than that!
The recipe is both easy and delicious. You can't ask for more than that!
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| Perfect as a dessert topping |
Chocolate cupcakes
4 eggs
1/2 cup "smart" sugar
2 tsp golden syrup
1 tsp baking powder
2/3 cup gluten-free flour
1 1/2 tbs cocoa
Method
Preheat the oven to 180 Celsius. Line a 12 cake muffin tin with cupcake cases.
Beat the eggs, sugar and golden syrup together at high speed until light and fluffy.
Sift together the baking powder, flour and cocoa. Gently fold in to the egg mixture, being careful not to lose too much volume.
Place the mix in the cupcake cases and bake for 20 - 25 minutes until the cakes spring back.
Cool before icing or topping with ganache.
Dairy-free ganache
400g can coconut cream
1 tsp gelatine
1 1/2 cups dark chocolate melts
Method
Separate the solids from the liquid coconut cream. Heat a little of the liquid with a small amount of water. Add the gelatine and stir until completely dissolved. Add the remaining coconut cream and heat until hot enough to melt chocolate. Add the chocolate and stir until smooth. Set aside until slightly thickened before pouring over cakes.
Basic biscuits
The biscuit aisle at the supermarket is full of many marvellous things. But no matter how much you love Tim Tams, or Mint Slices, they still don't compare to home made. The taste, texture and aroma of biscuits fresh out of the oven is something you just can't get at the shops. The comparatively low cost is just a bonus!
I have a cookbook just for biscuits, but this week, I wanted to try something a little bit different, so hunted around a little before finding the easiest biscuit recipe ever.
Basic biscuit dough
2 cups butter
1 cup sugar
400g sweetened condensed milk (1 can)
5 cups self raising flour
Method
Preheat oven to 190 Celsius. Cream the butter and sugar. Gradually beat in the sweetened condensed milk, then add the flour and mix to a stiff dough. Drop spoonfuls of mixture on to a lined baking sheet. Press with the back of a fork to flatten. Cook for 15 - 20 minutes until golden. Cool on trays for 5 minutes before moving to a wire rack.
Variations
The recipe makes between 100 and 120 biscuits, so is just perfect for fetes or Christmas gifts, but gets a bit boring if you only make one flavour. I made the following four flavours from my dough, and got around 115 biscuits all up.
Cranberry and cornflake
Add 1 cup of cornflakes and 3/4 cup of dried cranberries to the mix.
Apricot muesli
Add 1 cup of rolled oats, 1 cup of shredded coconut and 1 cup of chopped dried apricots.
Peanut butter choc chip
Add 2 tablespoons of peanut butter and 3/4 cup chocolate chips to the mixture. Try to find peanut butter with no added salt or sugar.
Vanilla coffee pinwheels
Split the remaining dough in half. Add a teaspoon of vanilla bean paste to half. Add a teaspoon of coffee essence to the remaining dough. Roll both pieces of dough into long rectangles, placing the coffee on top of the vanila. Starting from the long edge, roll into a fat sausage. Wrap in cling film or baking paper and allow to chill. Slice thinly then bake.
Coffee scrolls
After a few weeks on the croissant bandwagon, including a failed attempt at pain au chocolat, I was looking for something different for afternoon tea. Turns out coffee scrolls are pretty easy to get right; this recipe makes scrolls that taste exactly like something you would get from a cake shop. Not doughy, not heavy, not cake-y. Just right.
Cinnamon and walnut scrolls with coffee icing
1/2 cup warm milk
3 tsp dried yeast
3 1/2 tbs sugar
2 1/2 tbs butter, melted
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/4 cup water
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp bread improver
2 3/4 cups flour
1/3 cup chopped walnuts
For the filling:
1 tsp butter, melted
1 1/2 tbs cinnamon sugar*
For the icing:
1 cup icing sugar
1 tbs strong coffee
Method
Combine the milk, yeast and half of the sugar. Set aside until the mixture is foamy. Combine the remaining sugar, cinnamon, bread improver and flour. Make a well and add the yeast mixture, butter, egg and water. Knead until smooth and elastic. Sprinkle over the walnuts and continue kneading until incorporated. Place in an oiled bowl, cover with cling wrap, and set aside to rise until doubled in size. Give the dough a quick knead, then return to the bowl and allow to double again. When doubled, roll the dough out to a large rectangle - use a chopping board as an indication of the size. Spread the melted butter over the dough, then sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Roll in to a long scroll, starting from the long side. Slice into pieces around 2 cm wide. You should be able to get around 15 or 16 scrolls from your roll. Place on a lined baking tray, cover with a tea towel and allow to prove for 30 - 40 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 190 Celsius. Brush the scrolls with an egg wash or sugar glaze, then bake 30 - 40 minutes until golden. Allow to cool before icing. To ice, combine the coffee and sugar and stir until smooth. Spread over the scrolls, allow to set, then enjoy.
Croissants
I've finally got these right, and let me assure you, they're well worth the effort.
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| Breakfast of champions, photography of someone who hasn't charged the camera batteries |
Before getting started, its well worth noting that a batch of croissants takes a long time from start to finish. You're not going to be able to whip up a batch before breakfast. Think afternoon tea instead. That said, I have read that the dough can be frozen after the last turn, so perhaps consider making a double batch.
The recipe is that followed by Julia Childs, and makes 12 rather dainty croissants.
The recipe is that followed by Julia Childs, and makes 12 rather dainty croissants.
Croissants
1/4 cup warm water
2 tspn sugar
1 tspn dried yeast
2 cups plain flour
1 tspn salt
4 tspn sugar
1/2 cup warm milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup butter
Method
Combine the water, sugar and yeast in a bowl and set aside until foamy.
Sift the flour, and combine with the remaining dry ingredients. Make a well and mix together with the milk, oil and yeast mixture. Knead until smooth and elastic - around 3 to 5 minutes. Place in an oiled bowl and place somewhere warm to rise until the dough has doubled in size.
Knead the dough again, wrap in cling film and chill for around 20 minutes.
Use a rolling pin to flatten the butter. Roll out the dough, then place the butter on top. Fold the dough over the butter. Then roll out in to a rectangle. If any butter pokes through, pinch the dough up and over it. After rolling, fold in to thirds then wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, preferably longer.
Repeat the rolling, folding and refrigerating until no streaks of butter are visible. This may take as few as 3 turns, but is more likely to take 5 or 6.
After the final turn, cut the dough in half. Return half to the fridge, and cut the remaining dough into thirds. Wrap 2 and return them to the fridge. Using a floured rolling pin and work surface, roll out in to a square, then cut in half to form 2 triangles. Carefully roll each in to a croissant and place on a lined baking tray.
Repeat with the remaining dough.
Cover with a clean tea towel, place somewhere warm and allow to prove for 30 minutes.
Heat the oven to 220 C. Brush each croissant with an egg wash mixture (1 egg beaten with around a tbsp water). Bake for 10 - 15 minutes until golden brown.
Chocolate and strawberry slice
A rather pointless little contraption from Tupperware recently made its way in to my kitchen, courtesy of my sister. The T-bar maker is basically a mould for making melt and mix snack bars. Up until two weeks ago, I had been more than happy doing the same job with a slice pan and a knife, but have to say, the plastic fantastic has gotten a bit of a workout.
The maker comes with around 15 recipes to get you started. I gave one, "Breakfast bars" a whirl, mixing things up a bit to cater to the non-sultana eaters in the family. Despite a hefty serve of cranberries in each bar, the amount of maple syrup needed to get the things to hang together makes for a very sweet breakfast. I'm somewhat hesitant to eat them on a normal day; these babies are strictly for fueling heavy exercise.
Next up, I decided to try something from outside the recipe booklet. The following makes eight bars so rich that they each serve two. If you're a traditionalist and stick with a slice pan, it should yield 15 - 20 squares of slice.
200 g Marie biscuits
3 tbsp cocoa
1 cup dessiccated coconut
220 g dried strawberries, finely chopped
125 ml sweetened condensed milk
100 g butter, melted
Method
Crush the biscuits to a fine crumb. Stir through the cocoa, then add the fruit. Combine the condensed milk and butter. Add to the biscuit mix and mix well. Press in to the slice pan and refrigerate until set.
If desired, top with melted dark chocolate or your favoutie chocolate icing.
Sour cherry slice
Aldi can be a surprising place. I don't tend to go there for my groceries, but their weekly specials are often fantastic. Just last week I picked up a rectangular springform pan, which is just brilliant for making slices.
1/2 cup caster sugar
1/2 cup butter
2 tspn vanilla bean paste
1 1/3 cups plain flour
1/3 cup cornflour
1 heaped tspn baking powder
3 eggs
2/3 cup butter
1/2 cup caster sugar
4 tspn vanilla bean paste
3 cups ricotta
3/4 cup cornflour
2 tspn baking powder
For the base:
Cream the butter and sugar. Add the eggs and vanilla essence and beat well. Sift together the flours and baking powder and fold in to the butter mix. Spread over the base of the pan and bake for 10 - 15 minutes.
For the topping:
Separate the eggs. Beat the whites with half the sugar - 1/4 cup - until stiff. Beat the yolks, remaining sugar, butter and vanilla together until foamy. Stir in the ricotta. Sift together the baking powder and cornflour. Fold through the ricotta mix. Add the cherries and egg whites and fold through. Spread over the base and return to the oven. Bake for 40 - 45 minutes until golden brown.
Makes 30 serves.
Sour cherry slice
Base
2 eggs1/2 cup caster sugar
1/2 cup butter
2 tspn vanilla bean paste
1 1/3 cups plain flour
1/3 cup cornflour
1 heaped tspn baking powder
Topping
700g jar morello cherries3 eggs
2/3 cup butter
1/2 cup caster sugar
4 tspn vanilla bean paste
3 cups ricotta
3/4 cup cornflour
2 tspn baking powder
Method
Grease and line a large rectangular pan. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.For the base:
Cream the butter and sugar. Add the eggs and vanilla essence and beat well. Sift together the flours and baking powder and fold in to the butter mix. Spread over the base of the pan and bake for 10 - 15 minutes.
For the topping:
Separate the eggs. Beat the whites with half the sugar - 1/4 cup - until stiff. Beat the yolks, remaining sugar, butter and vanilla together until foamy. Stir in the ricotta. Sift together the baking powder and cornflour. Fold through the ricotta mix. Add the cherries and egg whites and fold through. Spread over the base and return to the oven. Bake for 40 - 45 minutes until golden brown.
Makes 30 serves.
Apple and butterscotch pudding
Mr Cake O'Clock has signed up to run a half marathon tomorrow. Madness, I know. But on the positive side, running that far requires carbo loading. And carbo loading means pudding. I have no excuse for eating it, but am not going to let that stop me.
Self-saucing puddings are incredibly straight forward to make. They're so simple in fact, that it's beyond me why anyone bothers buying packet mixes. This one is a fusion of quite a few different recipes from taste.com.au.
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 1/4 cups flour
1 tspn baking powder
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup milk
2 tbspn golden syrup
1 tspn vanilla essence
3 tspn cornflour
1/4 cup golden syrup
1 tspn vanilla essence
1 1/2 cups boiling water
Self-saucing puddings are incredibly straight forward to make. They're so simple in fact, that it's beyond me why anyone bothers buying packet mixes. This one is a fusion of quite a few different recipes from taste.com.au.
Apple and butterscotch pudding
4 medium apples, peeled, cored and chopped1/4 cup brown sugar
1 1/4 cups flour
1 tspn baking powder
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup milk
2 tbspn golden syrup
1 tspn vanilla essence
Butterscotch sauce
1/2 cup brown sugar3 tspn cornflour
1/4 cup golden syrup
1 tspn vanilla essence
1 1/2 cups boiling water
Method
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Grease a 2 litre casserole dish or pudding basin. Place chopped apple in base of the dish. Sift together flour and baking powder. Add remaining pudding ingredients and mix until smooth. Pour over apples. Combine the brown sugar and cornflour and sprinkle over the pudding batter. Mix together the golden syrup, vanilla essence and boiling water. Gently pour over the sugar mixture. Bake 45 minutes until golden brown. Serve with cream or custard.
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