food hits and misses

Croissants

Tuesday, July 31, 2012 | From Ms Agility | | Edit Post

I've finally got these right, and let me assure you, they're well worth the effort.

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.

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.

Labels: afternoon tea, baking, bread, breakfast, French | 0 comments

Chocolate and strawberry slice

Friday, March 23, 2012 | From Ms Agility | | Edit Post

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.

Labels: afternoon tea, no-bake, slice | 0 comments

Sour cherry slice

Friday, March 23, 2012 | From Ms Agility | | Edit Post

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.

Sour cherry slice

Base

2 eggs
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

Topping

700g jar morello cherries
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

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.

Labels: afternoon tea, baking, cheesecake, cherry | 0 comments

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Croissants

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