tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-44550686086253525122024-03-13T20:19:03.157+11:00DessertaholicGoing beyond chocoholism - to dessertaholic!! Creations from my kitchen and others that celebrate dessert and all its variations.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4455068608625352512.post-67677480500823262202007-10-05T11:53:00.001+10:002007-10-05T12:04:24.994+10:00Caramel Nougat Bars – similar to Mars Bars<a href="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/MarsBar1.jpg"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/MarsBar1.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"><a href="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/MarsBarBook.jpg"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/MarsBarBook.jpg" border="0" /></span></a> I often read the posts by the experts on e-gullet regarding chocolate, wishing I had the skills to make such wonderful things (and enough people to eat my experiments). Recently <a href="http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=99874">they’ve been discussing </a>a book called Chocolates and Confections by Peter Greweling ... and I decided I just had to have a copy!! It arrived on Friday and I’ve been anxiously waiting my first chance to try out a recipe. I’ve been thinking about experimenting and trying to create a bar similar to an Australian Mars Bar – but with dark chocolate (70%) and a salted caramel. In Peter Greweling’s book he has a recipe for “Sleeping Beauties” that looked like a suitable soft chocolate nougat layer for my creation! The salted caramel recipe would of course be my favourite recipe of all time – from the Tartlette blog: <a href="http://tartelette.blogspot.com/2007/03/salted-butter-and-chocolate-caramels.html">Salted Chocolate Caramels</a>.<br /><br /><a href="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/MarsBarCaramelLayer.jpg"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"></span></a><a href="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/MarsBarCaramelLayer.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/MarsBarCaramelLayer.jpg" border="0" /></a>Unfortunately I took the caramel layer to 2degC higher than I meant to ... so it lost its gloss and set quite a bit ha<a href="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/MarsBarCaramelLayer-1.jpg"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"></span></a>rder than I was aiming for (I wanted chewy but this was just a bit hard to chew!!). Oh well ... more reason to make more!<br /><br /><a href="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/MarsBarMix1.jpg"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/MarsBarMix1.jpg" border="0" /></span></a>The nougat recipe required cocoa butter – and on quick investigation the only size I could find to buy was 5kg – and the recipe only called for 20g!!! So I substituted with copha (a vegetable shortening) hoping I wasn’t going to ruin the recipe. I also ran into a bit of trouble whipping the combined egg whites and sugar syrup ... I don’t have fancy kitchen equipment, and this called for a stand mixer ... something with decent power ... I only have a little hand held beater ... so I whipped as long as I could, but the poor thing started to struggle when the mix was still too warm (the directions said whip until 50degC, I stopped around 65degC) ... I really didn’t want to see smoke coming out of the little thing!! It does beat its heart out for me!!<br /><br /><a href="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/MarsBarMix2.jpg"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/MarsBarMix2.jpg" border="0" /></span></a>Mixing in the chocolate to the whipped whites/sugar<br /><br /><a href="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/MarsBarNougatlayer.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/MarsBarNougatlayer.jpg" border="0" /></a>The nougat layer ... it worked like a sort of plastic. Very amusing to play with! Of course the only problem with sugar cookery in my mind, is that you can’t taste as you go along – burning tongues just doesn’t give much feedback!!! The book said to lay it in 12”x12” ... my pan was only 8”x10” (I only have pans!) ... and still the nougat layer was only just enough. Could be because I didn’t whip enough air into it – or it could also be that the layer should have been thinner and I didn’t roll it out enough. I was aiming for bars not little chocolates.<br /><br /><a href="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/MarsBarTemper.jpg"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/MarsBarTemper.jpg" border="0" /></span></a>Attempting to temper the chocolate (Lindt 70%) ... I still need to get this right ... some of my bars turned out in temper ... some didn’t. The ones that worked best were when I got to the end of my dipping, and I got sick of trying to balance the thermometer in the bowl and just threw it out and let it do what it wanted!! I really struggle to get it down to 32degC and keep it there without dropping too low ... so I keep upping the temperature – but I go too high. Wonder if Santa could bring me a temper machine for Christmas?!?!?! Of course – it would have to be an itty one because I really don’t do much chocolate work – though with my new Greweling book I’m inspired!!<br /><br />The outcome (this one was obviously an edge one so the layers aren’t even ... all the better looking ones were kept to give away, and this one donated for chopping for photos!) ... a VERY chewy (oops) caramel layer, with a lovely textured nougat (surprisingly close to what I was aiming for!), surrounded by dark chocolate.<br /><br />I was receiving emails from co-workers all day raving about these!! And everyone agreed I needed to experiment more to get the caramel right – just so they can eat more!! But ... I think I’ll try something else from the book rather than immediately repeat this recipe. All the other photos look so wonderful; I want to eat them all!!<br /></span><div><a href="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/MarsBar2.jpg"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/MarsBar2.jpg" border="0" /></span></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4455068608625352512.post-36934109349639612772007-10-02T10:22:00.000+10:002007-10-02T10:47:54.521+10:00Baking with a friend is pleasure in deed!<div><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">After eating a number of my donations to making my work colleagues larger one of them requested a baking day at my place to learn some of my magic tricks (which just goes to show you can fool people … my only magic baking trick is to read recipes carefully and add vanilla to everything!!). Any reason to bake and I’ll be there … and this was a chance not to just make one thing, but multiple things – heaven for me!!!<br /></span><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/baking.jpg" border="0" /><br /><div><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">I took in a number of cook books for her to pick out ideas … and the menu was decided on: New York Cheesecake, Cinnamon Scrolls and Florentines. Florentines being the only one I haven’t made before, we used a cheesecake recipe I’ve been inflicting on people for years because I love it and the cinnamon scrolls we went for a Nigella recipe.<br /><br />The one downfall in most cheesecake recipes (in my opinion) is the base … I know you need something to hold it together when serving, but I’d really just prefer more cheesecake than base. A little while ago I discovered a pastry that I actually liked when making a Caramel Chocolate Pistachio Halva Torte (I just need a large number of people to eat this and I’d make it again!). The halva pastry is very subtle but is something much nicer than a biscuit (or cookie for those in the USA) base. Originally from Epicurious I just halve the recipe (which makes two bases … as I often bake two smaller cheesecakes so I can give one away).<br /><br /><span style="color:#33cc00;"><strong>New York Cheesecake with Halva base</strong><br /><br /><strong><em>Halva Pastry</em></strong> (if making half the cheesecake mix, or making a single cheesecake then divide in half)<br />1 ¼ cups plain flour<br />½ cup plain halva (approx 3 ½ oz)<br />1 tblspn sugar<br />¼ tspn salt<br />½ cup butter (make it not a full cup)<br />1 egg yolk<br />1 tblspn vanilla<br />1 tblspn cold water (may not be required).<br /><br />Pulse flour, halva, sugar and salt in food processor, add in butter, yolk and vanilla. Add water if it hasn’t come into clumps, form into ball by hand, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate. Divide batter between two small cake tins that are lined with baking paper. You can roll out this pastry, but we didn’t bother.<br /><br /><strong><em>Cheesecake Mix</em></strong> (original recipe from Epicurious)<br />1kg cream cheese (original recipe calls for 8oz, but that is annoying since our packages come in 250g blocks – so I use 4 packs)<br />1 ¾ cups sugar<br />3 tblspn plain flour<br />Grated zest of 1 lemon<br />3 tblspn lemon juice (or to taste)<br />5 large eggs (or in my case – 1 goose egg and 2 chook eggs!)<br />2 large egg yolks<br />½ tspn vanilla essence or paste<br /><br />Using an electric mixer, combine cream cheese, sugar, flour, and lemon zest/juice until smooth (you can use a food processor, but mine doesn’t contain quite the entire mix without making a mess!!). Add in eggs and yolks and vanilla. Don’t beat too much – you don’t really want air in it, just for it all to be mixed through.<br /><br />P<a href="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/Cheesecake.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/Cheesecake.jpg" border="0" /></a>our into baking tin with crust. Bake for 10 minutes at 550degF or until just beginning to go golden (you don’t want brown at this point, just want it to puff up a bit and change colour a tiny bit). Lower oven temperature to 200degF (leave oven door open until you are sure it has dropped temperature). Bake for 1 hour (watch it doesn’t brown too much – cover with foil if it does). If baking in a single tin it may take up to 2 hours. Cheesecake is cooked when it is no longer wobbly in the centre.<br />Remove from tin and cool on a plate. Serve small slices – this is delicious!</span><br /><br />Oddly this was the least eaten item at work – personally I can’t understand that, since I adore it … it could also be that at work they like un-messy items … a sticky cheesecake piece doesn’t quite meet that. Much easier to just grab a cinnamon scroll:<br /><br /><span style="color:#33cc00;"><strong>Norwegian Cinnamon Buns</strong> (Nigella Lawson “How to be a domestic goddess”)<br /><em><strong>Dough:</strong></em><br />600g bread flour<br />100g sugar<br />½ tspn salt<br />21g (3 sachets) dried yeat<br />100g butte meltedr<br />400ml milk<br />2 eggs<br /><a href="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/CinRolls.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/CinRolls.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />Ok … so I cheated … I put all the ingredients into my breadmaker on a dough setting … and walked away!<br /><br />The hand method would be to combine the ingredients, knead for about 5 minutes. Place in oiled bowl and put in warm spot for 25 minutes for the first rise.<br /><br /><a href="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/CinRollsDoughHands.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/CinRollsDoughHands.jpg" border="0" /></a>Nigella instructs to take a third of the dough to make a layer at the bottom of a baking pan. Then to roll out the rest of the dough into a large rectangle. Then spread with the filling (I’ve doubled and changed the spices from the original … next time I’d even double the filling again from this).<br /><em><strong>Filling:</strong></em> mix together 150g butter softened (you want this to spread easily on the dough and not tear it), 150g sugar, 3 tspn cinnamon, 1 tspn allspice, 1 tspn ground ginger. Maybe even brown sugar would make them sticker?!<br /><a href="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/CinRollsDough.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/CinRollsDough.jpg" border="0" /></a>Roll up the dough into a looooong sausage. Chop in half, then half again … then each section into 5 pieces. It doesn’t matter if it looks like the dough has squished together the layers – they’ll come back once you bake them. Place in the tin. Rise for 15 minutes until nearly doubled in size. Bake at 230degC for 20 minutes – you want them very brown, not just golden or they wont be baked through in the centre ones. Grab the parchment paper and buns and transfer them to a wire rack to cool. Eat!!<br /></span><br /><br />As bread can be quite temperamental, putting in three sachets of yeast seems to be an insurance policy – this bread is going to rise, and rise quickly!!! The outcome was probably a bread that is a bit sweeter than I like, but even though I doubled the filling – if I make them again I’ll probably make them even stickier and double it again!!! It really could take a lot more cinnamon/butter mix … and possibly also spread along the bottom layer. I assume the bottom layer is there so that the filling doesn’t leak to the bottom of the pan and brown too quickly … so if it is there to soak up more filling (which it didn’t in ours) then I’d like to actually make it work hard!!<br /><br />Even though by the time they got to work they were nearly 2 days old – 10 seconds in the microwave and they were delicious again.<br /><br />My sister had previously made up the original Nigella recipe for Florentines, so I got some hints from her about what I needed to change. First up was the almonds used – she recommended pre-sliced almonds rather than chunks (this could be because the ones we are used to buying all have slices not chunks so we have a preference for that), then she said to increase the flour a bit as her mix was too runny and spread out beyond the actual nut mix.<br /><br />My additional changes were to add my own mixed peel. I can’t STAND peel, anything made with it is horrid, so I thought I’d try to make my own and see if I just didn’t like mixed peel vs just not liking manufactured stuff. Well, you wont be surprised when you find out that I love my homemade version – funnily enough candied peel tastes like … candy peel!!! Yummy sugary sweetness offset by a citrus tang. Easy to make – never again shall the horror of purchased peel come near my cooking! The only issue with the homemade version – it is very tempting to snack on, so storage is going to be a problem!!! Padlock maybe???<br /><br /><span style="color:#33cc00;"><strong>Candied Peel</strong> (Stephanie Alexander “The Cook’s Companion”<br />Citrus peel<br />Cold Water<br />Sugar<br />Icing Sugar<br />(note: all amounts depend on how much peel you start with!)<br /><br /><a href="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/CandiedPeelboiling.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/CandiedPeelboiling.jpg" border="0" /></a>Juice citrus fruit (I used a mix of lemons and oranges ... 3 lemons, 1 orange) use juice for something else! Slice peel (including pith) into thin strips. Put in saucepan and cover with cold water and bring to boil. Drain peel, and repeat boiling with new cold water, repeat again. The repeated boiling removes the bitterness. Weigh your drained peel and add the same amount of sugar to the saucepan (with no water). Bring to the boil, and let bubble until the peel looks translucent (some of mine didn’t quite get there, still tasted nice, just not so pretty!).<br /><br /><a href="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/CandiedPeel.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/CandiedPeel.jpg" border="0" /></a>Place on wire rack to drain. Stepahanie’s instructions say this could take 12 hours to multiple days ... so with my impatience, I’m not into waiting ... I placed the rack over a baking pan and put it in a warm oven to help the syrup drain off faster – probably for about 10 minutes, then left over night. Cover with icing sugar and store in a sealed container – should last a couple of weeks.<br /></span><br />Baking the Florentines – I knew they could be tricky and the first batch were a complete and utter mess … thrown in the bin! A slight change to my method – and out came a lovely version! They are like a brandy snap, they spread, except of course with a Florentine the nutty bits don’t spread leaving them in the middle and the mix burns on the edges whilst the centre stays uncooked. So I began by refrigerating the mix and instead of putting them in the oven and leaving them for the entire baking time, I took them out half way through, pushed in the edges, then baked again. A fix … but I’m still wondering if baking them in a muffin tin might work? Or some other form to enclose them so the edges aren’t thin. Looking at the ones you buy, they definitely don’t look like they’ve just been baked on a flat tray. I nearly attempted the muffin tin idea – but couldn’t face cleaning it out if it was a disaster … maybe when I have more time it might be worth a try!!<br /><a href="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/florentines.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/florentines.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="color:#33cc00;"><strong>Florentines</strong> (original recipe Nigella Lawson “How to be a Domestic Goddess”)<br />100g flaked blanched almonds<br />80g candied peel (please don’t use the bought stuff … leave it out otherwise!)<br />40g glace cherries<br />25g unsalted butter<br />90g castor sugar<br />40g plain flour (Nigella calls for 15g)<br />150ml whipping cream<br />50g dark chocolate<br />50g white chocolate<br /><br />Chop cherries and peel into small pieces (no bigger than a pea). Melt butter and sugar, stirring the entire time, add the flour and mix so it creates a ball. Remove from heat and add the cream. Stir in the fruit/almonds.<br /><br />Refrigerate mix (trust me, makes it easier!). Place spoonfuls of mix on a lined baking tray … spread out the almonds etc, making it a bit thinner in the middle, the mix spreads a lot so don’t place them too close on the tray. Nigella’s instructions are to bake at 190degC for 10-12 minutes (this was a disaster for me!) … I baked them for about 7 minutes at 150degC, squished in the edges back to the nuts then put in the oven again for another 5 minutes until golden. Once they are cooked, you can’t move them immediately – but don’t leave it too long either. Wait until they are just firm, then cool on a wire rack.<br /></span><br />Melt chocolates and drizzle over the backs of the Florentines, making wavy lines with a fork if that tickles your fancy!! Apparently the recipe makes 30 … but that includes the first batch you’re likely to stuff up!!!! I made mine quite small and got about 25 … plus the 10 or so I burnt!!</span></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4455068608625352512.post-63658715614473220722007-10-02T10:17:00.000+10:002007-10-02T10:22:03.137+10:00Custard Tarts<a href="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/CustardTart.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/CustardTart.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Although I’ve been baking, I haven’t been blogging!! So I have quite a few updates to put up … and plans for more as I’ve just received two new cookbooks. Peter Grewelings “Chocolate and Confections” and Elizabeth David’s “English Bread and cookery”. Peter Grewelings’ book is full of delicious photos that I just want to eat!!! Elizabeth Davids’ book is surprising … I bought it because I felt it was one of those ‘must have if you are serious about making serious things’ … and am actually enjoying reading it!! I keep finding wonderful lines such as her discussion on crumpets that seem like they come from a “plastics factory”, and I never expected to actually want to read about the history of ovens associated with bread! Now I know why it is a ‘must have’ … it’s good!!<br /></span><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"><br />Linking into Elizabeth Davids dislike of plastic crumpets from supermarkets, a common treat here is a custard tart … which do mostly resemble yellow rubber – they too could bounce when dropped! I went to my trusty cookbook by Stephanie Alexander (my resource for basic recipes) and adapted hers only slightly. As per normal I was making individual tarts – my muffin tin being the best I could come up with. I made up her shortcrust pastry recipe (with some additions!), and the custard mix (I resisted additions, it was very very hard NOT to put vanilla in them!). Apart from the pastry shrinking more in the blind-bake than I expected, with a dusting of nutmeg these delicate little custards out did anything I’ve bought before!!<br /><br />The original recipe was to be made in a single tart … so I had a bit of left over custard mix, which refrigerated for two days until I made more pastry (and I froze some custard mix in little silicon dishes so I can bake a custard for myself as a treat after dinner one night). I’ve cut the original custard filling mix in half – you may still end up with leftovers depending on how deep your little tarts are!<br /><br /><br /><span style="color:#33cc00;"><strong>Sweet Shortcrust Pastry</strong> (original recipe Stephanie Alexander “The Cook’s Companion”)<br />180g unsalted butter<br />240g plain flour<br />pinch of salt<br />2 tblspn castor sugar<br />1 tspn vanilla paste (or essence)<br />approx 2 tblspn cold water<br />1 egg white (reserve yolk for filling)<br /><br />Place all ingredients except the water in food processor (just because I’m lazy making pastry!), whiz until it looks like crumbs or starts to come together. Add just enough water so it does come together. Refrigerate for 30 minutes before rolling.<br /><br />Roll out and cut out rounds to suit muffin tins (note pastry will shrink so make a bit bigger than you want to finish with). Line with baking paper, then fill with pastry weights (or dried beans). Bake blind for 15 minutes – or until golden. Remove pastry weights/beans, brush shell with egg white, bake for 5 minutes. Makes approximately 20 small tarts</span> (depending if you like to eat raw pastry dough and it disappears before cooking – why do I often like raw things better than the cooked version?!)<br /><br /><span style="color:#33cc00;"><strong>Custard Tarts</strong> (original recipe Stephanie Alexander “The Cook’s Companion”)<br />1 egg<br />1 egg yolk<br />1 cup cream<br />2 tblspn castor sugar<br />freshly grated nutmeg<br /><br />Oven 160degC<br /><br />Warm milk and sugar until sugar dissolves (milk should not boil). Whisk eggs and add warm milk. Pour into the tart cases, bake for 45 minutes until just puffy (they should not brown). Grate nutmeg over the top whilst warm. Serve cold.<br /></span><br />The outcome are delicate little custards that stand alone as themselves. No need to embellish these tarts as the joy is in their simplicity. They were eaten with much relish at work – many going back for seconds!</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4455068608625352512.post-77782486165968045562007-09-18T10:09:00.000+10:002007-09-18T10:25:32.993+10:00Bananas on Toast and Chocolate Slice<span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">After a day out with a wonderful lunch, who can be bothered cooking for dinner?! So if you're like me ... just head straight for dessert!!!</span> <div><div><div><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;"></span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;"><a href="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/bananasontoast.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/bananasontoast.jpg" border="0" /></a>Bananas drizzled with honey and cinnamon - heated up with a blow torch ... mmmm!!</span></div><br /><br /><br /><div><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;"></span></div><br /><br /><br /><div><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;"><a href="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/caramelslice.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/caramelslice.jpg" border="0" /></a>And dessert for my dessert dinner ... caramel slice (or millionaires slice) ... a gift from a friend that was supposed to last more than one day ... not my fault she makes it so tasty I had to eat it all!</span></div><br /><br /><br /><div><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;"></span></div><br /><br /><br /><div><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;"></span> </div><div><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;"></span> </div><div><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;">Lunch was at Annie Smither's in Kyneton. My friend and I had been previously for dinner (after waiting ages to actually get a reservation on a date that was convenient!) and were rather disappointed given the <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/news/reviews/annie-smithers-bistrot/2005/09/26/1127586775314.html">rave reviews</a>. So we gave them a second chance and had lunch there. A wonderful goat's cheese souffle that I could have licked the bowl it came in, a slightly average pumpkin tart, a really delicious pear/walnut/roquefort salad ... and dessert was some of the best brownies I've ever had! They were black, solid, fudgey things!!! They have redeemed themselves and will be back on the possible dining list!</span></div><div><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;"></span> </div><div><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;">.... and just to add to the photo count ... one of the loves of my life ... my horse!</span></div><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 252px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 219px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" height="219" alt="" src="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/MontyDec05Trot1.jpg" border="0" /><br /><div></div></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4455068608625352512.post-56535724996711488502007-09-14T11:41:00.000+10:002007-09-14T12:01:30.619+10:00Pan au Chocolat (Chocolate Croissants) and Ugly Danishes<span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:Georgia;font-size:100%;"></span><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/ChocCroissant2.jpg" border="0" />My colleague’s baking request this week was danishes. These are the most ridiculously easy thing to make and get the most impressive results (no one can believe these are homemade!). You just whiz the ingredients in a food processor, leave them overnight, then roll and fold them a bit, leave again, then roll out for baking!! The recipe comes from Nigella Lawson’s “How to be a Domestic Goddess” ... interestingly enough, the first time my friend and I made these we used someone else’s version of Nigella’s recipe from their blog, I’ve recently bought a copy of the book and found that the amount of flour differed (which would explain why we had had to add extra flour to stop it being lumpy butter soup the first time!). Just goes to show you can’t believe everything you read on the internet :-) !!!<br /><br />I do have to admit ... that my vision of how the danishes would turn out ... didn’t quite eventuate!! They looked gorgeous in their pre-risen/baked form ... but then they expanded as they baked ... oops ... luckily I firmly believe (unlike the pastry chef I took a French pastry class with) that how things taste is so much more important than how they look!! The most perfect looking Danish in the world would be awful if it tasted horrid!!! Might as well eat a Japanese plastic window version!!! Mine had vanilla bean duck egg crème patisserie in them with yummy fruit ... good ingredients that just looked a bit ugly!!<br />Before: <a href="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/DanishPreRise.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/DanishPreRise.jpg" border="0" /></a> After: <a href="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/Danish.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 176px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 136px" height="125" alt="" src="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/Danish.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="color:#009900;"><strong>Danish Dough</strong> (I made double the original recipe from Nigella’s “How to be a Domestic Goddess”)<br />120ml water<br />250ml milk<br />2 large egg<br />700g flour<br />14g instant yeast (2 sachets)<br />50g sugar<br />1/2 tspn salt<br />500g salt reduced butter (note: I couldn’t get unsalted, so I reduced the salt in the original recipe)<br /><br /><div><div><p align="center"><a href="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/DanishIngredients.jpg"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/DanishIngredients.jpg" border="0" /></span></a></p>Place milk and water in jug, warm for a minute in microwave. Whisk in eggs.<br />In food processor, place flour (I actually only added half because it wouldn’t all fit in my food processor), yeast and sugar. Pulse once to just mix. Add salt and butter (which you’ve of course chopped into chunks that FIT in your food processor!). Pulse a couple of times until the butter is in lumps – these can be pretty big ... think about 1cm in size.<br /><br />Tip contents of food processor into large bowl (add rest of flour if yours didn’t fit like mine!), add in milk/egg and stir to combine. Will look like a pebbled mess about now! Place in refrigerator overnight (or for 4 days).<br /><br /><a href="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/DanishDough.jpg"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/DanishDough.jpg" border="0" /></span></a>Take bowl out of fridge and allow it to come to room temperature. Roll dough out into large square ... now comes the folding bit ... I’m not sure if there really are any hard and fast rules with this! I just keep folding in up and rolling it out a couple of times. I usually fold thirds like a business letter, then sometimes I fold each side into the middle then in half again, then maybe I’ll do another fold version again. I just try to keep it neat and get quite a few layers into it!! (Of course Mr-Perfect-Pastry-Chef-Teach had rules about this ... good luck to him, I couldn’t be bothered!). Place in refrigerator for 30 mins (or for 4 days if you haven’t already done this!).<br /><br />Prepare <strong>Egg Glaze</strong><br />Mix 1 egg with 1 tbspn milk<br /><br /><strong>Crème Patisserie</strong><br /><a href="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/DanishCremePatisserie.jpg"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/DanishCremePatisserie.jpg" border="0" /></span></a>I made a half quantity of <a href="http://dessertaholic.blogspot.com/2007/08/eclairs-for-colleagues.html">the recipe I’ve made previously </a> for eclairs from Stephanie Alexander’s “Cooks Companion”. For the pan au chocolats I took 3 tablespoons of the warm crème patisserie and put it over 100g of 70% Lindt dark chocolate and stirred until the chocolate was completed melted (next time I’d add more crème patisserie to less chocolate ... maybe 4 tbspns to 80g chocolate).<br /><br /><br /><strong>Danishes</strong><br />Roll out half quantity of the dough until less than 1/4” thick. Cut into squares (I got 4 x 4 = 16 squares – I was aiming for small ones, but could have gone even smaller as they rose lots). Place a small amount of crème patisserie (about 1 tspn full) diagonally on dough, pinch two diagonal corners together (anyone know how to actually make these stick together so they don’t part as they rise/bake?!??!!?!?). Place on lined baking tray and add fruit (next time I think I’ll try raspberries – but I do love the apricots, I also used mandarin slices). Brush over with egg glaze. Rise for approximately 1 hour.<br /><br /><strong>Pan au Chocolate</strong> - Chocolate Croissants<br /><a href="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/ChocCroissantDough.jpg"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/ChocCroissantDough.jpg" border="0" /></span></a>Roll out half quantity of dough to less than 1/4” thick. Divide in half lengthways, then cut on diagonal to create triangles with a wide base (I got 16 triangles – once again, I could have made them smaller). Place a small amount of the chocolate/crème patisserie mix on each base and roll up. Place on lined baking tray with the point tucked underneath (otherwise they unroll as they rise). Brush over with egg glaze. Rise for approximately 1 hour.<br /><br />Make <strong>Sugar Glaze</strong><br />Heat 80g castor sugar and 20ml of water in microwave until just boiling.<br /><br />Baked in 180degC oven for 15 minutes until quite brown. Whilst still hot from the oven, brush liberally with sugar glaze. When they are cool apply icing glaze.<br /><br />Make <strong>Icing Glaze</strong><br /><a href="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/ChocCroissantdrizzle.jpg"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/ChocCroissantdrizzle.jpg" border="0" /></span></a>Add just enough hot water to 100g icing sugar to just make it drizzleable (is that a word?!). For chocolate version add 2 tblspn Valrhona cocoa (or other dutch cocoa).</span><br /><br />Try to stop with just one!!!<br /><br />The crème patisserie / chocolate mix is an experiment of mine ... I don’t like regular pan au chocolats that you normally buy ... they often have a tiny piece of icky chocolate in the middle. My love of chocolate is as much about flavour as texture/mouth feel. I like the warm sticky melt in your mouth experience – so a little baton of over cooked chocolate just doesn’t do it for me (in French pastry class we used the Callebut batons ... still ... not nice!). So far the winning pan au chocolat was in a chain bakery store in the UK (of all places!!) ... Pret Manger or something like that ... I remember spending my last pennies in Heathrow airport before flying home to Australia – and wishing I had more coins for another.<br /><br /><a href="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/ChocCroissant.jpg"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 177px; CURSOR: hand" height="262" alt="" src="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/ChocCroissant.jpg" border="0" /></span></a>So I’m trying to create something in the middle that is soft at room temperature, still retains full chocolate flavour – and does not splurge out whilst baking. Next time I’ll increase the crème patisserie ... as this version was close – nearly soft at room temperature, didn’t spill out when baked, and a lovely rich chocolate flavour. Instead of using chocolate for the drizzle I decided the pastry wasn’t quite sweet enough so used an icing/confectioners sugar mix with Valrhona cocoa ... also as a bit of a nod to my colleagues dislike of lots of high cocoa chocolate (I still haven’t given in and made milk chocolate things yet ... but it is coming!).<br /><br />The tasting outcome: deliciously ugly danishes and wonderful pan au chocolats!! Not too sweet, not too buttery and oily – just gorgeous! Other than the chocolate filling and the actual presentation – not much to fix here!<br /></span></div></div><div><div><br /><div><br /><div><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"></span></div></div></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4455068608625352512.post-44236644699246482152007-09-07T09:23:00.000+10:002007-09-07T09:35:27.523+10:00Goose Egg Custard and Meringue<div><div><div><div><a href="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/gooseeggcustard2.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/gooseeggcustard2.jpg" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">I had absolutely no plans for cooking this week ... a couple of days at a conference venue eating delicious desserts was going to blow my “diet” enough ... but a friend turning up with an unusual egg for me to cook destroyed that plan ... and what an egg!!!<br /><br /><a href="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/gooseegg2.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/gooseegg2.jpg" border="0" /></a>A goose egg!!! HUUUUUUUGE!!!!<br /><br /><a href="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/gooseeggyolk.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/gooseeggyolk.jpg" border="0" /></a>I just had to take photos of it next to normal sized eggs to give an idea of how big it really was!! It weighed in at 230g (normal eggs for us are about 50-60g!). The photo showing the yolk has a regular sized egg next to it ... the yolk was bigger!!! What to do with such an amazing treat?! How to prepare it to be able to taste the flavour – but use the entire thing up at one time!!!</span></div><div><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"><br />I had another friend visiting ... and we decided that custard was a perfect medium to taste goose egg (ok, so others might have considered an omelette ... but given it was me cooking it had to be a dessert!), and I’ve been craving meringue (like the top of a lemon meringue pie – not dried out icky ones!) so that used the whites.<br /><br />I’ve put the revised recipe as I would cook it (if done again) rather than the actual recipe I used ... I put too much sugar in the custard and it was too sweet. Also – I like thick custard, not the traditional English very thin custard – so I’ve added cornflour to make it firmer. Oh ... another note: in Australia we don’t have to worry about cooking eggs etc – so the meringue recipe contains uncooked egg whites and may not be suitable for your area if you decided to cook with a goose egg!!<br /><br /><span style="color:#33cc00;"><strong>Goose Egg Custard and Meringue</strong> (based on egg weighing 230g)<br /></span></span><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"><span style="color:#33cc00;"><br /><strong>Goose Egg Custard</strong><br />1 1/2 cups of milk<br />1 vanilla bean (or vanilla bean paste)<br />Yolk of goose egg<br />70g castor sugar<br />1 tbspn cornflour<br /><br />Heat milk and vanilla until nearly boiling in microwave. In saucepan whisk egg yolk, sugar and cornflour – slowly pour over warm milk, mixing the entire time. Put saucepan on low heat and cook until it thickens (should not boil).<br /><br /><strong>Goose Meringue</strong><br />White of goose egg<br />120g castor sugar<br /><br />Whip egg whites until stiff peaks form, add castor sugar by sprinkling over whites in batches and mixing well in between.</span><br /><a href="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/gooseeggcustard1.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/gooseeggcustard1.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />I served it up (and I really do need to improve my plating skills!) by putting the custard in a bowl, then a dollop of the meringue on top – then using a blow torch to brown the outside, then drizzled over melted chocolate (I used 70% <a href="http://kennedyandwilson.com.au/">Kennedy and Wilson </a>Chocolate – which is an Australian chocolate).<br /><br /><a href="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/gooseeggcustardrasp.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/gooseeggcustardrasp.jpg" border="0" /></a>I also tried another bowlful (what? Me stop with one bowl?!) with raspberry jam (made by my mother) in addition to the chocolate ... don’t know which I liked better ... the very simple custard combination, or a touch of tart fruit!!<br /><br />As for the conference desserts ... I tried (of course all in miniature form!): Lemon tart, flourless chocolate cake, tiramisu, crème brulee tart (the best!), lavender molten chocolate pudding (which was awful – I don’t like lavender and I can make better molten puddings myself!), rhubarb and black pepper cheesecake (which didn’t look anything like a cheesecake, and really another name would have been more appropriate), chocolate tart, pear frangipane and a cheese platter .... which I consider a pretty good variation given we were only there for 3 days!!!!!! (and I didn’t even try all the options!!)... and yes ... the diet is blown!! *sigh* back to reality and boring food!!</span></div></div></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4455068608625352512.post-15722215607537363982007-08-31T10:42:00.000+10:002007-08-31T11:07:00.186+10:00Spicy Chocolate Gingerbread Creams<div><a href="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/gingercreams2070829.jpg"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/gingercreams2070829.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"> </span><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;">I had some leftovers of the Cream Cheese Icing from the cupcakes I made the other day and I spent some time brainstorming what type of biscuit / cookie it would go best with. So many options: lemon, monte carlo (an Australian honey/coconut biscuit), chocolate, oatmeal? ... I decided that something spicy to contrast the cream cheese would be lovely – gingerbread! The original plan included adding lemon butter/curd to the middle – but I test tasted one and although delicious, the lemon really wasn’t necessary (and I’d rather eat the lemon butter out of the jar myself!).<br /><br />The gingerbread was based on a basic “</span><a href="http://www.deliasmith.co.uk/recipes/gingerbread-men,1021,RC.html"><span style="font-size:85%;">Gingerbread Men</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;">” </span></span><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">recipe from Delia Smith and I’ve increased the spices and added cocoa (valrhona of course!)<br /></span><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br /><span style="font-size:85%;color:#33cc00;"><strong>Spicy Gingerbread</strong></span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"> </span><div><div><div><div><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="color:#33cc00;"><span style="font-size:85%;">150g dark brown sugar<br />4 tblspns golden syrup<br />4 tblspns treacle<br />2 tspns cinnamon<br />5 tspns ginger<br />1 tspn ground chilli<br />finely grated rind an orange<br />200g butter or margarine<br />1 tspn bicarbonate of soda<br />100g dutched cocoa (valrhona)<br />400g plain flour (plus extra)<br /><br /></span><a href="http://dessertaholic.blogspot.com/2007/08/id-had-request-from-work-colleague-that.html"><span style="font-size:85%;">Cream Cheese Icing </span></a><span style="font-size:85%;">(see recipe in my previous post)<br /><br /></span><a href="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/gingercreamsmix070829.jpg"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/gingercreamsmix070829.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;">In large saucepan place sugar, syrups, spices and rind. Heat until boiling – keep stirring to make sure it doesn’t stuck, remove from heat and add butter and stir until melted. Add bi-carb soda, then add in cocoa and flour in a couple of batches – mix until it forms a ball. You may need to add extra flour. Shape into logs (I made square and round ones), wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.<br /><br /></span><a href="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/gingercreamslog070829.jpg"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/gingercreamslog070829.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Preheat oven to 180degC. Slice logs into 1/4” thick slices (I got 40 slices) and place on lined baking tray (they expand a little bit, but not much). Alternatively you can roll it out and cut out gingerbread men or other shapes. Bake for approximately 10 minutes until firm (as they are brown it is hard to see before they burn!). Cool on rack. Pipe or smear on cream cheese icing and top with another biscuit. Makes 20 double biscuits.<br /></span></span><br /><a href="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/gingercreamsbake070829.jpg"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/gingercreamsbake070829.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;">These are quite spicy – probably not suitable for most children. My eaters really enjoyed them and they went fast! My test ones were also very nice with lemon curd on them.<br /><br />I do have to admit my own weakness when making gingerbread – I love the uncooked mixture ... I’d rather eat that than the baked outcome ... so the recipe may actually make more if you take out all the “tastes” I had along the way!!!<br /><br />Next week I have a break from baking ... off on a work conference (to a rural retreat that is closer to the city than my own house!) ... but I’ve got plans for the weeks following! Request I’ve got have been for danishes, custard tarts and “something lemon” ... will have to think of something interesting for the lemon one. I saw a cooking show on television recently that created a lemon tart filling by processing whole lemons (pips removed) ... might be worth a try!</span></span></div></div></div></div></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/gingercreams1070829.jpg" border="0" /> </span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4455068608625352512.post-77251524420544582082007-08-30T13:09:00.000+10:002007-08-30T13:21:09.408+10:00Lancefield Farmers’ Market<div><div><div><a href="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/FarmersMarketAug1.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/FarmersMarketAug1.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">I’m very lucky to have this as my local farmers market. I try to get there a couple of times a year, especially in the growing seasons (we’re still in winter unfortunately ... only a couple more days to go!). Every time I go, I don’t plan to buy anything ... and come home with lots of tasty things! The only bad part about a the farmers market is finding something delicious one month and going back the next month for it – only to find the stall has gone or the produce out of season!<br /><br /><a href="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/FarmersMarketAugSpoils.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/FarmersMarketAugSpoils.jpg" border="0" /></a>A couple of things I bought this month:<br />Whole Wheat Croissant (Red Beard Bakery – Trentham): nice, but needed more butter!<br />Raspberry Butter and Lemon Curd: one stall had a variety of butters, tasting them all I couldn’t resist the raspberry one, and bought the lemon at another stall ... whilst I intend to use these in some cooking, I highly suspect that they’ll be eaten by the spoonful straight from the jar!<br />Eggplant something or other (can’t remember the name!): a delicious mix that I’m going to spread on sandwiches for extra taste </span></div><div><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Fruit Muesli: I love muesli and it often is my "dessert" at night. My favourite one comes from the <a href="http://www.irrewarrasourdough.com.au/">Irrewarra Sourdough Bakery</a> - the one from the farmers market was quite nice - but not that toasted honey flavour I love in the Irrewarra version.<br /><a href="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/FarmersMarketAug4.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/FarmersMarketAug4.jpg" border="0" /></a>Duck eggs: I used to have a lovely supply of duck eggs, but unfortunately I can’t get them anymore ... once I’ve stopped my current diet (yes, with all this baking I’m actually dieting!) I’m planning on buying some ducks and hopefully getting my own eggs ... I have a lovely duck pond from a previous owner of my property ... just need a duck house!! These eggs are destined for a custard I think!<br /><br /><a href="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/FarmersMarketAug2.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/FarmersMarketAug2.jpg" border="0" /></a>My friend bought some lovely olive oil from Lovers’ Lane Olives – tasted delicious, a pan au chocolate from the Red Beard Bakery (quite nice, but I’ve obviously been spoilt by non-whole wheat flour and it just doesn’t quite meet my expectations for a croissant/Danish), a frittata for lunch and some messmate honey (which she generously gave some to me).<br /><br />The best part of course, is going home and unpacking all the spoils and making a delicious lunch with fresh produce.</span></div></div></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4455068608625352512.post-52998946503545528952007-08-28T13:17:00.000+10:002007-08-28T13:48:02.314+10:00Orange Poppyseed Cupcakes<a href="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/orangepopc-cake3070822.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/orangepopc-cake3070822.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div><div><div><div><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">I’d had a request from a work colleague that I make “Orange Poppyseed Cupcakes”, as I’m not a huge cake fan (especially in the format of cupcakes!) I’d decided to semi stick to her request, but to make it a bit nicer than your average dry cake! I chose Claudia Roden’s Middle Eastern Orange Cake (from Stephanie Alexander’s “The Cooks Companion”) as my starting point and just added poppyseeds! After a recent disaster with an icing/frosting melting at room temperature I wanted to pick a very stable topping, I searched around quite a bit and decided on a cream cheese icing with lots of icing sugar (confectioners sugar).<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="color:#33cc00;">Orange Poppyseed Cupcakes (adapted from Claudia Roden’s Middle Eastern Orange Cake (from Stephanie Alexander’s “The Cooks Companion”)<br />2 oranges<br />300g. almonds<br />250g. sugar<br />6 eggs<br />1/2 cup of poppyseeds<br /><br /></span><a href="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/boilingoranges.jpg"><span style="color:#33cc00;"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/boilingoranges.jpg" border="0" /></span></a><span style="color:#33cc00;">Place oranges in a saucepan with 1 inch of water (you might want to poke them with a fork once to stop them splitting), cover pan and boil for 2 hours. Cool, cut into chunks (removing pips).<br /><br />Place almonds in food processor and grind into small pieces/meal. Remove from food processor (don’t worry about cleaning it). Put cut up cooked oranges into food processor and pulse until nearly smooth (but not completely to a puree). Add in almonds and sugar, blend until mixed. Add in eggs 3 at a time, blending in between. Then when mixture is evenly mixed, add in poppyseeds and pulse a couple of times (don’t over mix).<br /><br />Three quarter fill cupcake/muffin tins (I used paper cups as well – and I only filled mine half way to make smaller cakes so that the frosting would sit inside the paper cup and not get mushed when transporting). Bake for 30 minutes at 190ºC. Makes approximately 24.<br />(note: I have made this cake with lemons – but upped the amount of sugar to 320g)<br /></span></span><br /><span style="color:#33cc00;"><span style="font-size:78%;">Vanilla Cream Cheese Icing (frosting)<br />250g Cream cheese, softened<br />50g butter, softened<br />50g copha (white vegetable shortening), softened<br />1 tspn vanilla bean paste<br />2 tbspn cornflour<br />500g (approx 4 cups) icing sugar.<br /><br />Using a hand held mixer, beat softened butter, copha and cream cheese. Add the vanilla paste and cornflour and mix well. Add in icing sugar cup by cup, mixing well in between. Put icing in piping bag and pipe onto cooled cakes. (you may have some left over ... lots of uses for the left overs other than piping into your mouth!).</span><br /></span><br /><a href="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/orangepopc-cake1070822.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/orangepopc-cake1070822.jpg" border="0" /></a>Many groans of delight met these!! The icing stood up to being transported and the creamy cheese flavour was a delicious contrast to the quite tart orange cupcake. Apparently there had been a bit of teasing to the person who made the request, that she’d picked something so boring ... but they were very pleased with my interpretation and that they didn’t end up with boring cupcakes!! I think these went faster than nearly anything I’ve brought into work (so I probably hadn't needed to worry quite so much about the stability of the icing in the warmth!).<img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/orangepopc-caketin070822.jpg" border="0" /></span></div></div></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4455068608625352512.post-50895828033276384352007-08-24T09:03:00.000+10:002007-08-24T09:48:57.291+10:00Valrhona Potato Truffles<span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-size:100%;color:#6600cc;">Sugar High Friday #34 – Local Speciality</span><br /><br /></span></strong></span><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong><span style="font-size:85%;"><p></span></strong><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/PotatoTruffles2070822.jpg" border="0" /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">The theme set by Johanna of <a href="http://thepassionatecook.typepad.com/thepassionatecook/">http://thepassionatecook.typepad.com/thepassionatecook/</a> for Sugar <a href="http://thepassionatecook.typepad.com/thepassionatecook/2007/07/shf-34-announce.html">High Friday (SHF) #34</a> was to reproduce a local speciality, as I’m new to blogging I thought this might be a good blog-event starter but I’m not quite sure if I meet the criteria.<br /></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">I live in a country area of Australia, and whilst there are many country cooking themes that are common across Australia they aren’t specifically local to my area. So I decided to see HOW local I could go for produce (rather than a recipe) – what was the closest produce I could use to make something? </span></p><p></span></p><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><a href="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/PotatoFarm.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/PotatoFarm.jpg" border="0" /></a>Looking at the neighbouring properties: next door are sheep (bred for meat, not milk, so couldn’t think of anything); behind me is an olive grove (olive oil cake? Not really interesting!); next up the road are cattle (but once again, beef, not dairy – so no inspiration!); then there is the onion farm (onion jam? Not really what I wanted to make); and next comes the potato farm less than a mile down the road (1km). And it struck me, surely someone, somewhere has used potato (not sweet potato) in a dessert/sweet. (excuse the dark photo - it was taken on my way to work this morning)<br /><br /><a href="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/potato.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/potato.jpg" border="0" /></a>After a bit of searching around I found some recipes for <a href="http://www.livingonadime.com/recipes/potatofudge.html">Potato Fudge</a> (and some other potato sweet things that look worth trying – some interesting Indian ones) and decided that would be a good start. I choose the particular starter recipe because it used cocoa and I have a rather large amount of Valrhona cocoa to use up (my sister and I bought 3kgs between us as it is so delicious!) ... and really ... anything containing Valrhona cocoa is going to taste nice!!!<br /><br />I’m not a huge fan of very sugary things, so I looked at the recipe and thought that if I turned it into truffle balls rolled in cocoa then that would contrast with the very sweet inside. I also added some flavours to the cooking potato, as I wasn’t just using up leftovers.<br /></span><br /><span style="font-size:78%;color:#33cc00;"><strong>Vahlrhona Potato Truffles</strong><br /><br />1 smallish potato (require 1/3 cup when mashed)<br />1/3 cup milk<br />1/3 cup water<br />1 tspn cinnamon<br />1 tspn brown sugar<br /><br />50g copha (vegetable shortening)<br />50g salted butter<br />1 tspn vanilla essence<br />½ cup Valrhona cocoa (or a dutched cocoa)<br />450g icing (confectioners) sugar<br />½ cup chopped almonds<br />Extra valrhona cocoa for covering outside<br /><br /><a href="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/PotTrufflesMix1070822.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/PotTrufflesMix1070822.jpg" border="0" /></a>Peel potato and cut in to cubes, place in microwaveable bowl/jug with the milk, water, cinnamon and brown sugar. Microwave on high for 2 minutes, then on low for 10 minutes (check that it doesn’t bubble over or run out of liquid) until the potato is quite soft. Drain potato and mash with fork until very smooth.<br /><br /><a href="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/PotTrufflesMix2070822.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/PotTrufflesMix2070822.jpg" border="0" /></a>Melt copha/shortening and butter, stir in vanilla and cocoa. Add 1/3 cup of the mashed potato and nuts. Add in icing sugar in batches (about a cup at a time). Mix until smooth. Roll balls of approximately 1 tspn of mixture, then roll in valrhona cocoa. Refridgerate for 2 hours until solid. Makes 40.<br /></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br />Tasty little morsels these are! A bit moreish (I ate too many!) and actually a recipe worth repeating – maybe with some tweaking!! I’d increase the potato (of all things!), maybe introduce some cream and reduce the icing sugar and add some melted chocolate to provide the stability required if the icing sugar was removed. I’m a bit hooked on honey at the moment, so would love to add some to provide a flavour accent. The reality is that the potato blends in, and other than providing a very slightly different texture, it really is unnoticeable.<br /><br /><a href="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/PotatoTrufflebite070822.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/PotatoTrufflebite070822.jpg" border="0" /></a>The actual mashed potato component was quite tasty and I was thinking of different ways it could be used – add some whipped cream and a bit more sugar and I’m sure it could have a place in a degustation menu; or, add some whipped egg whites to produce a fluffy pancake, drizzled with maple syrup!<br /><br />So whilst the recipe is completely not local ... local produce was the star!<br /><br />I’m really looking forward to taking these to friends on the weekend and making them guess the “secret ingredient”!!!!</span></span> <p align="center"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/PotatoTrufflesbox070822.jpg" border="0" /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4455068608625352512.post-82623873481045856592007-08-20T11:59:00.000+10:002007-08-20T12:17:37.469+10:00Honey “Butttercream” filled Macarons<div><div><div><div><div><div><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/honeymacs1070819.jpg" border="0" /> <div><div><div><span style="font-family:verdana;">I wasn’t going to bake over the weekend, but I was going to visit one friend and another to visit me ... so I thought I could justify it as I had eaters (as opposed to me eating entire recipes of delicious things!). I’d raved to one friend about Tartlette’s Honey Macarons <a href="http://tartelette.blogspot.com/2006/10/tough-relationship-mignardises-and-me.html">http://tartelette.blogspot.com/2006/10/tough-relationship-mignardises-and-me.html</a> before and she’s been dying to try them. I had some egg whites in the freezer needing to be used up ... and it was cold outside (I can justify anything sweet!!).<br /></span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/honeymacsingred070819.jpg"></a><a href="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/eggwhites.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/eggwhites.jpg" border="0" /></a>Although the recipe Tartlette used meant I could start with whole eggs and use the yolks in the buttercream, the whites in the macarons, I decided to cheat a bit (and I would lose some of my justification if I wasn’t using up leftovers!). I stuck to her recipe for the macarons but for the Honey Buttercream I did a cheat version.<br /></span></div><br /><br /><div><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/honeymacsmix070819.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/honeymacsmix070819.jpg" border="0" /></a>Beating up the egg whites with sugar syrup for macarons.<br /></span></div><span style="font-family:verdana;"></span></div><span style="font-family:verdana;"></span></div><span style="font-family:verdana;"></span></div><span style="font-family:verdana;"></span></div><span style="font-family:verdana;"></span></div><span style="font-family:verdana;"></span></div><span style="font-family:verdana;"></span></div><br /><br /><p><span style="font-family:verdana;"></span></p><br /><br /><p><span style="font-family:verdana;"></span></p><br /><br /><p><span style="font-family:verdana;"></span></p><p><span style="font-family:verdana;"></span></p><span style="font-family:verdana;"><p><br /></p><br /><p><a href="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/honeymacspiped070819.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/honeymacspiped070819.jpg" border="0" /></a>My piping skills need some work; luckily this recipe is so forgiving!<br /><br /></p></span><br /><br /><div><br /><br /></div><br /><br /><div><span style="font-family:verdana;"></span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:verdana;"><a href="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/honeymacscolour070819.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/honeymacscolour070819.jpg" border="0" /></a>Interesting colour differences ... the first lot were baked at the top of the oven, the next lot sat just an inch further down under the other tray. Obviously the white looks better – but I couldn’t taste a difference.<br /><br /></span></div><br /><br /><div><br /></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:verdana;"></span></div><div><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="color:#33cc00;">Honey “Buttercream” - cheats version<br /><br />120 g butter softened<br />4 tblspns honey<br />4 tblspns icing sugar (confectioners sugar)<br /><br />Mix together ... voila ... “buttercream” without the hassle of creating a sugar syrup.</span><br /></span><br />Probably wouldn’t stand up to an application that didn’t involve it being squished between biscuits (cookies!), but very tasty. You could increase/decrease the amount of honey to taste – depending on how strong the flavour of your honey is.<br /><br />I did give most of them away ... of course I had a couple of tastes - the tops had cracked so I couldn't give THOSE ones away!! Mmmmmmm!!!<br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc185/Dessertaholic/Baking/honeymacs2070819.jpg" border="0" /></span></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4455068608625352512.post-40908367963297851112007-08-16T11:46:00.000+10:002008-08-28T09:31:01.349+10:00“American” Walnut Fudge – a family favourite<div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7qbsAFNjmChzd6XYgR7P1H8I8UJMIWay9nm-uul5KTucLKDeJG4rdLmnpwhgJxaFbgkvEkqlcxIElib2-j_Mo417fNJEFE4x1rpUUT0OZBiiWHwX1-Ybkyouhlv_5ne2NbEO_xBsqUJi2/s1600-h/Fudge+070815.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5099111404248653410" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7qbsAFNjmChzd6XYgR7P1H8I8UJMIWay9nm-uul5KTucLKDeJG4rdLmnpwhgJxaFbgkvEkqlcxIElib2-j_Mo417fNJEFE4x1rpUUT0OZBiiWHwX1-Ybkyouhlv_5ne2NbEO_xBsqUJi2/s200/Fudge+070815.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div><span style="font-family:verdana;"></span></div><br /><br /><div><span style="font-family:verdana;"></span></div><br /><br /><div><span style="font-family:verdana;">I love those recipes written down after a chance encounter with someone else’s cooking. This recipe comes from an American who worked with my mother 20+ years ago. For us, all those years ago, it was quite unusual for a fudge in Australia and became a staple recipe for the family. My only change is to improve the quality of the chocolate used!<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:verdana;"><span style="font-size:85%;color:#33cc00;"><strong>“American” Walnut Fudge</strong><br /><br />2/3 cup (or a tin of 185ml) Evaporated milk<br />1 2/3 cup sugar<br />1/2 tspn salt<br />200g marshmallows, chopped (approximately - depends how many you "test taste" along the way)<br />250g dark chocolate (70% cacao), chopped<br />1 cup walnuts, chopped<br />1 tspn vanilla<br /><br />Grease 9inch square cake pan (at least 1 inch deep)<br /><br />Mix milk, sugar and salt in saucepan (that will be big enough to contain all ingredients in the recipe). Bring to the boil and boil for 3 minutes (you may have to reduce the heat so it doesn’t to boil over).<br /><br />Remove from heat, allow to cool for a couple of minutes, add vanilla, walnuts, chocolate and half the marshmallows ... mix until the chocolate is completely melted (marshmallows will also melt). Add the rest of the marshmallows, stir so they are just mixed through (but not melted), pour into pan. Refrigerate. Cut into squares.<br /></span><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7o61jZ_50Xk9m69PQ4ANfFIXtkMvm57iKI8knQq5QePDweNiPdTx6VEI-__ZWXzgc16l6dmVObI-8MWkWcUN0jxcYaU51uF0xNdApzwwU9ZAKeJXTv-mlX-7XXAAU8ISWVEeEy4EmkZ-c/s1600-h/Fudge+tin+070815.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5099111601817149042" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7o61jZ_50Xk9m69PQ4ANfFIXtkMvm57iKI8knQq5QePDweNiPdTx6VEI-__ZWXzgc16l6dmVObI-8MWkWcUN0jxcYaU51uF0xNdApzwwU9ZAKeJXTv-mlX-7XXAAU8ISWVEeEy4EmkZ-c/s200/Fudge+tin+070815.JPG" border="0" /></a>The rating from the eaters “this is the best thing you’ve baked so far” ... I disagree ... but it is a nice yummy fudge ... and it transported well!!!</span></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4455068608625352512.post-86346112300473704682007-08-14T14:26:00.000+10:002008-08-28T09:31:00.601+10:00Eclairs for colleagues<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNg9udHD5jgGUw3iAbkxsRf3keSXZBM-pOJ3tmKdWiUejs9L2rDmKHppTw7lejqgL7P4gUBFwDuoU_CQ6buS4OH5qr_FmEj4NC8dy-S0IhaKoqvNJ7w7fULnNueAMHqN2LRy7EocGMkBnp/s1600-h/Eclairs+070808.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5098409412765186370" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNg9udHD5jgGUw3iAbkxsRf3keSXZBM-pOJ3tmKdWiUejs9L2rDmKHppTw7lejqgL7P4gUBFwDuoU_CQ6buS4OH5qr_FmEj4NC8dy-S0IhaKoqvNJ7w7fULnNueAMHqN2LRy7EocGMkBnp/s320/Eclairs+070808.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Most weeks I bake for my colleague, sometimes I'll take suggestions, sometimes they've just got to take what I choose.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Last week was eclairs ... unfortunately it was a bit of a disaster week, and I had two goes at getting the chocolate topping not to seize up on me - and gave up in the end.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />The creme patisserie was absolutely delicious (if I do say so myself) ... but how far can you go wrong with large amounts of egg yolks?<br /><p><span style="color:#33cc00;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><strong>Crème Patisserie</strong> (from Stephanie Alexander’s Cook’s Companion)<br /><br />2 cups of whole milk<br />1 vanilla bean (or 1tspn of vanilla bean paste)<br />6 egg yolks<br />175g castor sugar<br />50g cornflour<br /><br />Heat milk and vanilla until just before boiling. Using an electric beater whip egg yolks, sugar and cornflour until thick. Remove vanilla bean from milk (if using), and pour warm milk over egg mix a little at a time, beating as you add, until it is all incorporated and the mixture is smooth. Cover surface with plastic wrap and refrigerate until you want to pipe it.<br /></span></span></p><p>The big limitation with cooking for work is that it has to travel nearly 1 1/2 hours by train and cope without a lot of refrigeration. Some of the things I love to make just wont travel, these coped - just!!</p><br /><span style="color:#33cc00;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><strong>Choux Pastry (adapted from Constance Spry)</strong> </span></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;color:#33cc00;">7/8 cup water</span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;color:#33cc00;">3 oz butter</span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;color:#33cc00;">1 3/4 oz plain flour (sifted 3 times)</span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;color:#33cc00;">1 tbspn castor sugar</span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;color:#33cc00;">3 eggs </span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;color:#33cc00;">Preheat oven 240degC. Grease flat baking tray. (for good pictorial instructions from Delia Smith go to: </span><a href="http://www.deliasmith.co.uk/cookery-school/how-to/how-to-make-choux-pastry,22,AR.html"><span style="font-size:85%;color:#33cc00;">http://www.deliasmith.co.uk/cookery-school/how-to/how-to-make-choux-pastry,22,AR.html</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;color:#33cc00;"> though her quantities are different to the recipe I use) </span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;color:#33cc00;">Heat water & butter until boiling, remove from heat, add sifted flour & sugar, mix flour in quickly to combine into a ball. Add eggs one at a time, mixing until it becomes a smooth paste between each egg (it will go sloppy and look awful each time an egg is added, just keep stirring!). </span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;color:#33cc00;">Put mix in piping bag and pipe out fingers (mixture will at least double in size, possibly treble ... so allow a bit of space between, and don’t make them too large if you want minis (probably no bigger than your little finger)). Sprinkle a bit of water over the tray, place in oven. Cook for 20 minutes – or until the choux are golden brown and crisp (don’t under do them as they go soggy, they need to be very dry before you take them out of the oven). Allow them to cool, then divide lengthways and fill with crème patisserie or whipped cream. </span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;color:#33cc00;"></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;color:#33cc00;">Top with chocolate that has been melted with a bit of butter.</span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;color:#33cc00;"></span><br /><span style="color:#000000;">Not too sweet - just right!! Lots of rave reviews (these people really aren't fussy though!)</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4455068608625352512.post-53422964842499525112007-08-14T13:56:00.000+10:002007-08-14T14:00:48.568+10:00It runs in the family<span style="font-family:verdana;">In my family you choose dessert before you make other menu choices, it is acceptable to order two desserts instead of a main, entertaining visitors starts with planning dessert and sharing your dessert is the sincerest sign of caring.</span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;">I'd say I was a chocoholic, but it extends beyond that ... dessert is the reason for a meal!</span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;">I hope to share some of my cooking and eating adventures, I don't have any photography skills and I'm firmly of the view that how it tastes is way more important than how it looks (I was destined to fail pastry school!).</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0