Archive | May, 2012

Mini Iced Vovo tarts – dessert for Australia Day

27 May

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When I saw the post for iced VoVo tarts by the wonderfully named Frocks & Frou Frou blog I knew I would be making it sooner rather than later. Iced VoVos are an iconic Australian biscuit made by Arnotts: a shortbready biscuit base topped with raspberry jam, marshmallow & dessicated coconut. So sweet. So yum. So want one now…

Lilli from Frocks & Frou Frou made everything from scratch. I didn’t [except the strawberry jam which I had the fridge] but I imagine the homemade pastry would have added to the taste.

She also made the marshmallow topping from scratch but I was just too lazy. One day I will try her full recipe as her tarts looked so cute. If you want to check it out here it is: http://frocksandfroufrou.com/2012/04/iced-iced-vovo/

These are tiny but super, doper sweet. I could manage just one but my sugar junkie Miss 4 loved them as did her little friends. So maybe try these for a kid’s party – they will love them. Continue reading →

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Easy banana muffin recipe

23 May

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How great are muffins? They take no time to make, are versatile and can even survive being made by Misses 4 and 6 and still taste great. I had a couple of over-ripe bananas sitting in the fruit bowl so turning them into muffins was the order of the day. I tweaked several different muffin recipes from various sources but reduced the amount of sugar as I find most recipes far too sweet.

I decorated these with a few peanut butter chips but they are very yummy without. Continue reading →

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Fast and simple one bowl chocolate chip bar recipe

20 May

Image I do love a choc chip. Often the introduction of choc chips to a recipe takes it from blah to wow, can I have more? As much as I love choc chip biscuits I find it tedious to be rolling/flattening/baking tray after tray. So when I stumbled across a recipe for Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars by the wonderful Two Peas and Their Pod I knew at once I’d be baking it. It all the boxes I was after. Choc chips. Vanilla. Crunchy. Kid-makeable. Continue reading →

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Donna Hay gingerbread biscuit [cookies] recipe with dark chocolate

17 May

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I adore Donna Hay. I love her magazine, her homewares, her style, her gorgeous store, everything. I’ve been lucky enough to meet her a few times and begged her for a job [no luck there, unfortunately]. I have every edition of her magazines and the vast majority of her cookbooks. All get a workout in my kitchen and her recipes are versatile, simple and usually no fuss.

For my mum’s birthday recently she decreed a ‘no gifts’ policy. The exception was anything home made. With this in mind I set about making her some gingerbread bickies. Mum adores gingerbread and I knew she’d love these.

The recipe is from Donna Hay Magazine issue 6. I use it every year to make gingerbread men at Christmas and it always turns out beautifully.

I dressed the biscuits up with dark chocolate glaze, another Donna Hay recipe, this time from the Simple Essentials – Chocolate book.

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GATHER:

125g softened diced butter

½ cup brown sugar

½ cup golden syrup

2 ½ cups self-raising flour

2 teaspoons ground ginger

1 teaspoon bicarb soda

LET’S GET TO IT:

Preheat oven to 190C, line two baking trays with baking paper.

Place butter and sugar in bowl of electric mixer and beat until light and creamy then add golden syrup.

Add sifted flour, ginger and bicarb soda and stir to combine.

Knead lighty on a floured benchtop to form a smooth dough.

Roll dough between two sheets of non-stick paper until 5mm thick. Use cookie cutter to cut out shapes.

Bake for 8 or so minutes/until golden.

Cool on trays.

When totally cold decorate with choc glaze. 

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CHOCOLATE GLAZE:

Melt 150g best quality dark chocolate with ½ cup pouring cream in a small pan over low heat, stirring until melted and smooth. Stand for 20 minutes to thicken. Then dunk the biscuits in the melted, gooey mix. Yum.

I keep a container of this in the fridge as it can be used to top a big cake, cupcakes, sandwich biscuits together, heated to pour over ice cream or eaten by the spoonful.

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Child-friendly easy apple crumble pudding dessert

14 May

Want a quick, warming dessert for these cool autumn nights? This apple crumble is just about the easiest recipe you’ll ever make. As you can see from the photos I roped in Misses 4 and 6 and they did everything except using the oven. So put your kids to work and enjoy this dessert tonight. Continue reading →

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Red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting

11 May

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I know – every blogger and her dog has done this recipe. That’s because these cupcakes are extra fantastic. It also helps that red is my very fav colour and they stand out from the pack.

There are many variations of this recipe and I used the most fabulous one from Joy the Baker. Her recipes are clear and concise and always work. 

Generally I’m not a fan of frosting [or icing as we all it in Australia] but when it comes to this cream cheese version I could eat my body weight. Sweet yet tart it is the perfect topping for these glorious little cakes.

Before you start ensure you have red gel food colouring. The cheap liquid stuff just won’t cut it and will leave a yucky taste in your mouth. It is availability from specialist cooking stores.

GATHER: 

4 tablespoons diced unsalted butter, at room temperature

3/4 cup sugar

1 egg

3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

2  tablespoons red food coloring

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup buttermilk

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1  1/2 teaspoons white vinegar

LET’S GET TO IT:

 Preheat oven to 180C and line a 12 hole pan with cupcake wrappers.

In bowl of electric mixer cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy (about three minutes).  Increase speed and add the egg. Scrape down the bowl and beat until well incorporated.

In a small jug mix cocoa, vanilla and red food coloring to make a thick paste.  

Add to the batter, mixing thoroughly until completely combined.

With mixer on low speed slowly add half of the buttermilk then half the flour and mix until combined. Scrape the bowl and repeat the process with the remaining milk and flour. Beat on high until smooth.

Turn mixer to low and add baking soda and vinegar then increase speed and beat a few more minutes.

Place into wrappers and bake for 17-20 minutes/until a skewer comes out clean. Cool on wire rack, frost when .Image

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CREAM CHEESE FROSTING: I used this recipe from taste.com.au – it is fluffy and yummy: http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/23099/cream+cheese+frosting

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Dark chocolate lace cookie biscuits

7 May

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I’ve come across these biscuits before with different names but I think the genius cooks at The Australian Women’s Weekly have bestowed upon these sweet morsels the best name: chocolate lace crisps. Once again this recipe is from their bible Bake.

I’ve made these many times and despite not having an overly sweet tooth I adore them. According to the notes I’ve scrawled in my cook book I first made them for a mother’s day picnic in 2010 and I made them recently for another picnic that was called off [due to bad weather]. In fact I love them so much that they are used as my WordPress image.

These are so delicious due to the dark chocolate so make sure you don’t use nasty compound stuff or they won’t taste anywhere near as good.

GATHER:

100g chopped dark chocolate

80g butter, diced

1 egg

¾ cup caster sugar [or even a smidge less]

1 cup plain flour, sifted

2 tablespoons cocoa powder

¼ teaspoon bicarb of soda

¼ cup sifted icing sugar

LET’S GET TO IT:

Place chocolate and butter in a medium sized pan and melt over a very low heat until glossy and smooth.

Remove from heat, allow to cool for about five minutes, then stir in sugar, cocoa, flour, soda and egg.

Place in fridge for 10-15 minutes or until mix is firm enough to handle.

Heat oven to 180C and line two baking sheets with baking paper.

Place icing sugar on a small plate.

Make a ball [about the size of a golf ball] with mixture, roll in icing sugar and place on baking tray.

Bake 12-15 minutes and cool on trays.

See my Hungry Mum column in Thursday’s Leader here.

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Easy raspberry butter cake

4 May

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Once again my trusty AWW bible, Bake, has provided me with a delicious, easy, can’t-stuff-it-up cake. I present the buttery and moreish raspberry butter cake that can be made with fresh or frozen berries [I always use frozen but never defrost them before use].

Thank you to the wonderfully wonderful Anna Warr for the gorgeous photos [http://www.facebook.com/AnnaWarrPhotography]

GATHER:

125g diced butter, softened

3/4 cup caster sugar

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups self-raising flour, sifted

1/2 cup milk

3/4 cup raspberries

LET’S GET TO IT:

Preheat oven to 180C and grease and line a round 20cm cake tin.

Butter butter and sugar in bowl of electric mixer until light and fluffy and then beat in eggs one at a time.

Stir in milk and flour in two batches.

Fold in 1/4 cup raspeberries.

Spread 3/4 of cake mix into pan and sprinkle with remaining berries then spread remainder of batter over the top.

Bake for between 45-60 mins [depending on oven]. Stand cake in pan 5 minutes, turn top side up onto wire rcak.

When cold sprinkle with sifted icing sugar and decorate with a few extra berries.

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Mmmm, homemade pumpkin pie from scratch

1 May

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I adore pumpkin and love it in any incarnation. In Australia it is not really used in desserts but I know pumpkin pie is a true American tradition. Many moons ago I had pumpkin pie in Canada and loved it. I’d been wanting to make it for ages but most recipes seem to start with ‘one can of pumpkin puree’ – that’s not a thing in Australia.

The I stumbled across the magnificent book ‘Bake’ by pastry chef Alison Thompson and lo and behold – a pumpkin pie recipe. This book makes you want to stop everything and get into the kitchen to bake. Highly recommend it.

My iphone pictures do not do this delicious dessert justice. Note to self: use a better camera…

The pastry recipe is the easiest I’ve ever made [and I have a bit of a phobia about making pastry as it always seem so fragile and delicate but this is a hardy yet gorgeous pastry].

GATHER:

Sweet shortcrust pastry

225g sifted plain flour

60g sifted icing sugar

100g diced unsalted butter at room temperature

2 egg yolks

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment combine the flour, icing sugar and butter. Mix on low speed until no lumps of butter are visible. Add the egg yolks and mix on low speed until the mixture comes together to form a dough.

Wrap dough in cling wrap place in fridge for at least two hours

Filling

1kg pumpkin, peeled and cut into small pieces

125mL pouring cream

3 eggs

60g brown sugar

60g caster sugar

½ teaspoon ground ginger

pinch of ground cloves [I didn’t have any so used nutmeg instead]

 LET’S GET TO IT

Make your dough. Leave in fridge for two hours.

Preheat oven to 170C.

Place pumpkin on baking tray, cover with foil and bake until pumpkin is very soft [Alison Thompson said around an hour, mine took about 1.5 hours. Maybe my pieces were too big].

While pumpkin is cooking take pastry out of fridge and allow it to come to room temperature.

Place sheet of baking paper on bench, unwrap pastry and using a rolling pin roll out to shape of non-stick tart tin with removable base [I used a rectangle tin approx 35cmx11cm]. Gently place in tart tin.

Place in fridge for half an hour.

Remove pumpkin carefully from oven [there may be water and steam] and place in bowl.

Increase oven temp to 180C.

Meanwhile place baking paper over pastry, fill with baking weights and bake until pastry is golden. Remove paper and weights and bake for a further 5 minutes.

Remove to bench; allow to cool for ten minutes.

Using a stick blender puree pumpkin until smooth and measure out 500ml of puree and pour into a bowl.

Whisk in cream, then the eggs, sugars and spices.

Pour into tart case, bake for 40 minutes until the filling is set.

Serve warm [or cold or eaten straight from the left over container at room temperature – it is amazing!]

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