Chocolate Lace Crisps

It was the daintiness of the title that attracted me to making these 'crisps'. A crisp biscuit that would perhaps be served on fine china-ware for a special afternoon tea. I didn't have a special afternoon tea to attend, but I did have one of these tasty crisps to eat at afternoon tea time. They were crunchy, delicate and a little decadent.

The recipe is from the Australian's Women's Weekly "BAKE" cookbook. I bought this a few months ago and love it. It has it all.

Here is the recipe for these little dainty gems:

100g dark cooking chocolate, chopped

80g butter, chopped

1 cup (220g) caster sugar

1 egg

1 cup (150g) pain flour

2 tablespoons cocoa powder

1/4 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

1/4 (40g) icing sugar

1. Melt chocolate and butter in small saucepan over low heat.

2. Transfer chocolate mixture to medium bowl: stir in caster sugar, egg, sifted flour, cocoa and soda. Cover: Refrigerate 15 minutes or until mixture is firm enough to handle.

3. Pre-heat oven to 180/160 degrees Celsius fan-forced. Grease oven trays: Line with baking paper.

4. Roll level tablespoons of mixture into balls, roll each ball in sifted icing sugar.

Pace about 8cm apart (they grow big) on trays.

5. Bake crisps about 15 minutes, cool on trays.

Makes about 20

Mmm afternoon tea delights.

Banana and Raspberry French Toast Goodness...

I was a big hater of french toast growing up. In fact I was a big hater of most food growing up. You'd think I was a different person.

There seem to be so many different ways to make french toast these days, it's pretty much not possible to dislike it. Brioche, bread, muffins, croissants, french stick - you name it, it's all good.

Being the great girlfriend that I am* I made my boyfriend french toast in the weekend. It could be filled with nearly anything. Nutella would be especially good I think. I just stuck to using Raspberry jam, a good dollop of butter and sliced banana as well as a touch or more of maple syrup..

Maybe you'd like to surprise a special someone with this sweet goodness too?

Banana and Raspberry French Toast

You will need:

2 slices bread/brioche/muffins/whatever tickles your fancy!

2 eggs

1/4 cup milk

vanilla essence

2 tablespoons raspberry jam

1 banana, sliced

1/4 cup frozen raspberries

1 tablespoon icing sugar

maple syrup

How to:

Whisk eggs together well. Add milk and vanilla. Spread jam and butter on both pieces of bread. Top one slice of bread with sliced banana then place the other piece on top. Press down together. Soak sandwich into egg mixture, making sure all bread is completely covered.

Heat a dollop of butter in a frying pan, making sure the pan is not too hot (if butter turns brown, pan is too hot). Once the right temperature, place the sandwich on the pan. Cook for about five minutes on each side until golden brown.

Meanwhile, place frozen berries in microwave until soft. Stir in icing sugar.

Top french toast with any left over sliced banana and the raspberries. Do I need to mention drizzle over maple syrup to your hearts content? I didn't think so...

Apricot Granola

I used to get paid to cook family meals, snacks and well anything really. It was mean't to be a nanny job but I spent more time cooking than I did looking after the children. It was pretty great.

My 'nanny mum' often requested this Granola as it was one of her favorites. I hope you like it too.

Apricot Granola

You will need (this recipe is VERY adaptable so if you don't have everything, mix and match):

2 cups nuts (e.g. almonds, cashews etc.)

1/2 cups sunflower seeds

1/2 cup sunflower seeds

1 cup coconut

4 cups rolled oats

3/4 cup maple syrup/honey

1 1/2 cup salad oil

1/2 cup dried apricots, cut however you like them

1/2 cup processed bran

Pre-heat oven to 150 degrees Celsius. Combine all the nuts and grains in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, mix together the oil and maple syrup. Pour this into the bowl with the dry ingredients and mix together.

Cook in roasting pans for about 45 minutes, turning every 10-15minutes to cook evenly to a golden brown. Remove from oven and mix in apricots and bran.

Serve with milk and fruit, as a topping on yoghurt/ice cream or simply stick your paws into the container and enjoy!

Pillows

When I was little, I was told that sleeping with one pillow instead of two would make me taller. I quickly became a one-pillow child after that. I also became quite particular about my pillow: It had to be chunky, firm but soft, fluffy and full-bodied. I still hold this pillow criteria today. Well, that was up until to a few days ago when I discovered something amazing. Something that took my pillow criteria to a new level- an edible kind. You won't believe it until you see it. I didn't believe at first either. But it changed me when I saw it. From a one-pillow person to a several pillow-person. Several pillow cookie person that is. Yes, a pillow cookie. Are you ready to see what that looks like?

Here goes...

Ta-dah! No that isn't just a big chocoate chunk in the middle. It's a BROWNIE chunk! Yes you read correctly. It's a brownie inside a cookie. I know, i know! I'm excited too. Two heavenly things paired together to make one holy goodness.

My flatmate and I made them together as a wee Saturday afternoon delight. And delightful they were.

I found the recipe here. From the one and only Bakerella.

Judging by how excited you are (I know you are..) here is the how to:

Make a batch of brownies (any recipe will be fine, we used this one).

While these are cooking, make your favourite chocolate chip cookie mixture (preferably one that makes a few cookies, check out the one on Bakerella if you can't find one). When the brownies are cooked, cut them into little tiny squares. Then...

Take some mixture:

Form a ball with the mixture. Then make a hole in the ball, and place the brownie inside, wrapping the mixture around it as you go.

Roll the ball as you would with a normal cookie and gently press it with a fork.

Place in the oven at 180 degrees Celsius and bake for 12-15 minutes.

Now, that's what I call a pillow. Well, a pillow cookie. Maybe these are what I have been needing to grow taller! There's still hope...

Tan Square

Hello! It feels like a while since I have blogged. I apologize, I been feeling a bit guilty.

Funny enough it was my boyfriend who inspired me to bake today. He isn't one for requesting particular baking, let alone any, so when he asked if I could make him some Tan Square, I got a wee bit excited.

You would think that somewhere among my copious amount of cooking books I would find a recipe for Tan square/slice. Well I didn't. I was a little amazed at this, but I simply learned that I don't have enough cook books... I reverted to a recipe on the internet. Internet is handy like that.

Luckily for me (and my boyfriend) the recipe produced a fine Tan Square (if I don't say so myself). The base was light and fluffy with a fudgy texture, which added to the gooey caramel topping and crumbled chocolate mixture on top - sounds pretty good huh? It was.

Tan Square:

BASE:

250g butter

1/2 cup sugar

Vanilla Essence

4 cup flour

1/2 cup chocolate chips

The how-to:

Soften the butter, then add sugar and vanilla, beating until light and fluffy. Stir in flour. Grease a 23cm tin and spoon 2/3 of the mixture, pressing down to flatten.

Add the chocolate chips to the remaining mixture, then place in fridge.

TOPPING:

(What a glorious sight. At home in my parents fridge, you will often find an open can of this sitting there, and usually my dad too, with a spoon in hand)

1 can of condensed milk

3 Tablespoons of golden syrup

60g butter, diced

The how-to:

Place ingredients in a saucepan. Turn heat on low and stir until butter is melted and ingredients are well combined.

Pour it over onto the prepared base

Crumble the remaining mixture on top and bake for 20-25 minutes.

Cool completely before cutting into squares

Birthday Coconut Cream Layer Cake with Chocolate Icing (- what a mouthful!)

In my opinion, it's not a birthday party without a birthday cake. So when I went to my friend's birthday during the week, I took her along a cake. She suggested she wanted a Coconut Cake so I went hunting for a recipe. I chose one that used coconut cream, in hope it would be moist, as well as for something a little different.

When the layers came out of the oven they looked extremely dry and I was worried they had failed the moisture test. Cakes can be scary things to make for a large number of people, because you can never test them to make sure they will be ok! Hence, I was a bit nervous when watching people take their first bite...

To my relief, it wasn't too dry at all, but rather, it was light, spongy, and velvety - a texture which I hadn't really come across before. It's a MUST-TRY recipe. Just beware of the icing, it is rather delicious.

Coconut Cream Layer Cake with Chocolate Icing

2 1/4 cup plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
150 g butter, room temperature
1 1/3 cup sugar
4 large egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla essence
3/4 cup coconut cream/milk
4 large egg whites

Preheat oven to 190' C. Lightly grease 9 inch round cake tins and line with baking paper.

In a medium bowl, whisk togehter flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until mixture is light and fluffy. Mix in egg yolks and vanilla until mixture is smooth. Alternating wet and dry ingredients, add in the coconut milk and flour mixture in 3-4 additions, ending with a final addition of the flour mixture.

In another bowl, beat egg whites to soft peaks with an electric beater. Fold in the egg whites into the cake batter. Make sure no streaks of egg white remain visible. Divide cake batter into prepared round cake tins.

Bake for 25 minutes or intil a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Turn cakes out onto a wire rack and remove baking paper, allowing them to cool completely bofore icing.

Once the cakes have cooled, place one of the layers on a serving plate or cake stand.

I poked several holes into the layers with a toothpick before topping with the coconut filling (see recipe below)- to prevent the cakes from drying out.

Place second cake layer on top-side-down, so that the flattest part of the cake is on top. Press down gently.
Use a spatula to ice the sides and top of the chocolate coconut icing. I decorated mine with sugar flowers, and added a handful of shredded coconut to mine, to give it a 'rough' look. But you can decorate to your hearts content.

Coconut Filling

6 Tbsp sugar
1.2 cup sour cream
2 Tbsp coconut cream/milk
1/2 cup shredded coconut

In a small bowl, combine all ingredients. Refridgerate until ready to use.

Coconut Chocolate Frosting

1/2 cup butter
2 oz chocolate
1/4 cup cocoa powder
2-3 cup icing sugar
5 Tbsp coconut cream/milk
1 tsp vanilla essence
1/2 tsp salt
handful coconut (optional)

In a small, microwave safe bowl, melt together butter and unsweetend chocolate. Heat in 30-45 second intervals, stirring frequently, until mixture is smooth. Cool for 10-15 minutes, or until mixture is at room temperature.

Transfer butter mixture to a larger bowl. Beat in cocoa powder, 2 cups icing sugar coconut cream/milk, vanilla and salt, beating until icing is smooth and slightly fluffy. Add additional icing sugar to thicken if needed. Icing shoud be at room temperature before using.

Happy Birthday Jo!x

Blueberry and Apple Pikelets

I love spending my weekend mornings in the kitchen making a leisurely brunch or breakfast - especially when there are people around to eat it with! My friend down the road often takes advantage of this.

Last Saturday morning I made some blueberry and apple pikelets. I used a recipe from the trusty old Edmonds cookbook, and added grated apple and blueberries.

Here's the recipe in case you'd like to have them yourself this weekend:

Ingredients:

1 Cup Flour
1 Tsp Baking Powder
Salt
1/4 Cup Sugar
1 Egg
3/4 Cup Milk
1 Apple Grated
1/2 Cup Blueberries (frozen or fresh)

Process:

Sift flour, baking powder, and salt into a bowl. In another bowl, beat egg and sugar until thick. Add apple and mix to combine. Add this mixture with the milk to the sifted ingredients.

Gently fold in blueberries.

Drop tablespoons of the mixture from the point of the spoon onto a hot, lightly greased girdle or non-stick frying pan.

Turn over when bubbles start to burst on top surface. Cook second side until golden.
Makes 10-12.

Serve warm drizzled with maple syrup, sliced banana and a dollop of ice cream...