Baking – ohdenny

Checkered Cookies

February 27, 2015 Posted in Baking, Cooking, RecipesLeave a comment

There are these checkered cookies that my mother used to buy for us as kids growing up. I love the look of the cookies with its contrasting colours and the buttery goodness of the biscuits. We received a gift of these biscuits from Malaysia one day and it spurred me to try making it myself. Not an easy task mind you. I found this wonderful recipe from Cook & Be Merry with amazing photos to boot. Being a perfectionist in this instance is probably for the better but alas I was a bit pressed for time so my “checkered” cookies were a bit more individualistic. Loved the taste of them though!

Checkered Cookies (Cook & Be Merry Recipe)
Makes: ~100 cookies

Ingredients
Vanilla Cookie Dough
170g unsalted butter
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg yolk (reserve egg white for brushing)
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

Chocolate Cookie Dough
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder, sifted after measuring
½ teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
115g unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg

1 egg white, beaten, for sticking layers of dough together
2 cookie sheets with 2 sheets parchment cut to fit sheets

Method – Vanilla Cookie Dough

1. In a large bowl or a mixer, beat the butter, sugar and salt until well mixed, light colored and fluffy, about 2 minutes, then beat in the vanilla and egg yolk. Keep beating until very smooth, about 2 more minutes.

2. Scrape the bowl and beat in the flour. Cover and chill the egg white until needed.

3. Scrape dough from the bowl onto a lightly floured work surface and press into a 2.5 cm (1 inch) thick square. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill until firm, several hours or up to 3 days.

Method – Chocolate Cookie Dough
1. In a bowl, combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Stir well with a whisk to mix.

2. In a large bowl, beat together the butter and sugar with a fork until well mixed and fluffy, about 2 minutes.

3. Beat in the vanilla and egg until the mixture is very smooth, about 2 minutes longer.

4. Mix in the flour mixture until well combined.

5. Form the dough into a ball and press into a 2.5 cm (1 inch) thick square. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill until firm, several hours or up to 3 days.

Method – Assembling the Checkers

1. Unwrap the Vanilla Cookie dough and roll it out on a floured parchment sheet on work surface into an 20×30 cm (8×12 inch) rectangle about 1 cm (3/8 inch) thick with square corners. Slide dough on parchment onto a cookie sheet, cover securely with plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 30 minutes until firm again. Do the same with the Chocolate Cookie dough.

2. Place the unwrapped vanilla dough on parchment on your work surface. Paint with the egg white and place the chocolate dough on top, parchment side up. Place a cookie sheet on the stack and gently push down so the two layers stick together.

3. Cut the dough rectangle in half through the parchment so you have two 20×15 cm (8×6 inch) rectangles. Paint the top of one rectangle with egg white and put the second rectangle on top so the four layers are alternating black and white. Press gently with pan to help stick together. With a sharp knife, trim the four sides so they are straight and square. Wrap and chill for several hours, keeping the corners square.

4. Place unwrapped dough stack on cutting board with the 20 cm (8 inch) side facing you. With a sharp knife, cut the 15 cm (6 inch) side into sixteen 1 cm (3/8 inch) thick slices.

5. Place one striped slice on the cutting board and brush it with egg white. Turn the next slice over and place it on top of the first slice so the stripes are alternating in color. Repeat two more times so there are four layers with alternating colors and the end looks like a checkerboard.

6. Make three more stacks with four slices each. Wrap each stack in plastic wrap and gently press each side with the pan to square it. Refrigerate on cookie sheet for several hours or freeze for future use.

7. Preheat the oven to 170 degrees Celsius (350 degrees F) with racks in upper and lower thirds of the oven.

8. Slice the cookies to roughly 1/2 cm (1/4 inch) thick, turning the stack after each cut so it doesn’t become flat from the knife pressing down.

9. Place cookies on parchment covered pans one inch apart and bake for 9 to 11 minutes until firm to the touch. Slide the parchment with the cookies onto a rack or countertop to cool. Store in one layer between parchment in air-tight container.

Chocolate, Hazelnut and Salted Caramel Tart

November 21, 2014 Posted in Baking, Desserts, Recipes1 Comment

I made some salted caramel for some chocolate, salted caramel cookies that didn’t turn out too well (but tasted great) so I had plenty of salted caramel left in which I had no idea what to do with it. So onwards with my Googling (how did I live without it) and I found this interesting tart from BBC Good Food. It has all the ingredients for a great tart, crunchy hazelnuts, salted caramel, chocolate and a shortcrust tart. What else would you want?

Putting it shortly, the tart turned out great, with not too much work involved but it does take some time for cooling the salted caramel or the chocolate filling and the pastry itself. So this isn’t a recipe for those a bit short on time.

Have a look at the recipe and see my impressions below!

Chocolate, Hazelnut and Salted Caramel Tart (BBC Good Food)
Prep:40 mins
Cook:45 mins – 50 mins plus cooling and chilling
Serves 12

Ingredients
Hazelnut pastry
50g blanched hazelnuts
200g plain flour
1 tbsp icing sugar
140g cold butter, diced
1 egg yolk
flour, for dusting

Salted caramel
75g caster sugar
25g butter
100ml double cream
1 tbsp golden syrup
large pinch sea salt flakes

Chocolate fudge filling
100g dark chocolate (70%)
75g butter
2 large eggs, plus 1 yolk
25g caster sugar
1 tbsp cocoa

50g blanched hazelnuts, toasted and roughly chopped

Method

1. To make the pastry, whizz the hazelnuts in a food processor until finely ground.

2. Add the flour, icing sugar and butter, and pulse until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.

3. Add the egg yolk and 1-2 tbsp cold water, and pulse until the dough comes together. Tip the dough out and flatten into a disc, then wrap in cling film and chill for 30 mins.

4. Heat oven to 180C/160C fan forced/gas 4. On a floured surface, roll out the pastry to line a 23cm loose-bottomed, deep tart tin. Trim the edges and prick the base with a fork, then line with baking parchment and fill with baking beans.

5. Bake for 20 mins, then carefully remove the baking beans and parchment and bake for a further 5-10 mins until light golden. Allow to cool.

6. Meanwhile, make the salted caramel. Tip the sugar into a small pan, add 1-2 tbsp water and heat gently to dissolve the sugar. Increase the heat and cook until the sugar turns to an ambercoloured caramel.

7. Reduce the heat and add the butter, cream and golden syrup, and stir until the sauce is smooth and thickened. Remove from the heat and add the salt.

8. Allow to cool for a few mins, then spread onto the tart base. Scatter with chopped hazelnuts and set aside.

9. For the chocolate filling, melt the chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Stir until smooth, then remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly.

10. In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs, egg yolk and caster sugar for about 6 mins until thick and pale.

11. Fold in the melted chocolate and cocoa, then pour into the tart case.

12. Transfer to a baking sheet and cook for 20-25 mins or until set and the top has formed a crust. Allow to cool to room temperature before serving in slices.

Mocha Whipped Cream (Joy of Baking)
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons (35-50 grams) granulated white sugar, or to taste
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder (regular or Dutch processed)
1 teaspoon instant coffee powder or espresso powder
1 cup (240 ml) cold heavy whipping cream

Method

1. Place your mixing bowl and wire whisk in the freezer for about 15-30 minutes. Place the vanilla extract, 3 tablespoons of sugar, cocoa powder, and instant coffee powder in the cold bowl.

2. Stir in about 2 tablespoons of the cream to form a thick paste (this will dissolve the cocoa and coffee powder).

3. Then add the rest of the cream and beat just until stiff peaks form. If not using immediately, cover and refrigerate. Makes about 2 cups (480 ml) whipped cream.

Impressions
This chocolate, hazelnut and salted caramel tart is stunning. The salted caramel just oozes out when the tart is still warm, and you have a moist chocolate layer on top and a generous amount of hazelnuts in the middle.

I had leftover full cream so I decided to create my own whipped cream, and I thought of making it coffee/mocha flavoured just for something a bit different and it turned out amazing with the tart. The bitterness of the whipped cream but with a coffee hit with the buttery rich tart works exceptionally well together.

It’s not a particularly thick tart, but I think it works better that way so it doesn’t seem overwhelmingly rich. Overall, I love this recipe, not too sweet as I reduced the sugar for the whipped cream and chocolate filling, and also slightly for the salted caramel too. The salted caramel provides all the necessary sweetness and it really does its work in making it a delicious tart.

Linzertorte

September 19, 2014 Posted in Austrian, Baking, Desserts, European, RecipesLeave a comment

I saw this stunning recipe of a Linzertorte in the recipe book Mastering the Art of Baking by Anneka Manning. It looked so warm and appetising, yet something just a bit rustic about it. A Linzertorte, or otherwise known as a Linzer Torte is an Austrian torte (tart) with a lattice design. Usually made from short pastry with a hint of spices such as cinnamon and ground nuts too, and topped with a jam, it really is a wonderful combination. Especially when the pastry is baking in the oven and you get a whiff of the cinnamon and the butter pastry cooking, it’s lovely.

Linzertorte
Serves: 10
Preparation Time: 40 minutes (+ 30 minutes chilling)
Cooking Time: 48 minutes

Ingredients
160 g (1 cup) almonds
300 g (2 cups) plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
2 ½ tsps ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground cloves
250 g unsalted butter, softened
110 g (1/2 cup) caster sugar (superfine)
1 tsp natural vanilla extract
Finely grated zest of 1 orange
2 egg yolks
500 g raspberry jam
1 egg yolk, extra, lightly whisked
2 ½ tbsps flaked almonds

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 180C (350F). Spread the almonds on a baking tray and toast for 8 minutes or until aromatic. Set aside to cool. Transfer to a food processor and process until finely ground.

2. Sift the flour, baking powder and spices into a bowl. Use an electric mixer to beat the butter, sugar, vanilla and orange zest in a separate medium bowl until pale and creamy. Add the egg yolks one at a time, beating well after each addition.

3. Add the flour mixture and ground toasted almonds and use a flat-bladed knife and then your hands to mix until a soft dough forms.

4. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and shape into a disc. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

5. Preheat the oven to 180C (350F). Divide the dough into 3 portions, then combine 2 of them.

Use a lightly floured rolling pin to roll out the larger portion on a lightly floured work surface to 30 cm (12 inch) round, taking care not to work the dough too much as it will become very soft. Roll the pastry around the rolling pin and carefully ease it into a 2 cm (3/4 inch) deep, 24 cm (9 ½ inch) fluted, loose-based tart (flan) tin, pressing it into the edges with your fingertips. Trim any excess by rolling the rolling pin over the top of the tin.

6. Spread the jam into the pastry shell to cover the base evenly (Thin layer – unless your jam isn’t overly sweet).

7. Roll the remaining dough out between 2 sheets of non-stick baking paper to a rectangle about 20 x 26 cm (8 x 10 ½ inches) and about 5 mm (1/4 inch) thick. Use a fluted pastry wheel or a large sharp knife to cut the remaining portion of dough into 1.5 cm ( 5/8 inch) wide strips.

Arrange the strips over the jam to form a lattice pattern, taking care as the dough will be quite fragile and may break easily. Re-roll any scraps as necessary to make enough strips to form the lattice.

8. Use a small sharp knife to trim the edges of the strips. Lightly brush the strips with the extra egg yolk and sprinkle the tart with flaked almonds.

9. Bake for 40 minutes or until deep golden and the pastry is cooked through. Leave in the tin to cool. Serve at room temperature.

Impressions

It is a very nice pastry I give it that. The addition of the cinnamon, ground cloves gives it a homely aroma (that’s just me) because I love cinnamon. Depending on the jam you use, I find that 500 g of jam is quite generous and as this is the only filling in the tart. It is a bit much and if you do it like I did and added too much to fill up the deep pastry tin.

A thinner layer of the jam can suffice, or if you can preferably find a brand of jam that is not too sweet. If that’s not possible, I suggest pureeing some raspberries and adding a bit at a time to the raspberry jam to give it a bit more tartness. This will hopefully make it not seem like you’re eating a mouthful of sugar.

The pastry really is the star of the Linzertorte and I could eat that short pastry any day of the week. Delicious.

Raspberry Cake with Raspberry Vanilla Buttercream

August 22, 2014 Posted in Baking, RecipesLeave a comment

When I made the Raspberry Soufflé, I had excess raspberry purée and I’m the type of person that likes to use up everything I use or I feel it’s a bit of a waste. Especially so, if it’s something that was a bit time consuming to make (sieving of all the seeds out). I found this recipe on Brooklyn Supper that had an amazing looking layered Raspberry Cake with Buttercream frosting. I never had a raspberry cake before so I was quite excited to make this. Check out the recipe below!

Raspberry Cake with Raspberry Vanilla Buttercream Frosting (Brooklyn Supper)

Ingredients
Raspberry Cake
3 cups all-purpose flour
3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
225g unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
5 egg whites, room temperature
2 cups fresh raspberries (I used frozen raspberries)
1/4 cup finely grated beets
1/2 cup whole milk, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Raspberry Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

200g unsalted butter, room temperature
1 and 3/4 cups icing sugar, sifted
pinch of sea salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsps raspberry purée, as needed

Method
Raspberry Cake
1. Preheat the oven to 177 degrees C (350 F). Line the cake pans with parchment circles, and then liberally butter and flour the parchment and pan sides. Set aside.

2. In a blender, purée the raspberries. Push the purée through a mesh strainer to remove the seeds.

3. In the same blender, combine 1 cup raspberry purée (reserve the rest for the frosting), the grated beets, and the milk. Pour into a glass and set aside.

4. In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt.

5. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large bowl with beaters, beat the butter on low until pale and fluffy. Scrape the sides, and add the sugar, beating for a minute or two. Fold in the egg whites.

6. Next, with mixer on low, add half the raspberry milk mixture, and half the flour, and then the rest of the milk, and the rest of the flour. Use a spatula to scrape the sides and fold the mixture together, ensuring that the colour is well incorporated.

7. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan (the original recipe uses 2 pans with 2/3 each but I decided on just one), tap on a table to knock some air out if needed.

8. Bake cakes for 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out with just a few crumbs attached.

9. Set cakes aside to cool. After 15 minutes, flip cakes out of the baking pans and onto a rack to cool completely.

Raspberry Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or with a regular mixer, beat the butter until light and fluffy on medium speed.

2. Slowly add the confectioners sugar, scraping down the sides often. Add the sea salt and vanilla extract, beat for another minute or two.

3. Add a couple tablespoon or so of purée to the remaining buttercream until you have achieved a thick, but spreadable consistency.

4. Use a long knife/flat spatula to add the buttercream on and spread all around the cake. (I’m not very good at this as you can see). Recommend to add the buttercream before serving or refrigerate after because it can get soft if it sits in room temperature for long.

Impressions

I’m not particular sure if it was just my batter but the cake is a bit on the dense side, but it’s nonetheless delicious. The raspberry flavour comes through exceptionally well and with a bit of sweetness. I lessened the sugar (halved it from the original) in the cake batter because I knew I was going to decorate the cake with the buttercream frosting which is usually super sweet anyway because of the icing sugar.

It’s actually a bit refreshing cake (even though it’s sweet) because of the slight tartness of the raspberries added through the cake mix as well as the buttercream. I made a mistake with the buttercream as my butter wasn’t particularly soft to whip so it ended up with a few small lumps in my buttercream. Preferably I would have used the old microwave trick but I thought leaving the butter overnight would have sufficed (seems not)

Other than that, as you can see there were a few holes in my batter too. I think tapping the mix before placing in the oven would have ensured the holes were gone but live and learn.

This cake requires a bit of work (especially with sieving the raspberries) but I think it’s well worth the effort.

Malted Walnut Seed Bread

July 11, 2014 Posted in Baking, RecipesLeave a comment

Kneading bread or dough is very relaxing for me so I was very happy to try out this recipe from BBC GoodFood which looked very simple to make (Spoiler alert: it was) and yet so appealing with its use of wholemeal flour and mixed seeds to give it a bit of a bite inside. The smell of freshly baked bread is just simply amazing for breakfast, take a look at the recipe below.

Malted Walnut Seed Loaf (Classic White Loaf Recipe)

Ingredients

500g strong wholemeal flour
7g sachet fast-action dried yeast
2 tsp bread improver (Optional)
1 tsp salt
up to 350ml warm water
100g mixed seeds (I used a mix of pepitas, sunflower seeds and pine nuts)
50g walnut pieces
a little sunflower oil, for greasing

Method

1. Make the dough with the flour, yeast, salt (and bread improved if wanted) by tipping the flour, yeast and salt into a large bowl and making a well in the middle.

2. Pour in most of the water and use your fingers or a wooden spoon to mix the flour and water together until combined to a slightly wet, pillowy, workable dough (add a splash more water if necessary)

3. Tip the dough onto a lightly floured surface and start adding most of the seeds and all the walnuts as you knead. Knead for at least 10 mins until smooth and elastic (Can also be done in a tabletop mixer with a dough hook but why skip all that fun)

4. Place the dough in a clean oiled bowl, cover with cling film and leave to rise until doubled in size.

5. Knock back the dough by tipping it back onto a floured surface and pushing the air out. Shape the dough into a large round and roll the round in the remaining seeds, then lift the bread into a tray to prove for about 30 mins until doubled in size. (I left mine overnight to bake fresh in the morning)

6. Heat oven to 220C/fan 200C/gas 7. Bake the bread for 15 mins, then reduce the heat to 190C/fan 170C/gas 5 and continue to bake for 30 mins until the loaf sounds hollow when tapped on the base. Leave the bread on a cooling rack to cool completely.

The loaf will stay fresh in an airtight container for 3 days or can be frozen for 1 month.

Impressions

This bread was very easy to make, with just a small amount of waiting time for it to rise. The bread comes out soft inside but still crunchy with the pine nuts, pepitas and sunflower seeds. The fresh crust was also stunning and if you prefer the slices to be a bit more crunchy, just lightly toast it and then butter it and that’s basically all you need for a fantastic slice of bread. One word. Yum.

Greek Almond Crescents

January 17, 2014 Posted in Baking, Cooking, RecipesLeave a comment

There is this bakery in Newmarket/Flemington that has wonderful biscuits. One of these is their crescents which are buttery, light and nutty. I came across a Greek Almond Crescents recipe in the book, Mastering the Art of Baking by Anneka Manning. These Almond Crescents are very similar to the ones I found in Flemington but the ones in the recipe book do call for chopped nuts which I don’t recall them being so prominent in their version. These crescents are very easy to make and I don’t think you can really go wrong with the mixing, just knowing when the crescents are done is probably the most difficult part. Check out the recipe below!

Greek Almond Crescents
Makes 38
Preparation Time: 20 mins
Cooking Time: 20 mins

Ingredients
200g butter (softened)
1/2 cup icing sugar (sifted) plus extra for dusting
1 tsp finely grated orange zest
1 egg (at room temperature)
1 egg yolk
1 tbs brandy
375g/2 1/2 cups plain flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
155g/1 cup blanched almonds, toasted and finely chopped

Method

1. Preheat oven to 160C (315F). Line 2 large baking trays with non-stick baking powder.

2. Use an electric mixer to beat the butter, sugar and orange zest in a small bowl until pale and creamy.

3. Add the egg, egg yolk and brandy and continue to beat until well combined. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl.

4. Sift together the flour, baking powder and cinnamon. Then stir in the almonds. Add to the butter mixture and use a wooden spoon to mix until well combined.

5. Shape level tablespoons of mixture into crescents and place on the trays, leaving about 3 cm (1 1/4 inches) between each to allow for spreading

6. Bake for 15-20 minutes, swapping the trays around after 10 minutes, or until lightly golden and cooked through. Leave on the trays for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack. Dust heavily with icing sugar while still warm then cool to room temperature.

Impressions

As mentioned above, the difficult parts is probably whisking the eggs and sugar until it’s light and fluffy, mixing the flour in well and letting the crescents bake in the oven for the specified amount of time. If your crescents are larger (they will take more time) so you may want to factor that into your baking time but also a good way to check is if the bottom of the crescent is firm and can easily be lifted up (also a tad brown)

I love these crescents, it has just the right amount of butter but also the cinnamon flavour subtly comes through. If you find cinnamon a bit strong, just half the amount in the recipe and I think you still will be able to taste it. You know the crescents are perfect when it melts just ever so slowly in your mouth. Truly a recipe you wouldn’t want to miss.

Homemade Hot Cross Buns

July 12, 2013 Posted in Bakery, Baking, RecipesLeave a comment

This probably isn’t the best time to post this seeing as it’s July. I always end up making things too late or even after the particular festive time comes around so this is just typical me. I love the smell of warm hot cross buns, it’s that cinnamon and spice mix that just keeps me calm. I also love kneading bread so making hot cross buns is jut plain relaxing. I found a recipe on Taste.com.au and it’s quite a good recipe irrespective of my little mistakes whilst trying to make it. Check it out below!

Hot Cross Buns (Taste.com.au)
Makes 12 large buns
Ingredients
4 cups plain flour
2 x 7g sachets dried yeast
1/4 cup caster sugar (a bit less)
1 1/2 teaspoons mixed spice (I didn’t have this so I used 1tbsp cinnamon, 1/2tsp ground ginger, 1/4tsp ground cloves)
pinch of salt
1/2 cups currants
1/2 dark chocolate bits
40g butter
300ml milk
2 eggs, lightly beaten

Flour paste
1/2 cup plain flour
4 to 5 tablespoons water

Glaze
1/3 cup water
2 tablespoons caster sugar

Method
1. Combine flour, yeast, sugar, mixed spice, salt and currants in a large bowl. (I split my recipe in half half, with one adding currants and the other with dark chocolate buttons)

2. Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add milk. Heat for 1 minute, or until lukewarm.

3. Add warm milk mixture and eggs to currant mixture. Use a flat-bladed knife to mix until dough almost comes together. Use clean hands to finish mixing to form a soft dough.

4. Turn dough out onto a floured surface. Knead for 10 minutes, or until dough is smooth. Place into a lightly oiled bowl. Cover with plastic wrap. Set aside in a warm, draught-free place for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, or until dough doubles in size.

5. Line a large baking tray with non-stick baking paper. Punch dough down to its original size. Knead on a lightly floured surface until smooth. Divide into 12 even portions. Shape each portion into a ball. Place balls onto lined tray, about 1cm apart. Cover with plastic wrap. Set aside in a warm, draught-free place for 30 minutes, or until buns double in size. Preheat oven to 150/160°C.

6. Make flour paste: Mix flour and water together in a small bowl until smooth, adding a little more water if paste is too thick. Spoon into a small snap-lock bag. Snip off 1 corner of bag. Pipe flour paste over tops of buns to form crosses. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until buns are cooked through.

7. Make glaze: Place water and sugar into a small saucepan over low heat. Stir until sugar dissolves. Bring to the boil. Boil for 5 minutes. Brush warm glaze over warm hot cross buns. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Impressions

The original recipe asked to preheat at 190. I disagree as it turns out, it’s way too hot for my particular oven. It should be more at 150/160 especially if it’s fan forced. Otherwise the bun browns too fast and the inside is undercooked.

My other mistake was I poured the warm mixture of butter and milk onto my dry ingredients for my choc buns I let it sit there whilst I kneaded my currant dough. Big mistake, as it became all stiff and hard once I got back to it. So if you want to split the mixes, either knead/mix the wet and dry ingredients really quickly or do it one at a time. I was just worried the warm milk and butter mixture would cool too quickly (it didn’t).

My currant hot cross buns were soft and had a beautiful fragrance to it. These are best eaten fresh as they get hard pretty quickly unless you warm them up in the microwave. So it’s a good recipe but I’ll probably try another recipe when Easter comes around again.

Parsnip and Swede Mash (BBC GoodFood)

March 29, 2013 Posted in Baking, Cooking, RecipesLeave a comment

I was searching for a replacement recipe to mash potato, just to try something different. Even though I am a potato head, I heard about parsnip mash in Masterchef and they always make some weird vegetable into a mash so why can’t I be weird too! I found this recipe from the BBC GoodFood website titled Winter root mash with buttery crumbs and looked quite delicious and didn’t seem to difficult to make either. Although they said it’s for winter I didn’t care, mash is all year round.

Winter root mash with buttery crumbs aka Parsnip and Swede Mash (BBC GoodFood)

Serves 10

Ingredients
650g parsnips , cut into even chunks
650g swedes , cut into same size chunks as the parsnips
142ml tub soured cream
1 rounded tbsp hot horseradish (English Provender is good) (I used Spiced Mustard)
2 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
butter , for greasing

Butter topping
50g butter
1 small onion , finely chopped
50g fresh white breadcrumbs (from about 4 slices)
a small handful thyme leaves, plus extra for scattering
25g parmesan , coarsely grated (I used a mix of parmesan and mozzarella)

Method
1. In a large pan of boiling salted water, cook the parsnips and swede, covered, for about 20 minutes until tender. Drain well, then mash them together using a masher or food processor until reasonably smooth but still with a bit of texture. Stir in the soured cream, horseradish and thyme and season with salt and pepper.

2. Spoon into a buttered shallow ovenproof dish and put to one side.

3. Make the topping. Melt the butter in a frying pan and cook the onion for 5-6 minutes, until gorgeously golden. Mix in the breadcrumbs and stir to brown and crisp a little. Season with salt and pepper and add the thyme. Take the pan off the heat.

4. Spoon the mixture casually over the top of the mash. Scatter over the parmesan. (Can be made ahead to this point and kept covered in the fridge for up to a day. Or can be frozen for up to a month.)

5. Bake at 190C/gas 5/ fan 170C for 35-40 minutes if doing from cold, 25-30 minutes if not, or 1 1?2 – 1 3?4 hours from frozen (put foil on top, and remove it for the last 10 minutes) – until golden and crisp on top. Serve scattered with a few more thyme sprigs and leaves.

Impressions

I absolutely loved this recipe, especially fresh from the oven. Although I made a slight alteration with the recipe using spiced mustard instead of horseradish I don’t think it made much of a difference.

I did steps 1 and 2 the day before since I was baking a few other things the next day too but it didn’t appear to affect the mash when I took it out of the fridge the next day.

I think the use of fresh thyme leaves (from my garden!) made it smell so good. I really couldn’t get enough thyme in this recipe, it was used profusely into the mash and sprinkled on top and in the topping.

I also used a mix of parmesan and mozzarella as the cheese topping which I think worked in its favour. Very tasty cheese on top, indeed. The topping was cheesy but crispy and the breadcrumbs added a nice crunch too. The swede and parsnip mash was just cooked to perfection. It also didn’t seem too fattening either, the sour cream adds to this idea but since it doesn’t use all that much, it tastes very much fresh and light (well as light as a buttery cheesy mash can be). I’m definitely making this again, such a pleasant surprise.

Ginger Snaps (SimpleRecipes)

December 21, 2012 Posted in Baking, Cooking, RecipesLeave a comment

It’s that festive time of year and what better way to get into the mood then to bake some ginger cookies! I really don’t know why I like ginger snaps/cookies so much, I have such a strong distaste for ginger in anything. I found this recipe on SimpleRecipes.com and thought they looked quite cute. Little did I know how out of ordinary the recipe was when I started to make it.

Gingersnap Cookies (SimplyRecipes)

Yield: Makes 6 to 8 dozen cookies.

Ingredients
8 oz unsalted butter (226g)
1 1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp. granulated sugar (I used a bit more than 1/2 cup brown sugar)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 small eggs or 1 1/2 large eggs
1/3 cup molasses
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon finely ground black pepper

Method
1. Cream butter until soft; add sugar, and beat until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and eggs, and beat until fluffy. Add molasses and beat until well-mixed.

2. Sift the dry ingredients; add to the mixture, 1/3 at a time. Mix only until the dry ingredients become incorporated.

3. Line a 9″ x 5″ loaf pan with plastic wrap, so that some hangs over the outsides. Press the dough into the bottom of the pan. Pack it tightly, and try to make the top as level as possible. Cover the dough with the plastic overhangs. Freeze until very firm, preferably overnight.

4. Unwrap and remove dough from the pan. Slice brick into thin slices, no more than 1/8″. Place on a parchment or Silpat-lined sheetpan (space at least an inch apart) and bake at 175 degrees Celsius until the edges turn dark brown, 7-12 minutes, depending on how thinly you have sliced the dough. Check the oven for doneness at 7 minutes.

Impressions

I made a few variations that didn’t seem to turn out that well. For one, I used cooking margarine which will have a lower fat content so it makes it less firm. So you’ll have difficulty trying to slice it evenly after it’s supposedly frozen and it’s hard to cut thin pieces because of it. Using a loaf pan is probably a good idea so you’ll get a consistent shape. My cookies certainly look terrible unattractive so that’s a reason to use a loaf pan instead of just throwing it into the freezer on a flat surface.

The other change I made was to the sugar content, I halved roughly but the cookies come out slightly less sweet then I would have liked. Probably 3/4 cup brown sugar would be the right amount if you’re eating them like this. I think if you intended on icing these

Other than that, taste wise it’s pretty good. I added a tad more ground ginger maybe 1/2 tsp and it gives it a more pronounced flavour to it.

Would I try the recipe again? I might, the long “cooking” time is a bit of a disincentive as you’ll have to wait one night or so to bake it but if I had an abundance of free time it’s worth a shot to try and perfect it.

Merry Xmas and have a safe and joyous New Year!

Cranberry and White Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

December 14, 2012 Posted in Bakery, RecipesLeave a comment

One day I had the urge to make Cranberry and White Chocolate cookies, I think I’ve seen it in stores before but I had this idea that dried cranberries were small and diced. I was searching high and low for these cranberries but to no avail. I don’t even think they exist now. So instead I bought the usual dried cranberries which are a bit chunky. I came across this recipe from Rachel @ Simple Girl and they looked absolutely delicious.

Cranberry Oatmeal White Chocolate Cookies (Simple Girl)
Makes 4 dozen cookies

Ingredients

1 cup butter or margarine (softened) – I used margarine
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar (1/2 cup used)
1/2 cup granulated/caster sugar (1/8 cup)
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (or white, whole wheat flour) (I used all whole wheat flour)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups oats
1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup white chocolate chips (Reduce this to 1/2 cup)

Method

1. Heat oven to 175 degrees Celsius.
2. Beat together margarine and sugars until creamy.
3. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well.
4. Add combined flour, baking soda and salt. Mix well.
5.. Stir in oats, dried cranberries and white chocolate chips.
6. Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto a parchment lined cookie sheet.

7. Bake 8 – 9 minutes. (I prefer to slightly under bake until the tops just turn slightly brown.)

Impressions

I liked this recipe but even after reducing the brown sugar and caster sugar it was still very sweet! I think it was because both the cranberries and white chocolate are already sweet. If I were to make these again, I would reduce the white chocolate to 1/2 cup as I put in 1 cup when I made these and the white chocolate was too plentiful. The oats can be slightly big so you may want to add them to a food processor give it a couple seconds whizz so the oats are a tad smaller.

These cookies with oats aren’t your typical crispy/crunchy type, because of the oats it makes it slightly soft so if you’re not fond of it then this might not be for you. Nonetheless it’s a tasty treat that makes you feel less guilty about eating them and very easy and quick to make.