Recipes – ohdenny

Crispy Almond Slices

March 20, 2015 Posted in Baking, RecipesLeave a comment

Wafer thin almond cookies are incredibly addictive. I found this recipe by Alan Ooi from his recipe book In Love with Cookies and adjusted it slightly for sweetness. The thinner you make the cookies, the more evenly crunchy it will be. If you prefer a bit of density and for some bite, just make the cookies slightly thicker. This recipe is pretty easy to make, and perfect for some fun with children.

Crispy Almond Slices

Makes: ~ 25 cookies

Ingredients
50g caster sugar
1 egg
2 egg whites
50g plain flour
200g almond flakes
20g white sesame seeds

Method
1. Put sugar, egg and egg whites in a bowl and mix until well combined.

2. Stir in sifted plain flour, then add in almond flakes. Stir lightly until well mixed. Set aside the batter for 30 minutes.

3. Preheat oven to 165°C

4. Use a spoon to take 1 tbsp of batter, place on a baking tray and make into thin slices.

5. Sprinkle the sesame seeds on top.

6. Bake the cookies at 165C for 15 minutes to 20 minutes or until golden brown.

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.

Chilli Pork Sausage Rolls (Jamie Oliver)

January 30, 2015 Posted in Baking, Cooking, RecipesLeave a comment

I’ve always liked a sausage roll that varies slightly from the norm. I grew up with Four and Twenty Sausage rolls at school but to be honest it was never a favourite. The Aussie Meat Pie came out on top each time. However, sausage rolls are great for picnics or finger food parties so I found this recipe on the Jamie Oliver website. Recipe is by Peter Begg, it creates an interesting combination of chilli and paprika. I made some additions to the recipe to give it a bit of sweetness and also if you cannot find pork sausage meat or it may be out of your price range it can be substituted with pork mince and a few other ingredients as noted below. Check out the recipe below!

Chilli Pork Sausage Rolls (Jamie Oliver)

Serves: 10 (as snack)
Preparation: 25 minutes
Cooking: 20 minutes

Ingredients
3-4 red chillies (or use 1 to 1 1/2 tbsp chilli flakes)
500 g higher-welfare pork sausage meat*
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
3 tbsps sweet chilli sauce
2 tbsps chives (freeze dried or fresh)
black pepper
500 g puff pastry
2 free-range egg yolks, beaten with a splash of milk
1/2 tbsp whole cumin seeds

*Variation
500g pork mince (fine)
50g breadcrumbs
1-2 tbsps water (if necessary)
1 tsp pepper
2 tsp salt

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 180C/gas 4.

2. Pierce the chillies then toast over a gas flame or a hot grill until black and blistered. Place in a bowl, cover with clingfilm and leave to cool.

3. When cool enough to handle, pull off and discard the skins then scoop out the seeds – or leave in if you want fireworks! Chop the chilli flesh and set aside.

4. Mix with the sausage, paprika, chives, sweet chilli sauce add in the chilli flesh or chilli flakes and add a pinch of pepper.

5. Sprinkle a work surface with flour. Cut the pastry in half and roll out into 2 strips, 50cm x 15cm each.

6. Shape the sausage meat into 2 sausage shapes and place along the middle of each strip. Coat the pastry either side of the sausage with the egg mixture. Fold the pastry over and press down to seal.

7. Brush the tops of the sausage rolls with egg wash, sprinkle with cumin seeds and sea salt (Sprinkle less on top for a more subtle cumin taste). Cut into 5cm lengths and place on a non-stick baking sheet.

8. Bake for 20 minutes, until risen, puffed and golden brown.

Choc Rum Truffles (Jamie Oliver Recipe)

December 23, 2014 Posted in Desserts, Recipes2 Comments

Chocolate truffles are super easy to make, and are also great fun for kids (aside from the mess it might create) and for something the adults may enjoy too if you wanted to add a bit of rum to warm your tummy. I adapted a recipe from Jamie Oliver to include a bit of rum and exclude the chilli powder. I’m not a big fan of chilli + chocolate. For the outside of the truffles you can basically roll it in whatever you like, I chose three coatings, hazelnuts, coconut and cocoa powder. You could also drizzle some white chocolate on top or roll it in some sprinkles of your choosing.

Choc Rum Truffles (Jamie Oliver)
Makes: 40
Cooking Time: 25min (plus chilling time)

Ingredients
250 g good-quality dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids)
125 ml double cream
25 g butter
1 pinch of sea salt
1 tbs rum
1 large handful of hazelnuts, bashed up
50 g good-quality cocoa powder
50g desiccated coconut

Method

1. Break the chocolate into little chunks and place in a heatproof bowl.

2. Fill a small pot with enough water but don’t allow the heatproof bowl to touch the water. Heat until it starts simmering, reduce heat if required.

3. Place the heatproof bowl onto the pot and let the chocolate melt, whilst stirring.

4. Once the chocolate is almost fully melted, add the cream and butter.
5. When it’s all combined, take off heat, add the salt and rum and stir until mixed well. (I made one half rum using 1/2tbs and the other plain)

6. Cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours or until set.

7. In the meantime, toast hazelnuts and bash them into fit bits and place in a shallow bowl. Alternatively, you can chop the hazelnuts coarsely.

8. Place the cocoa and desiccated coconut in another two separate bowls.

9. Once chocolate mix has hardened a bit, scoop out little balls (a melon baller works well) and place into one of your bowls and coat the truffle well. You can shape it a bit more if required.

10. Pop the finished truffles in the fridge to harden a bit more.

Blue Glutinous Rice Cake (Pulut Tai Tai) with Kaya

December 12, 2014 Posted in Cooking, Desserts, Malaysian, RecipesLeave a comment

On my last trip to Malaysia, I purchased a couple of recipe books (as I usually do), one of these was Nyonya Kueh by Chef Ricky Ng. I love how cheap the books are over there and such delicious looking recipes too. Nyonya Kueh are one of my favourite Malaysian snacks, there is incredible variety with sweet and savoury delights, but I have a preference for the sweet varieties. On occasion we buy the blue glutinous rice cakes with pandan kaya from Madam Kwong’s in Box Hill but I love giving it a try and making everything from scratch. So here is my adapted recipe from Ricky Ng.

Blue Glutinous Rice Cake (Pulut Tai Tai)

Rice Cake
Ingredients
A
820g glutinous rice (soaked overnight)
12 bunga telang/clitoria flower (or a few drops of blue food colouring mixed with water)
a few pieces banana leaf

B
2 ¼ cups thick coconut milk
1 tsp salt
1 piece pandan leaf (knotted together) – Original recipe uses 3 pieces

C
3 tsp sugar (coconut sugar used)
a few drops pandan essence (optional)

Kaya

85g sugar (coconut sugar used)
35g brown sugar
3 duck eggs/eggs (chicken eggs can be used too)
1 tbsp custard powder
90ml thick coconut milk

Method
1. Pound bunga telang (blue flowers), mix with 4 tbsp of water well, and strain to get the blue colouring

2. Mix soaked glutinous rice with Ingredients B and let it rest for 5 minutes.

2. Steam the rice over high heat for 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir well with chopsticks.

3. Add in Ingredients C and mix well. Steam mixture for another 10 minutes

4. Add in blue colouring to ½ portion of cooked rice, mix well and steam it for 5 minutes

5. Line a 19cm square tin with banana leaves. Spoon cooked blue rice and white rice alternatively into the tin. Cover the rice with banana leaf and place a heavy object on top to compress the rice.

If you don’t have a square tin and banana leaves, you can scoop all the mixture out and place it back into the tray so it’s all mixed up a bit but you’ll also need to compress the rice in the tray too. Set it aside to cool completely before cutting into pieces. Serve with Kaya (Recipe below)

Kaya
1. Mix all the ingredients well in a pot, and if need be strain the mix to rid of any lumps.

2. Place water in a pot to boil. Once the water is simmering, place a heat proof bowl on top of the pot (make sure the water does not touch the heat proof bowl) and cook until kaya mixture turns golden brown and thick. Be careful not to curdle the eggs. Stir constantly to prevent burning at the base of the pot.

Impressions

I bought some coconut sugar from Costco and thought it would be a good idea to use it in the glutinous rice as well as the kaya. Coconut sugar as a distinct taste (of coconut, duh!) but it also has this toasted coconut taste to it which might be a bit overpowering for some.

What I found was that if you soak the glutinous rice too long and/or leave the rice to steam for too long, the grains aren’t as defined. The rice appears to absorb too much of the coconut mixture or too much moisture from the steam. Flavour wise it’s great, but leaving it longer than just overnight might be overdoing it.

I also realised the colouring from the blue flowers didn’t seem to cover all the rice, so it might be good to make a bigger batch of the natural colouring mixture just in case or if you prefer a darker blue kueh.

Also as a warning, making the kaya even over steaming water that doesn’t touch the bowl can still be a dangerous affair. The eggs can cook extremely quickly if you’re not careful or if you leave the flame too high. If it does look like the eggs have cooked, one little trick is to use a hand blender and give it a good mix to break it up, that allows the kaya to form a smoother paste (taste-wise it’d be the same)

Using coconut sugar in the kaya also gives the kaya a very strong toasty taste, I’d probably just opt for caster sugar next time for that more authentic taste but that’s the good thing about cooking and experimenting, food is never the same.

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.

Oreo Cupcakes with Cookies & Cream Frosting

October 12, 2014 Posted in Baking, Cooking, RecipesLeave a comment

I was thinking of something new to bake one day and I trawled through pages and pages of different cupcake ideas and recipes until eventually I found a recipe with Oreos in it. However, that particular one used a chocolate cake base which I preferred not to as I wanted to avoid a chocolate overload. So onwards I searched for the perfect Oreo cupcake recipe with icing and subsequently I found a recipe from Cook With Manali which looked absolutely beautiful that I had to give it a try. Spoiler alert: This were seriously addictive.

Oreo Cupcakes with Cookies & Cream Frosting (Cook With Manali Recipe)
Makes: 16-18 cupcakes

Ingredients

Cupcakes
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup granulated white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups Oreos (broken into small pieces) + 16-18 Oreo halves
2 eggs, at room temperature

Cookies & Cream Frosting
115g cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup (170g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3- 3 1/2 cups icing sugar
3/4 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
2-3 tbsp heavy cream or milk
1 cup Oreo crumbs (crushed in a blender & then strained)

Mini oreos for decorating the cupcakes

Method

Oreo Cupcakes
1. Line a muffin pan with cupcakes liners, set aside. Preheat the oven to 175 C/ 350 F degrees (Depends on your oven as I have mine at 150 C for most baking)

2. In a bowl sift together all purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

3. In the steel bowl of your stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment or using hand mixer, beat the eggs and both the sugars together till creamy & pale in colour, around 3-4 minutes.

4. Add oil, vanilla and mix until combined.

5. Start adding the flour mixture and buttermilk in batches. Add the flour first, combine then add the buttermilk. Add the flour mixture in 3 parts and buttermilk in 2 parts, starting and ending with flour.

6. Mix the batter till everything is well combined but do not over mix.

7. Fold in the broken Oreo pieces, stir and combine.

8. Place an Oreo on the bottom of each cupcake liner or twist the Oreo and put one cookie at the bottom of the pan with cream side up.

9. Fill cupcake liners 2/3 full and bake for 15-20 minutes on until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. (Mine were done in 16 minutes at 150C)

10. Cool the cupcakes on wire rack before frosting them.

Cookies & Cream Frosting

1. Crush Oreos in a blender/food processor to get Oreo crumbs. Strain or sieve if needed to get rid of any bigger chunks.

2. Using your mixer, beat butter and cream cheese together until smooth and creamy.

3. With mixture at low speed, add 1 cup of icing sugar. Mix until it’s incorporated with the butter and cream cheese and them beat it at high speed for 30 seconds. Add the remaining sugar and mix.

4. Add vanilla and cream/milk and mix.

5. Add Oreo crumbs and beat till frosting is smooth and creamy.

6. Frost the cupcakes and decorate with mini oreos.

Notes

These are vanilla Oreo cupcakes, you can make chocolate Oreo cupcakes using cocoa powder in the batter.
Adjust the consistency of the frosting according to your preference. Add more cream for a spreading consistency, more sugar for thicker consistency to pipe flowers etc.
You can use milk in the frosting but cream adds a wonderful rich flavour so if possible please use heavy cream.
Do not over-bake your cupcakes. Keep an eye on them after 15 minutes.

Impressions

I made this for my Buddhist community celebration earlier this year and the feedback was very positive! One thing to note though was that I prepared the frosting earlier in the day and then popped it in the fridge, and I forgot to take it out again to leave it at room temperature and as you can see the frosting I made initially does not look like the end result! I over whisked the frosting and consequently the frosting turned from what was a beautiful cookies and cream frosting where you can see the white cream and chocolate cookie crumbs to a completely chocolate frosting, so please be cautious of this when making the frosting.

Other than that, I do suggest reducing the sugar, I reduced it by a third from the original recipe and I found it a bit too sweet still because the Oreos are already ridiculously sweet as you have the base as Oreos plus the Oreo pieces in each cupcake. I haven’t tried just using 1/4 brown sugar but next time I’ll give it a go and update.

What I love about these cupcakes was the broken Oreos in the cake for some bite and also the half Oreos for the base that give it a cheesecake-like crumb base. Plus, the vanilla cupcakes itself are so moist and light. The use of oil instead of butter really makes such a difference!

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.