Make in the Morning Brownies

Mornings can be really stressful times in our house but I often like to try to bake something to take to a friend's house.  

We made these brownies this morning and still managed to get dressed and out of the house by 10am. 

Ingredients:

150g butter

1 1/4 cups of caster sugar

3/4 cup of coco powder

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

3 eggs

1/2 cup of plain flour

1/2 cup white choc baking bits (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 160 degrees.  Melt sugar, butter and coco over low heat. 

2. Spoon chocolate mixture into a bowl. Add vanilla and eggs and whisk to combine. 

3. Sift flour into mixture and combine with whisk. 

4. Spoon into a baking tray lined with baking paper and cook for 25 to 30 mins or until the centre is just set. Cool in the tin, then cut into squares. 

5. Rush out the door like a crazy person leaving the washing up in the sink. 

Linking up with Essentially Jess today for IBOT 

Also don't forget to enter my giveaway for her book. 

http://www.mummysundeservedblessings.com/2013/06/diary-of-sahm-book-review-giveaway.html

ANZAC Biscuits

We baked a batch of these yesterday and they were lovely (apart from the ones I left in the oven too long). I really love ANZAC biscuits and I love that they represent more than just something tasty to eat.

Whether you are getting up early to go to the Dawn Service, or just relaxing with your family today. Remember what ANZAC day means and remember the people that have given their lives for our country.

AND....make some of these.

ANZAC Biscuits

1 cup of oats
1 cup of plain flour
1 cup of dessicated coconut
1 cup of sugar (or less if you want)
125g of butter
2 tablespoons of golden syrup (honey is nice too)
1 teaspoon of bicarb soda
2 tablespoons of boiling water

1. Heat oven to 180 degrees. Mix the oats, flour, coconut and sugar together in a bowl. 
2. Melt the butter and golden syrup in a saucepan and remove from the heat.
3. Mix the bicarb and water together in a jug and  add to the saucepan (be careful this part is like a science experiment!)
4. Add the mixture to the dry ingredients and then roll 1 tablespoon of the mixture into balls.
5. Place the balls on a tray and squish slightly. Leave lots of room around them because the spread a lot.
6. Bake for 10 -15 minutes depending on if you want then chewy or crunchy.

OR....

Bake for 20+ minutes while you are making dinner if you prefer them like this:

Product Review: Masha & White Bean Mash Recipe

A couple of years ago something big happened in out kitchen. After watching an episode of Masterchef,  our mashed potato was never the same. With a simple (yet painful and messy) push through a strainer we were able to enjoy lump free mashed potato. We have been pretty happy with this technique but just recently I was given a Masha to review and things have changed again.

Masha

If you have ever tried to achieved mashed potato in a food processor you will know the gluey mess that results. This new product is different. It actually creates, smooth and fluffy mashed potato super quickly. Instead of blades, it uses a Rotor cone (see picture below) to spin and squeeze the mash through the outer mesh.

So far I have tried it on mashed potato and the white bean mash (see recipe below) and it has worked really well. It is also able to puree baby food, make dips, and rub butter into flour (I can't wait to try this with scones!).

So far the things I love about the Masha are:

• It makes mashed potato quickly.
• It is easy to assemble and to clean (no more trying to clean the strainer).
• It can go in the dishwasher.
• No blades so it is safe.
• It feels well made and not like it will break after a few uses.
• It doesn't just make mashed potato.

The only thing that I found difficult about the Masha is that it seems to work best with larger quantities.  When I first tried it out with mashed potato I had to chase it around the pan a bit. Otherwise it is a great product and I am looking forward to using it for lots of other recipes.

Here is one that I created with Cannellini beans as a really easy and quick side dish.

White Bean Mash

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 clove garlic (crushed)
zest and juice of 1 lemon
1 can of (cannellini ) white beans
salt (to taste)


1.Put the olive oil in a saucepan, and mix in the garlic. Add the the lemon zest and warm through.
2.Drain the beans and rinse under a tap, then add to the pan and warm through.
3.Remove from heat and allow the pan to cool slightly.
4.Using the Masher, mash the beans until they are the consistency of mash potato (although it will be thicker).
5.Season and add extra lemon juice to taste.

Masha is available online for $59.95

For more information, please visit www.prepstore.com.au

I was gifted the Masha for the purpose of this review. All opinions are my own.

BLT with Homemade Garlic Aioli

I made this recipe a couple of weeks ago for a Baker's Delight promotion. It was AMAZING! and I was so impressed with how easy it is to make Garlic Aioli.

If you are looking for a easy and yummy lunch then this is the recipe for you!

BLT with Garlic Aioli

Ingredients for two:

BLT

 Sourdough Loaf or Turkish Bread

4 Rashers of Bacon

1 Tomato

Butter Lettuce

1 Avocado

Garlic Aioli

1 egg yolk (room temperature)

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1 teaspoon of white wine vinegar

¼ teaspoon Dijon mustard

¼ teaspoon salt

¾ cup of olive oil

2 cloves of garlic crushed or made into a paste.

1.      To prepare the garlic aioli, take the egg and add lemon juice, mustard, vinegar and salt and whisk together until well combined.

2.      Measure out the oil and begin to whisk into egg adding one teaspoon at a time until it becomes creamy.

3.      Once ¼ of the oil has been added and mixture is becoming opaque and creamy, add the rest of the oil by pouring slowly (don’t add too much at a time or it will separate).

4.      Add in the garlic, and then add extra salt and lemon juice to taste.

5.      Once all the oil has been added place into a container and place in the fridge for 30 mins before serving (store in the fridge for a maximum of 3 days).

6.      To create the BLT, slice the bread into thick slices.

7.      Pan fry or grill the bacon until crispy (or to your liking).

8.      Slice tomatoes and Avocado and chop lettuce.

9.      Assemble the BLT and drizzle with Aioli.

10.   Enjoy!

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Chocolate, Coffee & Macadamia Ice Cream Cake {Weekend Cookbook}

As Christmas in Australia can be really hot, the traditional desserts often don’t suit our climate. Most of us turn to the good old Aussie Pav which is nice (and we almost always have one) but it gets a bit boring. 

Last Christmas I decided to mix things up a bit and make an Ice Cream Cake. It was a recipe that a girl I used to work with would make for us. Whenever there was a lunch or celebration we would look to Emma to make her famous ice cream cake. She put different things in to this recipe but it was similar. 

My favourite layer is the coffee layer (even though I don’t actually drink coffee very often).

If you are looking for Christmas Dessert Inspiration. I highly recommend this cake.

Chocolate, Coffee and Macadamia Ice Cream Cake

Our Christmas Desserts from 2011

2 litres of vanilla ice cream

1 litre of good quality chocolate ice cream

½ cup of macadamia nuts

½ cup of good quality white chocolate (buttons or broken up into small pieces)

¼ - ½  cup of made up coffee (instant/plunger/machine)

1. Line a spring form tin with baking paper (base and sides).

2. Divide vanilla ice cream into two portions. Return one to the freezer and allow the second portion to soften.

3. Once softened, mix through the nuts and the chocolate and spoon ice cream into prepared tin, cover and freeze for 2 hours.

4. Soften the remaining vanilla ice cream, then add the coffee (made up coffee not the granules or grounds). Mix through more coffee for a stronger coffee flavour (it is ok if you have to taste it lots of times to ensure the coffee flavour is just right...just make sure there is enough left for the cake). Spoon coffee layer over the nut and chocolate layer and freeze for 2 hours.

5. Soften the chocolate ice cream and spoon into the tin, cover and freeze.

6. Remove ice cream cake from the tin just before serving.

What are you cooking for dessert this Christmas?

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Chicken in Saffron Stew {Weekend Cookbook}

Don’t be put off by the word “Stew”, this is a really yummy meal that I have often cooked for dinner guests. It takes a while to cook, but if you are organised enough you can have it cooking while you prepare the house/dessert/children for your dinner guests.

I like to serve it with rice and green beans and I try to make sure there is some crusty bread to mop up the delicious stew at the end.

Chicken in Saffron Stew (Serves 4)

60ml Olive oil

1/3 cup blanched almonds

1 thick slice of bread, crusts removed and cut into pieces

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

Pinch of saffron threads

2 garlic cloves

2 tablespoons of chopped, flat leaved parsley

4 -6 chicken thighs

4-6 chicken drumsticks

2brown onions, finely chopped

125ml (1/2 cup) fino sherry (I use normal sherry)

1 ½ cups of chicken stock

1 bay leaf

2 thyme sprigs

2 tablespoons of lemon juice

2 egg yolks

1.      Heat a tablespoon of the oil and fry the almonds and bread in a fry pan until golden, then place aside on paper towel to cool. Using a mortar and pestle or food processer add the bread, almonds, cinnamon, garlic, saffron and half the parsley and grind to a crumbly consistency.

2.       Heat the remaining oil and brown the chicken, then remove from the pan. Cook the onions gently until they are soft.

3.      Using a large saucepan or stovetop casserole dish, add the chicken, onion, sherry, stock, bay leaf and thyme and simmer for 1 hour, or until the chicken is tender. Remove the chicken piece and cover to keep warm. Add the almond paste to the saucepan and cook for 1 minute. Remove from the heat and whisk in the lemon juice egg yolks, and remaining parsley. Return to the stove on a very low heat until slightly thickened (don’t boil or it will separate). Season to taste, then return the chicken pieces and gently warm through.

 What have you been cooking this week?

 Weekend Cookbook Guidelines
1. Link up a recipe that you have posted recently.
2. Link up by clicking on the link below and pasting your post URL (not your blog's URL)
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Weekend Cookbook: Kiddy Star Biscuits {Cooking with kids}

I am not really good at doing crafts with my kids so I cook with them a lot. I figure that the mess is worth it because you get a tasty treat at the end. I also appreciate not having a million pieces of paper with cotton balls stuck to them around the house. 

My kids always ask to make these biscuits. They love helping with the ingredients and then getting to roll out the dough and use the cutters.

Try this one out with the kiddies (if you dare). They also make good Christmas gifts.

Kiddy Star Biscuits



125g butter, softened
1/2 cup caster sugar
1 egg
2 teaspoons of vanilla
1 1/2 cups of plain flour
1 tablespoon of cocoa sifted

1. Mixed the butter and sugar in an electric mixer and beat until pale and creamy. Add egg and vanilla and beat for a few more minutes.
2. Add the flour and beat until a dough forms. Remove 1/2 of the mixture.
3. Add the cocoa to the remaining dough and beat until combined.
4. Roll each dough portion between two sheets of baking paper until 3mm thick and place in fridge for 30 minutes.

5. Preheat oven to 160 degrees. Find two star cutters, one slightly smaller than the other. Cut the same number of stars in each dough. Place the chocolate stars on top of the vanilla stars.

6. Place on a baking tray and bake for 10-12 minutes or until lightly golden. Allow to cool on a wire rack.

What have you been cooking this week?


 Weekend Cookbook Guidelines
1. Link up a recipe that you have posted recently.
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Weekend Cookbook: Lemon Explosion Cupcakes {Guest Post}

I can't remember how I found Honey, You Baked!, but it is one of my favourite food blogs and I just love the title. Recently I asked them to guest post for the Weekend Cookbook and I am very excited about this yummy recipe. If you want to follow Honey, You Baked! or know more about the girls, read their bio at the bottom of this post.

Lemon Explosion Cupcakes

Firstly, I need to give a BIG thankyou to Lisa for letting me guest blog.  We will have to get her over to Honey, You Baked! Sometime soon!!

Now there is not much in my life that can compare to a great cupcake.  They always cheer me up and the utter scrumptiousness of something seemingly so simple never fails to amaze me.  Today I thought I would share a recipe for one of those cupcakes.  Hold on to your hats! Your tastebuds will dance and sing!!

Lemon Explosion Cupcakes

                                                                                                                            

YOU WILL NEED:

For the cakes:

175g unsalted butter – softened

175g white sugar

3 eggs

A splash of vanilla extract

175g SR Flour

Rind and juice of 2 x good size lemons (rind finely chopped)

1/2 cup (or so) of milk

Cupcake moulds and papers

2 x soup spoons

For the Filling:

Cream Cheese

4 x Tablespoons sifted Icing Sugar

Juice of 1 x large lemon

1 x piping bag and round nozzle

Small sharp knife

For the Top:

Icing Sugar to dust

THE HOW TO:

• Preheat your oven to 180Deg C and get your cupcake trays and papers all ready

• Cream your butter & sugar in an electric mixer till light and fluffy

• Add vanilla, then eggs one at a time

• Add your flour, rind and lemon juice and milk and mix up well.

• Using the soup spoons, ladle the mixture into your papers.  You need them about 3/4 full.

• Bake for approx 20mins until lightly golden.

• Whip up your cream cheese, lemon juice & icing sugar until smooth and well combined.

• Place some of the mixture into a piping bag with round nozzle.

• Once the cakes have cooled, you can have a bit of fun with your presentation.  I’ve made Butterfly Cakes (always a hit with the kids), Cupcake Sandwiches and Filled Cupcakes (both fabulous as you can pop them in a container without fear of the icing sticking to the lid!). 

• For the Butterfly Cakes – Use the sharp knife and cut out a little cone shape of cake from the middle.  Cut this cone in half.  Fill with cream cheese mixture and then re-attach your “wings”.

• For the Cupcake Sandwiches – Slice your cakes through horizontally just under the mound section.  Dollop on some mixture and replace the top.

• For the Filled Cupcakes – grab your piping bag and stick the nozzle down into the cupcake and give a squirt of mixture.  You may have a little escaping out the top, which is easily wiped off. 

• Once all your cakes are done, give a liberal dusting over the tops with icing sugar.

Glorious little morsels – just waiting for the perfect occasion.  Afternoon Tea, Mothers Day or indeed ANY day!

About Honey, You Baked!

HYB is Danni & Mel, two friends and mummies, who used to work, cook and play together in Sydney. Now Mel has moved home to Tasmania and the girls spend time blogging about Baking, Making, Books, Babies and just about everything else in between! Drop us a line we would love to hear from you!!

www.honeyyoubaked.com

www.facebook.com/HoneyYouBaked

www.twitter.com/honeyyoubaked

About Danni (That’s me in the blue!)

I’m a SAHM mum from Sydney with two beautiful girls (6 and 16mnths) and a hard working hubby.  As well as HYB with my blog buddy Mel, I spend my time running after my family, my dog, growing my own veggies, sewing & crafting and expanding my small cake business (read: organisational freak lives here!).

What have you been cooking this week?

 Weekend Cookbook Guidelines
1. Link up a recipe that you have posted recently.
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Weekend Cookbook: Dim Sims

I didn't try Yum Cha until I was at least 25, maybe even older, but when I did I was hooked. It is amazing and so much fun. I love the little trolleys filled with bamboo steamers containing all sorts of delicious food that arrive at my table. I want to say yes to everything and often eat much more than I need to. I recently told my husband that it was time for us to go to Yum Cha to which he replied "We are going to Yum Cha for a work meeting this week". I tried to get an invite, but sadly they changed plans so I was left with a massive craving and no plans to satisfy it.

Lucky for me, my friend and I were planning a cooking day. I decided that we would have a Yum Cha style lunch and attempted Dim Sim and Steamed Pork Buns. Today I want to share the Dim Sim recipe as it was delicious. I actually think I could live on them they are so good.

Dim Sims

150g medium green prawns, peeled and deveined

250g pork mince

1 small carrot, finely chopped (or grated)

1 cup of finely shredded Chinese cabbage

1 small onion, finely chopped

2cm piece of fresh ginger, grated

1 egg, beaten

1 tablespoon of soy sauce

1 teaspoon of sesame oil

2 teaspoons of cornflour

24 gow gee wrappers

11.      Finely chop prawns and place into a bowl. Add pork, carrot, cabbage, onion and ginger. Mix to combine. Whisk together egg, soy, sauce, oil and cornflour in a jug. Pour over meat mixture and mix well.

2.      Place a teaspoonful of mixture onto the centre of each gow gee wrapper. Gently press wrappers around the filling, pleating the edges together and leaving the tops open.

3.      Pour water into a wok or saucepan until it is 1/3 full. Bring to the boil and place a bamboo streamer lined with baking paper over the water (make sure it doesn’t touch the water). Cover with the lid and steam for 15 minutes or until cooked through. Serve alone or with a dipping sauce.

What have you been cooking this week?

 Weekend Cookbook Guidelines
1. Link up a recipe that you have posted recently.
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Weekend Cookbook: In Search of the Perfect Vanilla Cupcake

My latest obsession is trying to create the perfect vanilla cupcake. While I was pregnant with Alicia, I discovered (through a craving) vanilla cupcakes. Since then I have been trying recipes to find the one that will be my signature vanilla cupcake. The one, hopefully that my girls will cook for their kids because it is so amazing.

I think I have perfected the icing but I am still trying to get the cakey part right. I recently tried the Kate Bracks recipe but I don't love it for a couple of reasons. One, it has three eggs which I think is a bit extreme and two I seem to always overcook them or they fall in the middle.

My current recipe which so far is serving me well is this one here. I think I need to make it a few more times with a few adjustments and it will be perfect. So here it is, try it out and let me know if it works for you.

The Almost Perfect Vanilla Cupcake



80g butter, softened
1/2 cup caster sugar
1 egg
1 cup of SR flour
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

Icing
160g butter (very soft)
1 cup of icing sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract.


1.Preheat oven to 170 degrees. Line a 12 cup cupcake pan with cupcake papers. In an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and mix well.
2. Add the flour milk and vanilla and beat until well combined
3. Divide the mixture evenly into the cupcake papers. I find using an ice cream scoup makes them more even and it is neater.

4. Bake for 20 minutes or until the cakes are firm to the touch. Allow to cool in the pan for a few minutes and then cool on a rack. Cool fully before icing.

5. To make the icing, cream the butter until it is light fluffy and very pale. Add the icing sugar and vanilla and continue beating until it is well combined and looks almost white. Then using a spatula spread the icing over the cupcakes.


What have you been cooking this week?

 Weekend Cookbook Guidelines
1. Link up a recipe that you have posted recently.
2. Link up by clicking on the link below and pasting your post URL (not your blog's URL)
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Weekend Cookbook: A Dessert Feast

Last Friday night my friend Sami and I hosted a dessert and Tupperware Party. We both love baking and Tupperware so we decided to combine our two loves in an extravagant dessert night.

There were around 26 women packed into my house (lucky we have moved to a bigger house) and they got to sample at least nine different sweet treats while they perused the Tupperware catalogue.

I think that Sami made the prettiest and tastiest treats. Out of the five desserts that I created my favourite was the Chocolate and Hazelnut Torte.

Here is the recipe if you want to give it a try for yourself. It is surprisingly easy. It is just getting the meringue right which can sometime be a bit tricky.

Chocolate and Hazelnut Torte



Meringue Layer:
6 egg whites
pinch of salt
1 1/2 cups caster sugar
300g hazelnuts, chopped
300g dark chocolate

Filling:
250ml thickened cream
250g mascarpone
2 tbs icing sugar

Glaze:
100g of dark chocolate
80ml of thickened cream
20g butter

1. Preheat oven to 160 degrees. Using a pencil, draw a circle around a bread plate on three sheets of baking paper and grease each sheet. Turn the paper pencil side down on a tray. This circle is your guide for spreading the meringue mixture.

2. To make the meringue, place egg whites, salt and a few spoonfuls of sugar into the bowl of electric mixer. Whisk until  soft peaks appear. Reduce speed to medium and a the rest of the sugar one spoonful at a time. Then increase speed to high again for 5 mins until you have a lovely glossy and thick meringue.

3.Chop the chocolate and the hazelnuts and mix into the meringue mixture. Spread a third of the mixture evenly onto each of the baking paper circles (on a tray). Bake for 45 minutes or until firm and lightly golden. Leave to cool on the trays.

Best not to use the very bottom of the oven...

because this can happen..but nothing that some scraping couldn't save

4. Make the filling by beating the thickened cream and mascarpone until soft peaks form (make sure they are there or this will happen). Sift in the icing sugar and beat again until it is smooth and has stiff peaks.

Filling fail on the right :(

5. When you are ready to assemble, make the glaze by combining the chocolate, cream and butter in a pyrex bowl over simmering water. Stir until melted and combined then remove and cool slightly.

6. To assemble, place one meringue layer on a serving plate, spread half the filling, then place your second meringue layer on the top , then the remaining filling and top with your prettiest meringue layer. Finally drizzle with glaze and enjoy!




What have you been cooking this week?

 Weekend Cookbook Guidelines
1. Link up a recipe that you have posted recently.
2. Link up by clicking on the link below and pasting your post URL (not your blog's URL)
3. Share some love by checking out the other links and leave a comment. 
4.If you make other blogger's recipe take a photo and post it in their facebook page (or yours and tag them). 
5. Add the Weekend Cookbook button to your post/blog (it is on my sidebar).