Rainy Day Baking...

At the moment it has been raining non stop... which means perfect baking weather! Since it is Anzac Day this weekend I thought I should try out some Anzac biscuits to commemorate our Anzacs.

These Aussie classics are simply delicious and ridiculously simple and quick to make. Enjoy them this Anzac Day and all year around with family and friends.. and of course a lovely cup of tea!

It's your turn!

Anzac Biscuits

2 cups (180g) rolled oats

1 cup (150g) plain flour

⅔ cup (150g) caster sugar

¾ cup (60g) desiccated coconut

⅓ cup (115g) golden syrup

125g unsalted butter

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of (baking) soda

2 tablespoons hot water

Preheat oven to 160°C (325°F).

Place the oats, flour, sugar and coconut in a bowl and mix to combine.

Place the golden syrup and butter in a saucepan over low heat and cook, stirring, until melted.

Combine the bicarbonate of soda with the water and add to the butter mixture. Pour into the oat mixture and mix well to combine.

Place tablespoonfuls of the mixture onto baking trays lined with non-stick baking paper and flatten to 7cm rounds, allowing room to spread.

Bake for 8–10 minutes or until deep golden.

Allow to cool on baking trays for 5 minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

Enjoy! 

Eat sweet, be sweet :)

Recipe from: Donna Hay 

Easter Treats

It's Easter this weekend so I thought I should whip up some hot cross buns to share with my family and friends. I have been watching Sorted Food on youtube for ages and always love what they create, so I was inspired to recreate this recipe in a recent video.

I added chocolate chips to half the mixture instead of sultanas to add some fun and chocolate goodness! (It is Easter after all!!) You could customise these to your liking by mixing chocolate chips, dried fruit, nuts, anything at all really! These are super tasty and sure to impress your family and friends this Easter, or even anytime during the year if you really want :)

It's your turn!

Hot Cross Buns 

300 ml warm milk

1 sachet of dried yeast (7g)

350g strong white flour

150g strong wholemeal flour

1 tbsp caster sugar

1 egg

1 tbsp mixed spice

2 tbsp mixed peel, chopped

75g sultanas

75g dark chocolate chips

Crosses

100g plain flour

Water

Glaze

3 tbsp apricot jam

3 tbsp water

Dissolve the yeast in the warm milk.

Mix white and wholemeal flours into one big mixing bowl and add the sugar, spice, egg and mixed peel.

Pour in the milk and mix until you have a dough.

Knead for 5-10 minutes until really elastic, you may need a little extra flour if it's too sticky.

Allow to prove for an hour at room temperature until the dough has doubled in size.

Separate mixture and knead sultanas into one half and chocolate to the other.

Divide and shape into 12 buns.

Arrange on a silicon-paper lined baking tray with about 1cm in between each bun.

Cover with a tea towel and leave to prove again for another 45 minutes until the buns have expanded and are now touching each other.

Preheat an oven to 200°C.

Mix a thick paste from the plain flour and transfer to a piping bag.

Use the paste to pipe a cross onto each bun then bake for 16-18 minutes until golden.

Allow to cool a bit.

Dissolve the apricot jam with the water in a small pan or microwave and brush over the buns to form a glaze.

Serve buns warm with butter.

Enjoy! 

Eat sweet, be sweet :)

Recipe adapted from: https://sortedfood.com

Summer Sandwiches

We are right in the middle of summer here in Australia... and it is really, really, really hot! So of course there is nothing better than something frozen to snack on. I decided to give some frozen yoghurt a try because I have had an ice-cream maker for quite a while and unfortunately I don't use it often enough. Also, frozen yoghurt is a slightly healthier option than ice-cream and sorbet as it has less sugar, in saying this it's in no way "healthy" it just has slightly more nutrients and less bad things.

If frozen yoghurt isn't enough of a treat already I thought it would be super cute and fun to put it between cookies to make a frozen yoghurt sandwiches. I think these would be perfect for a summer pool party with your friends and family or just to have in the freezer if you feel like a cheeky snack.

This recipe is simple but quite time consuming so I would recommend preparing them the day before if they are for a specific occasion. Also, do not worry if you don't have an ice-cream maker it is easy enough to make without.

It's your turn!

Mango Frozen Yoghurt 
7 cups plain yoghurt, strained 
2/3 cup caster sugar 
5 mangoes, peeled, pitted and chopped 
2 tsp lime juice 

Whisk the yoghurt and sugar together in a bowl. 
Blend the chopped mango, lime juice and 1 cup of the yoghurt mixture until smooth. 
Combine with the remaining yoghurt mixture. 
If you have an ice-cream maker pour in and churn for 30 minutes or until thick and creamy. Freeze until desired consistency. 
If you don't have a ice-cream maker pour mixture into a shallow tray and place in the freezer. Mix every 30 minutes until thick and creamy to ensure a smooth result. 
Store in an airtight container in the freezer. 

White chocolate and macadamia cookies

150g unsalted butter, softened 
1 cup brown sugar 
3/4 cup caster sugar 
2 tsp vanilla extract 
1 egg 
1 1/2 cup plain flour, sifted 
1/2 tsp baking powder 
1/2 tsp salt 
250g white chocolate, chopped 
150g macadamia nuts, chopped 

Preheat oven to 160°C. 
Beat butter, brown and caster sugar and vanilla in a bowl with an electric whisker until pale and creamy. 
Mix in the egg and beat until combined. 
Add flour, baking powder and salt and beat on low until a dough forms. 
fold through chocolate and nuts. 
Roll 1 tablespoon of the dough at a time into a ball and flatten slightly onto a lined tray. 
Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden. 
Allow to cool on trays before serving. 

To make sandwiches scoop the frozen yoghurt onto a cookie and top with another. 
Place in freezer before serving to set. 

Enjoy! 

Eat sweet, be sweet :)

Recipes adapted from: Cuisinart and Donna Hay 

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

All my family and friends know that when Christmas comes around so do my Christmas pudding macarons. I have been making these macarons for a few years now and no matter how many I make there never seems to be enough. If you are giving these to children you can leave the brandy out of the buttercream or simply add less if you are not the biggest fan.

These make a thoughtful little gift or a perfect addition to Christmas dessert. If you give these a go, you are sure to impress!

It's your turn!

Christmas pudding macarons Italian meringue brandy buttercream
300g caster sugar
112g water
300g ground almonds
300g icing sugar
1.5 tsp ground mixed spice
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
15g cocoa powder
1 tsp brown food colouring
2 x 120g egg whites (at room temperature)

Italian meringue brandy buttercream
300g caster sugar
112g water
120g egg whites
337g unsalted butter
30g brandy

Put the sugar and water in a saucepan over low heat and stir until sugar is dissolved. Increase the heat and boil until it reaches 118°C. Add food colouring. 

When it is getting close to the temperature put 120g of egg whites into an electric whisker and whisk until frothy.

Once the sugar syrup has reached the right temperature add it to the egg whites in a steady stream while whisking. Continue whisking until warm, about 8 minutes.

Put the almond meal, icing sugar, cocoa powder and spices in a food processor and process to a fine powder, then sift into a large bowl.

Add the extra egg whites to the dry ingredients and then add the meringue and use a large spatula to fold them through until combined.

Continue mixing until the mixture fall of the spatula slowly.

Transfer mixture into a piping bag with a 7mm round nozzle, pipe 3cm-diameter rounds of mixture onto heavy baking-paper-lined oven trays. Set the trays aside for 30-60 minutes or until a light skin has formed and the shells are not sticky to touch.

Bake the shells in a pre-heated oven of 135°C for 15 minutes, until they have a firm outer shell.

Carefully remove shells from the tray after 2 minutes and set them aside to cool.

For the Italian meringue brandy buttercream Put the sugar and water in a saucepan over low heat and stir until sugar is dissolved. Increase the heat and boil until it reaches 118°C.

When it is getting close to the temperature put 120g of egg whites into an electric whisker and whisk until frothy.

Once the sugar syrup has reached the right temperature add it to the egg whites in a steady stream while whisking. Continue whisking until warm, about 8 minutes.

Add small lumps of butter and continue mixing until the mixture becomes thick and creamy

Add the brandy and mix until combined 

Once the macarons are cool pipe a generous amount onto one macaron shell and sandwich with another.

Decorate with white chocolate and coloured gel. 

Enjoy! 

Eat sweet, be sweet :)

Recipe adapted from: http://www.craftstorming.com/

Oreo Cupcakes

Once again Tanya Burr has inspired another blog post. She recently uploaded a oreo cupcake recipe that was too good to ignore. The cupcake itself is just a basic chocolate cupcake recipe with a little hidden oreo surprise, and the frosting is a basic buttercream with crushed oreos mixed in. 

I changed the buttercream method a little bit to the way I usually make buttercream. I use an electric mixer and gradually add in the icing sugar as I find this allows the icing sugar to dissolve more and the buttercream is creamier and smoother. I also add a splash of milk to make it even more creamy and silky. 

These cupcakes were so easy and quick and really were tasty! They would be perfect for a party or just a little treat! 

It's your turn now!

Chocolate Cupcakes

175g butter

165g caster sugar

3 eggs

40g cocoa powder

125g self raising flour

1 tsp baking powder

12 oreos

Oreo Buttercream

100g butter

1 tbs milk

200g icing sugar

2 packs oreos

Preheat oven to 180°C and place cupcake cases into your cupcake tins.

Mix together your butter and sugar until the mixture is creamy and smooth.

Add in eggs one at a time and mix until combined.

Fold in all of your dry ingredients.

Place an oreo on the bottom of each cupcake case.

Spoon your mixture into your cupcake cases on top of the hidden oreo.

Bake the cupcakes for 15-20 minutes or until cooked through.

Set aside to cool completely.  

For the frosting beat the butter and gradually add the icing sugar until smooth.

Add the milk and continue mixing until creamy and smooth.

Crush the oreos by hand or in a blender and add to the buttercream.

Once your cupcakes have cooled pipe or spoon on your frosting and top with half an oreo.

Enjoy! 

Eat sweet, be sweet :)

Recipe from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGafUXzPBxk

Milk & Milo

This month in Taste magazine there were some amazing looking sweets as usual, but I was especially excited to try and make the milk and milo tart. I love the taste of milo like many people but I had never made a dessert using milo, so I decided to give this one a go.

The tart itself and the filling is not really a tricky task, however the process is quite lengthy due to the need for chilling the pastry, the filling and then the final tart. So this recipe does call for some time and patience but the final result is definitely worth it. If you are short of both of these things you could make the tart into little individual tarts which would minimise the chilling time of the final tarts. This milk and milo tart is sure to impress your friends and family at any event so give it a go!

It's your turn now!

Milk and Milo tart

375ml milk
50g milo
6 egg yolks
50g cornflour
2tbs caster sugar
50g milk chocolate, finely chopped
300ml thickened cream
1 1/2 tbs icing sugar mixture
Milo, extra, to serve

Chocolate pastry
225g plain flour
60g icing sugar
30g dark cocoa powder
Pinch of salt
150g unsalted butter, chilled, chopped
2 egg yolks

For the pastry, process the flour, sugar, cocoa and salt in a food processor until combined. Add butter and process until mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add yolks and process until dough just starts to come together. Turn onto a lightly floured surface. Knead until just smooth. Shape into a disk. Cover with plastic and place in fridge for 45 minutes to rest.
Roll out pastry on a sheet of baking paper to a 4mm- thick disc. Line a round 24cm fluted tart tin, with removable base, with pastry. Trim excess. Place in fridge for 1 hr to rest.
Preheat oven to 180°C/ 160°C fan forced. Line pastry with baking paper and fill with pastry weights or rice. Bake for 12 minutes, remove paper and bake for another 10-12 minutes or until cooked through and crisp. Set aside to cool.
Meanwhile, stir milk and milo in a saucepan and bring just to the boil. Stir egg yolks, cornflour and sugar in a bowl. Slowly add the hot milk mixture to the yolk mixture, stirring constantly until smooth. Strain through a fine sieve into a clean saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until very thick and smooth. Stir in chocolate until melted. Transfer to a bowl and cover with plastic. Set aside to cool for 1 hour and then chill in the fridge for 2 hours.
Whisk cream and icing sugar until firm peaks form. Use a ballon whisk to fold 2/3 cup of cream mixture through the chocolate mixture until well combined. Spread over pastry. Dollop and gently swirl remaining cream mixture over tart. Place in the fridge for 2-3 hours or until firm. Sprinkle with extra milo to serve.

Enjoy! 

Eat sweet, be sweet :)

Recipe from Taste Magazine