chocolate frosting

This is my favourite chocolate frosting recipe, not too sweet, not too cocoa-ey and makes enough to fill and decorate a two layer chocolate cake =)

1/2 cup butter

2/3 cup cocoa

3 cups icing sugar

1/3 cup 10% cream

1 tsp vanilla

Beat butter until light and creamy.

Gradually add in the cocoa/icing sugar and alternate with the cream.

Add the vanilla and beat until the desired consistency.

Bear in mind, the longer you whip it up the lighter in colour it will get.

Keeps in the fridge for a couple of days if needed, but i tend to use it all up =)

cream cheese frosting

this is the basic recipe i use for my cream cheese frosting.....
it makes enough to cover one 23cm round cake, or cover and fill a smaller 20cm round cake.

1 (375g) package of cream cheese
1/2 cup butter
1 to 2 cups icing sugar

cream the butter and cheese together until creamy and changes to a lighter shade.
gradually add in the icing sugar and beat until you get the desired consistency.

ice your cake. =)

chocolate coconut slice

just like my mum used to make. a very coconutty chocolate biscuit slice...mmmm...

Preparation Time - 10 minutes

Cooking Time - 15 minutes

Makes - 24 pieces

Ingredients
• 200g crushed cookie crumbs (any plain sweet biscuits will do)
• 1 ½ cups desiccated coconut
• 3/4 cup caster sugar
• 1 cup self-raising flour
• 2 tbsp cocoa
• 200g butter
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 1 1/2 cups icing sugar mixture
• Extra 1 tbsp cocoa
• 2 tbsp hot water

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Lightly grease a 16x26cm baking pan and line with baking paper. Place biscuits into a mixing bowl with coconut and sugar. Sift over flour and cocoa and stir.

2. Melt butter in a small saucepan over a low heat. Pour over dry ingredients. Add vanilla. Mix well.

3. Spoon mixture into prepared pan and press down to level. Bake for 15 minutes or until cooked.

4. Sift icing sugar and cocoa into a small bowl. Add water and stir well. Ice slice while still hot. Cut into squares to serve.

5. Sprinkle a little extra coconut on top of icing. Cool, cut and serve.

It's more of a biscuitty slice, but yummy nonetheless!

rainbow jelly

i love jelly. the colours, the texture, the fun you can have with it!

i've been browsing online for jelly recipes that are a little more fun and unusual that your everyday bowl of jello. i found quite a few recipes which i can guarantee i will try as this first experiment went so well, looked so good and tasted great!

lemon meringue pie

a classic zesty citrus tart with a sweet pastry base and creamy toasted marshmallowy meringue topping mmmm......
YUM! my mum used to always cook for our family, and she tried a lot of things...but one dessert we always LOVED was lemon meringue pie! i don't honestly know how people do it making this with "packet mixes". the ONLY way to cook, is from scratch. admittedly some people don't have time or the money, but wow, this one is budget friendly and fast...every time i make it people are stunned that i've made everything by hand. which makes me smile because i know they must have liked it =)

Pastry Ingredients
• 1 1/2 cups plain flour
• 2 tablespoons icing sugar
• 125g unsalted butter, chilled, chopped
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 tablespoon chilled water

1. Process flour, sugar and butter together until mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add yolk and chilled water. Process until pastry just comes together, adding more water if necessary.

2. Turn pastry onto a lightly floured surface. Knead gently until smooth. Shape into a 2cm-thick disc. Wrap in baking paper. Refrigerate for 20 to 30 minutes or until firm enough to roll out. Pre bake at 180 for 10–15 minutes until golden and cooked through.

Lemon Filling
• 1 ½ cup caster sugar
• 3/4 cup corn flour
• 3/4 cup lemon juice (juice from at least 3 lemons)
• 1 ¾ cups water
• 2 tsp finely grated lemon rind
• 3 egg yolks
• 75g butter

Meringue topping
• 4 egg whites (use the left over one from the pastry)
• Pinch of cream of tartar
• 3/4 cup caster sugar

1. To make the filling, combine the sugar and cornflour in a medium saucepan. Gradually add the lemon juice and water while stirring continuously until mixture is smooth. Place saucepan over medium heat and cook, stirring, for 3-4 minutes or until mixture boils and thickens. Reduce heat to low and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds. Remove from heat.

2. Add the lemon rind, egg yolks and butter. Continue stirring until the butter is melted and mixture is well combined. Remove from heat and immediately pour into pastry case, smooth over top for an even filling.

3. To make the meringue topping, use an electric mixer to beat the egg whites in a clean, dry bowl until soft peaks form. Gradually add cream of tartar and sugar. Continue beating until sugar is dissolved.

4. Reduce oven temperature to 180°C. Top pie filling with meringue. Bake in oven for 5-10 minutes or until meringue is lightly browned. Stand for 5 minutes before serving.

sugar cookies

nothing makes you feel better than a spot of baking =)
specially when your hubby just LOVES to come home to them!
this is my mum's basic sugar cookie recipe which i just adapt depending on what i need!

125g butter
1 cup caster sugar
cream together until smooth

mix in 1 egg and 1 tsp vanilla
and 2 tsp baking powder

*for chocolate add 1 1/2 cups plain flour
and 1/2 cup cocoa
*for vanilla add 2 cups plain flour

mix well, until a nice dense paste forms
(if the mix is a bit dry i added the smallest amount of milk until it was just right)

roll into balls if you'd like, or roll out and use a cookie cutter
bake for approx 10 minutes on 180C

i made about teaspoon sized balls...bigger ones spread more and make gooey centres =)

then i experimented:

i used the end of a wooden spoon to poke a little hole in the top of a cookie dough ball ( 1 teaspoon) and put a 1/4 tsp of jam on some vanilla ones

i divided a few of the chocolate balls in half, flattened them and placed a 1/4 tsp of peanut butter in the middle, sealed the two halves and rerolled gently back into a ball, that technique is also nice with nutella centres.

..mmm...now for a hot cuppa coffee...

gingerbread

This makes a LOT of gingerbread, so make sure you have a large air tight container to let it rise in overnight. It keeps for days, once made. I left some (saved some) in the fridge for up to a week...it's that good it won't last long at all! You'll have requests for more!

Mum's Gingerbread

1kg Honey
500g Sugar
4 Eggs
1tsp Allspice
1 Tsp Cinnamon
1 Tsp Ginger
4 Tsp Bi-Carb Soda
8 Cups Plain Flour

Mix thoroughly. Leave covered overnight.
Cookin a moderate oven (180C-375F) until ready, light or dark depending on your preference – leave room for spreading on tray.

tourtière, round one

Being in Canada now, my husband is showing me the ways of French cuisine, and all things HE likes to eat! This pie seems a little strange to me, even though i'm an Australian and we LOVE pie!

But, i like new flavours and challenges, so i decided to make it, from scratch, following the recipe exactly. Which i found at my favourite source of all things "Canadian", Canadian Living, the recipe is HERE This is an interesting resource for someone like me who knows all things Australian and some other cultures, but here it's a culture in itself, being a much more colder climate than i'm used to! Brisbanes winter is like a combination of spring and autumn here!

It was great! A little strong on the spices, which i think i would tone down a little next time, and maybe add a little more mushroom and an extra stick of celery to beef it up a little.

I'd definately make this again, we had some with mash potatoes and gravy, and some with a side salad. My husband likes his tomato sauce, or as they say here "ketchup", which i don't personally like to put on anything, considering i like to think everything i cook tastes so good that you don't need it! He did say it didn't need it *yay* , with the gravy but out of habit he put some on when we didn't have gravy =)

chocolate pinwheels

Pinwheel or scroll cookies look great, there are so many variations you could apply to this design and have a lot of fun with it. I have always wanted to try and make these, they look a lot harder than it is!

Chocolate Pinwheel Cookies
Recipe from:- Hershey's

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, softened
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup ground almonds
• 1/4 cup Cocoa
• 4-1/2 teaspoons butter or margarine, melted

1. Beat 1/2 cup softened butter and sugar in large bowl until creamy. Add egg and vanilla; beat until light and fluffy. Stir together flour, baking powder and salt; add to butter mixture, beating until soft dough forms.

2. Remove half the dough to medium bowl; blend in ground almonds and almond extract, if desired. Add cocoa and melted butter to remaining dough; blend well. Divide each dough in half. Refrigerate doughs, if necessary, until firm enough to handle.

3. Between 2 pieces of wax paper, roll one portion almond dough into 8-inch square; repeat procedure with one portion chocolate dough. Remove top sheets of wax paper; invert almond dough onto chocolate dough. Peel off top sheet of wax paper; roll up lightly. Repeat procedure with remaining doughs. Wrap both rolls in wax paper or plastic wrap; refrigerate 4 to 5 hours or until firm.

4. Heat oven to 350°F. Cut rolls into 1/4-inch slices; place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet.

5. Bake 9 to 12 minutes or just until set. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely. About 5 dozen cookies.

profiteroles

There are my little gems, little balls of choux paste waiting to grow into big puffs that i can fill with custard cream and dip in chocolate! I absolutely love watching them grow =)

Here is the first batch out of the oven...oh so lovely puffs!

The recipe i used for these, as my cookbooks were all packed up ready to be shipped to Canada, was from my trusty australian TASTE website, which has never failed me yet.

And a second shot a little closer up....look how golden and wonderful they are =)

The final step is to fill them and dip them in chocolate, or just give them a sprinkling of icing sugar, these babies are quite versatile! I often like to put chocolate custard, vanilla custard, cointreau custard or just fresh cream.