Passionfruit S'mores + 13 Ways with Passionfruit

13 Ways with... Passionfruit

It has been quite a while but I thought it was about time that I bought this monthly column back, because I always loved putting it together. Choosing one ingredient and finding so many different ways to use it was really inspiring and I have discovered so many great new blogs in the process! So I'm back this month with Passionfruit, which are in season here at the moment. I scored 7 for $2 at the market, what a bargain!

I've got a great recipe for you today plus a bunch of other fantastic ones too, so keep reading! I hope this inspires you to make at least one of these awesome looking desserts.

Drink it...

Picture Credits: My Kitchen Antics & Donna Hay

1. I love the sound of this totally unique Passionfruit Mojito with an Indian Twist from My Kitchen Antics. I mean passionfruit with salt and green chilli, heaps of lime and mint sounds like such an interesting combination in a drink! Also scroll down in this post to find another delicious sounding Passionfruit Iced Tea.

2. This pretty and refreshing Passionfruit Cordial comes courtesy of Donna Hay. Actually I remember this recipe in one of the very first issues that I ever bought! If it was me though, I’d add a smidgen of vodka or rum to turn this into a delicious and summery cocktail. Yum!

Chill it...

Picture Credits: Un Dejeuner de Soleil & Gourmet Traveller

3. Nutella is one of my favourite things on the planet, which is why I am drawn to this Creamy Chocolate Spread with Passionfruit from Un Dejeuner Se Soleil. Doesn't it look incredible! I think it would be delicious slathered over a warm baguette. Note, the recipe is in French.

4. This Passionfruit Coconut Creme Caramels with Lychee Granita from Gourmet Traveller magazine sounds deliciously tropical, and would be perfect for a casual summer dinner party. I love the idea of Passionfruit together with lychee too - yum!


Picture Credits: Inspiring the Everyday & Gizzi Erskine

5. Passionfruit and coconut are beautiful in desserts together, and this Coconut Mousse with Passionfruit and Cherries from Inspiring the Everyday looks so delicious, especially with the addition of Rainier cherries too. Perfect for right now.

6. I've been loving Eton Mess this summer, and it seems Sydney does too as it's been popping up on quite a few restaurants' dessert menus this year. It's such a simple but delicious dessert that usually involves berries, but I love the sound of this Eton Mess with Passionfruit, Lemon Curd & Raspberries from Gizzi Erskine. It's definitely going on my list of things to make!


Picture Credits: Raspberri Cupcakes & Citrus and Candy

7. This incredible Passionfruit & Lemon Trifle with Macarons is a 7 layer beauty by my gorgeous friend Steph from Raspberri Cupcakes. Passion Pop mousse, lemon cake, lemon and passionfruit curd, Passiona jelly, passionfruit and chocolate macarons, whipped cream with fresh passionfruit and mini meringues on top - um YES! What an absolutely stunning dessert.

8. Another fabulous recipe from one of my good friends, this Baked Alaska with French Earl Grey Icecream and Passionfruit from Citrus and Candy is right up my alley. I've made the ice cream before and loved it, so I can only imagine how good it would be in this beautiful Baked Alaska.

Bake it...

Picture Credits: Spicy Icecream & Athena Plichta

9. These Passionfruit Cheesecake Brownies from my archives is actually one of my all-time favourite recipes. The fudgy brownie is the perfect match to the creamy cheesecake and sweet tang of the Passionfruit. I hope you'll give this very easy recipe a try soon!

10. This Lemon Cake with Passionfruit Syrup from Athena Plichta sounds incredible, but I also love the photos on this beautiful blog!


Picture Credits: Spicy Icecream & Some Cappuccino with Cake

11. This Passionfruit Vanilla Slice is one of my Mum's favourites and something that she regularly requests me to make. With passionfruit in the custard and the the glaze, this is a lovely dessert. I remember how all the Passionfruit made my kitchen smell incredible for hours.

12. My favourite macaron flavour on the planet is Passionfruit and Milk Chocolate, and these specimens from Some Cappuccino with Cake look beautiful. I'm still not a very confident macaron baker, but one day I'll give this flavour a try! If you aren't yet converted to the Passionfruit/Chocolate combination, you've got to try this macaron flavour!



13. And today's recipe is one I'm quite thrilled to share today. The idea for Passionfruit S'mores has been floating around in my head for a while, and I was so pleased with how it turned out. Using homemade Graham crackers and homemade Passionfruit marshmallows, plus squares of Lindt Dark Chocolate with sea salt, I can now understand why S'mores are so popular! Gooey, sticky, messy and delicious.

I say this every time, but making marshmallows from scratch is not as tricky as you might think and the result is totally worth it. I'll never buy store bought marshmallows ever again! I absolutely loved the addition of passionfruit in them!

Brownie Cookies with Maple Bourbon Buttercream

I had my first day off in months the other day and was excited to get into the kitchen and bake something, while still in my PJ's, in the middle of the day on a Wednesday. But when it came to deciding actually what to make, I hit a wall. The fridge was a little bare, the fruit bowl even more so, and nothing on my very long list of baking ideas was standing out to me.

But then I remembered these cookies from Donna Hay magazine a couple of months ago and was instantly inspired. The brownie cookies themselves are super easy to make, as long as you follow the recipe and allow it to rest after mixing it all together. These cookies also spread in the oven so be careful not to place them too close together on the baking tray. They take next to no time to bake, so keep an eye on them or you'll end up with crunchy cookies rather than rich and chewy ones, trust me I know! One unfortunate batch ended up on the crispy side when I wasn't looking.

 
Of course, I can never stick 100% to a recipe so I changed up the filling from peanut butter frosting to a delicious maple and bourbon buttercream, made with salted butter. Although anything that goes with chocolate would work well here - caramel, coffee, raspberries, coconut, honeycomb, more chocolate - use your imagination! But next time I think I'll skip the icing entirely and put a big scoop of homemade ice cream in the middle.

Have a great weekend!

Key Lime Pie with Homemade Graham Cracker Crust

I’ve had a long-standing fascination with Key Lime Pie, since the very first time I saw it in a recipe magazine when I was young. But I had never tried it, let alone baked it until now! I always thought of it as the cousin of the Lemon Meringue Pie, which was one of my childhood favourite desserts.

The recipe originated in Florida during the 19th century, where you can find key limes, which smaller and a little more tart than regular limes. Floridians are serious about their famous dish, in 1965 even calling for a fine to be put into place for anyone advertising Key Lime Pie that was not made with key limes! Unfortunately key limes (or even bottled key lime juice) are almost impossible to find here in Australia, so I had to use regular limes. Just don’t tell anyone!


Surprisingly, I learned that the recipe has hardly changed since its invention. Before refrigeration, condensed milk in cans could be stored much more easily than fresh cream or milk. And with limes in abundance, it’s likely that fishermen combined the condensed milk and eggs from their supplies to create what then became one of America’s most famous desserts.

I used homemade Graham crackers, which were then pulverised into crumbs for my crust, and the recipe from Pepe’s Café in Key West (via Bon Appetit) for the filling. The addition of whipped egg whites gave the pie a lighter texture, in fact it was almost like cheesecake. But boy was it sweet. Next time I’d add a little finely grated lime zest to the filling along with the juice for a little more tang. I topped my pie with a dollop of lightly sweetened whipped cream and a handful of Coconut Chips, my new favourite snack.

So tell me, what is your favourite American dessert?

Sour Cherry and Cocoa Nib Biscotti

As I mentioned in my previous post, the work/life balance has been eluding me a little of late – too much work, not enough life! What do you do when you’re feeling a little mentally fried? I try to surround myself by my favourite things. I bought myself a big bunch of daisies to brighten up my room, I enjoyed a fabulous dinner with the girls on Friday, bought a rather fabulous red dress and spent Sunday afternoon baking.

I wasn’t in the mood for something fussy or overly complicated. When I saw the little tub of sour cherries I had bought a while back sitting on the shelf, inspiration struck. It had been a long, long time since I had made biscotti (in fact it was one of the very first posts on this blog all those years ago) but it felt right to update the recipe with a few standout flavours.



This time around I stuck with the almonds (you can’t go wrong!) but added the sour cherries, some cocoa nibs and just a touch of coffee liqueur. When they were baked, I dipped the biscotti into some dark chocolate which set off those flavours perfectly. Of course you could get really creative with add ins, using almost any kind of nuts or dried fruit depending on your tastes.

Evidently, I wasn’t the only fan of these biscotti - the huge batch barely lasted a few days in our house! They made the perfect accompaniment to a cup of tea or coffee, and it was hard to stop at just one. It definitely won't be long before I make another batch.

Have a great week folks!



Sour Cherry and Cocoa Nib Biscotti
Adapted from Donna Hay
Makes about 40 biscuits

• 2 cups plain flour
• 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• ¾ cup sugar
• ¾ cup almonds
• ¼ cup sour cherries*
• 2 tablespoons cocoa nibs*
• 3 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon Kahlua or other coffee liqueur
• 120g dark chocolate, melted, for dipping

Preheat oven to 160°C (320°F).

Sift the flour and baking powder together in a bowl. Add sugar, almonds, cherries and cocoa nibs and stir together. Add the eggs, vanilla, and liqueur and mix well to form a dough. Divide the dough in two. Place the dough on a lightly floured surface and knead each piece until smooth. Shape into logs and flatten slightly.

Place the logs on a baking tray lined with baking paper and bake for 35 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow them to cool completely. If not completely cool, it will be crumbly when you slice it. Cut the logs into 5mm thick slices with a serrated knife and place on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Bake for 10-15 minutes until the biscotti are crisp. Cool completely.

When biscuits are cooled, dip each about 1/3 into the melted chocolate, drain off the excess and place on a baking paper lined tray until set. If the weather is warm, you may need to refrigerate them briefly. Store in an airtight container and serve with espresso or liqueur.

*You can find sour cherries and cocoa nibs at gourmet stores like Essential Ingredient or the David Jones Food Hall

Strawberry Shortcake Macarons

I was going to wait until next week to post these, but I just couldn’t. I’m pretty excited about these little babies! I had the idea to turn the beloved summer dessert Strawberry Shortcake into a macaron quite some time ago, but I was too scared of baking those temperamental little biscuits to try it until now! Perfect macarons are akin to the Holy Grail for an amateur baker, and let me tell you, it took quite a few attempts before I managed to get them right.



Thank goodness for Steph, who not only gave me a great demonstration but also a good dose of moral support and inspiration while brainstorming possible macaron flavour combinations. While my technique is still not quite perfect (I seem to have a habit of under mixing them slightly) I think they’re definitely passable! And even though I’ve made a few successful batches in the last few months, I still do a happy dance in front of the oven when I see that they have feet! Huzzah!



I made these last weekend while I was in Perth, where we have established a little garden that the boy does a smashing job of looking after while I’m not there. The cherry tomatoes and capsicum are going great guns, and you know what happened to the mint. The strawberries have just started to ripen (although unfortunately there were not enough yet to use homegrown in this recipe, maybe next trip!) but they looked so pretty I just had to photograph them.

I was really happy with how they turned out and they were certainly popular with all of the taste testers! I think they would be rather lovely at a high tea or a garden party, don’t you?



Strawberry Shortcake Macarons
Makes about 15 sandwiched macarons
Adapted from Raspberri Cupcakes

• 110g almond meal, dried in a cool oven for 5 minutes and sifted
• 200g icing sugar
• 100g aged eggwhites
• 50g caster sugar
• 1 teaspoon powdered egg whites, optional (available from Essential Ingredient)

For the filling
• Lightly sweetened whipped cream
• Fresh strawberries, hulled and chopped into 1cm cubes

To make the macaron shells, line two baking sheets with baking paper. Place icing sugar in a food processor and pulse to remove any lumps. Stir in almond meal and pulse to combine. Place in a large mixing bowl and set aside. Using an electric mixer, beat eggwhites and egg white powder in a medium bowl until the powder dissolves and it reaches soft peaks. With the mixer on high speed, gradually add sugar and beat until it reaches stiff peaks.

Add meringue to the dry mixture and mix, quickly at first to break down the bubbles in the egg white. You can be quite rough at this point, and then mix carefully as the dry mixture becomes incorporated and it starts to become shiny again. Take care not to overmix, the mixture should flow like lava and a streak of the mixture spread across the surface should disappear after about 30 seconds. Place in a piping bag and pipe rounds 3cm diameter on prepared baking sheets.

Tap against the bench to remove any air bubbles and leave to dry for about half an hour, so that when you press the surface of one gently, it doesn’t break. Preheat the oven to 140-150°C (285-300°F) and bake for 15-20 minutes, depending on the size of your shells. Remove from the oven and cool on the tray for a few minutes. Gently remove from the tray and place on a wire rack to cool completely.

Spoon or pipe whipped cream onto macaron shells, adding ½ teaspoon of chopped strawberries and then sandwich with another shell. Refrigerate overnight in an airtight container to allow the flavours to mature. Serve at room temperature.

Pear and Elderflower Macarons

I’ve been feeling very romantic about spring lately, now that it’s just around the corner. I went for a walk yesterday and caught the gorgeous smell of jasmine in the air. I thought it was the perfect time to use the bottle of elderflower cordial I picked up recently. With its subtle floral flavour, it’s just lovely at this time of year, but I was undecided as to what to make with it.

With the helpful suggestions of my Facebook and Twitter friends, I was inspired to make these macarons with a poached pear and elderflower buttercream filling. Macarons still make me a bit nervous, but after spending an afternoon with my gorgeous friends Steph and Karen baking up a batch, I felt confident enough to tackle them again.



While my technique still needs a lot more practice, Steph's recipe is brilliant. My shells turned out a little more crunchy and browned than I would have liked because I’m still getting used to using my new oven, but I did manage to get pretty little feet (!!) on my macarons, and I absolutely loved the flavour combination. The elderflower is a lovely touch, and is beautiful with the pears. I can’t wait to try out some other flavours – and after all, practice makes perfect!



Pear and Elderflower Macarons
Makes about 15 sandwiched macarons
Adapted from Raspberri Cupcakes

• 110g almond meal, dried in a cool oven for 5 minutes and sifted
• 200g icing sugar
• 100g aged eggwhites
• 50g caster sugar
• 1 teaspoon powdered egg whites (available from Essential Ingredient)

Elderflower Poached Pears
• 1 pear, peeled, cored and cut into 0.5cm cubes
• 1 cup water
• 4 tablespoons elderflower cordial

Elderflower Buttercream
• 1 egg white
• ¼ cup caster sugar
• 90g unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into 3cm cubes

To make the macaron shells, line two baking sheets with baking paper. Place icing sugar in a food processor and pulse to remove any lumps. Stir in almond meal and pulse to combine. Place in a large mixing bowl and set aside. Using an electric mixer, beat eggwhites and egg white powder in a medium bowl until the powder dissolves and it reaches soft peaks. With the mixer on high speed, gradually add sugar and beat until it reaches stiff peaks.

Add meringue to the dry mixture and mix, quickly at first to break down the bubbles in the egg white. You can be quite rough at this point, and then mix carefully as the dry mixture becomes incorporated and it starts to become shiny again. Take care not to overmix, the mixture should flow like lava and a streak of the mixture spread across the surface should disappear after about 30 seconds. Place in a piping bag and pipe rounds 3cm diameter on prepared baking sheets.

Tap against the bench to remove any air bubbles and leave to dry for about half an hour, so that when you press the surface of one gently, it doesn’t break. Preheat the oven to 140-150°C (285-300°F) and bake for 15-20 minutes, depending on the size of your shells. Remove from the oven and cool on the tray for a few minutes. Gently remove from the tray and place on a wire rack to cool completely.

In the meantime, prepare the poached pears. Place pears into a small saucepan with water and elderflower cordial and simmer on medium heat until pears are tender and liquid is syrupy. Strain, and reserve liquid. Allow pears to cool to room temperature.

To prepare the buttercream, place caster sugar and egg white into a heatproof bowl. Whisk to combine and clip a candy thermometer to the side of the bowl. Set bowl over a pan of simmering water and whisk until mixture reaches 70°C (160°F) and sugar has dissolved, about 5 minutes. Place egg white mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat on high speed until cooled and thick, about 5 minutes. Reduce speed to medium and add butter, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating until incorporated after each addition. If mixture is runny at this point, refrigerate for 10 minutes and then continue beating until it starts to hold its shape. Don’t panic if it looks curdled, just keep mixing and it will come together. Mix in the reserved poaching liquid gradually and beat to combine. Add more elderflower cordial to taste if the flavour is too subtle.

Spoon or pipe buttercream onto macaron shells, adding ½ teaspoon of pears and then sandwich with another shell. Refrigerate overnight in an airtight container to allow the flavours to mature. Serve at room temperature.

Thanks to my cousin Roslyn for noticing I'd left the elderflower cordial out of the ingredients list. Oops!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Skillet

I think I work in the best part of Sydney – The Rocks. Even after two years, I still feel incredibly lucky to step off the train every morning after an hour’s trip from southwest Sydney into the most beautiful part of the city. I am fascinated by the history and the well-preserved architecture, the twisty-turny laneways and the stories that would be told, if the sandstone could talk. Even though I’ve walked past it easily over a hundred times, it wasn’t until recently that I visited Hart’s Pub, sitting at the top of the hill on the corner of Essex and Gloucester Streets.

And boy oh boy, have I been missing out! Owned by the same folk behind Rocks Brewing Company, the pub is exactly the right mix of friendly heritage vibe and incredibly good food and booze, specialising in Australian craft beers. I especially like the idea of a “tasting paddle”, where you can try four different beers. Perfect if you can’t decide what you fancy! My favourites were the Rocks Brewing Co 1809 Pale Ale, and an absolutely knockout, yet deceptively alcoholic cider.

But what I really want to talk about today is chocolate chip cookie skillets. This incredible dessert was served to us with a scoop of ice cream and a Rocks Brewing Co Cribbs Porter. Now, I’m only just getting my head around food and wine matching, but food and beer matching is a whole different story altogether, especially when dessert is involved. And wow, this was the kind of dessert I couldn’t stop thinking about for weeks. When the cookie dough was cooked in a cast-iron skillet, the edges became crisp like a brownie, while the inside remained almost cake like. Of course, served warm, the chocolate chips were melty and delicious, and I think this is one of the best sharing desserts you could possibly ever have.


Sexy cookie dough

I decided to have a go at replicating it at home, using my favourite cookie recipe, which I’ve blogged before from the New York Times. The recipe itself is a surefire winner, containing literally half a kilogram of chocolate chips. However I’ve halved it in the recipe below, because I had enough dough for a skillet and 20-odd cookies, however no one complained. Except Denea, because she missed out. I would also slightly under-fill the skillet next time, because I ended up with a bit of overflow when the cookie rose. I didn’t leave the dough for 36 hours as the original recipe said to. Mine was in the fridge overnight, about 12 hours and it was just fine. If you’re in Sydney, Hart’s Pub should go on your list of awesome eats. Just make sure you save room for dessert.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Skillet
Inspired by Harts Pub. Adapted from the New York Times
Serves 2

• 240g plain flour
• 2/3 teaspoon baking soda
• ¾ teaspoon baking powder
• ¾ teaspoon coarse salt
• 140g unsalted butter, softened
• 2/3 cup brown sugar
• 112g granulated sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
• 250g bittersweet chocolate chips
• Sea salt, to sprinkle

Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Whisk well, then set aside. In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars until very light and fluffy, about 3-5 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Mix in the vanilla. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.

Reduce the mixer speed to low, then add dry ingredients and mix until just combined. This can be messy, so hold a clean dish towel over the top of the bowl. Add the chocolate chips and mix briefly to incorporate.
Press plastic wrap against the dough and refrigerate overnight.

When you’re ready to bake, preheat the oven to 175°C (350°F). Remove the bowl of cookie dough from the refrigerator and allow it to soften slightly. Grease a 20cm (8-inch) cast iron skillet with non-stick cooking spray. Press the dough into the skillet with your fingers until about 1cm from the top. Any leftovers can be baked as cookies.

Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the top is golden brown but still slightly soft. Transfer skillet to a wire rack for 10-15 minutes, and serve, being careful that the handle will still be hot.

Ginger Beer Scones

I think it’s safe to say that I’m addicted to ginger beer. I practically drink my body weight in it on a weekly basis, and after water and coffee, it’s my beverage of choice, hands down. It’s a fabulous drink on its own – tangy and refreshing, especially on a hot day, but it’s also great as a mixer or in cocktails. However I’d never tried it in cooking, until now. I love scones, and for a while I’ve been thinking about making ginger beer scones, similar to lemonade scones but using ginger beer as the liquid component.

And you can’t have scones without jam! I decided it was time to face my fears and make my very first batch of jam, ever. I adapted a Strawberry and Ginger jam recipe from Gourmet Traveller and it was absolutely smashing, just as good if not better than any jam I’ve ever bought. I was really surprised at how easy it was to make. I’ve been slathering it on everything this week, and it’s nearly gone already. I see another batch of jam in the very near future.

What could be better than a homemade scone? I’d never tried making scones this way before, but I am pleased to say they worked perfectly! I think they could have had a little more of a gingery flavour, so next time I would add half a teaspoon of ground ginger to the mix. The key to making great scones is to be very gentle with your mixture, otherwise they’ll turn out flat and hard instead of beautifully risen and fluffy on the inside.

Don’t forget to enter my Good Food and Wine Show competition, for your chance to win one of two double passes to the show in Sydney! See here for more details. Entries close Monday, good luck!

Ginger Beer Scones with Strawberry & Ginger Jam
Makes about 12 scones

Strawberry & Ginger Jam
Adapted from Gourmet Traveller
• 350g strawberries, hulled and coarsely chopped
• 285g golden caster sugar
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 2 teaspoons fresh ginger, finely grated

Scones
Adapted from Delicious
• 300g self raising flour
• 55g caster sugar
• ½ teaspoon ground ginger
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 125ml thick cream
• 125ml Bundaberg ginger beer (room temperature)
• 40ml milk

To make the jam, combine strawberries, sugar, lemon juice and ginger in a saucepan over medium-high heat until sugar dissolves, then bring to the boil and stir frequently until reduced to a jam consistency (8-10 minutes). Refrigerate until chilled. Makes about 500ml.

To make the scones, preheat the oven to 220°C (430°F). Line a baking tray with non stick baking paper. Sift the flour, sugar, ground ginger and salt into a large bowl. Add the cream and ginger beer and mix to form a soft dough. Turn out onto a lightly floured workbench and knead lightly until just combined. Press the dough with your hands to a thickness of about 2cm.

Use a 6cm round cutter to cut out scones, place on a baking tray and brush the tops with milk, Bake for 10-15 minutes until lightly browned. Serve with jam.

Apple and Ginger Shortcakes

It’s a bit of a tradition now, that whenever I go over to Perth to visit the boy that we invite his parents over for dinner. I’ve mentioned that I love cooking for people and this is no exception, I know they look forward to it as well. I love planning menus, but inevitably change my mind a hundred times. I’ve set the bar pretty high for myself, busting out some of my favourites like roast chicken and ratatouille.

This time I cooked a riff on my favourite chicken pie recipe with the addition of seedless red grapes, inspired by the chicken pie on the menu at Gazebo Wine Garden. It was just lovely with a local un-oaked Chardonnay from a little town in WA called Denmark. But today we’re talking about dessert. Steve had apple and cinnamon on the brain and I wanted to make a dessert using those flavours. I was originally thinking a cake or a crumble, but when I stumbled upon this recipe for apple and ginger shortcakes, I knew this was it.

Not only was it a breeze to make, but it looked like I’d made a big effort! I really liked the fact that it wasn’t overly sweet and the mascarpone was perfect with the delicious caramel apples. The shortcakes were delicately spiced with ginger and cinnamon, but weren’t as light and fluffy as I was hoping for. Perhaps I’m just used to making cream scones, but they were still absolutely delicious.

I think these shortcakes would also make a great base for experimenting with other kinds of fruit or fillings. Poached pears, roasted quince or stewed rhubarb would be fabulous, as would fresh berries or bananas. You could also replace the mascarpone with double cream, whipped cream or even sweetened ricotta, and play with the combination of spices in the shortcakes themselves. They make an elegant dessert but would also be perfect for afternoon tea. The possibilities are endless! These were a big hit dinner and I’m sure I’ll be making them again soon.



And if you're still in the mood for another fabulous autumn recipe, check out my latest recipe on GourmetRabbit, a gorgeous vanilla, apple and pear crumble with brown butter ice cream made with beautiful unwaxed apples and pears from Orange!

Caramelised Apple and Ginger Shortcakes
Serves 8
Adapted from Notebook

• 20g butter
• 2 granny smith apples, cored, cut into wedges
• ¼ cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/3 cup cream
• 100g mascarpone

Ginger Shortcakes
• 2 cups plain flour
• ¼ cup brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 100g butter, chopped
• 2/3 cup milk
• 1 egg

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Line an oven tray with non stick baking paper. To make the shortcakes, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, ginger, and cinnamon in a large bowl. Use your fingertips to rub the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add the milk and egg and stir until just combined.

Roll or pat out onto a lightly floured surface to a 2cm thick disc. Use an 8cm round pastry cutter to cut 8 discs from the dough. Place on the lined baking tray. Bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown and cooked through. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.

Meanwhile, melt the butter in a large frying pan over high heat until foaming. Add the apple and cook, turning occasionally for 5 minutes or until apples caramelize. Add brown sugar and cinnamon, stirring until sugar has dissolved. Add the cream and stir until mixture thickens slightly. Remove from heat.

Using a small serrated knife, split each shortcake in half. Dollop with mascarpone, top with apples and drizzle with caramel sauce. Top with remaining cake half, dust with icing sugar and serve immediately.

Christmas Traditions

Christmas is well and truly in the air. I mean it, I think I still smell like cinnamon from this morning’s baking! The decorations are up, the menus are planned, the Christmas shopping is, um, well, let’s move on, shall we? I love the traditions associated with Christmas, and memories of years past. From Dad lifting me up to put the angel on top of the tree, to opening presents on Christmas morning, to that obligatory Christmas Day dip in the pool with all of my cousins. Now that I’ve grown up, I’ve started creating traditions of my own, and I just wanted to share some of my favourite Christmas recipes with you all!

These gorgeous candy cane cookies caught my eye in last year’s Donna Hay Christmas issue but I never got around to making them until now. They looked so pretty and festive, and I can’t go past the delicious flavour combination of chocolate and peppermint! They were actually a lot of fun to make, a team effort with my sister one evening. She made the dough and I decorated them with the candy cane pieces.

We made mini cookies, smaller than the recipe suggested, using a small ice cream scoop to make the cookies an even size. They spread a fair bit in the oven, so make sure to leave enough room between the cookies on the tray. I loved the textural changes of the chocolate pieces and candy cane pieces in each bite.

It’s a perfect recipe to make with the kids for a Christmas Eve snack for Santa – I’m sure a plate of these and a glass of milk would make Santa would change his mind about even the naughtiest! They would also make adorable and thoughtful gifts, if you can bring yourself to share them!



Chocolate Candy Cane Cookies
Recipe from Donna Hay Magazine
Makes 40 small cookies

• 110g butter, softened and chopped
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup plain flour, sifted
• ¼ cup cocoa, sifted
• ½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• 120g dark chocolate, melted
• 280g dark chocolate, extra, chopped
• 120g candy canes, chopped

1. Preheat the oven to 160°C (320°F).
2. Place the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat for 8-10 minutes or until light and creamy. Add the egg and the vanilla and beat until well combined. Add the flour, cocoa, bicarbonate of soda and melted chocolate and beat until just combined. Fold through extra chopped chocolate.
3. Roll teaspoons of the mixture into rounds. Place on baking trays lined with non-stick paper, allowing room for the cookies to spread, and flatten slightly.
4. Press the chopped candy canes into the tops of the cookies and bake for 12-15 minutes or until the edges are firm. Allow to cool on the trays.

Daring Bakers: October

Wow. I can honestly say that this month’s Daring Bakers challenge was a challenge indeed, the most difficult one I’ve ever done – yes, even more than last December’s Yule Log! I always knew it would come up at some point, but I was hoping it would be later rather than sooner. This month’s challenge was Macarons. The delightful French sandwich cookies that are notoriously difficult to make, and something that I had never attempted before. I can’t say that the journey was easy, but it was definitely a learning curve, and I’m really glad I persevered and finally managed to make macarons.

From the beginning, I had serious problems with the challenge’s given recipe, and from the sounds of things on the forum I wasn’t the only one. After three complete failures following the recipe to the letter (and a lot of wasted eggwhites!) I decided to try Syrup & Tang’s recipe that used the Italian meringue method. This worked for me first time, and it was the best feeling to finally see that my macarons had feet!

Thinking up flavour combinations was the most fun part of this challenge, after seeing so many interesting ones posted on other blogs over the last few years. I decided to try my luck with the classic combination of Peanut Butter and Jelly flavour. I swapped out half the almond meal for ground peanuts when making the shell with a sprinkling of crushed peanuts on top, because I like my peanut butter crunchy. In between, I made a strawberry jelly disc. I really liked the combination of flavours and textures.

I still need a lot of practice with folding, piping and judging the baking times on my crazy oven, but this is a great first step to help me overcome my irrational fear of making macarons. I really look forward to experimenting further with flavour combinations and working on the technique in the future! The 2009 October Daring Bakers’ challenge was brought to us by Ami S. She chose macarons from Claudia Fleming’s The Last Course: The Desserts of Gramercy Tavern as the challenge recipe.

I won’t publish the recipe I used, but it’s here on Duncan’s blog Syrup and Tang along with many other helpful tips about making macarons.

Like Therapy

What do you do when you’re feeling down? Curl up on the couch with a chickflick and comfort food? A girly gossip session with wine and chocolate? Maybe something to stimulate the creative juices again? I’ve recently started a small veggie garden, and there is something so satisfying about seeing things grow (only the zucchini so far, but I have hope for the others) or I make playlists of songs that remind me of summer days, and smile at the Daily Puppies.

But it seems that that no matter what mood I’m in, baking usually makes me feel better. It can turn a bad day around, or make a good day even better. Combining butter, flour and sugar is like therapy. It seems I need to bake a lot these days; I think I’ve lost my happy a little bit.

And that’s where these little morsels come in. Sunny white chocolate and passionfruit ganache is sandwiched between dainty cookies. I dare you not to smile after you’ve tasted one. The ganache is just right – not too sweet, with the subtle tang of passionfruit cutting the sweetness of the chocolate. The cookies are crumbly, buttery and perfect. And after spending a nice afternoon pottering around the kitchen (listening to my summer mixtape), eating them was almost as great as baking them.

Yoyos with White Chocolate Passionfruit Ganache
Adapted from Gourmet Traveller
Makes about 24

Biscuits
• 180g butter, softened
• 90g pure icing sugar
• 1/3 cup passionfruit juice*
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 ½ cups plain flour
• 2/3 cup cornflour

White Chocolate and Passionfruit Ganache
• 90ml pouring cream
• 45ml passionfruit juice*
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• 180g white chocolate, finely chopped

* To make passionfruit juice, blend passionfruit pulp in a food processor to crack seeds, then strain through a fine sieve.

1. For ganache, combine cream, juice and vanilla in a saucepan and bring just to the boil over medium-high heat. Place chocolate in a bowl, pour the hot cream over and whisk until smooth. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours or until thick.
2. For the biscuits, beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add juice and beat until combined. Add the flour and cornflour and mix until just combined. Turn onto a floured surface, form into a disc, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 1 hour.
3. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Rill out pastry to 8mm thick, and using a 3cm cutter (mine was about 5cm), cut rounds from pastry and place on baking paper lined oven trays.
4. Press scraps into a ball, re-roll and repeat. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until just golden. Cool on trays for 5 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
5. Spread half the biscuits with a teaspoon each of ganache, sandwich with remaining biscuits and stand until set.

Memory Lane

I was as excited about this month’s Daring Bakers challenge as only cookies can make me. We were given two recipes this month, with the option to do both or pick one, and from the very beginning I knew I had to try the Mallows. This came with a slight amount of trepidation (which I’m learning is a regular thing with these DB challenges) as my last attempt at home made marshmallows was so disastrous I couldn’t even bring myself to blog about it! I’m happy to say I had a lot more success the second time around!

The Mallows have three components – a biscuit base, home made marshmallow and a chocolate glaze. Each component came together quite easily to produce a gorgeous cookie, even though there was a bit of waiting involved. I had great plans to make a few batches with different flavoured marshmallows but decided to keep it simple yet delicious and flavoured the mixture with vanilla bean.



The recipe said that it would make two dozen cookies, but it made closer to fifty. I ended up with more cookie bases than I had enough marshmallow mixture to pipe onto, so I sandwiched them together with jam to make tiny wagon wheels for a great little trip down memory lane. I enjoyed this challenge and would not hesitate to make these again, they were a real crowd pleaser and fifty cookies disappeared a lot quicker than I thought humanly possible!

The July Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Nicole at Sweet Tooth. She chose Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies and Milan Cookies from pastry chef Gale Gand of the Food Network.



Mallows (Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies)

Recipe courtesy Gale Gand, from Food Network website
Makes roughly 45-60 cookies

• 3 cups all purpose flour

• ½ cup white sugar
• ½ teaspoon salt

• ¾ teaspoon baking powder

• 3/8 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 12 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 3 eggs, whisked together

Marshmallows
• ¼ cup water
• ¼ cup light corn syrup
• ¾ cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon powdered gelatin
• 2 tablespoons cold water
• 2 egg whites, room temperature
• 1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped

Chocolate Glaze
• 340g dark chocolate, finely chopped
• 55g vegetable oil

1. In a mixer with the paddle attachment, blend the dry ingredients.
 On low speed, add the butter and mix until sandy.
 Add the eggs and mix until combine.
 Form the dough into a disk, wrap with cling wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
2. . When ready to bake, line a baking tray with parchment paper and
 preheat the oven to 190°C (375°F).

3. . Roll out the dough to 1/8-inch thickness, on a lightly floured surface. Use a 3-5cm cookie cutter to cut out small rounds of dough.
 Transfer to the prepared pan and bake for 10 minutes or until light golden brown. Let cool to room temperature.

4. To make the marshmallow, combine the water, corn syrup and sugar, and bring to a boil until “soft-ball” stage, or 112°C (235°F) on a candy thermometer.
 Sprinkle the gelatin over the cold water and let dissolve.
5. Remove the syrup from the heat, add the gelatin, and mix.
 Whip the whites until soft peaks form and pour the syrup into the whites.
 Add the vanilla and continue whipping until stiff.
 Transfer to a pastry bag.
6. Pipe a “kiss” of marshmallow onto each cookie. Let set at room temperature for 2 hours. Line a cookie sheet with parchment or silicon mat.

7. To make the chocolate glaze, melt the 2 ingredients together in the top of a double boiler or a bowl set over barely simmering water. One at a time, gently drop the marshmallow-topped cookies into the hot chocolate glaze.
 Lift out with a fork and let excess chocolate drip back into the bowl.
8. Place on the prepared pan and let set at room temperature until the coating is firm.

The Crunch

After our lunch at the Counter Burger in Crows Nest, Steph and I wandered around enjoying the first sunny day in what felt like ages. She happened to know the area very well, having lived nearby in the past, and pointed out her favourite restaurants and the new shops that had popped up since her last visit. She showed me her favourite bakery, the bottle shop (where I had hoped in vain to find the Mr Riggs Sticky we had at Mumu, but picked up a bottle of Zen green tea liqueur instead), and Essential Ingredient – a heavenly but dangerous place for a foodie to enter.

Amongst the aisles I spied products that were quite hard to come by in normal supermarkets, cooking and baking ware, and let’s not forget the cookbooks. Steph spied a very large container of coca nibs and we decided to go halves and split it. She made some gorgeous cocoa nib flecked banana bread, and I finally crossed another recipe off the ever-growing list of things to make, Alice Medrich’s Buckwheat Butter Cookies with Cocoa Nibs from her gorgeous book ‘Pure Dessert’.

Last year I tried her buckwheat strawberry shortcakes, which were a huge success, and I was looking forward to trying another of her inspiring recipes. These cookies had an incredible depth of flavour from the buckwheat flour, and I loved the crunch from the cocoa nibs. They also went just perfectly with a cup of tea on a cold wintery day.

I misread the recipe a little and stopped mixing before the dough was very dark and thick. My cookies turned out lighter and a little more crumbly, and they reminded me of sables actually. Either way, they were great and I really enjoyed them. And Molly was right when she said that the cookies were even better on the second day, though I’m actually surprised they lasted that long…

Cocoa Nib Buckwheat Butter Cookies
Recipe adapted from Alice Medrich’s Pure Dessert

• 1 ½ cups plain flour
• ¾ cup buckwheat flour
• 225g unsalted butter, softened
• 2/3 cup sugar
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup coca nibs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flours.
2. In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter with the sugar and salt until smooth and creamy but not fluffy, about 1 minute. Add the nibs and vanilla and beat to incorporate. Add the flours and beat on low speed until just incorporated. The mixture will seem dry at first but keep beating, and it will slowly moisten and darken. You’ll know it’s ready when it pulls away from the sides of the bowl. The dough will be very thick.
3. Form the dough into a long log about 5cm in diameter. Wrap well and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
4. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F) and line two baking sheets with non-stick baking paper.
5. Using a thin, sharp knife, carefully cu the dough into slices. I made mine about 1cm thick. Put slices on the prepared baking sheets, spacing each cookie about 3cm apart.
6. Bake until cookies begin to just colour around the edges, about 12-14 minutes, rotating the sheets halfway through. Transfer to wire racks and cool the cookies on the baking sheets. Cool completely before eating or storing.

Higher Calling

Sometimes a girl just needs cookies. It’s a very specific and completely non-negotiable craving, and you just can’t go past the prolific chocolate chip. They are comforting and familiar, and exactly what I needed last Saturday. That, and a pair of cookie pants! Conveniently, they were also the choice for April in the Tartine Cookbook challenge that Mark and I have been doing this year, and I’m happy to say, another successful Tartine recipe.

The thing that interested me most about Tartine’s version of the chocolate chip cookie was the addition of oats and walnuts. It sounded like a winning combination, and I assure you it was. But they are a completely different species to the ones I proclaimed as my favourite ever last year, the famous New York Times cookies. It’s such an incredibly subjective thing, but I’d have to say my heart still lies with the New York Times beauties, because the perfect cookie has to have substance and just a little bit of crunch. And lots of chocolate. That's a given, really.

Tartine’s were the flat and chewy variety, but this isn’t a bad thing. I think I’ve found their higher calling – an ice cream sandwich. Inspiration struck on the train home one evening and I was thrilled. I was also tempted to eat cookies for dinner, I won’t lie. This time I used vanilla ice cream, but my mind spins with the many flavours that would work especially well – white chocolate, espresso, and caramel just to name a few. Also, make sure you go and check out Mark’s blog too, he has just posted some delicious looking double chocolate cookies!

Chocolate Oatmeal Walnut Cookies
Makes 24
Recipe adapted from Tartine

• 340g bittersweet chocolate or chocolate chips
• 2 cups plain flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 cups old fashioned rolled oats
• 225g unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 ¾ cups sugar
• 4 teaspoons golden syrup
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tablespoons whole milk (I used soy milk)
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped

1. Preheat the oven to 180ºC (350ºF). Line a baking tray with non-stick baking paper.
2. Coarsely chop the chocolate into pieces. Chill in the freezer until needed.
3. In a mixing bowl, stir together the flower, baking powder, baking soda and oats. Set aside. Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium-high speed until light and fluffy. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides with a rubber spatula as needed. Add the treacle and beat until well combined.
4. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition before adding the next egg. Beat in the milk, vanilla and salt and then scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the flour mixture and beat on low speed until well incorporated. Scrape the sides again and fold in the chocolate chunks and walnuts with a spatula.
5. Have a small bowl of water ready. Scoop the dough onto the prepared baking sheet with an icecream scoop. Dip your fingers into the water and press out each scoop into a thin, flat, 3-inch circle.
6. Bake until the edges of the cookies are lightly browned but the centers remain pale, 10-12 minutes. Transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool. They will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.

Every Bite

These cookies were inspired by some very pretty specimens, waiting in jars at the counter of the Fine Food Store in the Rocks. I go there for lunch quite often, because it’s a nice stroll from my office and I’m in love with their roasted vegetable sandwich. I am often tempted by the incredible variety of gourmet products, and of course the delicious cupcakes and other sweet treats in the glass cabinet. Fig, ginger and macadamia sounded like a delicious combination – so perfect for this cooler autumn weather we’ve been having – that I vowed to try making them myself.

I love the concept of ‘slice and bake’ cookies. They are not only incredibly easy to prepare but can be customised in almost any way you can dream up. They can even be frozen in logs for baking later! I used a recipe I’ve had success with before and simply added chopped dried figs, macadamias and candied ginger. The result is just delicious, with a variety of flavours and textures in every bite – crumbly, crunchy and chewy – and just perfect with a cup of green tea on a cool, rainy afternoon.

Fig, Ginger and Macadamia Cookies
Adapted from Cookies
Makes 48

• 250g unsalted butter, softened
• 1 ¼ cup icing sugar, sifted
• 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups plain flour
• ½ cup rice flour
• 1/3 cup cornflour
• 2 tablespoons milk
• ½ cup dried figs, roughly chopped
• 1/3 cup macadamias, roughly chopped
• 2 tablespoons candied ginger, roughly chopped

1. Beat butter, icing sugar and vanilla extract in a bowl with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Stir in the sifted flours in two batches, and then add the milk. Beat until just combined.
2. With a wooden spoon stir in figs, macadamias and ginger until evenly distributed.
3. Divide mixture in half. Knead each half on a floured surface until smooth, then roll each half into 25cm long logs. Wrap each log in plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 1 hour.
4. Preheat oven to 160ºC (320ºF). Line two baking trays with non-stick baking paper.
5. Cut the logs into 1cm slices and place about 3cm apart on oven trays. Bake for 20 minutes or until slightly golden. Cool on wire racks.

Daring Bakers: January

After all of the richness and drama that came with last month’s Yule Log challenge, something light was certainly needed to restore some balance. Lighter-than-air tuiles were chosen to take the limelight this month, for the first challenge of 2009.

The January Challenge consisted of:
- Making tuiles using the recipe given
- Shaping them while warm
- Pairing the tuiles with something light or fruity

I will say first off that I was quite lucky to even complete the challenge this month, as the weather has been so hot and I wasn’t allowed to use the oven! On the one cooler day that I had planned to make them, I was sick with food poisoning and didn’t feel like baking at all. Luckily, last weekend I got another chance to give the recipe a try at my cousin’s house.

The final result as you see here was not what I had planned. Originally I wanted to shape the tuiles into little baskets, inside which I could put a scoop of raspberry sorbet, but it was much more difficult than I anticipated to form them into anything resembling a basket and I opted for rolling them into a wide cannoli shape using a small rolling pin instead. The raspberry whipped cream came together very easily and I love how pretty they look with a light dusting of icing sugar.

I’m glad I did get to participate in the challenge and make the recipe, even though it came with its share of frustrations when using an oven I’m not used to, and without the chance to have a second attempt at a later date. The first batch were over-baked and cracked when I shaped them, the next was slightly under-baked and they tore. And I can’t even count how many times I burnt my fingers! Luckily the failed attempts were delicious.

This month's challenge is brought to us by Karen of Bake My Day and Zorra of 1x umruehren bitte aka Kochtopf. They have chosen Tuiles from The Chocolate Book by Angélique Schmeink and Nougatine and Chocolate Tuiles from Michel Roux.



Tuiles with Raspberry Cream
Yields about 20 small tuiles

• 65g softened butter
• ½ cup sifted icing sugar

• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 large egg whites (slightly whisked with a fork)

• ½ cup sifted plain flour


Raspberry Cream
• 2/3 cup thickened cream
• 2 tablespoons icing sugar, sifted
• ¼ cup raspberries, fresh or defrosted if frozen

1. Preheat the oven to 180ºC (350ºF). 

Using a hand whisk or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter, sugar and vanilla to a paste. Keep stirring while you gradually add the egg whites.
2. Add the flour in small batches and stir to achieve a homogeneous and smooth batter. Be careful to not over mix.
3. 
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes to firm up. (This batter will keep in the fridge for up to a week, take it out 30 minutes before you plan to use it).


4. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or grease with either butter/spray and chill in the fridge for at least 15 minutes. This will help spread the batter more easily if using a stencil/cardboard template. Press the stencil on the baking sheet and use an offset spatula or palette knife to spread batter, leaving some room in between your shapes.
5. Bake for about 5-10 minutes or until the edges turn golden brown. Immediately release from baking sheet and proceed to shape/bend the cookies in the desired shape. These cookies have to be shaped when still warm, you might want to bake a small amount at a time.
6. To make the raspberry cream, place cream and icing sugar in a bowl and mix with electric beaters until soft peaks form. Roughly chop the raspberries and gently fold into the cream mixture. Pipe into the cooled tuiles and serve immediately.

Soft Spot

There is something special about gingerbread men, something that makes me think no matter how old you are, they will always have a special place in your heart. A nostalgic soft spot for a baked good is not uncommon; I mean just look how popular cupcakes have become! I remember my parents staying up extraordinarily late making and decorating giant twin gingerbread men for my fourth birthday, and I can definitely imagine making them with my own kids one day.

I have wanted to make up a batch of gingerbread men ever since I saw my favourite Sydney bakery starting to sell them in early December. They are perfect for Christmas-time, and make great little home made gifts. I have kept the embellishments simple – just royal icing and smarties for buttons, but you could get far more creative with fondant or other embellishments if you’re keen!

This recipe makes the kind of gingerbread I like – chewy rather than crunchy, and subtly spiced rather than overpowering. You can of course adjust the amount of ginger used according to your own personal taste. I like to use freshly grated ginger, but if it’s unavailable you could use powdered ginger. The royal icing recipe uses a raw pasteurised egg white, but if you are concerned about health risks, you could use meringue powder instead.

Gingerbread Men
Makes 14-16 cookies
Adapted from Donna Hay magazine

• 125g butter, softened and chopped
• ½ cup brown sugar
• 2/3 cup golden syrup
• 2 ½ cups plain flour, sifted
• 1 teaspoon baking soda, sifted
• 1 ½ teaspoons fresh ginger, grated

Royal Icing
• 1 pasteurised egg white
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1 ½ cups icing sugar, sifted
• Smarties, to decorate

1. Preheat oven to 190ºC (370ºF). Place the butter and brown sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat for 8-10 minutes until light and creamy.
2. Add the golden syrup, flour, baking soda and ginger and beat until mixture just comes together to form a smooth dough. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
3. Roll out dough between 2 sheets of non-stick baking paper until 5mm thick. Use a gingerbread man shaped cookie cutter to cut out shapes. Place on baking trays lined with baking paper and bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden. Cool on trays.
4. To make the royal icing, place the egg white and lemon juice and beat until frothy. Add the icing sugar and beat until mixture is combined and smooth. Use a piping bag or a zip lock bag with the corner snipped off to pipe the icing and decorate the gingerbread men.

Daring Bakers: September

Before I became a Daring Baker, I always got a little bit excited towards the end of the month to see what the challenge had been and what wonderful things the bakers had come up with. This month I’m excited not only to have survived my second challenge, but also because I got to join this lovely group and make Daring Bakers history, with the first Alternative Bakers challenge.

The September challenge consisted of two elements
- A crunchy cracker, gluten free if desired
- A vegan and gluten free dip

Because my sister is (trying to) follow a gluten free diet plan at the moment, I wanted to make the gluten free version of the crackers for her. But this month was so busy that I wasn’t even sure if I would have time to complete the challenge at all, let alone try my very first experiment with gluten free baking. This time around, I used regular bread flour but I have promised that I will try a gluten free version in the near future that she can enjoy.



This was also my first time intentionally making a vegan dish, and its something I’m thankful for. The white bean dip recipe came from the December/January issue of Donna Hay magazine, one I’d wanted to make since I saw it back in summer. The combination of roasted garlic and white beans with lemon and basil was delicious, though not the most attractive dip ever. The salsa was inspired by our bruschetta toppings, with the addition of red capsicum to the tomatoes, parsley and fragrant basil. This summery dip goes very well with a crunchy cracker.

I really liked this challenge, because it was a chance to do something a little different in the kitchen, and pushed me to cook something I’d never even thought of making myself before. I was happy with the taste of the crackers, though while baking, the ones at the edge cooked through long before those in the center and I ended up with a mixture of crunchy crackers and softer, more bread-like crackers. I am looking forward to revisiting this, and trying a gluten free version of these crackers for my sister.

Thanks to Natalie from Gluten A Go Go and Shel of Musings From the Fishbowl for such an inspiring and different theme this month!



Lavash Crackers and Dip
Adapted from The Bread Baker’s Apprentice by Peter Reinhart

Crackers
• 1 ½ cups unbleached bread flour
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon instant yeast
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1/3 to ½ cup + 2 tablespoons water, at room temperature
• Poppy seeds and sesame seeds

Roasted Garlic and White Bean Dip
Adapted from Donna Hay Magazine
• 1 head of garlic, cloves separated
• 1 red onion, chopped
• 1 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 x 400g can white beans (cannellini), rinsed and drained
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons basil leaves, chopped
• sea salt and cracked black pepper

Tomato and Red Capsicum Salsa
• 4 Roma tomatoes, seeded and chopped
• ½ red capsicum, chopped
• 2 tablespoons basil leaves, chopped
• 1 tablespoon parsley, chopped
• 2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
• 2 teaspoons olive oil

1. To make the crackers, stir together the flour, salt, yeast, sugar, oil and just enough water to bring everything together in a mixing bowl. You may not need the full ½ cup + 2 tablespoons of water, but be prepared to use it all if needed.
2. Transfer the dough to a flour sprinkled benchtop. Knead the dough for about 10 minutes, until the ingredients are evenly distributed. The dough should pass the windowpane test, and be medium-firm, satiny to the touch, not tacky and supple enough to stretch when pulled.
3. Lightly oil a bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl, rolling it around to coat it with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and ferment at room temperature for 90 minutes, or until the dough doubles in size.
4. In the meantime, begin making the dip. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Place the garlic, onion and oil on a baking tray covered with non-stick baking paper and toss to coat. Roast for 25 minutes or until the garlic is soft. Peel the garlic and place in a food processor with the onion, beans, lemon juice, basil, salt and pepper and process until smooth. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
5. To make the salsa, place all chopped ingredients with oil and vinegar into a small bowl and stir to combine
6. Mist the benchtop lightly with spray oil and transfer the dough to the bench. Divide the dough in half, press into a square with your hands and dust the top lightly with flour. Roll with a rolling pin into a paper-thin sheet. You may have to stop from time to time, to relax the glutens, so lift the dough from the benchtop and wave it a little. Cover with a clean tea towel or plastic wrap while it relaxes.
7. When it is the desired thinness, let the dough relax for 5 minutes. Line a sheet pan with non-stick baking paper. Carefully lift the sheet of dough and lay it on the tray. If it overlaps the edge of the pan, snip off the excess with scissors.
8. Preheat the oven to 175°C (350°F) with the oven rack on the middle shelf. Mist the top of the dough with water and sprinkle sesame seeds on the dough. Use a sharp knife or a pizza cutter to cut rectangles or diamonds in the dough. You do not need to separate the pieces, as they will snap apart after baking.
9. Bake for 15 – 20 minutes or until the crackers begin to brown evenly across the top. The baking time will depend on how thinly you rolled the dough.
10. When the crackers are baked, remove the pan from the oven and let them cool for about 10 minutes. Break them apart and serve.

Cookie Perfection

If it weren’t for Molly and Joy, I don’t think I would have ever heard of the famous New York Times chocolate chip cookies way over here on the other side of the world. The Internet is such a wonderful thing. I’m so thankful to have found the food blogging world. Where else do likeminded people get as excited about cookies as I do!

I’ve made chocolate chip cookies before, of course, but they were never quite right – some were too oily, others had a poor chocolate-to-cookie ratio, and others still spread too wide or remained too soft and cake-like for my taste. It is abundantly clear that a cookie is a particularly subjective thing. But I’d say without hesitation that these are the best chocolate chip cookies to ever emerge from my oven. A little bit crunchy and a little bit chewy, they are just the way I like them, the very essence of cookie perfection.

The cookies came together easily and quickly, and because the process is split into two parts, it can even be tackled on a weeknight. I think the most challenging part is keeping your hands off the dough while it chills in the fridge. In fact my mother apologised when I came home, saying I might have one less cookie to bake than I expected. When baked, the mounds of cookie dough spread into wide discs of crackly-topped perfection. I sprinkled them with sea salt from Western Australia given to me by Steve, and express-posted him some cookies in return. I hope he likes them as much as I do.

Chocolate Chip Cookies
Adapted from The New York Times
Makes 24

• 480g plain flour
• 1 ¼ teaspoons baking soda
• 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• 1 ½ teaspoons coarse salt
• 280g unsalted butter, softened
• 1 ¼ cups light brown sugar
• 225g granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 500g bittersweet chocolate chips
• Sea salt, to sprinkle

1. Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Whisk well, then set aside.
2. In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars until very light and fluffy, about 3-5 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Mix in the vanilla. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
3. Reduce the mixer speed to low, then add dry ingredients and mix until just combined. This can be messy, so hold a clean dish towel over the top of the bowl. Add the chocolate chips and mix briefly to incorporate.
4. Press plastic wrap against the dough and refrigerate for 24 to 36 hours.
5. When you’re ready to bake, preheat the oven to 175°C (350°F). Remove the bowl of cookie dough from the refrigerator and allow it to soften slightly. Line a baking try with non-stick baking paper.
6. Using an ice cream scoop, scoop six mounds of dough onto the baking sheet, spacing them evenly. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt and bake until golden brown but still soft, about 15-20 minutes. Transfer baking sheet to a wire rack for 10 minutes, then transfer the cookies onto the rack to cool completely. Repeat with remaining dough.