Tag: baking

Pistachio & White Chocolate Financiers

Published on by Elise BLeave a comment

Named because of their resemblance to a block of gold, these beautiful, flavoursome morsels are a bit fiddly to make but so worthwhile. I use a Kmart silicone mini loaf pan for mine so they’re slightly bigger than the average financier but when they’re this delicious – the bigger the better!

Begin this recipe the day ahead.

Ingredients (makes 12)
Pistachio praline paste
150g caster sugar
150g shelled unsalted, unroasted pistachios

Pistachio financiers
180g unsalted butter
170g icing sugar
80g pistachio meal (I make my own by blitzing unsalted pistachios in a food processor until you reach a sand-like texture)
70g plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
Pinch of salt
120g egg whites
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste

White chocolate & pistachio whipped ganache
400ml thickened cream
150g white chocolate, chopped
50g pistachio praline paste

To decorate
Fresh raspberries, halved
Pistachios, chopped
Edible gold leaf (optional)

Method

Day before serving:
To make the pistachio praline paste, line a baking tray with baking paper. Combine the sugar, and 50ml water in a saucepan and bring to the boil (do not stir at this stage). Once the syrup is boiling, add the pistachios. Stir until the sugar crystallises around the pistachios then continue cooking until the sugar re-melts and caramelises. Remove from the heat and pour onto prepared baking tray. Once cooled, break into shards and blitz in a good processor until it liquefies and forms a paste (it may take up to 15 minutes).

To make the financier batter, cook the butter in a saucepan over a medium heat until it browns (wait until the foam subsides and you have a medium-dark colour). Set aside to cool. Whisk the icing sugar, pistachio meal, flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl until combined. Mix in the egg whites and vanilla, then pour in the burnt butter and mix until just combined. Cover and leave in the fridge overnight.

For the white chocolate & pistachio whipped ganache, put all the ingredients in a small microwave safe bowl and melt in 30-second bursts on medium. Stir to combine, then cover and transfer into the fridge to chill overnight.

Day of serving:
Preheat the oven to 160ºC (approx. 140ºC fan-forced). Spoon the financier batter into the mini loaf pan moulds, filling each approximately one-third full. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until they are golden brown and crisp at the edges. Allow to cool for 5-10 minutes, then pop them out of the moulds and onto a cooling rack to cool completely.

Using an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, briefly whisk the chilled ganache mixture until just fluffy. Transfer the whipped ganache to a piping bag fitted with a Wilton #104 petal nozzle and pipe the ganache onto the top of the financiers. Decorate with fresh raspberries, pistachios and gold leaf. Enjoy!

Adapted from ‘Pistachio financiers’ in First, Cream the Butter and Sugar by Emelia Jackson.

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Strawberry Lover’s Cake (Dairy Free)

Published on by Elise BLeave a comment

This cake is perfect for the strawberry lover in your life and just so happens to be dairy free! I made this after a very successful haul strawberry picking at Beerenberg Farms just out of Adelaide as we were up to our eyeballs in fresh strawberries.

If you don’t need the cake to be dairy free, substitute the dairy-free yoghurt for a Greek-style yoghurt with a drop of vanilla extract and the dairy-free butter for unsalted butter.

Ingredients (serves 8)
250g fresh strawberries, hulled and cut into quarters
225g dairy-free yoghurt (I used Chobani vanilla oat yoghurt)
3 eggs
100ml canola oil
250g caster sugar
180g plain flour
1½ teaspoon baking powder

Strawberry Icing
50g fresh strawberries, hulled and halved
40g dairy-free butter, room temperature
1-1½ cups icing sugar

250g fresh strawberries, hulled and halved, to serve

Method

Preheat the oven to 160ºC fan-forced. Line a 30 x 10cm loaf tin with baking paper.

Whisk the yoghurt, eggs and oil in a large bowl until combined. In a separate bowl, whisk the sugar, flour and baking powder together. Gently fold the dry ingredients into the yoghurt mix until just combined.

Spread half of the cake batter over the base of the lined tin. Fold the strawberries into the remaining batter, then spread on top (this prevents all of the berries sinking to the bottom).

Bake the cake for 55-65 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. Set aside to cool in the tin for 15min before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the icing, blend strawberries with a stick blender until puréed. Add softened butter to a large mixing bowl and use an electric beater to beat until fluffy (about 1 minute). Add strawberry purée and beat until fully incorporated, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a silicone spatula as needed. Add icing sugar ¼ cup at a time and beat after each addition until the icing is thick yet spreadable.

Once the cake is completely cool, spread the icing over the top of the cake with a spatula and top with halved strawberries. Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from ‘Strawberry yoghurt cake with whipped yoghurt’ in First, Cream the Butter and Sugar by Emelia Jackson.

Fondant Christmas Cookies

Published on by Elise BLeave a comment

Ingredients (makes approx. 25 large round cookies)
125g butter
½ cup sugar
1 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 egg
1 ½ cups plain flour
2 teaspoons mixed spice
1 teaspoon baking powder

Approx 200g white fondant icing
Icing sugar
Vanilla essence
Red and green food colouring

Method
Cream butter, sugar & vanilla using electric beaters until well combined. Add the egg and beat until light and fluffy.

Using a wooden spoon or silicone spatula, mix sifted dry ingredients into wet ingredients until a dough forms. Knead gently for 1-2 minutes on a lightly floured bench and then divide into 2 roughly equal pieces, cover with clingfilm and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 180°C (160 fan-forced). Roll out dough onto a lightly floured surface using a rolling pin until you reach your desired thickness (I like mine around 5-6mm) and cut out circles using a large round cookie cutter. Repeat until you have used all the dough.

Place onto a baking tray (they don’t have to be spread out much as they don’t really expand) and bake for approximately 12-15 minutes, or until lightly golden.

While the cookies cool, make your vanilla glaze by combining vanilla essence and icing sugar until you have a thick syrup consistency.

Divide your fondant icing into 3 roughly equal parts. Colour one red, one green and leave the other white.

Roll out your fondant using a rolling pin on a surface lightly dusted with icing sugar until 3-4mm thick. Use the same round cutter as for the cookie to cut out circles of fondant.

Brush each cookie with a small amount of the vanilla glaze and the top with fondant. Press down gently to ensure the fondant has adhered completely to the cookie. Stamp with a ‘Merry Christmas’ cookie stamp or decorate as desired. Repeat until all cookies have been decorated. Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from ‘The Best Valentine Sugar Cookies’ on Alice & Lois.com

Lemon & Raspberry Muffins

Published on by Elise BLeave a comment

I love Nigella recipes because they’re consistently quick, easy and delicious. These muffins are no exception, taking under 40 minutes from start to finish. The recipe is also incredibly flexible – you can use fresh or frozen raspberries (or any other fruit for that matter) or try switching the lemon for another citrus fruit of your choice. Happy baking!

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Ingredients (makes 12)
60g butter
200g plain flour
2 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon bicarb soda
150g caster sugar
Juice and z est of 1 lemon
Milk (approx. 120ml)
1 large egg
150g raspberries

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Method

Preheat the oven to 200ºC. Line a muffin tin with 12 patty pans.

Melt the butter in a medium bowl and set aside to cool.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, bicarb, sugar and lemon zest.

Pour the lemon juice into a large measuring jug and add milk until it comes to 200ml (don’t worry about it curdling). Add the milk mixture to the melted butter and then beat in the egg.

Combine the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients until just combined (don’t overmix it as your muffins will be tough). Gently stir through the raspberries.

Spoon the batter into the patty pans and bake for 25 minutes or until the muffins spring back when touched. Enjoy!

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Recipe adapted from Nigella’s ‘Lemon-Raspberry Muffins’ in How to Be a Domestic Goddess.

Parmesan & Fennel Seed Biscuits

Published on by Elise BLeave a comment

These crumbly, flavoursome biscuits are perfect for entertaining. Try them on a cheese platter or serve by themselves with a good red wine. Delicious!

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Ingredients (makes ~35 medium stars)
120g parmesan cheese, roughly chopped
1 cup plain flour
1 tablespoon cornflour
150g cold butter, chopped
2⅓ teaspoons fennel seeds, plus extra for decoration
1 tablespoon milk, plus extra for brushing

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Blitz the parmesan in a food processor until finely grated. Add flour and cornflour and process until combined. With the motor running, add the butter and blitz until fine crumbs form. Add fennel seeds and milk and blitz until a dough forms.

Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 20 seconds. Cover dough in Gladwrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 180°C (~160°C fan-forced). Line 3 baking trays with baking paper.

Roll dough out with a rolling pin until approximately 5mm thick. Cut out medium stars (or other shape of your choosing) and place on prepared trays. Brush each biscuit with a small amount of milk and sprinkle with extra fennel seeds.

Bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden. Enjoy!

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Adapted from Donna Hay’s ‘Fennel and Parmesan Biscuits’.

Coffee & Walnut Torte

Published on by Elise BLeave a comment

While the ingredients for this torte look a little odd (particularly the Jatz biscuits!) the end result is absolutely delicious – the torte is crisp on the outside and chewy on the inside with a subtle coffee flavour. It’s a firm family favourite that always disappears far too quickly.

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Ingredients (serves 6-8)
3 egg whites
1 cup caster sugar
½ teaspoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
20 Jatz biscuits, crushed
⅔ cup walnuts

1 tablespoon icing sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon instant coffee (dissolved in a small amount of water)
1 cup cream
Chocolate shavings (to decorate)
Walnuts (to decorate)

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Preheat oven to 180°C (160°C fan-forced). Line a 9″ pie plate with baking paper.

Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Gradually add caster sugar, vinegar and vanilla and beat until very stiff. Fold in Jatz biscuits and walnuts. Spread in prepared pie plate and smooth the top.

Bake for 35 minutes. Prop open the oven door and allow to cool in the oven for approximately 20 minutes. Then transfer to a wire rack and allow to cool completely. Trim the baking paper so it can no longer be seen.

To make the coffee cream, add icing sugar, vanilla, coffee and cream to a medium bowl and bit until thickened and stiff.

Spread generously over the cooled torte and, if desired, decorate with chocolate shavings and extra walnuts. Keep in the fridge until ready to serve. Enjoy!

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Recipe from Kaye Potter.

Banana Bread with Chocolate Chips

Published on by Elise BLeave a comment

This banana bread is super simple to make and is a perfect way to use up ‘dead’ bananas. It travels well so is great in kids’ lunch boxes, and will last for ~2 months in the freezer.

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Ingredients (serves 8-10)
125g butter, softened
¾  cup caster sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla essence
3 overripe bananas
1 ¾ cups plain flour
1 teaspoon bicarb soda
½ cup milk chocolate chips (optional)

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Method
Preheat your oven to 180°C (160°C fan-forced). Grease and line a 1-litre loaf pan.

Cream the butter and sugar with a handheld mixer until pale and thick. Beat in the eggs, vanilla and banana, followed by the flour and bicarb soda, beating until just combined. If desired, stir through the chocolate chips until evenly dispersed.

Pour the mixture into your prepared pan, smooth over the top and then bake for 55-60 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the thickest part of the bread comes out clean.

Allow to cool in the tin for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Enjoy! I love mine fresh for the first few days and then toasted with a bit of margarine.

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Adapted from Matt Preston’s “Rock Star Banana Bread” from his Cook Book.

Elsa’s Snowflake Cookies

Published on by Elise BLeave a comment

These beautiful snowflake cookies look like something Elsa from Frozen would make, and are a fantastic way to get your kids involved in the kitchen. These are perfect for Christmas or for a Frozen themed Birthday party.

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Ingredients (makes around 40 cookies)
Equipment:
1 large snowflake cookie cutter
1 small snowflake cookie cutter

For the cookies:
½ cup butter
½ cup sugar
1 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon mixed spice
1 small egg
½ teaspoon water
1 ½ cups flour
¾ teaspoons baking powder

To decorate:
Blue hard lollies (we used Melbourne Rock Candy Bo Peep collection)
White chocolate, melted

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Method
Cream butter, sugar & vanilla using electric beaters until well combined. Add the egg and water and beat until light and fluffy.

Using a wooden spoon or silicone spatula, mix sifted dry ingredients into wet ingredients until a dough forms. Divide into 2 roughly equal pieces, cover with glad wrap (or plastic wrap) and refrigerate for an hour.

Line 3 large trays with baking paper.

Roll out dough using a rolling pin until it is approximately 1cm thick. Use the large snowflake cutter to cut out snowflakes from the dough, and carefully place on the lined trays (no need to leave room for spreading as they don’t). Then line up the smaller cutter in the centre of the large snowflake to cut out the dough – you can either bake these little snowflakes as cookies or put them back into the dough to cut out more large snowflakes.

Preheat oven to 190-200°C  (180°C fan-forced).

Blitz blue hard candy in a blender until they are fine crystals. Using a teaspoon, carefully sprinkle the crystals into the empty centres of the cookies ensuring that the centre is fully covered. Brush away any crystals not in the centre as these will discolour the cookies.

Bake cookies for 8-12 minutes, until lightly golden. Leave to cool on the baking trays for 5 minutes, before gently transferring onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Once the cookies are cool, decorate by piping melted white chocolate onto the cookies.

Enjoy!

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Sugar cookie recipe adapted from ‘Alice & Lois.com’ – ‘The Best Valentine Sugar Cookies’

Design idea from Pinterest.

Coconut & Raspberry Bread

Published on by Elise BLeave a comment

This is a ‘bread’ like banana bread, in that it’s really more like a bread-shaped cake. Name aside, it’s super simple to make and perfect for brunch, afternoon tea or dessert. I like it because it’s deliciously moist and not too sweet, but feel free to dust it with icing sugar to make it extra decadent. thumb_img_2444_1024

Ingredients (serves 8-10)
1 ¾ cups desiccated coconut
1 ½ cups coconut milk (I use Vitasoy unsweetened coconut milk found in the longlife milk section at most supermarkets)
¾ cup caster sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1 ⅔ cups self-raising flour
1 cup frozen raspberries

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Method
Add the coconut and coconut milk to a large bowl and stir to combine. Cover with Gladwrap and let it stand for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 170°C. Spray a loaf pan with cooking oil and line with baking paper, ensuring you have overhang at both sides to help get it out.

Stir sugar, egg and vanilla essence in to the coconut mixture. Gently stir in the flour and then fold through the frozen raspberries.

Spoon into prepared pan and bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes, or until a skewer inserted come out clean. Cool in pan for 5 minutes, then lift onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Dust with icing sugar to serve if desired. Enjoy!

thumb_img_2449_1024It’s also delicious toasted with margarine or butter!

Recipe adapted from a 2006 issue of Super Food Ideas.

Peanut Butter, Caramel & Chocolate Drip Cake

Published on by Elise BLeave a comment

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This cake is highly over-the-top, but highly delicious. 3 layers of rich dark chocolate cake slathered in salted caramel sauce and peanut butter frosting, draped in chocolate ganache and topped with all things good: honeycomb, caramel macarons, peanut brittle, maltesers, snickers pods, jersey caramels and caramel popcorn.

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Ingredients (serves 16)
Chocolate Layer Cake
2 boxes dark chocolate cake ( I used Betty Crocker moist devil’s food cake)

Salted Caramel Filling 

Peanut Butter Frosting
1 ½ cups smooth peanut butter
375g butter, softened
6 teaspoons vanilla extract
6 cups icing sugar
3 tablespoons milk

Dark Chocolate Ganache
170g dark chocolate melts
¾ cup cream
1 ½ teaspoons corn syrup

Toppings
1 x packet Snickers pods
1 x packet caramel popcorn
1 x packet jersey caramels (halved diagonally)
1 x packet peanut brittle
1 x packet Maltesers
Salted caramel macarons (optional)
Honeycomb

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Method
Make 4 cakes, according to packet instructions, by halving the batter from each cake mix. Carefully trim cooked cakes where necessary to ensure they are perfectly flat, and use the best 3 (freeze the 4th for another time, or add a 4th layer if you really want to impress).

To make the frosting, beat peanut butter and butter until smooth. Add vanilla and slowly add the icing sugar. Add the milk and beat until just combined.

Spread a generous layer of frosting onto the bottom cake layer, and then top with caramel filling. Repeat with the remaining layer/s.

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Spread frosting onto the top and sides of the cake – don’t worry if you get crumbs in it, this is called the crumb coat. Using a spatula or protractor (as I did!), scrape off excess frosting so you have a thin smooth layer.

Refrigerate cake for 30 minutes or until frosting is firm. Add a second layer of frosting onto the top and sides of cake, using the protractor again to scrape off the excess and create a smooth finish. Refrigerate for a further 30 minutes.

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Place chocolate melts into medium bowl and set aside. Heat cream in a saucepan over medium-high heat just until it almost starts to simmer. Remove from heat and pour over chocolate. Let sit for about 5 minutes and then stir with a wooden spoon until chocolate is completely melted and smooth. Stir in corn syrup.

Use a spoon to add a few purposeful drips over the top edge of the cake. Then spoon more ganache on top of the cake, allowing it to drip at varying points around the cake.

Top cake with honeycomb, caramel popcorn, maltesers, jersey caramels, pods and macarons. Enjoy!

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