I love baking on a Sunday and yesterday was no exception.   As I had some egg whites left over from the custard I made for the Apple Strudel on Saturday night, I decided to make some meringues drizzled with chocolate.  I also made a South African favourite, Milk / Melk Tart...... Very quick and easy to make, although this is the first time I have made it using this recipe and I will definitely use this one again........ Recipe supplied by my Mom, makes 2 Milk Tarts.

Pastry

125g Butter or Margarine at room temperature
100g (125ml) Sugar
1 Egg beaten
275g (500ml) measured unsifted flour
10ml Baking Powder
Pinch Salt

Method
Preheat your oven to 200ºC and grease 2 1litre ovenproof pie dishes.

• Mix the butter or margarine and sugar together till light and fluffy.
• Add the beaten egg and mix well.
• Sift together the dry ingredients and mix into the egg mixutre to form a light dough.  Place in a bowl and let rest for 20 minutes.
• On a floured surface, roll the pastry out to cover your dishes (the pastry does break when you try lift it so be careful and you can add back the pieces that break, this type of dough allows you to do this). Line the bottom of your pie shell with greaseproof paper / baking paper and baking beads (this is referred to as baking blind with baking beads). 

Bake for 10 -12 minutes per shell till edges start to brown.

Filling

1 litre + 125ml Milk

25g (30ml) Butter or margarine

3 Eggs (2 eggs separated)

150g (200ml) Sugar

20g (40ml) Flour

20g (40ml) Cornflour

Pinch Salt

Cinnamon to taste

Method

• Bring 1 litre milk and butter to boil in large pot.
• Separate 2 of the eggs, set egg whites to one side.  Beat the remaining 125ml milk, the whole egg, 2 yolks, sugar, flour, cornflour and salt into a smooth paste. 
• When the milk/butter is at boiling point, pour some of the hot milk into the egg mixture and mix well.  Place the pot back on the stove and pour the warm egg mixture into the remaining hot milk, whisking all the time.  Bring to the boil and whisk till thick. 
• Beat the egg whites till soft peaks form.  Fold into the thicken mixture. Once fulll mixed, pour into the shells and sprinkle with as much / as little cinnamon as required. 
• Cool completely (till filling has set). 

Enjoy ......



Hello everyone,  hope you are well and had a good weekend.  Feeling loads better, thank goodness.  Over the weekend, I decided to try my hand at making Apple Strudel.  Not something I have made before but man, was it yummy!!!!  I took this recipe from one of the Masterclasses on Masterchef Australia 2012 and am now so chuffed with this pastry, I want to use it on other deserts.  I hope you enjoy .......

  
Strudel pastry

225g plain flour, plus extra for kneading

1 whole egg

125ml warm milk

½ teaspoon salt

30g butter, melted

 

Apple filling

5 pink lady apples

60ml brandy

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

¼ cup raisins

¼ cup flaked almonds

Zest of 1 lemon

¾ cup (165g) brown sugar

125g fresh sourdough breadcrumbs

60g butter, melted for brushing

Icing sugar, for dusting

 

Vanilla Custard

300ml pouring cream

200ml milk

1 vanilla pod, split and seeds scraped

5egg yolks

¼ cup caster sugar

25g corn flour

 

Method for Pastry

• Preheat oven to 180°C fan forced.
• Place flour, egg, milk and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a dough paddle and beat at a low speed to combine.
• Drizzle butter into flour mixture, increase speed and beat to a smooth dough. Turn onto a lightly floured bench and knead until smooth, elastic and doesn’t stick. Place in an oiled bowl, cover and allow to rest for 35-40 minutes.

 Filling

• Peel, core and quarter apples. Roughly cut into medium chunks. Place in a bowl with brandy, cinnamon, raisins, almonds and lemon zest and toss to combine.
• Reserve 1/3 of each brown sugar and breadcrumbs and set to one side. Add the remaining brown sugar and breadcrumbs to the apple mixture, toss to combine and allow to sit, covered, for flavours to infuse.

 Assembly

• Sprinkle bench with flour, roll out dough to a rectangle approximately 40x60cm and very thin. Take a 60cmx80cm piece of cloth or clean tea towel and sprinkle with plain flour. Use a rolling pin to help you transfer the pastry onto the cloth and gently pull pastry by the edges until it is transparent. Ensure thick areas are worked to a similar transparency and dough isn’t sticking to the cloth.
• Sprinkle pastry with some of the reserved breadcrumbs and sugar, then spoon apple mix down the length of the pastry in a rectangular shape 3-4inches wide and piled up high. Sprinkle apple and pastry with the balance of the reserved breadcrumbs and brown sugar.
• To roll, use the cloth to fold the ends of the pastry over apples to encase, fold the sides of the pastry over to seal and roll up loosely into a thick, plump and elongated strudel shape.
• Transfer to a baking paper-lined oven tray and brush with melted butter. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until golden and pastry is crisp.
• Allow to cool slightly before dusting heavily with icing sugar.

 Vanilla Custard

• Place cream, milk, vanilla pod and seeds in a saucepan over a medium heat and just bring to the boil.
• Whisk egg yolks and sugar in a bowl until thick and pale. Whisk in corn flour, pour half of the hot cream into egg mixture, whisking continuously. Pour into remaining cream mixture and return to a medium low heat. Stir continuously with a wooden spoon until mixture is thick and coats the back of a spoon. Strain through a fine mesh sieve into a bowl and allow to cool to room temperature. Pour into a serving jug.    

To serve, cut strudel into thick pieces and serve with a drizzle of custard and a dollop of thick cream (if you would like, something I never did).

Tips

• Pastry - this pastry is so soft and light,  Bakes really well too, will definitely use this recipe again. Don't stretch it out too thinly ~ once you have your filling in, the pastry needs to cover this well, without the apples breaking it. 
• Filling - I used plain breadcrumbs and not sourdough breadcrumbs, works just as well.  I never used the full 60g melted butter as it is too much. 
• Custard - if you don't want a film to form on your custard whilst cooling, cover the custard with clingfilm, i.e. let the clingfilm rest on the custard whilst cooling.  When cool, remove and discard. 

And now for the Cinnamon Rolls I made this afternoon, they smell divine and Tristan's says they are great. I will let you know...They remind me a bit of the Chelsea Buns we used to get at school but without the raisins and glaced icing.....  

Ingredients:-

15g Dried Active Baking Yeast

7 tablespoons Caster Sugar

1 tablespoon Salt

450ml Warm Water (45 C)

800g Plain Flour, divided in batches of 400g

2 Eggs

5 tablespoon Vegetable Oil

8 tablespoon Caster Sugar

1 dessert-spoon Ground Cinnamon

Method:

1. In a large mixing bowl, dissolve yeast and 7 tablespoon sugar in the water.  
2. Stir in the salt and 400g Flour.  Beat mixture for 2 minutes.
3. Beat in the eggs and oil.
4. Stir in the remaining flour, a little at a time, beating well after each addition.
5. When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface.  Knead till smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes.  Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil.  Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in warm place until double in size (about 40 minutes).
6. In a small bowl stir together the remaining sugar and cinnamon and set aside.
7. Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces.Take each piece of dough, roll into a log shape and roll in cinnamon sugar.  Roll up the log into a pinwheel.  Place the pinwheels in a lightly greased 23 x 33 baking tin.  Cover the rolls with a damp cloth and let rise till double in size (about 40 minutes).  Meanwhile preheat your oven at 180C / Gas Mark 4.
8. Bake for 30 minutes, till golden.  
9. Leave for a while before splitting into rolls.

Tips:

I used a large round baking tin instead of a square one and it worked fine.  I decided to decorate with Icing Sugar sprinkled on top, looks quite nice but you don't have to do that...... 

My week at home is almost over, not being as active in the kitchen as I wanted but with my flu, the couch has been my best friend this week. However I have made our Christmas cake and am now topping it up weekly with the brandy.  I love Christmas but always battle to make a nice Christmas cake. But this year I think I have found a winner which I want to share with you....... I have promised my niece that we will decorate the cake together when we go down to London for Christmas but I wanted to show you my decorations.....

Light Christmas Cake:-

Ingredients:

230g Butter
5 medium Eggs
680g Mixed Fruit (currants, raisins, sultanas, peel)
60g Glaced Cherries (roughly chopped)
1/2 teaspoon Mixed Spices
60g Ground Almonds
230g Demerara Sugar
60g Almonds (roughly chopped)
340g Self Raising Flour
110ml Brandy or Rum
(55ml Milk - if needed to adjust consistency of mixture).

110ml Brandy for topping up as cake matures.

Method:

1. Grease the insides of a 20 to 25cm round cake tin with butter or margarine.  Cover the inside of the tin with greaseproof paper. It is important to get the paper to sit as neatly as possible in the tin.
2. Mix the butter and sugar together till thick and creamy.  
3. Keeping your mixer going, careful add the eggs.  Keeping the mixer going on a medium to high speed will stop the eggs curdling. The process of blending in the eggs will incorporate a lot of air into the cake which makes it "light". Turn your oven on now to 170 C, 325F, Gas Mark 3.
4. Remove the mixture from  your mixer, gentle spoon into a wide bowl.
5. Add the flour, ground almonds and mixed spice into the bowl and gentle mix them in.  The object is to mix the ingredients well but don't knock out the air.
6. Add the mixed fruit, glaced cherries, chopped almonds and brandy.  
7. The consistency of the mix should be that you can drop off a spoon with some reluctance.  If the mixture is too thick, add some milk and mix gently again.
8. Gentle spoon the mixture into the lined tin and level out with the back of the spoon.
9. Make a small well in the centre of the mixture, this will prevent the cake from rising too excessively in the centre when baking.  
10. Bake for 3 - 3 and half hours (20 mins less for fan assisted ovens). Turn the cake round once or twice during baking to ensure it cooks evenly.  When fully cooked the top will be slightly cracked.
11. Leave the cake to cool for a couple of hours before storage. To store, cover in greaseproof paper and then wrap in tinfoil or store in an airtight container.  Once a week drizzle some brandy over the top and seal up tightly.

 Little Xmas Trees, Father Xmas and presents

 Snowmen

Snowmen Border

Tips

After 2 hours I started watching my cake as my oven cooks quickly so I never cooked it for the whole 3 hours.  I will use warmed apricot jam when I put the marzipan and royal icing on the cake....... 

I'm about to go on a week's leave (so looking forward to it), to spend some time with Tristan whilst he is on school holidays.   I am not sure how much baking I'll get done as Leigh is busy installing a new cupboard for me in the kitchen (had to remove a wall to do this) which means I may spend more time cleaning then baking.  However if I do get round to baking something, I will be sure to list the details for you. 

Have a great weekend Everyone, stay safe, travel well (depending what you are up too)

Cheers
Mandy

Good morning on this very wet Autumn day in Scotland...... Thought I'd pop in and as requested by a very dear and sorely missed friend, now living in Australia, give the recipe for my Carrot Cake (sorry I don't have any photos, next time I promise).  This recipe was sent to me by my loving Mom, it's easy to make and goes down a treat each time.  Enjoy .....

Ingredients:-

150g Plain Flour
1 teaspoon Cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/4 teaspoon Bicardbonate of Soda
100g Soft brown sugar
2 Eggs
125ml Oil (do not use olive oil, either vegetable or sunflower types)
1/2 Zest of one Lemon (grated) and 1/2 Zest of one Orange (grated) (you can just use one Lemon or one Orange if you prefer)
100g Carrots finely grated
75g Chopped Walnuts (optional)
110g Crushed Pineapples

Method:- 

1. Preheat your oven to 150ºC / 130ºC fan oven / Gas Mark 2.  Line a 20cm cake tin with greaseproof paper.
2. Sift the flour, cinnamon, baking powder and bicardonate of soda together.  Stir in the sugar.
3. Beat the eggs together with the oil and citrus zest.
4. Stir the carrots into the oil mixture.
5. Stir the oil / carrot mixture into the flour mixture and combine as evenly as possible.
6. Fold in the nuts (optional) and the pineapple.
7. Spoon the mixture inot the tin, level out the surface and bake for 1 hour - 1 hour 20 minutes, until the skewer comes out clean.  Allow to cool in tin.

Tips:-

I get all my ingredients ready before I start mixing, i.e. grating the carrots, sifting the dry ingredients so that when I start, I don't have to stop to measure anything out.  Also I use a loaf tin, find this better than a round tin. 

Cream Cheese Frosting:-

60g Butter at room temperature
25g Icing Sugar
125g Cream Cheese

Method:-

1. Beat together the butter and icing sugar until soft. 
2. Beat in the cream cheese.
3. Chill the mixture in the fridge till it's thick and spreadable.  Spread  a thick layer on top of the cold cake.  If you like, you can decorate with some halved walnuts... 

Hope you all enjoy this cake, it is very moist and always a big hit with my work colleagues.....

Sunday 7th October 2012

I spent most of Sunday in my kitchen baking, it was awesome.  Made some Red Velvet Cupcakes followed by Shortbread Biscuits.  Both recipes were taken from an awesome website I found called "Baking Mad", they have some amazing recipes, very easy to follow.  Here is the link, in case you are interested.....

http://www.bakingmad.com/?gclid=CObh2a3b6bICFQu7zAodtAMA2w




Red Velvet Cupcakes

 Recipe for the Cupcakes:-

75 grams pure cocoa powder 

1.50 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract Blend   

125 grams Butter unsalted, softened  

250 grams Golden Caster Sugar   

4  Free Range Eggs Yolks 

240 ml Buttermilk  

1 tsp Salt  

325 grams Plain White Flour, sifted 

1 tsp Bicarbonate Of Soda  and 1 tsp White Wine Vinegar 



Method:-

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (fan 160°C)/350°F/Gas Mark 4). Line two 12-cup muffin tins with cupcake papers. 
2. Sift the cocoa and mix with the vanilla in a small bowl. Set aside. Beat the butter and sugar together in a large bowl, using an electric hand mixer set on medium-high speed, or a free-standing mixer. 
3. Once the butter and sugar mixture is pale, light and fluffy, add the egg yolks, one at a time, and beat until everything is combined. Add the cocoa mixture and beat well for another minute to combine. 
4. Stir the buttermilk and salt together and add it to the butter and sugar mixture, a third at a time, alternating with the flour. Mix the bicarbonate of soda with the vinegar and blend into the batter. Then, with your mixer on high, beat everything together on a high speed for about 5 minutes, until you have a smooth, glossy batter. 
5. Fill each cupcake case to three-quarters full. Bake for 18–20 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the cupcake centre comes out clean.
6. Cool in the tins on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove the cakes and cool completely before frosting.

 For the Frosting:-

240 ml Milk  

3 tbsp Plain White Flour

1 pinch Salt  

225 grams Dark Chocolate either dark chocolate or white chocolate, broken into pieces 

200 grams Butter unsalted, softened  

300 grams Icing Sugar   

2 tbsp pure cocoa powder (omit if making white chocolate frosting) 

1 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract Blend (omit if making white chocolate frosting).

Method:-

1. Whisk the milk, flour and salt in a small saucepan over a medium heat until the mixture thickens and begins to bubble, about 1–2 minutes. Transfer to a small bowl and allow to cool.
2. Melt dark or white chocolate. Set aside to cool. 
3. Beat the butter, sugar and cocoa (if using) together until fluffy. Add to the cooled chocolate followed by the milk mixture and vanilla extract (if using). Beat together until smooth, then spoon into a piping bag with a small plain or star tube. Pipe immediately on to the cupcakes.

Tips
It is really important that an electric hand-held or freestanding mixer is used to blend the cupcake batter thoroughly, so that a loose, glossy mixture is achieved.  Also don't use Muffin cases like I did, this recipe is very rich and they ended up been too much for one person.  One mistake I did make was that I did not let the melted chocolate cool enough so my frosting was very runny (had to leave it in the fridge for about 3 hours to thicken).  But having said all this, they are well worth the effort, they are DIVINE!!!!



 

Shortbread Biscuits



What a lovely easy recipe to follow ~ easy to follow, quick and done within 10 minutes (preparation time).  However the recipe states to bake for 15 minutes, I found this to be too long (the biscuits came out a bit dry but nothing beats having them with a cuppa) so I would bake for 10 minutes and whilst they were cooling down, I sprinkled a bit of Caster Sugar on them (not included in recipe).  My boys love them!!  I made these whilst waiting for the cupcakes to cool down before making my icing..... well worth it........



Ingredients (makes 16 biscuits):-

150 grams Plain White Flour
100 grams Butter  
50 grams Golden Caster Sugar
Vanilla Extract, a few drops 

Method:-

1. Set oven to 180C/gas mark 4 and grease a baking sheet.
2. Sift flour into a bowl, then add the sugar cut up the butter into cubes and add to the other ingredients.
3. Rub the buuter into the flour and sugar with finger tips. When the dough starts to form add the vanilla.
4. Roll dough out on a lightly floured surface and use cuter to cut out shapes.
5. Place on baking sheet and bake for 15-20mins. When golden, take out of the oven and cool on rack.

(Please note that these are not my recipes.  They can be found on www.bakingmad.com)