Dunnn to Perfection

DTP's Facebook Page

2012-02-18T11:07:00.001+11:00

Yes, I finally created a DTP Facebook page so if you are on FB and find it easier to follow your favourite blogs that way please head over and 'Like' my page - the FB badge is on the right hand side of this page or you can click here!

I will be posting links to my blog posts on the FB page and adding other foodie finds that I find along the way!

Other ways to follow DTP is by subscribing via email - the little email box is on the right hand side of the main page and its very simple to do - just insert your email address and then you will receive an email to 'activate' it - you just have to click on a link to confirm.

Thanks!

The yummiest Cinnamon Scrolls!

2012-02-01T10:49:00.000+11:00

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OMG - these are so delicious!! I found this recipe on Best Recipes but after making it a few times now I have changed a few things. I was lucky enough to get a beautiful addition to my kitchen last year...its shiny and pretty and I love it!!! Its my Kenwood Chef and while the normal beater and whisk attachment had got a good workout over the last couple of weeks I hadn't got around to using the dough hooks - my old mixer used to nearly shake itself off the bench when I used the dough hooks but the Kenwood's 1000w motor and weight means that making delicious dough doesn't cause me so much angst!

This recipe does need time but ideally it can be made up to the second rising stage (end of step3) and then baked just before you want to serve it - so its great for morning tea but doesn't have to be made from scratch on the morning.

Dough Ingredients

2 sachets of dry yeast

1 cup of warm milk

1/2 cup of caster sugar

1/2 cup melted butter

1tsp salt

2 eggs

5 cups of plain flour

Filling Ingredients

1 cup of brown sugar

2 1/2 tablespoons on cinnamon

1/3 cup of butter softened

Icing Ingredients

1 cup of icing sugar

1/4 cup melted butter and warmed milk

Step 1 - Dough

Mix 4 cups of the flour, yeast,caster sugar, salt in a bowl - stir to combine. Add warmed milk, melted butter and eggs and mix using dough hooks until the mixture is combined. It may still be quite wet so if necessary add a little bit more flour (about 1/4 cup at a time) until it forms a nice smooth ball.

Place dough mix in a large greased bowl, cover with glad wrap and leave in a warm place until it doubles its size - this might take 1 -2 hours depending on the temperature.

Step 2 - Make the filling

Beat the butter until it looses it yellow colouring, add the brown sugar and beat until combined, add the cinnamon and beat for at least 5 minutes - the mixture should be nice and smooth and light brown in colour.

Step 3 - Rolling the scrolls

Sprinkle bench top with a bit of flour and roll your dough out. You may need to knead it a bit by hand to get a bit of elasticity into it. Roll it out into a large rectangle shape (between 1/2 cm and 1cm thick). Turn it so the rectangle is horizontal (long sides at the top as this will make the rolling easier)

Spread filling over all the dough. Start rolling TOWARDS you from the top edge of the rectangle - you don't have to roll the whole length at once - just start at one end and fold towards you and then gently stretch the dough and roll - this will mean you get more spiral in your scrolls. Once you reach one end just keep rolling back to the other end. You will end up with a big log!

Line a high sided biscuit tray (lamington tin or similar) with glad bake paper.

Cut into scrolls - about 6cm wide and place on the tray with the gorgeous spiral facing upwards.You will need to leave about 2-3cm between scrolls to allow for rising.

You should end up with about 12 scrolls.

Cover with glad wrap and leave to rise a second time.

(You can make them to this stage the day before and leave overnight until you are ready to bake them.)

Step 4 - Baking and icing

Preheat your oven to 190'c and bake for 10 -15 minutes - the scrolls should have a nice brown colouring. They will appear soft around the edges.

While the scrolls are baking - mix up the icing - sift the icing sugar and add a little of the milk and butter mixture until it is runny - you want it to be runny so you can drizzle it over the scrolls.

Once the scrolls are baked cooling - drizzle the icing over them while they are still in the tray.

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Linked to
Craft Party @ Polly want a crafter
Sunday Showcase @ Under the Table and Dreaming
Market yourself Mondays @ Sumos sweet stuff
I made it Mondays @Ninth Street Notions
Craft o maniac Link Party @ Craft o Maniac
Sunday Scoop Party @ I heart Nap Time
Nifty Thrify Sunday @ Nifty Thrify Things
One project at a time @ A bowl full of lemons
Craft and Tell @ Cherished Bliss
Tuesday time out @ Reasons to skip housework
Show me what ya got @ Not just a housewife
Craft Catwalk @ Embellishing life everyday

One grey elephant

2012-01-21T15:16:00.001+11:00

Happy birthday Hudson!

This elephant cake was made for a little man's first birthday, its a butter cake with butter cream icing.

To make this you will need:

2 Round cakes (20 cm/8") (your choice for type of cake although mud and butter cakes carve into other shapes well)
Butter cream icing - 250g butter at room temperature, 4 cups of icing sugar - sifted, 4 Tb milk at room temperature
Black food colouring (liquid)
Coconut
Chocolate coated biscuits
Licorice
Jellybean
Mint lolly
M&M

Trim the tops of both cakes so they are flat and not rounded.
Leave one cake a complete circle.
Cut a circle out of the second cake so you have a small circle (for the head), you be left with the outer ring - cut four pieces for the legs, one piece of the trunk. There will be a smaller piece that is unused after cutting all the necessary pieces - put aside and eat for morning tea!

Apologies for the dodgy drawings! I forgot to take a picture of the un-iced cake to show how its set up! The top part is the two cakes showing where to cut, the bottom is how you assemble all the pieces.

Make butter cake as per instructions - I used a packet mix from my local cake store for this one.
Butter cream icing - beat butter until as white as possible (may take up to 10 minutes) and add in icing sugar and then milk. Add food colouring until you get the shade of grey that you prefer.

Place coconut in clip lock bag and add food colouring (1-2 drops at a time) seal bag and shake around, continue adding colouring until the coconut is the shade you prefer.

Ice, sprinkle with coconut while the icing is still fresh so it sticks.
Biscuit for the ear
Use a bit of icing to stick the M&M on to the mint lolly for the eye
Jelly bean for tusk
Licorice strap cut into frays at the end for tail and eyelash and little pieces for the hooves.

Linked to
Sunday Blog Love @ Cherished Treasures

Snickerdoodle Cake

2012-01-16T20:56:00.001+11:00

A Snickerdoodle Cake....well I had never heard of such a cake before seeing this on Foodie with Family, I have since learnt that is it name after a type of biscuit that has the same flavours - vanilla and cinnamon. So if you are a fan of either or both of those things than I suggest you give this cake a whirl!

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American recipes use 'sticks' of butter when referring to the weight - here in Australia we list the actual grams, I found this cool conversion site that does the thinking for you!

I have adapted the original recipe... I made one cake and cut it into three layers with the buttercream inbetween each layer. The cake batter is thick enough that you can use a springform tin if you have one.I just cover the bottom of the springform tin with greaseproof paper and then grease the inner sides - makes it easier to release the cake from the tin later. So below is the quantity for a single cake and enough icing for layers and on top and sides.

Snickerdoodle Cake

1 1/2 cups plain flour
1 1/2 cups Self raising flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon ,

230g butter softened

1 3/4 cups caster sugar
4 large eggs, room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups whole milk, warmed to room temperature

Buttercream Icing

250g butter, softened

1 cup light brown sugar, packed
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
4-5 cups of icing sugar -sifted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup of milk

Method for cake

Preheat oven to 170'c, grease 22cm cake tin.

Sift both flours, cinnamon, baking powder and salt together.
Beat butter and sugar until pale - this will take a couple of minutes.

Add in each egg one at a time, beating well after each one.

Add vanilla.

Add a third of the milk and a third of the flour mixture and beat until combined, continue until all flour and milk are mixed in.

Pour into cake tin and bake for about 40 minutes. Check with a skewer.

Let the cake cool before removing from tin.

Method for Icing

Beat the butter, brown sugar and cinnamon until pale - this make take 5 minutes.

Add vanilla extract and then add 4 cups of the the icing sugar one cup at a time until smooth.

Add milk and mix, if the icing is too wet add the last cup of icing sugar.

Icing the cake

It is essential that the cake is cool before attempting to cut it into layers.

Trim the top of the cake so its a flat top.

Cut the cake into layers, place the bottom layer on the plate you are planning on serving the cake from - once it's iced it will be too tricky to move.

Spread icing inbetween the layers and on the sides and top.

Make decorative swirls with a blunt knife once the top is icing properly.

This could easily be adapted for muffins - you would just need to shorten the cooking time - I would suggest 15 -20 minutes.

Linked to:

Craft and Tell @ Cherished Bliss

Get your craft on @ Today's Creative Blog
Ta da Tuesday@Mommybydadcrafterbynight

Foodie Friday @ Designs by Gollum

Sunday Blog love @Cherished Treasures

Nifty Thrifty Things Sunday @ Nifty Thrifty Things

DTP's Christmas Countdown....foodie gifts ideas!

2011-12-11T20:07:00.001+11:00

Just thought I would share a few foodie gift ideas that you can make yourself....

Cute idea from Life of a Modern Mom - all you need is some beer of choice, some brown pipe cleaners, google eyes and red pompom/dot sticker.

Source: lifeofamodernmom.blogspot.com via Cath on Pinterest

We Whisk you a merry Christmas! From Peppermint Plum

You will need - A packet mix of your choice, whisk, some little chocolates and cellophane to wrap. These lovely bloggers Annie and Tammy have also included a link for the cute labels pictured below! So if you are keen to give this idea a go then head over and pay their blog a visit!

Source: peppermintplum.blogspot.com via Cath on Pinterest

And if you haven't heard of Bakerella then you are missing out! She has a wonderful website and regularly creates gorgeous cake pops. This idea has been around for a while but her version looks so pretty! Of course you can substitute the layer of M&M's for smarties, Christmas M&M's or dried fruit. All the instructions are available on her website.

Source: bakerella.com via Cath on Pinterest

DTP's Christmas Countdown - Sweet and Savoury Christmas Trees

2011-12-06T09:01:00.000+11:00

Love these two ideas!

Christmas in Australia means outdoors entertaining, which means nibbles! This idea comes from the Cabot Cheese website and is a great idea to use for when you're having Christmas drinks with friends or colleagues.

Source: cabotcheese.coop via Cath on Pinterest

Sweet and healthy version for a kid's Christmas party - this comes from a lovely blog called good + happy, blogger Patricia made this gorgeous tree for her daughter's kinder party - fabulous idea!

Source: goodhappyday.blogspot.com via Cath on Pinterest

DTP's Christmas Countdown - KitKat and M&M Cake

2011-11-30T21:16:00.001+11:00

Well the KitKat and M&M cake that I made and posted about a little while ago certainly proved to be a popular post! If you haven't tried it and are looking for an excuse then you can add your own festive twist by using the Green and Red M&M's that are available at the moment.

Be sure to check the packaging of the M&M's as some are packaged and are made to look like they are Christmassy but just normal colours (of course I don't think they would go to waste if you accidentally bought the wrong ones though ;) The Christmas pack has a bowl of green and red M&M's in a bowl on the front.

DTP's Christmas Countdown - Finger food

2011-11-30T13:32:00.001+11:00

Caprese Sticks

These little gems are great for finger food options at your Christmas BBQ, cocktail party or just drinks with good friends!

I made these not long ago and they are simple but tasty, by cutting the tomato in half you are able to stand them up for display and it makes it easy for people to pick them up too.

These are best made just before serving as the tomatoes weep a bit due to them being upright. The alternative is to use cherry tomatoes and leave them whole and lie the stick down when serving on platter. If you can get the bambini (little) bocconcini it makes it slightly easier as they are the perfect bite size.

Caprese Sticks

1 tub of bambini

1 punnet of Mini roma tomatoes/cherry tomatoes

Bunch of fresh basil

Balsamic vinegar

Toothpicks

Wash tomatoes and basil.

Place tomato (half if using romas) on to toothpick, fold the basil leaf in half and thread on to toothpick finishing with bocconcini.

You can finish them by drizzling a tiny bit of balsamic vinegar over them once on the serving platter.

*****

Some more tasty ideas that I thought I would share with you!

Another 'food on a stick' option, this one comes from Southern Living

If the caprese sticks are not filling enough for your guests then perhaps you could try these... Italian Skewers - salami, artichoke, mozzarella and olive all on the one stick!

Source: southernliving.com via Cath on Pinterest

And these gorgeous Blue Cheese Tarts with Truss Tamatoes from ever reliable Taste website.

Source: taste.com.au via Cath on Pinterest

DTP's Christmas Countdown - Brownie Christmas Trees

2011-11-29T21:11:00.001+11:00

Today's idea comes from the Betty Crocker website, I haven't made these but they look simple enough!

Source: bettycrocker.com via Cath on Pinterest

Brownies are always popular and these are such a cute way to do them at Christmas time!

This idea comes from the Betty Crocker website so it obviously uses their brownie mix and icing for decoration.It is a thick frosting type of icing (available where you buy the cake mixes in the supermarket) so if you make your own make sure it is thick enough not to run all over the brownie- a buttercream type icing would work.

Here is a Brownie Recipe that I have used before and can recommend.

You will need:
Brownies cut into small triangles.
Pre made or home made buttercream Icing
Green food colouring
Mini M&M's or similar lollie for decorating
Mini Candy Canes for Tree trunk

Enjoy!

DTP's Christmas Countdown has begun!

2011-11-29T12:47:00.001+11:00

This festive season I would like to share some foodie ideas with you in the lead up to the big day, hopefully I will inspire you to try a few! I will be sharing things that I have made as well as showing you some gorgeous creations from fellow foodies.

Today's idea comes from the infamous crafty/foodie/DIY expert Martha Stewart....Reindeer Gingerbread!

Use a gingerbread man biscuit cutter and turn him on his head to decorate! Use melted chocolate to make his face and little lollies for his eyes, nose and ears!

Cute!

Here is the link to Martha's site, you will be able to find her Gingerbread recipe there if you need it.

Pretty Pansy Shortbreads

2011-11-08T13:15:00.000+11:00

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Afternoon tea parties are a great way to bring friends together and also a perfect time to try a few new recipes! I found this delightful decorated shortbread idea via Pinterest on the lovely blog called StoneGable.

I used the recipe on the Rice flour box and the decorating step is not as tricky as it looks!

So if you have some lovely pansies in your garden or if you have a green thumb friend or family member like me (thanks mum!) then this is a great recipe to try - believe me your guests will be impressed!

This can work for any shortbread recipe so if you have a favourite tried and true one already then just use that! To stick the pansies on to the biscuit you will need DRIED egg white, this can be found at cake decorating shops, I got a small container for $6 and it will last a long time!

Shortbread Recipe

225g plain flour

1 pinch of salt

115g rice flour

115g caster sugar

225g butter (room temperature)

Preheat oven to 130'c fan forced (150'c electric, 300 Fahrenheit or gas mark 2)
Sift both flours, salt and sugar together and the rub butter into flour mix until mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
Work the mix until it forms into more of a dough like consistency. It will become smoother and can be rolled out on a piece of gladbake (this makes it easier to lift the shapes after being cut).
Roll out and cut using a scone cutter or upturned glass.
Place on baking tray lined with gladbake and bake for 45 minutes or until lightly browned.

Decorating with Pansies

Pansies (make sure they have not been sprayed with any pest sprays etc)

1 - 2tsp Egg White powder

1- 2 tablespoons water

1/2 cup caster sugar

Pick the pansies and gentle rinse under cold water, dry them carefully with paper towel or tissues.
Once the shortbread biscuits are thoroughly cooled, carefully take the flower off the stem, don't worry if the petals fall off individually as you can still use them.
Mix the egg white powder and water together until you have a thin paste consistency.
Paint the biscuit with the egg white mix and then while it is still wet place the flower petals on the biscuit, gently press down the petals and then paint the top of the flower with the egg white mixture again, sprinkle with caster sugar.
Place on tray and put them back into the oven 160'c for 5 minutes. Take out of oven and let cool before serving.

Something I whipped up @ The Girl Creative

Mouthwatering Mondays @ A Southern fairytale

Market Yourself Mondays @ Sumo's Sweet Stuff

Making the world Cuter Monday @ MTWC

Get your craft on @ Today's creative blog

Cookie Dough Truffles

2011-10-27T15:27:00.001+11:00

Hands up who likes to eat the cookie dough mixture?! Well if you are like me you always have to *taste test* the mixture for quality assurance just in case its too awful to serve to other people.... the only thing is it's not meant to be eaten raw... raw egg is bad for you *not listening - la la la la*.. well rest assured - here is the recipe for you!

This cookie dough is meant to be eaten raw - YAY!

This recipe is adapted from a lovely recipe by Love and Olive Oil which is written by a married couple - Lindsay and Taylor - check them out here. I've just 'aussiefied' the ingredients but for American readers you can find the original recipe here.

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Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Truffles

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups plain flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda (Bicarb soda )
250g butter , room temperature
3/4 cup caster sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla or 1 vanilla bean
1/3 cup milk
1 cup milk chocolate chips
2 blocks of Dark cooking chocolate

Directions:

Beat butter and sugars and in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add milk and vanilla.
Stir in flour, baking soda and salt and mix on low speed (or by hand) until all ingredients are combined. Stir in chocolate chips.
Cover and chill dough for 1 hour.
Roll into small balls and place on a tray lined with glad bake paper.
Place sheets in freezer and let chill for 30 minutes. ( I skipped this bit and it was okay!)
Melt dark chocolate in a bowl sitting over boiling water in a saucepan (make sure the base of the bowl doesn't touch water)
Dip the balls into the melted chocolate and turn them around so they are totally covered in chocolate. Tap off any excess chocolate and place on tray to set.
Place tray in fridge and leave to set.

Notes - These can be made to step 3 and left overnight in the fridge, the mixture will be firm but can still be rolled into balls quite easily.

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Linked to:

Sugar and Spice @ SevenThirtyThree

Get your craft on @ Today's Creative Blog

Sweet indulgences Sunday @ A well seasoned life

Sweets for a Saturday @ Sweet as Sugar Cookies

Mouthwatering Mondays @ A Southern fairytale

Market Yourself Mondays @ Sumo's Sweet Stuff

MAking the world Cuter Monday @ MTWC

Tempt my Tummy Tuesdays @ Blessed with grace

Craft and tell @ Cherished Bliss
Foodie Friday @ Designs by Gollum

Nigella's Chocolate Raspberry Pavlova

2011-09-19T09:22:00.000+10:00

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I discovered this version of the traditional Aussie dessert on Pinterest (I am slightly addicted...) Pavlova is a popular summer dessert here in Australia - often served with fresh summer fruit or chocolate. My brother-in-law requested a Pavlova for his birthday cake at our family dinner, having 'pinned' this recipe a while ago it was a great reason to give it a go.

If you know how to make pavlova then its not hard to adapt this recipe - you just need to add cocoa and grated/finely chopped chocolate to the meringue mix once the meringue is whipped.

So here is the recipe - adapted from Nigella.

Pavlova Base

6 egg whites
300g caster sugar
3 tablespoons cocoa powder, sieved
1 teaspoon balsamic or red wine vinegar
50g dark chocolate - grated and/or finely chopped

Topping

500ml double cream
2 tablespoons icing sugar
500g raspberries(fresh or frozen)
2-3 tablespoons coarsely grated dark chocolate

Method

Serves: 8-10.

Preheat the oven to 180°C, line a baking tray with baking paper.
Beat the egg whites until peaks form (if you stop the beater and lift them up out of the bowl, if a peak forms then it is at the right stage) This beating can take up to a couple of minutes)
Beat in the sugar a spoonful at a time until the meringue is stiff and shiny. A good test to know if the meringue is stiff enough is to turn the bowl upside down - if the mix doesn't move then its ready.
Sprinkle over the cocoa and vinegar, and the chopped chocolate. Then gently fold everything until the cocoa is thoroughly mixed in. Spoon on to a baking sheet in a circle shape 23cm in diameter, smoothing the sides and top. Place in the oven, then immediately turn the temperature down to 150°C and cook for about 1 hour and 15 minutes. It should look crisp around the edges and on the sides and be dry on top, but when you prod the centre you should feel squidginess beneath your fingers. Turn off the oven and open the door slightly, and let the chocolate meringue disc cool completely.
Turn upside down on to a large plate, just before serving whip cream and spread on top (not down the sides) spoon raspberries over cream and then sprinkle the chocolate over the raspberries.

Notes -

* Separating eggs is easier to do when they are cold but whipping egg whites is best at room temperature.

* I used a pizza tray for this so I didn't need to drawer a circle on the paper.

* Dab a bit of olive oil on the underside of the paper to help it "stick" it to the tray, makes it easier when you are spreading and shaping the meringue.

* My pav dropped a bit in the middle so I didn't turn it upside down at step 5, just topped it with cream, raspberries and chocolate.

*Another version of this dessert is to make it with three layers of chocolate meringue - cream in between and cream,raspberries on top. However I think you would need to double the original measurements but lessen the cooking time as the disks wouldn't be as thick. (One to try for another day!)

This was delicious and enjoyed by all! Will definitely make it again!

Linked to:

Sweet Indulgences Sunday @ A well seasoned life

Sunday Showcase @ Under the table and dreaming

Market yourself Mondays @ Sumo's Sweet Stuff

Just Whipped it up @ The Girl Creative

Making the world cuter @ MTWC

Get your craft on @ Today's Creative Blog

Tim Tam Hedgehog Slice

2011-08-16T17:15:00.004+10:00

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Tim Tam biscuits are an Australian icon, they are chocolate lover's heaven - made from two biscuits and joined with a chocolate creamy mix and then covered in a layer of chocolate!

Do you have Tim Tam's where you live?? I'm interested to know if their popularity stretches beyond our shores.

Steph from Raspberri Cupcakes Blog even created a Tim Tam Cake - OMG!

I came across a wonderful Australia food blogger a couple of weeks back, Stone Soup is an amazing blog all about creating tasty food in a short amount of time! It is definitely worth a visit! Jules has created two FREE recipe books that are available to download as a PDF file - yes FREE! While browsing through these recipes I came across a recipe for Chocolate Tim Tam Hedgehog....now that definitely got my attention!

So this is a dark chocolate version of Jule's recipe.

Dark Chocolate Tim Tam Hedgehog Slice

1 packet of Dark Tim-Tam Biscuits - crushed

100g butter - melted

100g dark chocolate - chopped

50g dark chocolate - melted

Roughly chop the Tim-Tam's and place in a bowl.

Melt butter and cool slightly before adding the chopped up chocolate. Let the chocolate melt with the heat of the butter and stir to combine.

Stir chocolate/butter through Tim-Tam mixture until combined.

Press into a lined loaf tin.

Melt the 50g chocolate in a bowl over boiling water and then drizzle over the slice.

Place in the fridge until set.

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Mouthwatering Mondays @ A Southern Fairytale

Market yourself Mondays @ Sumo's Sweet Stuff

Something I whipped up @ The Girl Creative

Get your craft on @ Today's Creative Blog

Delectable Tuesdays @ Home Sweet Farm

Recipe Sharing Monday @ Jam Hands
Tasty Tuesday @ For the love of blogs

Hoo's Two?!

2011-08-08T14:31:00.013+10:00

My beautiful smiley daughter turned two this month. I must admit I started thinking about cake ideas well before present ideas! I showed her a few different pictures - funky bird, butterfly, owl and ladybird. She was pretty taken with all of them but said Hoo hoo when she saw the owl so that was the decision made!

I used this owl pic as my inspiration for the cake...

I drew the the picture freehand onto A4 paper and then enlarged it to just smaller than A3, I took that picture into the cake decorating shop and matched it to the appropriate sized tin. The staff were able to tell me how much cake mix was required for that size tin, it was a chocolate mud cake mix, much easier than adjusting quantities for such a big cake.

So then it came down to deciding the colour, I went with the violet in the end because I nagged my husband enough and it finally just said "purple" ( I think it was to shut me up more than actual preference!!!)

Once the cake had cooked and cooled I placed the traced picture (glad bake version) over the rectangle cake and stuck toothpicks through the picture (spaced out around the outside part of the cake and the wings) I then lifted the glad bake off over the toothpicks and then cut the cake to the owl shape. (See this post from the Babushka cake for pictures of this process)

Next I did a crumb icing layer in plain butter cream and the followed this with the finishing violet colour. The wings are a slightly darker shade and have some purple sprinkles and glitter on them. The eyes are M&M's and the feet, nose and number two are licorice!

So here was the end result!

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Sunday Showcase @ Under the table and dreaming

Mouthwatering Mondays @ A Southern Fairytale

Market yourself Mondays @ Sumo's Sweet Stuff

Making the world Cuter @ MTWC

Something I whipped up @ The Girl Creative

Get your craft on @ Today's Creative Blog

Delectable Tuesdays @ Home Sweet Farm

Craft and tell @ Cherished Bliss

Recipe Sharing Monday @ Jam Hands

Tasty Tuesday @ For the love of blogs

Hoo's got Talent @ Night Owl crafting

These chicks cook @ This Chick cooks

Freestyle Friday @ Happy Hour Projects

M&M and KitKat Barrel Cake

2011-07-24T15:19:00.014+10:00

Everyone loves a birthday celebration right?! I've been wanting to have a go at making one of these barrel cakes for a while and this weekend proved to be the right time - a family birthday dinner for my daughter's 2nd birthday and brother-in-law's 28th birthday - this cake definitely appeals to all ages!

The thing about this cake is that you can use your favourite cake and then add the M&M's and the KitKats to finish it off.

Step 1 - Bake the cake!

This Mud cake Recipe was recommended to me by my sister and comes from Good Recipes.

Mud cake Recipe

Ingredients

350 g dark chocolate pieces

225 g Butter

600 ml Water

3 Eggs

400 g Castor Sugar

400 g Self Raising Flour

1. Grease and line a 23cm/9" round cake tin. Preheat oven to 170C/325F.

2. In a saucepan over low heat, heat chocolate, butter and water. Stir frequently until melted and smooth. Remove from the heat and cool slightly.

3. In a large bowl, lightly beat eggs. Gradually beat cooled chocolate mixture into eggs.

4. Whisk sugar and flour into chocolate mixture, continue beating until smooth and well blended.

5. Pour mixture into cake tin. Bake for 45 minutes or until skewer inserted into centre of cake comes out clean.

6. Turn cake onto wire rack to cool.

Cooking time will depend on your oven and cake tin size.

Step 2 - Measure and cut cake

Check the height of the cake against the KitKat fingers standing up, the KitKats need to be approximately 2 cm taller than the cake to enclose the M&M's. Trim a layer of the cake off if necessary.

Place the cake on the plate you intend to serve it.

Break or cut the KitKat's up into individual fingers. I bought the blocks of KitKats rather than individual bars.

Step 3 - Icing the cake

Once cake has cooled, ice with a basic chocolate icing.

Icing
3 cups icing sugar (sifted)

2 tablespoons cocoa

1 tablespoon butter melted

3 tablespoons milk

Sift icing sugar and cocoa together, melt butter in a heatproof jug in the microwave and add milk, slowly add the butter and milk mixture to the icing sugar until you have nice smooth icing mix.

Ice you cake - you will need to ice the top and the sides all the way to the base of the cake.

Step 4 - Decorate the cake

While the icing is still sticky, stick the KitKat fingers around the edge. Pour the M&M's on to the top of the cake.
I used 3 x 170g family blocks of KitKats and 1 x 380g pack of M&M's.

Notes -
You could choose any type of lolly for the top part of this cake or a mixture - skittles, smarties, soft jube lollies etc.

Tie a ribbon around the cake at the end to help keep the kitkat fingers in place.

Christmas version here!

Linked to -

Something I whipped up @ The Girl Creative

Sweet Indulgences Sunday @ A well seasoned life

Sunday Showcase @ Under the table and dreaming

Mouthwatering Mondays @ A Southern fairytale

Market Yourself Mondays @ Sumo's Sweet Stuff

MAking the world Cuter Monday @ MTWC

Get your craft on @ Today's Creative Blog

Delectable Tuesdays @ Home Sweet Farm

Tempt my Tummy Tuesdays @ Blessed with grace

Craft and tell @ Cherished Bliss

Tasty Tuesdays @ For the love of blogs

Sugar and spice @ SevenThirtyThree

These Chicks Cooked @ This Chick Cooks

Sweets for a Saturday @ Sweet as a sugar cookie

Recipe sharing Mondays @ Jam Hands

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120 Biscuit Recipe - this one's a keeper!

2011-07-02T13:35:00.008+10:00

This is my first proper post since welcoming my son into the world seven weeks ago! I was itching for a baking session but needed something simple that would withstand the interruptions that would ensue from a toddler and newborn! This is also budget friendly and the end result - 120 super tasty little biscuits - definitely a keeper!

I came across this recipe on a Facebook site called Stay at Home Mum - The secret to living on one wage, its a great page with lots of ideas and worth a look.

This recipe is simple - 4 main ingredients and then whatever extras you want to add- it makes 120 biscuits!

120 Biscuit Recipe

500g butter
1 tin condensed milk
1 cup sugar
5 cups self-raising flour

Cream sugar and butter. Add condensed milk and flour. Add extra ingredients as desired. Roll into teaspoon sized balls and press down with a fork. Place on glad bake paper on tray and bake in moderate oven until golden brown (approximately 10-12 minutes).

I made 6 different types

Mini M&M's on top
Mini M&M's mixed through
White chocolate and Apricot
Chocolate chips
Chocolate chips and walnuts
100's & 1000's

One biscuit recipe... so many options!

What would your favourite flavour combination be? Please suggest one in the comment box!

Linked to:

Something I whipped up @ The Girl Creative
Market yourself Mondays @ Sumo's Sweet Stuff
Mouthwatering Mondays @ Southern Fairytale
Get your craft on @ Today's Creative Blog
Foodie Friday @ Designs by Gollum \
Whats cooking Wednesdays @ Turning back the clock

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A blue bundle to love

2011-05-22T11:48:00.000+10:00

Well I have been M.I.A for a while and thought I would quickly post to explain my absence!

Friday 13th May proved to be a very lucky day for our family when we welcomed a beautiful little boy into the world!

Eamon was born 6lb 7oz, 47cm long. A brother for our gorgeous little girl and the first grandson for both sides of the family.

So forgive me if I my future posts are few and far between...

Daring Bakers March Challenge - Meringue Coffee Cake

2011-03-27T08:26:00.004+11:00

The March 2011 Daring Baker’s Challenge was hosted by Ria of Ria’s Collection and Jamie of Life’s a Feast. Ria and Jamie challenged The Daring Bakers to bake a yeasted Meringue Coffee Cake.

This cake is called a Coffee Cake due to the style of the cake, it is meant to be served with coffee, the flavouring is not coffee!

FILLED MERINGUE COFFEE CAKE
Makes 2 round coffee cakes, each approximately 10 inches in diameter
The recipe can easily be halved to make one round coffee cake.

Ingredients
For the yeast coffee cake dough:

4 cups plain flour
¼ cup sugar
¾ teaspoon salt
1 package (7g) active dried yeast
¾ cup (180 ml) whole milk
¼ cup (60 ml) water (doesn’t matter what temperature)

135g unsalted butter at room temperature
2 large eggs at room temperature

For the meringue:

3 large egg whites at room temperature
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon vanilla
½ cup (110g) sugar

For the filling:

1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
2 Tablespoons Caster sugar
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips or coarsely chopped chocolate

Egg wash: 1 beaten egg

Icing sugar for dusting cakes

Directions:

Prepare the dough:

In a large mixing bowl, combine 1 ½ cups (230 g) of the flour, the sugar, salt and yeast.

In a saucepan, combine the milk, water and butter and heat over medium heat until warm and the butter is just melted.

With an electric mixer on low speed, gradually add the warm liquid to the flour/yeast mixture, beating until well blended. Increase mixer speed to medium and beat 2 minutes. Add the eggs and 1 cup (150 g) flour and beat for 2 more minutes.

Using a wooden spoon, stir in enough of the remaining flour to make a dough that holds together. Turn out onto a floured surface (use any of the 1 ½ cups of flour remaining) and knead the dough for 8 to 10 minutes until the dough is soft, smooth, sexy and elastic, keeping the work surface floured and adding extra flour as needed. (I changed the mixing beaters over and used the dough hooks for about 6 minutes and then hand kneaded for about 2 minutes.)

Place the dough in a lightly greased (vegetable oil) bowl, turning to coat all sides. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel and let rise until double in bulk, 45 – 60 minutes. The rising time will depend on the type of yeast you use.

Prepare your filling :
In a small bowl, combine the cinnamon and sugar for the filling if using. You can add the chopped nuts to this if you like, but I find it easier to sprinkle on both the nuts and the chocolate separately.

Once the dough has doubled, make the meringue:
In a clean mixing bowl – ideally a plastic or metal bowl so the egg whites adhere to the side (they slip on glass) and you don’t end up with liquid remaining in the bottom – beat the egg whites with the salt, first on low speed for 30 seconds, then increase to high and continue beating until foamy and opaque. Add the vanilla then start adding the ½ cup sugar, a tablespoon at a time as you beat, until very stiff, glossy peaks form.

Assemble the Coffee Cakes:

Line 2 baking trays with baking paper.

Punch down the dough and divide in half. On a lightly floured surface, working one piece of the dough at a time (keep the other half of the dough wrapped in plastic), roll out the dough into a about 51 x 25 ½ cm rectangle. Spread half of the meringue evenly over the rectangle up to about (3/4 cm) from the edges. Sprinkle half of your filling of choice evenly over the meringue (ex: half of the cinnamon-sugar followed by half the chopped nuts and half of the chocolate chips/chopped chocolate).

Now, roll up the dough jellyroll style, from the long side. Pinch the seam closed to seal. Very carefully transfer the filled log to one of the lined biscuit , seam side down. Bring the ends of the log around and seal the ends together, forming a ring, tucking one end into the other and pinching to seal.

Using kitchen scissors or a sharp knife (although scissors are easier), make cuts along the outside edge at 2 ½ cm intervals. Make them as shallow or as deep as desired but don’t be afraid to cut deep into the ring.

Repeat with the remaining dough, meringue and fillings.

Cover the 2 coffee cakes with plastic wrap and allow them to rise again for 45 to 60 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 180°C.

Brush the tops of the coffee cakes with the egg wash. Bake in the preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes until risen and golden brown. The dough should sound hollow when tapped.

Remove from the oven and slide the baking paper off the trays onto the table. Very gently loosen the coffee cakes from the paper with a large spatula and carefully slide the cakes off onto cooling racks. Allow to cool.

Just before serving, dust the tops of the coffee cakes with icing sugar as well as cocoa powder if using chocolate in the filling. These are best eaten fresh, the same day or the next day.

Notes:
Well this cake is not overly difficult to make and the ingredients are very easy to access, but one thing I would change if I made it again would be the amount of chocolate, I found that the chocolate chips disappear too much into the dough once cooked and when sliced it I didn't get a swirl effect that I was hoping for. So my advice would be to be generous with the chocolate layer or try something like a hazelnut spread like Nutella as well.
The meringue layer cant be too thick as it will squish out the edges when rolling.

I found the trickiest part was the joining of the two ends of the dough to make a circle shape. I managed to do this with the first cake but decided to split the remaining dough into two and make two log shape cakes instead of the circle.

It will brown quite quickly due to the egg wash so don't stress if you think its burning! Just go by the sound of the cake as the recipe suggests.

It is also definitely recommend that you eat it fresh on the day as it dries quickly. You can store the uncooked dough in the fridge for 2-3 dough on the first rise.

Linked to:

Mouthwatering Mondays @ A Southern Fairytale
Get your craft on @ Today's Creative Blog
Tasty Tuesday @ For the Love of Blogs
Foodie Fridays @ Little Brick Ranch
Friday Favourites @ Inspiring Creations

Daring Bakers Feb Challenge - Chocolate Panna Cotta and Florentines

2011-02-27T09:10:00.004+11:00

The February 2011 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Mallory from A Sofa in the Kitchen. She chose to challenge everyone to make Panna Cotta from a Giada De Laurentiis recipe and Nestle Florentine Cookies.

I made two versions of the Panna Cotta - one Chocolate and one Choc-Orange, when making the Florentines I substituted Golden Syrup for the Corn syrup as it is not easily accessible here in Australia. I also added sultanas and glace cherries.

Chocolate Panna Cotta

Recipe adapted from Bon Appetit

Ingredients:
1 cup (240 ml) whole milk
1 tablespoon (15 ml) (7 gm) unflavored powdered gelatin
2 cups (480 ml) whipping cream (30+% butterfat)
½ cup (115 gm) sugar
¾ cup (145 gm) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate
½ teaspoon (2½ ml) vanilla extract

Directions:

Pour milk into a small bowl, sprinkle gelatin over the top, set aside for 2-5 minutes.
Place a medium saucepan over medium heat, stir in cream, sugar and vanilla. Bring to a low boil.
Add chocolate and whisk until melted. Whisk the milk/gelatin mixture into chocolate cream mixture. Whisk until gelatin has dissolved.
Transfer to ramekins, or nice glasses for serving.
Cover and chill at least 8 hours, or overnight.

For the chocolate-orange version I added two drops of orange essence at the end of step 3.

Nestle Florentine Cookies

Recipe from the cookbook “Nestle Classic Recipes”, and their website.

Ingredients:
2/3 cup (150 gm) unsalted butter
2 cups (160 gm) quick oats
1 cup (230 gm) sugar
2/3 cup plain flour
1/4 cup golden syrup
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp (5 ml) vanilla extract
pinch of salt

* Half a cup of sultanas

* 1 cup of glace cherries chopped
1½ cups (250 gm) dark or milk chocolate

Directions:
Preheat oven to moderately hot 190'c. Prepare your baking tray with grease proof paper.

Melt butter in a medium saucepan, then remove from the heat.

To the melted butter add oats, sugar, flour, golden syrup, milk, vanilla, and salt. Mix well. Drop a tablespoon full, 75 mm apart, onto your prepared baking tray. Flatten slightly with the back of your tablespoon, or use a spatula.

Bake in preheated oven for 6-8 minutes, until cookies are golden brown. Cool completely on the baking tray.

While the cookies are cooling melt your chocolate until smooth either in the microwave (1 1/2 minutes), or stovetop (in a double boiler, or a bowl that fits atop a saucepan filled with a bit of water, being sure the water doesn't touch the bottom of the bowl).

Peel the cookies from the grease proof paper and place face down on a wire rack set over a sheet of grease proof paper- to catch the chocolate drips!

Spread a tablespoon of chocolate on the bottom/flat side of your cookie.
Once the base chocolate has set turn cookies over and drizzle chocolate (using a piping bag or clip lock bag with a corner snipped off) over the top of the cookie in a zig zag design.

I had made Panna Cotta before but only a White Chocolate version so am glad to add another option to the list now! The florentines I have made in the past use Cornflakes and are often very hard and can be tooth breakers if you are not careful, so this version was much kinder - no need to book a dentist appointment just yet!

For many more different variations of Panna Cotta check out other Daring Bakers here, from the 27th you will be able see a slide show and links to their blogs are in the "Blogroll".
Thanks Mallory for a great Challenge!

Linked to Weekend Wander @ For the Love of Blogs
Mouthwatering Mondays @ A Southern Fairytale
Get your craft on @ Today's Creative Blog
What's cooking Wednesdays @ Turning the clock back

CC Theme 4 - Love - Decadent Chocolate Brownies

2011-02-19T20:10:00.008+11:00

Decadent Chocolate Brownies

I adapted this recipe and included chopped up Strawberry Freddos, although you cant see the pink filling once cooked you can still taste a hint of that delicious sweet oozy filling!

Recipe Adapted from Super Food Ideas Magazine - Issue unknown.

Makes 24

250g dark chocolate

125g butter

1 cup brown sugar

3 eggs

1 cup plain flour

1/4 cup cocoa

1/2 cup of dark choc chips

1/2 cup of white choc chips

1/2 cup of milk choc chips

Icing sugar for decoration

1. Melt dark chocolate and butter in a saucepan over low gentle heat. Cool slightly.

2. Beat eggs and sugar together until thick and fluffy.

3. Add chocolate mixture.

4. Fold in combined flour and cocoa.

5. Stir in chocolate chips.

6. Spread into a greased and baking paper lined 20cm square cake tin.

7. Bake in a moderately slow oven 160'c for 40-45minutes.

8. Cool in tin.

9. Cut into squares and sprinkle with icing sugar.

Notes:

I left out the white and milk chocolate chips and added 1 cup of Chopped Strawberry Freddos. Freeze these ahead of time to help make chopping easier.
To decorate with a heart of other shape, draw design on to cardboard and cut for stencil.

Linked to:
Sweet Tooth Fridays @ Alli-n-son
Mouthwatering Mondays @ A Southern Fairytale
Get your craft on @ Today's Creative Blog
Market Yourself Mondays @ Sumo's Sweet Stuff
Tasty Tuesdays @ For the love of blogs
Foodie Friday @ Designs by Gollum

CC - Theme 3 - Rice/Noodles - Incy Wincy Sweet Treats

2011-02-12T09:00:00.003+11:00

The Cookbook Challenge for this fortnight revolved around Rice and/or Noodles. I decided to tinker with an old childhood favourite - Chocolate Spiders. Usually these just consist of chocolate, Chang's Fried noodles and peanut butter.

I left the peanut butter out and made three different versions...

Peppermint Crisp Chocolate Spiders

Crushed Clinkers Chocolate Spiders

Raspberry Chocolate Spiders

The original recipe can be found here. I left out the peanut butter and split the chocolate and noodle mix three ways and added the following:

Peppermint Crisp Chocolate Spiders - half a peppermint crisp bar chopped.

Crushed Clinkers Chocolate Spiders - 3/4 cup of Clinkers chopped.

Raspberry Chocolate Spiders- 1/2 cup of raspberry lollies chopped.

Out of the three flavours - the Peppermint Crisp ones were the best!

Linked to :

Get your craft on @ Today's Creative Blog

Pomegranate Iced Tea

2011-01-30T14:06:00.002+11:00

Well its supposed to get to 40'c here in Melbourne today so I thought I would make this deliciously refreshing summer drink to help keep cool...

Pomegranate Iced Tea
Ingredients

* 4 cups boiling water
* 4 cups apple juice
* 6 Lipton Herbal Infusion Cranberry, Raspberry & Strawberry tea bags
* 1 pomegranate
* ice cubes

Method

1. Place tea bags in a large jug and cover with boiling water. Set aside to soak for 3 minutes. Remove and discard tea bags. Set aside to cool.
2. Cut pomegranate in half. Using a wooden spoon, tap the skin of each half over a bowl, to dislodge seeds, collecting juice and seeds as you go. Add seeds and juice to tea. Stir through apple juice and refrigerate until cold.
3. Serve tea over ice cubes.

Linked to:
Get your craft on @ Today's Creative Blog
Thirsty Thursday @ For the love of Blogs

CC Theme 2 - Citrus - Lemon Tart

2011-01-30T13:48:00.002+11:00

Theme two of the Cookbook Challenge is citrus... Now I love a good Lemon Tart, its usually on the favourites list when out for coffee and cake. This tart was lucky to reach the table in the end, I made this as part of an Australia Day dinner, but before leaving the house it had chunky grains of salt spilt on to it and then suffered a dent from another dish! But despite all that it still tasted delicious!!

This one comes from Family Circle Modern Australian Food cookbook.

Citrus Tart

Pastry

1 cup plain flour

pinch of salt

75g unsalted butter, softened

1 egg yolk

2 tbs icing sugar, sifted

Filling

3 eggs

2 egg yolks

3/4 cup caster sugar

1/2 cup cream

3/4 cup lemon juice

1 1/2 tsp lemon rind - finely grated

1. To make the pastry, sift the flour and a pinch of salt into a large bowl. Make a well in the centre and add the butter, egg yolk and icing sugar. Work together the butter, egg yolk and sugar with your fingertips and then slowly incorporate the flour. Bring together into a ball, you may need to add a few drops of cold water. Flatten ball slightly and wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 20 minutes.

2. Preheat oven to 200'C . Lightly grease a shallow 21cm loose bottom flan tin.

3. Roll pastry out between two sheets of baking paper to about 3mm thick, it will need to cover the base and go up the sides of the tin. Press into tin and trim any excess pastry off the edge. Chill for 10 minutes.

4. Line the pastry with baking paper and fill with uncooked rice/noodles etc for blind baking. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove paper and rice and continue to cook pastry for 6-8 minutes or until pastry looks dry all over.

5. Remove the pastry and lower the oven to 150'C.

6. Whisk the eggs, yolks and sugar together, add the cream and juice and mix well. Strain into a jug and add the rind. Place the flan tin on a baking tray on the middle shelf of the oven and carefully pour filling into pastry shell.

7. Bake for 40 minutes or until just set - it should wobble in the middle when the tin is firmly tapped. Cool before removing from the tin.

Linked to:
Get your craft on @ Today's Creative Blog

Lamingtons for Australia Day

2011-01-26T13:20:00.001+11:00

January 26^th is Australia Day and to celebrate I thought I’d make a traditional Australian cake – the humble Lamington. To be honest I never knew the story behind this chocolate dipped sponge that is covered in coconut so I did a bit of googling as you do when you want the answer to something immediately!

The Lamington is named after Lord Lamington, who served as Governor of Queensland Toowoomba when Lord Lamington took his entourage to Harlaxton House to escape the steamy heat of Brisbane. The Lamingtons' chef at Queensland's Government House, Armand Gallad, was called upon at short notice to provide something to feed unexpected guests. According to the Melbourne from 1896 to 1901. According to legend, Lamingtons were first served in Age newspaper, Gallad cut up some left over French vanilla sponge cake baked the day before, dipped the slices in chocolate and set them in coconut (an ingredient not widely used in European cooking at that time). Lady Lamington's guests then asked for the recipe.
Source - Wikipedia.org

The recipe I used was from well respected Australian chef and restaurateur Stephanie Alexander – her Cook’s Companion recipe book is a great addition to any kitchen!

She suggests to make the sponge the day before, which I assume helps the dipping process and stops the sponge crumbing too much and soaking up too much chocolate icing. My good friend Fran will be very happy to hear that I have now made my very first sponge, a feat we had both avoided until this week!

Genoese Sponge

5 eggs at room temperature

60g unsalted butter – melted and cooled

150g plain flour

¾ cup castor sugar

1. Using a 20cm x 28cm lamington tin ( about 3.5cm tall) brush with melted butter and dust with plain flour, tap excess flour out.

Preheat oven to 180’C.

2. Beat eggs and sugar in an electric mixer until very thick and mouse like (this will take about 10 minutes of continuous mixing).

3. Sift flour over egg mixture and fold in thoroughly but lightly using a large metal spoon.

4. Trickle cooled melted butter down the sides of bowl and fold in thoroughly.

5. Pour into tin and bake for 15 – 18 minutes until top of cake feels springy to the touch.

Do not open oven door before the 15 minute mark!

6. Allow cake to cool for a few minutes in tin and then turn out on to a clean tea towel and leave until completely cool.

* If you are using this recipe for lamingtons, once the cake has completely cooled cut into 5cm square pieces and store in air tight container in the fridge overnight.

Lamington Icing Mix

Mix 1 part cocoa with 8 parts icing sugar, stir in 1 part melted butter and 1 part boiling water. For the cake size listed above I used ½ cup as 1 part. Stir until smooth.

Pour 2 cups of desiccated coconut into the empty lamington tin.

Using a slotted spoon, dip each sponge piece into the icing mix one at a time and drain off excess icing, dip into coconut and roll until all sides are covered.

Place on a wire rack before placing them in an airtight container.

****

As you may or may not be aware there are many Australian's without homes due to terrible floods that devastated parts of Queensland and Victoria. If you are able to please visit Australian Red Cross to donate.

Linked to:
Get your craft on @ Todays Creative Blog