Recipe Twenty Nine: Chocolate Self Saucing Pudding.

This pudding contains no eggs, no chocolate & very little butter, but don't let that put you off.

What this pudding is:

 moist, saucy, rich and very inexpensive to pull together.

This recipe originally comes from the Australian Womens Weekly.

I'm not sure when it was published but my mum had been making it for as long as I can remember.

Chocolate Self Saucing Pudding

60gms of butter

1.5 cups of  self raising flour

1/4 cup of cocoa

1 cup of caster sugar

3/4 cup of Milk

2 teaspoons of vanilla

1 cup of brown sugar

1/3 cup of cocoa

2 cups of boiling water.

In a large microwave safe bowl melt your butter.

Mix into the butter: flour, the 1/4 cup of cocoa, caster sugar, vanilla and milk. Beat with a wooden spoon until smooth.

Sprinkle the top of this batter with combined brown sugar and  the 1/3 cup of cocoa.

Very gently pour the boiling water over the batter and sugar-cocoa mix.

Place in the microwave and cook for 9 minutes or until just firm in the middle.

Serve immediately.

xx 

Recipe Twenty Seven: Lemon & Pistachio Biscotti

I know I have fallen woefully behind on my whole six month challenge.

I don't think I'm going to make it to 130 by the beginning of May but I will try to get as close as possible.

When I made myself a coffee at work on Monday I noticed how devoid the work kitchen was of a perfect biscuit to eat with said coffee and I decided I would rectify the situation.

It had to be Biscotti.

I'm sure you're aware I love lemon & pistachio together and so I put those flavours  in what I think turned out to be a wonderful crispy, not too sweet balance to my slightly bitter & milky cup of coffee.

Lemon & Pistachio Biscotti.

60gms of chopped butter

1 cup of caster sugar

1 teaspoon on vanilla

The finely grated rind of one lemon.

4 eggs

2 1/4 cups of plain flour.

1 teaspoon of baking powder

1/2 a teaspoon of bicarbonate soda.

3/4 of a cup of shelled pistachios, roughly chopped.

Splash of water

1/4 cup of extra caster sugar.

 Preheat oven to 180C & line 2 baking trays

In a bowl beat together: butter, sugar, vanilla & rind until just combined.

Add three of your eggs, one at a time beating to combined between each addition.

Stir in flour, baking powder & bicarb soda.

Stir in the nuts.

Cover & put in the fridge for an hour.

Knead dough on a lightly floured surface until smooth.

Halve dough & make each half into a 30cm long log.

Place each log on a separate tray. Combine the last egg with a splash of water, brush your logs with this mixture and sprinkle each very liberally with your 1/4 cup of caster sugar.

Bake for 20 minutes. Cool on trays.

Reduce your oven to 170C

Using a serrated knife cut your logs on the diagonal into 1cm thick slices.

Place these slices back on the oven trays and bake for another 15 minutes turning half way through this baking period.

Cool the slices on a cooling rack & you're good to go

xx

Recipe Twenty Four: Cinnamon Rolls.

I have made A LOT of cinnamon rolls from many, many recipes. I have used nuts, different combinations of sugars, this butter or that butter, this flour or that flour and this is the result of my few years of trial and error.

Bun

2 cups of Bread flour

2 cups of all purpose flour

1/2 a cup of warm water

2 1/4 teaspoons (or one sachet) of yeast

1 teaspoon of Caster Sugar.

1/2 a cup of Milk

50gms of Butter

1/4 cup of Caster Sugar

2 Eggs

Filling:

125gm Butter

3/4 cup of Brown Sugar

1 Tablespoon of Cinnamon

1/4 cup Demerara Sugar

Cream Cheese Icing:

200gms of softened Cream Cheese

1 1/2 cups of Icing Sugar

Splash of milk.

Your first step is to get your yeast going.

Pop your warm water ( you want this water to be between luke warm and warm), your teaspoon of sugar and your yeast in a bowl. Give them a quick mix to dissolve the sugar and leave it to sit in a warm spot for 10 minutes. 

If you cant find anywhere particularly warm sit your bowl in another bowl of slightly warmer water.

Next up warm that half a cup of milk in a small pan until just before boiling.

Take it off the heat and whisk in your butter and caster sugar.

Sit to cool for 5 minutes.

Mix your yeast mixture, milk mixture, eggs and 1 cup of your flour in a bowl.

Add remaining flour 1 cup at a time, combing well between each addition.

Once this has come together turn onto a floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic.

This took me six minutes.

Place dough in a greased bowl with a damp cloth over the top in a nice warm spot for 1 hour.

Your dough will double in size.

About 50 minutes into this hour melt your butter for the filling & in a small bowl combine your brown sugar and cinnamon. Grease oven proof dish/dishes. I used two 25x25cm square cake tins.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and roll out to a 60cm x 25 cm rectangle.

Spread melted butter over the dough leaving a 2cm border.

Sprinkle melted butter with brown sugar mix.

If I have any butter left over I then GENTLY pour this over the brown sugar.

Roll the dough up length ways and cut 5cm rounds.

To prevent squashing your log cut the rounds using a strand of  fine cotton.

Place the cotton under underneath your roll and then wrap the string around and cross over. Keep pulling the cotton ends across one another & the string will slice through cleanly.

Place each slice facing upward in your tin. Leave a little space between rolls (0.5cm) as they need to rise again for another hour. Sprinkle the top of the rolls with demerara sugar.

Leave to rise & preheat your oven to 190C.

Cook for 25minutes.

Make your icing.

Beat cream cheese in a bowl for 2 minutes.

Add icing sugar 1/2 a cup at a time. Beating well between additions.

Add a splash of milk to give the icing a creamier texture.

Now I know I've piped icing on the top in sweet lines

HOWEVER 

spreading it thickly on the top looks far uglier but tastes far, far better.

These taste best still slightly warm or eaten the day they are made.

If you want to eat them over the next few days just pop them in the microwave for a few seconds to freshen them up.

xx

Recipe Twenty Three: Double Chocolate, Sour Cherry Cheesecake.

Here is the culminating recipe of Friday night's dinner at The Kindled Kitchen. 

Now aside from being amazing to eat with all of it's sweet and sour goodness I actually started making this at 6pm for a 7pm dinner so it is also amazingly quick and easy!

What you will need:
220gm of plain chocolate biscuits
125gms of butter, melted.
500gms of cream cheese
200gms of dark chocolate.
70gms of brown sugar.
1 tablespoon of boiling water
1 teaspoon of gelatine.
1 670gm jar of Morello/Sour Cherries.
2 tbs of caster sugar
1 tbs of cornflour

Line the base of a 24cm spring form tin with baking paper.
Process the chocolate biscuits to a fine crumb & then add in the melted butter.
Press this mix into the base of your tin and chill in the fridge for 20minutes.

Either in a bowl over boiling water bain-marie style of in the microwave in 30 second bursts, melt your chocolate. Leave to cool slightly whilst you make the rest of the filling.

In a bowl beat together cream cheese & brown sugar until smooth.
Sprinkle gelatine over hot water and mix until it has dissolved.
Add this & the slightly cooled chocolate to the cream cheese & brown sugar and beat until combined.
Spread over chilled base and refrigerate.

In the meantime drain your cherries, place syrup in a small saucepan over medium heat.
Taking 1 tablespoon of the syrup dissolve the caster sugar & cornflour in it and return to the pan stirring constantly. Cook until it comes to the boil and then add cherries.
Set aside.

Once you have removed the cheesecake from the pan & are getting ready to serve. Pour the cherries & syrup over the top of the cake.

Serve

PS- This post is part of The Sweet Adventures Blog Hop 'Death By Chocolate Addition'

Click through some of the thumbnails below for more amazing chocolate recipes 

I know you want to....

Or even better, you could join in?

xx

Resolutions & Recipe Twenty: Choc Chip Cookies

I was taking down our Christmas decorations yesterday  a week ago and I thought to myself what is life going to be like when I pull these out again? 

I read an amazing post "Pardon Me, Your Awesome is Showing" (go read it you will be inspired). 

I remembered the writing at that moment and thought: 

'Actually, how do I want life to be when I pull these out again?' 

I think about my Mum who took the leap of faith and made her creative passion her occupation. 

Who, even with 5 children (and adding another along the way) went back to University then moved the whole family and a cousin states to do her Masters. 

Now she blogs (go there too, also inspiring) and is currently writing her first book.

She took responsibility for making her life how she wanted.

My resolution for 2012 is to do the same.

(Make my own life amazing that is not have 6 children, become an Art Therapist and start writing a book)

Now I think I was writing a recipe.... 

I know it's two cookie posts in a row but I'm not feeling well & Miss MT (with her amazing aquamarine nail polish) said she would come over and bake some for the blog. 

How could I say no? 

I have such an awesome little sister.

150gms of Butter

120gms of Brown Sugar

1/2 cup Caster Sugar

1 Teaspoon of Vanilla

1 egg + 1 yolk

2 1/2 cups of Flour

1/2 a teaspoon of Bicarbonate Soda

250gms of Choc Chips

Preheat your oven to 170C. Line a baking sheet with baking paper.

Melt your butter and set aside to cool for two minutes.

Put your sugars in your bowl and then pour over your melted butter.

Beat together.

Add egg, yolk and vanilla and beat until light and fluffy.

Add your flour in thirds, combining each time before adding more.

Fold in your chocolate chips.

Roll tablespoon sized amounts into balls and place about 3 inches apart on your baking tray.

Bake for 17-20 minutes or until cracked on top and very lightly brown.

Cool of racks and serve!

xx

Recipe Nineteen: Peanut Butter Crinkles

I am a sucker for peanut butter.

I love the stuff and if it's in baked, 'melt-in-your-mouth-yet-has-a-slightly-chewy-center' shortbread then I love it even more so.

125g unsalted butter

1/3 cup sugar

1/3 cupbrown sugar, lightly packed

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon grated lemon rind

1/3 cup peanut butter

1 1/4 cups plain flour

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

pinch salt

Preheat the oven to 180C

Cream together butter, peanut butter, sugars, vanilla and lemon rind.

 Add flour, bicarb and salt and mix until you get a sturdy dough.

Roll teaspoon sized balls out and place them about 3cm apart on a lined baking tray.

Press them flat with a fork cross ways and length ways to get the crinkle.

Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Leave them to cool on the tray for a few minutes before moving them onto a cooling rack.

xx

Recipe Seventeen: Beauty is on the inside Apple Pie.

Ugly but delicious.

Best eaten with closed eyes. 

That is all I have to say on the matter.

Apple Pie:

Pastry
1 cup of Plain Flour

1/2 a cup of Self Raising Flour

1/4 cup of Corn Flour

1/4 cup of Custard Powder

2 tbsp of Caster Sugar

100gm of Cold Butter (Chopped)

1 Egg, Separated

1/3 of a cup of Water

Filling

1.5kg of Granny Smith Apples

1/2 cup of Water

1/4 cup of Brown Sugar

1 tsp of fine Lemon Rind.

1/2 a teaspoon of ground Cinnamon

Process all of your flours, custard powder, caster sugar and butter together until it resembles fine bread crumbs. Then add the egg yolk and enough cold water to bring the mixture together.

Turn onto a floured surface and knead until smooth.

Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Make filling by peeling, coring and quartering the apples and then adding them and the water to a large pan and place over low heat. Simmer for 5 minutes or until just tender.

Dont be silly & add the wrong sugar and cinnamon before cooking...your flavours will end up down the drain and you'll have to add everything again once it has cooked.

Don't realise your friend put her New Years Eve pictures on facebook and accidently leave them there for much, much longer or you'll end up with a mush.

Drain liquid and pour apples into a bowl along with your sugar, cinnamon and lemon.

Leave to cool completely.

Preheat your oven to 220C

Take 2/3rds of your pastry and roll to fit the bottom and 3/4 of the way up a 25cm spring form tin.

Gently line the tin with the pastry & brush the top edge with your egg white.

Fill with apple mixture.

Roll out your remaining pastry to cover the top.

Place over the apples and press the edges of the pastry together

Cut of excess and brush the top with your remaining egg white.

Sprinkle with caster sugar & put in the oven for 20 minutes.

Reduce oven temperature to 180C and cook for a further 25minutes of until the pie is brown.

Cool for 10 minutes and serve with custard or ice-cream!

Recipe Sixteen: Wholemeal Bread

On Christmas Day my sister turned up to lunch with these:

Now I'm generally one to watch my how much bread I eat,

HOWEVER...I ate a piece of these that was about half the size of my head and I did not regret it
one. little. bit.

I have been inspired:

Note: This was originally a basic white bread recipe, it should have stayed that way. The wholemeal flour seemed to take on a lot more moisture and my bread turned out a little stodgy. Just substitute the wholemeal for white bread flour.


Basic Wholemeal Bread:

3 teaspoons of dried yeast
125ml of warm water

2 teaspoons of caster sugar

2 1/2 cups of wholemeal flour

1 teaspoon of salt

30gms of butter, melted

125ml of warm milk.

In a small bowl whisk your yeast, water and sugar until the yeast dissolves. Stand in a warm place for 10 minutes or until the mixture has gone frothy.

In a large bowl mix together your flour and salt and then mix in your butter, milk and frothy yeast mixture.

Lightly flour your counter top and turn the dough out onto it.

Knead this for 5-10 minutes or until your mixture is elastic.

Grease a bowl and place dough inside, cover with plastic wrap, pierced in one place and put in a warm place for an hour. Your dough should double in size.

Preheat oven to 200C (180C Fan Forced) & grease a small loaf tin.

Turn the risen dough onto a floured counter & knead until smooth.

Mold into a shape that fits your loaf tin & place inside.

Leave to rise again for 20 Minutes.

Bake for 45minutes and turn onto a wire rack.

Recipe Nine: Mum's Lemon Slice

(I know it says recipe nine...and I just posted recipe twelve...seems there was no ninth recipe...so here is it's replacement!)

The secret ingredient in many of my favourite recipes is the memories they conjure up with your first bite.

This one says Christmas lunch with my Nan and Pa.

It says new bikes and hot days.

It reminds me of the days when all five or six of us  played together in the back yard.

Mum's Lemon Slice:

1/2 a cup of sweetened condensed milk

100gm of Butter

200gms of Granita Biscuits

1 Cup of dessicated coconut.

The Rind of one lemon, finely grated.

Lemon Icing

2 cups of Icing Sugar

40gms of butter

The Juice of the rindless lemon!

Grease and line a slab pan (15 X 25cm)

Put your butter and condensed milk in a small pan and melt together.

Put the biscuits in your food processor and process until you have fine crumbs

Pour these crumbs into a bowl and add 2 teaspoons of lemon rind and the coconut.

Add the hot butter mixture and combine.

Press this mixture into the base of your pan.

Refrigerate for an hour.

Make your lemon icing:

Place icing sugar, butter and 2.5 tablespoons of lemon juice into a small bowl.

Beat until smooth with a wooden spoon.

Spread over base, sprinkle with toasted coconut if you like and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Call in everyone who is playing in the backyard and serve.

xx

Recipe Eleven: Christmas Town

This post is part of the "Sweet Adventures Blog Hop' Festive Favourites.

Last year I was inspired to make Martha Stewart's "Gingerbread Town Square Cake".

That said when you look closely at the recipe and realise you're going to need three days, over 20 eggs and almost a kilo of butter it was easy to get disheartened about the whole thing. 

This year I decided to make the cake with the same basic premise, flavours and visual outcome minus the heart clogging, wallet emptying and time erasing process.

So here goes:

Gingerbread Facades:

2 1/4 cups of self raising flour

1 1/2 teaspoons of ginger

1 teaspoon of cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon of cloves

1/2 a teaspoon of nutmeg

95gm of butter

1/2 a cup of firmly packed brown sugar

1/4 cup of treacle

1 lightly beaten egg.

Process the flour, spices and butter until they look like breadcrumbs

Add the sugar, treacle and enough egg to bring the mix together

Turn onto a floured surface and knead until smooth.

Shape into a disk and refrigerate for 1hr. Pre-heat oven to 180C

Roll dough out between 2 sheets of baking paper until 3mm thick.

Cut out facade shapes (I found mine here)

Bake until just firm (8-10minutes)

Leave to cool completely & then ice with Royal icing.

Walnut Meringue Layers:

2 1/2 cups of walnuts lightly toasted.

1 1/2 cups of Pure icing suagr

1 cup of caster sugar

6 large egg whites.

Process your walnuts until fine.

Add icing sugar and 3/4 of a cup of your caster sugar.

Process to combine.

Whip your egg whites until soft peaks form.

Add remaining caster sugar one tablespoon at a time until dissolved.

Continue to beat until stiff glossy peaks form.

Fold walnut mix into the egg meringue.

Draw 3 18cm diameter circles on baking paper, turn the paper over and pipe out circles using the walnut meringue.

Bake for 2hrs, then stand in the oven with the door ajar for another hour.

Gingerbread Butter Cream

250gms of butter

3 cups of pure icing sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons of Ginger

1 teaspoon of cinnamon

1/2 a teaspoon of Nutmeg

Milk to texture.

Whip the butter until pale, gradually add icing sugar.

If your mix becomes to stiff add a splash of milk to bring it back to the right consistency.

Beat in spices.

Whip 250mls of Cream.

Assembly:

The layers are assembled like this:

Meringue, buttercream, meringue, buttercream, meringue.

Then using remaining butter cream, frost the edges as best you can and stick on your facades.

Put your whipped cream on the top of the cake and spread.

Sprinkle the cream with cinnamon and you're done!

MERRY CHRISTMAS

xx

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