Month: May 2012

Raspberry and White Chocolate Ice Cream Sandwiches

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I apologise for the lack of posts lately, the end of the Uni semester has approached and is rapidly taking over my life! So, I thought I would post something simple, yet so good. Cue…the most AMAZING cookie recipe, ever.

I have been making this recipe for years and years now, and it is always a winner. Crunchy around the edges and amazingly gooey chocolately incredibleness in the middle. I stumbled across it in my early teens from a school cookbook where each student contributes their favourite recipe, and what a gem this recipe is. You can mix it up however you like and it will remain insanely awesome! This is the first time I have included raspberries, or any berries, for that matter, in the mix. It is safe to say it will not be the last time I add raspberries! I love the tangy freshness they give amongst the richness of the white chocolate and the crunchy/gooey combination of the cookie.

Previous additions to this cookie have included simple choc-chip (I always double the amount of chocolate in the recipe so that they’re super chunky), choc-chip and peanut butter, Reeses pieces, M&M’s, Peppermint Aero, Peppermint Crisp and Cherry Ripe and White Choc and Macadamia. The possibilities are endless!

I also love Ice Cream. Who doesn’t? For these Ice Cream Sandwiches I actually used Wildberry frozen yoghurt (because it was all we had in the freezer, and I am kind of, sort of, trying really hard to be healthy).

The Most Amazing Cookie Recipe Of All Time: (if you are just making these with choc-chips, or anything similar, the recipe says to add 1 cup but that’s a bit too boring for me. I add 1 1/2-2 cups :D)

  • 125g butter, softened, not melted
  • 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup castor (white) sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp vanilla essence OR 1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste
  • 1 3/4 cups self-raising flour
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 1/3 cups white chocolate chips OR white chocolate, chopped
  • 1 1/3 cups raspberries, fresh OR frozen (personally, I prefer frozen as I am a poor Uni student and they are so much cheaper and the quality really is just as good)

Preheat the oven to 200c, 190c fan forced. Line 3 baking trays with non-stick baking paper. In a bowl, combine the butter and both sugars, and using an electric beater or a stand mixer, beat until light and fluffy, usually about 2-3 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla and beat well. Combine flour and salt, and add to the butter and sugar mixture. Mix until well combined, then add the chocolate and raspberries/whatever you like! Don’t worry if the dough doesn’t come together immediately, it will take a few minutes. If the mixture is really chunky and bits of chocolate are falling off the dough, just try to press them back in! Roll teaspoon sized balls of mixture and place on the tray – make sure you space them well because they do spread out a lot. I had a few siamese triplets in this batch. Gently press a fork down on each ball to slightly flatten if you can (I struggled with this one because there is too much choc and raspberries to make a mark)- you don’t have to do this but I think the fork mark is a stamp of a true homemade treat 🙂 Bake cookies for 12-15 minutes, and allow to cool on trays for 5 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack.

When ready to serve, place a scoop of ice cream/frozen yoghurt on a cookie, and sandwich with another. Yum! (if you wanted to jazz it up, you could drizzle some melted chocolate or raspberry coulis around the plate, and garnish with fresh raspberries and mint leaves! OR even make your own Ice Cream ;D, or make a chocolate, cheesecake or maybe even citrus version etc, etc, etc…I could go on all night). This is a great easy dessert for the time poor or for beginner bakers – you can’t go wrong with these cookies!

Daisy Macaron Pops

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Happy Mother’s Day to all the mummies out there! To help celebrate, I made these super delish Daisy Macaron Pops – sweet, edible flowers filled with lemon curd and raspberry and white chocolate ganache sound pretty exciting to me! I was a little worried about making these, but they turned out a lot better than expected. And I just thought making them ‘pops’ added a bit of novelty. As I had to make two batches, the first one had to sit and wait whilst I made the second one, and it did thicken up a little in the process. As a result, most of the last batch I baked cracked a bit. But that’s okay. They tasted awesome, even though some of the petals looked a bit more like nipples. That’s okay.

The choice of fillings, I must say, were oh so tasty. Lemon curd is one of my faves and when made well, is always a winner. The lemon daisies tasted sooooooooo amazing the next day. And of course, white choc and raspberry is a classic combination. I could have happily spent the rest of the night just staring into space and drinking the ganache out of the bowl. What a lovely mental image 🙂

Macarons: (obviously I made two separate batches for this recipe. TIP – when you are making more than one batch of macarons, don’t ever double the recipe. Measure out the ingredients on their own and make the batches separately. When you have made the first batch, simply give it a good stir every few minutes to stop it from thickening and becoming dry).

This recipe is Adriano Zumbo’s, and was published a couple of years ago in the Herald Sun. You will definitely need kitchen scales to make macarons.

  • 135g almond meal
  • 135g icing sugar
  • 125g caster sugar
  • 45g egg whites
  • 50g egg whites
  • 40g water
  • 1/2 tsp Wilton’s lemon yellow food colouring gel
  • 1/2 tsp Wilton’s terracotta pink food colouring gel
  • 1 packet of Wilton’s large lollipop sticks, for Aussies these can be found at The General Trader, or Wheel and Barrow. For others, or Aussies who like to shop online, you can buy them online from Wilton’s website

Preheat oven to 170c (160c fan forced). Spray four oven trays with cooking oil spray around the edges, and line with baking paper and set aside. Place almond meal and icing sugar in a large bowl, and sift together 3 times. Set aside, along with the 45g egg whites. Put 50g egg whites in a separate bowl. Heat caster sugar and water in a small saucepan until it is hot and syrupy (if it slightly burns my tongue, it’s done!). If white, thick, powdery bubbles begin to form around the edges, start again!

Begin beating the 50g egg whites with one hand, and with the other, stream the hot sugar syrup down the side of the bowl to create an italian meringue. Beat until peaks form, the meringue should be thick and very glossy. If you want to add flavouring/colouring, now’s your moment. So add the colouring now. Just lightly beat them into the meringue. Pour meringue into the almond meal, icing sugar and 45g egg whites mixture and mix roughly to combine.

When combined, fold mixture together (one single stroke) until there are no air bubbles left. Make a spread across the top of the mixture, and it should disappear in about 20 seconds. Set aside and make the second batch (repeat process from the start). Spoon the two mixtures into separate piping bags. On both of the piping bags, I used very small round nozzles, like these. You will need to buy a piping set for the finer nozzles, as the Multix ones only contain the wide round nozzle. I bought my piping set from Baking Pleasures. The reason why I used finer nozzles is because I thought it would give me more control over the mixture, as it can be quite oozy and messy. What ended up working best for me was using the wide round nozzle to pipe the rounds, and the finer nozzle for the petals. This worked really well and the mixture did not drip much at all. Once you’ve filled the piping bags, lock the bag by spinning the top around 4 times. Pipe 3-4cm rounds on the oven trays prepared earlier, then carefully pipe seven small and even petals around the circle. Gently tap the bottom of the trays and let them sit for about half an hour, or until mixture is dry to the touch.

Place in oven and bake for 7 minutes. Turn tray around in the oven and bake for another 8 minutes. To test, pull a macaron off the baking paper. If it is stuck, keep cooking and checking regularly. Cool on trays for 5 minutes, then peel off and place on a wire rack. The mixture should make about 30-35 daisies. Macarons keep really well (about 5 days in the fridge) and some say that the longer they are refrigerated, the more the flavour is likely to develop.

Fillings:

Lemon – for the lemon curd combine 2 eggs, 2 egg yolks, and 3/4 cup caster (white) sugar in a saucepan and whisk until smooth. Over a low heat, add 80g chilled butter, and the zest and juice of 2 lemons. Whisk until thickened. Strain through a sieve and refrigerate until firm. Using a piping bag with a round nozzle, pipe 3/4 tsp of lemon curd onto one half of a macaron daisy and place a lollipop stick in the middle, and sandwhich with another.

Raspberry and White Chocolate – to make the white chocolate ganache, combine 115g of white chocolate, 1/2 cup of thickened cream and 1/2 tsp of vanilla paste (optional) in a small saucepan. Stir continuously over a low heat until mixture has melted. Pour into a bowl/small container and leave at room temperature. To make the raspberry coulis, combine 1 cup raspberries (fresh or frozen) and 3/4 cup caster sugar, and 3/4 cup water in a small saucepan. Stir over a low heat until raspberries have disintegrated. Strain through a sieve to get rid of the seeds. A teaspoon at a time, carefully spoon the coulis into the white chocolate ganache. You can put as much or as little in as you like. I used all of my coulis. When I tasted it, I got the hit of white chocolate at the start, and then a slight raspberry tang. Refrigerate until firm. When ready to use, spoon ganache into a piping bag with a round nozzle, and pipe 3/4 tsp onto a macaron half and place the lollipop stick in the middle, and sandwich with another. Then take pretty pictures of them in real flowerpots 😛

Happy Mother’s Day! X

 

Orange and Lemon Meringue Cupcakes

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These cute little cupcakes were requested from my boyfriend for his birthday, as he loves lemon curd and this awesome orange cake – so why not combine the two and add some delish toasted meringue? Yum!

I made this orange cake in a large ring pan with some toffee syrup for Easter last month, and it was a really lovely dessert. Plus, it is so easy to make – just throw everything in the food processor and off you go! Definitely one to keep in the repertoire.

I used this great recipe from Taste.com for the orange cake. Obviously I did not make the toffee syrup this time around (however, it is great if you’re making one big cake!), and as these were cupcakes I simply spooned 1 1/2 tsp of mixture into each cupcake case, and baked for 15 minutes on 160c, fan forced. After they have been cooked, let cakes cool in the tins for 5 minutes, then place on wire rack to cool completely. This mixture made 26 medium sized cupcakes, but if you wanted more or less, it’s fairly easy to double or half. To toast the meringue tops, you will need a chef’s blowtorch. You can buy them for about AU$25-30 at most homeware stores.

Lemon Curd: (also from Taste.com)

  • 2 eggs
  • 2 egg yolks
  • 3/4 cup (165g) caster sugar
  • 1/3 cup (80g) chilled, chopped butter

In a small saucepan, whisk eggs, yolks and sugar until smooth. Place the saucepan over a low heat. Add the butter, juice and zest and whisk until thickened. Strain through a sieve, let curd cool, then refrigerate.

Italian Meringue:

  • 4 egg whites
  • 1 cup caster cugar
  • 50g water

Have egg whites ready in the bowl of a stand mixer, or in a bowl with the hand mixer ready to go. Over a low-medium heat, combine sugar and water in a saucepan to make a sugar syrup. Stir until sugar is dissolved and mixture is very hot. If thick, white bubbles begin to form, start again. Begin beating egg whites, and slowly pour the sugar syrup down the side of the bowl to create an italian meringue. Beat until stiff peaks form, and the mernigue is thick and glossy. Fill a piping bag fitted with a round or star nozzle – I used a star nozzle but the meringue was not thick enough to take the shape, but they still looked nice enough 🙂 (TIP – don’t make the meringue until you are ready to pipe it. If it is sitting for over 5 minutes, it will begin to deflate and will lose its glossiness).

Assembly:

When the cupcakes have cooled, gently hollow out a small circle at the top, about 3-4 cm deep. Fill the holes with lemon curd. Gently pipe a swirl of meringue on the top of each cupcake. Once you have completed the topping, gently wave the blowtorch over the meringue – leave about 10cm, otherwise it will burn. You only want to lightly toast the meringue 🙂 Store cupcakes in airtight containers, but do not refrigerate, otherwise they will lose their fluffiness. They will keep for 4-5 days. You can definitely freeze the cupcakes with the lemon curd inside, although only top with the meringue when you are ready to serve.

Citrus and meringue is a classic combination that always works beautifully. You could mix up this version with a lemon cake and lime or orange curd, or even a blood orange cake and curd. The possibilities are endless!

Enjoy! X