Choc Berry Trifle

I am not a trifle fan, actually the only person I know who is is Shane, so it might seem weird that I decided to make a trifle for a Christmas BBQ but he’s been asking me to make one for a while so I finally decided to take up the challenge and come up with a trifle that I could enjoy too! It is really easy to make and is visually impressive, it just takes a bit of prep time (and bake time if you want to make your own cake – you could buy one, even a chocolate log would work if you are short on time). This trifle is is alcohol free so is kid friendly too.

Ingredients:
x1 20cm round chocolate cake (I used our easy peasy chocolate cake)
200g mascarpone cheese
½ cup cream
5 tablespoons icing sugar
x2 70g chocolate mousse packets
2 cups cold milk
3 cups frozen raspberries, thawed
1 Flake bar, crushed

Method:
Trim your cake if you have any overcooked areas on the top or around the sides of your cake. Cut in half through the middle of the cake and then divide each half into eight wedges and set aside.
To make your berry sauce sauce take two cups of the thawed berries and mash them, adding two tablespoons of icing sugar to sweeten. Reserve the other cup for decorating while layering.
Make up your chocolate mousse following the packet instructions(mixing packet contents with cold milk) and set aside.
To prepare your mascarpone place it into a mixing bowl, with half the fresh cream and mix with a spoon to combine the two, you want it to be a nice spreadable consistency, adding icing sugar and cream until you have the desired taste and consistency.
To assemble your trifle place half your chocolate mousse in the bottom of your glass serving bowl, on top of your mousse place one half of your chocolate cake so it forms one even flat layer. If there gaps between pieces of cake fill them with some of the reserved whole raspberries. Spoon raspberry sauce over the cake and place more 8-10 whole raspberries around the side of the bowl. Layer the mascarpone over the raspberries and then repeat the layering process again starting with the mousse.
Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour so that your mousse can set before removing it from the fridge and allowing it to sit for 15 minutes before serving, scatter the crushed Flake bar over the top.

Unlike other trifles this one holds it’s shape quite well while serving. I know Christmas and trifle seem to go hand in hand but I think this would be great for any summer BBQ or even a New Year’s Eve party.

Individual Summer Vegetable Tarts

I made these last week to take along to a get together hosted by Lydia Bakes.  We all have quite the sweet tooth so I thought something savoury would go down well to combat all the sugar we would be eating (check out the sweet Berry Tarts I made for the catch up too).
I made these Summer Vegetable Tarts from scratch, baking my own pastry cases, but you could easily buy some pre-made from the supermarket which would make these really quick and easy to whip up.  Also, feel free to change up the vegetable mix to include your favourites or what you have on hand.

Ingredients:
Pastry cases:
1 ⅓  cups flour
pinch of salt
100g unsalted butter, cold, cut into cubes
1 egg yolk
2 tablespoons ice cold water

Vegetable filling:
1 bunch asparagus
1 kumara, chopped into chunks
½ pumpkin, chopped into chunks
12 cherry tomatoes
4 – 6 Portobello mushrooms
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons dried mixed herbs
salt
pepper
200g haloumi cheese
25g feta, crumbled
1 egg
1 tablespoon water
12 small sprigs of rosemary

Method:
Pastry cases:
In a food processor, combine the flour and salt by pulsing the mixture in 2 second bursts.  Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
Mix the egg with a tablespoon of water.  Add the egg to the flour mixture, pulsing again until just combined, adding the extra water if needed to bring the pastry together to forma soft dough.
On a lightly floured surface, shape the mixture into a ball.  Wrap in cling film and place in the refrigerator for about an hour, or until firm.
Grease a 12 hole muffin tin.  Preheat the oven to 180°C.
Roll the pastry mixture out to about 2mm thick.  Cut out rounds from the pastry, about 6cm in diameter (I used a drinking glass for this).  Place the pastry rounds into the prepared muffin holes and press into place.  Prick the bottom of each pastry case with a fork.
Cut out squares of baking paper (or use muffin papers) and line each pastry case before filling each with uncooked rice or baking weights.  Place the prepared tin of pastry cases into the freezer for 5 – 10 minutes (or the fridge for 30 minutes) to become cool again and firm up.
Bake for 10 minutes.  Take the cases out of the oven and remove the paper and baking weights before returning to the oven for a further 2-5 minutes.  Set aside to cool.

Filling:
Preheat the oven to 180°C.  Place the vegetables (kumara, pumpkin, asparagus, tomatoes, mushrooms) in a couple of roasting trays, coat the vegetables in the oil, dried herbs, and salt and pepper. Roast the vegetables until tender. 
While the vegetables are roasting, cut the haloumi into slices, about 0.5cm thick and fry in a frying pan until lightly golden on both sides.
Once the vegetables been roasted and taken out of the oven to cool slightly, cut the vegetables (excluding the tomatoes) into small, little chunks (0.5cm pieces).  Crumb the feta cheese and mix it together with the roasted vegetables.
Place a piece of haloumi in the bottom of each pastry case.  Top with the roasted vegetable mix.
Beat together the egg and water.  Brush the egg wash over the vegetables in the tart cases.  Bake for a further 10 minutes.  Once out of the oven, top each tart with a sprig of rosemary and a cherry tomato.

KitchenAid Blender Giveaway Winner…

The winner (chosen by a random draw) of a brand new KitchenAid Blender is…

Heather Pestana

Congratulations Heather!  Please get in touch with us via email or in a a private message on our facebook page – we need to know your contact details and what colour blender you would like!

Thank you so very much to everyone who entered the giveaway.  It was fun reading all your comments; what you would make or who you would give the blender too.

Please, if you haven’t already, help us say thank you for such a great prize by sending the folk at KitchenAid an appreciative message on twitter or giving them a ‘like’ on their facebook page.  Check out the rest of the gorgeous KitchenAid range on their website – there’s still a bit of time before Christmas for you to hint at what you would like for a present!

Once again, thank you to everyone who entered and to KitchenAid, and congratulations to Heather.

Individual Berry Tarts

Yesterday I was invited to attend a get together hosted by Lydia Bakes.  I decided to make two types of little tarts, one sweet and the other savoury (recipe to come later in the week).  These Individual Berry Tarts are delish, and really simple to make.  And, if you buy pre-made pastry tarts from the supermarket, they would be a really quick treat to assemble – perfect for Christmas day.

Ingredients:
Pastry cases:
2 ¾ cups flour
1 cup icing sugar
pinch of salt
250g unsalted butter, cold, chopped
1 egg
1 teaspoon lemon juice
½ teaspoon lemon zest
1 teaspoon vanilla essence

Filling:
500g mixed frozen berries
½ cup icing sugar
400g marscapone cheese
½ cup brown sugar
200g white chocolate melts

Method:
Pastry cases:
In a food processor, combine the flour, icing sugar and salt by pulsing the mixture in 2 second bursts.  Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
Add the egg, lemon juice, zest and vanilla essence and pulse the mixture together, about 10 times.  The mixture should look dry and crumbly.
On a lightly floured surface, shape the mixture into a ball.  Wrap in cling film and place in the refrigerator for about 2 hours, or until firm.
Grease a 12 hole muffin tin.  Preheat the oven to 180°C.
Roll the pastry mixture out to about 5mm thick.  Cut out rounds from the pastry, about 6cm in diameter (I used a drinking glass for this).  Place the pastry rounds into the prepared muffin holes and press into place.  Prick the bottom of each pastry case with a fork. 
Cut out squares of baking paper (or use muffin papers) and line each pastry case before filling each with uncooked rice or baking weights.  Place the prepared tin of pastry cases into the freezer for 5 – 10 minutes (or the fridge for 30 minutes) to become cool again and firm up. 
Bake for 10 minutes.  Take the cases out of the oven and remove the paper and baking weights before returning to the oven for a further 2-5 minutes.  Set aside to cool.

Filling:
Place the frozen berries in a bowl and cover with the icing sugar.  Set the berries aside to defrost, mixing regularly to ensure an even coverage of the icing sugar.  If the berries taste too tart, add more icing sugar until you are happy with the level of sweetness.
Melt the white chocolate in a microwave safe bowl using 30 second bursts on high in the microwave, mixing between each burst until the chocolate is smooth.  Using a desert spoon, wave spoonful's of the chocolate over a piece of baking paper to make thin lines.  Turn the paper ninety degrees and repeat, to make a lattice effect.  Set the paper aside while the chocolate sets.
In another bowl, mix together the marscapone and the brown sugar.  Place a dollop of this mixture into each pastry case. 
Drain the berries.  Place a handful of berries on each tart. 
Break off pieces of the chocolate lattice and place into the side of each tart.
Keep the tarts refrigerated before serving.

White Chocolate Rocky Road

This is delicious and it looks Christmassy! There is also a huge bonus in this as it is a not bake recipe which is perfect at this time of year as things are hectic and it’s getting so hot.

Ingredients:
500g white chocolate
25g dehydrated strawberries
100g mini marshmallows
120g pistachio nuts, roughly chopped
75g Whittaker’s raspberry White chocolate, roughly chopped
1/2 cup craisins

Method:
Line a 20x20cm slice tin with grease proof paper.
Melt white chocolate in a double boiler, be sure not to let the boiling water touch the bottom of the bowl that the chocolate is in.
Once all the chocolate is melted remove from the heat.
Allow the chocolate to cool for 2-3 minutes before adding all other ingredients. Stir through to ensure that all additions are distributed evenly.
Pour the mixture into the slice tin and refrigerate for at least an hour before for slicing.
* You can reserve a small amount of the strawberry and pistachio to scatter on top for a more attractive finish, do this before putting into the fridge.

This slice will keep well for up to a week in an airtight container – if it lasts that long!

Lolly Cake

So, this has to be one of the easiest things on this blog to make.  Lolly Cake (personally I call it ‘Lolly Slice’) is a New Zealand treat, found in most bakeries.  My Irish flatmate has just informed me that back home they call something similar ‘fifteens’.  I had never made Lolly Cake before and couldn’t believe how simple it was.  This would be a great recipe to get the kids making and at this time of the year is would make great Christmas gifts for teachers, something to give the neighbours, unexpected visitors…

Ingredients:
120g butter, melted
250g (1 pack) malt biscuits (cookies)
½ can (200g) condensed milk
190g (1 pack) eskimo lollies (you can also use fruit puffs – lollies are what we call sweets in New Zealand)
¼ cup desiccated coconut

Method:
Cut the lollies into bite sized chunks.
Grind the biscuits up in the food processor to a fine crumb.  Add the lollies and biscuit crumbs into a large bowl.
Whisk together the melted butter and condensed milk.  Pour butter mixture over the biscuit mixture and stir to combine.
Mould the mixture into a log shape, coat the outside with the coconut, then wrap in cling film.
Place in the refrigerator for a couple of hours or until set.  Cut into 1cm slices before serving.

You could, if you don’t want the fuss of making a log, press the mixture into a slice tin and sprinkle the top with coconut.  Once it has been the fridge to set you can then cut it into slices.

KitchenAid Artisan Blender Giveaway!

Earlier in the year we were super privileged to be able to giveaway a KitchenAid Artisan Stand Mixer for our blog’s 3rd birthday.  Now we are wrapping up the year with another amazing KitchenAid giveaway; this time we have a KitchenAid Artisan Blender up for grabs.  Wahooo!

An indispensable culinary tool, the KitchenAid Artisan 5-Speed Blender with 1.75L BPA-Free jug combines professional performance with sleek design. This bench-top Blender makes easy work of stirring, chopping, puréeing or liquefying a variety of foods, from slushies, smoothies and cocktails to dressings, dips and donuts.  The KitchenAid Artisan Blender also features a 'PULSE' button for extra bursts of power and an 'ICE CRUSH' button to transform cubes into fine, snow-like powder (just like what you see in the video above – perfect for Christmas Day and New Years celebrations). You'll be amazed at the versatility of this power packed machine.


So, are you keen to win and treat yourself or someone you love with a new KitchenAid Blender this festive season?  One lucky reader will be winning one of these fabulous machines in the colour of their choice.  To get yourself in with a chance to win, leave us a comment below sharing either what you would make with the blender (we will be sharing more great videos to give you some ideas), or, if you want to win it to give as a gift, who is the lucky person you want to give it to and why?  Make sure you include your name so we can contact you! Entries are open to all New Zealand and Australian residents (yup – our Aussie fans can enter this one too!).  Entries close at 5pm Monday 16th December – just in time for your prize to get to you for Christmas.  The winner will be announced here on the blog and over on our facebook page.  If the prize is not claimed by the 20th December, it will be re-drawn.

Help us say thank you to KitchenAid for such an awesome prize and giving you the chance to win by giving them a like on facebook or following them on twitter.

Good Luck and Merry Christmas everyone!

White Chocolate and Macadamia Cookies

I can’t believe it’s taken me nearly four years to get around to making some white chocolate and macadamia cookies! I used our tried and tested (+ incredibly delicious) chocolate chip cookie dough for the base and added in the extras. This recipe is easy and delicious and would make a great Christmas present if you are thinking of giving some baking away this season.
Ingredients:
250g butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¾ cup caster sugar
¾ cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 egg
2 ¼ cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
250g white chocolate bits
130g macadamia nuts, roughly chopped

Method:
Preheat oven to 180˚C.  Line a couple of oven trays.
Beat butter, vanilla extract, sugars and egg in a large bowl with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. 
Stir in the sifted flour and baking soda in two batches. 
Stir in the chocolate and macadamia nuts.
Roll tablespoons of mixture into balls, place about 5cm apart on the trays. 
Bake for about 8 to 12 minutes depending how crispy you want your cookies.  Leave to cool slightly on the tray before transferring to a wire rack.
Cookies will keep in an airtight container for up to a week.