Baking Makes Things Better

Simon’s Chocolate Ganache and Salted Caramel Tarts

2012-02-26T23:00:00.000+13:00

Simon experimented and made these little tarts tonight. I bought the tart cases a few weeks ago when I made Neenish tarts, but ended up using bigger ones for them. Ever since Simon has been thinking up ways they could be put to use. He has also started a thing called ‘25 before 26’ where he is coming up with 25 treats for me before my 26th birthday, which is coming up on March 19th. It started on Friday night with a gorgeous dinner out to Soto, a restaurant I had been wanting to try for ages. Saturday’s treat ended up being a milkshake and I don’t think he had anything planned for Sunday. So, I think these tarts were a last minute attempt at keeping the 25 treats going and also gave Simon an excuse to be allowed to use up the tart cases :P
I’ve written out an approximate recipe below (the email version that Simon sent me said things like “stir to get all the lumpy lumps are out”).

150g dark chocolate
95ml cream
1 teaspoon butter
⅓ cup caramel condensed milk
2 tablespoons salt
12 mini tart cases

Melt the chocolate and butter together in the cream over the top of a double boiler.
Fill the little tart cups with the chocolate mixture then put in the fridge to chill.
Heat the caramel condensed milk in a little pan and stir to get all the lumps out. Use a teaspoon to drip some over a good ⅓ of the chocolate tarts. Alternatively, if you like caramel, cover the entire top in it. Sprinkle the tops of each tart with a pinch of salt. Refrigerate to set.

Kiddy Cupcakes

2012-02-24T00:07:00.001+13:00

As some of you may remember I have been on the hunt for a vanilla cake/cupcake recipe that is as good as the Betty Crocker Vanilla Cake mix, these aren’t quite as moist or quite as sweet as the Betty Crocker ones BUT the mix makes about 26-30 cupcakes depending on the size of your cupcake papers and kids seem to love them – making them perfect for kids parties, school bake sales or cake stalls.

Ingredients:
250g butter, softened
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
2½ cups flour
½ cup cornflour
4½ teaspoons baking powder
1 cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla essence

Buttercream:
250g butter softened
5 cups icing sugar, sifted
4-6 tablespoons hot water (warm icing makes the colour take better)
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
food colouring

Method:Pre-heat your oven to 180°C and line your baking tin with cupcake cases.
Cream the butter in sugar until light an fluffy, add in eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Sift the flour, cornflour and baking powder into a separate bowl.
Alternate adding the flour mix and milk & vanilla essence to the creamed mixture, beat on a low setting to combine.
Spoon the mixture evenly into cupcake cases. Bake in a pre-heated oven for about 20 minutes or until a skewer can be removed cleanly or they bounce back to the touch.
Leave cupcakes to cool for 5 minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool.
To make the buttercream, cream butter in or with a mixer until pale. On a low speed add icing sugar alternating with hot water and vanilla essence. Continue to beat until light and fluffy or until it’s reached a consistency you are happy with. At this stage you can either add the colouring to your mix and beat it in or divide your mix and colour so that you end up with a variety of colours.

Tip: When you ice your cupcakes you can spread the buttercream with a knife or pipe it like me, I used a Wilton 2A round tip on the blue cupcakes and 2D tip on the pink cupcakes iced like roses (the effect is achieved when you frost from the centre and move out). The swirl effect (like the blue ones pictured below) is achieved when you start from the outside and move in to the centre in an upward motion. You can then top your cupcakes with all types of sprinkles, edible glitters or cupcake toppers.

Mascarpone Tarts

2012-02-19T09:59:00.001+13:00

I thought this might be the perfect follow on post to the Neenish Tarts Mel posted the other day as you can use the same tart casings. I got the idea from my Step-Mum Wendy who is always whipping up yummy things in the kitchen. Wendy has made these yummy treats for Shane and I several times now, they are perfect over summer topped with berries. They are super simple to make and great if you get invited to or decide to throw a BBQ at short notice. I made my first batch last weekend as part of the dessert for Max’s birthday BBQ with family in New Plymouth.

Ingredients:
400-500 grams of Mascarpone (depending on the size of the packets/tubs your supermarket carry)
½-1 tablespoon lemon zest (to your taste)
3-5 tablespoons icing sugar sifted (you can do this to taste – dependent on how sweet you want it)

Method:
Buy (like me) or bake 12 tart casings. If you want to make your own pastry cases you can make some short crust pastry using this recipe, roll it out and line 12 – 18 patty tins. Prick the bases and chill cases for about 30 minutes before baking then at 180°C for about 10 minutes or until they are golden and crisp.
In a bowl combine mascarpone and lemon zest, gradually add the icing sugar to taste, mixing well after each addition.
Fill cases with the mascarpone mixture.
Top with berries of your choice.

These are best served fresh but can be made a few hours ahead of time and stored in the fridge until you are ready to serve.

If you are not a fan of lemon you could omit this ingredient all together or replace it with ½ a teaspoon of vanilla essence.

As a special treat over Christmas Wendy replaced the pastry casings with delicious little dark chocolate cups which is was delicious and gives you an idea of how to put a different spin on things if these become a favourite in your household and you want to change it up a bit.

Neenish Tarts

2012-02-17T18:10:00.001+13:00

A couple of weeks back I finally got around to attempting Neenish Tarts. I cheated though – I bought the pastry shells. In my defence it was the long weekend and I wanted to relax. If you want to make your own pastry cases you can make some short crust pastry using this recipe, roll it out and line 12 – 18 patty tins. Prick the bases and chill cases for about 30 minutes before baking then at 180°C for about 10 minutes or until they are golden and crisp.

Ingredients:
500g sweet short crust pastry (see note above) or 12 store bought pastry cases

For the filling:
115g butter, softened
55g icing sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla essence
1 tablespoon lemon juice
pinch of baking powder
1 ½ teaspoons gelatine
3 tablespoons boiling water

For the icing:
1 cup icing sugar
1 tablespoon hot water
¼ teaspoon vanilla essence
1 tablespoon cocoa
1 tablespoon butter

Making the filling:
Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, then mix in the vanilla essence and the cream of tartar. Add the gelatine (dissolved in the boiling water), a teaspoon at a time and the lemon juice, then mix through.
Fill the cooled pastry cases with the mixture and level off the tops. Store in a cool place until firm.

Icing and Finishing:
Put the icing sugar into a heatproof bowl, mix in 1 teaspoon of hot water and heat over simmering water until the icing softens. Add the vanilla, then use immediately to ice one half of each tart.
Add the cocoa and butter to the remaining icing, return the bowl to the heat and stir until glossy. Add more hot water if needed. Ice the other half of the tarts, making more icing if needed. Run a hot knife across each tart or use a small drop of hot water to smooth the icing if needed.

Lunchbox Bakes - Cheesy Ham and Corn Mini Muffins

2012-02-15T07:00:00.000+13:00

I found this recipe on the Healthy Food Guide website after seeing it mentioned in one of my magazines. I’ve copied the recipe straight across from there as it reads on their website, but I found when I made these that they took way longer than 12 minutes to cook and it also made about 30 muffins. All the nutritional information is with the original recipe if you are interested and someone has programmed it all into the ‘My Fitness Pal’ app that I use – brilliant!

cooking oil spray
2 cups self-raising flour
1 pinch salt
1 cup grated courgette (1 large)
1 cup (220g) fresh, frozen or canned corn kernels
75g ham, diced
½ cup grated reduced-fat cheddar cheese
200ml trim milk
1 egg
80ml (⅓ cup) sunflower oil

Preheat oven to 180°C. Spray a 24-hole mini-muffin tin with oil.
Sift flour and salt into a large bowl. Add courgette, corn, ham and cheese. Stir to combine. Set aside.
In a separate bowl, whisk together milk, egg and sunflower oil. Stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients until just combined.
Divide mixture among muffin holes. Bake for 12 minutes or until golden and cooked through.

Remember, you too can take part in Lunchbox Bakes – just flick us an email to bmtbblog@gmail.com. You can read more about this event on the Lunchbox Bakes page.

Soft Pretzels

2012-02-13T15:38:00.001+13:00

I made these as a Super Bowl snack last week. I haven’t made much dough before so I was pretty happy with how they turned out although I must say they were at their best still warm on the day they were made.

4 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 teaspoon white sugar
1 ½ cups warm water
5 cups all-purpose flour
½ cup white sugar
1 ½ teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
¼ cup baking soda
2 cups hot water
¼ cup sea salt salt, for topping

In a bowl, dissolve yeast and 1 teaspoon sugar in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.
In a large bowl, mix together flour, sugar, and salt. Make a well in the centre add the oil and yeast mixture. Mix and form into a dough (if the mixture is dry, add one or two tablespoons of water). You can use your hands or a freestanding mixer if you have a dough hook.
Knead the dough until smooth, about 7 to 8 minutes by hand and about 3 minutes if using a mixer.
Spray a large bowl with a tin coating of oil, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place like a hot water cupboard until doubled in size, this step can take up to an hour.
While your dough is rising preheat your oven to 220°C. In a large bowl, dissolve baking soda in hot water. Line two baking trays with wax/baking paper.
Once your dough has risen, turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 12 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a rope and twist into a pretzel shape. Once all of the dough is all shaped, dip each pretzel into the baking soda solution and place on a a baking tray lined with wax/baking paper. Sprinkle with sea salt.
Bake in preheated oven for 8 minutes or until browned.

I think I enjoyed the snacks more than the game itself – Shane is a Super Bowl big fan so I wanted to do something nice for him after all his hard work moving us from one city to another. Along with the pretzels we enjoyed Melissa’s chicken meatballs, some mac n cheese bites and American beer.

Mint Chocolate Cheesecake

2012-02-11T08:25:00.001+13:00

In New Zealand the 6th February is a public holiday as it is the day that our Treaty was signed between the British and the Maori back in 1840 (Haha, look at my history teacher training coming out!). This year the 6th of Feb happened to be a Monday which meant a long weekend baby! Simon and I headed up North to my families beach house in Ruakaka. The weather was pretty rubbish so there wasn’t much swimming going on. However, I had a relaxing time reading my book and baking (I made Neenish tarts too, which will be posted up soon). On the Sunday I felt like making something rich and indulgent. I decided upon a mint cheesecake. I didn’t have any recipes with me though (and there’s pretty much zero cell phone coverage and no internet), so I made this one up! I was pretty impressed with the result too and will be making it again :)

Base:
1 cup biscuit crumbs (we use Farmbake Choc Chip Fudge Cookies)
⅓ cup butter, melted

Filling:
250g cream cheese
⅓ cup caster sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon gelatine
2 teaspoons hot water
1 cup cream
¼ teaspoon green food colouring
1 teaspoon peppermint essence
5 – 6 mint slice biscuits, roughly chopped
1 Cadbury mint bubbly chocolate bar, crumbled (optional decoration)

Combine the biscuit crumbs and butter. Press into the base of a 20cm round spring form tin and then chill. Whip the cream until it holds its shape, then refrigerate.
Beat the cream cheese, caster sugar, food colouring, peppermint and vanilla essence together until smooth.
Sprinkle the gelatine over the hot water and then stir to dissolve. Add the gelatine to the cream cheese mixture and beat the mixture again.
Add the mint slice biscuits and whipped cream, fold the cream through.
Cover the biscuit base with the cream cheese mixture and smooth out the top. Refrigerate for at least two hours or until set. Sprinkle the Mint Bubbly chocolate bar over the top to decorate.

Hope all my fellow Kiwi’s had a great long weekend!

Choctastic Cookies

2012-02-09T16:09:00.001+13:00

If you follow us on facebook you will know that these are the first things I baked in my new home. They were delicious and I am so glad that we finally have the internet so that I can share them with you all. I actually made the recipe up myself after looking at several types of similar biscuits on the net.

Ingredients:
150g dark chocolate, minimum 70% cocoa solids
1 cup flour
4 tablespoons cocoa, sifted
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
125g butter,softened
⅓ brown sugar
⅓ white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1 egg, cold from the fridge
350g milk chocolate drops

Method:
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Line your oven trays with baking paper.
Melt the 150g dark chocolate either in the microwave or in a heatproof dish over a pan of simmering water.
Put the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt into a bowl.
Cream the butter and sugars in another bowl. Add the melted chocolate and mix until combined.
Beat in the vanilla essence and cold egg, and then mix in the dry ingredients. Finally stir in the chocolate drops.
Scoop out 16 equal balls, using an ice cream scoop helps to keep the size consistent and place on your lined baking sheet about 5cm apart. Don’t flatten them.
Cook for 15 minutes, testing with a skewer to make sure it comes out semi-clean and not wet with batter. If you hit a chocolate drop, try again.
Leave to cool slightly on the baking tray for 5 minutes, then transfer them to a cooling rack to harden as they cool.

These were divine warm but just as scrummy once fully cool for a good few days after they were made. If you are a chocoholic just like me you need to give this recipe a try!

Chocolate Cake Pops

2012-02-07T20:56:00.001+13:00

In January I had both Matthew’s (Andie’s son) and Max’s first birthday parties to attend so I decided to give making cake pops a try. This is a very simple ‘how-to’ for making them, I am in no way an expert and will gladly leave that title to Bakerella!

Basically to make cake pops you need to make a cake. Then you smash the cake and mix it with an icing-like substance. Then you roll it into balls, chill them, then pop in some sticks and dip in chocolate :P

You can use the chocolate cake recipe that I have given below or any other of your choosing – a packet mix is fine. I got my pop sticks from Milly’s – they sell long Wilton brand sticks and they also stock their own brand of shorter sticks, which is what I used as they were half the price.

Chocolate Cake:
110g self raising flour
40g cocoa powder
200g caster sugar
80g unsalted butter, at room temperature
125g dark chocolate, finely chopped
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Icing Mix:
80g unsalted butter
125g icing sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
2 tablespoons cream

Other:
375g Chocolate, melted, to cover the cake balls
30 (approx) lollipop sticks

To make the cake, preheat the oven to 180°C. Grease and line a 22 cm round cake tin with baking paper. Sift the flour and cocoa together in a large bowl. Combine the sugar and 125ml boiling water in the top of a double boiler over a medium heat and stir until dissolved. Add the butter and chocolate and stir until smooth. Cool slightly.
Combine the egg and vanilla extract then add to the flour mixture and mix well. Add the chocolate mixture and mix to combine. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 30 – 35 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Remove from the tin and cool completely on a wire rack.

Finely crumb the chocolate cake into a large bowl. Place the butter, icing sugar and cocoa in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat for 1-2 minutes or until light and creamy. Add the cream and mix well. Add to the cake crumbs and mix well (the mixture should stick together when squeezed).
Line two baking trays with baking paper. Roll the mixture into small balls, about the same size as a truffle. Place on the trays and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
Carefully insert a stick into each cake ball and dip into the melted chocolate, swirling off the excess.

For Matthew’s party I coated the cake pop with white chocolate and then drizzled dark chocolate over the top as Andie had decided on a ‘Cookies and Cream’ theme. For Max’s party I used red and light blue candy melts by Wilton (a little tip – mixing vegetable oil with the candy melts makes the consistency a lot better to work with, add a little a time while melting them until you have a consistency you are happy with) and topped them with sprinkles.

Chelsea NZ's Hottest Home Baker Season 3

2012-02-07T11:16:00.000+13:00

Just in case any of you out there are interested, the casting call has gone out for contestants wanting to take part in Chelsea NZ's Hottest Home Baker Season 3. You can read more about it and apply here.

Max’s Robots and Rockets 1st Birthday Party

2012-02-05T13:45:00.001+13:00

That’s Max, 2 weeks off officially tuning 1, hanging out with his little friend Molly (the gorgeous daughter of Jess, the talent behind Rosy Cakes) during his party last weekend.

I thought now that we (FINALLY!) have internet I would share some pics from the party with you as well as some hints/tips for anyone planning a kids party in the near future.

I had a very clear vision of what I wanted Max’s party to be (you guys saw my inspiration collages…), most importantly I wanted it to be a chance to gather with family and friends to celebrate the 1st year of my baby boy’s life but since I decided to theme it I really wanted to follow it through in the form of decorations, food, plates and napkins, right down to Max’s robot t-shirt – which of course all had to be in the same colour pallet. However, this was easier said than done and I may have over extended myself a little! We moved cities less than a week earlier then I had to go back up to Auckland to use a kitchen I was unfamiliar with, before transporting everything across the other side of town for the actual party. I also only had a 30 minute set up allowed before the party because of the rental period on our venue.

There were some minor disasters like my blue and red macarons (which more looked pink and green) that never even made it to the oven because they spread so much during the setting process! Everything else got there in the end after help from Shane who did so many little things as well as cutting out all the robot faces for the shortbread cookies – I think he did an awesome job! Melissa made some awesome cake pops and delicious meatballs and my Mum calmed me down mid-macaron meltdown and did a bunch of savoury items and delish profiteroles. I was also helped by Wendy who cut out all the coloured stars for decorations, made up some yummy cheese and cracker platters and spent quite a bit of time in the kitchen at the party getting the savouries into the oven and cutting up cake. My Dad also spent hours entertaining Max so I could get stuff done. Thank you guys! I also have to thank Jess for making Max’s robot cake topper for me.

Max’s Cake

Food from the sweet treats table

Savoury table, Sweet Treats table and Drinks table with goody bags

Decorations

Because of time constraints I have no new recipes to share with you, although I am sure Mel will let you all in on a cakepops ‘how to’ soon. The robot cookies are shortbread which I flooded with ‘Queen’ royal icing (so easy to use!) and placed the faces and stars (which I sprinkled with edible glitter/shimmer) made of coloured fondant on top. I made red velvet and vanilla cupcakes and the cake was 3 chocolate cakes layered with vanilla buttercream icing and covered in fondant.

In terms of party planning advice, I would recommend that you pick a theme/colour scheme a couple of months ahead of time if possible, hunt for ideas on the internet and start collecting bits and pieces as you come across them (I got my robot cups, plates and napkins months in advance at the $2 Shop of all places – bargain, and I found the little red and blue wooden robots in Whitcoulls). Give yourself plenty of time, write a to do list and tick things off as you go, delegate jobs (if you can), make decorations in advance, and bake things like cookies a couple of days before the party and put them in an airtight container. On the day have a crew of people who will help you set up and then tidy up and get someone to take lots of photos for you (thanks Mel and Imogen!) because you will probably be too busy with guests to do it. If it’s a kids party have plenty of kid friendly food – think fruit platters, cheerios, sausage rolls. Also if you are having a party over lunch and there are going to be Dad’s there make sure you have plenty of savouries (mini pies, sandwiches).

In terms of planning my party I spent ages looking on this site (LOVE!) for inspiration and ideas and got the majority of my decorations from this great NZ site ‘Poppyseed’, as well as using the awesome pictures our friend Andie took of Max’s cake smash.

Jones the Grocer

2012-02-03T18:27:00.001+13:00

Jones the Grocer is an Australian gourmet food chain which also has a store and café in New Market, Auckland. I only recently discovered it, but liked it so much I went there twice during my holidays.

Jones the Grocer stocks an awesome range of specialty foods. There is a special deli section and shelves brimming with items such as pasta, sauces, cordials, teas, chocolates – well yeah, there is heaps of stuff that I want to try (especially the black and white bow tie pasta, that looked super cool)! They also sell cute kitchenware like cups and saucers and old-fashioned milk bottles.

The café has a delicious range of food to choose from in the counter cabinet and there is a menu to pick from too. One things you must try is their iced chocolates – they taste amazing and come in funky little glass bottles.

If you are unable to visit their Auckland store, their website is pretty cool too - each month they stick up a new recipe. At the time of writing this the recipe is for Earl Grey Tea infused chocolate truffles.

Jones the Grocer
143 Carlton Gore Road, Newmarket, Auckland, New Zealand
P: +64 9 5229161
F: +64 9 5232664
E: newmarket@jonesthegrocer.com
www.jonesthegrocer.com

Lunchbox Bakes – Mini Vegetable Frittatas

2012-02-01T17:58:00.001+13:00

Simon and I have been enjoying these Vegetable Frittatas as one of our lunchbox snacks this week. They are a great way to get kids eating more vegetables and eating healthy. I find the Frittatas super tasty and I have been looking forward to my morning tea when I can eat my one for the day :)

Remember if you make something that is suitable for lunches, you can also take part in Lunchbox Bakes. It would be great to see what everyone else has been creating. Information about the event can be found on the Lunchbox Bakes page.

Makes 12 cupcake sized frittatas

4 spring onions, sliced into thin rounds
3 medium courgettes, chopped into 1cm pieces
1 medium red pepper, finely chopped (peppers kinda scare me, so I used about 6 mild piquanté peppers which come in a jar by Peppadew)
125g cheese, cut into 1cm cubes (I used Mainland’s ‘Egmont’ cheese)
8 large eggs
125ml cream
freshly ground black pepper
a good pinch of dried oregano

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Grease a 12 hole muffin tray well, or use a flexible muffin mould.
Fry the onions, courgettes, red pepper and oregano together in a medium frying pan for 5 minutes or until the vegetables are a light golden brown.
Leave the vegetables to cool for 5 minutes then stir in the tomatoes and cheese.
Break the eggs into a bowl. Add the cream and a small amount of pepper then whisk together.
Spoon the vegetable and cheese mixture into the muffin tray holes. Pour the egg mixture over the top.
Bake for about 30 minutes or until puffed, golden and set. Leave to cool for 5 minutes then gently run a round bladed knife around the outside of each muffin hole and lift the frittatas out. The frittatas can be eaten hot or cold.

The Pah Café

2012-01-31T19:30:00.001+13:00

Located inside Monte Cecilia Park is this beautiful building, The Pah Homestead. Gorgeous huh? This building is actually not very far from where I currently live; Simon and I discovered it on our way home one day when I asked if we could head up the driveway for Monte Cecilia Park to take a look.

Here’s a bit of history about the building for you… the place was built between 1877 and 1879 for Auckland businessman, James Williamson as his ‘gentleman’s residence’. After he died in 1888, the homestead was leased to the Anglican church and was used as a school. In 1913, the Sisters of Mercy and The Roman Catholic Bishop of Auckland, Henry Cleary purchased the homestead.

I took Courtenay here for brunch one day and she had actually been here before when she was younger as her school used it for retreats. In 2002 the Auckland Council purchased the homestead and began an extensive restoration. The building was opened to the public in August of 2010 and now houses an art gallery and café. The café offers a pretty standard menu with nothing out of the ordinary, but does have quite a delicious looking selection of goodies in their cabinet.

If the weather is nice when you visit, take full advantage of the sun and sit out on the large wrap-around veranda out the back. The homestead has some great views of Auckland and is surrounded by beautiful park grounds (apparently over 15 ha in fact). It is the perfect setting to enjoy the cafés tea and scones.

The Homestead can also be hired as a venue for functions such as conferences, meetings and weddings. You can see more pictures and find out more information about the park and homestead on the Auckland Council’s website and check out the café’s menu on The Pah café’s website.

The Pah Café
72 Hillsborough Road, Hillsborough, Auckland, New Zealand
Opening hours: Tuesday – Friday 10am-3pm, Saturday 10am-5pm
www.pahcafe.co.nz

Time To Party

2012-01-26T21:36:00.001+13:00

Max is turning 1! This is an updated picture of him smashing his 11 month cake, I snapped it on my phone at a cake smash photo shoot we did with Andie who has guest blogged on here before. Of course we are throwing a party to celebrate, it is also doubling as a leaving party since our family has relocated to Taranaki (from Auckland) as of a week ago – which means a trip up to Auckland, the first of many to come I am sure.

I started looking for ideas for Maxie’s party when he was about 5 months old and and decided on a robots and rockets theme to match the bedroom theme we picked before he was born, after settling on the theme I created this little inspiration board…

I have had lots of fun coming up with decorating ideas and planning lots of yummy food. Since we don’t have a house in Auckland to have the party in we have hired a venue at the botanical gardens, I will only have half an hour set up time so I have to have all my decorations ready to go and the food has to look and taste delicious but easy to transport. Below are my two updated inspiration boards and a sneak peek at some of the goodies I have collected!

I will be sure to share all the yummy goodies with you after the party and I am sure I will be testing out my new kitchen once we are properly settled in our new home, I’m having serious baking withdrawals!

Lunchbox Bakes – Berry and Oat Muffins

2012-01-25T09:34:00.001+13:00

These muffins are pretty tasty and they are easy to whip up. I find them quite filling too. They are suitable to freeze for later as well. Lets get started…

Makes 8.

1 ½ cups self raising flour
⅓ cup caster sugar
1 cup rolled oats
¾ cup milk
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon grated lemon or lime rind
1 cup mixed berries (fresh or frozen)

Preheat the oven to 200°C. Line 8 holes of a 12-hole muffin pan with paper cases.

Combine the flour, sugar and oats in a large bowl. Combine the milk, egg, oil and rind in a separate bowl. Add the milk mixture to the flour mixture and stir until just combined. Stir in the berries, leaving a few out to decorate the tops of the muffins.

Divide the mixture into the muffin cases. Place the remaining berries on the top. If you want to be extra fancy you could sprinkle some coffee sugar over the tops or decorate each muffin with a banana chip – I had both to try but forgot! Bake for 20 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the muffin comes out cleanly. Transfer to a wire rack and allow to cool.

So that is my first recipe for Lunchbox Bakes, a new feature that I introduced to you yesterday. Remember you can take part too and get a link to your blog up on our next Lunchbox Bakes post. If you are interested, there are more details on the Lunchbox Bakes page :)
If you make one of the recipes from our blog, leave a comment on the post or take a pic and post it up on our facebook page!

New Feature – Lunchbox Bakes!

2012-01-24T21:57:00.001+13:00

I’m starting up a new feature on our blog (conveniently just in time for the start of the school year too!) called ‘Lunchbox Bakes’.

Basically each fortnight (or weekly if I can manage it) I am going to post up a recipe of something I have made to take to work as part of my lunch for the week.

Why? Well, I want to eat healthier but I do want to keep up my baking. I’m aiming to make some stuff with less sugar and chocolate than most of the recipes I have posted up on here, but hopefully they will be yummy enough that buying something from the cafe will not be a temptation. I also like the idea that since I’ve cooked it, I’ll know what is in it unlike some of the offerings at the supermarket.

You can join in too! If you have a blog and have made something appropriate for lunch, share your blog post with us. Grab the Lunchbox Bakes badge (see the buttons page) or logo and put this and/or a link back to our homepage on your post if you want to participate. Then send us an email (bmtbblog@gmail.com) that includes the names of: you, your recipe, your blog and a link to your blog post. I’ve made a page for this new feature, which you can access through our menu bar if you need to check back on the details.

I’ve already baked my first lunchbox treat, so I’ll share that with you tomorrow. Each time I put up a new Lunchbox Bakes post after that, I will include a list of of people who have emailed in and linked up for the feature :)

In other news, Courtenay and her little family have moved down to New Plymouth and seem to be settling in well from the few pics she has managed to post up on facebook. She is still waiting for her internet to be connected up, but once it is she will be back and posting. It’s Max’s first birthday party this weekend (exciting!) so no doubt there will be some mouth watering recipes from the event making their way onto the blog in the coming weeks!

So, that’s the latest. Get involved in Lunchbox Bakes and send us an email with your details to get your link posted on our site!

Shaky Isles

2012-01-21T13:25:00.000+13:00

I can’t believe we haven’t written about Shaky Isles before - I go here quite a bit and love it. I’ve also introduced Courtenay to it, who likes it too.

There are two Shaky Isles cafés; one in Britomart and the original in Kingsland. Shaky Isles in Kingsland is small and intimate (the pics in the post were taken at Shaky Isles Kingsland), while the one in Britomart is a larger, more loft-like space. However, both places share the same great decor of exposed brick and plaster, quirky lighting and cute cartoon pictures dotted around the place. Both also have open wireless networks.

The menu is great – the food is reasonably priced and offers something a little different to other places. On my recent visit I had the Brioche Bene with kransky (their kransky are yum!) and my friend had one of their Bruschetta meals.

Their hot chocolates and mochas come with a Whittakers sante bar and are always served with a pretty vintage teaspoon. Shaky Isles also make delicious milkshakes – quite often you can look around the place and see someone with a ‘World’s longest drink’ cup on pretty much every table.

The Kingsland branch can get quite packed on weekend, but that is only because everyone knows Shaky Isles is a great place for a coffee and a bite to eat :)

Shaky Isles Kingsland
492 New North Road, Kingsland, Auckland
Ph: 09 815 3591

Shaky Isles Britomart
22 Customs Street East, Britomart, Auckland
Ph: 09 377 9310

E: info@shakyisles.co.nz
www.shakyisles.co.nz

White Chocolate Tart

2012-01-18T09:24:00.001+13:00

Last night I hosted a catch up for the girls I met and made friends with while I worked in retail during my Uni years. It was so much fun; I don’t think we have all been in the same room for about 4-5 years. Dinner was just pizza so I decided to make us something a bit more special for dessert. This White Chocolate Tart went down a real treat :)

The tart is actually really simple to make. I made my pastry from scratch, but if you buy some pre-made pastry or a ready-made shell, making the tart would probably take only 10 minutes!

You will need:
1 quantity of short crust pastry (I used this recipe that I have previously posted up)
300g white chocolate (I used a mix of Whittakers white choc and Nestlé choc melts)
50g crème fraîche
100g soft butter
½ teaspoon vanilla essence
Your choice of decoration

Prepare and bake your short crust pastry then allow to cool (I followed this recipe).

Chop the chocolate and melt in a bowl over the top of a pan of hot water. Heat the crème fraîche for 10 seconds in the microwave then add to the chocolate. Stir to combine. Stir in the vanilla. Gradually add and stir in the soft butter. Pour the mixture into the pastry shell, spread smoothly and chill.

I decorated my tart with lots of berries. I purchased a bag of frozen berries from the supermarket, defrosted them and mixed them with icing sugar to taste (fresh ones were way to expensive). You could decorate it with just few berries and some raspberry sauce, or shards of dark chocolate would look quite fancy.

Waterfront Café and Bar

2012-01-16T21:09:00.001+13:00

My only plan for my summer holidays has been sleep ins and café lunches. So far, so good!

Apparently our Auckland weather is going to finally sort itself out and we’re about to get the Summer sun we have been waiting for. Waterfront is the perfect café to head along to for lunch and a drink while soaking up the sun. Sit out on the deck out the back and watch the coming and goings of the boats nearby.

I chose to come here for lunch the other day with my friend Michelle because they have a good selection of offerings on their menu and it is in the Entertainment book, which gives you a voucher entitling you to some $$ off your meal. Also, I hadn’t been there for a while. I had the Smoked Chicken Panini and like all the other plates I saw at neighbouring tables, there was a massive amount of food! The service was good, but someone could have come back to check if we wanted more drinks.

Waterfront is also a restaurant and a bar, so it’s pretty much always open. Brunch, lunch, dinner, dessert, drinks and dancing – I’ve done the lot here.
If you are looking for somewhere to unwind pop on in; it’s not fine dining but it is a nice place in the Viaduct with a good atmosphere and setting :)

Waterfront Café and Bar
Maritime Museum, Viaduct Basin, Auckland, New Zealand
Ph: 09 359 9914
E: info@thewaterfrontcafe.co.nz

Plum Jam

2012-01-13T18:10:00.000+13:00

For the past year, Simon and I have been unsure about a couple of the trees that are in our garden; we couldn’t figure out what variety of fruit tree they were. Turns out they were a couple of different types of plums. So, the other day I picked all the ripe fruit and I made jam.
It turns out making Plum Jam is really easy – you don’t need anything fancy because as my research has told me, Plums have a lot of natural Pectin in them. That’s the stuff that helps the jam to set, which means you don’t need to add anything.

Our lovely trees gave me 2.7 kg of fruit before I cut them up to remove the stones.
You will need:
Equal weight of plums and sugar (at least 1.5kg – just reduce the amount of water if you have less)
A little bit of water (about ⅔ cup)

Chop up the plums, removing the stones and put into a large pot with a heavy base. Add a little bit of water (I put in about ½ a cup for all my plums).

Bring the pot up to a boil and simmer uncovered for an hour, stirring occasionally. The liquid should be reduced by ⅔ and the fruit should be soft.
Put a small plate into the freezer to make it cold for testing the jam later.
Add the sugar into the simmering fruit. I would start with a small amount of sugar and taste the jam before adding more (I used about 1kg of sugar to my 2.7ish kgs of fruit because I found it sweet enough). Stir until it is completely dissolved.Turn up the heat and bring the mixture to a rapid boil while stirring. Boil for 10 minutes.

Remove the plate from the freezer and place a blob of the mixture on to it. Once the mixture has cooled a little, run your finger through it; if the mixture stays separated it is ready to be put into jars. If the mixture comes back together, boil it for a few more minutes before testing again. Once the mixture is ready, remove from the heat and pour into sterilised jam jars (I used some from the supermarket that have the lids that pop in when they have sealed. There’s heaps of info about how to sterilise them on the internet.)

I found this You Tube video really helpful and recommend it if you are going to give making Plum Jam a go.
Once opened the jars of jam will last for about 8 weeks.

Chocolate and Caramel Mousse Cake

2012-01-09T15:22:00.001+13:00

This delicious creation was another Christmas day treat! It is perfect to take along to summer BBQ’s as a dessert plate. This is another recipe that I have had in a folder that I have been meaning to try for a year+ and again I wish I had tried it earlier, it is very easy but you need to have a bit of time on your hands as there is a bit of a wait between steps.

Ingredients:
125g plain biscuit crumbs (I used ‘Round Wines’)
75g butter, melted
1½ teaspoons gelatin
1 tablespoon hot water
380g tin of caramel condensed milk
¾ cup cream
1 cup dark chocolate melts
2 teaspoons gelatin
2 tablespoons hot water
1 cup cream, softly whipped

Method:
Line a 20cm round spring-form tin with wax baking paper (base and sides).
Combine the biscuit crumbs and butter and press mixture into the lined base of tin. Place in the fridge to chill.
In a bowl dissolve the first measure of gelatin in the hot water and when smooth stir through the caramel. Evenly spread the caramel mix over the base and return to fridge.
Pour ¾ cup cream into a pan and heat until it is nearly boiling. Remove from the heat and stir through your dark chocolate melts until they are dissolved and the mix is smooth. Set aside to cool.
Dissolve the second measure of gelatin in the water and stir it into the chocolate cream. Chill until thickened but not set, about 15 minutes.
Fold the softly whipped cream through the chocolate cream and spread the mousse over the caramel base. Chill for a minimum of 3-4 hours before serving, it can also be made a day ahead.

You can garnish the cake with summer berries, chocolate lattices or some white chocolate curls/shavings like me.

Tip: If I had been at home on Christmas day I would have grabbed a spoon and run it under hot water (then dried it) so I could use the back of it to smooth off the rough edge where I had removed the wax paper.

This will probably be my last recipe for a wee while I am sad to say, we move out of our house next Friday and will be staying with family for a little while before the big move to New Plymouth. We also have Max’s birthday party the weekend after our move – which I am super excited about, so I may find some time in amongst the chaos to give all of you lovely readers a sneak peek at what we have planned.

Inspiration: Neenish Tarts

2012-01-06T07:00:00.000+13:00

One thing I want to attempt to make before my school holidays are up and I have to go back to work are some Neenish Tarts.

I love them but I haven’t eaten one in a super long time. My Mum is a creature of habit and does her grocery shopping on Wednesday night each week. When I lived at home it used to mean that we would have something easy that night for dinner, usually burgers (while she was out we would actually have a bet on what we thought the meal would be). She also used to bring home a slice or something sweet for us to have after dinner and I think that is how I was introduced to Neenish Tarts.

They look quite fiddly and time consuming which is a bit off putting. However, now that I’ve declared that I want to make them hopefully I will feel obliged to follow though and actually do it :)

The Library Café

2012-01-05T12:55:00.001+13:00

Simon likes this place – he goes here and has a coffee when he wants a place to study. We’ve been to The Library Café a few times for brunch / lunch too. We came here just the other day (since the weather has been so miserable in Auckland lately, a nice hot breakfast indoors sounded perfect) so I’ve decided to share it with you.

The café is inside a gorgeous old building and has won the Metro award for the Best Café in Onehunga for 2008, 2009 and 2010. There is plenty of seating and you can also hire the venue for weddings or private functions. There are two areas to the café, one is a large dinning room and the other is a smaller ‘reading lounge’ which has a wall of bookcases packed with titles for you to peruse. Simon and I usually head in here and grab ourselves a board game to play; this time it was scrabble.

On this visit Simon had a Mango Smoothie and Bacon Eggs Benedict while I had a Hot Chocolate and built my meal from their side dishes – you can’t see it in the photo below as they are hiding under the eggs, but I has some pretty yummy hash browns on that plate. The service was quick, friendly and efficient too :)

The Library Café pride themselves on using as much certified organic, free-range, sustainable and locally grown or manufactured products as possible. Vegan and gluten free options are clearly labelled on their menu and their cabinet food looks delicious too. They are also Gold Greenbizcheck certified as they choose their suppliers based on their environmental policies, fair trade and sustainability practises. The Library Café also try to use environmentally friendly products in the cafe from their packaging to the soap used in the bathroom.

Head along to The Library Café’s website for more background information, menus and opening hours. If you join their mailing list every now and then you get sent an update which usually has vouchers attached giving you discounts or special offers at the cafe :)

The Library Café
55 Princes St, Onehunga, Auckland, New Zealand
Ph: 09 636 7292
Fax: 09 636 7293
E: info@librarycafe.co.nz
www.librarycafe.co.nz

Crispy Choc Peanut Truffles

2012-01-01T17:45:00.001+13:00

I made these delicious little treats for Christmas day, it is one of the (many) recipes I have ripped out of a magazine (God only knows which one it was and how long ago it was now) and put in a folder that sits on shelf in my kitchen waiting for me to try it out. I am very sorry that it has taken me so long to get around to making them and encourage you to try them out as soon as you get a chance.

Ingredients:
200g dark chocolate
¼ cup smooth peanut butter
½ cup cream
½ teaspoon vanilla essence
¾ cup unsalted peanuts (crushed)
¾ cup rice bubbles
350g milk chocolate (chopped or use melts/buttons)

Method:
Place dark chocolate, peanut butter, cream and vanilla in a large heatproof bowl. Sit bowl over a pan of simmering water and stir until melted and smooth. Remove and cool slightly before refrigerating until mix is firm.
Combine nut and rice bubbles in a medium bowl.
Roll heaped teaspoons of the chocolate mixture into balls and roll in the peanut/rice mix pressing lightly so that the coating stays. Once this step is complete place on to a tray lined with baking paper and refrigerate until firm.

Place milk chocolate in a heatproof bowl and sit it over a pan of simmering water, stir until chocolate has melted and remove from heat.
Using two forks, dip truffles one and a time ensuring that they receive and even coat and that you drain off any excess. Return to the lined tray and refrigerate until set.

These are best served with fruit such as strawberries. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did!

Me with my truffles on Xmas day in the cute apron Mum gave me as a gift!