Soft Brown Sugar Biscuits with Browned Butter Icing

Last week I just had one of those weeks, a child that would not sleep (day or night) and was wreaking havoc, we had a housewarming/birthday bbq planned for Friday night which meant cleaning, cooking etc all in advance, then I get called in for some relief teaching on the Friday which meant my planned baking fell by the wayside (luckily Mel was able to come to my rescue with her amazing fudge recipe that she shared on Saturday), things in general just kept going wrong. Cut to the weekend and I go to bake; I have no white sugar to make the batch of biscuits I plan to give my friend Tayler as a birthday present… so, off to google I went for ideas for biscuits using brown sugar only (that we haven’t made before!).  These were what I came up with. They are cake like when you bite into them and they almost melt in your mouth – Mmmmm!

Ingredients:
Biscuits
150 grams of butter softened
1½ cups brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla paste
2½ cups flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
a pinch of salt
125 grams sour cream

Browned Butter Icing
50 grams butter
1½ - 2 cups icing sugar
2-4 Tablespoons milk

Method:
Preheat your oven to 180°C and line two baking trays with baking paper.
Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a medium sized bowl and set aside.
Place softened butter and brown sugar in the bowl of your electric mixer beat until light.
Add eggs one at a time beating well after each addition.
Add vanilla paste and mix again.
Add flour mix and sour cream to your butter mixture, alternating between the two beat well between each addition, starting and finishing with the flour mixture.
Once your your mixture is combined turn off your mixer and scoop rounded tablespoon of mixture onto your wax paper, you should get between 24-28 biscuits out of this mix.
Place in your preheated oven and bake for about 8 minutes until they are nice and golden.
Set the cooked biscuits aside to cool on a wire rack and when cooled completely top with browned butter icing.
To make the brown buttered icing you need to place your butter in a saucepan on a medium heat until it browns then remove it from the heat and add 1 1/2 cups icing sugar and stir through. Add tablespoons of milk and stir until it is a spreadable consistency – if it is too runny after the addition of milk add more icing sugar, if it is not spreadable enough continue to add small amounts of milk.

Salted Dark Chocolate and Caramel Fudge

I’ve been having fun inventing new fudge flavours recently.  We’ve had Orange, Strawberry, Raspberry and White Choc, and now there is this delicious gem; Salted Dark Chocolate and Caramel Fudge.  It is quite indulgent and I love the hits of salt in the dark choc layer.

Ingredients:
Dark Chocolate Layer
375g packet dark chocolate melts
395g can condensed milk
30g butter
½ teaspoon salt

Caramel layer
125g Butter
2 tablespoons golden syrup
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 cup brown sugar
100g white chocolate melts

Decoration
100g dark chocolate, melted

Method:
Grease and line a 20cm square tin.  For the dark chocolate layer, put the dark chocolate, condensed milk and butter in a saucepan and stir over a low heat until melted and well combined.  Mix through the salt.  Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and place in the fridge to cool.
To make the caramel layer, melt the butter in a pan.  Remove from the heat, add the brown sugar and stir until combined with the butter.  Add the condensed milk and stir until combined with the sugar and butter.
Add the golden syrup, mix and return to a low heat. Stir the mixture constantly for 10 minutes (be careful not to let the mixture get to hot or boil to rapidly as the sugar will start to crystallise - which tastes quite nice but ruins the smooth consistency.  If the mixture does start to crystallise remove from the heat immediately and stir rapidly).  Remove from the heat and add the chocolate melts. Mix until smooth, then spread the mixture over the top of the dark chocolate layer.  Place in the fridge to set.
Once the fudge has set, chop into squares.  Put the melted chocolate into a snap-lock bag, snip off one of the corners, and drizzle the chocolate over the fudge before serving.

Plate c/o The Vintage Table.

Lunchbox Bakes - Empanadas

Here’s something a little bit different to try. These Empanadas made a great afternoon snack / pre dinner nibble in my house!

Ingredients:
3 eggs
½ cup marinated chargrilled capsicum, drained, chopped
125g corn kernels (defrost first if using frozen ones)
¼ cup pitted Kalamata olives, chopped (you can use kidney beans if you prefer)
1 cup grated tasty cheese
2 cups plain flour
40g butter, melted
2 teaspoons white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon milk
1 tablespoon cumin seeds
Lemon wedges, to serve

Method:
Preheat the oven to 180˚C. Line a baking tray with baking paper. Place two eggs in a small saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring to the boil. Boil the eggs for 7 minutes before draining them and refreshing under cold water. Peel the egg shells off and chop up the eggs.

Combine the egg, capsicum, corn, olives and cheese in a medium sized bowl. Whisk the remaining egg in a small bowl.

Place the flour in a large bowl and make a well in the centre. Pour the butter, ½ a cup of cold water, whisked egg and vinegar into the swell. Whisk together with the flour using a fork. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead to form a smooth dough (check out our Pizza Making video to see how to do this). Roll out to form a 45 x 35 cm rectangle.

Using an 8cm round pastry cutter, cut the dough into circles. Top each pastry circle with a tablespoon of the filling. Fold the circle in half over the mixture, then use a fork to press the edges together. Place on the prepared baking tray.

Brush the tops of the empanadas with milk. Sprinkle the cumin seeds over the top. Bake for 20 - 25 minutes or until crisp and golden brown. Serve the empanadas with lemon wedges.

For more delicious lunchbox bakes recipes and to find out how you can participate in this feature, check out our Lunchbox Bakes page.

Stacked Pavlova with Vanilla Cream and Dark Chocoalte Ganache

After watching the previews of Jamie’s Family Christmas, as part of Food TV’s November line up, the idea of Christmas traditions started to run through my mind. In the first episode of the series Jamie shows you how to make the perfect roast turkey, my family hasn’t been much of a turkey family over the years – although Wendy (my Step Mum) makes a mean roast turkey along with what seems like the more traditional (at least in NZ) ham every Christmas Eve. There is something about Pavlova that screams Christmas to me, I think it’s because my Mum only ever really made them for or around Christmas. I haven’t yet perfected the tall, white, perfect pav but recently started making this stacked version which is so simple and decadently delicious, I think I can see it becoming a Christmas tradition in my house.

Ingredients:
Pavlova
5 egg whites
1½ cups caster sugar
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla essence

Filling
1¼ cups cream
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
250 grams dark chocolate
25 grams butter
¾ cup cream

Method:
Preheat your oven to 120°C. Use a 20cm round cake tin to trace *four circles on to the back two large pieces of baking paper which will go on two baking trays.
Place your egg whites on the bowl of your electric mixer and beat using the whisk attachment on a medium to high speed until you get soft peaks.
Lower your mixer to a medium speed and gradually add the caster sugar. Continue to mix until thick and glossy before adding the vinegar and vanilla essence.
Once the vinegar and vanilla essence are properly mixed in you can turn off the mixer and spoon the mix onto the four circles you earlier traced out. Use a spatula or the back of a large spoon to spread the mixture evenly so the disks are nice and flat.
Bake in your preheated oven for 1 hour before turning it off and leaving the door ajar to let them cool completely.
Once the pavlovas are nearly cool you can make your ganache by putting the chocolate, butter and 3/4 cup of cream into a large heatproof bowl and put that on top of a pot of simmering water (make sure the water will not touch the bottom of your bowl) to create a double boiler. Stir the ingredients until they have melted and come together before setting it aside to allow it to cool to a consistency that is spreadable.
Using an electric mixer, mix the 1 1/4 cup of cream and vanilla paste until it is thick.
To assemble your stacked pavlova spread ganache over the bottom layer and then top with cream, repeat with the next two layers. Dust the top pavolova with icing sugar and melt any excess ganache in the microwave and drizzle it over.
* I always make four disks in case one crumbles or rises too much. You can use three or four layers if all of them turn out perfectly.

So there you have it. I find it easier than a standard pavlova to get right. Does it look like something you might want to add to the Christmas day menu at your house? Do you have any special traditions cooking or otherwise?

If you want to check out Jamie’s Family Christmas and get into the spirit of the season (albeit a little bit early for some people – if your like me however the timing is perfect!), it premieres tonight on Food TV, SKY channel 9. And, if after watching you think you’d like to decorate you place with awesome paper fans just like Jamie has then head on over to The Pretty Baker and buy up large so you can have your place looking as great as the Oliver’s, while your there I promise it’s worth a look checking out their Christmas stock!

Strawberry Shortcake Muffins

I made these Strawberry Shortcake muffins the other week and took them around to share with my family and Grandparents who had just arrived in the country for a holiday with us from Australia.  They all got devoured.  The muffins are buttery and fluffy, just heavenly.  You can finish the muffins by dusting them with icing sugar or go a step further and top them with freshly whipped cream.  What a gorgeous way to enjoy such a delicious Summer fruit!

Makes 12

2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
¾ cup sugar
½ cup butter, cold and cut into cubes
1 egg
1 cup cream
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1 – 1 ½ cups strawberries, diced

Topping:
Icing sugar, for dusting
3 strawberries, cut into quarters
¼ cup cream, whipped

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Grease or line 12 muffin cups with paper liners.
In large bowl mix together the flour, baking powder and sugar. Using your fingers, pinch in the cold butter until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
In small bowl mix the egg, cream and vanilla. Add the wet ingredients to the flour mixture and stir with spoon until just combined. Gently mix through the diced strawberries.
Spoon the mixture into muffin cups and bake for approximately 20 minutes, or until they are lightly golden on top. Cool in the tin for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack.  Once completely cooled, dust with icing sugar or top with fresh whipped cream, a strawberry segment and a dust of icing sugar.

Hot pink gingham baking cups c/o The Pretty Baker.

Orange and White Chocolate Cookies

aka ‘Orange Creamsicle Cookies’. I was googling for some summery cookie recipes and orange creamsicle cookies showed up a few times so I investigated further, turns out orange creamicles are a type of ice block – you don’t get much more summery than cookies inspired by and ice blocks! After reading through a few recipes I came up the recipe I’m going to share with you today, they are seriously delish and the touch of orange is summer in a cookie. The other thing to mention about these cookies is that they are ‘drop cookies’, so no rolling and flattening required. Easy!

Ingredients:
200grams butter, softened
½ cup sugar
½ firmly packed brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 ¼ cups all purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
zest of one average sized Orange
1 ½ cups white chocolate bits

Method:
Pre-heat your oven to 180°C and line two baking trays with wax baking paper.
In the bowl of your electric mixer mix butter and two sugars until light and fluffy.
Place egg and vanilla into your butter mix and mix on a medium to high speed until combined.
Sift in flour, baking soda and salt. Mix on a low-medium speed until dry ingredients are just combined.
Add orange zest and white chocolate and stir through to ensure even distribution.
Drop rounded tablespoons of mixture onto your lined baking trays and place in your pre-heated oven.
Bake for 8-10 minutes until they are starting to become golden, remove from oven, leave cookies on the trays for a couple of minutes before placing them on cooling racks.
Store in an airtight container.

Ginger Kisses

To say Ginger Kisses were a favourite in my family growing up would probably be an understatement! I don’t have them all that much these days, a few times a year maybe, the other day I had a hankering for some so thought I’d give it making them a go. I’d never had a home made one before, I was pretty happy with my first attempt and will definitely make them again as Shane demolished them and has already asked for a repeat.

Ingredients:
Kisses (cakes)
1 cup self raising flour
¼ cup cornflour
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon ground ginger
125 grams butter, softened
½ cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tablespoon golden syrup

Mock Cream
50 grams butter, softened
½ cup icing sugar
¼ teaspoon vanilla essence
4-5 tablespoons boiling water

Method:
Pre-heat your oven to 180C and line two baking trays with wax baking paper.
Sift flour, cornflour and ginger and set aside.
Beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
Add eggs in one at a time, beating well after each addition. Once the second egg has combined with the butter mixture add the golden syrup and mix again.
Fold in your dry ingredients, be careful not to over fold you want your wet and dry ingredients to be just combined.
Drop tablespoonfuls of mix onto your lined baking trays.
Bake in your pre-heated oven for 8-10 minutes or until your kisses are golden and firm to the touch.
Remove from the oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Once your kisses are cooled make your mock cream. To do this you will need to beat butter and sugar in a bowl until it is very light, add vanilla then boiling water, gradually. Beat for 2-3 minutes or until you have a mixture you are happy will spread nicely onto your kisses.
Join kisses together using mock cream, you can either spoon some into the middle of one kiss and then press the two together so it spreads a little or pipe it on like I did (this ensures a nice even distribution), using a small star tip.

Cereal Killa Café

This is one cool café .  I’m a little apprehensive to tell you about it because I still want to be able to get a seat when I visit!  I actually came across it when I was nerdily attending a sewing class at one of the shops on Dominion Road, just a few doors down the street.  The place caught my eye, so one weekend I made Simon come along to check it out.  While we were at Cereal Killa we called his mum and brother to come along too.  And now we all keep going back.  The photos on this post are from a bunch of different visits; a mix of camera and phone photos as it wasn’t until last weekend when I realised I hadn’t shared this great place with you and really should have by now!

Each time I come here I order the same thing; I love their omelette.  I’m one of those people when I like something at a cafe I tend to keep ordering it in case I regret my new choice.  I really don’t have to worry at Cereal Killa though.  Everyone else I’ve been here with has tried something different off the menu and loved their meals.  I’ve had tastes of big breakfasts, mince on toast, porridge, trifle, burgers, fudge… everything is delicious.

I’m not much of a coffee drinker, but Simon’s mum, Michelle, can and will vouch for the coffee here.  I like their fresh juices and hot chocolates, but I what I really recommend is ordering one of their Nutella banana milkshakes.  The milkshake can be found on the kids menu, but they will make them in an ‘adult size’ for any of you oversized children out there like me!

The staff at Cereal Killa are the right mix of professional and friendly and are very efficient too.  I reckon you should pop on in, grab one of the many magazines and a menu to peruse, pull up one of their mismatched chairs and try this place out.  I’ll see you there.

Cereal Killa
360H Dominion Rd, Mt Eden, Auckland
Ph: 09 630 8008
www.cerealkilla.co.nz
Find them on facebook or twitter

Lunchbox Bakes – Banana Cranberry Cookies

These cookies are a little weird; there’s no flour, oats act in place of the usual dry ingredients.  So, they are a bit gooey.  But yum.  Really yum.  Guess what, they are also gluten, egg and sugar free.  How brilliant is that?  They are like little breakfast in a cookie ball.  And, they are easy; a one bowl, chuck everything together and you are done deal.  I like them a lot.

Makes about 30 cookies.

3 medium ripe banana, mashed
⅓ cup butter, melted
2 cups uncooked gluten free oats
¼ cup milk
½ cup craisins (dried cranberries)
½ walnuts, chopped
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 180°C.  Line a baking tray with baking paper.
Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl, then let the batter stand for 5 minutes.
Scoop out teaspoons of the dough onto the baking tray.  Bake for 15 – 20 minutes or until the cookies are lightly browned. Let stand for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack.

For more lunchbox food ideas or how you too can take part in ‘Lunchbox Bakes’, check out the Lunchbox Bakes page!

Pillow Cookies

After being in the new house for a few days Shane asked that I bake for him as he missed it while living in Auckland while I wound things up in New Plymouth. Pillow cookies have been on my list for a while so I decided to give them a go and try out the oven (for baking purposes anyways, all dinners thus far have come out of the oven just as good or better than usual – YAY!), they were a success and are sure to become a household favourite – you can’t go wrong with delish chocolate chip cookies, add brownie pieces and hello heaven!


Ingredients:
12 pieces of brownie (cut into roughly 1.5-2cm squares)
225 grams butter, room temperature
1¼ cups packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla essence
2¼ cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
250 grams dark chocolate chips

Method:
Make your brownie and cut into 12 1.5-2cm squares, if you are one step ahead of the game use brownie you have already made and want to use the rest of… I suggest Natalie’s Chocolate Fudge Brownie, you will need less than half of it to use inside the cookies so bonus you get to enjoy that as well!
To make your cookie dough, beat your butter until it is nice and creamy (2-3 minutes)
Add brown sugar and beat until smooth.
Add eggs and vanilla and beat again ensuring everything is well combined, you may need to scrape the sides of your bowl.
Sift in flour, baking powder, soda and salt fold with your spatula before mixing on a medium to low speed.
Once your dough is starting to come together add your chocolate chips and mix well to make sure they are distributed evenly.
Cover your bowl and place it in the fridge for 45-90 minutes to chill.
Pre-heat your oven to 180°C.
Scoop 1/4 cup of dough at a time and place it on a baking tray lined with wax baking paper, only bake 6 cookies per tray to ensure there is plenty of space as these are large cookies.
Make an indentation in the middle of each cookie with your thumb and insert the brownie into this, work the surrounding dough so that it covers the top of the brownie.
Bake in your pre-heated oven for 12-15 minutes (until they are a lovely golden-golden/brown) before removing and placing on a wire rack to cool.
Enjoy with a glass of cold milk!


If you want to make cookie pops like the one above all you need to do is slide a lollipop stick into middle of your cookies before baking.So simple and so cute!

Christmas Baking Class

 

We are VERY EXCITED to announce we will be holding a Christmas Baking Class at the beginning of December!  This is our very first baking class and we are really looking forward to it.

The class will be hands on - we will step you though making a couple of different Christmas cupcakes, some cookies and a sweet treat which you will personally get to make and take home after the class.  You don’t have to be a baking whizz, we are there to help.

We will be providing everything you need during the class as well as some light refreshments, so if you have ever wanted to try some of our baking made by us, now is your chance!

We would love to meet some of our Auckland readers (and if you are out of town and feel like travelling then we would super love that too!) so if you are keen to join us and take part in the fun, please flick us an email to bmtbblog@gmail.com and we will send you out some more details.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Truffles

These Peanut Butter Truffles are super scrummy and decadent.  The peanut butter filling is super moreish and they really are a special treat.  With Christmas just around the corner, these are the type of thing that would make great gifts for loved ones.  Or teachers.  Just saying.  The high school students I teach don’t really do Christmas presents for their teachers :(

Makes about 35

330g white chocolate, chopped
1 cup crunchy peanut butter
⅓ cup thickened cream
½ teaspoon sea salt
200g dark chocolate, chopped
50g milk chocolate, chopped (for decoration, I used dark chocolate on mine in the photo)

Place the white chocolate, peanut butter, cream and salt in a heatproof, microwave safe bowl.
Microwave on medium for 1 to 2 minutes, stirring every 30 seconds, until smooth and combined.  Refrigerate until firm, between 1 – 3 hours.
Line a tray with baking paper.  Roll teaspoonful's of the peanut butter mixture into balls and place on the tray.  Freeze until firm.
Place the dark chocolate in a heatproof microwave bowl and heat, stirring every 30 seconds, until melted and smooth.  Using fork, dip half of each truffle into the melted chocolate, shaking off the excess (see the mint chocolate truffle post for a picture).  Leave the truffles on the forks to dry, then dip the other half into the chocolate.  I find placing the truffles on spoons stops them from rolling around before they set.
Melt the milk chocolate in the microwave.  Spoon the chocolate into a snap-lock bag.  Snip off one corner of the bag and pipe the chocolate over the truffles.  Refrigerate until set before serving.

China plates c/o The Vintage Table.