Banana Choc Chunk Cookies

We had some bananas going yucky so I decided I wanted to try making biscuits with them.  Now, these aren’t really biscuits in the traditional sense.  The banana in them makes them soft, kind of cake-like.  Simon loved them and compared the texture to a Whoopie Pie (check out our recipe index for some Whoopie Pie ideas). So, while they haven’t got that crunch, they are still pretty moreish.  The healthy-ness of the banana is hidden by the big chunks of dark chocolate.  Delish!

Makes about 30 cookies.

Ingredients:
110g unsalted butter
1 cup sugar (I used Billington’s Light Muscovado)
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1 egg
1 cup mashed banana (about 3 bananas)
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 cups flour
pinch of salt
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon nutmeg
180g dark chocolate, chopped coarsely

Method:
Preheat the oven to 180°C.  Line a couple of baking trays with baking paper or a silicone cookie sheet.
Cream the butter and sugar together until soft and fluffy.  Add in the vanilla essence and egg and beat again until well combined.
In a separate bowl, mix together the banana and the baking soda.  Set this aside for 2 minutes so the baking soda has time to react with the banana.
Add the banana mixture to the butter mixture and beat together.  Add in the flour, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg, and mix until combined.  Fold through the chocolate chunks.
Place tablespoon sized amounts of the mixture onto the prepared trays (I recommend scooping the mix out with a tablespoon measure, and placing it on the tray using wet hands as the mixture is quite sticky).
Bake for 12 – 15 minutes or until the tops of the cookies are starting to go golden brown.  Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack.

Earl Grey Tea Loaf

This is a great afternoon tea treat to sit down and enjoy with a cuppa. The zingy lemon glaze sets it off perfectly. If your Dad is an Earl Grey tea drinker like mine this might even be a great gift to whip up for Father’s Day this coming Sunday.

Ingredients:
150ml milk
10g Earl Grey tea, finely ground
225g butter
3/4 cup caster sugar
4 eggs
zest of one lemon
1 1/4 flour
1 teaspoon baking powder

Glaze
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons hot water
1 – 1½ cups icing sugar
3 – 4 tablespoons lemon juice

Method:
Preheat the oven to 180C. Grease and line the bottom of a loaf pan and set aside.
Heat the milk in a heatproof bowl in the microwave. Do not boil. Add in tea grounds. Stir and set aside to infuse for about 10 minutes.
Beat the butter and sugar on a medium to high speed until light and fluffy.
Add in the eggs one by one, beat well after each addition.
With your last egg add the lemon zest.
Turn your mixer to a low speed, add the tea-infused milk and mix until just combined (as I only had loose tea leaves I only added about one third of my leaves, if I’d used the finer grounds from inside a tea bag I would have added all of them) .
In a separate bowl combine the dry ingredients and mix well.
Still on a low speed, add the flour mixture into the butter mixture and beat until all ingredients are combined.
Pour batter into prepared loaf pan and bake in the oven for 40 minutes or until the top of your loaf is golden brown and you can insert a skewer and remove cleanly.
To make the glaze place butter, 2 tablespoons of hot water, 1 cup of icing sugar and lemon juice in a small bowl and stir to combine. To thicken your glaze add more icing sugar or to thin use a little more hot water.

No-bake Orange Cheesecake

I seem to get a craving for Cheesecake when I’m away at my parent’s bach (that’s what we call a holiday home here in NZ).  Maybe it’s because it is my Mum’s place and she makes amazing cheesecakes.  Who knows?  Last time I was there, I invented a delicious Mint Chocolate Cheesecake.  This time around I was craving the flavours of orange mixed with dark chocolate (If you ever feel like those two flavours, I seriously recommend making some Choc Orange Fudge!) so I played around and came up with this little number.

Ingredients:
200g biscuits (I used Farmbake’s Chocolate Chip Fudge variety)
125g butter, melted
250g cream cheese
⅓ cup caster sugar
1 cup cream
1 tablespoon finely grated orange zest
3 teaspoons Cointreau
3 teaspoons yellow food colouring
1 teaspoon red food colouring
4 teaspoons orange essence
½ teaspoon vanilla essence
1 teaspoon gelatine
2 teaspoons orange juice
1 block Lindt intense orange chocolate

Method:
Crush the biscuits up in a food processor until they are a fine crumb.  Mix through the melted butter.  Press the biscuit mix into a 20cm round spring-form tin, then chill.  Whip the cream until it holds its shape, then refrigerate.
Beat together the cream cheese and the caster sugar with an electric mixer.  Mix through the orange zest, Cointreau, food colouring and essences. 
Heat the orange juice in a microwave for 10 - 20 seconds, until hot.  Sprinkle the gelatine over the hot juice and then stir to dissolve.  Add the gelatine mixture to the cream cheese mixture and beat the mixture again.  Fold through the whipped cream.  Refrigerate for 4-6 hours or until set.
To decorate, grate the orange chocolate and sprinkle over the cheesecake.  You could also add squares of the chocolate and slices of orange to each segment of the cheesecake before serving.

Mrs Beatens Prize Pack Winner

Congratulations to…

 Kelly Hunt

Kelly entered our Mrs Beatens Baking Premixes Giveaway and has scored herself a prize pack consisiting of two Mrs Beatens baking pre-mixes (Chocolate Molten Brownie and Sweet Spiced Cupcakes with Vanilla Icing), a tea towel and a wooden spoon!  Please check your emails Kelly, as we will be in touch shortly.

Thank you to everyone who entered, and a big thank you to Mrs Beatens for the prize.
You can find Mrs Beatens on the web and facebook.  If you entered and missed out on the prize, head over to their website and buy one of their mixes as a consolation – trust us, they are so easy to make and taste amazing!

Wholesome Ginger Crunch

I LOVE Ginger Crunch! In fact I posted a Ginger Crunch recipe back in 2010 but earlier this year I tried my favourite slice with a a delicious base of oats and coconut which in my opinion makes it even better.

Ingredients:
150 g butter
2 tablespoons golden syrup
¾ cup brown sugar (I used Billingtons Light Muscovado)
1 cup coconut
1½ cups rolled oats
1 cup flour
1½ teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons ground ginger

Icing
150g butter
2 - 2 ½ cups of icing sugar (add 2 cups and continue to add by the tablespoon until you have the desired colour/consistency)
2 tablespoons  golden syrup
1½ tablespoons ground ginger

Method:
Preheat oven to 180˚C and line a 20x30cm tin or dish with baking paper.
Melt butter, golden syrup and brown sugar in a saucepan, stirring occasionally. Once the butter is melted and all ingredients combined remove from heat.
Mix the dry ingredients together in a bowl.
Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and pour your melted mix into it. Stir with a large wooden spoon and mix thoroughly.
Press mixture into your prepared pan.
Bake for 15-20 minutes .
Mark into square while still warm. When cool, ice with hot ginger icing.
To make icing combine all the ingredients in a small saucepan and heat until the butter is melted while stirring constantly.

Nutrafresh Giveaway Winner

The lucky winner of our Nutrafresh giveaway is….

Kelly Harvey

We used a random number generator to pick our winner. Congratulations Kelly!

Thank you so much to all who entered for sharing your baking ideas and a huge thank you to Nutrafresh for giving us a baking pack to giveaway. If you haven’t done so already you can help us say thank you by liking their facebook page!

Thank you again to everybody who entered and a big congratulations to Kelly! Keep an eye on your emails we will be in touch shortly.

Mrs Beatens Giveaway!

We are very excited to announce a lovely little giveaway we have lined up for you...
Mrs Beatens Baking Pre-Mixes make baking easy!  Trust us, they do – I tried out using a cookie mix last night and had the cookies ready and waiting to go in the oven, along with having the kitchen cleaned up, before the oven had pre-heated!  Mrs Beatens provide you with quality ingredients, that have been pre-measured and packed with simple, easy to follow instructions for you to get baking at home.  They are the perfect thing for when you have unexpected guests arriving or simply feel a bit rundown and short on time, but still want some delicious old fashioned baking to eat!

And, thanks to Mrs Beatens Baking Pre-Mixes, We have one gorgeous Mrs Beatens baking pack to giveaway.  The pack consists of two Mrs Beatens baking pre-mixes (Chocolate Molten Brownie and Sweet Spiced Cupcakes with Vanilla Icing), a tea towel and a wooden spoon (both new additions to the Mrs Beatens range!).  To get yourself in the draw, all we need you to do is tell us what Mrs Beatens pre-mix would you most like to try out (and if you don’t mind leaving your email so we can contact you if you’re our winner, that would be great).  Have a look at the range on their website - the hard part will be choosing, they all look delish!

While you are over at the Mrs Beatens website, I suggest you sign up and join the Mrs Beatens Homemakers Club.  As a member you get a monthly newsletter, notification of new products and exclusive VIP offers.

You can also find Mrs Beatens on facebook.  Make sure you pop onto their facebook page and give them a 'like' to help us say thank you for the giveaway.

Entries close 5pm Wednesday 21st August.  Our winner will be chosen by a random draw and will be announced on our facebook and blog pages.  If we don’t hear back from them in 5 days, the winner will be re-drawn.

Thanks Mrs Beatens!  Good luck everyone!

Lemon Coconut Cake

I experimented and came up with this cake last weekend to use up some of our lemons.  The recipe turned out great!  The first cake came out perfect so I made another one and ended up making this layered cake.  I’ve put the recipe down with quantities to make the two cakes, but if you just want one, half it.  Also, my oven only bakes nicely in the middle, I baked one cake and then the other.  I would recommend most people do this too – if you bake the two cakes in the same part of the oven, then will turn out similar to each other. 

I think this cake is the perfect accompaniment to a cup of tea.  I wish I had some now.  I’ve got a cup of tea and I am sitting in bed writing this post, but there’s no cake, or any other baking for that matter.  I’m a bit sick with a cold and have had a very unproductive day.  However, the sight of that lemon curd oozing out of the cake is pretty cheerful and an uplifting reminder that Summer in New Zealand is on its way!

Ingredients (for a double layer cake):
300g butter, softened
2 cups sugar
6 eggs, lightly beaten
3 cups self raising flour
250g sour cream
1 ½ cups desiccated coconut
rind (finely grated) and juice (about a cup) of 4 lemons
1 cup cream
lemon curd (I made some using this recipe which tastes awesome and is easy, or you can use store bought)
icing sugar (to dust)

Method:
Preheat the oven to 180°C.  Grease a 22cm circular baking tin.
Beat the butter and sugar together with an electric mixer until light and fluffy.  Add in the eggs and beat again to combine. 
Mix through the flour in three lots, alternating with the lemon juice.  Stir through the sour cream.  Mix in the coconut and finely grated lemon rind.

Pour half the mixture into the prepared tin.  Bake for 40 – 45 minutes or until golden brown and a skewer inserted in the centre can be removed cleanly.
Once the cake has cooked, remove from the oven and let sit for 10 minutes before turning out of the cake tin and onto a cooling rack.
Re-grease the tin.  Give the remaining cake batter a good stir before pouring into the prepared tin and baking like the previous cake.

Once both cakes have cooled, level one of the cakes by cutting off the top.  Beat the cream until it is thick and holds its shape.  Spread the cream over the top of the levelled cake.  Cover the cream with lemon curd.  Place the remaining cake on top and dust with icing sugar.

Enjoy!

Raspberry Tarts and a Nutrafresh Baking Pack Giveaway!

These have to be one of the quickest and easiest sweet treats I have ever whipped up and they taste like summer (thanks to Nutrafresh) – which is still a few months away here in NZ. I made them for Mel and Simon when they visited last weekend to share their pictures and stories from their travels.

Ingredients:
12 store bought pastry cases (you can make your own if you have time)
100 grams white chocolate, melted
¾ cup frozen raspberries, defrosted
1 cup cream
2 tablespoon Nutrafresh raspberry powder
1 tablespoon icing sugar
Whittakers white chocolate and raspberry chocolate for decoration


Method:
Place tart shells on a clean flat work space and evenly coat the bottom with melted white chocolate.
While your chocolate sets mash up your frozen raspberries until there are no lumps, if you want to remove seeds you can push it through a sieve.
Spoon even amounts of raspberry on top of the chocolate, as well as adding taste and creating a lovely layering effect the chocolate stops the raspberry from seeping into the shell case and making it soft.
In a mixing bowl place cream, raspberry powder and icing sugar, mix on a medium to high speed until it reaches a consistency you can pipe with.
Pipe (or spoon) cream on top of your raspberry, I used a Wilton 2D tip.
Decorate with shavings of white chocolate (I used Whittakers white chocolate and raspberry) or you could sprinkle some of the sparkling raspberry powder on top.


Now, the GIVEAWAY mentioned in the title: If you would like to make these delicious but easy tarts and are after some Nutrafresh powder to do so, you can win yourself a baking pack with EIGHT different powders simply by telling us what you create with them in the comments below, be sure to leave your email so that we can contact the winner. We have made fudge with them, Perky Nana cupcakes and one of our readers has let us know she has made blueberry marshmallows with it! There is also a heap of inspiration here on the Nutrafresh website.


We will draw a winner at 5pm, Wednesday 14 August 2013 using a random number generator.  The competition is open to NZ residents only. Help us to say a big thank you to Nutrafresh by checking them out on Facebook!

Lemon Poppyseed Shortbread

I’ve come home to a tree full of lemons.  Lots of lemons.  Which is great; I love lemons in baking.  So, in an attempt to use some of my lemons up I made these Shortbread biscuits.  I also made Lemon Curd, some other biscuits, and a cake, which I will share on here soon.  And, there’s still heaps of lemons left on the tree so I am taking some into work tomorrow to giveaway. 

This shortbread is really easy to make and if you don’t like poppyseeds you could try adding something else.  Next time I might experiment with half a cup of chopped pistachios or walnuts.  If you have a tree bursting with lemons and need more recipes to use them up, check out our Index page for more ideas.  And, if you like shortbread and want another easy recipe, I totally recommend you try making some Pecan Shortbread – it’s one of my fave recipes!

Makes about 36 pieces.

Ingredients:
250g butter, softened
½ cup caster sugar
zest of 1 lemon, finely grated
2 cups flour
¼ cup cornflour
pinch of salt
1 tablespoon poppyseeds

Method:
Cream the butter, sugar and lemon zest together with an electric beater until light and fluffy.  Add in the remaining ingredients and mix until well combined.
Divide the mixture into two pieces.  Roll each piece into logs approximately 20cm x 5cm x 2cm in thickness.  Wrap the logs in cling-film and place in the refrigerator for 20 minutes or until the dough is firm.
Preheat the oven to 170°C.  Line two baking trays with baking paper.
Slice the logs into 1cm thick slices and place on the prepared baking trays.  Bakes for approximately 15 minutes or until the edges are just starting to go golden brown.  Leave the shortbread to cool for a few minutes on the trays before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.