Profiteroles

Making choux pastry has been on my baking 'to do' list for a while now and I kept bumping it down the list as I'd heard that it was difficult and was quite frankly a little intimidated by it - don't be, it is much easier than it seems and well worth the effort. Growing up my Mum always took profiteroles as a plate for dessert but being a busy woman with four kids she usually used store bought cases, when I was put on dessert for Easter lunch I decided to carry on the tradition of having profiteroles by making everything from scratch. Scouring the net for good recipes you'll find that the basic choux pastry recipe if much of a muchness, you can use it to make profiteroles, cream puffs, eclairs or savoury gougeres. 

Ingredients:
Choux Pastry
1/3 cup water
40g butter, at room temperature, cubed
1/3 cup plain flour, sifted
2 eggs, at room temperature
Vegetable oil, to grease

Creme Pastisierre 
1 3/4 cups milk
1 teaspoon vanilla paste
3 egg yolks
1/3 cup  caster sugar
1/3 cup plain flour, sifted
*This requires cooling so you may want to make it in advance

Chocolate ganache
150 grams milk or dark chocolate, chopped into small chunks
75ml cream
1 tablespoon butter

Method:
Preheat oven to 200°C. Spray or brush a baking tray with oil to lightly grease or line with a silicon mat if you have one.
To make the choux pastry place water and butter in a saucepan over medium heat, make sure your butter is cut into small cubes, you don't want the water boiling before your butter is fully melted. Stir over the heat for 3-4 minutes or until butter melts and mixture just comes to the boil.
Remove from the heat and add all the flour to the butter mixture at once and use a wooden spoon to beat until well combined. Place over low heat and cook, stirring, for 1-2 minutes or until the mixture forms a ball and begins to come away from the side of the saucepan.
Set aside for about 5 minutes to cool slightly.
Whisk 1 egg in a small bowl and set aside. Whisk the remaining egg in a small bowl, then add it to the flour mixture, beating well with a wooden spoon. Gradually add a little of the reserved egg and beat until the mixture just falls from the spoon but still holds its shape.
Spoon teaspoons full of the mixture onto tray, about 3cm apart (you will get 20-30). Alternatively, use a pastry bag fitted with a 1- 1.5cm diameter plain piping nozzle to pipe the profiteroles onto the baking tray.
Brush the tops with a little of the remaining egg, flattening any peaks.
Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes or until the profiteroles are puffed and golden.
Remove from oven and turn the oven off. Using a skewer or a small knife, pierce the base of each profiterole to release the steam. Return the profiteroles to the oven and leave them for 15 minutes to dry out.
Remove the profiteroles from the oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool.
For the creme patissiere, warm milk and the vanilla paste in a saucepan, remove from the heat and set aside.
Whisk yolks and sugar in a bowl until thick. Whisk in flour, then milk mixture.
Return to pan and cook, whisking, over low heat for 5 minutes or until mixture thickens.
Transfer mixture to a bowl and cover surface with plastic wrap. Place in the fridge to chill.
Spoon creme patissiere in a piping bag fitted with a 5mm metal nozzle.
Push nozzle into the base of each profiterole and fill with creme patissiere.
Finally for the chocolate ganache, place the chocolate, cream and butter into a heat proof bowl.
Place the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water, ensure that the water does not touch the bottom of your bowl.
Stir occasionally until well combined.
Remove from the heat and allow to cool and thicken for about 10 minutes before dunking the top of each profiterole in the chocolate.

I would really encourage you to give making your own choux pastry from scratch and turning said choux pastry into these delectable profiteroles! They are sure to impress at your next function.

Chocolate Lamington Cupcakes

These lamington cupcakes are yummy and an inspired twist on a kiwi favourite! They are the perfect addition to any autumn picnic but would be equally impressive served at a high tea – Mother’s Day is coming up next month so maybe keep these in mind. I made these cupcakes using my go to chocolate cake/cupcake recipe but if you have a go to trusty chocolate cupcake recipe of your own feel free to use that.

And if these delicious treats aren’t enough for you keep an eye out for the replay of New Zealand’s Hottest Home Baker on Food TV, screening at 12.30pm, 4.30pm and 8.30pm on Saturday’s from April 5!

Ingredients:
Cupcakes
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 ½ cups flour
1 egg
½ cup milk
150g butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
Pinch of salt
½ cup boiling water
Ganache
250g dark chocolate
200ml cream
Filling
18 teaspoons raspberry jam
Topping
1-2 cups long thread coconut

Method:
Pre heat your oven to 180°C
Place all ingredients in a bowl EXCEPT the water.
Add water to all the other ingredients and mix. Once you have a nicely combined batter place batter into 18 cupcake papers.
They should take about 10 minutes but you will know they are ready when they spring back to the touch and a skewer can be inserted and removed cleanly, remove and set aside to cool once baked.
***While you are baking your cupcakes you can make up your dark chocolate ganache. To make the ganache you need to place your cream and chocolate in a heatproof bowl and place it over a pot of simmering water (making sure that the simmering water doesn’t touch the bottom of the bowl). Leave for 1-2 minutes before stirring slowly with a whisk, continue to stir until you have a combined, glossy chocolate mixture.
Refrigerate until it is spreadable (2-3 hours).
Once completely cool use a cupcake corer or your teaspoon measure to scoop out the middle of each cupcake, set the cupcake top aside.
Fill each of your holes with a teaspoon of raspberry jam and replace the top, this will enable you to spread your ganache without getting jam in it.
To decorate use a palette knife to spread a thick layer of chocolate ganache over each cupcake.
Sprinkle the coconut on top of each cupcake, gently pressing it on if needed so the whole top is covered.
I topped mine with little red hearts, but I have seen these with fresh raspberries when in season (which I imagine would be fab).
*** You can make your ganache ahead of time, it will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.

Peanut Butter Billionaire Brownie

I had been planning this Peanut Butter Billionaire Brownie bad boy for a while.  At first I wanted to make something like Millionaire Shortbread (caramel slice), then I thought ‘why not make it a brownie?’  And then I thought ‘why not change the caramel to peanut butter?’  That’s where I got stuck.  I couldn’t figure out how I was going to make the peanut butter layer, until one day on my drive home from work (where most of my best baking inspiration strikes) it hit me – use the same mixture that I make my Peanut Butter Marshmallow Tart out of.  Genius!  It was on. 

Now, I’ve made this slice three times.  The first time I mucked up and kept forgetting ingredients, the second time I didn’t wait long enough for the middle layer to set before pouring on the chocolate ganache (causing it to mix with the peanut butter).  The third time was perfect.  This slice is also nicknamed ‘fat girl slice’ by Courtenay and I because it is made form such delicious ingredients and I was too impatient to get eating it, causing the stuff up on the second attempt.  Trust me though, this slice is amazing.  Both mine and Simon’s co-workers loved taste testing this one for me!  Follow the instructions (do as I say, not as I do) and you will be rewarded with one rich, moreish treat.  Fudgy brownie, a silky peanut butter marshmallow layer, topped with a smooth band of dark chocolate. Mmmm.

I’ve broken the ingredients and method into the three layers to make it easier to work out what ingredient is being used where.

BROWNIE BASE
Ingredients:
1 ½ cups flour
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking powder
1 cup brown sugar
½ cup white sugar
⅓ cup cocoa
125g butter, melted
2 eggs, lightly whisked
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
½ cup milk chocolate bits

Method:
Heat oven to 180°C. Line a 20cm square pan with baking paper. Mix the flour, salt, baking powder, sugars, and cocoa together in a large bowl.  Add in the wet ingredients and mix well to combine.  Stir through the chocolate bits. 
Press the mixture into the lined pan and bake for 30 minutes, or until firm. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes before pouring the peanut butter topping over (make this while the brownie is baking).

PEANUT BUTTER MARSHMALLOW FILLING
Ingredients:
3 tablespoons milk
36 white vanilla marshmallows (normal sized – about half a pack of pascall ones)
¾ cup smooth peanut butter
300ml thickened cream (the stuff that comes in the tub)
½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Method:
Place the milk, marshmallows and peanut butter into a saucepan over a medium / low heat and stir until the marshmallows are melted and the mixture is smooth (take off the heat and mix briskly if it starts to caramelize / or forming toffee-like threads – this means it is burning, so you need to mix the heat out and turn the element down).  Cook, stirring, for a further 5 - 10 minutes until the mixture becomes a thicker, toffee-like texture.  Set aside for 5 minutes to cool.
Beat the thickened cream and vanilla extract using an electric beater until soft peaks form.  Add a quarter of the cream mixture to the peanut butter mixture, stirring to combine.  Fold through the remaining cream until combined.  Spread the peanut butter mixture over the top of the prepared biscuit base.  Place the brownie / peanut butter slice in the refrigerator for 4 hours, or until the peanut butter layer has set before moving on to making the chocolate ganache layer.

CHOCOLATE GANACHE TOPPING
Ingredients:
300ml cream
300g dark chocolate, broken into small chunks
¼ cup salted roasted peanuts, chopped

Method:
Pour the cream into a saucepan and place over a medium heat.  When the cream is close to boiling (tiny bubbles will be visible around the edges of the pot) remove from the heat and add in the chocolate.  Stir constantly until the chocolate has melted and the mixture is smooth.  Leave aside to cool down.
When the chocolate mixture is luke-warm, pour it over the top of the peanut butter marshmallow layer.  Sprinkle the top of the chocolate ganache with the chopped peanuts.
Refrigerate until the chocolate layer is set (I left mine over night) before cutting into squares and serving.

Chocolate Beetroot Fudge Cake

I made this recipe up, but the chef was Simon.  He was pretty pleased with the final result.  I must say, it ended up a pretty impressive looking cake and he did an excellent job. 

I don’t like beetroot, but I can eat this cake.  Simon reckons he can’t notice the beetroot.  I can, but only as an earthy, hard to describe flavour.  I think the beetroot makes this cake taste really rich, like there is lots of melted chocolate in it, when there isn’t, there’s just a bit of cocoa powder.

Our cake is two cakes layered together with chocolate cream and iced with chocolate ganache (recipes are below the cake recipe).  We made two different cake batters, but I think if we were to make a double layer cake again we would make one giant one so that the cakes are the same texture.  The bottom layer of our cake had more beetroot in it (large beetroot) and is more fudgy than the top.  I’ve given the recipe for one cake, so double the quantities if you want to make a layered cake. 


Ingredients:
50g cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
150g brown sugar
175g flour
1 teaspoon salt
160ml sunflower oil
3 eggs
3 teaspoons vanilla essence
2 beetroot, peeled and grated (I recommend wearing gloves to avoid staining your hands)

Method:
Preheat the oven to 170°C.  Grease and / or line a 22cm tin.
In a large bowl, mix all the dry ingredients together.
In a medium sized bowl, whisk the wet ingredients together, excluding the beetroot.
Mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until combined.  Fold through the beetroot.
Bake for 45 – 55 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the cake can be removed cleanly.


Chocolate Cream:
1 cup cream
2 tablespoons icing sugar
1 tablespoon cocoa
2 teaspoons vanilla essence
Beat all the ingredients together until you are happy with the consistency; you do want it quite thick.  Add more icing sugar or cocoa to taste.


Chocolate Ganache:
250ml cream
250g dark chocolate melts

In a medium sized pot heat the cream until bubbles start to form around the edge of the pot, but the cream is not boiling.  Stand for two minutes.  Add the chocolate to the cream and mix until the chocolate has melted and the mixture is smooth.  Refrigerate until you are happy with the consistency; we left ours to go reasonably thick but you might like yours to be more runny and drizzle down the sides of the cake.

Passionfruit and Lemon Tarts with White Chocolate Ganache

I almost didn’t post this recipe today but these are so yummy I just had to share! You see I’ve made these twice over the last month or so but because they were for Christmas and a bridal shower I catered I didn’t get a chance to ‘shoot’ them the way I normally would… These are summery and a lot easier to make than I thought they might be, however, if the idea of making your own pasty cases is just too difficult or you are short on time you can use store bought cases.

Ingredients:
Pastry Cases
1 cup flour
1/2 cup desiccated coconut
4 tablespoons caster sugar
125 grams cold butter, cubed
3-5 tablespoons iced water

Filling
Barkers Passionfruit and Lemon Filling

White Chocolate Ganache Topping
100 grams white chocolate melts
100 mls cream

Method:
To make the pastry place listed ingredients (bar the iced water) into the bowl of your food processor. Whizz for about 30 seconds or until the mixture resembles fine crumbs.
Using the pulse mode begin to add the iced water until your mixture forms a dough.
Remove the dough and wrap it in cling film. For ease later in the process flatten it and work it into a disk shape before refrigerating for at least an hour.
Spray x2 12 hole mini muffin pans with oil. Ensuring that the pans are well coated.
Flour your bench or work space lightly and roll out the pastry to about 3mm in thickness.
Use a round cutter (5-7cm works best for mini muffin pans) to cut out 24 disks.
Press the disks into the base and sides of the muffin pans. Use a fork to prick the base of each of your tarts (pricking prevents the pastry from shrinking).
Place the tarts into the freezer for at least an hour before baking.
Pre-heat your oven to 180°C. Bake tart cases for 12-15 minutes until the pastry is golden and firm. Remove from the oven and cool in tins for 5 minutes before placing on cooling racks to cool completely.
Once the cases have cooled fill with Barkers Passionfruit and Lemon filling. If you are short on time you could serve as is, maybe placing a mint leaf on top as a garnish, but if you truly want to impress top with white chocolate ganache.
To make the ganache place the white chocolate and cream in a glass bowl and microwave for about 45 seconds until the cream is hot (but not boiling), stir to combine into a smooth consistency. Refrigerate to cool and thicken, this will take at least an hour or two so is best done ahead of time.
Beat the ganache with an electric mixer until it becomes pale and fluffy so that you can pipe it.

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!

Raspberry Macarons

These were far easier than I imagined they’d be! I tore this recipe out of a Foodtown magazine well over a year ago but put it in the too hard basket until now.

70g packet of ground almonds
1 cup icing sugar
2 egg whites (room temperature)
2 tablespoons sugar
a few drops of food colouring/flavouring (I used raspberry)

1. Line a baking tray with non stick paper.
2. Place the ground almonds and icing sugar in a food processor and pulse until it forms a mixture.
3. Beat the egg whites until they are frothy, add the sugar gradually and continue to beat until the mixture is glossy (2-3 minutes).  Add your colouring/flavour at this stage.
4. Using a spatula, gently fold the almond mixture into the egg mixture.  Fold until the mixture folds back on itself, it is important not to over fold.
5.Place mixture in a piping bag with a 2cm opening.  Pipe onto the lined tray a disc 3cm in diameter.  You should get 12 single macarons each tray.
*TIP: To stop the baking paper moving place a small dot of the macaroon mixture in each corner of you tray – the paper will stick to it.  For best results at this point you should leave your macaroons on the bench for 30 minutes to form a ‘skin’ - this will also allow your oven to pre-heat.


6. Place macarons in the oven for 18-20 minutes at 140˚C.  Once they are removed from the oven, leave them on the trays to cool.
7. Make the following ganache and use to sandwich the macaroons together.

75grams of white chocolate, roughly chopped
3 tablespoons each: cream, icing sugar

Place the chocolate and cream in a glass jug or bowl and place in the microwave on medium for 1-2 minutes.  Whisk gently to combine.  Stir in the icing sugar and leave until thickened.  Once thickened, place mixture into a piping bag or spoon on to the centre of half the macarons and sandwich with the other.  You want the ganache to spread but not come out the sides so be careful.

Enjoy these delicious wee treats!