Christmas stars

This is the traditional gift that we bake and give to our neighbours around Christmas time. It's a combination of plain shortbread and some spicy biscuits cut into variously sized stars. Then we wrap it in some pretty cellophane and tie the bundle up with a ribbon. Recipes are oldies-but-goodies out of the Edmonds cookbook (shortbread) and Alison Holst's big red book (spicy biscuits).

Shortbread
(to be inserted once I find my Edmonds cookbook again!)

Spicy butter biscuits
225 g butter
1 c brown sugar
1 egg
2 c flour
2 Tbsp cinnamon
1 Tbsp mixed spice

Cream softened (but not melted) butter in the mixer. Add remaining ingredients, mix to combine, then form into a roll 70 mm thick. Roll in plastic and refrigerate until firm.

Roll mixture out on floured bench and cut into desired shapes (like stars!) using cookie cutters. Bake at 180 degrees Celcius for 8-10 minutes until biscuits darken slightly. When cool, transfer from tray to an airtight container.

Rice paper rolls with Vietnamese dipping sauce

From way back at the November Bake Club, this is a version of the little rice paper rolls I made. This recipe suggests BBQ roast duck (which you can buy already cooked from Peking House restaurant on Kent Terrace) but I usually just use cooked chicken instead. This recipe came from the SBS website.

Peking duck and hoisin rice-paper rolls recipe

Created by Allan Campion and Michele Curtis

Ingredients

50 g cellophane noodles
½ roast duck, flesh removed and thinly sliced
75 g (½ cup) chopped roasted peanuts
2 tbsp chopped coriander
1 small carrot, finely grated
1 tbsp hoisin sauce
12 Vietnamese mint leaves, shredded
12 large rice-paper wrappers

Preparation

Place noodles in a large bowl and cover completely with boiling water. Stand for 5 minutes to soften, and then drain well.

Place noodles, duck meat, peanuts, coriander, carrot, hoisin sauce and Vietnamese mint in a large bowl and mix well. Season to taste.

Fill a large bowl with hot tap water, then soak the rice-paper wrappers one at a time until softened. Remove carefully and drain on absorbent paper or a tea towel. Lay the wrappers out flat, then place the filling on the bottom centre of each softened wrapper. Roll end up over filling, fold in the sides and continue rolling up to the top.

Serve with Vietnamese Dipping Sauce

Ingredients

2 tsp grated palm sugar
2 tbsp lime juice
60 ml (¼ cup) fish sauce
1 small red chilli, sliced
1 tbsp water

Preparation

Dissolve the sugar in lime juice. Add the fish sauce, chilli and water. Allow the flavours to infuse for 30 minutes before using.

Recipe from Everyday Cooking by Allan Campion and Michele Curtis with photographs by Greg Elms. Published by Hardie Grant Books.

Candied orange peel

Well, after my nightmare day of flop cooking in January 2012, this was about the only recipe that flew! A great use for the left-over peel when the family are churning through the oranges in the warm weather.

4 oranges
3 cups sugar
1 cup water
sugar (for rolling them in) or chocolate (for dipping)

Harvest the peel from the oranges leaving a clean pith. I usually score each orange in half and then half again, then peel the orange quarter-by-quarter. Then slice into long strips of peel about 1/2 cm wide.

Place peels in a large saucepan and cover with cold water. Heat on high until boiling. Pour off the water. Repeat twice more.

Combine sugar and water in the saucepan and bring to boil over high heat for a couple of minutes. Add peels and reduce heat to simmer. Simmer until peels are translucent (30 minutes or longer).

Remove peels from syrup and roll in sugar if desired, and set on rack to dry (4-5 hours minimum or overnight). Work fast when taking peels out of syrup!

Once the peel is dry, you can dip them in melted dark chocolate and place on foil, wax paper, or a baking sheet to dry.

If you want to see some fantastic step-by-step photos of the process, check out Jennifer Yu's food blog "Use Real Butter".

Chocolate & cherry torta di nonna

by Celia Harvey from Cuisine magazine (issue #150)

Photo by Kieran Scott

Serves: 8Torta della Nonna ('grandma' s cake') is often made with a ricotta custard and pine nuts, but to refine its rustic nature a little I have replaced these components with a chocolate custard.

You could use sliced plums or peaches in place of the cherries

Sweet pastry
100g unsalted butter, cubed
300g flour
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
100g sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
Butter and line a 24cm springform tin with baking paper.
Place the butter, flour, salt, baking powder and sugar in a food processor and pulse until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add the egg and yolk then pulse until the dough just comes together. Turn out and press the mixture together with your fingers – it doesn’t have to be too smooth.
Using your fingertips, gently press the pastry over the base and up the sides of the tin, working quickly so that the dough doesn’t become too warm. It is meant to be a rustic-looking tart shell, so don’t worry too much about making it perfect. Refrigerate while you are making the chocolate cream.
For the chocolate cream
150g caster sugar
4 eggs
3 tablespoons flour
500ml full-cream milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract or brandy
200g 70% dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
200g fresh cherries, stoned
Preheat the oven to 170°C. In a bowl, whisk the sugar and eggs together until thick and creamy, then whisk
in the flour.
Bring the milk to the boil in a saucepan then slowly pour it into the egg mixture, whisking well to combine. Stir in the vanilla then return the mixture to the saucepan and place over low heat. Add the chopped chocolate and cook, stirring, until the mixture thickens enough to coat the back of the spoon. It will thicken quickly, so take care to whisk constantly and keep an eye on it.
Pour the thickened custard into the chilled tart shell. Sprinkle the cherries over the custard then bake for 45 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely in the tin before carefully removing and cutting into slices.

January 2012 - Almond Fingers

Great Bake Club today thanks ladies! Thanks heaps for hosting Julie :)

This is from Alexa Johnston's Ladies, A Plate - Traditional Home Baking.

Ingredients
115g flour
1/4 t baking powder
pinch salt
55g butter
115g sugar
35g ground almonds
1 egg, separated
1/4 t almond essence
60g icing sugar
40g chopped/slivered/flaked almonds

Method

1. Sift the flour, bakingpowder and salt into a bowl and rub in the butter until it is well incorporated.
2. Add the sugar and ground almonds and mix to a stiff paste with the egg yolk and 1-2 tsp of cold water if necessary. If you liek the favour of allmond essence, add about 1/4 tsp with the egg yolk.
   
3. Make the paste into a rectangle, wrap in waxed paper and chill for about 10 minutes. Roll out on a floured board to a rectange about 6mm thick. (I lined a cake tin with baking paper, and pressed the paste out into the bottom of that instead of rolling it, then lifted the baking paper out and put it flat on a baking sheet.)
4. Beat the egg white until stiff and then beat in the sifted icing sugar in spoonfuls to make a spreadable meringue. Dollop it onto the biscuit base and spread it out thinly to cover the whole surface - a small palette knkife is good for this. Sprinkle evenly with the additional almonds. Now a tip from Lois Daish: Leave the whole thing on the bench for an hour. The surface will dry a little and make cutting less of a sticky job.
   
5. Turn on the oven and preheat to 180C.
6. Use a sharp knife to cut the mixture into fingers, wiping the knife blade between each cut, then carefully lift the biscuits with a palette knife onto the prepared baking tray. Leave small gaps between them.
   
7. Bake for 20-25 minutes, rotating the tray after 10 minutes. The meringue will be pale gold, the almonds slightly toasted and the almond pastry nicely browned underneath.
8. Cool on a wire rack and store airtight. Makes about 32.
   

Lemon Syrup Pound Cake (Ray McVinnie)

Pound Cake
200g unsalted butter
350g caster sugar
finely grated zest of 2 lemons
5 eggs
250g plain flour

Preheat oven to 180C. Butter a 20cm diameter loose bottomed cake tin & line the bottom with greaseproof paper.
Cream the butter, caster sugar and lemon zest, beating until pale and fluffy.
Breat the eggs in one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in the flour until well mixed, but do not beat.
Pour the mixture into a tin and bvake for 45minutes to 1 hour, until a bamboo skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.
Remove the cake from the oven and let cool. Remove from tin and place on a wide platter with sides.

Lemon syrup
400g sugar
250ml water
grated zest of 1 lemon
juice of 3 lemons

Put the sugar, water, lemon zest and juice into a saucepan and bring to the boil, stirring to dissolve the suigar. Boil for 2 minutes. Remove from heat.
Pour the syrup over the cool cake and keep spooning the syrup over the cake as it soaks it up. Put into the refrigerator and cool.

Serve the cake in wedges with whipped cream or Greek yogurt.

The pound cake is very versatile and Ray McVinnie does a number of versions of it from the basic recipe above in his book "The Modern Cook" (published 2001). I've tried a couple of versions and they've all been easy to make and scrummy!

Six- Spice Gingerbread (Lebkuchler style)

My contribution to Xmas bakeclub back in November... thanks to Cuisine Issue 115 (Nov 2005)...

2 1/2 c flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground star anise
1/8 tsp white pepper
125g unsalted butter, cubed
1 packed c soft brown sugar
4 tbsp golden syrup
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 c crystallised ginger

Preheat oven to 190C.

Sift the flour, baking soda & spices into a bowl then rub in the butter until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Stir in the sugar, then the golden syrup, egg and crystallised ginger and mix to a dough.
Shape the dough into a squared off log of around 25cm x 6cm. You can carefully flatten one edge diagonally for a slanting effect. Cover well with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour until firm.
Line a baking tray with baking paper. Unwrap the dough and carefully cut off 5mm thick slices. Place on the prepared tray and bake for 12 minutes until golden. Makes 42.

November Bake Club - Kate's contribution

Great Bake Club this month, thanks so much for hosting Bridg! We might have to make the pilgrimage a regular thing ;)

This month we had a (nominal) theme of Christmas baking - I'm afraid that I, for one, didn't really stick to it, as I couldnt' seem to find any Christmassy-type recipes that inspired me. Maybe it was a bit early for me?

Things I baked instead were:

- French toast and bacon cupcakes - I'd recommend halving the amount of icing you make for this

- Chocolate Chip Cookie and Oreo Fudge Brownie Bar - again, you could halve this recipe, and DO remember to move the oven rack down to at least halfway or lower in the oven! (I didn't!)

- Crack Pie

Looking forward to our next Bake Club - mid January, hosted by the lovely Julie :) Look out for details in your email :)

Kate

Lemon Curd Crumble Slice
(courtesy of NZ House and Garden magazine, November 2011)
If you want to really impress, serve this slice with a dollop of limoncello cream made by combining 1 cup cream, softly whipped, with 2 tablespoons limoncello liqueur and icing sugar to taste.

250g butter, softened 180g sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 2 cups flour 1 teaspoon baking powder Curd filling: 1 cup water 1 cup white sugar 2 tablespoons cornflour mixed to a paste with 2 tablespoons cold water 2 egg yolks ¼ cup lemon juice 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest 50g butter, chopped

Preheat oven to 170°C fanbake or 190°C regular. Cream butter, sugar and vanilla until pale and fluffy. Sift over flour and baking powder and beat on lowest setting (or mix in by hand) until mixture forms clumps.

Shape dough into a smooth ball. Break off a quarter of the dough, wrap in plastic and chill (this will be used for the topping). Using floured fingers, press remaining dough into a lined slice tin (about 20cm x 30cm). Bake 8 minutes or until just starting to set and colour. Take from oven and set aside.

Curd: Meanwhile, heat water and sugar in a small pot, stirring until sugar has dissolved. Add cornflour paste and simmer 2-3 minutes until thickened.

Remove from heat and stir in egg yolks, lemon juice, zest and butter until butter has melted. Cool 10 minutes then pour over the semi-cooked base. Grate chilled dough over top and bake 20-25 minutes until golden and base is cooked. Cool completely in tin before cutting.

Dust with icing sugar if desired and serve with cream – see above. (We also garnished our slice with candied lemon slices bought from Nosh in Auckland.)

Slice will keep for 2-3 days, stored loosely covered and in a cool place. Makes 12-16 pieces

Lemon Date Slice

Ingredients
1 c flour
1 c chopped dates
1 t baking powder
1 c desiccated coconut
1/2 c sugar
113g butter, melted (recipe says 4oz)
3 t golden syrup

Method
1. Preheat oven to 130C, and grease a slice tin.
2. Combine dry ingredients; pour liquid over them.
3. Mix well.
4. Press into greased tin.
5. Cook in oven for about 30 minutes.
6. Ice while hot, with lemon water icing.
7. Cut into slices when cold.

- from Kate (please note adherence to the 7+/- 2 rule ;) )

Mini Carrot Cake and Lemon Cream Cheese Icing

Ingredients

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 egg

1 cup firmly packed grated carrot

1/3 cup finely chopped walnuts (optional)

3/4 cup self raising flour

1/2 tspn mixed spice

Method

1.  Preheat oven to 160 and line 18 holes of two 12 hole mini patty pans with paper cases

2.  Beat oil, sugar and eat in small bowl with electric mixer until thick and creamy

3.  Stir in carrot and walnuts

4.  Add sifted flour ans pice

5.  Divide mixture into paper cases

6.  Bake cakes about 20 mins

7.  Stand cakes for 5 mins before turning top side up onto wire racks to cool

8.  Meanwhile make lemon cream cheese icing

Lemon cream cheese icing

Ingredients

90g softened cream cheese

30g softened butter

1 tspn finely grated lemon rind

1 1/2 cups icing sugar

Method

1.  Beat cream cheese, butter and rind in a small bowl with electric mixer until light and fluffy

2.  Gradually beat in sifted icing sugar

3.  Spoon into a piping bag and pipe onto cool cakes

4.  Sprinkle with extra grated lemon rind, finely chopped dried apricots

Thanks to Nic Furlong

Lemon Muffins

Thanks to Jo Johnston

Speedy Chocolate Muffins

Ingredients

• 250g self-raising flour
• 25g cocoa powder

2tsp baking powder

175g caster sugar

175ml milk

2 large eggs, beaten

100ml mild olive oil

75g plain chocolate chunk

1-2tsp vanilla extract

• Method
• 1.Preheat the oven to 170ºC (375ºF, gas mark 5).
• 
  2.Line a 12-hole deep muffin tray with paper muffin cases.
• 
  3.Sift together the flour, cocoa and baking powder; stir in the sugar. Add the remaining ingredients and mix lightly together.
• 
  4.Spoon the mixture into the prepared cases. Bake for approximately 20 mins or until golden and springy to the touch. Cool for 10 mins; transfer to a wire rack and leave until cold.

Thanks Sarah Young and http://www.goodtoknow.co.uk/recipes/227023/Speedy-chocolate-muffins

Red Velvet Brownie with White Chocolate Icing

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons cocoa powder
2 tablespoons red food coloring
2/3 cups chocolate chips (optional)

Method

1.  Preheat oven to 350.
2.  Butter and flour an 8 x 8 cake pan.
3.  In a small bowl, combine cocoa powder, red food coloring, and 1 teaspoon vanilla to create a paste.
4.  In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar until fluffy.
5.  Add eggs one at a time, then add remaining teaspoon of vanilla.
6.  With the mixer on medium speed, add in cocoa powder mixture. Beat until batter is completely red. (If at this time your batter is NOT red, you can add a little more food coloring if desired. Color will depend on brand.)
7.  Add flour and salt, mixing until just combined.
8.  Fold in chocolate chips.
9.  Spread in the 8 x 8 pan.
10. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
11. Let cool completely before frosting.


White Chocolate Frosting
Ingredients

1 stick of butter, at room temperature
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 ounces white chocolate, melted (I used Lindt)
1-2 tablespoons milk (or more if needed)

Method

1.  Cream butter in an electric mixer until fluffy, then add vanilla.

2.  Slowly add in powdered sugar 1/2 cup at a time with the mixer on low speed.

3.  Add in melted white chocolate and beat until incorporated.

4.  To reach desired consistency, add in milk 1 teaspoon at a time with mixer on low speed.

5.  If frosting becomes too liquidy add additional sugar.

Thanks to Kate Morgan and http://www.howsweeteats.com/2011/03/red-velvet-brownies-with-white-chocolate-frosting/

Savoury Pinwheel Scones

Ingredients

2 cups flour
2 heaped tsp baking powder
1 tsp mustard powder
salt n pepper
4 tsp butter
50g tasty (mature) cheddar
3/4 cup trim milk
filling: 100g ham, 100g tasty (mature) cheddar

Method

1.  Set oven for 220C
2.  Sift flour, baking powder, mustard powder and salt and pepper
3.  Rub in butter and cheese
4.  Gradually add milk using knife
5.  Knead gently
6.  Roll out to form rectangle
7.  Slice ham into ribbons and spread over scone mixture and cover with cheese
8.  Roll up and cut into 8
9.  Place on greased oven tray and bake for 20m or until golden

Thanks to Kylie May and http://hazel-thisandthat.blogspot.com/2009/05/savoury-pinwheel-scones.html