Here's to the men in our lives!

There’s one man in my life who I can’t imagine living without – though, sometime I have to admit I do fantasize about life without the clutter he makes! He has an enthusiasm for life like I’ve never seen, he’s always thinking and questioning but most of all he has a childlike zealousness for all things dorky.

Today is my dad’s birthday, no it’s not a significant one but there’s no reason it can’t be special. In the midst of a hectic week with numerous assignment due, overseas guests arriving, a lunch for mum’s birthday (next week) I’ve relished the excuse to get away from the pressures of university by making dad’s birthday cake.

Dad is an engineer and has a fascination with structure, objects works and, well, anything that involves tinkering so this cake had to have some a little more construction required than a normal cake. Given this is the first cake I’ve made in almost a year I erred on the side of caution and kept it simple yet stunning.

I couldn’t resist taking a photo outside and while it’s not set up as I’d have liked the chocolate edge melted before my eyes within 20 seconds of getting outside, however I’ve included this to show you that the top was even!

I found I only needed 100g of chocolate for the wrap, and, I'm not sure if it's just me but I didn't know what a 3dl was, it's 3 decilitres aka 300ml.

I hope you enjoy this one as much as we did, I was worried when making it that it would be too dense but if you're careful when incorporating the egg whites I promise you can have a normal sized piece without feeling over-chocolated. Is that a term? It is now! 

Finally, the recipe says it serves 10, there were 6 of us and we didn't get half way through so this is a great cake if you're expecting a number of people and want something with wow-factor that you won't have to slave over for days.

Lightly adapted from Jungle Frog Cooking, Blue Chocolate Cake.

Ingredients

300g dark chocolate

4 tbs strong coffee

250g butter (unsalted)

225g cane sugar

8 eggs (split)

50g plain flour

25g cocao powder

1 tsp baking powder

250g ground almonds

100g meringues (ground)

500g blue berries and strawberries

Ganache

300ml double (whipping) cream

300g dark chocolate

Chocolate Wrap

100g dark chocolate

Method

Preheat over to 180 C, grease two 20cm baking tins.

Melt the chocolate and coffin in a bain maire, leave to cool. Cream the butter and sugar and add egg yolks one at a time beating between additions. Sieve flour, baking powder and cocoa power together and fold into butter mixture. Fold in melted chocolate, ground almonds and meringues. Whip the egg whites to stiff peaks and fold into batter. Split the batter between the tins and bake for approximately 45 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. You may need to cover cakes with foil after 30 minutes if they look as thought they're going to burn. 

Ganache

Chop chocolate finely and place in a bowl. Bring cream to the boil and pour over the chocolate, let it stand for a minute and then stir until an even consistency. 

Assembly

Allow the cakes to cool in the tins for 10-15 minutes then remove and let them drop to room temperature. Stack the cakes onto of one and other with the ganache in the middle (I like to put the second one on upside down as it gives a flat surface for the berries). I then put this in the fridge overnight.

Chocolate Wrap

Measure the circumference of your cake and the height of it. Tear a piece of baking paper the same length as the circumference of the cake and cut it so it is slightly higher than the cake (I added 1.5 inches to the final height of my cake). Place this baking paper over more baking paper allowing for easy clean up. Melt the chocolate in a bain marie and pour over the measured baking paper creating a thin layer of chocolate. Now wrap this around the cake and leave in the fridge for 20 minutes before carefully removing the baking paper and pilling with fruit.

Jungle Frog cooking has a wonderful video showing this step here.

Devil's Food Cake

Mmmm what’s better than cake? Chocolate cake and plenty of it!

After a hiatus from blogging for various reasons – motivation, or lack there of being one – I’ve decided it’s time for another attempt. ‘Real’ life has more than been full enough to make up from my somewhat absent blogging life. To name a few things, we’ve had two (soon to be three) groups of visitors from the UK totaling two months of hosting friends, which is always wonderful fun. Surviving a very busy university life while maintaining a regular cycling routine and a not so regular gym routine. New cafes have been discovered, tested and more often than not returned to with family and friends. Indeed, Fathers’ Day involved just that.

Now onto the recipe.

This is Design Sponge’s Devil’s Food Cake, which went down a treat (pardon the pun) for my younger sister’s birthday … back in November. This cake was wonderfully rich but not overpoweringly so - though that all depends on how many slices you have! After the party we placed the remaining cake in an airtight container in the fridge because it was too warm and humid to be left on the counter. The following day the cake became slightly fudgy leading to all involved switching to mass cake demolition mode, well worth the painful bellies that ensued.  

Bear in mind that as ingredient quality increases so does the final product. You'll never get an outstanding ganache with mediocre chocolate.

Ingredients           
          Devil's Food Cake

150g unsalted butter (more for pans)
50g cocoa powder (more for pans)
2/3 cup boiling water
1/3 cup milk, scalded
210g plain flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
300g granulated sugar
3 large eggs
1 tbs vanilla extract

           Whipped Ganache

15 g dark (70% cacao) chocolate, chopped
150g milk (40% cacao) chocolate, chopped
400g Nutella (the original recipe calls for Biscoff spread but I was unable to source any)
400g cold heavy cream

        Chocolate Shards

120g dark chocolate, chopped

Method
          Chocolate Shards

The shards can be made up to 3 days in advance and refrigerated until needed, just ensure that the ganache is at room temperature so the shards stick well.

To make the shards place the chopped chocolate into a double boiler and let it melt. When completely melted pour the chocolate onto a 16-inch length of baking paper resting on your bench top and using a palate knife or similar spread the liquid chocolate out evenly, maintaining about 1/3 of an inch away from the edge of the paper. Cover the chocolate with a second sheet of baking paper the same size as the first and gently smooth any air bubbles to the edge of the paper. Roll the paper from one short end to the other tightly to form a 1-inch tube and place on a tray in the fridge for a minimum of 2 hours. Unroll the tube in one smooth, quick movement to create the shards and refrigerate until ready to use.

        Devil’s Food Cake

1. Move oven rack to the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 175°C. Butter two 8-by-2-inch round cake pans and line the bottoms with baking paper. Butter the baking papers and dust with cocoa powder, tapping out excess.
2. Sift cocoa powder into a medium bowl, add boiling water slowly while whisking to prevent lumps forming. Whisk in milk. Set aside to cool.
3. In another bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda and salt.
4. In a large bowl, cream butter on medium speed of an electric mixer or by hand until light and fluffy. Add sugar and continue beating on medium speed for 5 more minutes, scraping down the sides with a spatula as every so often. Add the eggs, one at a time, making sure each one is fully incorporated before adding the next. Beat in vanilla.
5. Add the flour mixture in three batches, alternating with the cocoa mixture on a low speed.
6. Divide batter equally between the prepared pans and smooth the tops. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center of each cake comes out clean, rotating pans halfway through for even baking if over is not fan forced. Allow to cool in the pans for a 5 minutes, then take out and leave to cool completely on a wire rack.

           Whipped Ganache

Place both milk and dark chocolate in a double boiler and allow to melt. Remove from heat and whisk in the Nutella. Add heavy cream and using an electric mixer, whisk until soft peaks form. Be careful not to over beat, as the frosting will become grainy.

        Putting it all Together

1. Remove parchment papers from the bottoms of the cakes. Using a long, serrated knife, remove the top crusts to flatten the surface of the cakes. Place one cake on an 8-inch cardboard round or your serving plate (Several 2-3-inch wide strips of baking paper placed around the cakes edges will keep the serving plate clean after frosting).
2. Frost the top of the first cake with a 1/3 of the ganache. Place the second cake on top and frost the top and the sides with the remaining ganache.
3. Take the frozen chocolate chards out of the refrigerator and gently stick the shards to the ganache with the help of a tweezer as the heat from your hand may start to melt the shards, tweezers also allow for greater precision. Use long shards for the sides and smaller pieces for the top. Place the cake in the refrigerator until the ganache is firmly set, about an hour, then serve.

 

Spring Has Sprung

It's that time of year again where gardens are a riot of colour and the bees are buzzing, it's official spring has arrived and I thought I’d publish a brief post with some pictures I took recently while walking home from university through a local garden.

Let’s face it, spring’s too beautiful not to share.

Pear, Rocket, Walnut and Blue Cheese Salad

Good morning all!

I've just got home from seeing Harry Potter and am still in a daze. David Yates - the director - has done incredibly well. Without giving anything away I can say that this film is much more sinister than the previous ones have been and was very true to the book. I'd even recommend those who aren't Harry Potter fans to go and see it, simply because even if you haven't seen the previous films you'll still enjoy the cinematography and the fantastic story line. 

 

Enough of that for the moment though and onto food!

Notice of Warning: The next few posts are going to be of recipes that have been made whilst I neglected the blog so they will not be vegan. Though of course you can make them such by omitting or replacing certain ingredients. 

Today’s post is on a pear, rocket, walnut and blue cheese salad I made back in winter - yes I know it's a long time ago for such a familiar meal but I think it's one of those comforting recipes you can have on stand by and whip together in a moments notice. For the vegans out there, while the blue cheese gives it a greater depth of flavor it is by no means essential, if you want to give the salad another dimension try brushing the pears with maple syrup and char grilling them. It should also be pointed out that I don’t like salads to be dressed so I often leave mine plain, however a walnut or blue cheese dressing would be prefect.

 

Ingredients:

1 nearly ripe pear

2 handfuls of rocket (I also added two leaves of romaine lettuce, and some spinach)

½ handful of walnuts

2 slivers of blue cheese, crumbled

few shavings of parmesan 

Method:

- Wash, dry and trim the salad leaves.

- Cut the pear in half lengthways and using an apple corer, melon scoop or teaspoon remove the core. Stand pear up again, pressing the two halves together and cut into eights to achieve segment-like pieces. If char grilling the pear heat the pan on a medium-high heat and with a pastry brush lightly cover the pears in maple syrup, once pan is hot transfer pears to the heat and allow to cook for 1-2 minutes on either side. You only want them to caramelize and slightly burnish, if you think the pan is too hot them immediately turn it down.

- Roughly chop the walnuts and crumble cheese. Finally, toss everything together and transfer everything to a serving bowl and garnish with the parmesan.

Question: Have you read all the Harry Potter or seen the films … or both? If so what was your favourite? Have you been disappointed by any of the films?

My favourite book was the Deathly Hallows simply because it made you think and anticipate what was coming more so than the previous ones did. The same applies to the film, which definitely stands out from the others more strongly. 

It's about time!

Well well well, where to begin? My last post was back in July and I'm torn between starting all over again and simply continuing on here.

During this three month absence a great deal has happened. The weather is warming up again and we can almost taste summer, which means BBQs, Christmas, New Year, the beach, long walks with friends, cycling, running (hopefully) and a new seasons produce! I've also finished first year university, had my 19th birthday, tried out a handful of new restaurants in Melbourne, discovered a zillion new foodie blogs which have ultimately lead to the biggest change of all which is my turning vegan(ish).  

Why? I hear you cry in surprise and alarm. Firstly, I’m not going to be terribly strict about this, it’s more a general eradication of dairy, eggs etc from my diet as they make me feel somewhat sluggish. Secondly, I’ve unknowingly been vegetarian for two months and I can’t say I hugely miss meat. As this isn’t a motivated by morals I shan't hold back on ordering something with fish or a meal containing a dairy product when at a restaurant, life’s too short to deprive yourself of something you want plus I’m doubtful that it will make me feel too lethargic if it’s only every not and then. Finally, for months now I’ve been taking even more of an interest in the food I eat and I want to know exactly how it’s prepared and what’s going into it so there’s a greater emphasis on ‘clean eating’ and on sourcing as much as possible locally. Now I promise you, being vegan does not limit my meals in anyway, if anything it’s enhancing my food knowledge and gently encouraging me to experiment more in the kitchen. It’s far from the stereotype of tofu and lentils. 

So without further ado let me introduce you to Katie, she’s prompted - in part - this change thanks to her delicious recipes. Before I began reading her blog about 7 months ago I hadn’t given much though towards vegan food. So thank you Katie for opening my eyes and introducing me to another area of foodie goodness! 

I decided that my contribution to ‘Hug a Vegan’ would be to make Angela’s variation of Katie’s ‘Hot Chocolate Butter Melties’ which I've further altered to turn them into maple truffles.

Ingredients:

30 g coconut oil/butter

20g cocoa powder, extra for dusting

1/8 cup agave (I used maple syrup) the amount is optional but this is a good starting point

Method:

- Melt your coconut oil in the microwave or a water bath then whisk in maple syrup.

- Add the cocoa and stir until thickened.

- Place in ice cube trays, chocolate moulds or whatever else takes your fancy and set in the fridge (10 minutes) or freezer (5 minutes). Personally I like mine frozen as they’re more chewy. If you want to make them into truffles as I’ve done then simply chill the mixture in the freezer for 5 minutes then roll a teaspoon of the mixture in your hands, place back in the freezer for 5 minutes then roll in the extra cocoa.

Muesli Bars

I was doing the supermarket shopping with mum on the weekend and I decided to try the healthiest looking muesli bars I could find. Having decided (by looking at the packaging - incidentally, bad idea) I proceeded to wander the aisles reading the nutritional information. I was staggered to see that a simple muesli bar that had not been roasted, had no chocolate added and the packaging of which boasted various health claims could be so packed full of sugar and trans fats. They were rather expensive so mum and I decided to put them back and make our own. 

And here they are!

These bars were wonderful, nice and chewy, easy to make and very adaptable. The original recipe came from Australia Food which I found through Taste Spotting but (as always) I’ve altered the recipe to suit what I’ve got. Do you see the theme developing here? I sure do!

We’ll start with the down side, these didn’t set quite hard enough to enjoy if you were on the run. I had to lift them carefully out of the tray an even then they could crumble. To prevent this from happening I put them in the fridge and all was well. Next time I make them (and believe me there will be and next time, and probably and next and a next ...) anyway, next time I’ll be using a smaller tray so that they’re thicker and hopefully they’ll stick together. Secondly, I’ll experiment with the butter levels as I found these ones too buttery. Though it did give a depth of flavour I found it too much and it somewhat detracted from the healthy image I had in mind. 

Now onto the positives, there’s a lot. The bars were delicious!! They were inexpensive to make, can be altered as you wish and didn’t take long to prepare or set. The bars were sweet (but not sickeningly so), chewy and looked stunning. You can make them healthier by changing the fruit, for example instead of using dried fruit which can high in sugar you could use fresh fruit and dehydrate them yourself. Try cutting some apple, pear, apricot, nectarine, plum, cherries, fig or any other fruit that’s in season and drying them in an oven or in a dehydrator. The combinations are only limited by your green grocer ;)

I wonder how a little passionfruit would would go with nectarine for a summer one ... Anyway before I fall into a dreamlike state I need to finish this :D

Ingredients:

1 cup rolled oats

1 cup unsweetened desiccated coconut

1/4 cup sesame seeds

1/4 cup poppy seeds

1/2 cup walnuts

1/4 cup currents

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1/4 cup dried cherries

1/4 cup sultanas

1/4 of flax seeds

100g butter 

1/2 cup honey
1/8 cup brown sugar
* If you wanted to make these vegan simply substitute coconut butter and maple syrup for the honey.

Method:
- Line square or rectangular baking tin with grease proof paper. Set aside.


- Combine oats, coconut, sesame seeds, poppy seeds in a fry pan over low heat. Stir every few minutes for 8 minutes or until golden. Be careful not to burn the mixture. Transfer to a bowl to cool. Stir in the fruit and flax seeds.


- In a small sauce pan stir the butter, honey and sugar over a medium heat until the sugar has melted. Bring to the boil and then reduce the heat to low. Simmer, without stirring, for 4-5 minutes. Add butter mixture to dry ingredients. Stir well until combined.


- Spoon the mixture into the tin. Use a large metal spoon to press the mixture down firmly and evenly. This must be firmly compacted otherwise bars will fall apart when being held. I put a layer of grease proof paper over the top of the semi compacted mixture, then placed a heavy book on top and used that to smooth out the contents. 


Allow to cool and then cut into squares or rectangles. The bars can be stored in a foil-lined airtight container for up to a week.

Granola

I've been following Sami from A Teenage Gourmet since she began her blog and I have to say that she's wonderful! Her recipes are generally low calorie and very healthy but without omitting ANY flavour which can be a real life saver some days. The following is her granola recipe, which was adapted from Bon Appetit. This is perfect in the morning with some milk or sprinkled on top of yoghurt or even as a mid day/night snack. I recently went to Queensland for a holiday with some friends and I brought a snap lock bag of this with me - they loved it and we sat for at least 10 minutes feasting. 

I’ve altered her recipe further to work with what ingredients were in stock. You can leave out the chocolate if you want to go healthier, personally I leave it in as it will clump together this way providing more variation in the texture.

Ingredients:

3 cups oats

1 cup coarsely chopped pecans (I've changed this to almonds and cashews which both worked well)

2/3 cup unsweetened shredded coconut 

3 tablespoons brown sugar

3/4 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/3 cup honey

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 cup assorted dried fruit (I use raisins, currants, cranberries and sultanas)

Method:

Preheat oven to 150°C and line a baking tray with baking paper.

Combine the first 7 ingredients in a bowl. Stir honey and oil in saucepan over medium-low heat until smooth. Pour the hot honey mixture over dry ingredients, toss to coat oats in the honey as evenly as possible.

Spread onto baking tray. Bake until golden brown, stirring every 10 minutes, for roughly 30 minutes.

What can I say, incorporating the chocolate wasn't working too well with the spatula so hands were resorted to :P

Place the tray on a wire cooling rack and stir granola, allow to cool. Mix in fruit. If you’re adding chocolate do so when it come out of the oven, you can either chop VERY finely or melt an individual dark chocolate bar, I tend to use about half a packet (50g) of dark chocolate and toss it through the hot mixture once it’s left the oven.

This will stay at it’s best if kept for about a week in an airtight container.

CRISIS (and Fudge babies!)

I'm afraid my camera cord has performed a disappereing act so there won't be photos for a while. However when I find it/buy another I'll edit the posts and add the photos. I've had a look over the house and the enitre family is now involved a manhunt to find said escapee - don't worry I have the equivelent of MI5 on my side.

Wish me luck!

In the mean time however:

Fudge Babies

Recently I've stumbled upon a lot of vegan and vegetarain blogs so I decided to try a few of the recipes out. These are an adaption of Chocolate Covered Katie's  chocolate cookie dough babies. She's written and photographed a veriety of flavours and I have to say they're rather good. I found them very rich and could only manage two at breakfast today. Don't worry the rest weren't wasted, they made wonderful snacks throughout the day with no added sugar or anything un natural I'm giving them a sticky smile of approval!

Ingredients:

80g pitted dates
30g cashews (I used almonds and cashews though you can use any nuts you like)
20g almonds
1/2tsp vanilla extract

Method:


In a food processor add all the ingredients and process until combined and finely cut. Then Simply form them into balls, bars or other shapes of your choice. To form them into other shapes spread the mixture out thinly onto baking paper and place in the fridge for 10 minutes. Then using a cookie cutter stamp out the shapes as you want them.

That's all for now, it's time to resume the search!

Seared Salmon with Lentil Tabouleh

A few days ago whilst browsing in David Jones food section I stumbled across a Lebanese salad which was essentially a cross between tabouleh, lentils and couscous, I bought a small tub to try it out and had about half of it for lunch. That night I came across the recipe below which was featured on Tastespotting. Feeling inspired I used the remaining Lebanese salad to make my own version of the Lentil Tabouleh below. I didn’t follow their directions for the salad, but here’s the link to the original recipe.

I found the salmon very delicate, it definitely needed the salad to carry it. I would not recommend preparing the salmon this way if you’re having it with roast vegetables as it’s not strong enough. To counteract this you could always add different spices or make a sauce so it to avoid the fish being lost in the dish. If you like it to be medium or well done add either another 1-2 minutes.

The following is for one person.

Ingredients:

I’m afraid this will not be very accurate, as it is a matter of taste, plus I don’t know exactly what was in the Lebanese salad, here goes anyway. However I cooked the salmon according to their directions.

Salad

green lentils

cous cous

mint

parsley

lemon juice

I added 

3 asparagus sticks 

1/4 cucumber

1 tomato 

few thin slices of red onion

squeeze of lemon juice

Salmon

drizzle of olive oil

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

1 salmon fillet, skin removed

Method:

Preheat oven to 180℃.

Pour about an inch of boiled water into a steamer and add the asparagus with their ends broken off, cover and allow the steam until cooked - about 3-4 minutes. Remove from the steamer and cool for a few minutes. Make a small cut through the asparagus lengthways at the base of it. Turn the asparagus 90 degrees and make 3-4 cuts lenghtways. This is so the asparagus will curl through the salad. Toss together the salad ingredients and top with a squeeze of lemon juice.

Brush salmon in oil and rub in the seasoning to your taste. Place in a oven proof frying pan  on a medium-high heat top side down for 2 minutes to sear the top of the fillet. Turn the salmon so it’s the right way up and transfer to the heated oven for 8 minutes. 

 Remove salmon from the oven and allow it to stand covered for 5-7 minutes, this lets the juices settle. Give the salad a final toss and serve. 

Biscuit Icing and Decorating

Royal Icing

I had to cut it short when doing the biscuit post as it was closer to early morning than late evening when I finished. The icing I use on the cookies is from 'Delia Smith's Christmas' page 24 (yes I know the page off by heart - bit sad isn't it?!)

Ingredient: 

500g icing sugar

3 large egg whites

1 tsp glycerine

Method:

Place the egg whites in a bowl and slowly add the sifted icing sugar mixing with a metal spoon until it drips thickly from the spoon. Once combined beat with a mixer for 10 minutes until it stands in stiff peaks. Then stir in the glycerine, this will give it a glossy sheen. 

Simply divide the mixture amongst different blows, one for each colour. I use gel colours as these don’t turn the icing sugar runny as can happen if you need an intense, deep colour. To fill or ‘flood’ the biscuits thin the icing by adding a few drops of water until you achieve a runny consistency that when lifted with a spoon folds back on itself almost immediately. 

For Directions about how to ice biscuits I highly recommend looking at Bake At 350 and University of Cookie. That’s where I’ve got all my ideas and technique (which needs improvement) so definetly take a look at this group get up to.

Other Decorations:

About 9 or 10 months ago mum and some of her friends (J.A.C.K - their initials. K being my mum Kathy) discovered macarons, NOT macaroons!!! I won’t go into the ins and outs of making them yet - that would take an incredibly long time to type up as there are three methods, French, Italian and Spanish which range in stability and difficulty. However more of that later, at the moment I’m going to talk about the decorations we have. 

We have a tin which is more like a treasure trove, full of bits and pieces for decorating and flavouring. It was originally - when I was about 5 - used for holding sweets, lollies and chocolates, this elusive tin was always something of a source of wonder as it seamed to move locations every few weeks. It would be re-hidden and my sister and I would begin the hunt all over again, when my parents noticed the the supplies were getting suspiciously low it would suddenly disappear then reappear in a new location all over again. 

Nowadays, we have crystalised violets for the macs, green, purple and pink glitters, red and pink hearts, sugar balls of all colours - I’ve only photographed the pink ones. We have no shortage of cupcake holders, ribbons, brushes, extracts, props and dishes for photographing. So here’s a look at the tin that has been the bounty of many sugar cravings.

Chicken with Smoked Garlic, Cherry Tomatoes and Basil

A simple, quick and very tasty dinner! 

Ingredients:

One clove of garlic (I used smoked garlic that I picked up from The Good Food and Wine Show) 

one chicken breast

a handful of cherry tomatoes 

basil leaves tossed through at the end and to garnish

Method:

Simply heat some olive oil in a pan on a medium - hight heat and sear the chicken for two minutes then turn the heat down to medium and cook for 5 minutes. Turn over and cook for another 4-5 minutes. 

To check if the chicken’s cooked insert a knife into the thickest part of the chicken and if the liquid that comes out is pink tinged then the chicken isn’t ready however if it’s clear then it’s ready. Take the chicken out and allow it to rest until you’re ready to plate up. This allows the juices in the chicken to settle.

Chop the garlic and add it to the pan when they begin to sauté add the tomatoes and quickly cook on a high heat until they blister. Then toss the basil through the tomatoes and plate up! 

As I said this is very simple so you can experiment and change it however you want, though let’s be honest tomatoes and basil is a pretty unbeatable combination.