Christmas Eton Mess Wreath

 250g raspberries

1 tbsp icing sugar

300g white chocolate melts

200g coconut macaroons, quartered

12 french macaron

250g small strawberries

200g cherries

1 pomegranate, halved and broken into pieces

25g mini plain meringues

3/4 cup thickened cream, whipped to serve

Place 75g rasperries in airtight container and freeze for 2 hours. Then make into coulis.

Melt chocolate and then drop spoonfuls on tray to make a ring. Allow to set

Assemble

Friands

½ cup plain flour

1½ cups icing sugar, sifted

1 cup ground almonds

6 egg whites, about ¾ cup

190 g Noisette Butter, melted and cooled a little (see method for how to make Noisette Butter)

40 raspberries or blueberries , fresh or frozen

Preheat oven to 180°C and grease mini-muffin tins or moulds with a little of the butter. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar and ground almonds. In a separate bowl, whisk egg whites to a loose froth, then combine with butter. Make a well in flour mixture and pour in butter mixture. Mix gently, taking care not to overmix.

Spoon mixture into tins until each is two-thirds full. Press 4 raspberries into each friand. Bake for 20–25 minutes until friands feel a little springy and a fine skewer inserted comes out clean. Cool in tins on a wire rack for a few minutes before turning out. Set friands right-side up and allow to cool. Enjoy with tea or coffee.

Noisette Butter
Melt and simmer butter in a saucepan. Cook the butter until it is golden brown and begins to smell nutty. The milk solids will appear as golden specks at the bottom of the saucepan. Stop the cooking quickly by putting the pan into a basin of cold water.

https://www.stephaniealexander.com.au/what-to-cook/recipes/stephanie-alexander-friands-recipe/

Strawberry Tart

1 quantity Shortcrust pastry

1 cup pastry cream

250g berries

1/4 cup jam, warmed

Line 18cm loose bottomed flan tim with pastry and bake cling at 200* for 20 minutes.  Remove weights and foil and allow to cool.

Spread pastry cram over pastry case. Arrange berries over cream. Glaze tart with melted jelly. Eat within an hour

Pastry cream (cream patisserie)

2 cups of milk

1 vanilla bean, split

6 egg yolks

3/4 cup castor sugar

50g cornflour

Scald milk with vanilla bear. In bowl beat egg yolks with sugar and cornflour until thick. Pour in milk and whisk until smooth. Return mixture to rinsed our saucepan and stir continuously over a moderate hear until pastry cream has thickened, is smooth and has come to boil. Beat vigorous,y for 1minute. Poor through course strainer over bowl. Wash and dry vanilla bean for another use. Press plastic film over pastry cream to prevent skin forming. Use when cold.  Can add 1/4 or 1/3 volume of unsweetened firmly whipped cream to lighten

Shortcrust Pastry

180g unsalted butter

240g plain flour

Pinch salt

1/4 cup water

Remove butter from fridge for 30min before making pastry.  Sift flour and salt onto bench. Chop butter into smallish pieces and toss lightly in flour. Lightly rub to combine party. Makes well in centre and pour in water. Using pastry scraper work water into flour until you have a rough heap of buttery lumps of dough. Using the heal of your hand, quickly smear pastry away from you across the workbench.  It will combine lightly.  Gather together, then press quickly into a flat cake and dust with a little flour. Wrap pastry in plastic and refrigerate for 20min. When required, roll out dusting generously with flour.

Note: often faster to grate butter than chop

Stephanie Alexander’s Cooks Companion

Apple, Rhubarb Custard Crumble

Ingredients:

3 apples
1 bunch or rhubarb
2 tbsp custard powder
20g butter
125 ml apple juice
50 g brown sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon
juice of 1/2 a lemon

Crumble:
75g butter
75g brown sugar
100g rolled oats
30g plain flour
1/2 tsp ground alspice
pinch of salt
30g crushed hazelnuts
30g walnut pieces

vanilla icecream or double cream 

Steps:

Preheat oven to 160*

Peel and core apples and cut in 1cm wide wedges. Cut rhubarb into 4 cm pieces. Put in plastic bag with custard powder and shake.

Grease pan and add fruit. Pour apple juice, cinnamon and lemon juice over.

Make crumble. "Crumble" between fingers butter, flour and oats.

Spread ontop of fruit mixture.

Cook in over for 1 hour or until apple soft.

Matt Preston's Pear and Almond Tart

250g plain flour

1/4 tsp salt

120g unsalted butter, cold

75g icing sugar

2 egg yolks

1 tbs iced water

Filing

225g flaked almonds

225g unsalted butter, room temp

225g caster sugar

2 eggs

4 ripe Packham pears

Place flour and salt in food processor, add cold butter and pulse till resembles bread crumbs. Add icing sugar and pulse till combined, add egg yolks and pulse again.  Dough should combine and start to come away from the side. If the dough is too dry, add water bit by bit till comes together.

Wrap dough into disk sharp in plastic wrap and chill in fridge for an hour.

Preheat oven to 180 and butter and flour loose bottomed 28cm tart tin.

Roll dough quickly (don't overwork) to 4mm thick. Gently lift and put in tin and press down sides.

Cover with foil and blind bake for 20min until light brown. Remove from oven.

Reduce oven to 160.

For filing, place almonds in food processor till coarse sand, not too fine. In separate bowl, cream butter and sugar til pale and light. Add almonds and blend. Beat in eggs one at a time.  You should have thick almond cream that can be scooped out with spoon.

Peal and core and halve pears. Place one in centre and rest on circle facing inwards. Place almond cream around pears, leaving space between rim and pears so filing has room to spread.

Bake tart for 40 min or till golden drown.

Can make 2 days in advance.

Carol's Cinnamon Scrolls

Dough 

2 cups SR. Flour
2 tbsp caster sugar
Pinch salt
150 ml cream
150 ml milk

Mix flour, sugar and salt. Add milk and cream and mix til combined. 
Roll out in a rectangle shape on baking paper or floured board. (The flatter the more cinnamon swirls. I do - Maybe 1 cm ish. I can't remember) 

Cinnamon Sugar 
45 g butter softened 
1tbsp cinnamon
1/4 cup sugar (I use half caster and half regular) 

Mix all together and spread completely over dough. Right to edges. Roll up and cut into discs. Approx 1.5 cm thick. put on lined tray. I don't make them touch each other. Bake about 10 mins on 200'C , until cooked through

Icing
1 1/2 C icing sugar
25 g softened butter
1 tsp vanilla
1-2 tbsp milk 

Mix all together and spread on top just before serving.

Christmas Trifle – This is the way my mother used to make it

1 Jam Swiss roll

1 large tin mixed fruit salad
1 Jelly – I usually use red

Drain the tinned fruit and keep the juice
Slice the Swiss roll and arrange the slices around the sides and base of a largish bowl
Put some of the fruit evenly around the lined bowl
Add a few more slices of jam roll
Then add rest of the fruit

Melt the jelly crystals in about 250 mls of hot water. When they have dissolved top the liquid up with the reserved fruit juice to the 500ml level (jelly is supposed to be made with 500ml) If you want the jelly to be firmer make the liquid up to a bit less.
At this stage if you wish to put sherry or the like into the trifle, sprinkle it over the Swiss roll. When kids are involved I leave this out.
Pour the liquid jelly mixture over the roll and fruit in the bowl so that the roll soaks up the jelly.

Refrigerate until jelly is set

When set make up 500ml custard using custard powder.
I use 2tblesps custard powder and 2 tblsps sugar to 500 ml milk. As with all powders, mix a little cold milk with the powder first and add to the warming milk. Keep stirring so that the custard cooks evenly and does not make lumps. Cook until the custard thickens. Allow to cool and pour on top of the trifle. (The purist will stir the custard all the time as it cools so it does not form a skin!!) 

Black Forest Cheese Cake

Crumb Crust

250 gm Chocolate biscuits
125 gm butter

Filling

½ Cup water
1 tblsp Gelatine
250 gm packet cream cheese
¾ cup sugar
300ml thickened cream
1tblsp lemon juice
425 gm can pitted black cherries

Topping

1tblpsp cornflour
1tblsp rum
1tbspn sugar

Crush biscuits and mix with melted butter. Press into base and sides of 20cm springform pan.
Refrigerate while making the filling

Have cream cheese at room temperature. Beat with sugar and lemon juice until smooth. Sprinkle gelatine over cold water and dissolve over hot water. (I put it in the microwave for a few seconds). Add to the cream cheese mixture beat well and then fold in the whipped cream. Drain the cherries and reserve ¾ cup of the syrup.
Spoon 1/3  of the filling over the base and arrange half the cherries over it. Add another 1/3 of the cheese mixture on top and arrange the rest of the cherries evenly on it. Top evenly with the rest of the filling. Refrigerate till firm.

For the topping
Place sugar with the reserved juice in a saucepan. Mix the cornflour with a little of the cold juice so that lumps do not form when heating. Stir the juice and sugar over heat and gradually add the cornflour mixture. Stir till boiling, remove from the heat and add the rum. Stir for a few minutes and allow to cool slightly. Pour on top of the cheese cake and swirl lightly with a spoon to make a pattern on top.

If you wish you can pipe whipped cream around the edge but I think there is probably enough cream in the cheesecake!

Note. For Christmas in 2014 and to feed over 30 people I made 3x the mixture and put in two springform pans 23cm and 25cm.

Sticky Date Pudding

For Lilly

170g dates, stoned and chopped

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

300ml boiling water

69g unsalted butter

3/4 cup caster or brown sugar

2 eggs

170g Self raising flour

1/2 tsp pure vanilla

Sauce:

400g brown sugar

1 cup thick cream

250g unsalted butter

1 vanilla bean, split

Preheat oven to 180* and butter 18cm square cake tin or muffin tins.

Mix dates and bicarb. Pour over water and leave to stand.

Cream butter and sugar, add eggs, one at a time. Beating well after each addition.  Fold flour in gently, stir in date mixture and vanilla and pour into prepared tins.  (Note: mixture is very runny).  Bake in centre of oven for 30 - 40 minutes (or 20 minutes if in muffin tins) till cooked

To make sauce, bring all ingredients to boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove vanilla bean.

Pour a little sauce over warm pudding and return to oven for 2-3 minutes so sauce soaks in.  Cut pudding squares and add extra sauce.

La Religieuse

Ingredients

For the choux pastry

• 150g plain flour
• 100g unsalted butter
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 250ml cold water
• 3 free-range eggs plus 1 additional egg yolk

For the crème patisserie

• 6 free-range egg yolks
• 40g plain flour
• 125g caster sugar
• 450ml milk
• 1 vanilla pod

To flavour

• 2 tablespoons melted dark chocolate
• 1–2 tablespoons strong espresso coffee (or to taste)
• few drops rosewater (to taste)
• few drops red food dye

To finish

• 2 fresh raspberries
• cocoa
• 2 cups icing sugar
• strong espresso coffee
• red food dye

Makes 6 nuns (2 chocolate, 2 coffee and 2 rose)

Preparation Method

Preheat the oven to 200°C. Sift the flour into a bowl. Put the butter, salt and water in a heavy-based pan and bring to the boil over medium heat. As the water comes to the boil, remove from the heat and dump in the flour in one go. Immediately stir briskly with a wooden spoon until the flour and liquid are evenly combined.
Place the pan back on a lower heat. Beat continuously for a minute until you have a coherent mass that comes away easily from the side of the pan. Remove the mixture from the heat and leave it to cool for about 3 minutes. (If you add the eggs immediately, the mixture may curdle.)
Beat the first 3 eggs into the mixture, one at a time, making sure each egg is completely incorporated before adding the next. The mixture should be smooth and glossy. If it is too stiff, trickle in some of the additional egg yolk, beating well.
Leave the mixture to cool to room temperature. Fit a piping bag with an 18mm round nozzle and fill it with the choux mixture. On 1 greased baking tray, pipe 6 balls around the size of a walnut, and on the other tray pipe 6 balls around the size of a mandarin. Brush the tops with remaining egg.
Lower the oven temperature to 190°C. Bake the larger choux balls for 25 minutes, then lower the temperature to 160°C for a further 15 minutes or until the choux balls are golden brown and puffy. Bake the smaller choux balls for 15 minutes at 190°C, then lower the temperature to 160°C for a further 10 minutes. Remove the trays from the oven and pierce each choux ball with a sharp knife. Turn off the oven and return the choux balls to the oven to dry completely. Remove and cool on a wire rack.
To make the crème patisserie, place the egg yolks, flour and 2 tablespoons of the sugar in a bowl and whisk until pale. Combine the milk with the remaining sugar. Split the vanilla pod and scrape the seeds into the milk. Pour this mixture into a saucepan and bring to the boil over medium heat. Gently whisk into the egg mixture, then return the mix to the pan. Cook over a low heat, stirring until thickened (make sure the crème is properly cooked or your filling will be runny).
Divide the crème patisserie into 3 even batches. To make the chocolate crème patisserie, gently whisk some melted dark chocolate into the first batch of warm crème patisserie. Spoon the mixture into a piping bag (do this immediately to prevent a skin forming). Add a small amount of coffee to the second batch and mix until the coffee is completely incorporated (do not add too much, or your filling will be too wet). Place in a piping bag. Carefully add a couple of drops of rosewater and red food dye to the final batch. Mix well to ensure the flavour and colour are evenly distributed. Place in a third piping bag.
With a knife, make the hole in each choux ball larger and fill them with the flavoured crème patisserie. For the rose mixture, half-fill 2 large choux balls and carefully place a raspberry in the centre, then continue filling. Fill the smaller choux balls with just the rose mixture. Fill the remaining choux balls with the other 2 flavours to create 6 ‘nuns’ in total (2 of each flavour).
Mix the cocoa and a third of the icing sugar in a bowl, add 1/2 tsp hot water and stir until smooth. Do the same with the coffee. Mix the rosewater, red food dye and remaining icing sugar in a bowl, and stir until smooth. Ice the choux balls to match their filling flavours, creating a cap and cape. Pipe a white chocolate ruffle collar on the base of a small choux ball, then sit it onto a larger matching choux ball (hold in place until it is firmly attached). Pipe a white chocolate cap peak on top. Assemble the remaining ‘nuns’ and serve immediately.

Banoffee Pie

250g digestive or granita biscuits

125g unsalted butter, chopped

380g Top 'n' Fill Caramel

300ml thickened cream

3 bananas, sliced

Grated dark chocolate

Step 1:

In food processor, crumb biscuits.  Melt butter in saucepan.  Pour into processor and whiz until combined.

Step 2:

Spoon crumbs into 24cm fluted tart pan with removable base.  Press mixture into base and up sides.  Place on oven tray and refrigerate for 30 min.

Step 3:

Spoon caramel into biscuit base and spread evenly. Don't stir the Carmel or it will be to soft to slice.

Step 4:

Beat thickened cream till soft peaks form

Step 5:

Top caramel with sliced banks, then spoon over whipped cam. Sprinkle with grated chocolate. Refrigerated at leasts 1 hour (up 3 hours)

Step 6:

Serve and enjoy.  (unless you are Mark who doesnt like bananas)

Chocolate Tiramisu

 1/3 cup cocoa

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp grated orange zest

1/4 cup brown sugar, firmly packed

1/4 cup icing sugar

200ml thickened cream

250g marscapone

150 (about 12) savoiardi biscuits

Grated chocolate

Step 1:

Stir cocoa and cinnamon in bowl. Add orange zest and brown sugar. Pour in 1/4 cup hot water, stirring until smooth. Allow to cool.

Step 2:

Beat icing sugar and cream till soft peaks form. Stir marscapone in container to loosen it then gently fold into the cream.

Step 3:

Dip biscuits one at a time into cocoa mixture for 10 minutes then place in base of 1.5L dish. Repeat with a few more biscuits till base covered.  Spoon half cream mixture over biscuits and smooth top. Dip remaining biscuits into cocoa mixture and form another later on top of cream.  Top with remaining cream and smooth with back of spoon.

Step 4:

Sprinkle grated chocolate over top, cover with plastic wrap an refrigerate at least 3 hours preferable overnight.

Individual Cheesecakes

Flourless Chocolate Cake

prep + cooking time 1 hour 45 min
serves 12

1/3 cup cocoa powder
1/3 cup (80ml) hot water
150 g dark eating chocolate, chopped
150g butter, chopped
1 1/3 cups (300g) brown sugar
1 cup ground almonds
4 eggs, separated
240g fresh raspberries (optional)

chocolate ganache (optional)
200g dark eating chocolate
2/3 cup (160ml) thickened cream

Preheat oven to 160* and grease 22cm cake tin.

Blend cocoa powder with hot water until smooth.

Melt chocolate and butter.  Stif in cocoa mixture, sugar, ground almonds and egg yolks.

Beat egg whites till soft peaks form.  Fold into chocolate mixture in 2 batches.  Pour mixture into pan.

Bake 1 1/4 hours.  Stand for 15min before turning onto wire rack.

Make chocolate ganache by stiring ingredients in small saucepan over how heat until smooth.

Lemon Meringue Slice

Lemon Meringue Slice, a photo by Sally layson on Flickr.

Chocolate Apricot Balls

Thanks for this Auntie Em!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup finely chopped apricots
1/2 cup coconut
2 tablespoons condensed milk
200g milk chocolate melts
1 teaspoon vegetable oil

Line baking tray with baking paper
Mix apricots,coconut and condensed milk in bowl and refrigerate for 15 mins.
Roll level teaspoons of mixture into balls and place on tray
Combine chocolate and oil in small heatproof bowl and place over simmering water stirring until chocolate melts
Using fork,dip 1 ball into chocolate mixture to cover-place on prepared tray.
Repeat until used all mixture.

Chocolate cake

This is the recipe Mark always uses when making chocolate birthday cakes.
Anneka Manning "Good Food" p50

1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup boiling water
125g butter, at room temp
1 1/2 cups caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
3 eggs
1 cup SR flour
1/4 cup plain flour

Preheat oven to 180. Grease 22cm pan

Sift cocoa into bowl. Add almost all water to form smooth, thick paste. Stir in in remaining water. Set aside.
Cream butter, sugar and vanilla. Add eggs one at a time.
Sift together flours. Use large metal spoon to fold flours to butters alternatively with cocoa.

Put in pan and make 45min.

Citrus Delicious Pudding

This was our grand final dessert when the Windybanks, Speeds and Layson's watched Manly win.

90g butter, softened
1 1/2 cups caster sugar
1 1/2 cups milk
3 eggs
1/2 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp finely grated orange rind Icing sugar, for dusting

Preheat oven to 180*.
Place the butter, sugar, milk, eggs, lemon juice, flour, baking powder and orange rind in the bowl of a food processor and process until smooth.
Poor into lightly greased 1.25L oven proof dish and bake for 1 hour or until golden.
Dust with icing sugar to serve.

Serves 6.

From Donna hay p128 issue 45 June/July 2009

Chocolate Mousse

125gm cooking chocolate
4 eggs - separated
2 tablespoons caster sugar
little cream (optional)
2 tblsp brandy or rum (optional)

Melt the chocolate over a bowl of hot water (you can melt it in the microwave but if you do it too fast you will ruin the chocolate – I always seem to do that!)
Add the egg yolks and sugar and beat for 2mins or until smooth.
Add the brandy or rum and beat for another 2 mins
Remove from heat.
Beat the egg whites until stiff and fold in the chocolate mixture.
Pour into individual glasses or one large bowl

This makes 4 individual servings

Home made Yoghurt with Yoghurt Maker

From "French Women Don't get Fat"

Ingredients
1 saucepan
1L milk
1 tbs plain yoghurtc(or commercial starter)
Yoghurt maker
Cooking Thermometre

1. Warm up mik on medium low until bubbles appear around the edge and steam rises from the surface. Remove saucepan from heat and insert thermometer stirrer. When temperature hits 45* add starter to container. Add some of heated milk and still until well blended. Pour mixture back into saucepan a little at a time stirring well.

2. Fill jar and put in yoghurt maker. Follow yoghurt makers instructions