Tag Archives: Recipe

Aranciello

10/10/2012 7:55 am \ 35 Comments \

I’ve invented something!…  I think  🙂
Last month when I posted about my batch of limoncello, velosewer commented that she would love to make limoncello too but she only had oranges… of course my brain instantly leapt to exciting new possibilities; thank you so much for the fabulous inspiration velosewer!  It’s been brewing for the last month and is finally ready for its debut  🙂
This liqueur is based on the recipe I used for limoncello, but I substituted oranges instead.  Since I’ve never heard of this before, which I concede does not mean it does not exist, somewhere, but still, it’s new to me:   I am claiming the right to give it a name.  And since “arancia” is Italian for “orange” just like “limone” is Italian for “lemon”: thus “aranciello”  Pronounced the Italian way naturally… ah-rahn-chel-lo.  Si?

Aranciello
6 oranges
750mL vodka
225g sugar
435mL water

Place the oranges in a saucepan and cover with boiling water.  Set aside for 1 hour to soak.  Drain and pat dry.  Finely grate the oranges, and combine the rind and vodka in a jug.  (You don’t use the juice from the oranges in this recipe, but obviously they can be juiced and the juice can still be used somewhere; waste not want not   🙂  )
Heat the sugar and water in a saucepan over a low heat, stirring for 5 minutes or until the sugar has dissolved.  Increase heat to medium and bring to the boil.  Cook without stirring for 5 minutes, or until the syrup begins to thicken.  Set aside to cool.
Add cool syrup to the vodka mixture and pour into an airtight container.  Seal and store in a cool, dark place, shaking occasionally, for 1 month to develop the flavours.
Strain the vodka mixture through a fine sieve, into a clean sterilised airtight bottle.  Discard the rind.
Note: This liqueur must be served well chilled.  Place it in the freezer for 1 hour before serving.
Now of course, I did not actually discard the vodka-soaked rind after straining, any more than I did the vodka-soaked lemon rind when I made the limoncello last month.  Quelle horreur!  Anyone who reads this blog will know that I am a mad anti-waste crusader…
Each time, I’ve saved the rind and used it to make a raaather decadent, adults-only cake…
I can add in the recipe for this if anyone really wants it, but really it is just a basic common-or-garden butter cake with the vodka-soaked rind added at the butter/sugar creaming stage; easy peasy…  but tres delish!
Oh, in random blogging news, today is the third anniversary of my funny lil’ ol’ blog here.  I’ve managed to not click on that “delete blog” button all this time!  (wipes sweat off the ol’ brow)
Here’s to avoiding that hairy one for a few more years yet….  I’m mentally chinking aranciello-filled glasses with y’all right now  :))
Cheers peers!
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Macarons…

15/09/2012 5:14 am \ 18 Comments \

I’ve been experimenting with the macaron recipe; trying to perfect it and play with different flavours.  Sorry if all the recipes appear superficially identical, but I assure you there are subtle but important variations.
First up:

Macarons with white chocolate and raspberry ganache

3 egg whites, allowed to sit for an hour
30g castor sugar
5g powdered egg white (if you can’t get it, Pavlova Magic works)
125g almond meal
200g pure icing sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp pure vanilla essence
few drops cochineal

Sift the icing sugar and baking powder and stir through the almond meal.  Combine castor sugar and powdered egg white (or Pavlova Magic) in a separate little bowl.
Whisk the egg whites until firm and stiff enough to keep its shape when you turn the bowl upside down, I prefer to whisk by hand.  Gradually add the castor sugar/powdered egg white mix whisking continuously and vigorously after each addition.
Add the icing sugar/baking powder/almond meal mix in five batches, stirring until mixed each time.  Lastly, stir in the vanilla essence and the cochineal.
Transfer mixture to a piping bag and pipe rounds onto a baking sheet or baking paper, leaving an inch between each round, and let them sit on the bench for two hours or until they have developed a “skin” and do not feel sticky to the touch.Bake at 120C for 6 minutes, turn the tray around, bake for another 6 minutes then remove from the oven.  Slide the baking sheet off the tray and onto the bench; partly so you can cook the next batch, but also the cold bench stops the cooking process in its tracks.  When they are completely cold, peel them carefully off the paper.

For the ganache:  (this ganache recipe found here)
50mL whipping cream
100g white chocolate
45g frozen raspberries, thawed and smooshed lightly with a fork
Bring the cream to a boil, then take off the heat and add the broken up chocolate, let it sit for a minute then stir in thoroughly to melt.  Stir in the raspberry smoosh.  When mixture is lukewarm, spread a little onto a macaron like spreading jam thickly on bread, then stick another macaron on top.

Verdict:

Absolutely delicious!! and these disappeared very quickly courtesy of my family.  But if I am critical (and I am) I think the almond meal was on the lumpy side in this batch… the original recipe stipulates almond flour, not almond meal.  I’ve made a few inquiries and this is not commercially available in Australia but there are ways of making almond meal closer in texture and consistency to almond flour, so I am going to experiment with these next time… 
To make the almond meal more like almond flour; it has to be dryer and/or finer in texture.
So I took a bag of almond flour and baked the contents at a low temperature 100C for a couple of hours, taking the tray out to stir the meal around every once in a while… in an attempt to dehydrate the almond meal.
and made the following
Coconut macarons with coconut white chocolate ganache
3 egg whites, allowed to sit for at least an hour
30g castor sugar
5g powdered egg white (if you can’t get it, Pavlova Magic works)
125g dehydrated almond meal
200g pure icing sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp pure coconut essence

Sift the icing sugar and baking powder and stir through the dehydrated almond meal.  Combine castor sugar and powdered egg white (or Pavlova Magic) in a separate little bowl.
Whisk the egg whites until firm and stiff enough to keep its shape when you turn the bowl upside down, I prefer to whisk by hand.  Gradually add the castor sugar/powdered egg white mix whisking continuously and vigorously after each addition.
Add the icing sugar/baking powder/almond meal mix in five batches, stirring until mixed each time.  Lastly, stir in the coconut essence.
Transfer mixture to a piping bag and pipe rounds onto a baking sheet or baking paper, leaving an inch between each round, and let them sit on the bench for at least another hour or until they have developed a “skin” and do not feel sticky to the touch.  I accidentally forgot mine and left them sitting for over two hours, but apparently that is a good thing  🙂
Bake at 120C for 6 minutes, turn the tray around, bake for another 6 minutes then remove from the oven.  Slide the baking sheet off the tray and onto the bench; partly so you can cook the next batch, but also the cold bench stops the cooking process in its tracks.  When they are completely cold, peel them carefully off the paper.

For the ganache:
180g white chocolate
50mL whipping cream

few drops coconut essence
Bring the cream to a boil, then take off the heat and add the broken up chocolate, let it sit for a minute then stir in thoroughly to melt.  Stir in the coconut essence.  When mixture is lukewarm, spread a little onto a macaron like spreading jam thickly on bread, then stick another macaron on top.
Verdict:
Again, voted extremely yummy by the family and they disappeared very quickly!  But I don’t think the dehydrating actually made any discernible difference to the consistency of the almond meal… and the macarons still had a slightly lumpy texture.  So it was on to the next experiment; sifting the almond meal.
Also, a friend mentioned that French pastry chefs age their egg whites for three days, so I decided to do the same…
Macarons with blueberry white chocolate ganache
3 egg whites, allowed to sit covered at room temperature for 3 days
30g castor sugar
5g powdered egg white (if you can’t get it, Pavlova Magic works)
125g almond meal
200g pure icing sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp pure vanilla essence
few drops of blue food colouring
Sift the icing sugar, baking powder and almond meal.  It takes a long time to sift the almond meal and you have to push it through with a spoon but it should mostly pass through the sieve eventually.  Discard the small quantity of lumpy bits that do not pass through the sieve.  Combine castor sugar and powdered egg white (or Pavlova Magic) in a separate little bowl.
Whisk the egg whites until firm and stiff enough to keep its shape when you turn the bowl upside down, I prefer to whisk by hand.  Gradually add the castor sugar/powdered egg white mix whisking continuously and vigorously after each addition.
Add the icing sugar/baking powder/almond meal mix in five batches, stirring until mixed each time.  Lastly, stir in the vanilla essence and the blue food colouring.
Transfer mixture to a piping bag and pipe rounds onto a baking sheet or baking paper, leaving an inch between each round, and let them sit on the bench for two hours or until they have developed a “skin” and do not feel sticky to the touch.
Bake at 120C for 6 minutes, turn the tray around, bake for another 6 minutes then remove from the oven.  Slide the baking sheet off the tray and onto the bench; partly so you can cook the next batch, but also the cold bench stops the cooking process in its tracks.  When they are completely cold, peel them carefully off the paper.

For the ganache:
150g white chocolate
60mL whipping cream

45g frozen blueberries, thawed and then smooshed with a fork
a few drops blue food colouring
Bring the cream to a boil, then take off the heat and add the broken up chocolate, let it sit for a minute then stir in thoroughly to melt.  Stir through the blueberries and food colouring.  When mixture is lukewarm and has stiffened to spreading consistency, spread a little onto a macaron like spreading jam thickly on bread, then stick another macaron on top.
Verdict:
finally; I am completely satisfied!  This batch is the most like professionally-made macarons I have produced…. so while sifting is a pain and the ageing of the egg whites takes, er, ages; I think this could be the way to go.
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The Gentle Art of Preservation

05/09/2012 3:32 am \ 18 Comments \

… otherwise entitled: Further Developments in the Case of the Super-Prolific Citrus Trees
Our lemon tree’s desire to give give give and just keep on giving…. well,  I have been doing more good things with our produce  🙂  Limoncello!!  Aah, the taste of Italia, si?
And thank you all for those links to recipes for Limoncello, I used this one, the link sent to me by Sue, thank you!
Limoncello
6 lemons
750mL vodka
225g sugar
435mL water

Place the lemons in a saucepan and cover with boiling water.  Set aside for 1 hour to soak.  Drain and pat dry.  Finely grate the lemons, and combine the lemon rind and vodka in a jug.  (You don’t use the juice from the lemons in this recipe, but obviously the lemons can be juiced and the juice can still be used somewhere; waste not want not   🙂  )
Heat the sugar and water in a saucepan over a low heat, stirring for 5 minutes or until the sugar has dissolved.  Increase heat to medium and bring to the boil.  Cook without stirring for 5 minutes, or until the syrup begins to thicken.  Set aside to cool.
Add cool syrup to the vodka mixture and pour into an airtight container.  Seal and store in a cool, dark place, shaking occasionally, for 1 month to develop the flavours.
Strain the vodka mixture through a fine sieve, into a clean sterilised airtight bottle.  Discard the rind.

Note: This liqueur must be served well chilled.  Place it in the freezer for 1 hour before serving.

We are now so looking forward to long hot summer evenings taking tiny sips of limoncello in tonic water… I can taste it already.  Oh maybe that is because I just did.. hehehe  😀
And remember my plan to drink a-lemon-a-day?? well I am very pleased to report that  I have not been sick or felt even vaguely under the weather all this winter!  I’m positive that has been due to my (almost) daily dose of Vitamin C!  My family likewise has been perfectly well all winter, which is awesome.
From our cumquat tree:
Cumquat marmalade
2 cups cumquats, washed and sliced finely
2 cups water
juice of 1 lemon
2 cups sugar
if you have bumper crops of cumquats, double the quantities
Wash and slice fruit finely and remove the seeds, but don’t throw them away.
Place the fruit in a large saucepan, cover with water and soak overnight (8 hours).  Put the seeds in a separate small bowl and soak in a small amount of boiling water overnight also.
Next day, strain the liquid from the seeds.  Discard the seeds and add the water to the cumquats.  Cook gently on a low heat until the fruit is tender and the liquid is reduced by half.
Add the sugar and lemon juice.  When the sugar has dissolved, turn up the heat and boil rapidly while stirring constantly until the mixture jells, around 30-45 minutes.
To test if the marmalade is jelling, spoon a little onto a cold saucer.  if a skin forms and it glazes on the surface and wrinkles when touched, it is ready.  If it is still runny, boil for a little longer and test again.
That recipe is from an old Burke’s Backyard facts sheet.  Slicing the cumquats is fiddly and a bit of a pain, but I just set myself up in front of the TV and knocked off a huge batch over one evening.
(Later edit: I’ve had enough comments utilising a variety of different spellings for me to wish to confirm that “cumquats” with a “c” IS the correct spelling here in Australia  🙂  )
I neglected to mention it previously, but we have a little lime tree as well (pictured in the background of my limoncello above) and it too has been gallantly producing a bountiful harvest… so:
Lime curd
rind and juice of 5 limes
6 eggs
1 1/2 c sugar
125g butter

Lightly whisk the eggs and sugar together in a saucepan, then add the other ingredients.  Whisk continually over a medium heat until the mixture has thickened to a custard-like texture then allow to cool in the pan.  Decant into sterilised jars.

This is the same recipe I used for my lemon curd just with one extra lime added in, since the limes are a little smaller than the lemons.  I also added a titch of green food colouring to distinguish it from the lemon curd, but I think this could have been a bad idea.  According to my family it looks like jars of slime.  
Oh.  Mmmm.  Right.  Not such a hugely appetising description, mebbee?!  Previously it was a perfectly delectable shade of yellow.  So I would NOT recommend the green food colouring  🙂 
But whilst it may look slightly dubious I can assure you it still tastes absolutely delicious!  I think I like it even more than the lemon curd!

Finally, boring (sorry) but here are my additions for August

Grey Jersey set
Fabric; $5.00
Patterns; KwikSew 3300
$11.75 and McCalls 2772, used previously
Underwires; $2.49
Cup inserts; $12.95
Bra closure;
$2.49
Elastic; $7.98
Buttons; old, from stash
Total cost: $41.66
A tee or three, & “Sleeve”
Fabric; white Tshirts;
fabric previously accounted for, striped Tshirt and sleeve Tshirt, all
refashioned old garments and leftovers
Pattern; self drafted
Total cost for the 4
Tshirts: free
Spiral leggings
Fabric; birthday gift from
friends
Pattern; from Pattern Magic
3, been used before
Total cost: free
Red Riding Hoodie
Fabric; from an old cardigan
and Tshirt
Zip; $2.99
Thread; $2.68
Total cost: $5.67
Bees on white cotton set
Fabric; $7.50
Patterns; KwikSew 3300 and
McCalls 2772, both used previously
Underwires; recycled from
old bra
Cup inserts; $12.95
Bra closure;
$2.49
Elastic; $2.99
Embroidery thread; old,  from stash
Total cost: $25.93
A Man-Hoodie
Fabric; $37.48
Thread; broke into a new
1000m reel of black $13.95
Pattern; self drafted
Total cost: $51.43 (but I am not including this cost in the total for my own wardrobe)
Sparkle-osity
Fabric; about $50.00?
Yellow
jersey; $12.00
Pattern;
self-drafted
Brass
Snaps; $4.95
Total
cost; $66.95
With Military Precision
Fabric;
all leftovers
Lining;
$8.39
Pattern;
from the Pattern Pyramid… free
Buttons;
$5.70
Total
cost; $14.09
Miscellaneous
No miscellaneous purchases
this month
Making the total for the second third of the year; $499.02
and my running total for the year so far $1132.06
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Macarons!

19/08/2012 4:25 am \ 18 Comments \

I’m feeling so clever, right about now  🙂
Please let me affirm, I am NOT a good cook, in fact I am truly disastrous in the kitchen, hehe.
But LOOK!
I found this terrific recipe on homerunballerina (I love her blog, even though I am a horrendously bad cook her recipes are ab fab) and felt emboldened to give it a go.
Now, confession time, my first batch following the linked recipe exactly and to the letter was pretty horrible…  I am thinking though it might have been due to the difference between Australian ingredients and US ingredients, maybe? maybe not?  When we lived in the US I did find that some common ingredients were very very different from ours with the same name.  Some ingredients commonly used here in Australia, for example self-raising flour and golden syrup (and that is just a few of many) are simply not available at all.  A lot of my recipes that worked a charm here at home just did not work in the US.  Particularly baking and cake-y sorts of things.
Anyhoo I made a few minor changes to Audrey’s recipe, both to the macarons, and I made a much thicker ganache too; and my second batch looks and tastes pretty darn goooood if I say so myself! so this might be a good recipe for other Aussies and New Zealanders to try out.
The original recipe specified egg white powder, and I have no idea where or even if one can get such a thing here in sleepy lil’ Perth.  I substituted this stuff called Pavlova Magic, which contains powdered egg white along with other things.  It seemed to do the trick.  It is still a gluten free product, which makes the whole entire recipe gluten free; a definite plus!
My modified version of Audrey’s recipe…

Vanilla macarons with dark chocolate ganache 

3 egg whites, allowed to sit for at least an hour
30g castor sugar
5g powdered egg white (if you can’t get it, Pavlova Magic works)
125g almond meal
200g pure icing sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp pure vanilla essence

Sift the icing sugar and baking powder and stir through the almond meal.  Combine castor sugar and powdered egg white (or Pavlova Magic) in a separate little bowl.
Whisk the egg whites until firm and stiff enough to keep its shape when you turn the bowl upside down, I prefer to whisk by hand.  Gradually add the castor sugar/powdered egg white mix whisking continuously and vigorously after each addition.
Add the icing sugar/baking powder/almond meal mix in five batches, stirring until mixed each time.  Lastly, stir in the vanilla essence.
Transfer mixture to a piping bag and pipe rounds onto a baking sheet or baking paper, leaving an inch between each round, and let them sit on the bench for at least another hour or until they have developed a “skin” and do not feel sticky to the touch.  I accidentally forgot mine and left them sitting for over two hours, but apparently that is a good thing  🙂
Bake at 130C for 5 minutes, turn the tray around, bake for another 5 minutes then remove from the oven.  Slide the baking sheet off the tray and onto the bench; partly so you can cook the next batch, but also the cold bench stops the cooking process in its tracks.  When they are completely cold, peel them carefully off the paper.

For the ganache:
150g dark chocolate
75mL whipping cream
Bring the cream to a boil, then take off the heat and add the broken up chocolate, let it sit for a minute then stir in thoroughly to melt.  When it is lukewarm, spread a little onto a macaron like spreading jam thickly on bread, then stick another macaron on top.

Let the ganache set before you let everybody loose onto them.

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Lemons, lemons, lemons…

08/08/2012 3:59 am \ 62 Comments \

Like many households in Perth at the mo’ we have lemons.  Lots of lemons.  We are overloaded with lemons.  We have lemons coming out of our ears.  To say I have lemons on the brain is no exaggeration!!
Last week I was sad to see one of the boughs on our lemon tree starting to snap from under the weight of a gazillion lemons… so I salvaged all the ripe lemons off of the bough and got this…

D’ya wanna see something scary?  Even after harvesting all those lemons off just one branch, the tree still looks like this…!

So I am on a mission to USE LEMONS…!
I have made lemon curd.  I checked out recipes on the net and found this one, but then made up my own recipe, which uses the whole egg rather than just the yolk.  I consider this to be a far more usable concept in cooking  🙂

Lemon Curd
rind and juice of 4 lemons
6 eggs
1 1/2 c sugar
125g butter

Lightly whisk the eggs and sugar together in a saucepan, then add the other ingredients.  Whisk continually over a medium heat until the mixture has thickened to a custard-like texture then allow to cool in the pan.  Decant into sterilised jars.

I’ve made about twenty jars of lemon curd and given nearly all away to my friends; and they have been surprisingly appreciative, especially considering most of us have lemon trees  😀

Cassie devised this clever idea…

This is mango jelly, made up with the juice from the lemons plus water up to volume, and poured inside the hollowed-out half lemon shells to set.  It can be eaten by scooping the jelly straight out of the half shells, or cut up into wedges like this.  Looks quite pretty on the plate, don’t you think?… Clever and delicious!

Floral arrangement…

I know I know, this isn’t really “using” lemons since they too still have to be consumed at some point.  But one may as well enjoy the visual beauty of laden branches too, yes?  Alongside there is my newest knitting project, hehehe…

I hesitate to mention this last one, since I get a “look” from everyone irl I have mentioned it to…  I am also drinking a lemon a day…  without any added sugar.  I fully realise how strange this sounds but honestly I am enjoying it now.  It only took a few days to get used to drinking unsweetened diluted lemon juice but now I am acclimatised I cannot imagine going back to adding sugar ever again.  I used to add sugar to my lemon juice, but it always bothered me.  I decided I would wean myself off by gradually reducing the amount of sugar I was adding but then I just decided to go cold turkey.  And it worked!  I am getting a good shot of vitamin C, without the extra sugar.   I am cool with it now.  
Juice of 1 lemon, diluted up to a glassful… 

A glass a day keeps the common cold at bay!

I think it is important to note, I am NOT expecting my family to drink unsweetened lemon juice.  For now it’s just me  🙂  For my family, I have been baking a coupla lemon cakes each week.  It’s a good thing everyone loves them….    🙂
And we are slowly getting through those lemons!
Incidentally, does anyone know a good limoncello recipe?
Now perhaps I should start thinking what to do about this…

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Anzac Day

25/04/2010 4:40 am \ 9 Comments \

Today is Anzac Day, the day we commemorate soldiers fallen for our country.  The acronym ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corp, and originates from the days of the first World War when Australia and New Zealand were part of British territory and our soldiers were then British soldiers.  Anzacs were sent in to some of the toughest and most gruelling battles, if you haven’t seen the movie Gallipoli then I recommend it as a good little history lesson (Mel Gibson in an early role, and incidentally my uncle is in the movie in a small speaking part)
In the first World War, wives and mothers of the Anzacs baked these biscuits, known for their keeping qualities and sent them off to the soldiers overseas, thus the name.  I found an interesting fact on the internet, Anzac biscuits is a term protected legally, and it is illegal to sell them using the word “cookies”, so there you go.  Interesting bit of trivia there for you…  

Now, I am the world’s worst cook.  However these yummy little biscuits are so easy to bake that even I can’t stuff them up so I thought I’d share a recipe with you for today.  Anzac bikkie recipes are everywhere and you can find a zillion slight variations, this is the one I use.  Be assured that recipes on this blog will be few and far in between, as cooking is not my thing, but today is kinda special…

Anzac Biscuits
125g butter
2 tblsp golden syrup
3/4 cup rolled oats
3/4 cup plain flour
3/4 cup dessicated coconut
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp bicarb of soda
if needed, approx 2 tblps boiling water
If you’re a one bowl wonder like me, melt your butter first.  Stir in golden syrup.  Add all the other ingredients and mix together.  Water can be added as an extra binder if the mixture is still a bit dry.
Drop spoonsful onto a baking tray.
Bake at 160C (325F) for about 12 minutes.
Cool on a wire rack.

Sit back and as you nibble remember the Anzacs, or any soldier who has served for their country.

This little doily was hand-embroidered with Australian native flowers by either my grandmother or my great aunt… both of them very talented handcrafters.

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