Pastry Pep-talk...

I'm sure we've all tried (and succeeded) to make a delicious pie. But have you considered making your own pastry?

The ingredients are probably already in your fridge and pantry and all it really takes is a little preparation...

Traditional short crust is still a little difficult for me to handle so I tend to stick with this fool proof recipe and add my own personal touch...

For a savoury crust with a twist, start by rubbing 250g of plain flour, a pinch of salt, 125g of cubed butter and a heaped teaspoon of curry powder with your hands until it resembles bread crumbs. Whisk 1 tablespoon of chilled water with an egg and add it to the flour mixture, folding with a wooden spoon until it starts to clump up. Now use your hands to roll it into a smooth ball before wrapping it in cling wrap and putting it into the fridge for 2 hours.

Once the pastry has chilled, flour a clean and dry work space ready to roll out the dough. You have to work quite quickly because if the dough gets too warm its much harder to handle. For every few rolls of the rolling pin, flip and turn the dough to ensure it spreads in an even fashion and is not sticking to your work surface.

When the pastry is 5mm or less its ready to bake!

I like to use this recipe to top a pot pie, try it with a chicken, leek and mushroom recipe! Just don't forget to pierce the top to ensure the steam from the filling escapes and doesn't steam your pastry.

You can brush some melted butter on top for added colour and bake it in a nice hot oven for 20-25 minutes, until it is golden brown!

ps: wearing black was not the greatest idea...

Wonderful Whistler...

I recently made the move to the magical town of Whistler in BC, Canada, with my  snow-crazed fiancé, living in a quaint little apartment at the bottom of Blackcomb mountain. While this is exciting to say the least, I'm most excited to continue the challenge of creative blogging with minimal appliances and a whole lot of improvisation!

Semi-Salsa Verde...

Salsa Verde sounds super impressive, but really all you need are your ingredients and a food processor!

I hand picked from my brothers organic vege patch a whole heap of flat leaf parsley, chives and 2 sprigs of mint. This is only a smidge of the ingredients usually used hence why it is only a Semi-Salsa Verde. You could also add basil, garlic, anchovies, lemon etc, but as a light accompaniment to my warm chicken, orange and spinach salad this worked a treat!

I just had to combine the herbs with some olive oil in a food processor and blitzed it for less than a minute before adding some salt and pepper to taste. Wallah, instant salad sensation!

I used it again tonight with some spinach, cucumber, feta and pine nuts,

mm mmmm!

Brownie Caramel Slice...

Brownie, chocolate and caramel is one ridiculously good looking menage a trois. If you're a confident baker and you're looking to impress then give these guys a go. They're decadent, delicious and dressed to impress...

Start by mixing a batch of brownies, the fudge kind works better than the cake variety as it is less likely to dry out. Include any extra additives like nuts or chocolate at this stage to improve and personalise the recipe.

Bake the brownie mixture in a moderate oven until the centre has only just set (approximately 20-30 minutes) and let it rest out of the oven while you prepare the caramel. This will dry out the top of the brownie base and form a crust for the caramel to settle on.

In a saucepan combine 1 tin (395g) of sweetened condensed milk, 1 heaped tablespoon of golden syrup and 60g of salted butter. Dissolve over a medium heat, constantly stirring for about 8 minutes until all ingredients are combined.

Gently pour this caramel mixture over the brownie base and put back into the oven for about 10 minutes, watching carefully, to let the caramel thicken and caramelize.

Do not be alarmed if it comes out looking like lasagne. The caramel should be blistered and browned just like melted cheese on toast :)

Before removing the slice from the baking tin, cover the top with melted chocolate to disguise any imperfections and leave to set in the fridge.

You will be hailed as the match-maker baker and certified brownie baking king FOREVER!

aka It's ridiculously amazing and stupendously good.

Caramel centres...

Almost anything can instantly be transformed from average to A-mazing with the help of gooey caramel, am I right? That is why I keep a can of Nestle's caramel 'top and fill' in the cupboard for baking emergency's. When asked to deliver the 'baked' goods at work recently, I decided plain old chocolate cupcakes just wouldn't cut it! So I jazzed it up a little...

Step 1: Mix a batch of chocolate cake mix.

Step 2: Transfer 1 tablespoon of mixture into each patty case.

Step 3: Spoon a teaspoon of caramel filling into the centre of each patty case (or as in this case add a few chocolate drops too! You can never have enough chocolate).

Step 4: Transfer another tablespoon of cake mixture over the top.

Step 5: Bake in a moderate oven for about 15-20 minutes until the top of each cupcake bounces back when you press it lightly.

Note: Be careful not to get too excited and fill each patty case more than 2/3 of it's capacity. This will only cause the cupcakes to spill over the edges and increase cooking time, which can cause the chocolate/caramel filling to dissolve into the cake mix.

Profiteroles...

For my gorgeous brother and his stunning fiance's engagement celebrations recently I took it upon myself to make some profiteroles :)
While I have been making them for some time now they are quite simple to perfect if you can get the choux pastry right. The main thing to remember is to follow the measurements and cooking times precisely. 

Here is a recipe I keep coming back to for it's simple ingredients and thorough instruction.

Choux pastry:
               20g butter
               1/4 cup (60mL) water
               1/4 cup (35g) plain flour
               1 egg

1. Preheat fan forced oven to 220oC and line a baking tray with baking paper.
2. Combine butter with water in a small saucepan; bring to the boil. Add flour; beat with a wooden spoon over heat until mixture comes away from the base and side of saucepan and forms a smooth ball (see 'deadly cream puffs' blog for a picture of what this looks like).
3. Transfer mixture into a small bowl; beat in egg with electric mixer until mixture becomes glossy.

To cook:
1. Gather 1/2 a teaspoon of mixture and use a second teaspoon to scrape it onto the baking paper lined tray, leaving a 2cm radius between each mound.

2. Place the mixture in the oven for 7 minutes before turning the temperature down to 190oC to cook for a further 10 minutes.

3. At this point, check the edges of the pasty for over-browning and if satisfied with their progress, cook for a further 3-5 minutes. Some people like to take them out and pierce each one to relieve any steam but this can make them shrivel if they have not set properly yet.

4. Take them out of the oven and pop each pastry case onto a cooling rack to cool completely. If not using the same day, store in an airtight container overnight.

I quadrupled the mixture to make around 60 profiteroles making sure each measurement was exact. There have been times when duplicating this mixture has not worked for me so precision of quantity and cooking times is essential!

Patisserie cream filling:
To fill 60 profiteroles (Divide his by 4 if only making 1 batch as per the quantity delivered above).
               2 x 600mL thickened cream
               1 tablespoon vanilla essence
               6 egg yolks
               1 cup of sugar
               1 tablespoon of cornflour

1. Warm the cream and vanilla essence in a saucepan on a low heat.

2. Using an electric mixer, whisk the egg yolks, sugar and sifted cornflour in a large bowl. Add the warm cream mixture and mix to combine before returning to the saucepan.

3. Continually stir the mixture with a wooden spoon over a medium heat until it thickens and coats the back of the spoon.

4. Transfer the mixture into a bowl, lining the top of the patisserie cream with cling wrap to stop a skin forming. Place in the fridge for a few hours or overnight if possible to let the mixture set.

To fill the choux pastry puffs, spoon the patisserie cream into a piping bag with a 1cm diameter opening. Find or make a small hole in the side of the puff and squeeze in the filling until it almost spills out.

To finish, coat the top half of each cream filled french puff with your favorite chocolate!

 Bon Appetite!

Espressonutini...

Espresso, hazelnut and butterscotch... say no more!
Recently inspired by an awesome bunch of lads at a house party, I decided to experiment with the ever amazing delectably potent espresso martini...

Step 1. Brew an espresso shot.

Step 2. Combine with equal parts fangelico and butterscotch liqueur.

Step 3. Mix together with a few large pieces of ice in a cocktail shaker (or as I discovered tonight a protein shaker works rather well here) and strain into a fancy high ball.

Dust it with a little chocolate and BOOM! Instant euphoria :)