“But there’s always a first time for everything”
Melissa de la Cruz
These were cookies whoopies waiting to happen! One look at the inbox a few weeks ago and the Pioneer Woman had me bookmarking again. There’s loads of make-able stuff that Ree constantly churns out, and oatmeal in whoopies were right up my street. A few days ago we had Oatmeal Nutella Whoopie Pies!Whoopie pies are sweet baked delights that are a cross between a soft cookie and cake or pie, basically a set of cookies whoopies sandwiched together with a frosting. As expected they were a hit with the teens! It’s amazing how comfort food can bring out the kids in young adults. Both the ‘now much taller than me kids’ grabbed a pair each, pulled the cookies apart and proceeded to lick the frosting, savouring every Nutella lick. Then it was time to demolish whatever was left!!I took a small nibble of the unfrosted cookies and they were quite nice. Maybe I’ll skip the cinnamon next time as it reminds me of warm winter days. I think an orange zest kick would make yum summer whoopie pies! Mmmm, maybe that’s an idea since brown sugar, orange and chocolate are a good pairing.The cookies were a tad on the sweeter side according to Mr PAB, so I’ll cut back the sugar next time. They disappeared really quick as I could see hungry eyes pick out the box from the fridge to devour the pies. I refrigerated them as the Indian summer has really kicked in, 42C and rising! Won’t even begin to tell you about the nonsensical and irrational power cuts…. sigh! Heat & Dust = North Indian Summer! It’s the beginning of a tough summer; a long hot month ahead before the monsoons get here. Then it’ll be hot + humid! On my list of things to do was a visit to Old Delhi which I managed a few days ago before the heat became unbearable. My Mum had some work there so I happily tagged along … I bought this charming brass teapot {pictured with the whoopie pies} from a shop near Jama Masjid. I also climbed up rickety old ladders and pulled out vintage handmade copper boxes from a dusty old shop that sold copper by the weight. We had a wonderful local guide who walked us through quaint places, like Mohalla Kabristan which quite literally translates into ‘Graveyard Colony‘. It was an uncanny feeling having to walk nonchalantly around graves that lay in your path! This little colony was built ages ago around old graves that dot cemented streets. Goats languish lazily around every possible corner, heat, dust and more dust, shops that sell everything under the sun … beads, incense, bottles, cookware, bangles, buckets, cloth, paper, silver jewelery, fresh juice, food!A journey into the ‘walled city’ transports you into another world. We got onto rickshaws from the historic Turkman Gate {one of the 14 gateways to the Shahjahanabad of yore} in the heart of New Delhi. The minute we crossed the gate and took a right turn, the road disappeared into a ‘gali‘ or narrow street! No cars, just rickshaws, people on foot, goats galore, mules too …. a different cacophony!Some of my photographs might have a ‘rickshaw shake’ as we were in a hurry to get around, but I had to share them with you. It’s the essence of Old Delhi, a city I love, which appears rather mystically the minute you cross over into the walled area, or Purani Dilli. The city grows on you!Tomorrow I’m off to Goa with the kids for a short break, a revisit after a gap of over 20 years. Whoopie!! Hopefully will have some more pictures of yet another beautiful Indian city to share with you soon! Until then, here are my version of Rees whoopie pies!
Summary: Charming little sweet oatmeal whoopie pies sandwiched with a Nutella frosting … brings out the child in you! Minimally adapted from The Pioneer Woman. I made half the recipe, about 12 whoopie pies.
Preheat oven to 180C. Line two baking sheets with parchment.
Cookies
Cream brown sugar and butter. Add egg, salt, cinnamon, and baking powder and mix. Mix baking soda and boiling water, then add to the bowl and mix. Add flour and oatmeal and mix well.
Scoop dough onto parchment-lined cookie sheets so that you have rounded heaping teaspoons. Bake for 20 minutes, being careful not to burn. Remove from oven, transfer to a cooling rack, and let the cookies cool completely.
Filling {adapted from That’s the Best Frosting I’ve Ever Had, by Missy Dew from here}
In a small saucepan, whisk flour into milk and heat, stirring constantly, until it’s very thick. Remove from heat and let it cool to room temperature. Stir in vanilla.
Whip the low fat cream to medium soft peaks. Whip the cooled flour mix until smooth, then add the Nutella and whip again until smooth. Fold in the whipped cream, cover and refrigerate for about 30 minutes/until firm enough to spread.
Scoop a small amount onto cookies, pressing a second cookie on top.
“As for butter versus margarine, I trust cows more than chemists.” Joan Gussow
These cookies surprised me. When I made the dough I thought I had ‘it’ all wrong. Ambitiously adding ingredients with not enough deep thought, I wrote them off even before I baked them. But sometimes substitution can be a pleasant surprise. These Savoury Dill Cheddar Buckwheat Sables were a happy ending to one such culinary adventure! I hardly ever bake sables. Please don’t get me wrong. I love the cookies to bits but somewhere in my head I associate them to be loaded with butter. Chocolate sables = guilty pleasure, a pleasure I can ill afford these days as baking and food seems to rule my existence! Got to keep the butter down; not out, but down!
I missed the last couple of months of #baketogether, Abby Dodges absolutely charming bake up party. The talented Abby inspires a group of avid bakers month after month with a #baketogether recipe that you are encouraged to play around with. Just my cup of tea coffee! I’ve had some wonderful past entries with Double Chocolate Mousse Cookies, Classic Spice Apple Walnut Buttermilk Cake, and Plum Almond Ginger Summer Fruit Cake. This month she called for savoury cookies from her recipe for Spicy Parmesan Sables. Though still short on time, and breathless in life, I couldn’t keep away from them. I LOVE SAVOURY BAKING. Besides, the ‘not so terrible anymore’ teen is constantly craving for either double chocolate double almond biscotti {recipe on its way}, or ‘something chili’ please!
I decided to experiment because halfway through I ran out of plain flour! I made up the weight with buckwheat, and used fresh dill to flavour the cookies. Dill and cheddar make for good pairing, and I have had a huge patch of dill growing in my garden. After an overnight rest, the cookies were baking soon.
Dill is a beautiful herb, delicate with a wonderful aromatic flavour that comes to life when the leaves are chopped. In India, there is a more robust variety of dill, locally called soya, which is widely used in the winter months in North India. One bite into the warm cookie and I was so relieved. These were so good. Thankfully the dill wasn’t overpowering, and the buckwheat gave the cookie good texture, other than scoring on the whole grain front too! However whole grains like buckwheat are an acquired taste, and unfortunately the ‘not so terrible anymore’ teen didn’t love it to bits. I was a little disheartened and hesitatingly ran it past the ‘now threatening to be quite terrible’ pre-teen. He said, “YUM! Can I have the whole box?“. You win some, you lose some. These are a nice cheese tray cookie and would pair well with mature cheddar and fruit! As Abby says, “Made with butter, cheese, flour and cayenne for a kick, they make for a lovely hors d’oeuvre to serve with wine or cocktails and the possible twists are endless”
Thank you Abbyfor yet another winning recipe, and also yet another chance to push my boundaries. You are an inspiration!
Summary: A savoury cookie that packs big-time flavor with a flaky, melt-in-your-mouth texture. Made with butter, cheese, flour and cayenne for a kick, these cheese crackers make for a lovely hors d’oeuvre to serve with wine or cocktails. Makes 29-30 sables.
1/4 teaspoon {adjust to taste} red chili pepper {or cayenne pepper}
100gm unsalted butter, cut into cubes, well chilled
2 tablespoons very cold water
Sea salt & fresh dill for sprinkling
Method:
To make the dough:
Put the flour, buckwheat flour, cheese, salt and chili powder in a food processor and pulse briefly to combine. Add the butter and pulse until the butter pieces are slightly larger than pea size, about 10 to 12 pulses depending on your machine. Drizzle the water evenly over the flour mixture. Pulse until the dough begins to form moist crumbs that are just beginning to clump together, about 8 or 9 more pulses depending on your machine.
Dump the moist crumbs onto the unfloured counter and gather into a pile. With the heel of you hand, push and gently smear the crumbs away from you until they start to come together in a cohesive dough. Two or three ‘smears’ should do the trick. Using a bench scraper, gather the dough together and turn it about 45 degrees and give it one or two more smears. {see visuals here}
Gather the dough together and shape the dough into a 7 1/4-inch long and 2 1/4 -inch wide rectangle using the bench scraper to make the sides nice and straight. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate until very firm, about 3 hours, or up to 2 days.
Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 190°c. Line two large baking sheets with parchment. { I used just one cookie sheet}
Using a thin, sharp knife, cut the logs into 1/4-inch slices and arrange about 1 inch apart {they don’t spread much at all} on the prepared sheets. If you like, sprinkle the crackers with a little sea salt and fresh dill before baking.
Bake, one sheet at a time, until nutty brown around the edges, 16 to 18 minutes. Serve slightly warm or room temperature. {If they aren’t crisp as you like, you can bake them at a lower temperature for 10-15 minutes longer. Keep an eye so they don’t get burnt}.
Note: The dough can be shaped and frozen for up to a month and then thawed for about an hour on the counter or in the refrigerator overnight. Likewise, tuck the baked and cooled sables in a heavy duty zip top bag and stash them in the freezer. Thaw at room temperature and warm them for a few minutes at 160°C to refresh the flavors.
“Macarons should be eaten slowly with each mouthful savoured. They should be eaten somewhere pretty and refined.”
Yellow Magpie
Nothing in the cookie world seems to have evoked as much interest and admiration as macarons! Sweet and pretty bites, inspirational to make, absolutely charming, yet intimidating for bakers like me. At MacTweets,our mac-obsessed kitchen, Jamie and I called to mark World Macaron Day on March 20th. These Blood Orange Macarons with Maple Orange Chocolate Pastry Creme are my tribute to this delightful invention!I’ve missed making macarons for a while now and was happy to be faced with a MacTweets challenge for World Macaron Day. Been thinking long on what to make and what not to, and then thanks to sweet blogger friends like the lovely and talented Shayma, I made these addictive bites. They might not look perfect, but they tasted fabulous!Life is busy and we have had family and friends from overseas visiting us over the past few months. They all know I food blog, so with them come delicious ingredients and kitchen stuff I might not ever dream of. I feel special … very special!…and felt even more so when a few days ago the Spice Spoon girl tweeted to ask when my folk were visiting as she had something to send for me. My cousin from Pittsburgh flew in a few days later. With him came these beautiful spice boxes from William Sonoma – Dried Blood Orange Peel and Pure Maple Flakes.The minute I saw the pretty little jars I knew what my macs were going to be – Blood Orange with Maple filling. I had already a thread of orange in my mind as my life is overflowing with tangerines. All the little shrubs have branches hanging heavy with this beautiful fruit … the little pooch seems to take a keen interest in the fruit too; little Coco who is ALL EYES!!Pretty orange life and there is only so much bitter marmalade I can make. I thought I would sweeten the filling mildly with maple flakes and add a dash of orange from the little bitter tangerines. The shells baked fine, the little feet appearing in a few minutes of baking, blushing a pastel orange. Of course we had a power cut again, but thankfully the frills had formed so no harm done! I was quite happy. What I wasn’t happy with was my choice of filling. A pastry creme obviously isn’t firm enough for these fiddly creatures. They got soft overnight and I had some fixing to do!I had a fix in mind … chocolate can fix anything, even a broken heart, and then I came across Mardi’s macaron post asking ‘Why do my macarons have hollow shells. That set me thinking! It was time to read up again.My macarons are also hollow at times and OK at other times even though my recipe is the same. So mac-obsessed me set off to try Mardis recipe.I have to say they are the best tasting macarons I have ever made even though the shells weren’t anywhere near smooth. They looked so good 6 minutes into baking, just the perfect macs, but soon after threatened to crack up, but then shriveled slightly. Maybe it was because of undermixing, but the flavours were da bomb! You can find her recipe, perfect macarons and beautiful post here…To remedy the filling, I melted dark couverture chocolate and stirred it through the maple orange pastry creme, then chilled it. Delicieux!! There was a slight hint of bitterness from the tangerine peel and the balance of flavours was perfect! Thank you my sweet friend Shayma @ The Spice Spoon for adding wonderful spice to my life; inspiration too! I am sure you’ve been to her beautiful blog;it’s a treat in every sense!
Do you want to join us making MACARONS?
If you do, you are most welcome to join us for this challenge, or the next. You can find all the information at our dedicated macaron blog MacTweets. We generally post the round-up by the end of every month, following which a new challenge is posted!
[print_this]Recipe: Blood Orange Macarons with Maple Orange Chocolate Pastry Creme
Summary: A perfect balance of flavours. Blood orange peel macarons, with a bitter orange dark chocolate filling, laced with mild flavours of pure maple. {Makes about 15 macarons} Prep Time: 10 minutes Total Time: 40 minutes Ingredients:
Run the powdered sugar, cornflour, almond meal, egg white powder and blood orange flakes in your processor until well blended and fine. Sift into a bowl.
Beat the egg white until foamy, then add the granulated sugar and beat for approximately 2 minutes until stiff peaks form.
Fold in 1/4 of the dry mix until no streaks remain, then add the remainder of the dry mix and gently fold in until you get a lava like batter. {donot overfold}
Place into a piping bag and pipe circles onto parchment paper.
Tap the trays sharply to get rid of air bubbles and allow to rest for 30-45 minutes.
Bake in double trays at 140C for 12-15 minutes, until the shells are firm and no longer jiggly. {My oven uses just the lower element for baking, so I place the double trays towards the top of the oven}
Cool.
Maple Orange Chocolate Pastry Creme
Whisk together the flour, tangerine rind, maple flakes, sugar, salt, melted butter and egg in a heavy saucepan. Slowly add in the milk, whisking to ensure no lumps form. Place over medium heat with vanilla bean and bring to a simmer. Make sure you stir constantly so that the cream doesn’t ‘catch’ the bottom of the pan. Stir constantly until thick, remove from the heat and push through a sieve. Stir in the blood orange flakes, add the melted chocolate and whisk occasionally as it cools. Chill to firm up.
Thermomix Maple Orange Pastry Creme
Place all ingredients except blood orange flakes in bowl of TM, mix on reverse speed 2 for 5 seconds, then cook at 90C, Speed 4 for 7 minutes.
Push through a sieve into a bowl, mix in blood orange flakes and stir occasionally until cool.
To assemble:
Match equal halves of macarons, and keep together.
Use a small spoon and deposit a tiny amount of pastry creme on the flat side of the macaron and sandwich with another half of the same size, squeezing gently. Rest in fridge for a day to allow the flavours to mature.
“If passion drives you, let reason hold the reins.”
Benjamin Franklin
Some days I just dazzle myself with my efficiency, days that are few and far between, but it gives me confidence that I can still achieve quite a bit on better days!! It was a cake for my SILs birthday, AND macarons, all done on fast track. Inspiration came from our MacTweetstheme for January and the Bavarian mousse on this Chocolate Bavarian Mousse Cake; that is how this Strawberry & Kiwi Bavarian Cake with Razzle Dazzle Macarons came about to be.On a day like this I raced and baked a sponge, made a Bavarian cream, then a mousse, layered a cake and even had it chilling in a couple of hours!! Even more dazzling … got the macs piped even as the kids grumbled getting out of bed and into the shower; ffound ‘feet’ before 8am, just after I had banished the kids to school!! Cake demoulded, ganached and snazzed up with my macs and I was a happy baker! The ganache wasn’t in my plan, limited as it seemed because of the time crunch, but the daughter begged for chocolate to be included in the master plan. I think the cake would have looked beautiful without the dark chocolate hues, but teens need to be kept happy, so…The macarons ran with the basic colours of fruit in the cake, pink for strawberries and green for kiwi. I was lucky to find feet so early in the morning. For the boost of mac-confidence I have to applaud the uber talented Stella @ BraveTart…and she is brave. She bakes mean {readGORGOEUS!!} macarons, and did away with many mac myths in a second.Reading her post made me feel ultra confident, and a day old egg white out of the fridge did yield the frills or feet! I also dumped the granulated sugar in with the whites and whipped them altogether, but this time wasn’t nervous. Bravery is a strong emotion, and I was rewarded in under 10 minutes …pretty little mini macs.The sponge is a basic one, a 3 egg recipe that lives in my head… 3 eggs + 1/2 cup sugar + 1/2 cup flour. Minimal ingredients {with the seed of 1/2 a vanilla bean} and minimal fuss that results in a light airy sponge. This is my to-go recipe for a Swiss roll too!I did try to rustle up some shimmer and glimmer to jazz the macarons to meet the razzle dazzle theme, but the shimmer is rather muted! Well the thoughts {and my morning} dazzled in any case. The macarons were sandwiched with some dark chocolate ganache reserved from the frosting.Bavarian is fast becoming my choice of filling in cakes, one that finds its roots in a crème anglaise of sorts, as we still moan the lack of local whipping cream in India. The mousse compliments fresh fruit beautifully, and is delicately flavoured with vanilla bean. It was a little less firm in the filling as I used kiwi too {I think the high citric content in kiwi interferes with the setting of gelatin}. It did set though, but just. Next time I might stick to just strawberries to get a firmer mousse … like the one below!The weather that whole day {week actually} was cold and rainy, hence the cake pictures aren’t bright and happy. I had some mousse left over as the cake was taller than my desert ring, so I set some in glasses. I absolutely love the idea of doing individual portions like these that can be made ahead, and dressed up with seasonal fruit, as in this case strawberries perked up with some fresh basil!These were GOOD, oh so good! The Bavarian set perfectly, the little vanilla bean specks flavouring it beautifully. I topped the goblets with a strawberry puree, like the one layered in these White & Dark Chocolate Desserts with Strawberries. To add colour and flavour, I snipped in some fresh basil which I am fortunate to have these days. I left these in the fridge for a couple of hours again, and the strawberry, lime and basil flavours matured nicely!The play of textures and the visual appeal was great! Dolled up with a macaron and I have never heard the fridge door opening SO MANY times! The kids were constantly in and out of the kitchen to look at it longingly. The minute dinner was done, it was a race to the fridge again. Door opened again! “Now?”
Do you want to join us making MACARONS?
If you do, you are most welcome to join us for this challenge, or the next. You can find all the information at our dedicated macaron blog MacTweets. We generally do the round-up by the end of every month, following which a new challenge is posted!
[print_this]Recipe: Strawberry & Kiwi Bavarian Cake with Razzle Dazzle Macarons
Summary:A marriage of flavours and textures, 2 desserts, one basic mousse. Add in some fresh seasonal fruit, top with macarons and you have … Strawberry & Kiwi Bavarian Cake with Razzle Dazzle Macarons, & Vanilla Bavarian Mousse with Strawberries & Basil
1/2 vanilla bean scraped {or pure vanilla extract}
Basic Sugar Syrup
1/4 cup water
3 tbsp granulated sugar
Zest and juice of 1 lime
Vanilla Bavarian Mousse
4 egg yolks {large; 5 if small}
300ml whole milk
200ml low fat cream, room temperature
1/2 vanilla bean scraped
75gm sugar
1 1/4 tbsp gelatin {increase in warm weather}
200ml cream, chilled
2 tbsp powdered sugar
Chocolate Ganache
200gm dark chocolate bits {or chopped}
200ml low fat cream
1 tbsp honey
Fruit for filling
300gm strawberries, chopped {reserve 3-4 for garnishing
2-3 kiwi, peeled, chopped {reserve 1/2 for garnishing}
Vanilla Macarons
1 egg white, aged a day
1/4 cup almond meal
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla powder
1/4 tsp egg white powder
2 1/2 tbsp granulated sugar
Strawberry Puree for the Bavarian Mousse Goblets
300gm strawberries, chopped fine
2-3 tbsp powdered sugar {increase/decrease as per tartness of strawberries}
Juice of 1 lime
6-8 leaves fresh basil, chiffonaded
1tbsp water
Method:
Vanilla Sponge
Preheat oven to 190C. Line the base and sides of a 9″ round tin with baking parchment.
Beat eggs, vanilla bean and sugar over simmering water until the eggs are thick and mousse like, about 7-10 minutes. Once they triple in volume, remove from water, and continue to beat until the mixture cools dwon {about 5 minutes}
Fold the flour in carefully, in figure 8 moves, to ensure you don’t release the air.
Turn into prepared tin, and bake for about 30 minutes, until the cake is light golden and springs back when touched.
Remove from tin, take off parchment, and coole completely on rack.
Vanilla Bavarian Mousse
Bloom gelatin in 2-3 tbsp of water. Place in a bowl of hot water to dissolve fully.
Whisk the yolks with the sugar in a bowl.
Heat cream, milk and half the sugar {15gm} until simmering. Meanwhile whisk the egg yolks with the remaining sugar with a balloon whisk, and add 1/3rd of the hot milk mixture over it, whisking continuously until well combined. Pour this back into the pan with the remaining milk mixture. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly until the cream is thickened and coats the back of the spoon. {Don’t allow it to boil}. It is important to constantly stir to prevent the bottom from curdling or burning. If that happens, take a balloon whisk and whisk vigorously. If you fear your custard curdled too much, remove from the heat and pass it through a fine sieve before proceeding with the recipe.
Thermomix: Place all ingredients in TM bowl, and cook at 90C, Speed 3 for 7 minutes.
Remove from heat immediately and stir the gelatin well into this hot mixture well, then quickly strain this into a bowl. Cool over a bowl of crushed ice, stirring frequently.
Once cool, beat the remaining 200ml chilled cream to soft peaks, and gently stir into the mousse.
Chocolate Ganache
Chocolate Glaze
Place chocolate in a bowl.
Heat the cream and honey in a pan until simmering. Pour over the chopped chocolate and stir until smooth. Reserve 1/4 cup ganache in a piping bag for macarons.
Assembling Torte
Cut the sponge horizontally into 3 layers. Place in dessert ring on serving platter. {Dessert ring should fit nice and snugly. I use this adjustable dessert ring I bought in Sydney.} Place one layer of cake, top with the strawberries and kiwi, then half the Bavarian mousse. Repeat with the next layer. Cover and chill overnight for the Bavarian to set.
Unmold from the dessert ring, frost with the ganache and garnish as desired. Chill until ready to serve.
Vanilla Macarons
Preheat oven to 140C.
Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Blend the powdered sugar, almond meal, vanilla powder and egg white powder briefly in the bowl of your food processor to mix. {you can sift it too}
In a large clean bowl, beat the egg white and the granulated vanilla sugar till it becomes firm and holds peaks, about 2 minutes.
Carefully fold the dry ingredients into the beaten egg white with a flexible rubber spatula. When the mixture is just smooth and falls in ribbons like molten lave, stop folding. {Do not overmix}
Using a teaspoon, or piping bag, drop / pipe the batter on the parchment-lined baking sheets in 1″ circles evenly spaced one-inch apart.
Rap the baking sheet a few times firmly on the counter top to flatten the macarons, then rest for about about 15 minutes {to an hour}.
Bake them for about 15 minutes until the shells feel firm to touch.
Let cool completely then remove from baking sheet.
To assemble macarons
Match equal halves of macarons, and keep together.
Pipe a tiny bit of the reserved ganache from above on the flat side of the macaron and sandwich with another half of the same size, squeezing gently. Leave to set.
Strawberry Puree for the Bavarian Mousse Goblets
Lightly crush the chopped strawberries with the powdered sugar with a fork until the strawberries release their juices. Mix in the rest of the ingredients and reserve in a bowl in the fridge. Distribute over the glasses once Bavarian is set, and chill until served.
Notes: I bake my macarons on the upper shelf in my oven, using just the lower element for heat. I also use double baking trays.
“We cannot direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails.”
German Proverb
Nom Nom Nom … these Anzac Biscuits have to be the best cookies I’ve made in a while, a hurried first nibble when they were yet warm, and it was love at first bite. I didn’t care if the kids rejected them; I knew I could devour the whole jar full! They were SO GOOD!He woke up with a smile, trying to charm my angry face. It was past 10am and I wasn’t a happy mother. “Cookieeeeeeee …. Yum! Nice. Can I have another?” She came home early after her exam. ‘Mother, I’m hungers’ she screamed in teen talk. “Me want cookie! Oooooh nice. More? Are these fatty? Another please? Just one more?” That’s the way this cookie crumbled! Day one and the jar half full {or half empty as I saw it!}. I did bake another batch the next day!It was back to the basics for me, baking from memory {the eggless chocolate orange tart above} and turning pages of cookbooks on the shelf. I suddenly wanted to make ‘ciabatta’ on priority since the net was down {cables been cut in error they say} only to frustratingly remember that the recipe was online; only an offline link remained on my silly desktop!It’s a bit unnerving to see how much one gets attached to the net! I worked in frustration that morning – did laundry, cleaned the kitchen chimney, brushed the pooch, made rough puff pastry {froze it}, made mushroom potato soup, made sweet butter, a base for a tart, then filled it with delicious chocolate filling. … and then these Anzac Biscuits!
An Anzac biscuit is a sweet biscuit popular in Australia and New Zealand, made using rolled oats, flour, desiccated coconut, sugar, butter, golden syrup, baking soda and boiling water. Anzac biscuits have long been associated with the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) established in World War I. It has been claimed the biscuits were sent by wives to soldiers abroad because the ingredients do not spoil easily and the biscuits kept well during naval transportation.
You can read more about their origin and history here. A point of interest is the lack of eggs to bind the ANZAC biscuit mixture together. Because of the war, many of the poultry farmers had joined the services, thus, eggs were scarce. The binding agent for the biscuits was golden syrup or treacle.
Its been an exasperating beginning to the year to say the least. While power cuts were something we’ve learnt to live with for long, internet connectivity was taken for granted, a right for a privatized service. No such luck however! Shoddy ISP with rotten customer service makes my blood boil, the past few days on simmer!These bites made me feel better instantly; the cookies are the best I’d tasted in a while. I remember biting into crisp, thin, delicious honey oat cookies at the coffee workshop a few months ago, mesmerised by the taste. Came home and googled forever but never found a recipe that promised to please. Then that morning, no net, no links and I made a rough puff pastry & mushroom potato soup in the Thermomix. Leafing through the pages of the TM cookbook I found Anzac Biscuits. Now I’ve been meaning to make Anzacs for ages, and the minute I saw golden syrup I decided to give the recipe a go. I’ve had a bottle of syrup in my larder for over a year. Yes, looked like a cookie I would enjoy; was happy to note ‘no eggs’ . Minor changes … knocked off the coconut as the teen can’t stand coconut it and substituted it for chopped walnuts to make the cookie a little more wholesome.
There’s something so charming about the taste, something quite addictive. The cookies are crisp on the outside yet offer this slightly chewy comforting centre within. Also, they have a butterscotchy flavor that I really like, a honeyish hue possibly due to the syrup and butter being melted together. I love the depth the walnuts add to them, though I think coconut would be wonderful too.I reduced the sugar slightly from the original recipe, and baked them slightly thicker and thus longer. Maybe next time a little whole wheat flour substitution might happen, but all in all these were the perfect bite. Made me forget that silly internet, the lack of connectivity. Just proves that food comforts … and how!
[print_this]
Recipe: Anzac Biscuits
Summary: Sweet, chewy inside, crisp on the outside, delicious and wholesome bisuits. Cookies that are simple to make and very addictive. They have a long shelf life but disappear too fast to prove it!
Prep Time: 7-10 minutes Total Time: 40 minutes Ingredients:
120gm unsalted butter
100ml golden syrup {I used Solar}
1tsp baking soda
65gm sugar
65gm brown sugar
½ tsp salt
150gm plain flour, sifted
100gm rolled oats
50gm walnuts, chopped fine
Method:
Preheat oven to 170C
Heat butter and golden syrup in a pan over low heat till the butter melts and the two mix together. {Can do it in the microwave too}
Add the remaining ingredients and mix well. The dough will be a little stiff.
Drop tbsp of dough on parchment lined cookie sheets, flatten with the tines of a fork. {I rolled the dough into balls, flattened them slightly with the palm of my hand, and then further flattened them by pressing down with a fork.}.
Bake for 12-15 minutes until golden brown.
Leave to cool on cookie sheets for 5 minutes {they are quite tender when they come out of the oven} , and then transfer on racks to cool completely.
Thermomix Recipe:
Place butter & golden syrup into TM bowl. Heat for 2 minutes at 60C on speed 2 until fully dissolved. Place bicarb into bowl and mix for 5 seconds on speed 3.
Add remaining ingredients and set dial to closed position and mix for 30-35 seconds on interval speed…. then continue as above from step 4.
“External heat and cold had little influence on Scrooge. No warmth could warm, no wintry weather chill him. No wind that blew was bitterer than he, no falling snow was more intent upon its purpose, no pelting rain less open to entreaty.”
Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol
Scrooge, my sourdough starter let me down. He’s been sitting on my counter for the past few days, being diligently fed, bubbling a bit now and then, showing signs of life. Everyone seems so hungry during the holidays, but Scrooge was the hungriest … after Coco of course. But the sourdough for Daring Bakers wasn’t meant to be. What did ‘happen‘ however were these Lebkuchen and Garam Masala Macarons with a salted butter caramel buttercream!Sourdough trouble! I got up that morning and everything seemed to go wrong. Decided to make half a recipe, and weighed out double Scrooge in error. PLOP … he fell in and almost instantly I tried to fish him out. ACK…don’t even bother if you ever make that mistake. It was the day after Christmas, the coldest in the past 10 years. No way was Scrooge going to lend some warmth to my dough to rise. He just clenched his fists and stayed put! 2 hours later, minimum rise … It rose marginally after beign somewhat shaped; then we ran into yet another power cut for the rest of the day. By the time the electricity was back, the oven preheated, and I bunged the dough into the oven, I was distracted. There was so much more to do. I cranked the oven to the highest setting … and forgot all about the bread!Sigh!! The tops burnt, spewing out black fumes! {No pictures…sorry!} A kitchen filled with smoke was enough to ring the deathknell on my bread! So I am back to the drawing board again, feeding the little bit of miserly Scrooge who sulks on the counter. Must try the drama again, maybe on a warmer day. In the meantime, I am back with some feet that ran faster than Scrooge, that gave me more luck on the not so cheery day! Yes, it gladdened my heart to find success by way of Mactweets, our call this month to let the seasons and her holidays inspire you. We’ve had some stunning macarons join our ranks these past few weeks. I jumped in late and present my humble mac-offering – Lebkuchen Macarons & Garam Masala Macarons with Salted Caramel Buttercream. I had piped out others, colours, flavours … but alas, the power tripped again, so I am glad to have a few.Jamie and I tempted you to Think COLOR: I did {though sadly my pinks and blues didn’t make it}; Think FLAVOR: I did … Lebkuchen and garam masala and salted butter caramel from Jamies recipe that I so love! Think HOLIDAY: Impossible not to. Kids at home 24 X 7, hungry and full of beans, pooch so excited to have kids at home so even she is more full of beans than ever before … always something happening!
Do you want to join us making MACARONS?
If you do, you are most welcome to join us for this challenge, or the next. You can find all the information at our dedicated macaron blog MacTweets. We generally post the round-up by the end of every month, following which a new challenge is posted!
[print_this]Recipe: Lebkuchen & Garam Masala Macarons
Summary: Lebkuchen and Garam Masala Vanilla Macarons sandwiched with a salted butter caramel buttercream. Holidays are here!
Prep Time: 10 minutes Total Time: 40 minutes Ingredients:
Lebkuchen / Garam Masala Macarons
1 egg white, aged 2 days
1/4 cup almond meal
1tsp Lebkuchen spice or Garam Masala {either one}
1/2 cup powdered vanilla sugar
1/4 tsp egg white powder
2 1/2 tbsp granulated sugar
Few drops orange food colour
Salted Butter Caramel Buttercream
3 tbsp of salted butter caramel sauce {recipe here}, room temperature
1 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
Method:
Lebkuchen / Garam Masala Macarons
Preheat oven to 140C.
Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Blend the powdered sugar, almond meal, Lebkuchen spice or garam masala {whichever you choose} and egg white powder briefly in the bowl of your food processor to mix. {you can sift it too}
In a large clean bowl, beat the egg white for about 20 seconds till it appears foamy. Gradually add the granulated sugar and continue to beat till it becomes firm and holds peaks, about 2 minutes.
Carefully fold the dry ingredients, in two batches, into the beaten egg white with a flexible rubber spatula. When the mixture is just smooth and falls in ribbons like molten lave, stop folding. {Do not overmix}
Using a teaspoon, or piping bag, drop / pipe the batter on the parchment-lined baking sheets in 1″ circles evenly spaced one-inch apart.
Rap the baking sheet a few times firmly on the counter top to flatten the macarons, then rest for about an hour.
Bake them for about 15 minutes until the shells feel firm to touch.
Let cool completely then remove from baking sheet.
Salted Butter Caramel Buttercream
Whisk the salted butter caramel with the butter until smooth and firm.
To assemble:
Match equal halves of macarons, and keep together.
Use a small spoon and deposit a tiny amount of buttercream filling on the flat side of the macaron and sandwich with another half of the same size, squeezing gently. Leave to set.
Notes: I bake my macarons on the upper shelf in my oven, using just the lower element for heat. I also use double baking trays.
