Dessert| Berries & Buttermilk Pudding … SRC with the delightful Lisa!

“For each new morning with its light, For rest and shelter of the night,
For health and food, for love and friends, For everything Thy goodness sends.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Berries & Buttermilk PuddingPAB is back! I got hacked, yet am somewhat back! Must be something in the air. First my computer got fried, yet again, obviously without warning. There I was typing a guest post for a sweet friend, and zilch… all gone! Got onto the laptop for food therapy and to my SRC assigned secret haunt, the wonderful Parsley, Sage, Desserts…and Line Drives. Bookmarked Berries & Buttermilk Pudding instead!Quickly jotted everything down, lest the recently replaced motherboard that died again last night might give me trouble again, then went to check what Lisa’s latest post was… read she suffered the same fate! She wrote ” First I just want to say that this post was almost set to go Wednesday, and then my computer crashed.  It was fixed briefly, but then it crashed again.  Thankfully I didn’t lose anything, but went through two days of no computer hell!  You know how it is.  Can’t live without them, really can’t live without them.I had it worse. Got the computer fixed to lose my blog in the next few hours.  Bluehost finally told me 24 hours later that the site had been hacked!! Numb with shock, I reached out to Mr PABs nephew who helped me stay calm, kept me guided and reassured.  Googling for answers, I did read that the first step is to stay calm.That was easy thanks to past experiences. At work, we lived through the traumatic Gulf war with our aircraft and crew stuck in the Middle East, I’ve done years of ‘handling’ bomb scares at the airport, flight evacuations, sniffer dogs, cargo offloading etc that have taught me to stay calm at the worst of times, breathe deep!

The Secret Recipe Club, the brainchild of Amanda of Amanda’s Cookin’. The idea behind the club – Each month you are “assigned” a participating food blogger to make a recipe from. 

It’s a secret, so don’t tell them you are making something from their blog! Click here if you’d like to join!!

Time for dessert! The minute  I saw my assigned ‘secret blog’ for the month I did a little whoop of joy! Yes! It was Lisa’s blog, one that is full of beautiful pictures, droolworthy food and laugh-your-head-off tales!  I spent half the day reading her ‘addictive‘ stories …I peeled myself off her tales and hit the recipe index. I wanted to make just about everything! Hamburger Buns, Char Siu, Ciabatta, Best Ever Brownies, Orange Pistachio Olive Oil Cupcakes and eventually settled for my first choice, Berries & Buttermilk Pudding!I had strawberries and buttermilk; the whole milk was replaced with low fat cream. No mixed berries, but a promising jar of blueberry preserves {Sylt Blabar} that I had got from Sydney last year would add to the flavours. Mine might not look as exciting and vibrant as Lisas, but hopefully would deliver the punch.Fruit is always inspiring, desserts in glasses even more. These are fun to make even though I thought they might be set puddings like a panna cotta as I read the gelatin in the ingredients. They are pretty much wobbly custard-like puddings, and the gelatin possibly acts as a thickener/mild setting agent of sorts.Make it for Valentines Day, or just for any day. Use fruit of the season … we are flooded with strawberries these days!

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Recipe: Berries and Buttermilk Puddings

Summary: Light pleasing buttermilk puddings served with a perky fruit sauce.

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes {plus chilling & setting time}
Serves 6
Ingredients:

  • For buttermilk puddings:
    1.5 tsp unflavored gelatin {I would increase this to 2 tsp next time}
    1/4 cup cold milk
    1 1/4 cup low fat cream
    1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise,scraped
    9 tbsp sugar
    1 1/4 cup well-shaken buttermilk
    2tbsp berry preserve
    For sauce:
    1/4 cup dry red wine
    1/4 cup water
    3 tablespoon sugar
    1 (3-inch) strip lemon zest
    1 (3-inch) strip orange zest
    1 bay leaf
    2 1/2 cup quartered strawberries

Method:

  1. Buttermilk Pudding:
  2. Sprinkle gelatin over 1/4 cup cold milk in a small bowl and let soften 1 minute.
  3. Scrape seeds from vanilla bean into a small heavy saucepan and add pod. Add cream and sugar and bring just to a boil over medium heat, stirring until sugar has dissolved. Remove from heat. Add gelatin mixture to hot milk mixture, stirring until dissolved.
  4. Quick- chill in an ice bath, stirring occasionally, until cold but not thickened, about 5-7 minutes.
  5. Stir in buttermilk, then strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a large glass measure, discarding solids. Pour into glasses / bowls and chill until set, at least 8 hours.
  6. Strawberry Sauce
  7. Bring wine, water, sugar, zests, and bay leaf to a boil in a small heavy saucepan over medium heat, stirring until sugar has dissolved, then boil until reduced to about 1/3 cup, about 10 minutes.
  8. Add strawberries and simmer 5 minutes. Discard zests and bay leaf, then purée strawberry mixture in a blender until smooth {use caution when blending hot liquids}. Force through clean fine-mesh sieve and discard solids.
    Chill sauce, stirring occasionally, until cold, about 1 hour.
  9. To serve:
    Spoon sauce over puddings and top with remaining berries.

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Baking| Sweet & Savoury Scones: Pistachio & Cranberry; Cheddar & Garlic Greens… back to the basics with the DBs

“Simple is good.”
Jim Henson

Bless this man Audax. Was I thrilled to see a simple yet classic challenge to begin the year with. The holiday season being such a busy one, I was relieved to see scones, something that is quintessentially a tea table beloved, and a great snack anytime, dessert too. I managed 2 batches – Sweet & Savoury: Pistachio & Cranberry Scones; Cheddar & Garlic Greens Scones.

Audax Artifex was our January 2012 Daring Bakers’ host. Aud worked tirelessly to master light and fluffy scones (a/k/a biscuits) to help us create delicious and perfect batches in our own kitchens!

What I didn’t envisage was the time and effort this good Daring Baker put into researching and experimenting with scones. Hats off to Audax from Audax Artifex!He offered so many versions, milk, buttermilk, cream , so much insight into making the perfect scone, getting into the crumb of things, things that make a scone what it is…and things that could lead to its failure!You got to love a challenge which challenges you to think of the chemistry behind the baking. MUST make sure the baking powder is ‘active, alive up-to-date’ else you can kiss ‘light as feather‘ scones goodbye! Use a dash of baking soda if you choose to go the buttermilk route … handy tips!I was so happy to use buttermilk though I failed to read the number of scones to be stamped out, and went with a dozen so mine didn’t rise sky high. There were a dozen but they were great. M U S T have them warm {or reheated} to know how sublime goof food can be!My word, the cheese and garlic scapes scones were to die for. I added some sea salt both within and sprinkled on top … and the son was soon begging for more. Split with a spoonful of a garlic chives dip …nirvana! It was time to go a step further … sweet scones this time!The Thermomix makes these babies so FAST, so I was whipping up batch number two soon. Would make 8 this time I thought! I planned on orange vanilla scones that I would split and serve with strawberries and clotted cream, but a power cut 5 minutes into batch number 2 laid my plans to rest. Sigh … an hour later, power was back but the scones had been sent back to Stone Age!!I was back to making another batch before I knew it; this recipe is so good and simple if you follow the basics! This time I did Pistachio and Dried Cranberry Scones, a good use for some ground pistachios and dried cranberries I had left over from a previous baking misadventure.These came out beautifully too, the tops ‘dressed up‘ with flowers and leaves from dough trimmings. I had fun making these as well. Some were devoured with butter, and some with whipped cream and fresh strawberries, both divine! I didn’t get pictures of the latter, but they were GOOD!

Thank you Audax for a great daring challenge; it was delicious in every way and very satsifying. Thank you as always Lisa of La Mia Cucina and Ivonne of Cream Puffs in Venice for hosting this fab kitchen!! Do stop by here to see the scones our other daring bakers have stamped out!


[print_this]Recipe: Savoury Scones: Cheddar & Garlic Greens

Summary: Light as feather scones two way … sweet and savoury. Both good and great options for tea. {eggless/vegetarian}. The recipe is infinitely adaptable to individual tastes too.

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Ingredients:
Serving: About eight 2-inch scones or five 3-inch scones

  • 1 cup/140 gm plain (all-purpose) flour
  • 2 teaspoons (10 ml) (10 gm) (1/3 oz) fresh baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
  • 4-5 garlic scapes with greens, chopped fine
  • 90gm cheddar, grated, chilled
  • 3 tbsp/40gm frozen grated butter
  • ½ cup /120 ml cold buttermilk
  • 1 tablespoon milk, for glazing the tops of the scones
  • Sesame seeds, poppy seeds, sea salt for sprinkling

Method:

  1. Preheat oven to very hot 240°C.
  2. Triple sift the dry ingredients into a large bowl. (If your room temperature is very hot refrigerate the sifted ingredients until cold.)
  3. Rub the frozen grated butter (or combination of fats) into the dry ingredients until it resembles very coarse bread crumbs with some pea-sized pieces if you want flaky scones or until it resembles coarse beach sand if you want tender scones. Add the cheddar and garlic and mix through with a fork.
  4. Add nearly all of the liquid at once into the rubbed-in flour/fat mixture and mix until it just forms a sticky dough (add the remaining liquid if needed). The wetter the dough the lighter the scones (biscuits) will be!
  5. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board, lightly flour the top of the dough. To achieve an even homogeneous crumb to your scones knead very gently about 4 or 5 times (do not press too firmly) the dough until it is smooth. To achieve a layered effect in your scones knead very gently once (do not press too firmly) then fold and turn the kneaded dough about 3 or 4 times until the dough has formed a smooth texture. (Use a floured plastic scraper to help you knead and/or fold and turn the dough if you wish.)
  6. Pat or roll out the dough into a 6 inch by 4 inch rectangle by about ¾ inch thick (15¼ cm by 10 cm by 2 cm thick). Using a well-floured 2-inch (5 cm) scone cutter (biscuit cutter), stamp out without twisting six 2-inch (5 cm) rounds, gently reform the scraps into another ¾ inch (2 cm) layer and cut two more scones (these two scones will not raise as well as the others since the extra handling will slightly toughen the dough). Or use a well-floured sharp knife to form squares or wedges as you desire.
  7. Place the rounds just touching on a baking dish if you wish to have soft-sided scones or place the rounds spaced widely apart on the baking dish if you wish to have crisp-sided scones. Glaze the tops with milk if you want a golden colour on your scones or lightly flour if you want a more traditional look to your scones.
  8. Bake in the preheated very hot oven for about 10 minutes (check at 8 minutes since home ovens at these high temperatures are very unreliable) until the scones are well risen and are lightly coloured on the tops. The scones are ready when the sides are set.
  9. Immediately place onto cooling rack to stop the cooking process, serve while still warm.
  10. Note: For the Pistachio & Cranberry Scones, substitute the sea salt with 1 tbsp vanilla sugar, and add 1/4 cup of coarsely ground pistachios and dried cranberries, Don’t add the garlic, cheddar or toppings. The method is the same.

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Baking | Giveaway| Book Review … Fred Harveys French Apple Pie with Nutmeg Sauce … & a Shabby Apron Giveaway!

“Baked apples are at the core of modern thinking.”
Naomi Kobuko

A rather unsettling beginning of 2012 with the internet playing truant for a plethora of reasons, blame nature for a lightning strike, or man for cutting the underground cables … whatever, but it left PAB very hungry. I’m back to fill the hollow feeling with a chic Shabby Apple Apron Giveaway, and a recipe for Fred Harveys French Apple Pie with Nutmeg Sauce. The apron and the pie both very charming with a promise of retro charm. The pie from a cookbook {Appetite For America} that goes even further, a trail that chronicles ‘meaty‘ chunks of American culinary history from the roaring twenties!!

First the giveaway. The Shabby Apple folk wrote in to say … “We appreciate the quality of your website and its air of culinary chic, and we’d love to offer your fashionable readers a Shabby Apple Giveaway! Shabby Apple’s “Boysenberry Pie” Collection of aprons features designer fabric in cheery prints and charming styles, blended together for a vintage-inspired look that’s altogether sweet. Each apron comes complete with a recipe for its namesake dessert.”  Whats not to love about these???

Shabby Apple, an online boutique of women’s dresses, casual dresses, skirts, and women’s apparel that caters to a need to make women feel feminine and beautiful. They offer flirty, stylish dresses a woman can wear just as comfortably in the office, at a family dinner, or on a date. Shabby Apple is a fashion company for women, by women, and of women. I’m giving away one apron from their Boysenberry Pie Collection to one lucky winner.

HOW TO ENTER: To win a Shabby Apple apron {value for $32-$40}, you must leave a comment before 22nd January, 2012, telling me you …

To continue the nostalgia of the old world charm, I’m going to tempt you into making a simple and delicious French Apple Pie, pulled out from the pages of history. Serve it with a simple Nutmeg Sauce and it sends you back many years. This classic eating house comfort food dish was tarted up by the head Fred Harvey baker at the Los Angeles Union Station way back in the 1920’s!!The recipe comes from an entirely devourable book “APPETITE FOR AMERICA: How Visionary Businessman Fred Harvey Built a Railroad Hospitality Empire that Civilized the Wild West“, penned by Stephen Fried who says, “Over the years, Fred Harvey has become something of an obsession, because it seems that the more I learn about him, his family, his business, and his world, the more I understand about my homeland, and how it came to be.So who exactly was Fred Harvey?

An Englishman who came to America in the 1850s, he built a family and a career and then, in his early forties, started a revolutionary business feeding train passengers in the Wild West along the Santa Fe railroad. He became something much better understood today: the founding father of the American service industry. Fred Harvey ran all the restaurants and hotels along the country’s largest railroad, the Santa Fe between Chicago and Los Angeles.

This curious Englishman turned out to be more than just a brilliantly successful manager of hotels and restaurants and a true Horatio Alger story come to life (during the time when Alger actually was writing those stories). He created the first national chain of restaurants, of hotels, of newsstands, and of bookstores— in fact, the first national chain of anything— in America.

The restaurants and hotels run by this transplanted Londoner and his son did more than just revolutionize American dining and service. They became a driving force in helping the United States shed its envy of European society and begin to appreciate and even romanticize its own culture.

I often find the son completely immersed in the history channel America, the Story of the US on TV … taking in the history of America, from the American Indians, the Henry Ford car model, the railroad, oil, civil war, Confederate army, Abraham Lincoln, the Vietnam War … an extraordinary series indeed of how America was invented.While he devours history taught this way, I devour this book which deliciously crosses paths with the TV channel, as Fred’s grandson Freddy was an original partner in TWA with Charles Lindbergh and Henry Ford. ‘Appetite For America’ takes you back many nostalgic years, where times were simple. Hospitality was a different ball game, and culinary trails and entrepreneurship developed in a remarkable way. Unlike the chains of today, the Fred Harvey system was known for dramatically raising standards wherever it arrived, rather than eroding them. It turns out that being a fast- food nation was originally a good thing!Fred Harveys success story and his methods are still studied in graduate schools of hotel, restaurant, and personnel management, advertising, and marketing. “More than any single organization, the Fred Harvey System introduced America to Americans,” wrote a historian in the 1950s. As Prof Fried says, “whether we know it or not, we still live in Fred Harvey’s America”.

Stephen Fried is an award-winning investigative journalist and essayist, and an adjunct professor at Columbia University’s graduate school of journalism.
Links {with recipes} you might enjoy: Fred Harvey Cooks, Fred Harvey Cookbook Project

[print_this]Recipe: French Apple Pie with Nutmeg Sauce

Comfort food redefined. Takes you back to the good old days … a simple, comforting apple pie served with an even simpler nutmeg sauce. This classic eating house comfort food dish was tarted up by the head Fred Harvey baker at the Los Angeles Union Station way back in the 1920’s!

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Ingredients & Method:

  1. Recipe the Fred Harvey way!
  2. {I made half portion. The pastry recipe I used is from here}
  3. French Apple Pie:
  4. Pare and slice eight cups tart apples and place in the saucepan with one-half cup water to cover. Bring to a boil, and cook until tender, about five minutes.
  5. Add one-half cup sugar, mixing gently to avoid damaging the apples. Using slotted spoon, arrange apples in pie tin lined with pastry.
  6. In a small bowl, stir to mix one cup graham cracker crumbs, one half cup flour, and one-half cup sugar. Add one-third cup butter and a few drops of vanilla and stir thoroughly with a fork until mixture has a coarse, crumbly texture.
  7. Sprinkle the graham cracker topping evenly over apples.
  8. Place in oven pre-heated to four-hundred-fifty degrees and bake for thirty minutes, or until pastry turns light brown.
  9. Nutmeg Sauce:
  10. In a small saucepan, beat one egg yolk, one-half cup sugar and one-cup milk together well. Heat to just boiling and remove from heat immediately.
  11. Add one teaspoon nutmeg and stir thoroughly. {I added 1/2 a scraped vanilla bean too}

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Baking| Lebkuchen & Garam Masala Macarons … and the failings of my sourdough experiment! Blame Scrooge!!

“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-offeringLebkuchen 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:

  1. Lebkuchen / Garam Masala Macarons
  2. Preheat oven to 140C.
  3. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
  4. 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}
  5. 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.
  6. 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}
  7. Using a teaspoon, or piping bag, drop / pipe the batter on the parchment-lined baking sheets in 1″ circles evenly spaced one-inch apart.
  8. Rap the baking sheet a few times firmly on the counter top to flatten the macarons, then rest for about an hour.
  9. Bake them for about 15 minutes until the shells feel firm to touch.
  10. Let cool completely then remove from baking sheet.
  11. Salted Butter Caramel Buttercream
  12. Whisk the salted butter caramel with the butter until smooth and firm.
  13. To assemble:
  14. Match equal halves of macarons, and keep together.
  15. 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.
  16. 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.

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These holiday cookies are on the way to Suma’s Cakes And More Cookie Fest
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Holiday Baking| Christmas Fruit Mince Pies …

“Marge, it’s 3 AM. Shouldn’t you be baking?”
Homer Simpson

Did you make your own fruit mincemeat this year? I just about did, and far too late in the month IMHO. I procrastinated forever; then noticed it was the 18th of December and hit the panic button. It was now or never since it needs a few days to soak the fruit. I eventually got it done, also getting distracted along the way …  and suddenly, it was time for a batch of Christmas Fruit Mince Pies!Day 3 yesterday and the soaked fruit was looking plump, good and shiny. I should have waited to turn the whole batch into my Garam Masala Christmas Cake, but I couldn’t resist making some little mince pies! {I write this post as my fruit cakes finally bake in the oven!}My sister sent me a load of baking goodies with the BIL who flew in from the US, much like Santa who got here before time. Petit tins of all sizes, something that I love, vanilla beans, sprinkles, a dessert cookie baking tray, a Lindzer cookie cutter, a ‘sack‘ of baking chocolate chips … loads more!Despite telling her that I hardly bake ‘fancy‘ {read tedious} cookies any more, I pulled out the Lindzer set to make a batch of Toasted Walnut Linzer Cookies with Strawberry Filling. Typically, my mind wandered in the opposite direction, and  I whizzed some pâte sucrée in the Thermomix. Soon the dough was being rolled and the Lindzer cookie cutters were being used to make toppings for petit fruitmince pies!Its dangerous to have a big bowl of fruit soaking on the counter. Hungry mouths on the prowl get attracted to it, so I hid it … but couldn’t get it it out of my head! Yesterday I figured I could nick some for a before Christmas cake treat. These little pies are fun to make; quick too. I love using the snowflake cutters sweet Nic @ Cherrapeno gave me … so festive! Use your favourite pâte sucrée / sweet pastry dough or use the one below. This works a classic 2:1 ratio of flour and butter. As with pie/pastry dough, keep handling/kneading to an absolute minimum. That way you’ll have a nice light, crisp pastry once baked. If you like, you can add some apple to the filling, like Alli did in her Christmas Chocolate & Fruit Mince Pies. Nice!!

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Dark Chocolate Caramel Oat & Almond Shortbread

“Children ask better questions than adults. “May I have a cookie?” “Why is the sky blue?” and “What does a cow say?” are far more likely to elicit a cheerful response than “Where’s your manuscript?Why haven’t you called?” and “Who’s your lawyer?“”
Fran Lebowitz

“Can I have another squaaaaaaare pleeeeeeease?” You know the cookies are good if that’s what you hear literally reverberating through the house; even better if it’s the call from the dieting diva square after square! These were indeed GOOD Dark Chocolate Caramel Oat & Almond Shortbread cookies!

There’s something about December, and something about cookies that make me want to bake; bake all the time actually even though power cuts continue to play spoilsport. Baking around silly powerless situations means more cookies since there are fewer chances of them ‘deflating‘ {unlike cakes} when the lights go off!

The wookies were fabulous for fast track ‘faux baking‘. This shortbread is too, non traditional as it may be. You can’t go wrong with shortbread, caramel and dark chocolate, can you? A combination inspired from many shortbread posts, especially this Chocolate Caramel Slice from Nash @ Plateful, and a ‘Month of shortbread baking‘ from Julia‘Mélanger :: to mix’.

This is the season of holiday baking, and only good could come out of such delicious inspiration. GOOD DELICIOUS COOKIES! Winter is the only indulgent time of the year here when shortbread feels ‘guilt-less; you need the butter to keep you warm after all. Warm weather the rest of the year makes the crumb not keep together nice and crisp! For the record, this isn’t true shortbread; the traditional version doesn’t venture away from  a 8:4:2 classic combination of flour, butter and sugar… and a dash of salt perhaps.

I had on hand  hungry kids, butter and a ‘want to bake’ feeling; also a loose bottomed square tin that I had recently bought and was impatient to use. That resulted in … Oats + Almonds + Flour + Butter + Brown Sugar = Crisp shortbread base.

…  to which was added some salted butter caramel {adapted from Jamies sweet blog}, the top smothered in deep, luscious, dark melted chocolate; then briefly left to set! Simple as can be. Next with my Ergo chef knife, the slab was cut into squares {you can do bars/rectangles…whatever grabs your fancy}. YUM! ENJOY!

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