Tag: Food

This is part of a series of posts focusing on Christmas. You can see all my Christmas posts here.

And this brings us to the final post about food. I’ve got a couple more posts planned for between now & Christmas. Which is 10 sleeps away!!!!

So yesterday I shared my gingerbread recipe and promised I’d tell you today what you can do with your leftover egg white, apart from using it to make icing. Meringues. Yup that’s right. One egg white is all it takes to make a batch of these mini meringue goodness. The following is a recipe from my mum. I have no idea where she got it from and she’s been cooking it as long as I can remember.

Mini meringues (makes about 40)

1 egg white
1 cup caster sugar
2 tablespoons boiling water
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon white vinegar

Place egg white & sugar in a CLEAN bowl (any dirt, dust, oils etc in the bowl and this won’t work). Mix with an electric mixer for 2 minutes on low. Slowly add water, vanilla and vinegar. Beat on medium/high speed for 15 minutes.
Fold in sifted baking powder.
Pipe onto a lined baking tray. Cook in a 180°C oven for 1 hour. Take out of the oven to cool.

And if you want to make them a bit special for Christmas (like I’m doing)…. Using a new small paintbrush, paint 2 or 3 stripes of red food colouring inside the pastry bag.

next is mum’s recipe for shortbread

Shortbread

170g plain flour
pinch salt
57g caster sugar
113g butter, at room temperature

Place all ingredients in a bowl. Knead together with fingers until a smooth dough forms.
Roll out on a lightly floured board until 1/2cm thick.
Cut into desired shape with cutters.
Cook in preheated oven for 20 to 30 minutes.
Sprinkle with a little extra caster sugar while still warm.

and finally –

Chocolate truffles

1 can condensed milk
250g sweet biscuits (scotch finger are good)
1 cup desiccated coconut
1 1/2 tablespoons cocoa
coconut, extra

Crush biscuits. Place in a bowl, add cocoa and coconut. Mix in condensed milk.
Roll about 1 tablespoons of mixture into a ball, roll in extra coconut. Place in fridge.

I also made some raspberry jam, greengage jam, and tomato relish but you can click on the links to see the recipes

This is part of a series of posts focusing on Christmas. You can see all my Christmas posts here.

Today I’m sharing a couple of biscuit recipes.

First is my no fail gingerbread recipe (well I’ve never had it fail. I’ve used it for the last couple of years to make gingerbread men, gingerbread star trees & gingerbread houses). This year I’ve made mini gingerbread men (& a gingerbread cat and a gingerbread rabbit for Miss K).

Gingerbread men

• 125g butter, at room temperature
• 100g brown sugar
• 125ml golden syrup
• 1 egg, separated*
• 375g plain flour
• 1 tbs ground ginger
• 1 tsp mixed spice
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• Plain flour, to dust

Preheat oven to 180°C. Brush 2 baking trays with melted butter to lightly grease.
Use an electric beater to beat the butter and sugar in a bowl until pale and creamy. Add the golden syrup and egg yolk and beat until combined. Stir in the flour, ginger, mixed spice and bicarbonate of soda. Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth. Press dough into a disc. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 30 minutes to rest. Place the dough between 2 sheets of baking paper and roll out until about 4mm thick. Use a 9cm gingerbread man cutter to cut out shapes. Place on trays about 3cm apart. Repeat with any excess dough. Bake in oven for 10 minutes or until brown. Remove from oven. Transfer to a rack to cool. Decorate as desired.

*I’ll be using the egg white in a separate recipe. You can freeze egg whites quite well. I always have a stock of egg whites in my freezer, especially in summer as they are always leftover from making ice cream.

Chewy Toblerone Cookies (from Taste.com.au)

• 125g butter
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1 cup plain flour, sifted
• 1/4 cup self-raising flour, sifted
• 1/2 cup desiccated coconut
• 100g Toblerone chocolate bar, finely chopped

Preheat oven to 180°C/160°C fan-forced. Grease 2 baking trays. Line with baking paper. Place butter and honey in a saucepan over low heat. Cook, stirring occasionally for 2 to 3 minutes or until smooth. Combine sugar, plain flour, self-raising flour and coconut in a large, heatproof bowl. Make a well in centre. Add butter mixture. Stir to combine. Set aside for 5 minutes to cool. Stir in Toblerone. Roll level tablespoons of mixture into balls. Place balls, 3cm apart, on prepared trays. Flatten slightly.  Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until golden and firm. Stand for 2 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Serve.

These are super yummy. I did learn a lesson the first time I made these – don’t make these in a metal bowl! the mixture takes forever to cool and then you get impatient and the Toblerone melts. Much better to make in a plastic bowl.

I’ll be back tomorrow with my recipe for shortbread and what to do with your egg white from the gingerbread.

This is part of a series of posts focusing on Christmas. You can see all my Christmas posts here.

I’m lucky that none of my family read my blog. Why? Because it means I can share stuff with you all and they won’t know. *giggle*  Not that I would you know but I can share what I’m getting them all for Christmas

This year hubby and I decided that we’d be doing a mostly homemade Christmas this year. So I’m creating a gift basket for the parents & siblings. Lots of yummy goodies. And I thought, in the spirit of the season, I’d share the recipes with you all. You know, in case you decide you want to try them for yourself. Sharing and all

I started with the first of four sauces I’m making (2 sweet & 2 savoury)

Mint Sauce (sourced from Taste.com.au)

Makes 4 cups (original recipe was for 1 cup)

• 2 cups apple cider vinegar
• 1 cup caster sugar
• 2 cups cold water
• finely chopped fresh mint leaves (I used a BIG bunch)

Place vinegar, sugar and cold water in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until sugar dissolves. Bring to the boil. Reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer, for 10 minutes or until slightly thickened. Remove from heat. Add mint. Stir to combine. Cool to room temperature. Bottle.

Note: I did add a few extras, like a couple of teaspoons of mint jelly. I also topped the bottles up with a little extra cider vinegar/water.

next up I did a sweet – chocolate (yum)

Chocolate Sauce (sourced from Taste.com.au)

Makes 6 cups (original recipe was for 1 1/2 cups)

• 740ml thickened cream, at room temperature
• 800g good-quality dark chocolate, broken into squares
• 220g brown sugar

1. Quarter fill a medium saucepan with water and place a large heatproof bowl over the top. The bowl should fit snugly in the pan with its base reaching halfway into the pan. If the base of the bowl touches the water, the chocolate may overheat and become grainy. If the bowl does touch the water, remove the bowl and tip a little of the water out. Remove the bowl and place the saucepan over high heat and bring the water to the boil. Reduce heat to low so the water is barely simmering.
2. Place the cream, chocolate and sugar in the heatproof bowl. It is important to use good-quality dark chocolate as this will affect the flavour of the sauce (you can also use good-quality cooking chocolate). Place the bowl over the pan of simmering water, and heat, stirring often with a metal or wooden spoon, for 3-4 minutes or until chocolate almost melts. If you are using a wooden spoon, make sure it’s clean. It is a good idea to keep separate wooden spoons for sweet and savoury cooking, as the wood can absorb the flavours of the food it comes in contact with.
3. Remove the bowl from the heat and continue to stir until all the chocolate melts. (See microwave tip.) There will be enough residual heat in the bowl for the chocolate to finish melting. This also ensures the chocolate doesn’t overheat.
4. Serve the chocolate sauce warm or transfer to a clean, dry airtight jar or container. Store in the fridge for 3-4 weeks. Serve at room temperature or warm (see reheating instructions). Use a clean metal spoon each time you remove the chocolate sauce from the container to prevent mould forming.
5. Microwave reheating: Place the sauce in a microwave-safe container and heat a single portion on Medium/500watts/50% for 20-40 seconds or until warmed through. If reheating the whole quantity, cook on Medium/500watts/50% for 1-2 minutes or until warmed through.
6. I’ll be back in a couple of days with my next 2 sauces. And soon I’ll be sharing some present ideas