Christmas Presents: Honeycomb

As promised here is the post about the honeycomb that I made for family and friends as presents over Christmas. I wanted to make sure that everyone I wanted to give a present to got one. However because of Secret Santa's, costs, not knowing what to get someone and other reasons sometimes it isn't always possible to get the perfect present. So in these instances I use my cooking. 

Usually I like to make people things to their individual taste one year I made my boyfriends father peanut butter and salted caramel ice cream because he loves caramel and peanut butter. It went over really well. However over Christmas when making things for over 20 people it is so much easier to make a massive batch of each thing and then break it up for each person. 

This honeycomb recipe was very yummy. I decided to double it because once before it didn't make quite enough, this time though it pretty much exploded it was quite funny. I wasn't quite sure what to do with that much honeycomb but it all got eaten, so that ended well. 

Honeycomb Recipe (1 batch) 

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups white sugar 
• 1/2 cup golden syrup 
• 1/3 cup water 
• 2 teaspoons bicarb soda 
• Water in a cup and a pastry brush! 

Method

1. Line a tray with baking paper (I used 2 slice trays). 
2. Combine sugar, water and golden syrup in a medium saucepan. 
3. Place over a medium heat and cook stirring occasionally and regularly brushing down the sides of the pan (removing any sugar crystals). 
4. Increase the heat to high and then bring to the boil. Cook without stirring for 3-5 minutes. 
5. Remove from heat and set aside for bubbles to subside. 
6. Add bicarb soda and stir quickly until combined (the mixture will foam up rapidly, do not over stir). 
7. Pour onto tray and allow to cool completely. 
8. Decorate with melted chocolate if desired.
9. Break honeycomb into pieces and store in an airtight container*. 

*Do not store in fridge this will cause the honeycomb to sweat and break down. 

** When doubling the recipe like the photo shown I used an oven tray (that I usually use for veggies)

Christmas Presents: Chocolate Fudge

So every Christmas I try to cook presents for my boyfriends extended family. This year instead of making individual parcels for each person I decided that a big plate of chocolate fudge and honeycomb (recipe to come later) would be a better way to go that was people could have as much or as little as they wanted. It worked really well! 

I forgot to take a photo in the rush of Christmas preparation which sucks, but I noticed that it was an extremely smooth consistency and ended up looking a bit like a satin finish. This was the first time I had made fudge in an extremely long time and this time it worked much better than the first time. The first time there were lumps, I burnt myself and I burnt the chocolate. 

This time I used the Thermomix (which made it a lot easier) however if you don't have one follow the recipe but instead do it over the stove in a medium sized saucepan and don't stop stirring. I know it gets boring but put a tv show on your laptop and watch it that way or my other favourite way read a book whilst stirring. 

Chocolate Fudge 

Ingredients 

• 500g cooking chocolate (broken into pieces) 
• 400g condensed milk 
• 65g butter 
• if you want: flavoring (essence), lollies, nuts, pretzels 

Method

1. Line a slice pan with baking paper (oil slightly or else it will stick). 
2. Place chocolate in thermomix and grate for 10 seconds speed 9. 
3. Add condensed milk and butter. Mix on speed 3/4 for 3 minutes at 90C or until butter has melted. 
4. Add flavouring mix speed 6 for 10 seconds until the mixture is smooth and glossy.
5. Fold in any lollies/nuts or whatever else you were planning. 
6. Pour into the prepared pan. Refrigerate until set. 
7. Cut into small squares to serve. 

BBQ Pull Apart Bread

So I have a new found love for pull apart breads.I have always loved fresh bread. When I was younger we used to go to the local bakery and get fresh bread whenever we needed it. There was nothing better than getting there early in the morning and getting a loaf that has only recently come out of the oven, the smell, the taste and the warm touch. We had a bread maker for a while but like a lot of appliances in our house it got used a few times and then hidden in the cupboard and forgotten about. I always found bread a chore to make, there was so much kneading. However thanks to my thermomix its taken the hard part out of making bread. 

I decided to make a BBQ pull apart for lunch one day when my bestie came over for a movie marathon and lunch and both of us had spent (WAY) too much on Christmas. My inspiration was actually Bakers Delight BBQ Bonanza (my godness that is amazing stuff!). The one i made was yummy and both my mum and bestie enjoyed it, however it was not as BBQ saucey as I was planing on it being which was a bit of a disappointment. 

I used the same bread dough recipe that I used in the Herb, Garlic and Cheese Pull Apart I made a while ago 

http://alittlebakersaddiction.blogspot.com.au/2015/09/herb-garlic-and-cheese-pull-apart.html

What I did next was different instead of making balls of dough i decided to make a braid (Note to self: next time you don't need that much dough for one piece of the braid). My advice would be break it up into smaller strips and then coat with the filling. 

I rolled out the dough and then made a tube around the filling, this was effective but harder to manoeuvre that I had first anticipated as it turned out to be much much bigger. I did make it work not as pretty as I had imagined but looks aren't everything the taste is what matters the most. I then put it in the oven (180 degree Celsius) for 1 hour until the top was golden brown and the cheese had melted and started to crisp up. 

Filling Recipe:

Ingredients 

• 3 cups grated cheese 
• 2 cups BBQ sauce 
• 1 cup chopped onion 
• extra cheese to sprinkle on top

Method

1. Combine all ingredients in a small bowl.
2. Transfer the mixture onto the dough (in or on depending on what you prefer). 

Leftover Roast Wrap

There is nothing better than having a roast for dinner one night and then having leftovers for lunch the next day. On Monday night I made a beef roast for dinner with roast pumpkin, potatoes, onion, carrot, sweet potato and capsicum. So when it came time for lunch on Tuesday dad and I wanted something a bit out of the ordinary. It is amazing what you come up with you're hungry. 

I used a multi-grain wrap and sprinkled cheese on it and then placed it in the microwave for 20 seconds. I smashed the leftover roast potato, sweet potato, carrot and pumpkin into a paste and spread it over the cheese. I then heated up some meat before I placed it in the wrap. I then cut up some fresh tomato and capsicum and place it on top. Not only was it very filling it was also very healthy and yummy! 

I love wraps because they are so versatile and they can be a complete balanced meal that if you are successful in doing this you can hold it in one hand. However, if you are like me and no matter what you do you always make a mess when eating a wrap then its a yummy and messy lunch but so worth every bite! 

Chocolate Mousse Layer Cake

As promised here is my boyfriends second cake for the family party we had one Sunday. Sorry it is so late, with final assignments and exams looming next week my week has been more of a trying to get everything done than anything else but in 13 days I am  free!! Until next year at least. No one every warns you how mentally exhausting university is I guess that may be because my holidays were actually spent on prac so I haven't had a holiday since summer. 

Summer to me is sitting in the backyard in the heat with family and friends having a few drinks, eating good food (and lots of it). That's what the party on Sunday was like it was even complete with a summer storm and a few food comas. 

My main problem with this cake was the fact that every single shop I went to (3 different supermarkets) didn't have the ingredients I needed. So instead I had to settle for a packet mix chocolate cake (Duncan Hines in this case) and OMG! Chocolate Mousse. That day was not my day apparently and there wasn't enough time to go somewhere else. But it still worked perfectly and tasted great plus you always know a packet mix is going to give good results. 

First I made the packet mix,  I always make sure to sett the time 10 minutes before it says that way you can get it exactly the way you want it. I also always make sure to go by feel if I feel it needs more milk I add it sometimes you just need to trust your instincts. I didn't quite follow the directions it said to separate the mixture into two separate pans instead I used my trust (seriously old) cake pan. It was my great grandma's and my grandma gave it to me one day because I always said I wanted it. It is one of those ones that has a really high side so that you can have a big cake all in one pan. The reason I did this is because I only have the one pan in that size so instead of have two cakes I sliced the one cake in half. 

Once it was completely cooled I used both packets of the OMG! Chocolate Mousse and spread a thick layer on the top of the bottom layer and placed the other one on top. It was then covered in chocolate icing on the top allowing it to drip down the sides giving it the 'naked cake' look. I also decided to crush up some meringues (check my lemon meringue tart for the recipe  http://alittlebakersaddiction.blogspot.com.au/2015/09/spring-bbq.html) for the top of the cake just to break up the chocolate colour. 

Chocolate Icing Recipe 

Ingredients

•  4 tablespoons cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 teaspoon instant coffee 
• 4 tablespoons softened butter 
• 1 - 1 1/2 cups icing sugar 
• Milk (adjust to the consistency you want) 

Method 

1. Using an electric mixer combine all ingredients in a bowl until smooth. 

Watermelon Cake

So yesterday was my boyfriends birthday and we had dinner at mine with his sister to celebrate. Wednesdays are massive for me i have a full day of uni and work I knew I had to preplan this cake. My original plan did not work, so I had to come up with something pretty quickly.

My original plan was a standard round layer cake nothing too crazy because I didn't have enough time to do what I would have wanted. However, for some reason my usual cake recipe didn't rise at all it was so flat and I didn't have time to make another one (I won't give the recipe until I figure out what went wrong). I decided I would cut it in half and do a layer of icing in the middle to hold it together and I would have to come up with something that was a semi circle. That is when I came up with the idea to do a watermelon cake. 

Tuesday during the day I made the cake so there was plenty of time for it to cool and then I could do the middle layer later in the day. This mean that it would stay in place because it had the right amount of time so it wouldn't move when I did the crumb coating. A crumb coating is the layer that you put on thinly before you actually decorate the cake so you don't get any crumbs in the icing. When I first started cake decorating I never knew this and it made my life so much easier when I read about this is a cake decorating magazine. 

Wednesday night just after work and about 5 minutes before they arrived I started on the crumb coating and then the icing. I started with a white crumb coating and then the 'rind' (I don't know what else to call it). I then used the green icing to do the skin of the watermelon and finally I used the red icing for the flesh. To get the seeds I used the chocolate icing I used for the filling and shaped it using a skewer. To get the darker strips in the skin I used a skewer and dipped it in green food dye and then ran it up the sides to get the desired look. 

Chocolate Icing Filling Recipe 
Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons cocoa powder 
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence 
• 10 tablespoons icing sugar
• 2 tablespoons softened butter 
• milk (adjust to the consistency you want) 

Method   

1. Combine all ingredients to get a buttercream consistency. 

Vanilla Buttercream Icing Recipe 

Ingredients

• 50g softened butter
• 1 cup icing sugar 
• Vanilla essence (adjust to taste)   
• 1 tablespoon milk 

Method

1. Using an electric mixer, beat the butter in the bowl until pale (this will make it easier to colour and icing whiter). 
2. Gradually add icing sugar and milk. 
3. Add vanilla essence and adjust to taste (remember it is very strong so only add a little at a time). 
4. Colour icing as you wanted prefer. 

 I have planned another cake for him for his friends and family party (keep in tune for that one). 

Avocado and Cucumber Salad

So this afternoon before work I decided I wanted something slightly different for dinner even though the Chicken Enchiladas were thawed. Only 2 of us eat meat at my dads place (my dad and I) so I on Monday nights when I cook I usually have lots of veggies and/or salad and then a little bit of meat for my dad and I. I eat more veggies than meat anyway so its not too much of a big deal. 

I looked what we had in the fridge... Wednesday is shopping day so by Monday after a weekend of friends around there isn't usually much. I found that apart from the salad veggies I had already put aside for a garden salad I had an avocado and lots of baby cucumbers. So I came up with my own little salad (which I just realised I forgot to take a photo of so please forgive me) that had been inspired by a few different recipes online. 

Ingredients

• Avocado 
• 1/8 of an onion
• 4 baby cucumbers 
• Feta 
• Lemon Juice
• El Taro Chili and Lime sauce 
• 1/12 teaspoon of garlic
• 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar (if it needs to be thinned out) 

Method  

1. Chop onion, avocado and cucumber and combine in a bowl. 
2. Crumble some feta (adjust to your taste) between your fingers and mix into the onion, avocado and cucumber mixture. 
3. To make the dressing in a small cup combine lemon juice, chili and lime sauce and garlic an mix together. (Add apple cider vinegar if needed to thin it out). 
4. Combine the dressing and vegetable mixture together.
5. Serve immediately.

What are some salad's you enjoy?

Product Review: Phillips Air Fryer

The Phillips Air Fryer is amazing! 

We bought the Phillips Air Fryer HD9220 a few years ago to make a healthy version of chips, however since buying it we have realised that it is way more versatile than we first thought. I make wedges from scratch, coutons for a salads, cook steaks, chicken kievs', meat pies, sausage rolls, those packets of yum cha and doughnuts. Basically I have found that most things (especially things that you can put in the oven)  can be thrown in there. Apparently you can do a cake - personally I am a bit skeptical but I am willing to give ti a try.

 Of course a steak is always better on the BBQ but sometimes that's the last thing that you want to be worrying about, so you heat it up chuck the chips and the steak it and it cooks it all in one go! 

I am going to give you guys a pros and cons list because I LOVE pros and cons lists! Also I think it helps break it down so you guys don't have to read a 7 page review that you are going to get bored reading when you really want something that makes it easy to make a decision. 

Pros

• Quick 
• Oven Baked wedges in the oven can take up to 30 minutes to get crispy from frozen but in the Air Fryer its much quicker at around 15-20 minutes depending how you like you're wedges. 
• Easy 
• Preheat to the temperature you want. Put the food in and every now and then pull it out and toss the food to ensure an even heat distribution. 
• Healthier 
• Who doesn't like fried foods? Personally after a while I get a stomach ache from too much oil. With the Phillips Air Fryer you don't need to add any oil so it makes it a much healthier alternative. 
• Easy Cleaning 
• The non-stick coating means that it is much easier to clean. Pull out the frying basket and the dish and throw it in the dishwasher. 
• If you've left it longer than you would admit to I have found if you put water and dish washing liquid in the dish and heat it for 15 - 20 minutes it takes the hard to clean stuff off. 

Cons

• The size 
• The size that we have was is great for about 3 - 4 people but any more than that and you would probably struggle.
• Because it is a bit bulky it makes it a lot harder to store. Living in an apartment with limited storage also does not help! But because we use it so often space was a sacrifice we were willing to make. 

Would I buy it again?

Yes, 100% yes. It had made cooking much easier and more convenient plus lunches are a breeze! 

Wedges Recipe (serves 2)

This is the recipe I use when I need a snack or when we have friends over and I feel like putting a bit more effort in than the standard frozen wedges. 

Ingredients

• 3 potatoes 
• Dried Oregano  
• Dried Basil 
• Seasoning Salt 
• Oil 

Method 

1. Preheat Air Fryer for 10 minutes. 
2. Chop potatoes into desired length and width.
3. Combine oil, salts and herbs in a mixing both.
4. Combine the oil mixture and the raw potato. 
5. Put in air fryer for 10 - 20 minutes tossing every now and then until desired crispiness is achieved. 

What do you cook in yours? And what do you think about it?

Lemon Curd Tart

On Saturday night we had some family friends over for dinner I made a Lemon Curd Tart and served it with some yummy vanilla bean ice cream, you could also serve it with cream, berries or a combination. I love a good lemon curd. Ever since I went to a small country town to visit family and the women of the church baked an afternoon tea, I have wanted to try lemon curd again. Nobody knows how to cook better than country women, the vanilla sponge with homemade jam and fresh cream and strawberries was amazing, however my little cousin and I loved the mini lemon curd tarts. 

I had not thinking moment when I put the pasty in the oven. I don't have pie weights so I used rice to hold the crust in shape, but I did not think to put baking paper inbetween the rice and the pastry. This meant that the pastry had hardened rice in the base of it so I had to use a spoon and scrape and scoop it out of the pastry. Luckily I had my boyfriend with me so we got a good laugh out of it and worked on it together. It left a very pretty pattern on the base of it shame I had to cover it up with the lemon curd. I was also very lucky that we got all of the rice out I wasn't 100% sure but if someone had a piece of rice in theirs they didn't say anything. 

You can add lime to make it a lemon lime curd tart or make it just a lime curd tart. Adjust it to what you have in your house and to your preferences. 

This recipe lets you make a pastry base from scratch, if you want to use a biscuit base that would work fine too. 

Ingredients

Curd 

• 2 teaspoons cornflour
• 4 lemons (zest and juice) 
• 4 large egg yolks beaten 
• 225g butter 
• 3/4 cup caster sugar 

Pastry 

• 100g butter cubed 
• 1 1/3 cups plain flour 
• 1/4 cup caster sugar 
• 1 egg beaten 

Method  

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees C. 
2. Grease a loose bottomed tart tin.
3. To make the pastry, use your fingers to rub the butter, flour and sugar together then add the egg yolks with a teaspoon of cold water to bind. (If you need more water add sparingly)
4. Shape the dough into a ball, wrap in cling wrap and chill for 30 minutes.
5. Roll dough out onto a floured surface and line the tart tin press into place and trim the edged. 
6. Prick the pastry with a fork and line with baking paper and fill with pie weights or rice. 
7. Bake for 10 minutes and then remove the baking paper filled with pie weights/rice and cook for 5-8 minutes to crisp.
8. Dissolve the cornflour in the lemon juice and put in a saucepan with the rest of the ingredients.
9. Stir constantly over a medium heat to melt the butter and dissolve the sugar. after about 6 or 7 minutes the mixture should begin to thicken,
10. Continue until it starts to bubble amd has thickened (it should easily coat the back of your wooden spoon) spoon it into the pastry case and level with the palette knife or the back of the wooden spoon. 
11. Leave to cool completely. I put mine in the fridge for a minimum of 4 hours. 

Tip:

When rolling the pastry out if you lay baking paper or cling wrap on the bench and the flour it. It makes the transfer and clean up a lot easier. 

Also cover the top of the pastry or the rolling pin with cling wrap to prevent extra clean up. 

Enjoy!

Exciting News

So exciting news for me. I live in an apartment so I no longer have a garden which is more of an issue to my cat who used to love lying under the palm trees or by the pool in the backyard.

I always wanted to grow a vegetable garden, my Pa's love of gardening rubbed off on me however unlike him I am not at all good at it. He tried to teach me over the 18 years I had with him and I could grow weeds, sunflowers and sometimes flowers I had planted in the little garden that he had made more me. His garden however was amazing; covered in the most beautiful and the most amazing smelling roses, the best cherry tomatoes, mandarins, persimmons (I didn't eat the persimmons but my family loved them), passionfruit, pumpkin, carrots... you name it he grew it!  Not only was my green thumb not so green but with a range of cats in the neighbourhood my parents told me it would be pointless having a vegetable garden, I think that they secretly didn't actually want one they wanted the garden to look pretty instead. 

The change to an apartment with a balcony was a bit of an issue when thinking about a vegetable or herb garden. I especially wanted one of those vertical gardens that I originally saw on The Block (Yes I am a Block-a-holic or a Blockhead). However that would require drilling into the structure of the building (which is a big no-no). So unfortunately that idea didn't last and mum didn't like the idea of pots on the balcony so I came up with a new idea.  

This idea was taking the podium where there is a grass area, seating area and pool just for this apartment building to share, and put a herb garden in there so that everyone could benefit from it. Best part of this is that the gardeners would plant and maintain it and it would allow anyone to go plant what they wanted or just potter around tending to the garden. Which would also mean I wouldn't kill it! It was taken to the committee of the building last night and got approved! I was so excited. 

So now there is a lot of baking to be done with fresh herbs which I am so so happy about. There is nothing better than cooking with fresh herbs but the hardest part is maintaining it or actually putting it together. 

This is the list that I put together for the committee to approve:

• Mint 
• Parsely 
• Basil 
• Chives
• Corriander 
• Chilli 
• Oregano 
• Rosemary 
• Dill 

Do you have any other suggestions that I could add? 

If you live in an apartment complex pitch the idea to the committee, you might be surprised! I also added the cost of the plants and where to get it.