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).