Almond Crumble

Dedicated readers and faithful family members may remember that a long time ago, I made almond milk.

Recently, I have started making it again, as Julian has decided to cut dairy out of his diet (he is fairly sure he is mildly lactose intolerant). 

I have simplified the recipe for almond milk even further:

1. SOAK: 1 cup of natural almonds overnight in plenty of water
2. BLEND: Drain, rinse, and blend in fresh water (a few cups)
3. STRAIN: Though a muslin cloth (a clean hankie works perfectly), add water to make volume anywhere between 1 to 2 litres

Easy peasy!

The only problem is that making almond milk at least once a week leaves me with lots of almond meal. As in, mountain of meal.

I know there are lots of recipes for using almond meal all over the internet, but my almond meal is quite coarse (a stick blender only gets so far). While I think it would still work for the various recipes, I have another issue: lots of these recipes call for ingredients that my budget frowns upon. Glares, even.

So, here is a quick, easy and versatile recipe:

ALMOND CRUMBLE!

Now, first things first: after making the almond milk, I usually toast the almond meal a little to dry it out. I try to get it fairly close to its original dry weight (1 cup of almonds is 150grams - after soaking though, it can be close to 300grams). I recommend NOT skipping this step. Also, it smells nice.

Now that you have your lightly toasted almond meal, we are ready to begin making our almond crumble!

Gather together these ingredients, bearing in mind that this is more a guideline rather than a strict recipe where things MUST be certain amounts:

• almond meal (approx 150g/1 cup)
• desiccated coconut (approx 70g/0.5 cup)
• brown sugar (approx 40-70g depending on sweetness desired - 0.3 t0 0.5 cup)
• butter (approx 70grams - I like a decent amount, as I "taste test")
• Other indredients such as finely chopped walnuts, or spices such a cinnamon

Stick all the ingredients in a bowl and use your fingers to rub in the butter. Have numerous samples! Yum! When the butter is all rubbed in, the consistency should resemble course breadcrumbs.

Now that you have made the basic crumble, there are various uses for it. So far I have used it as a topping for apple crumble and for apricot crumble...

... just bear in mind that in tends to burn rather easily, so keep an eye on it, and perhaps cover it with foil for part of the baking time.

I have also used it as the filling for butterscotch spirals - seriously good! Make a batch of scone dough*, roll it into a rectangle, spread with creamed brown sugar and butter, top with crumble mixture, roll up, slice, place in ring tin and back in hot oven.

*I use a basic scone dough recipe from the Central Cookery Book (a Tasmanian classic). This recipe looks similar, though add in a teaspoon of sugar for sweet scones (or just put in a pinch of salt). A lot of scone recipes use far too much sugar. 

Any other ideas how this crumble could be used or adapted? Leave a comment below so I can try it!

And follow me on pinterest - I repin lots of creative things :D

Snickerdoodles!

It's been, I think, about two weeks since I actually made these snickerdoodles. I took photos of them, however, and I don't want them to go to waste.

I've been wanting to make snickerdoodles for years and years, and so when I finally took the plunge the poor cookies had a lot to live up to.

Did they meet my expectations?

YES! In more than one way, too.

They are delish, but they are also so easy to make. Best of all, they don't need any special ingredients. Perfect.

I used this snickerdoodle recipe, but added a little cinnamon into the dough, too. I also cooked it as a slightly higher temperature (about 180C). This time, I cooked them perhaps a minute or two too long, because they should be moister and chewier than this, but they were still wonderful.  

This one is bleeding :(

The dough is like heaven, too! Ah! Couldn't stop eating it!

Christmas has Landed

So! Today was awesome!

I did some volunteering in a friend's classroom (which I've enjoyed so much) and that led to me getting to decorate a gingerbread house! I had to do it super quickly as it was almost lunch time (and the kids were using all the lollies I wanted!), but I think it's cute.

That's the door - notice the two hinges!

After supervising several groups of children, I knew that for a gingerbread house to be successful (and look extremely tempting) a huge amound of icing is crucial!

A bird's eye view.

After volunteering (I was only there from 9 until 1), my husband and I went to Mitre10 (a hardware store) to find a real, live, prickly, conical and cute Christmas tree. I love the one we chose - a White Spruce, still very much a baby.

It's decorated with bells (red and while), angels with glitterly wings, and a starry garland. We think it's too small for the lights, though I may add them. It would be nice to have it lit up.

I also wrapped a silver and red ribbon around the pot, to make it look a little nicer.

As we now had a Christmas tree, it meant that decorating could happen, and now the house is decked out. 

I'm pleasantly surprised at how many times I've already posted this month, I half expected to get to Christmas and realise I hadn't posted at all!

I'm planning on being back soon to share about my snickerdoodle making venture and the recipe for the yule log I plan to make for boxing day!

Brownies: A Procedural Text

During my last teaching prac, I taught a unit on procedural texts. (What are they?) They're texts that give a procedure, such as instructions, recipes, directions and so on. 

One of the procedural texts the class worked with was a recipe for marshmallows. 

Brownies, however, are much more awesome than marshmallows, and I really wanted to make brownies right now. Also, I want to try to post everyday while on holidays, so all these things have combined to make a post containing a procedural text on how to make Brownies! (I thought about annotating the recipe to show elements of a procedural text, but I value my time too much.)

This is my favourite brownies recipe: it is easy, the ingredients are usually in the cupboard or fridge, it's chewy, not too rich and it works every time. It just tastes so good, especially with a cup of chai tea!

BROWNIES

What you need:

200grams butter

1/2 cup cocoa

2 cups brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

1 cup plain flour

2 eggs

1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

What to do:

1. Turn the oven to 180C and line a 30x20cm tin with baking paper (or grease it).

2. In a medium sized saucepan, put the butter and cocoa. Melt it gently and make sure you don't boil it.

3. Add the sugar and the vanilla, and stir it in well.

4. Take the mixture off the heat and sift in the flour. Stir it in well.

5. Add the eggs, beating them in really well.

6. If using them, add the chopped walnuts and stir them in,

7. Spread the mixture in the tin. Bake for 20-25minutes.

This brownie does not need icing, but if you really want to, ice it with your favourite chocolate icing. Alternatively, dust it with icing sugar.

To be honest, I don't even dust it with icing sugar, as I eat it while it's still warm. It's that good!

Advent Day 14 (But really only day 3)

Well, I have done an awful job posting everyday leading up until Christmas. I'm sure I'm no busier than most other people, yet somehow they find time to post!

Christmas knitting is still happening (extremely slowly - I need to speed up if I'm going to finish in time!), some presents have been bought, and the house has been decorated. No photos to share, however, as since then a hurricane has adversely affected the state of my house :(

I've come across a couple of sweet Christmassy idea, which I've been wanting to share with you, my lovely and deeeply appreciated readers :D

Kootoyoo shared a tutorial for these cute no-sew flower ornaments:

no sew star flower decorations

View more presentations from kootoyoo.

I think this felt ornament is simply adorable, and the tutorial is free over on zakka life. Yay! I might even have time to make some... for next Christmas...

Image belongs to zakka life

And lastly, something to munch on. My friend directed me to this cake recipe: Boiled Chocolate Cake. Apparently it doesn't look like much, but the taste and the moistness are incredible. As soon as the damage from the hurricane is taken care of I plan on making it.

Hope all your Christmas planning is going well!

P.S. Don't worry, there wasn't really a hurricane... my house is just superduper messy.

Choc Coated Anzac Slice

On the 25th of April it is Anzac Day. My dad fought in the Vietnam War and my grandfathers, great-grandfathers and other family members have fought in several other wars, including WW1 and WW2. War has had a big impact on my life, even though I come from a very sheltered country. I grew up hearing war stories and being so very thankful that my great-grandfather, my grandfathers and my father survived, not to mention great-uncles and so forth - I only know of one who died, a brother of my great-grandfather who died in WW1.

 

As a memorial of sorts, I would like to share this recipe with you. I first found this recipe on the Goddess's Kitchen about two years ago. Its original name is 'Afternoon Tea Slices' but I like to call it 'Chocolate Coated Anzac Slice'. Those of you who have made anzac biscuits will see from the list of ingredients why I call it this. I have made it quite a few times! It is the slice pictured in my current blog header.

Though the ingredients are the same, my method is slightly different and I use less chocolate. I hope you like it!

Chocolate Coated Anzac Slice

125g butter
2 tblsp golden syrup
1/2 tsp bicarb of soda
1 tblsp hot water

1 cup rolled oats

1 cup plain flour

1/2 cup caster sugar
3/4 cup desiccated coconut

200g milk chocolate, melted (or dark chocolate)

1. Preheat oven to 160c. Line a 20cm x 30cm slice tin with baking paper. Grease if you want to (I never grease it and it does not stick).

2. In a medium or large microwave proof bowl, put the butter and golden syrup and microwave until completely melted.

3. In a small cup or jug, mix the bicard and water. Add to golden syrup mixture and mix together.

4. Add oats, flour, sugar and coconut to the golden syrup, butter and bicarb mixture and mix well.

5. Press the mixture into the slice tin. Bake for 20 mins or until golden. 

6. Cool in tin. Pour over the melted chocolate* and leave until set. Cut into squares.

*Melting chocolate in the microwave: do this very carefully, 30 seconds at a time and stirring often with a knife. Make sure there is no water in the bowl or on the knife, and chocolate and water are mutual enemies.

Today in the History Books

Today I am...

Making:

A variation of my Urban Shell's Scarf - a neckwarmer! This will be the prototype for a handmade stall I am taking part in with my SIL and another friend. I will be writing up the pattern for it, too!

Reading: 

Hind's Feet in High Places, a really sweet story that is also an allegory about living as a Christian.

Going to Cook:  

Banana Muffins - I have 5 bananas that are so ripe they are black. They are going to be so easy to mash.

Planning on implementing:

Family Dinners - we need more talk time! However, it also means clearing the diningroom table, which can be a bit of a challenge.

Listening to:

Lincoln Brewster's album, Today is the Day. I love this so much! Here is the title song. (Sorry! I can not remember how to get the video to show up here!)

Thinking About:

This Easter weekend, and all the things we are going to - church and family dinners. Also about what else to put in this post :)

Grateful for:

University Holidays! Also my husband (who is barely able to contain his excitement about two 4-day work weeks in a row), my friends (I had a great time last night!) and my cat. I love how his whole body vibrates when he purrs. I am also grateful for chocolate and homemade hot cross buns. Bring on the weekend!

What is making history for you today?

Chocolate and Pear Muffins: Recipe Card

Remember me telling you that I was featured on Key Ingredient (just a couple of posts ago...)? Well, here is a recipe card for it. Clicking on "Print" will take you to an easy-to-print version of the recipe. Or so I have been told ;-P



(Please note, I have also added this to my original blog about these muffins.)

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting and Spiced Yogurt Pound Cake

The making of this cake reminded me of the story of the Ugly Duckling.

The Spiced Yogurt Pound Cake was awful to make (1 cup butter = 225grams and 325F = 160C). It would have been fine if I had electric beaters or a mix master. But I don't have one (though now I want one more than ever!) I just have a stick blender with some attatchments, which works fine for just about everything I usually make. Anyway, because of the huge amound of butter and sugar that need creaming, it was really difficult. I ended up putting it in a tall jug (the yellow one that used to belong to you, M) and used the whisk attatchment on the stick blender to "cream it". Beating the whole mixture was pretty much impossible and very messy. I have pretty much cleaned my carpet now though :)

I had to use my 25cm springform tin to cook it in, which was fine, but after following the instructions and greasing and flouring the tin the cake was stuck to the bottom after being cooked!!! Well, I was in despair and thought I would have to make another cake, but it eventually come off - though there was a fault line running through the middle!

Here is the brute after being seperated from the tin:Hmmm, bit UGLY!!! (btw that is the bottom of the cake - the top is prettier!) So I went on the search for "fluffy" Chocolate Frosting! Why? To give the cake a bit more height. It looked a bit short, especially on that huge platter :) I eventually found the perfect recipe, and I had all the ingredients. Yay! This is one frosting I will be making again. Here is the cake after it has been frosted: Much better, don't you think?? And a little decoration: It really is true that icing can fix anything (particularly if it is chocolate icing)! I was a bit worried the person I made the cake for would think the petal girl was a present, and wondered if I should announce that "The girl is not a present" as soon as the person saw the cake, but I didn't and the girl is still mine... (she was a present from my mum, so it is not like I am just really greedy and possessive).

Anyway. The cake, despite being horrible for me to make, was really delicious, and once I get some electric beaters I think I will make it again.

Here is the recipe for the frosting (which I originally found here) with a couple of little adjustments (i.e. weight conversions):

110 grams butter, softened
2 2/3 cups icing sugar
1/3 cup milk/half-and-half/unwhipped whipping cream (I used milk)
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

With either 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted (for light choc flavour)
OR 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted (medium)
OR 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted (dark rich)
(I used between 1/3 and 1/2 cup. Result? Choc-a-licious!!)

1. Cream butter.
2. Blend in cocoa, icing sugar and vanilla, alternating with the milk.
3. Beat until desired texture is reached.

This recipe makes a quite a lot, but apparently it freezes well. I think I have enough left over from the cake to ice a bunch of muffins. But first I need to make some muffins!

Best Banana Cake (or Muffins) in the WORLD

I had some bananas that were getting a bit ripe. I decided to see what the internet would turn up in the way of recipes. Hmmm... Banana Bread. No thanks. Hmmm... Banana and _____ (insert something either expensive or exotic) bake/dessert/muffins/whatever. No thanks - I didn't have the ingredients or the money to get them (ah, the student life!). All I really wanted was a recipe for banana muffins or banana cake, but nothing I found was quite right. Finally I came to my senses and turned to my bookshelf. I pulled out the Kids' Cookbook that I have had since I was eight years old. And in it was the perfect banana cake recipe. And I didn't even have to print it out! Yay!
This might be a picture of the first time I made this recipe, but I think it is actully of a banana and ginger cake I made (and slightly overcooked...) hence the crystallized ginger decorating it.
I made the recipe a couple of times as a cake (each time I doubled the recipe), but the third time I made muffins! Well... I used paper cases on a tray so I wouldn't have to washup the muffin tin, but they are not what I would consider cupcakes. Anyway, this recipe make the Best Banana Muffins Ever! So moist, delicious, yummy, simple to make (seriously, you do it all in a saucepan). And the recipe is so easily doubled. Just a note: if you do double it, cook it in a round cake tin instead of a ring tin. Unless you want a very tall cake. I learnt the hard way :)
See some more photos here.

Well, here it is in it's original form, with my extra notes in brackets:

Banana Cake

60g butter
1/2 cup caster sugar (I often use raw sugar, which works just as well. Plus it adds a 'rustic' element)
1 egg
1 tspn vanilla essence
1 cup SR flour (For each 1/2 cup of plain flour I add 1 tspn cream of tartar and 1/2 tspn bicarb of soda)
1/4 cup milk
1 ripe banana, mashed

Turn oven to 180'C (350'F) and grease a 20cm ring tin. Dust all over the inside of the tin with a little flour. (Use a round tin if you double the recipe, or a muffin tin if making muffins - a single batch makes about 9 muffins)

Gently melt butter in a big pan. Don't let it boil.

Take off heat and add sugar, egg and vanilla. Beat it well with a wooden spoon until smooth.

Sift in flour. Add milk and mashed banana. Stir until just mixed. (This explains why it is so good for muffins!)

Spread evenly into tin. Bake 30 minutes (about 15 if making muffins).

Take photos so you can share your achievement with the blogging world.

Eat them all before anyone else gets home!

Recipes and Stuff

Since joining Blogger in January I have come across many recipes from other blogs, and have even made a few (!). I thought I would share with you the recipes that I have made, and tell you what I thought of them. And I might throw in a few photos, too...

From The Goddess's Kitchen there was Afternoon Tea Slices, which I like to call Choc Coated Anzac Slice. Read the recipe and you'll see why :) DELICIOUS!
This one isn't actually in a blog, but for the sake of alphabetical order I am putting it here and not tacking it on at the end of a post... CHOCOLATE CARAMEL SLICE! This is my husband's favourite type of slice and he loves this version. I have made it twice since discovering it one or two months ago. Sorry no pic! There may be only 2 of us, but it goes pretty darn fast (and the camera needed charging...)

Next (drum rolllllllllllll plllllllllease!), The BEST Chocolate Chip Cookies (anyone seeing a theme??), from Good Things Catered. These are great, and the batter is some of the best I have EVER tasted... seriously addictive. Have also made these twice since discovering them not very long ago (less than a month). Go to the original post to see the pictures. As an aside, instead of putting in an extra 2 Tbspoons of flour, I put in cocoa instead. VIOLA! The Best DOUBLE Choc Chip Cookies! Also from Good Things Catered are Smooth Fudge Brownies, which are really yummy (and also unphotographed by me. Sorry). Check out the blog for yourself, you won't be disappointed (I hope!).

Julian LOVED these Cranberry and White Chocolate Flapjacks from Sweet and Simple Bakes, but I haven't made them again for one reason. Before I say (type) my reason, let me just tell you that I am not into low-fat, diets or anything like that, and most people who know me would think I was a little bit crazy if I did go on a diet. Okay, I've said it. Here is my reason: SOOO much Butter for such a small amount of slice! And when teemed with the sugar and golden syrup, the oats and cranberries look like they are in a bath. Just look at the square on the paper towel where a bit of slice used to be (I ate it!) to get the idea:That said, the slice was delicious and is well worth making. I didn't drizzle my white chocolate on because I was feeling lazy. And I had cut it up into tiny squares instead of bars :)

Another good find were the Chocolate Chip Oaties from Bombay Foodie. I have made these a couple of times, but I do douple the recipe, so as to end up with more than eight Oaties. Really yummy.

The Double Chocolate Brownies from Bake or Break were good. I think. I'm not sure, I can't really remember what they were like, but hey, they are Brownies so I assume they were good!

Key Lime Pie from Domestic Goddess in Training was great, though I made it with unsweetened condensed milk instead of sweetened condensed milk. I think I would like it much better with the correct ingredients. However, using unsweetened condensed milk made the dessert much more suble and I have a feeling it would be great with a coffee.

One of the most exciting recipes I have made was Homemade Pita Bread! This recipe from the blog Sugar and Spice (now moved to Brown Eyed Baker) was amazing to make! Seeing it puff up in the oven was very so exciting. Sorry no pictures, but I really recommend having a go at this if you don't mind working with yeast. A bit time-consuming and fiddly, but SO rewarding!

Last but not least were Korean Sweet Pancakes (Hoddeok), from My Korean Kitchen. If you aren't confident with yeast cookery this would be a great recipe to start on. You don't even have to do any kneading! These were really nice: the stuffing is delicious! I used almonds instead of walnuts, because they were the only nuts in the house (besides the one upstairs playing a computer game...) but it would have been much better with walnuts, I imagine!

There we go, the recipes I have tried (except for one that I really didn't like... I don't want to get in anyone's Bad Books). I apologize about the lack of photos... go to the original sites - their photos do much more justice to the recipes than mine would have!

Fresh Strawberry Scones - Recipe

These scones are soooo good! I made them a while ago, but just haven't got around to posting them yet. I am going to send these over to Ruth, at Ruth's Kitchen Experiments, for her Bookmarked Recipes.

I bought a whole lot of strawberries the other week, and rather than eating them all I thought I better cook something with them. I found this recipe in a book called Bread & Muffin Perfection. The fresh strawberries work so well in these scones: once cooked they are sweet yet tart. If you eat the scones while they are hot you won't need anything spread on them!

I actually doubled the recipe, but because I used a scone cutter which was bigger than what they specify I only ended up with an extra 3 scones! (Which is actually okay, considering my track-record in actually making the amount of biscuits etc the recipe says I should be able to!)
I think the reason my scones didn't go a gorgeous brown was because I put too much milk on for the glaze... :(

Fresh Strawberry Scones

225g (7 1/2oz) self-raising wholemeal flour I just used white flour...
1 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
4 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons caster sugar I just used white sugar - it was all I had!
100g fresh strawberries, chopped
1/2 cup (125ml, 4 fl oz) milk
extra milk for glazing

1. Preheat oven to 220C (425F, gas mark 7). In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Lightly rubin the butter with your fingertips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
2. Add the sugar, strawberries and enough mild to form a soft dough. Turn the dough onto a floured surface and knead lightly (don't knead long or hard, unless you want springy scones!), then carefully roll to a thinkness of 2 cm.

3. Cut out 12 rounds (use a 5 cm cutter), and put them onto a greased baking tray. Brush with milk to glaze. Bake fir 8-10 min, until risen and goldren brown. Cool them on a wire rack. Or just eat them!!

Pear and Chocolate Muffins - Recipe

It all began when I had 3 extremely overripe pears and some good quality dark chocolate...

The result? A batch of yummy yet unusual muffins. To make these I followed a recipe for basic sweet muffins, added in some cocoa, and used pureed pears instead of buttermilk. After putting the batter into the muffin tin holes, I pushed half a square of dark chocolate into the centre, and made sure it was (only just) covered by the batter (I used my fingers to spead the batter over the chocolate, and then licked my fingers clean...).

These are not very sweet muffins: the pear taste is subtle, but the lump of dark choclate is absolutely heavenly. Ommiting the cocoa and using spices (maybe cinnamon and cloves) would probably be just as yummy. Hmm, might try that next time... Here's the recipe:

Pear and Chocolate Muffins

Makes 12 muffins

300g (10oz) self-raising flour

2 Tbspns cocoa

125g (4oz) castor sugar (I used normal white sugar, having no castor, though raw or brown sugar would probably compliment the pears really nicely)

1 1/2 cups (375ml, 12 fl oz) pear puree (about 3 ripe pears, cored and chopped-I left the skin on)

2 eggs

150g (5oz) butter, softened a fair bit

6 squares of dark chocolate, each chopped in half (0r, if the square are little, 12 whole squares)

1. Heat oven to 200C (400F, gas mark 6). Grease a 12 hole muffin tin. Sift the dry ingredients together. Make a well in the centre.

2. Puree pears (if not already done). Add in the eggs, one at a time, blending them in, and then blend in the softened butter. Make sure the mixture is quite smooth.

3. Add the pear mixture to the dry ingredients, and mix gently to combine. DO NOT over-mix, or your muffins will end up tough and springy. The batter should be lumpy.

4. Spoon the batter into the muffin holes. Push a bit of chocolate into each muffin, and then stick it in the oven for 20-25 minutes or until risen and golden and beginning to come away from the side of the tin.

Mmmmm... yummy. These were so moist. I think using fruit puree instead of buttermilk is genius, and can't wait until I have some more overripe fruit!! (Hopefully strawberries... !)

(Edited to add the whatsit below. Digital recipe card, I think it is called. See this post and this post to find out the backstory.)

Whoopsiedaisy Bread

I may as well tell you about the bread - it will probably make you laugh. (It made me and Jules laugh, though I think Jules was laughing more at me than at the bread. Oh well.) Okay, so I have decided I want to start making bread fairly often. I have heaps of recipes for it, and I enjoy doing it, so I get out my recipe book and my dried yeast. I get the yeast dissolving in some water and sugar, and then go to measure out the flour. Whoopsiedaisy number One: do not have enough flour - in fact I have barely 1/3 of the amount I need. So I have to run up to the shop and buy some more (thank heavens the shop is basically next door and we have change). That crisis averted, I am able to return to bread making, and really enjoyed kneading it (makes my hands feel beeyuooootifoooooool). Then Julian and I have to go out for at least a couple of hours. I figure fine, I can punch it down when I get back. Well, 2 hours turns into 5 hours, and we get home to Whoopsiedaisy number Two:

All this from a blob of dough about this big (wait I minute while I tear a lump off... ahh, here we are):Happily though, it punched down really well. Here is a pic of it after it was baked: It browned very well. This photo also - unfortunatley - shows Whoopsiedaisy number Three. I forgot to grease the baking paper. When I cook biscuits I don't grease it, but they obviously have enough butter in them to 'self grease'. Anyway, the paper refused to part from the bread, so we had to cut the crusts off. Lots of fun! And in the end it tasted a bit too yeasty (sooo disappointing), which I think was because of how long it was left to rise.

Oh well! I was going to post the recipe, because it is really simple, but I think I will make it again without any Whoopsiedaisys first, and then, if it is really yummy, I will post it. (My hands are still lovely from all that kneading though. Whoopee!)