Today is Anzac Day and so I've made....

Anzac Biscuits are just wonderful. Not only do they keep forever but they are just as good straight from the oven as they are after a few days (not that we usually have many left after a day or 2). They are also very easy to make and very versatile. I discovered a couple of years when making them for a friend that adding little pieces of white chocolate gave them a bit of extra crunch and a different sort of sweetness.

My first experience making Pretzels

This is something I have been wanting to try for a while. They have the reputation to be healthy and we could use healthy snacks around Easter so yesterday afternoon, after our guests were gone, I gave them a try.
I used the recipe I have found on this website: .
I thought I would substitute half of the white flour with wholemeal to go that extra step towards healthy and I'm not sure if this is why they turned out to be more chewy than I expected. I also thought they would have a crunchy crust because the temperature was quite high but they weren't. All in all they tasted good and this morning I cut one in half and added slices of ham and cheese and that definitely works... Not sure about the healthy side of the pretzel now...

Here is one with the slice of cheese and ham. My husband had a couple for lunch.

Easter

Since  my son is still too young for Easter eggs I had decided not to buy any this year but to make enough for visitors and us. Unfortunately, I was a little too tired to face working with chocolate for the last 3 days but I really wanted to make one for my 4 year old niece, so today I gathered the courage and made her a chocolate egg with 3 different chocolate and put some stuff in it:
- Carambar (the best caramels I have ever eaten)
- Mini and M&Ms
- Jaffas
- and home made white chocolate eggs with an oozing caramel center.

Here is the end result:

 And here are the white chocolate eggs with the oozing caramel:

Monkey Business

So yesterday, I was quietly watching TV and I saw Chef Michael Smith's program where he was preparing some goodies for a bake sale. Among the sweet treats he has made was a Monkey bread. That looked sticky and yummy and I particularly liked the fact that you can make the little pull apart balls whatever size you want. So last night, I set myself on a mission to find that recipe. Unfortunately I could not find the exact recipe but I have found this one (on www.taste.com.au) which is totally awesome:

Ingredients

For the caramel:

• 50g butter, melted
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup pecans, roughly chopped 

For the buns:

• 1/2 cup milk
• 50g butter, chopped
• pinch of white sugar
• 8g sachet instant dry yeast
• 2 1/2 cups plain flour
• 2 eggs at room temperature
• 1/4 cup caster sugar

1- Line a baking dish with baking paper and a little sprayed oil (I used a 20cm square Pirex dish)

2- To make the caramel: mix the melted butter, honey and brown sugar in a bowl. (I actually put everything in the pan to melt the brown sugar a little too). Pour the caramel in the prepared baking dish. Lay the nuts over the caramel. (I didn't have any pecan but I had some sliced almonds so I used that and the end result was really good, it provided the crunch that is necessary in this dish).

Then leave that alone and make the buns.

3- Place the milk in a microwave safe bowl for 1 minute on high. Add the butter and stir until it's fully melted. 4- Then add the yeast and stir a little to combine. At this stage I panicked a little because yeast is generally not my friend and it looked a bit lumpy BUT do not worry, it all worked out in the end.

5- Place the flour, eggs and sugar in a food processor (a bowl works just as well) and add the milk mixture. 6- Place the dough onto a floured surface and knead it for 2 minutes until it become smooth and elastic.

7- Cut the dough in 12 pieces and roll them into balls. Place them in a single layer on top of the nut and caramel. Cover with plastic wrap and stand in a warm place for an hour until it doubles in size. ( Now typing that recipe, I realise I have accidentally skipped that step. The end result was still very good, but I guess if I had left it to rise it would have been much more airy and light. Note: to try next time). Preheat the over to 180C.

8- Leave in the dish to stand for 5 minutes.
9- Turn out onto a wired rack lined with baking paper (or on a plate lined with foil. Again another part of the recipe I didn't read properly, but no harm done).

It didn't last for 5 more minutes without being attacked. My husband loved it and I remembered then that I don't actually have a sweet tooth, I just like baking.
If, well it's more a case of when, I'll make it again, I will swap the honey for maple syrup. The honey flavor is a little too strong.

Cheesecake au chocolat blanc

Ingredients:

1 paquet (250g) de Biscuits (2 sachets les Thé de Lu sont parfaits)

2 cuillère a soupe de beurre fondu

150 g de fromage type Philadelphia

500ml de yaourt nature non sucré (ou du fromage frais Calin)

2 eoufs

3 cuillères à soupe de sucre
200g de chocolat blanc

1-      Sortez le Philadelphia du refrigerateur et le laissez ramolir un peu.

2-     Pendant ce temps, preparez la base du cheesecake

3-     Mettez les biscuits dans un mixer jusqu’a l’obtention de fine miettes.

4-     Ajoutez le beurre fondu et melangez

5-     Placez dans le moule et presses bien au fond et sur les cotes. Faites bien attention qu’il n’y ait pas de trous. Couvrez et laissez au refrigerateur pendant au moins une demi heure.

6-     Dans un saladier ecrasez le Philadelphia avec une fourchette

7-     Ajoutez le yaourt et melanger avec un fouet a main.

8-      Ajoutez les oeufs un par un et melangez completement avant d’ajoutez le second.

9-      Faites fonder le chocolat blanc au micro onde, 30 secondes a chaque fois et laissez refroidir un peu sinon il risqué de se finger quand vous l’ajoutez au reste du melange

10-  Versez sur la base de biscuits

11-  Enrobez la base du moule avec du papier aluminium. Le cheesecake se cuit au bain marie et le papier alu va empecher l’eau de s’infiltrer dans le moule.

         

12- Faites cuire le cheesecake a thermostat 150̊C pendant environ 1 ½ heure.

13- Sortez le cheesecake du four et laissez refroidir

Le cheesecake est generallement meilleur si vous le lendemain après avoir passé la nuit au refrigerateur.

My first blog...

I can't believe I have finally decided to do this. I have to thank Patricia, Aurélie and my very supportive husband for introducing me to the idea and encouraging me to do it. 
So here is my first post on making a cheesecake, well actually 5 of them from one base recipe. I have found that recipe while researching a desert I could make for my Father who came to visit and who was recently told he was borderline diabetic. I have made a few changes (and the cheesecake might not be ideal for Diabetics anymore) and came up with the following: white chocolate, peppermint and choc chip, peanut butter and chocolate, coffee and chocolate and the old reliable vanilla.

Ingredients:

1 paquet (250g) of Biscuits

2 tablespoons of butter, melted

One block of Cream Cheese

2 cups (500ml) of unsweetened natural yogurt

2 eggs

3 tablespoons of white sugar

English Version:

1-      Take the cream cheese out of the fridge and let it come to room temperature while you make the crust. It’ll be easier to mash and incorporate in the other ingredients.

2-     Process the biscuits into fine crumbs.

3-     Melt the butter

4-     Mix the butter to the crumbs until it forms a few lumps but make sure it is not too wet otherwise the crust will be very dense and heavy.

5-     Spoon it into the mold and push it down and against the sides. Make sure there are no holes. Cover and leave in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

6-     In a bowl, mash the cream cheese

7-     Add the yogurt and mix.

 

      Add the eggs one at a time and whisk well before adding the other one.

9-      Add the sugar and then the flavoring ingredient (s)

10-  Pour the mixture over the crust

11-  Wrap the bottom of the mold with foil. The cheesecake needs to be cook in a bain marie and this will stop the water from entering the mold.

         

12- Cook the cheesecake for 1 ½ hour at 150 ̊C. There should still be a wobble in the center.

13- Take it out of the oven and leave it to cool.

Note: I have found that the cheesecake tastes better after a night in the fridge and it also is easier to take out of the mold.

For the white chocolate cheesecake:

200g white chocolate

Melt the chocolate in the microwave (30 seconds at the time). Once fully melted, leave it to cool a little and add to the mixture.

Follow the remaining steps from the recipe.

For the Peppermint choc chip cheesecake:

A handful of chocolate chips

½ teaspoon of Peppermint essence

A few drops of green food coloring (optional)

Before pouring the mixture on the crust, add the above ingredients.

Follow the remaining steps from the recipe.

Note: I realised afterward that I should have added some chocolate powder to the crust as I did with the peanut butter and chocolate... It still tasted really good without though J

For the peanut butter and chocolate cheesecake:

1 teaspoon of chocolate powder

1 teaspoon of peanut butter

1 handful of chocolate

Add the chocolate powder to the crumbs (step 2). I have found that I needed more butter so I added a 1 teaspoon of melted butter in step 3.

Once you have prepared the mixture and just before pouring it on the crust, melt the chocolate in the microwave (30 seconds at a time) and add to the mixture. Add the peanut butter.

Follow with the remaining steps from the recipe.

For the coffee and chocolate cheesecake:

1 teaspoon of chocolate powder

1 teaspoon of instant coffee mixed with a little boiling water

1 handful of chocolate chips

Add the chocolate powder to the crumbs (step 2). I have found that I needed more butter so I added a 1 teaspoon of melted butter in step 3.

Melt the chocolate

Mix the coffee and the chocolate together and then add to the cream cheese, yogurt and egg mixture.

Follow with the remaining steps from the recipe

For the vanilla cheesecake:

1 teaspoon of vanilla

Add the vanilla to the mixture before pouring it over the crust.

Follow with the remaining steps from the recipe.

The degustation plate:

Next time I will try to add some nice decorations but I just wanted my husband to taste it and tell me what he thought. They were still a bit warm so we will have to have another tasting tonight