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Cooking

Cooking

.Triple Chocolate Browine Mousse Cake.

This time of the year is a busy time for birthdays in our family. We celebrated Jaron’s 34th and Nancy’s 1st birthdays last Sunday. On order for Jaron’s birthday cake was a Triple Chocolate Brownie Mousse Cake (original recipe found here.)

This cake is delish but so very rich. It easily serves more than 10 people. Next time I make it, I think I will halve the brownie base quantity and add more chocolate mousse. It was good how it turned out, but there is always room for improvement!

Triple Chocolate Brownie Mousse Cake

 200g block milk chocolate, chopped
190g butter, cut into cubes
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup plain flour
1 Tbs cocoa
3 eggs, lightly beaten
100g white chocolate chips
200g block dark chocolate, chopped
2 Tbs boiling water
2 tsp powdered gelatine
600ml thickened cream
1/3 cup sugar
3 egg yolks

Place milk chocolate and 160g butter in a glass heatproof bowl. Place over a saucepan of simmering water. Cook, stirring occasionally with a metal spoon for 2-3 minutes or until melted and smooth. Set aside to cool slightly.
Preheat oven to 160 degrees celsius. Grease a 6cm deep, 23cm round springform cake pan. Line base with baking paper.
Combine brown sugar, flour and cooca in a bowl. Stir in egg and cooled melted chocolate mixture until combined. Fold in white chocolate chips. Spoon mixture into prepared pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until cooked. Cool completely in pan.
Place dark chocolate and remaining 30g butter in a glass heatproof bowl. Place over a saucepan of simmering water. Cook, stirring occasionally with a metal spoon, for 2-3 minutes or until melted and smooth. Cool slightly.
Place boiling water in a small bowl. Sprinkle over gelatine. Whisk with a fork until gelatine has dissolved. Set aside to cool slightly. Add gelatine mixture to chocolate mixture. Stir until well combined.
Using an electric mixer, beat cream and sugar until soft peaks form. Add egg yolks. Beat to combine. Add chocolate mixture. Beat until just combined. 
Spoon mousse mixture over cold brownie. Smooth top. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight or until set.
Top with fresh and chocolate-coated raspberries before serving.

(To make chocolate-coated raspberries, simply dip frozen raspberries into melted dark chocolate. Place on baking paper lined tray and refrigerate until needed.)

We sadly missed Nancy’s formal birthday celebrations because we were on a little family getaway, so I made some cupcakes so that the kids got to sing to her anyway. After a tip from my cupcake queen making friend, this is my go-to cupcake recipe now. It always works and the cupcakes are fresh for a couple of days after making them. I’ve never bothered with the swirl and usually just make them vanilla flavoured though.

And here’s the cutest little one year old ever ready to devour her (third) birthday cake! 

April 30, 2013
Cooking

.Easy Chicken and Vegetable Casserole.

If you’re looking for a super quick, easy and filling dinner idea then look no further! My Mum used to make this casserole for the troops when we were growing up and we loved it. I had forgotten about it until a couple of weeks ago when I had a BBQ chicken to use and not much time to make dinner – 20 minutes later it was all cooked and on the table and everyone was happy! All of the measurements below are approximates…usually we just chop and add and make it up as we go so play around with the quantities and you can even try different vegetables if you like. We usually serve ours with rice or pasta, or you could use it as the filling for a yummy chicken pie!
 
Easy Chicken and Vegetable Casserole
50g butter
1 onion, diced
2 carrots, diced
1 cup frozen peas
1 cup frozen corn
3 Tbs plain flour
2 Tbs chicken stock powder
water
1 BBQ chicken, shredded
 
Melt butter over medium heat in frypan. Add onion and cook until soft.
Add carrots, peas and corn. Cook for a couple of minutes.
Add flour and mix to a thick paste with the butter (you might need to add more butter and/or flour depending on how much sauce you want to make.)
Add chicken stock and about 1/2 cup water. Stir until water is incorporated into butter/flour mixture and everything is simmering. Keep adding water and stirring well to blend together until you have desired quantity of sauce.
Add shredded chicken and simmer for 10 minutes until carrots are soft. 
Serve casserole over rice or pasta.
March 13, 2013
Cooking

.Ripple Cakes.

 

I’m sure that ripple cakes (log cakes) aren’t news to you. They’re such a popular and easy to make dessert, we had them a lot when we were kids. It’s been forever since I last had some though so I made them for dessert at family dinner last Sunday night. Favourites in our house are the chocolate version and caramel/apple version – I’m not sure if there are any other variations around? I’d love to hear about them if there are! There may be someone out there who hasn’t eaten them or doesn’t know how to make them though, so I thought I’d share the simple recipes anyway!

 Chocolate Ripple Cake
 
2 packets Arnott’s Choc Ripple Biscuits
600ml cream
 
Beat cream using electric beater until whipped.
Spread a small amount of cream down the center of your serving plate (where you want the log to sit.)
Sandwich biscuits together using thin amounts of cream between each biscuit. Sit biscuit log on top of cream strip on the plate – this cream will help the biscuits stand upright.
When finished making log(s), cover entire log with whipped cream**.
Refrigerate overnight or for at least 4 or 5 hours before serving.
  
**P.S. I like to make the first covering of cream fairly thin (so you can just see the biscuits underneath) because the cream tends to discolour and look a little tired after soaking into the biscuits overnight. Before serving, I spread a bit more freshly whipped cream over the entire log to freshen it up.
 
Caramel Apple Ripple Cake 

 

 

 2 packets Arnott’s Butternut Snap Cookies 
Sliced stewed apple 

600ml cream
 
Beat cream using electric beater until whipped.
Sread a small amount of cream down the center of your serving plate (where you want the log to sit.)
Sandwich biscuits together using a stewed apple between each biscuit. If your apple pieces are too thick, cut them down of squash them flat between each layer. Sit biscuit log on top of cream strip on the plate – this cream will help the biscuits stand upright.
When finished making log(s), cover entire log with whipped cream**.
Refrigerate overnight or for at least 4 or 5 hours before serving.
  

**P.S. I like to make the first covering of cream fairly thin (so you can just see the biscuits underneath) because the cream tends to discolour and look a little tired after soaking into the biscuits overnight. Before serving, I spread a bit more freshly whipped cream over the entire log to freshen it up.

 
February 23, 2013
Cooking

.Chunky white chocolate & macadamia nut cookies.

Back to school means back to baking, I’m bored with the usual chocolate chip cookies, so pulled out some old favourite recipes for my big bake up this week.

These white chocolate and macadamia nut cookies are chunky and melt-in-your-mouth delicious. The mixture might seem a little dry when you are making it, but don’t despair, it’s supposed to be like that. Lovely for morning or afternoon tea or a treat to pop in your mouth any time of the day!

White Chocolate & Macadamia Nut Cookies

125g butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 cup plain flour
1 cup self-raising flour
200g white chocolate, roughly chopped
150g macadamia nuts, roughly chopped

Beat butter and brown sugar until thick and creamy.
Add egg and vanilla and continue to beat until well combined.
Mix in flours until just combined, then add white chocolate and nuts and stir to form a chunky mixture.
Place spoonfuls of mixture onto tray lined with baking paper and press down slightly with your fingers. 
Bake in 175 degree celsius oven for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.          

February 12, 2013