The Cookbook Challenge - Week 6 - Christmas - White Chocolate, Cranberry and Almond Nougat

Bill Granger's Holiday was sure to yield the perfect Christmas recipe, and browsing through the pages I was not disappointed. I was hoping for a "make and take" type recipe as I wasn't hosting any Christmas events at home, and didn't want to attend any empty handed.

Ready for transport

My local supermarket had all of the ingredients I needed, however tracking down a candy thermometer proved more difficult - 4 stores later, that was sorted too.

I was slightly fearful that this nougat recipe may not be achievable without a sacrificial pot, but it was actually easier than I thought it would be, as was the cleanup. I'd recommend having an extra hand around as it can be quite awkward to transfer the mixture to the pan to set, given it's thick, sticky and also hot.

Bill's recipe called for dried cherries, but I didn't even bother to look for them, as I prefer dried cranberries, already had some on hand from the shortbread I made earlier in the week, and Bill suggests they'll also work well.

What you'll need to make 45 pieces

Edible rice paper

2 cups caster sugar

1 cup glucose syrup

1/2 cup honey (the honey flavour comes through quite strongly so pick your favourite)

1 tsp vanilla extract (or 1 tsp vanilla bean paste)

2 egg whites

125g blanched almonds, lightly toasted

150g white chocolate, chopped

100g dried cherries or cranberries

How to do it

Lightly grease a 20 x 30cm baking tray and line with sheets of rice paper.  I  had the right size pan, but didn't really need one that big, maybe I like my nougat thicker than Bill, but I didn't spread it the full length of the pan. Put the sugar, glucose, honey and vanilla in a large heavy based saucepan, and cook, stirring constantly over low heat until the sugar has dissolved. I think I had it too low, as this step took forever!

Bring to the boil, and then boil without stirring, until the mixture reaches 142 degrees Celsius (275F) on a candy thermometer. Bill suggests brushing down the sides of the saucepan with a wet pastry brush to remove any sugar crystals which may form, but I didn't need to to this as no crystals formed.

Meanwhile, beat the egg whites in a large clean bowl until firm peaks form. While beating, very slowly pour the hot syrup in a thin stream into the egg white. If you don't have a stand mixer, you will need a hand with this step - since I broke my mixer, and my borrowed one didn't have a stand I couldn't do this by myself.

Continue to beat until the mixture is thick, and holds it shape (2-8 minutes)

Once the mixture can hold its shape, stop beating or it will thicken too much and become like toffee. Gently warm the nuts in a dry pan, and stir into the mixture with the chocolate and dried fruit.

Pour the mixture into the tin and place a layer of rice paper over the top. Leave to set overnight and then cut into squares or bars with a hot, wet knife.

This was a great hit at both Christmas parties, and surprised me in how much easier it was to make than I expected. I was told many times that it was the best nougat people had ever had, and that the cranberries were so much better than traditional cherries, so I definitely recommend making this. I'll definitely make this again next Christmas, and maybe before then! Thanks Bill!

My New Kitchen!

I'm sorry about the length of time between posts, but moving has really taken it out of me!

Everything went well, we were organised,  the movers were really fast and all the utilities had been connected (except internet, that took a few more days). The house could have been cleaner, but it wasn't too bad, just lived in. Having just cleaned our old place though, I did not appreciate having one of the first tasks at the new place being cleaning too.

 So, my new kitchen. There have been a couple of requests for pics, so here are the twins:

 And the new induction cooktop. If you sneak a peak to the left of the picture you may get a clue about what I've made for the cookbook challenge this week.

And my baby (this was the best Christmas present I got last year - although it was topped this year by the house).

This picture is from the real estate website, so that's not my fridge, stools, etc. but is a much better shot of the kitchen than I could take. Although if anyone knows where I can get stools like that, please let me know!

I was unable to capture the sparkly nature of the bench, but here's my best attempt (I know it's out of focus, but the sparkles seem to show up better that way).

Pathetically, the first thing I used the oven for was a grilled cheese and tomato sandwich, and the second thing was garlic bread. However, the third thing....

Cranberry and White Chocolate Shortbread

(just because, not for the Challenge, despite their Christmassy overtones)

I love my Mozi mug, love it, love it, love it!

250g butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup icing sugar mixture (I use icing sugar, not mixture, but either is fine)
1 tsp vanilla essence
2 cups plain flour
75g craisins, coarsely chopped
100g white chocolate, finely chopped (I used Hershey's Cinnamon Chips - see my post on Chai Cupcakes)

Preheat oven to 160°C (or use the special Bake setting on your magic twin ovens). Line baking trays with non-stick baking paper (If you're using non-stick trays this is unnecessary - I've never had them stick). Use an electric beater to beat the butter, icing sugar and vanilla in a bowl until very pale and creamy.

Now this bit's important - DO NOT GET YOUR SPATULA CAUGHT IN THE BEATERS AND BREAK YOUR MIXER. Taste left that out, and unfortunately I didn't manage to work it out for myself. So, mixerless. Luckily, my mother lent me hers so I can complete the cookbook challenge this week.

Stir in the flour, craisins and chocolate. Turn onto a lightly floured surface and bring the dough together.

Roll tablespoonfuls (this is a bit too much, I prefer them smaller) of the dough into balls. Place, about 5cm apart, on the trays. Use a fork to flatten slightly. Place in the fridge for 15 minutes to chill (I don't bother and it works fine).

Bake, swapping trays halfway through cooking, for 15-18 minutes or until golden. Set aside on the trays for 5 minutes to cool before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

See you soon, with my cookbook challenge post!

Using things up

I may have mentioned my imminent move to a house with 2 ovens. This move requires packing, cleaning, and trying to use up everything in the fridge and freezer and, to a lesser extent, the pantry.


I tend to buy a lot of bananas and they get ripe more quickly than I can eat them, so I freeze them for baking.

Tip: Freezing a banana in its skin, and then defrosting it, is instant mashed banana. Not so pretty, and a little slimy on the skin, but very convenient, and less messy than actually mashing fresh banana.

I also had sour cream and butter, and a quick search of Taste.com.au produced the sour cream banana cake.  I've been meaning to make this one for a while, but always seem to fall back on my foolproof banana and coconut loaf when I want banana cake. The only thing I needed to purchase was white chocolate to make the icing. Now I don't need to use up frozen bananas and sour cream, I just need to use up a cake - somehow I think that will be an easier sell.

Sour cream banana cake

Ingredients

125g butter, softened

3/4 cup caster sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 eggs at room temperature (I'm not sure what will happen if you use cold ones, if you don't have time to wait for them to warm up you could try standing them in some lukewarm water for a bit)

3/4 cup sour cream

1 cup mashed banana (Taste says you will need 2 large, very ripe bananas, I used 4 frozen and defrosted lady finger bananas)

2 1/4 cup self raising flour

1/4 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Grease base and sides of a 7cm deep, 19cm square cake pan.

Don't you just love a springform pan? I took a punt that the sides wouldn't stick, but after the brownie incident, wasn't taking chances on the base. It rose a little more than I expect, so I'd use a bigger than 8 inch pan.


Beat butter, sugar and vanilla until pale and creamy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each. Fold through sour cream and bananas, then sift in flour and bi-carb and fold that through.


Bake for 50-60 minutes. I  had the fan on, and it took 38 minutes to produce what you see before you.

Oh, the smell. Mmmmmmm banana cake baking is one of my favourite cooking smells. I desperately wanted to crack off a bit of the crunchier edge while it was still hot - but I made this to freeze, so exercised some will-power.


I did make the icing, with the plan being to store it covered in the fridge, and re-melt it in the microwave when I use the cake. This I did taste - I will definitely make this simple icing again.


Icing recipe
180g white chocolate, chopped
1/4 cup sour cream


Place the chocolate and sour cream in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Heat, stirring constantly with a metal spoon (you could probably use a silicone one if you prefer, I think the idea is to keep moisture out of the chocolate, and wooden spoons can retain moisture) for 3 minutes or until smooth - I didn't time this but 3 minutes sounds about right, it depends on how finely you chop your chocolate and I used big bits - see?

Remove from heat and stand for 10 minutes, pour icing over cake, allowing it to drizzle down sides. Serve warm. Or, put the icing in the fridge, and re-heat in the microwave - fingers crossed this will work.


No gratuitous icing shot, since I'll ice it when I defrost it. I'll try to remember to take a shot for you when I do.


Oh no! I just realised that if I'd waited until next week, and substituted greek yoghurt for the sour cream I would have had my entry for week 5 of the cookbook challenge!

The Cookbook Challenge - Week 2 - Indian - Chai Cupcakes

I love Indian food. Tandoori, dhal makhani, jahlfrezi, naan, sweet, sweet naan… love it. I thought I could pull out my Indian cookbooks and whip up a curry, but fate stepped in and while I was looking through 500 Cupcakes for the citrus challenge, I came across these:

Chai cupcakes

There is a variation in the book which is for vanilla and white chocolate chai cupcakes, and since I received my order from USA Foods of Hershey’s white chocolate cinnamon chips last week, I thought they’d go perfectly with the Bondi Chai Club Cinnamon. 

 

 Perfect match?

Ok, so Bondi isn’t terribly Indian. Let’s focus on the chai and cinnamon part.

The Hershey's chips were shipped on what must have been the hottest day of the year and were left at my front door. They were in a semi-solid mass on my arrival home from work.

I needed to do some chopping, bashing it on the bench a few times did most of the work, but it just needed a little more.

I didn’t bother to look for buttermilk in the supermarket, to create 2/3 cup of buttermilk substitute I used 2/3 tablespoon of lemon juice and added enough regular milk to make up 2/3 cup.

That looks a lot more like a dough than a batter, and is almost too much for my monster 320 watt Breville Wizz mixer to handle. It certainly made some noises which indicated it was not overly impressed with what it was being asked to do. Set facial expression to sceptical… now.

The mixture was really thick and sticky, I wasn’t really sure how they’d go. I kept re-checking the recipe to see if I’d misread something or omitted an ingredient, but I couldn’t work out what I’d done wrong. From the baked result, looks like I didn’t do anything wrong (which was nice after my recent brownie misadventure).

I thought apple would go really well with the cinnamon, so tried baking a slice of apple on the top of a couple of the cupcakes. Taste wise this was a good idea although I’m not sold on the final presentation. Next time smaller apples, whole circle slices, less full cups.

What I found interesting about these cupcakes is that they only use egg whites, and no yolks. It’s the first cupcake I’ve come across that does that.

Chai cupcakes – 500 Cupcakes

2 cups self-raising flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
1 tablespoon chai tea powder (I used Bondi Chai Club Cinnamon)
1/4 cup sweet butter, softened (I assumed this just meant unsalted)
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar (I used regular brown sugar – anyone know what ‘light brown sugar’ is?)
2 egg whites
2/3 cup buttermilk

Preheat the oven to 175 degrees celsius (I preheated mine to 175 with the fan on, and it actually maintained its temperature – I think that’s the secret with my temperamental oven, use the fan).

Place 12 baking cups in a muffin pan. Mix the flour, baking powder, salt and chai powder. In a separate bowl beat the butter and sugar until smooth (I found smooth was a flexible term, just beat it until you get bored – that’s what I did). Add egg whites slowly, beating well, then slowly add the dry ingredients, then the buttermilk.

At this point if you want to do the white chocolate and vanilla variation, this is  where you add ½ cup of white chocolate chips and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract. I added ½ cup of Hershey’s cinnamon chips, and no vanilla.

Bake for 20 minutes (mine took 20 minutes exactly).

The recipe suggests that it makes 12, and that’s what I produced, but next time I will make them smaller and make 18. And you can re-set your facial expression to hungry now, turns out my pessimism was unjustified.

And just because the book is such a pretty pink....