2nd birthday – Train Cake

Regular readers of this blog (waves to my husband) will recall “the Wombat Cake Incident“, in which the harsh Australian sun took a cruel, cruel toll on my little big boy’s 1st birthday cake. This year I took preventative measures and made the icing (in the thermomix) using both copha and butter. I also used the thermomix to make the cake, using the basic cake recipe from Dani Valent’s book In the Mix. It seemed to do the trick, in that the icing didn’t melt into a big puddle. It was also nice and easy to spread at midnight, which is when I always seem to be finishing off birthday cakes!

The little big boy is obsessed with cars and trains, so he got a train. The cake itself was overcooked so a bit dry but I’m hoping the small people won’t hold it against me.

The train cake

As well as the train cake, we also had this fantastic “tie-dyed” cake, made by my friend Bernadette and her husband and niece. The cake itself was a devil’s food cake and was Miss B’s cake of choice (traitor!). Better photos of the cake can be found on Bernie’s blog.

Bernie's fabulous tie-dyed cake

And finally, here is a cake I made for the husband’s birthday in December. It is a lemon luxury layer cake from Rose Levy Berenabaum’s book Heavenly Cakes. It used about 18 eggs and 3 blocks of butter. I don’t even think I am exaggerating. There was lemon curd, a white chocolate custard, a buttercream and the cake itself. It was delicious, but quite a commitment!

Lemon luxury layer cake

Here is the inside of the cake. The layers are meant to be even but I am rubbish at cutting even layers. More practice needed!

Daring Bakers Challenge January 2012: Back to Basics – Scones!

I’ve missed the last few challenges, due to races such as the Kepler Challenge, Christmas and um, not being very organised. However, being a massive fan of scones and having learned so much from Audax in previous challenges, I couldn’t miss this month’s challenge.

Audax Artifex was our January 2012 Daring Bakers’ host. Aud worked tirelessly to master light and fluffy scones (a/k/a biscuits) to help us create delicious and perfect batches in our own kitchens!

We were given a basic scone recipe (known as biscuits in some countries) and encouraged to master it and play around with different versions. I certainly didn’t master it but I rediscovered the joy of the simple baking tasks, and I loved this recipe. My scones do actually look quite brick-like in the photos but I promise you they tasted light and quite delicious. I will definitely be trying more variations in the future. Thanks Audax!

Basic Scones (a.k.a. Basic Biscuits)
Servings: about eight 2-inch (5 cm) scones or five 3-inch (7½ cm) scones
Recipe can be doubled

Ingredients:
1 cup (240 ml) (140 gm/5 oz) plain (all-purpose) flour
2 teaspoons (10 ml) (10 gm) (⅓ oz) fresh baking powder
¼ teaspoon (1¼ ml) (1½ gm) salt
2 tablespoons (30 gm/1 oz) frozen grated butter (or a combination of lard and butter)
approximately ½ cup (120 ml) cold milk
optional 1 tablespoon milk, for glazing the tops of the scones

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to very hot 475°F/240°C/gas mark 9.
2. Triple sift the dry ingredients into a large bowl. (If your room temperature is very hot refrigerate the sifted ingredients until cold.)
3. Rub the frozen grated butter (or combination of fats) into the dry ingredients until it resembles very coarse bread crumbs with some pea-sized pieces if you want flaky scones or until it resembles coarse beach sand if you want tender scones.
4. Add nearly all of the liquid at once into the rubbed-in flour/fat mixture and mix until it just forms a sticky dough (add the remaining liquid if needed). The wetter the dough the lighter the scones (biscuits) will be!
5. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board, lightly flour the top of the dough. To achieve an even homogeneous crumb to your scones knead very gently about 4 or 5 times (do not press too firmly) the dough until it is smooth. To achieve a layered effect in your scones knead very gently once (do not press too firmly) then fold and turn the kneaded dough about 3 or 4 times until the dough has formed a smooth texture. (Use a floured plastic scraper to help you knead and/or fold and turn the dough if you wish.)
6. Pat or roll out the dough into a 6 inch by 4 inch rectangle by about ¾ inch thick (15¼ cm by 10 cm by 2 cm thick). Using a well-floured 2-inch (5 cm) scone cutter (biscuit cutter), stamp out without twisting six 2-inch (5 cm) rounds, gently reform the scraps into another ¾ inch (2 cm) layer and cut two more scones (these two scones will not raise as well as the others since the extra handling will slightly toughen the dough). Or use a well-floured sharp knife to form squares or wedges as you desire.
7. Place the rounds just touching on a baking dish if you wish to have soft-sided scones or place the rounds spaced widely apart on the baking dish if you wish to have crisp-sided scones. Glaze the tops with milk if you want a golden colour on your scones or lightly flour if you want a more traditional look to your scones.
8. Bake in the preheated very hot oven for about 10 minutes (check at 8 minutes since home ovens at these high temperatures are very unreliable) until the scones are well risen and are lightly coloured on the tops. The scones are ready when the sides are set.
9. Immediately place onto cooling rack to stop the cooking process, serve while still warm.

I made basic scones with the help of my almost 4 year old helper, Miss B, who now runs for her stool and apron as soon as she sees me getting out my mixing bowls. She is also quite fond of spreading flour around the kitchen, which may be apparent from the photos.

Small hand patting out the dough

Finished scones

I then tried some sultana scones. Sultana scones will always have a special place in my heart. For a while there I would happily eat at least one sultana scone a day, which caused a few issues when I went travelling and couldn’t say “doughy thing full of dried fruit” in any language other than English.

Sultana scone

Close up sultana scone

These also look pretty rock like, but I think that is largely because I patted the dough out too thin. Next time I make them I’m going to make thicker ones. And I am pretty sure next time will be pretty soon!

Daring Bakers’ Challenge October 2011 – Povitica

The Daring Baker’s October 2011 challenge was Povitica, hosted by Jenni of The Gingered Whisk. Povitica is a traditional Eastern European Dessert Bread that is as lovely to look at as it is to eat!

Jenni says that:

“Povitica (pronounced po-va-teet-sa) is traditional Eastern European dessert bread that is traditionally served during the holiday season. It is also known as Nutroll, Potica, Kalachi, Strudia, just to name a few. Family recipes, and the secrets on how to roll the bread so thin, was passed down through generations of families. However, the tradition of baking this type of bread has become somewhat of a dying art form, and I thought it would be a wonderful opportunity for us to learn to make this wonderful sweet bread.“

She also commented that:

“The traditional filling for this bread is an English walnut filling, but other typical fillings also include apple/cinnamon, apricot preserves, and a sweet cheese (like cream cheese).“

As my chief taster (husband) is allergic to nuts, I did not use the provided nut recipe. However, I have included it below in case you want to try it.

Jenni provided a recipe which made 4 loaves (recipe follows below). I elected to make a half batch, resulting in 2 loaves.

I decided to make one loaf with a poppy seed mixture and one with roasted pear and caramel. I won’t give you the poppy seed recipe because to be honest it was not nice. I blame my recipe conversion abilities rather than the recipe but since I didn’t do it justice it’s probably best not to share it.  I would happily give you the pear recipe but I didn’t follow one. However that one was delicious. Basically, I peeled, cored and diced 2 pears and 2 apples and roasted them with butter, brandy, brown sugar, cardamon pods, nutmeg and ginger. I then let this cool and mixed it with ricotta cheese. Winner!

Here is the recipe for the dough:

(Smaller batch measurements courtesy of Audax – http://audaxartifex.blogspot.com)

Half Batch Dough Ingredients (Makes two loaves each 1.25 lbs/565 grams)
To activate the Yeast:
1 Teaspoon (5 ml/4 ½ gm) Sugar
½ Teaspoon (2½ ml/1½ gm) All-Purpose (Plain) Flour
¼ Cup (60 ml) Warm Water
1 Tablespoon (15 ml/7 gm/¼ oz/1 sachet) Dry Yeast

Dough:
1 Cup (240 ml) Whole Milk
6 Tablespoons (90 ml/85 gm/3 oz) Sugar
1½ Teaspoons (7½ ml/9 gm/1/3 oz) Table Salt
2 Large Eggs
¼ Cup (60 ml/60 gm/½ stick/2 oz) Unsalted Butter, melted
4 cups (960 ml/560 gm/19¾ oz/1¼ lb) All-Purpose Flour, measure first then sift, divided

Topping:
¼ Cup (60 ml) Cold STRONG Coffee
1 Tablespoon (15 ml/14 gm/½ oz) Granulated Sugar
Melted Butter

Half Batch Filling Ingredients (enough filling for the two loaves)
3½ Cups (840 ml/560 gm/1¼ lb/20 oz) Ground English Walnuts
½ Cup (120 ml) Whole Milk
½ Cup (120 ml/115 gm/1 stick/4 oz) Unsalted Butter
1 Whole Egg, Beaten
½ Teaspoon (2½ ml) Pure Vanilla Extract
1 Cup (240 ml/225 gm/8 oz) Sugar
½ Teaspoon (2½ ml/2 gm) Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
½ Teaspoon (2½ ml/1½ gm) Cinnamon

Directions (note that the quantities relate to the full recipe):

To Activate Yeast:

1. In a small bowl, stir 2 teaspoons sugar, 1 teaspoon flour, and the yeast into ½ cup warm water and cover with plastic wrap.

2. Allow to stand for 5 minutes.

To Make the Dough:

3. In a medium saucepan, heat the milk up to just below boiling (about 180°F/82°C), stirring constantly so that a film does not form on the top of the milk. You want it hot enough to scald you, but not boiling. Allow to cool slightly, until it is about 110°F/43°C.

4. In a large bowl, mix the scalded milk, ¾ cup (180 gm/170 gm/6 oz) sugar, and the salt until combined.

5. Add the beaten eggs, yeast mixture, melted butter, and 2 cups (480 ml/280 gm/10 oz) of flour.

6. Blend thoroughly and slowly add remaining flour, mixing well until the dough starts to clean the bowl.

7. Turn dough out onto floured surface and knead, gradually adding flour a little at a time, until smooth and does not stick.

8. Divide the dough into 4 equal pieces (they will each weight about 1.25 pounds/565 grams).

9. Place dough in 4 lightly oiled bowls, cover loosely with a layer of plastic wrap and then a kitchen towel and let rise an hour and a half in a warm place, until doubled in size.

To Make the Filling

10. In a large bowl mix together the ground walnuts, sugar, cinnamon and cocoa.

11. Heat the milk and butter to boiling.

12. Pour the liquid over the nut/sugar mixture.

13. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix thoroughly.

14. Allow to stand at room temperature until ready to be spread on the dough.

15. If the mixture thickens, add a small amount of warm milk.

To Roll and Assemble the Dough:

16. Spread a clean sheet or cloth over your entire table so that it is covered.

17. Sprinkle with a couple of tablespoons to a handful of flour (use flour sparingly)

18. Place the dough on the sheet and roll the dough out with a rolling pin, starting in the middle and working your way out, until it measures roughly 10-12 inches (25½ cm by 30½ cm) in diameter.

19. Spoon 1 to 1.5 teaspoons (5ml to 7 ½ ml/4 gm to 7 gm) of melted butter on top.

20. Using the tops of your hands, stretch dough out from the center until the dough is thin and uniformly opaque. You can also use your rolling pin, if you prefer.

21. As you work, continually pick up the dough from the table, not only to help in stretching it out, but also to make sure that it isn’t sticking.

22. When you think it the dough is thin enough, try to get it a little thinner. It should be so thin that you can see the color and perhaps the pattern of the sheet underneath.

The dough - probably not stretched thin enough

23. Spoon filling evenly over dough until covered.

Dough with icky poppyseed filling

24. Lift the edge of the cloth and gently roll the dough like a jelly roll.

25. Once the dough is rolled up into a rope, gently lift it up and place it into a greased loaf pan in the shape of a “U”, with the ends meeting in the middle. You want to coil the dough around itself, as this will give the dough its characteristic look when sliced.

The rolled up pear loaf

26. Repeat with remaining three loaves, coiling each rope of dough in its own loaf pan.

27. Brush the top of each loaf with a mixture of ½ cup (120 ml) of cold STRONG coffee and 2 tablespoons (30ml/28 gm/1 oz) of sugar. If you prefer, you can also use egg whites in place of this.

28. Cover pans lightly will plastic wrap and allow to rest for approximately 15 minutes.

29. Preheat oven to moderate 350°F/180°C/gas mark 4.

30. Remove plastic wrap from dough and place into the preheated oven and bake for approximately 15 minutes.

31. Turn down the oven temperature to slow 300°F/150°C/gas mark 2 and bake for an additional 45 minutes, or until done.

32. Remove bread from oven and brush with melted butter.

33. Check the bread at 30 minutes to ensure that the bread is not getting too brown. You may cover the loaves with a sheet of aluminum foil if you need to.

34. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on a wire rack for 20-30 minutes, still in the bread pan. Remember, the bread weighs about 2.5 and it needs to be able to hold its own weight, which is difficult when still warm and fresh out of the oven. Allowing it to cool in the pan helps the loaf to hold its shape.

The finished loaves

35. It is recommended that the best way to cut Povitica loaves into slices is by turning the loaf upside down and slicing with a serrated knife.

Inner workings of the poppy seed loaf

The poppy seed loaf actually looked quite nice (although a touch dry). However, upon tasting, the reactions went from an anticipatory “oh wow!” to “oh wow…that’s not great“. So unfortunately this ended up in the compost.

Luckily the pear loaf made up for it!

Happy pear

As always, I really enjoyed the challenge of making something I was completely unfamiliar with. And, as always, all mistakes are my own. Thanks for the challenge Jenni!

My Bourke Street Bakery weekend

I have to say, I was pretty impressed with myself for making croissants. Stunned and amazed at my ability to produce half-arsed pastry items. It’s nice to have low standards sometimes. So the next weekend, faced with a group coming over for brunch and a 3rd birthday party, I made plans to make Christmas cake, gingerbread men and croissants, all using recipes from the Bourke Street Bakery Cookbook (which I love so much that half the pages are either stuck together with batter or stained with butter).

I started making the croissant dough on Friday, set for guests arriving on Saturday morning. Then our smallest small person got sick so we postponed brunch, leaving me with a seriously massive quantity of dough and no obvious consumers. However, I decided to make the croissants anyway and try to find homes for them all. Honestly, my arms ached every time I took the dough out of the oven to roll and fold it.

I think I ended up making 32 large plain and chocolate croissants. Unfortunately I only have a dodgy photo from my phone but they were quite tasty, from what I tried (I’m still not a major croissant eater so they mostly went to neighbours). I think they needed to be cooked for longer though. But so fun to make! And good exercise for my arms, which normally get neglected while I run everywhere.

croissants

I then made a batch (which was actually a half batch) of gingerbread men, also from the BSB cookbook. I love this recipe as it is quite spicy and has real character to it. I have never made the full recipe as it would make hundreds (slight exaggeration possible) of biscuits.

Here is the finished result. You will note that my icing skills have not improved significantly.

Ninjabread men

Elephants and dinosaurs

The dinosaurs were the most popular biscuit of the 3 with the small boys, who ran around pretending to attack other children with them. I had forgotten though that what small children really like is icing, so there were a few sad, nibbled dinosaurs left over, bereft of their chocolate adornments.

I also made 2 Christmas cakes, which I forgot to photograph. And then I had a nap.

Daring Bakers’ Challenge September 2011 – Fresh, fluffy, french and completed!

The Daring Bakers go retro this month! Thanks to one of our very talented non-blogging members, Sarah, the Daring Bakers were challenged to make Croissants using a recipe from the Queen of French Cooking, none other than Julia Child!

Croissants have been on the to-do list for a long time, largely due to a butter loving husband. So I was pretty happy with this month’s challenge (and the husband was delighted). I was also pretty happy with the way they turned out. Sure, they weren’t perfect, and a few looked somewhat like turtles, but overall I am counting this as a win. I did have plans to make more croissants using the Bourke St Bakery cookbook recipe, but that remains on the to-do list!

Ingredients
¼ oz (7 gm) of fresh yeast, or 1¼ teaspoon (6¼ ml/4 gm) of dry-active yeast (about ½ sachet)
3 tablespoons (45 ml) warm water (less than 100°F/38°C)
1 teaspoon (5 ml/4½ gm) sugar
1 3/4 cups (225 gm/½ lb) of strong plain flour (I used standard plain flour because I’m a bit lazy and that’s what I had)
2 teaspoons (10 ml/9 gm) sugar
1½ teaspoon (7½ ml/9 gm) salt
½ cup (120 ml/¼ pint) milk
2 tablespoons (30 ml) tasteless oil (I used generic vegetable oil)
½ cup (120 ml/1 stick/115 gm/¼ lb) chilled, unsalted butter
1 egg, for egg wash

Directions:

1. Mix the yeast, warm water, and first teaspoon of sugar in a small bowl. Leave aside for the yeast and sugar to dissolve and the yeast to foam up a little.
2. Measure out the other ingredients
3. Heat the milk until tepid (either in the microwave or a saucepan), and dissolve in the salt and remaining sugar
4. Place the flour in a large bowl.
5. Add the oil, yeast mixture, and milk mixture to the flour
6. Mix all the ingredients together using the rubber spatula, just until all the flour is incorporated
7. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface, and let it rest a minute while you wash out the bowl
8. Knead the dough eight to ten times only. The best way is as Julia Child does it in the video (see below). It’s a little difficult to explain, but essentially involves smacking the dough on the counter (lots of fun if you are mad at someone) and removing it from the counter using the pastry scraper.
9. Place the dough back in the bowl, and place the bowl in the plastic bag.
10. Leave the bowl at approximately 75°F/24°C for three hours, or until the dough has tripled in size.
11. After the dough has tripled in size, remove it gently from the bowl, pulling it away from the sides of the bowl with your fingertips.
12. Place the dough on a lightly floured board or countertop, and use your hands to press it out into a rectangle about 8 by 12 inches (20cm by 30cm).
13. Fold the dough rectangle in three, like a letter (fold the top third down, and then the bottom third up)
14. Place the dough letter back in the bowl, and the bowl back in the plastic bag.
15. Leave the dough to rise for another 1.5 hours, or until it has doubled in size. This second rise can be done overnight in the fridge.
16. Place the double-risen dough onto a plate and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Place the plate in the fridge while you prepare the butter.
17. Once the dough has doubled, it’s time to incorporate the butter
18. Place the block of chilled butter on a chopping board.
19. Using the rolling pin, beat the butter down a little, till it is quite flat.
20. Use the heel of your hand to continue to spread the butter until it is smooth. You want the butter to stay cool, but spread easily.
21. Remove the dough from the fridge and place it on a lightly floured board or counter. Let it rest for a minute or two.
22. Spread the dough using your hands into a rectangle about 14 by 8 inches (35 cm by 20 cm).

23. Remove the butter from the board, and place it on the top half of the dough rectangle.

24. Spread the butter all across the top two-thirds of the dough rectangle, but keep it ¼ inch (6 mm) across from all the edges.
25. Fold the top third of the dough down, and the bottom third of the dough up.
26. Turn the dough package 90 degrees, so that the top flap is to your right (like a book).
27. Roll out the dough package (gently, so you don’t push the butter out of the dough) until it is again about 14 by 8 inches (35 cm by 20 cm).
28. Again, fold the top third down and the bottom third up.
29. Wrap the dough package in plastic wrap, and place it in the fridge for 2 hours.
30. After two hours have passed, take the dough out of the fridge and place it again on the lightly floured board or counter.
31. Tap the dough with the rolling pin, to deflate it a little.
32. Let the dough rest for 8 to 10 minutes.
33. Roll the dough package out till it is 14 by 8 inches (35 cm by 20 cm).
34. Fold in three, as before
35. Turn 90 degrees, and roll out again to 14 by 8 inches (35 cm by 20 cm).
36. Fold in three for the last time, wrap in plastic, and return the dough package to the fridge for two more hours (or overnight, with something heavy on top to stop it from rising)
37. It’s now time to cut the dough and shape the croissants.
38. First, lightly butter your baking sheet so that it is ready.
39. Take the dough out of the fridge and let it rest for ten minutes on the lightly floured board or counter.
40. Roll the dough out into a 20 by 5 inch rectangle (51 cm by 12½ cm).
41. Cut the dough into two rectangles (each 10 by 5 inches (25½ cm by 12½ cm))
42. Place one of the rectangles in the fridge, to keep the butter cold.
43. Roll the second rectangle out until it is 15 by 5 inches (38 cm by 12½ cm).
44. Cut the rectangle into three squares (each 5 by 5 inches (12½ cm by 12½ cm))
45. Place two of the squares in the fridge.
46. The remaining square may have shrunk up a little bit in the meantime. Roll it out again till it is nearly square.
47. Cut the square diagonally into two triangles.
48. Stretch the triangle out a little, so it is not a right-angle triangle, but more of an isosceles.
49. Starting at the wide end, roll the triangle up towards the point, and curve into a crescent shape.

The croissants being shaped. As you will note, some are kind of dodgy.

50. Place the unbaked croissant on the baking sheet.
51. Repeat the process with the remaining squares of dough, creating 12 croissants in total.
52. Leave the tray of croissants, covered lightly with plastic wrap, to rise for 1 hour.
53. Preheat the oven to very hot 475°F/240°C/gas mark 9.
54. Mix the egg with a teaspoon of water.
55. Spread the egg wash across the tops of the croissants.
56. Put the croissants in the oven for 12 to 15 minutes, until the tops are browned nicely.

Ta-da!

57. Take the croissants out of the oven, and place them on a rack to cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Overall, a really enjoyable challenge. Thanks Sarah!

Daring Bakers’ Challenge – Candylicious! (also known as 3 swings, 2 misses)

The August 2011 Daring Bakers’ Challenge was hosted by Lisa of Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drive and Mandy of What the Fruitcake?!. These two sugar mavens challenged us to make sinfully delicious candies! This was a special challenge for the Daring Bakers because the good folks at http://www.chocoley.com offered an amazing prize for the winner of the most creative and delicious candy!

The challenge involved making one chocolate and one non-chocolate lolly (sorry, I can’t bring myself to say candy).

I decided to make my triumphant return to the Daring Kitchen with:

1. Strawberry Pate De Fruit
2. Turkish Delight
3. Violet Crumbles

The result? One binned strawberry jelly, one binned turkish delight, one binned honeycomb and one winning batch of violet crumble!

I started with the pate de fruit. I couldn’t find pectin (apart from Jamsetta) anywhere so I went with this , substituting the raspberries for strawberries (which are cheap and delicious in Australia).

Strawberries, sugar, lemon juice and jam ready for concocting

All seemed fine until I went to roll them in sugar. They then turned into pretty red cubes swimming in sugar syrup. I must stress that this is my error, not the recipe’s error, but the end result was still something less than magical.

This is them before they melted - pretty, huh?

So on to the next task I went…

I love turkish delight, so it seemed the obvious choice. I used this recipe, from Audax Artifex (http://audaxartifex.blogspot.com) , a person for whom I have huge respect.

Turkish Delight
Ingredients
4 cups castor (superfine) sugar or you can use granulated sugar
1 cup cornstarch, sifted well, make sure it is fresh
1 teaspoon cream of tartar, sifted
4 1/4 cups water
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice or fresh lime juice
2 tablespoons rosewater (not extract) or orange blossom water (not extract) or 1 tablespoon violet water (not extract) or any other natural flavouring you wish
a few drops of food colouring (optional)
1 cup of nuts, chopped (optional)
3 cups (or more) confectioners’ (icing) sugar, for coating, sifted
1 cups (or more) cornstarch, for coating, sifted
Preparation
In a 9 inch (23 cm) baking pan, grease the sides and bottom with vegetable oil or shortening, or use some oil spray. Line with lightly sprayed-oiled parchment paper.

In a saucepan, combine lemon juice, sugar and 1 1/2 cups water on medium heat. Stir constantly until sugar dissolves. Allow mixture to boil. Reduce heat to low and allow to simmer, until the mixture reaches 240 degrees on a candy thermometer (i.e. soft-ball stage – if not using a thermometer test by placing a few drops of mixture into cold water it should form a soft, yielding ball). Beware it can take a long time to reach 240 degrees (easily over an hour) it depends on your heating source. Remove from heat and set aside.

Combine sifted cream of tartar, 1 cup sifted corn starch and remaining water in saucepan over medium heat. Stir until all lumps are gone and the mixture begins to boil. Stop stirring when the mixture has a glue like consistency.

Stir in the lemon juice, water and sugar mixture. Stir constantly for about 5 minutes. Reduce heat to low, and allow to simmer for 1 hour, stirring frequently.

Once the mixture has become a golden colour, stir in rosewater or whatever flavouring you are using, and the optional nuts and/or the optional food colouring if using. Pour mixture into the lined pan. Spread evenly and leave for two days on the counter (do not place it in the refrigerator) which allows the Turkish Delight to stabilise and equalises moisture content throughout. Place tin foil or an air tight covering over it while it “matures”. This is the most important step this resting time stops the Turkish Delight sweating when coated with confectioners’ (icing) sugar and cornstarch.

Sift together the coating confectioners’ sugar and cornstarch.

Turn over baking pan containing Turkish Delight onto clean counter or table and cut with oiled knife into one inch cubes.

Use a deep metal tin with an air-tight lid or a plastic air-tight container for the dusting container for the coating mixture of confectioners’ sugar and cornstarch, mix the cut up pieces into it and leave for a further two days. When cut into cubes and layered in the cornstarch/icing sugar it is important to use a lot of coating mixture, not a dusting but a veritable bath. After this time you will be left with perfect Turkish Delight, a slight crust covering a gorgeous soft interior.

Lastly do not refrigerate Turkish Delight at any time as this ruins the texture; store in a cool but not cold place and pack with lots of the icing sugar/corn starch mixture. This Turkish Delight will last several months. I use an air-tight metal box with lots of icing sugar/cornstrach mixture to store my final product.

Always with Turkish Delight keep it dry and cool. Turkish Delight draws water from the atmosphere so always keep it in an air-tight container.

It is important not to use synthetic flavourings they become very bitter in Turkish Delight! Violet water is very strong so be careful with it.

Again, let me stress than any shortcomings in this production were the result of my own incompetence. The recipe stresses the importance of keeping the turkish delight airtight while it matures and, although I used 3 layers of foil, it obviously wasn’t airtight, so it sweated in a most unattractive fashion once I added the cornflour/icing sugar. Here are a few photos before it all turned bad…

Cutting up the slab of turkish delight

My confidence somewhat (read, badly) shaken, I then turned to honeycomb. First I tried a recipe from the Masterchef website. To be honest, I have no idea what I did wrong. I only know that it ended up soft and chewy and totally unsuitable for my purposes. Again (version 3, I suspect this was user error).

By this stage I was cranky so when I woke up at 3am (as I generally do) I decided to try again. This time I used a Gordon Ramsay recipe (http://www.burstnoggin.com/content/very-simple-recipes/four-easy-steps-to-make-home-made-honeycomb-in-under-20-minutes/) and it worked like a charm. What a relief! My faith in my lolly making ability may be shaken, but at least now I know what to make people for Christmas.

honeycomb

finished product - "rustic" Violet Crumbles

They may not look that great, and I may not actually have complied with the rules of this month’s challenge, but I am counting the Violet Crumbles as a win.

(NB: Sorry, I am also having technical difficulties attaching links this month!)

Daring Bakers’ Challenge April 2011 – Candied Bacon Fairy Cakes with Maple Mousse

The April 2011 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Evelyne of the blog Cheap Ethnic Eatz. Evelyne chose to challenge everyone to make a maple mousse in an edible container.

Maple Mousse:

Ingredients:
• 1 cup (240 ml/ 8 fluid oz.) pure maple syrup (not maple-flavoured syrup)
• 4 large egg yolks
• 1 package (7g/1 tbsp.) unflavoured gelatine
• 1 1/2 cups (360 ml. g/12 fluid oz) whipping cream (35% fat content)

Directions:
1. Bring maple syrup to a boil then remove from heat.
2. In a large bowl, whisk egg yolks and pour a little bit of the maple syrup in while whisking (this is to temper your egg yolks so they don’t curdle).
3. Add warmed egg yolks to hot maple syrup until well mixed.
4. Measure 1/4 cup of whipping cream in a bowl and sprinkle it with the gelatine. Let it rest for 5 minutes. Place the bowl in a microwave for 45 seconds (microwave for 10 seconds at a time and check it in between) or place the bowl in a pan of barely simmering water, stir to ensure the gelatine has completely dissolved.
5. Whisk the gelatine/whipping cream mixture into the maple syrup mixture and set aside.
6. Whisk occasionally for approximately an hour or until the mixture has the consistency of an unbeaten raw egg white.
7. Whip the remaining cream. Stir 1/4 of the whipped cream into the maple syrup mixture. Fold in the remaining cream and refrigerate for at least an hour.
8. Remove from the fridge and divide equally among your edible containers.

Here is a picture of the mousse as the whipped cream is being mixed in. Unfortunately I forgot to take a photo of the finished mousse but I can assure you that it was light and fluffy and convincingly mousse-like.

Mousse in progress

Evelyne’s suggestions, or starting points for inspiration for the edible containers, included bacon cups and nut bowls.

I have to be honest and say that I was a bit apprehensive about this challenge. I don’t actually like really sweet things and I’m not a fan of bacon. I always think it smells quite nice, but it’s never going to change me from a bowl of oats for breakfast kind of girl. However, in the spirit of the Daring Bakers Challenges I decided to embrace my baking fears and make candied bacon fairy cakes. Who can resist a fairy cake?!

At the time of making the challenge, I was away with my family for the Easter/ANZAC Day holiday. This was helpful as it meant more test subjects! It also meant that each stage of the process was closely observed by various family members, particularly my father. He was quite distressed by the perceived waste of bacon and at one point asked what the bacon had done to deserve such treatment. I said that if I was bacon I would quite like to be covered with brown sugar and baked – this was my highly technical approach to making candied bacon. My brother was also quite concerned by the sacrifice of lovely bacon, sadly shaking his head and saying that he just couldn’t accept the combination of bacon and sugar.

Here is a picture of the bacon before and after it’s brown sugar “torture”. It probably took about 30 minutes to make.

Bacon liberally sprinkled with brown sugar - as you do

Candied bacon

I then chopped up the candied bacon and added it as a final component to my favourite cupcake recipe from Nigella Lawson. The only change I made was to cut the sugar in half, as I figured it would already be tooth achingly sweet from the mousse and the sugar on the bacon.

Here is a picture of the cupcakes after baking.

Candied bacon cupcakes

I then, with a lack of delicacy that will be evident from the photos, cut an inverted dome from the top of the cupcakes, filled the space with mousse and put the (now halved) cupcake piece on the top as wings. As a final flourish, I then added pieces of candied bacon as garnish.

Here is the finished product.

Somewhat to my surprise, the feedback from my tasters was overwhelmingly positive. My father, whose highest praise is generally “it’s interesting“, declared them to be positively good, whilst my mother suggested that they were the best things I had ever made. Even my sceptical brother gave them the thumbs up. So that’s a big thumbs up to Evelyne from me!

Giant rainbow cupcake

I am conscious of the fact that giant cupcakes and rainbow cakes both did the rounds of food blogs several months, if not years, before. Luckily, I have never let being fashion backwards slow me down. I recently bought a cheap giant cupcake mould and, on a rainy Saturday afternoon, decided to play baking with the 3 year old Miss B. When asked what kind of cake we should make, she said very firmly that it should have different colours in it and that one of them must be pink. And so the rainbow cake plan was set.

I used a basic, but enormous, butter cake recipe and tinted one third pink, one third brown (chocolate, naturally!) and left one third untouched. All three colours were enthusiastically sampled by Miss B and judged to be suitable.

Here is what it looks like when you let a 3 year old cook:

And here is a poor quality photo of the separate pieces prior to assembly. As you will note, they had far too much mixture in them (oh no, forced to eat cake off-cuts, sad sad day)

And the finished product!

Messy? Yep! Healthy? Nope! Fun way to spend an afternoon with your little baking assistant? Absolutely!

Daring Bakers Challenge March 2011 – Yeasted Cinnamon Meringue Coffee Cake

The March 2011 Daring Baker’s Challenge was hosted by Ria of Ria’s Collection and Jamie of Life’s a Feast. Ria and Jamie challenged The Daring Bakers to bake a yeasted Meringue Coffee Cake.

It took me a while to work out that, in America, coffee cake just means a cake you eat with coffee, not a coffee flavoured cake. It’s pretty obvious when you think about it – after all, a teacake is not flavoured with tea. I’m not always the brightest.

Jamie and Ria presented two variations of this delicious coffee cake: Jamie’s All-American versions with cinnamon, chopped pecans and chocolate chips or chopped chocolate and Ria’s Indian-inspired version with saffron added to the sweet yeast bread dough and garam masala and cashews flavoring the filling.

Much as I loved the idea of a chocolate and nut combination, nuts are a no-go with the main cake eater. I therefore decided to make a caramelised pear and cinnamon cake, complete with the cinnamon chips I had found at an imported sweet shop in the city and bought on a whim.

Instructions

Preparation time:

For the dough:
10 – 15 minutes preparation of the dough
8 – 10 minutes kneading
45 – 60 minutes first rise
10 – 15 minutes to prepare meringue, roll out, fill and shape dough
an additional 45 – 60 minutes for second rising.

Baking time: approximately 30 minutes

Equipment required:

Measuring cups for dry ingredients
Measuring cup for liquid
Measuring spoons
Cutting board and sharp knife for chopping nuts & chocolate if using
2 large mixing bowls
1 small mixing bowl
1 medium mixing bowl for beating egg whites, preferably plastic or metal
1 medium saucepan
Electric mixer or stand mixer
Wooden spoon
Rolling pin
Spatula
Clean kitchen scissors or sharp knife
Plastic wrap & clean kitchen towel
Parchment paper
2 medium-sized baking trays (or 1 large if your oven is large enough)
Cooling racks
Serving platter
Vegetable oil to grease bowl

Ingredients

For the yeast coffee cake dough:

4 cups (600 g / 1.5 lbs.) flour
¼ cup (55 g / 2 oz.) sugar
¾ teaspoon (5 g / ¼ oz.) salt
1 package (2 ¼ teaspoons / 7 g / less than an ounce) active dried yeast
¾ cup (180 ml / 6 fl. oz.) whole milk
¼ cup (60 ml / 2 fl. oz. water (doesn’t matter what temperature)
½ cup (135 g / 4.75 oz.) unsalted butter at room temperature
2 large eggs at room temperature

10 strands saffron for Ria’s version (Saffron might be hard to find and it’s expensive, so you can substitute with ½ – 1 teaspoon of ground cardamom or ground nutmeg. Or simply leave it plain like Jamie’s version)

For the meringue:

3 large egg whites at room temperature
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon vanilla
½ cup (110 g / 4 oz.) sugar

For the filling:

Jamie’s version:
1 cup (110 g / 4 oz.) chopped pecans or walnuts
2 Tablespoons (30 g / 1 oz.) granulated sugar
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup (170 g / 6 oz.) semisweet chocolate chips or coarsely chopped chocolate

Ria’s version:
1 cup (130 g / 5 oz.) chopped cashew nuts
2 Tablespoons (30 g / 1 oz.) granulated sugar
½ teaspoon garam masala (You can make it at home – recipe below – or buy from any Asian/Indian grocery store)
1 cup (170g / 6 oz.) semisweet chocolate chips ( I used Ghirardelli)

Egg wash: 1 beaten egg
Cocoa powder (optional) and confectioner’s sugar (powdered/icing sugar) for dusting cakes

I halved the recipe and, for the filling, roasted diced fresh pear with sugar and cinnamon until the pear became soft and the sugar became cinnamon toffee.

Directions

Prepare the dough:

In a large mixing bowl, combine 1 ½ cups (230 g) of the flour, the sugar, salt and yeast.

In a saucepan, combine the milk, water and butter and heat over medium heat until warm and the butter is just melted. Ria’s version: add the 10 saffron threads to the warmed liquid and allow to steep off of the heat for 10 minutes. This will give the mixture a distinct aroma and flavor and a yellowish-orange hue.

With an electric mixer on low speed, gradually add the warm liquid to the flour/yeast mixture, beating until well blended. Increase mixer speed to medium and beat 2 minutes. Add the eggs and 1 cup (150 g) flour and beat for 2 more minutes.

Using a wooden spoon, stir in enough of the remaining flour to make a dough that holds together. Turn out onto a floured surface (use any of the 1 ½ cups of flour remaining) and knead the dough for 8 to 10 minutes until the dough is soft, smooth, sexy and elastic, keeping the work surface floured and adding extra flour as needed.

Place the dough in a lightly greased (I use vegetable oil) bowl, turning to coat all sides. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel and let rise until double in bulk, 45 – 60 minutes. The rising time will depend on the type of yeast you use.

Prepare your filling:In a small bowl, combine the cinnamon and sugar for the filling if using. You can add the chopped nuts to this if you like, but I find it easier to sprinkle on both the nuts and the chocolate separately.

Once the dough has doubled, make the meringue:
In a clean mixing bowl – ideally a plastic or metal bowl so the egg whites adhere to the side (they slip on glass) and you don’t end up with liquid remaining in the bottom – beat the egg whites with the salt, first on low speed for 30 seconds, then increase to high and continue beating until foamy and opaque. Add the vanilla then start adding the ½ cup sugar, a tablespoon at a time as you beat, until very stiff, glossy peaks form.

Assemble the Coffee Cakes:

Line 2 baking/cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Punch down the dough and divide in half. On a lightly floured surface, working one piece of the dough at a time (keep the other half of the dough wrapped in plastic), roll out the dough into a 20 x 10-inch (about 51 x 25 ½ cm) rectangle. Spread half of the meringue evenly over the rectangle up to about 1/2-inch (3/4 cm) from the edges. Sprinkle half of your filling of choice evenly over the meringue (ex: half of the cinnamon-sugar followed by half the chopped nuts and half of the chocolate chips/chopped chocolate).

Now, roll up the dough jellyroll style, from the long side. Pinch the seam closed to seal. Very carefully transfer the filled log to one of the lined cookie sheets, seam side down. Bring the ends of the log around and seal the ends together, forming a ring, tucking one end into the other and pinching to seal.

Using kitchen scissors or a sharp knife (although scissors are easier), make cuts along the outside edge at 1-inch (2 ½ cm) intervals. Make them as shallow or as deep as desired but don’t be afraid to cut deep into the ring.

Repeat with the remaining dough, meringue and fillings.

Cover the 2 coffee cakes with plastic wrap and allow them to rise again for 45 to 60 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).

Brush the tops of the coffee cakes with the egg wash. Bake in the preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes until risen and golden brown. The dough should sound hollow when tapped.

My version

A confession (of sorts) – I have a Thermomix. I have a great love of my Thermomix. I therefore decided to try this recipe in the Thermomix, which basically meant chucking everything in to mix it, then using the knead function to knead it (funny that). I think it worked moderately well, although I thought the cake was a bit dry. That may also have been down to insufficient meringue though, as I couldn’t work out how to halve 3 eggs!

The dough proving

Dough with meringue and pears

The shaped cake prior to the second proving

The shaped, cut, proven (?) and cinnamoned cake prior to baking

The finished product!

I was happy with the flavour, but as noted above the texture seemed a bit dry.

So I started all over again…

Version 2 – Chocolate and Cinnamon Chips

I played this one pretty straight – masses of meringue and loads of grated dark chocolate and cinnamon chips (I had to get them out of the house in order to stop eating them by the handful anyway). I also made this one by hand, and can confirm that it is a really lovely dough to knead.

The dough spread with meringue, grated dark chocolate and cinnamon chips

Finished cake and cheesy icing sugar shower (not literally cheesy, that would be disgusting)

And the result? A bit hit and miss really – the cake was less dry but the filling was perhaps a bit sickly. Either way, both versions were great fun and I would happily make them again. Thanks Jamie and Ria for continuing my baking education!

Daring Bakers Challenge February 2011 – Here’s to a Creamy Dreamy Crunchy Sweet February!

I’m baaaaaaaaaaaack! (which movie is that from, anyway?)

So, I’ve been pretty slack on the baking front. Also a bit slack on the New Years resolution thing, if you consider my commitment to doing more baking challenges a 2011 resolution. February seemed to be a good month to return, as the challenge itself seemed pretty straightforward. It actually turned out to be more of a challenge than I had anticipated, but my biggest challenge was actually getting a decent photo. For details, please see below…

The February 2011 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Mallory from A Sofa in the Kitchen. She chose to challenge everyone to make Panna Cotta from a Giada De Laurentiis recipe and Nestle Florentine Cookies.

Here are Mallory’s instructions:

Note: A few tips.

* First, when you sprinkle your gelatin over your milk, be sure that it’s a thin even layer of gelatin, no clumps. When you heat it up after it’s soaked a bit, you’ll be less likely to get any lumps of gelatin in the finished product.
* Second, if you would like to unmold your Panna Cotta from a ramekin simply run a knife along the edge, dip the ramekin in a bit of hot water, then invert onto your serving platter. Viola! Unmolded Panna Cotta. (Be aware though, Panna Cotta is not Jell-o, it’s got a much softer texture so it does not keep its shape in the same way as Jell-o)
* If you cannot find powdered gelatin/only have access to sheet gelatin this can be used. Please follow the directions on the package for conversions.
* Milk substitutes, such as skim, almond, or even coconut milk can be used in the vanilla Panna Cotta in place of the whole milk, but cream is important. In order to get the right texture there needs be a certain percentage of cream fat! There are lower fat recipes out there that use yogurts in place of milk, but the recipes I’ve chosen are full fat, sorry guys!!
* The Florentine cookie and chocolate Panna Cotta are quite sweet, maybe too sweet for some. To lessen the sweetness factor consider using a dark chocolate, or bittersweet in both recipes. In regards to the Panna Cotta, I would reduce the sugar to 1/4 or 1/3 of a cup, and perhaps pair it with a more bitter element like coffee gelée or a tart fruit.

Mandatory Items: Panna Cotta and Florentine Cookies

Variations allowed: If the vanilla does not appeal to you, I am also giving you a recipe for chocolate Panna Cotta. You have a choice between the two. However, the vanilla can be modified, I generally add vanilla bean, you could also add a bit of matcha (powdered green tea), or fruit. Speaking of fruit, I’m going to give you one recipe for strawberry, and another for coffee gelée, essentially homemade Jell-o. Gelée can be poured on the bottom, top, or layered in with your Panna Cotta (though it takes a few extra steps to do this). So make the vanilla or chocolate recipe, but feel free to play with this it. I just want you to start with a base recipe. What you top it with, or garnish with is also up to you. Have fun, and get creative. In regards to the cookie, if you want to add nuts, or use a different chocolate, go for it.

Preparation time:
• 20-25 minutes to prepare the Panna Cotta – at least 6 hours to chill
• 20-25 minutes to prepare the cookies 6-8 minutes to bake

Equipment required:
• Small mixing bowl
• Two medium sized heavy bottom pot or saucepan
• Wooden spoon and/or whisk
• Glasses or ramekins – something to pour and serve your Panna Cotta in
• Measuring cups
• Measuring spoons
• Silpat or wax paper or parchment paper
• Baking sheet
• Small bowl

Giada’s Vanilla Panna Cotta

Ingredients
1 cup (240 ml) whole milk
1 tablespoon (one packet) (15 ml) (7 gm) (¼ oz) unflavored powdered gelatin
3 cups (720 ml) whipping cream (30+% butterfat)
1/3 cup (80 ml) honey
1 tablespoon (15 ml) (15 gm) (½ oz) granulated sugar
pinch of salt

Directions:

1. Pour the milk into a bowl or pot and sprinkle gelatin evenly and thinly over the milk (make sure the bowl/pot is cold by placing the bowl/pot in the refrigerator for a few minutes before you start making the Panna Cotta). Let stand for 5 minutes to soften the gelatin.
2. Pour the milk into the saucepan/pot and place over medium heat on the stove. Heat this mixture until it is hot, but not boiling, about five minutes. (I whisk it a few times at this stage).
3. Next, add the cream, honey, sugar, and pinch of salt. Making sure the mixture doesn’t boil, continue to heat and stir occasionally until the sugar and honey have dissolved 5-7 minutes.
4. Remove from heat, allow it to sit for a few minutes to cool slightly. Then pour into the glass or ramekin.
5. Refrigerate at least 6 hours or overnight. Add garnishes and serve.

Hope you love it!

Chocolate Panna Cotta

Recipe adapted from Bon Appetit

Ingredients:
1 cup (240 ml) whole milk
1 tablespoon (15 ml) (7 gm) (¼ oz) unflavored powdered gelatin
2 cups (480 ml) whipping cream (30+% butterfat)
½ cup (115 gm) (4 oz) sugar
¾ cup (145 gm)(5 oz) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate
½ teaspoon (2½ ml) vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Pour milk into a small bowl, sprinkle gelatin over the top, set aside for 2-5 minutes.
2. Place a medium saucepan over medium heat, stir in cream, sugar and vanilla. Bring to a low boil.
3. Add chocolate and whisk until melted. Whisk the milk/gelatin mixture into chocolate cream mixture. Whisk until gelatin has dissolved.
4. Transfer to ramekins, or nice glasses for serving.
5. Cover and chill at least 8 hours, or overnight

Nestle Florentine Cookies

Recipe from the cookbook “Nestle Classic Recipes”, and their website.

Ingredients:
2/3 cup (160 ml) (150 gm) (5.3 oz) unsalted butter
2 cups (480 ml) (160 gm) (5 2/3 oz) quick oats
1 cup (240 ml) (230 gm) (8 oz) granulated sugar
2/3 cup (160 ml) (95 gm) (3⅓ oz) plain (all purpose) flour
1/4 cup (60 ml) dark corn syrup
1/4 cup (60 ml) whole milk
1 tsp (5 ml) vanilla extract
pinch of salt
1½ cups (360 ml) (250 gm) (9 oz) dark or milk chocolate

Directions:
Preheat oven to moderately hot 375°F (190°C) (gas mark 5). Prepare your baking sheet with silpat or parchment paper.

1. Melt butter in a medium saucepan, then remove from the heat.
2. To the melted butter add oats, sugar, flour, corn syrup, milk, vanilla, and salt. Mix well. Drop a tablespoon full, three inches (75 mm) apart, onto your prepared baking sheet. Flatten slightly with the back of your tablespoon, or use a spatula.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 6-8 minutes, until cookies are golden brown. Cool completely on the baking sheets.
4. While the cookies are cooling melt your chocolate until smooth either in the microwave (1 1/2 minutes), or stovetop (in a double boiler, or a bowl that fits atop a saucepan filled with a bit of water, being sure the water doesn’t touch the bottom of the bowl).
5. Peel the cookies from the silpat or parchment and place face down on a wire rack set over a sheet of wax/parchment paper (to keep counters clean).
6. Spread a tablespoon of chocolate on the bottom/flat side of your cookie, sandwiching another (flat end) cookie atop the chocolate.

This recipe will make about 2 1/2 – 3 dozen sandwiched Florentine cookies. You can also choose not to sandwich yours, in which case, drizzle the tops with chocolate (over your wax paper).

Coffee Gelée

Adapted from this recipe in Gourmet Magazine

Ingredients:
2 cups (480 ml) good quality brewed coffee
1/4 cup (60 ml) hot water + 2 tablespoons (30 ml) cold water
1/2 cup (120 ml) (115 gm) (4 oz) granulated sugar
1½ teaspoons (7½ ml) (3½ gm) (1/8 oz) unflavored powdered gelatin
2 teaspoons (10 ml) vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Place granulated sugar and 1/4 c. hot water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, stir until the sugar has dissolved.
2. Sprinkle gelatin over 2 Tablespoons cold water and let it soften 2 minutes or so.
3. Stir the coffee, sugar, hot water, and vanilla into a small metal bowl, add gelatin mixture and stir well until gelatin has dissolved. If pouring over Panna Cotta, be sure that this mixture is no longer hot, it will melt Panna Cotta if it is, let it come to room temperature.

My first mistake was trying to halve the recipe. My second was using leaf gelatine rather than the powdered version specified in the recipe. The consequent conversion difficulty meant that my first attempt at a pannacotta didn’t set properly, although it tasted good.

My second mistake was failing to read the line – “If pouring over Panna Cotta, be sure that this mixture is no longer hot, it will melt Panna Cotta if it is, let it come to room temperature.” Ah yes, that would be an accurate warning…

End result – my already too-soft panna cotta collapsed under the weight of the (equally delicious) coffee gelee, causing the gelee to sink straight to the bottom. The result was not very attractive but, again, delicious – it tasted just like tiramisu.

So I tried a second time, this time using powdered gelatine and the chocolate version. But I got cocky and attempted to halve the recipe again. This time I over corrected and ended up with a delicious but much too solid chocolate panna cotta. At that point I called it a day on the panna cotta and moved on to the biscuits.

Despite a very strong urge to reduce the sugar content, I mostly left the recipe unaltered. I did, however, leave out the corn syrup. I also elected to drizzle the biscuits with chocolate rather than use the chocolate to sandwich two biscuits together, as it would have been too much.

And my final mistakes were all photography related! I struggled to find the right light, the right background, the right surface. And then, after I had taken some perfect photos of the biscuits, I accidentally deleted them. So here is what is left:

Attempt 1 - I know it doesn't look like it, but I did actually iron this backdrop

Attempt 2

Attempt 3, and I give up!

See you next month! And thank you Mallory for hosting.