All blog posts tagged with 2011 cookbook challenge
2011 Cookbook Challenge -Green Eggs & Ham
Week 19
Theme Green
Green eggs and ham, Sam I am!
Do you like green eggs and ham,
Try them if you can.
Would you like them on a plate,
Or on the bus when you’re running late
Perhaps eat them in bed
With butter, tea and a piece of bread.
So here we are with another Cookbook Challenge Theme, the topic being Green.
I have decided to do a tasty but simple brunch dish that I have always thought of as green eggs and ham. The green colour comes from pureed spinach and herbs so there is nothing scary about green eggs really… perhaps unlike the Dr Seuss version? I was always a bit frightened of being made to eat real green eggs and ham as a kid.
Ingredients:
Brushetta (sliced into rounds)
2 Chorizo sausages sliced
Omlette
4 Eggs
½ bunch spinach
½ bunch Parsely
1 clove garlic
salt and pepper to taste
Pesto Aioli
2 cup olive oil
1/2 t/s Salt
5- 7 cloves garlic
juice from 1 Lemon
1/2 bunch coriander
1/2 bunch basil leaves
cracked pepper to taste
Method:
Arrange the Bruschetta on a tray and toast lightly under the
grill, reserve for later use.
Slice the chorizo into rounds and fry lightly in a pan. Reserve for later use.
Pesto Aioli Method
To make the aioli blend the garlic, salt and ¼ cup of oil in a blender until the garlic is a paste. Add small amounts of oil until it has emulsified and keep adding oil and lemon slowly whilst blending until the desired consistency has been reached.
Add the basil and blend until the leaves are processed to the desired consistency, add more oil or lemon if necessary.
Omlette
Cook the spinach briefly in a saucepan of water until just wilted. Drain and squeeze excess liquid.
In a food processor pulse the spinach, parsley, garlic and egg yolk until a puree has formed. Whisk the egg whites though the green mixture.
Melt butter in a frying pan and pour ¼ of the mixture in to cook. Cook gently over a low heat. Continue to cook all the mixture in this manner.
Once the egg mixture has cooked cut rounds out of the omelet using a biscuit cutter ready for assembly.
Assembly
To assemble place the Bruschetta on a plate and top with lettuce, ham, green eggs and aioli.
Don’t forget to take a look at how everyone else has interpreted this weeks theme of “Green” in the the cookbook challenge.
What dish would have been your first choice for a theme of "Green"?
Cookbook Challenge - Spice - Chai Madelines
Theme 12
Spice
The topic for this fortnights’ Cookbook Challenge is spice! I have had a few ideas’ rolling around in my head but I kept coming back to the spicy Chai flavours. I wanted to use this flavour in a dessert similarly to last years White Chocolate and Chai Creme Brulee, but this year I was wanting something a little less rich... after all a girls got to look after her figure sometimes.
The epiphany came when I received an invitation to the Early Intervention High Tea & Fashion Parade. I instantly visualised a delicious Mini Chai Madeline dusted with a mixture of icing sugar and allspice. I am waiting for more details regarding High Tea before I officially extend the invitation to my readers, but please mark Sunday 18th September 2011 in your calendar. Gourmet Getaways has reserved a table and I would love you all to join me, numbers will be limited. I will also be announcing a competition to win a place at the Gourmet Getaway table, but more about that in a later post.
Now to get your taste buds started, I would like to share a preview of one of the delicate morsels we may be served at the Early Intervention High Tea.
Ingredients:
Chai Infusion:
5 cloves
½ cinnamon stick
5 cardamom pods
1 star anise
½ nutmeg
1 cup water
Batter:
2 Eggs
2 Tbs caster sugar
2 Tbs icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla
¼ cup SR flour
¼ cup Plain flour
75gm melted butter
Dusting:
1 Tbs icing sugar
1 tsp allspice
Method:
Dry roast the spices until fragrant.
Micro plane the nutmeg into the mortar & pestle, then add the remaining spices. Pound spices until powdered.
Add 1 cup of water to a saucepan and simmer the spices in the water to infuse the flavour. The water needs to boil until only 1 – 2 Tbs of fluid remains.
Preheat the oven to 160 degrees and grease a mini Madeline tray. Mini Madeline tray will hold one teaspoon only.
Beat the eggs, caster sugar, icing sugar and vanilla in a mixing bowl until light and fluffy.
Strain the Chai infusion through a muslin cloth. Remove the spices squeezing the excess liquid from the cloth. You will only need 1 Tbs of the infusion for the Madelines.
Fold the sifted flours, butter and chai infusion through the egg mix carefully.
Use a teaspoon to fill the Madeline tray.
Bake for 7-8 mins. Remove from the pan and cool on a wire rack.
Combine the allspice and icing sugar and place into a sieve. Dust the Madelines with the mixture and serve.
Makes 36 mini Madelines
So I do hope you will join me at Pacific Bay Novotel on Sunday 18th September, for this girly indulgence.
Cookbook Challenge - Cups - Lolly Cups
Theme 11
Cups
Aren’t these just the cutest little things!! I have the cleverest mother, she made these adorable treats and brought them along for my daughters “tea party,” and I just had to share them with you.
They were a huge hit at Little A’s birthday party which was a pink and white themed tea party. Mum said she made them very easily the morning of the party.
Ingredients:
1 pkt YoYo Iced Biscuits
1 Pkt Pink & White Marshmallows
1 Pkt Musk Life Savers
1 Pkt Freckles
¼ cup of stiffly made icing sugar
Method:
Place yoyo biscuits on a serving tray. Add ½ tsp of icing to the biscuit.
Place a marshmallow on the icing to press slightly to secure it.
Add the freckle to the marshmallow with another dot of icing.
Cut the lifesavers into a “handle” and push into the marshmallow, if necessary this can be secured with icing also.
There you have it! One gorgeous serving of lolly cups for your next little girls tea party.
So tell me readers, does your mother ever “pop” in with a delicious treat?? What special thing does your mother make for you that you love? If you want to send a picture or a link to something on your blog email me, I would love to include it at the bottom of this story. Julie@gourmetgetaways.com.au, naturally you are also welcome to simply leave a comment at the bottom of the story.
Don’t forget to take a look at how everyone else has interpreted the theme of “Cups” for the cookbook challenge.
Smurfy White Chocolate Panna Cotta
Topic 10
Blue
What food is blue??? I have struggled to choose an item to prepare for this topic. The only image which was coming to mind was a delicious cocktail I had in Fiji called a Blue Lagoon. Naturally then my mind would wander…I would be mentally poolside and no closer to inventing a blue dish for the Cookbook Challenge.
My next thought was Smurfs are blue! Is this another random useless thought… perhaps not. Blue and white looks so nice together... Bingo, I remembered the retro Smurf ice-poles from my childhood. They were “splits” (i.e. two sticks) one white creamy side and one blue icy side. I knew I was onto something I just had to iron out the ingredients and the engineering and voila! An adult only Smurfy dessert!
The blue is a delicious jelly blue lagoon and the white is a creamy white chocolate and vanilla bean panna cotta. Ah just like when I was a kid only so much better.
I would have loved my collection of Smurf figurines for the photo shoot but unfortunately they didn’t survive my teenaged years and are now long gone. So let’s get smurfing and make this smurftastic Panna cotta.
Ingredients:
Blue Lagoon Jello
1 pkt blue jelly crystals
1 cup boiling water
½ cup vodka
¼ cup blue Curacao
¼ cup Malibu
White Chocolate & Vanilla Panna Cotta
500ml pouring cream
1 ½ tsp unflavoured gelatin
65gm white chocolate
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
½ cup caster sugar
Method:
Although this recipe is a cinch it does take two days to make.
Day 1: In a bowl add boiling water and blue jelly, stir until the mixture is dissolved. Add the remaining ingredients and stir to ensure the gelatin is dissolved. Pour the jelly into a serving glass.
Clear a space in the fridge and arrange a rolled up tea towel in the fridge to rest the glasses on. The glasses should be lying on an angle which gives an attractive diagonal appearance to the jelly. Place another tea towel at the stem of the glass to prevent them slipping. Refrigerate overnight.
Day 2: Warm the cream in a saucepan and add the gelatin. Stir until the gelatin is completely dissolved. Add the sugar, white chocolate and vanilla to the cream mixture. Stir the saucepan off the heat until the mixture is smooth and the chocolate is melted.
Allow the panna cotta to come to room temperature.
Take the blue lagoon glasses from the fridge and top with the panna cotta mixture. Refrigerate the glasses once again.
When the dessert is set decorate with cream and serve. I can image a smurfette garnish and a cocktail umbrella.
Verdict on these blue dessert, I loved the white chocolate panna cotta but I think I would leave the vodka out of the blue lagoon and simply add an extra ½ cup of water to the mixture. It was a little strong for a dessert. If you wanted an alcohol free dessert you could just make the jelly up as directed on the packet. The mix of jelly on one side and creamy on the other was a delicious combination. I would definitely make this again.
Cookbook Challenge- Crunchy Asian Noodle Salad
Crunchy Asian Noodle Salad
Topic 9 - Crunchy
Take a look at the view from my new kitchen window! It doesn’t get much more scenic than this. So where am I? I am currently in transit and enjoying a few days in the Forster Tuncurry area.
However it is cookbook challenge time and rather than missing a challenge while I am on the road I decided to take the theme of “crunchy” to the park across the road from where we’re staying.
For this challenge I am going to be guilty of blogging a boring, unphotogenic salad again. Trouble is, it isn’t really boring, it is super tasty, healthy, quick to make and one of my “go to salads”. Best of all, it really fits the topic of crunchy. The combination of nuts, crispy noodles and cabbages is incredibly crunchy.
So here is Cookbook Challenge 9- Crunchy Asian Noodle Salad, and a few pictures of my new beachside kitchen.
Ingredients:
¼ head cabbage shredded
4 chopped shallots
1 bunch fresh coriander chopped
6 mint leaves
50 gm crispy noodles
50 gm nuts toasted
Dressing:
60ml white vinegar
60ml soy sauce
1 t/s sesame oil
2 t/s caster sugar
Methods:
Layer all the salad ingredients on a plate. Start with the cabbage and finish the layers with nuts and noodles. Any nuts can be used I like, almond slivers, cashews or peanuts. I have served the salad with BBQ Chinese Pork but shredded poached chicken is also nice.
Mix all the dressing ingredients together in a bottle and shake. Pour the dressing over the salad and serve.
Serves 4 people
We are really enjoyed the foreshore area of Forster and what I imagine will be the last remnants of Summer. We took a ten kilometre push bike ride on a cycle way from Foster and across the bridge to Tuncurry. The path weaved its way through the various foreshores and park areas. Mercifully it was all flat and there were gorgeous views to keep me motivated. Enjoy your Easter break everyone and checkout the other entries in the "Crunchy" Cookbook Challenge!
Easter Egg Mousse Cake - Cookbook Challenge
Topic 8
Eggs
There are some food images you see, and you know instantly you have to reproduce the dish. For me, this was just such a recipe. I had considered making the torte for topic 7 “Celebration” but with the cute little Easter eggs on top and an egg based chocolate mousse I decided that it would be equally suited to the egg theme.
My confession however is that I didn’t use a cookbook, for this weeks “Cookbook Challenge”. The recipe came straight from the Free Coles Autumn Magazine. So I guess the big question is it as luscious as it looks… and the answer, absolutely!
Ingredients:
Base
150gm Oreo Cookies
40gm butter (melted)
60gm salted peanuts
Mousse Layer
250gm milk chocolate
50gm dark chocolate
½ cup cream
4 eggs separated
10gm sachet unflavoured gelatin
¼ cup boiling water
¾ cup caster sugar
Ganache Layer
¾ cup dark chocolate melts
½ cup smooth peanut butter
40 gm butter
Method:
Line a spring form tin with plastic wrap.
Place the butter, Oreos and peanuts in a food processor and pulse until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Press the mixture into the base of the prepared tin and refrigerate.
Heat cream in the microwave and add the milk and dark chocolate. Stir until the mixture is smooth. If necessary microwave again in 30 second intervals. Once the chocolate mixture is smooth, whisk in the egg yolks.
In a small bowl add the boiling water to the gelatin and combine the two until the gelatin has dissolved.
Add the gelatine to the mouse mixture and stir until it is well combined.
Using an electric mixer and a clean bowl beat the egg whites to soft peaks. Gradually add the sugar until the mixture is thick and glossy and all the sugar has been incorporated.
Fold the egg whites gentle through the chocolate custard. Until just combine, try not to reduce the volume of the mousse by stirring.
Pour the mousse over the base and return the dish to the fridge.
To make the ganache, firstly melt the butter in a saucepan over a low heat. Add the peanut butter and then the chocolate and continue to stir until the mixture is smooth. Remove the ganache from the heat and allow it to completely cool at room temperature.
Pour the ganache over the torte and refrigerate for at least two hour prior to serving.
Remove the tin and decorate with Easter Eggs and shaved white chocolate.
Enjoy!
This really is an easy dish, and so decadent and rich!
Strawberry & Rose Teacup Cakes
Celebration
Topic 7
What food do you think about when it is time to celebrate?? Is it just me, or does champagne come to mind first. After all, what is a celebration without a bottle or two of bubbly?
Needless to say I have been struggling to associate a particular food with a celebration, upon asking around most people seem to think of cake when there is a celebration. My next thought was the celebrations themselves, in our house it is mainly birthdays we celebrate, and sure enough, it is all about the cake.
It will be my gorgeous little girl’s fourth birthday at the beginning of May and she is already planning her party. She plans to invite friends for a Princess and Pirates Tea Party. We have been doing the rounds together visiting op shops looking for gorgeous tea cups. I plan to use an image from this photographic shoot to make the tea party invitations for her party.
Ingredients:
90gm butter
½ t/s vanilla
½ cup caster sugar
1 cup SR flour
2 T/s milk
2 eggs
6-8 t/s strawberry jam
Icing:
125gm butter softened
1 ½ cups icing sugar
1 ½ Tbs rose water
Decorations as desired
Method:
Preheat oven to 160 degrees and add muffin papers to tin.
Beat butter, flour, sugar, vanilla and milk in a small electric mixer bowl until it resembles bread crumbs. Add the eggs and beat until pale on a medium to high speed.
Put a spoonful of the mixture in each of the patty papers ensuring the base of the papers are covered.
Add ½ a teaspoon of jam to each of the cupcakes.
Continue to top the cupcakes with the remainder of the mixture.
Bake for 20minutes or until golden and cooked.
To make the butter cream beat the butter until pale.
Add the icing sugar and rose water.
Pipe the cakes with butter cream mixture and top with any decorations.
Please have a look at how my fellow challengers have interpreted the theme of "Celebration"!
What would be your favourite celebration food?
Garlic Prawns in Chili Oil
Outdoors
Topic 5
I am just a little bit late on my completing and uploading my Cookbook Challenges. I do plan to catch up because I thoroughly enjoy the process of interpreting the theme and producing something I would not have otherwise cooked.
The theme for fortnight number 5 was outdoors. We do a lot of cooking outdoors so I wanted to do something a little different. I had been thinking of making the garlic prawns from the “Cooking With Company” Tapas course I took a few months ago but I hadn’t quite got around to it.
This weekend proved to be the perfect opportunity to give the recipe a try. We were going camping with some friends and I decided it was time to purchase a “camp oven.” A camp oven is basically a cast iron pot which can be placed (pretty much) straight on the campfire. In the tapas class we used small individual serve cast iron pots to produce delicious garlic prawns but since I was cooking for 8 adults I decided it would be far easier to use one larger pot.
Ingredients:
1 kilo green prawns
¼ cup olive oil
50gm butter
1 red chilli chopped
6 cloves garlic chopped
1 sprig rosemary
5 sprigs thyme
salt
cracked pepper
Method:
Shell the prawns but leave the tail attached. Make a slit in the back and remove the grit line.
Place the oil, butter and garlic in a pan and sauté for a few minutes.
Transfer the garlic and oil to the cast iron pot and add all the remaining ingredients, finishing with the prawns. Place the lid on the pot and put it over the campfire.
Allow it to cook for ten minutes and then check if the prawns are cooked. If not, stir and leave for a further five minutes.
Serve with hot crusty bread. The oil is delicious to dip the bread into. Once we had finished the prawns we added large mushrooms cut in quarter to the oil and placed it back on the fire. Delicious!
It was a gourmet camping experience!
Happy Birthday Harley xx
Key Lime Tart
Week 6
Topic American
Key Lime Pie, it is such a cute name!
This dessert had always intrigued me because at one stage it was obviously popular, and I heard it mentioned a lot but never had the opportunity to try it. Now I don’t hear it mentioned so much, and I still haven’t tried it. So anyway, that was what precipitated the making of this dessert. My curiosity finally got the better of me and since I don’t seem to see it on a menu anywhere I realized I was going to have to bite the bullet and make it myself. So this seemed like the obvious choice for the "American Cookbook Challenge." After a lot of research it seems that there really is only one way to make Key Lime Pie and the ingredients really don’t seem to vary from recipe to recipe.
Now, I know in making that comment I will get a million variations on the recipe, so feel free to send them to me and I will happily make (and eat) them all. One common variation I have noticed is the choice between a cream topping on the pie or a meringue. I went with the cream and I was really pleased I did. The pie is very sweet! I would have found the meringue too sweet on the top where as the cream cut through the sweet and tart flavour.
My biggest problem with the Key Limes is that they only grow in the Florida Keys, so I couldn't make and authentic pie. I substituted Key Limes for regular limes, but I am assured the flavour shouldn't vary too much.
I did have one little mishap making my first pie. I will share so that no one else goes down the same path. I really thought at the outset that the pie should be a gorgeous light green! I presumed it would get the green from the lime rind so I added extra rind to get some colour in the tart. Mistake! Too much rind will make the tart too strong and tarty. Stick with the rind quantities below.
Prior to making the second tart I did some further research and found that the colour of key lime pie is a gentle cream colour, with the only green being flecks of rind. One article also warned not to add green food colouring. I admit I had almost been tempted, and now that I have seen some Google images I am so relieved that I didn’t.
Now if I have made this pie sound difficult I am sorry. It is the easiest pie I have made! Simple and delicious.
Ingredients:
Crust
200g digestive, nice or wheatmeal biscuits
1 tablespoon caster sugar
100g unsalted butter, melted
Filling
4 eggs, lightly beaten
1 x 395g can sweetened condensed milk
150ml thickened cream
4 limes juiced (1/2 cup juice)
*zest of 1 lime only :)
Method:
Preheat the oven to 170°C. Spray a tart tin with cooking oil.
Place the biscuits in a food processor and process. Add the sugar and melted butter and process until combined.
Press the mixture firmly into the base and up the sides of the tart tin. Use a glass to ensure the crust is firmly in place. Refrigerate while preparing the filling.
Whisk the eggs, condensed milk, cream, lime zest and lime juice until smooth. You can continue to use the cleaned food processor. Pour into the biscuit crust.
Bake for 40 minutes or until filling is just set. Cool the tart on the bench and then refrigerate for at least 2 hours prior to serving. Add cream and serve.
Check out what everyone else made for the "American Challenge"
Salmon Miso Soup
Week 3
Topic Rice/Noodle
I have a sick hubby at the moment, Mr GG has tonsillitis. He is bedridden, tired and lethargic, worst of all though, is that he is struggling to swallow. When I’m unwell I just want fluids, tea, water, green tea and soup. So I decided to make hubby a bowl of my “special” Miso soup.
My Miso Soup is special because I add a few more ingredients. I use sashimi grade salmon and noodles to give the soup a little more body so it may becomes a meal in itself.
Neither the salmon nor the tofu is cooked prior to serving. The hot broth is merely poured over these ingredients. This allows the silken tofu to keep its perfect diced shape and the salmon to softly poach in the liquid. The salmon will have the same “melt in your mouth” consistency as the tofu.
It is a very satisfying soup, and is quick and easy to make. The only consideration is to have all the ingredients prepped and ready to use prior to commencing.
Ingredients:
220gm Sashimi Grade Salmon (sliced thinly)
300gm silken Tofu (cubed)
3 shallots (sliced finely)
100gm noodles
1 litre water (pre boiled in jug)
2 Tbs White Miso Paste
Method:
Place a saucepan on the stove over a medium heat. Add the pre boiled water and shallots. Boil for 1 minute.
Divide the salmon and tofu amongst serving bowls.
Remove ½ cup of water from the saucepan and add the Miso paste. Stir until the paste has dissolved, reserve for later.
Add the noodles to the boiling water and cook until just soft. Turn off the heat and stir through the dissolved miso paste until combined.
Pour the broth into the serving bowl, over the salmon and tofu. Ensure the noodles are divided evenly amongst the bowls. Give the bowls a very light stir to allow some tofu and salmon to surface. Serve.
This recipe will serve two people as a main or four people as an entree.
Orange Syrup Almond & Polenta Cake
Week 2
Citrus
When I first started this site I really didn’t make a lot of desserts. As time goes on I find I am choosing desserts for most themed topics. Somehow I get more satisfaction out of preparing and photographing a sweet, rather than a savoury item.
So for this weeks Cookbook Challenge topic being “Citrus” I toyed with the idea of a “Duck l’orange” for about a millisecond, and then went straight to the sweet section of my mind. I do like a nice orange cake, especially orange and poppyseed muffin but that’s a little plain. I wanted something sticky and desserty… and so the Orange Syrup Almond and Polenta Cake was born, a hybrid of many recipes.
The cake has a fantastic texture which is due to the flourless crumb. It is beautiful and light, with just the almond meal and citrus zest giving the cake its flavour. The real zing comes from the warm orange sauce. The sauce is poured over the cake turning it into something which resembles a summer pudding more than a plain cake.
Ingredients:
225g butter, softened
225g caster sugar
3 large eggs
225g ground almonds
grated rind of 2 oranges
100g polenta
½ tsp baking powder
Orange Syrup:
100g caster sugar
grated rind of 2 oranges
450ml orange juice
2 cloves
1 cinnamon stick
5 cardomon pods (bruised)
100ml water
2 tbsp cornflour
Preheat the oven to 145 C for a fan forced oven. Grease cake tin.
Beat the butter and sugar until pale, light and fluffy. Gradually beat in the eggs one at a time.
Add the orange rind, almond meal, polenta and baking powder and mix until combined. Spoon into the cake tin and level the top.
Bake for 1 hour or until firm and golden.
Leave the cake in the tin for 10 minutes to cool, then turn out onto a serving platter.
Orange Syrup:
Combine orange juice, rind, sugar and spices in a saucepan and bring to the boil while stirring. Simmer for 1 - 2 minutes.
Turn the heat off and allow the spices to steep in the liquid while the cake cooks. Combine the water and cornflour and reserve for later use. Once the cake is cooked remove the spices from the sauce. Turn the heat to low and warm the orange syrup once again. Add the cornflour mix and stir until the syrup thickens.
Serve the syrup over the warm cake.
This cake would be delicious served with ice-cream.
Black Forest Macaroons
Week 1
Stone Fruit
Welcome to 2011 Cookbook Challenge! My regular readers will remember last years list of 52 cooking themes. This year the themes are fortnightly, so I will only have 26 topics to contemplate creating a dish to represent the week. Last year there were themes I had difficulty interpreting in culinary terms, and readers were fantastic, making suggesting of dishes and providing recipes via facebook. I really hope that continues this year, the interaction was something I really enjoyed. As soon as I know the year’s topics I will post them so you can look ahead at the topics and help me with ideas.
This week’s topic is stone fruit. I love Christmas time for all the delicious fruit available to us. Stone fruit means Christmas to me. There have been so many delicious cherries in the stores that my next thought was to create a dish using cherries.
The most famous cherry recipe I could think of is the Black Forest Cake, but I wanted a twist. So I give you, my version of a Black Forest Macaroon.
I had a little trouble finding Kirsch so I substituted for a cherry liqueur which was delicious and much easier to find. The sentiment amongst my tasters was that these macaroons were the best I have made. The reason they gave was that they are not too sickly sweet. I usually fill my macaroons with a flavoured ganache and this time chose a cream flavoured with the cherry brandy and Morella cherries.
Macaroon Ingredients:
3 egg whites
¼ cup caster sugar
1 cup icing sugar (sifted)
120gm ground almond
¼ cup cocoa powder
Cream Filling:
250ml cream
5 Tbs pure icing sugar
100gm canned cherries drained and patted dry
2 Tbs cherry brandy
Cream Topping:
100ml cream
3 Tbs pure icing sugar
1 t/s vanilla
Cherry Tops:
15 cherries
15gm copha
100gm dark chocolate
Method:
Beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Slowly add the caster sugar beating well between each addition. Beat until stiff peaks form. Transfer the mixture to a larger bowl and gently fold through the icing sugar and then the almond and cocoa.
Preheat the oven to 140 degrees. Prepare two baking trays with paper.
Once the mixture is combined place the meringue into a piping bad and pipe round macaroons. Leave the macaroons to sit on the baking tray for 20mins prior to cooking.
Bake for 30 mins or until cooked. Leave on the tray to cool.
To make the cherry cream filling, beat the cream with brandy and icing sugar until it is very stiff. Stir through the cherry and refrigerate.
The cream topping is made by beating all the ingredients together until stiff. Refrigerate.
Chocolate Cherries are made by melting the copha and chocolate in the microwave together. Stir until smooth. Place baking paper on a tray. Ensuring the cherries are completely dry dip them in the chocolate mixture and place onto the baking paper.
Once complete refrigerate the cherries.The remaining chocolate is used for the shaved chocolate on top of the macaroons. Pour the chocolate on to baking paper and refrigerate. Once harden grate the chocolate into a dish to sprinkle over the macaroons.
Assembly the macaroons when you are ready to serve.
Just a warning, the macaroons need to be eaten on the day they are assembled. The cream will soften the macaroon over time. This wasn’t a problem for my tasters, and the ones that were eaten the following day were still delicious, but they lack some of the previous day’s meringue crunch.
2011 Cookbook Challenge
The Cookbook Challenge has commenced again for another year. For anyone who doesn’t know. Last year April from My Food Trail handed down 52 cooking challenges, one for each week of the year. The challenge came in the form of a “weekly food theme” which participants needed to interpret and represented in a recipe. We uploaded the completed project to our own website and then took pleasure in visually devouring each others creations.
If you would like to have a look at some of my creations from last year click on last years Challenge badge.
Well, the challenge is on again! This time it is a fortnightly challenge and we have our very own forum to link our creations too and a shiney new badge for 2011. Rather swish, don’t you think!
The first topic is “Stone fruit” the challenge runs from the 1st January to the 15th January so thinking caps on. I know what I am going to make and I would love to squeal in anticipation, I hope it turns out as gorgeous as I am imagining! ...any guesses...stay tuned!
Oh, anyone is welcome to join the group, and it is a lot of fun trying to think of an interesting slant on a topic.
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3 TOURS DEPARTING 2012
Have Your Say
I wish I had you for my mum when I was 5!
That cake would have been the talk of the town for the rest of the year - fantastic job.
A lot of your blogs will be interactively design and style that visitor share data to read your blog.
Thank you so much, it is going to be a wonderful surprise for my Mum, I wish everyone a great day with your own special people, those who helped you become who you are today.
Mum definitely deserves the hamper, because she is an amazing woman that has brought up 3 kids through tough times. She is the best mum a son could ask for.
She's had it tough, working hard
deserving much more than just a card
So let's raise a glass and toast her true
The best person in the world - Mum, that's you!
Thanks for the info on Rasa Malaysia's book. I used to visit her website for recipes but some time ago, igot a new PC and forgot to bookmark it!
You're too modest Julie! You did a great job with the cake! :D
Yellow strawberries and cream is just perfect for mum as a reward for putting up with two kids who were a pain in the bum.
I would have loved to have seen those martini glasses! Hope Miss A had a lovely time celebrating turning 5 :D
It shouldn't. It should go to me as whilst trying to make sure my mum, step-mum, MIL, Step-MIL, 3 x Grandmas are spoilt on Mother's Day, I always seem to get forgotten!
My poor old mum is battling to care for my step dad who has advanced Parkinsons. My real dad who has had a stroke still expects her to be there for him, my bro is going bankrupt and she lives two states away from her only gransdon. Her life has little joy- JUst wish for one thing nice to happen to her. We all love our mums, good luck to you all!
Perfect place to relax and forget about all the troubles we have in the city and just unwind ~ can't wait to go to somewhere like this hehe
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