1/3 cup ground coffee
1 1/2 cups water
milk, optional
ice, to serve
Mix coffee and water and leave for 12 hrs or overnight. Strain well and serve with ice and milk as desired.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Cold-brewed Iced Coffee
I had this saved in my bookmarks for ages and it's finally been hot enough to actually prefer iced coffee over ordinary coffee. This cold-brewed idea is easier and does indeed taste better than using cooled espresso.
Cold-brewed iced coffee
1/3 cup ground coffee
1 1/2 cups water
milk, optional
ice, to serve
Mix coffee and water and leave for 12 hrs or overnight. Strain well and serve with ice and milk as desired.
1/3 cup ground coffee
1 1/2 cups water
milk, optional
ice, to serve
Mix coffee and water and leave for 12 hrs or overnight. Strain well and serve with ice and milk as desired.
Friday, January 7, 2011
Classic Baked Vanilla Cheesecake
Have guests over this evening so decided to whip up my first cheesecake. Wanted to keep it simple so chose this baked vanilla recipe and added a strawberry topping with chocolate drizzled on top.
Classic Baked Vanilla Cheesecake from taste.com.au
Ingredients
Crust
250g packet of Nice biscuits
140g unsalted butter, melted
Filling
500g cream cheese, room temperature
300g sour cream
3/4C caster sugar (155g)
3 eggs
3 tsp vanilla essence
Topping
1/6C water
1/8C sugar (I used vanilla sugar)
Just over half a 250g punnet of strawberries, chopped as desired
Any type of chocolate for drizzling, melted
Icing sugar for dusting, if desired
Method
1. Release the base from a 22cm diameter springform pan. Line the base with baking paper, allowing the edges to overhang. Secure the base back into the pan.
2. Place the biscuits in the bowl of a food processor and process until finely crushed. Add the butter and process until well combined.
3. Transfer to the lined pan. Use the back of a spoon or a straight-sided glass to spread and press the biscuit mixture firmly over the base and side of the pan.
4. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 30 minutes to chill.
5. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 140°C fan-forced.
6. Place the cream cheese, sour cream and sugar in the clean bowl of a food processor and process until smooth.
7. Add the eggs and vanilla, and process until well combined.
8. Pour the cream cheese mixture into the prepared pan. Bake in oven for 1 hour or until just set in the centre. Turn oven off. Leave the cheesecake in the oven, with the door slightly ajar, until cooled completely (this will prevent the cake from cracking). I left it for about 1 hour.
9. Place in the fridge for at least 4 hours to chill.
10. For topping - place water and sugar in pot and heat to simmering. Leave to simmer for about 5 minutes until a syrup forms. Add the berries and cook for a further minute. Chill and spoon on top of cake before serving. Drizzle melted chocolate on top of berries and dust with icing sugar.
Verdict
I don't think I've ever tried baked cheesecake before - I've only had the no-bake kind. Although this was tasty and had a nice texture, I think I still prefer the lighter, creamier no-bake type. The chocolate on top was a failed idea as it hardened and as the cake is so soft it just pushes through and crushes the cake when cutting a slice = messy. It may help putting oil in the chocolate or making sure it's drizzled very thinly. The strawberries were beautiful. Also, make sure you evenly spread the biscuit layer, especially at the edges - mine is quite thick and hard to cut through with a spoon at the ends.
Classic Baked Vanilla Cheesecake from taste.com.au
Crust
250g packet of Nice biscuits
140g unsalted butter, melted
Filling
500g cream cheese, room temperature
300g sour cream
3/4C caster sugar (155g)
3 eggs
3 tsp vanilla essence
Topping
1/6C water
1/8C sugar (I used vanilla sugar)
Just over half a 250g punnet of strawberries, chopped as desired
Any type of chocolate for drizzling, melted
Icing sugar for dusting, if desired
Method
1. Release the base from a 22cm diameter springform pan. Line the base with baking paper, allowing the edges to overhang. Secure the base back into the pan.
2. Place the biscuits in the bowl of a food processor and process until finely crushed. Add the butter and process until well combined.
3. Transfer to the lined pan. Use the back of a spoon or a straight-sided glass to spread and press the biscuit mixture firmly over the base and side of the pan.
4. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 30 minutes to chill.
5. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 140°C fan-forced.
6. Place the cream cheese, sour cream and sugar in the clean bowl of a food processor and process until smooth.
7. Add the eggs and vanilla, and process until well combined.
8. Pour the cream cheese mixture into the prepared pan. Bake in oven for 1 hour or until just set in the centre. Turn oven off. Leave the cheesecake in the oven, with the door slightly ajar, until cooled completely (this will prevent the cake from cracking). I left it for about 1 hour.
9. Place in the fridge for at least 4 hours to chill.
10. For topping - place water and sugar in pot and heat to simmering. Leave to simmer for about 5 minutes until a syrup forms. Add the berries and cook for a further minute. Chill and spoon on top of cake before serving. Drizzle melted chocolate on top of berries and dust with icing sugar.
I don't think I've ever tried baked cheesecake before - I've only had the no-bake kind. Although this was tasty and had a nice texture, I think I still prefer the lighter, creamier no-bake type. The chocolate on top was a failed idea as it hardened and as the cake is so soft it just pushes through and crushes the cake when cutting a slice = messy. It may help putting oil in the chocolate or making sure it's drizzled very thinly. The strawberries were beautiful. Also, make sure you evenly spread the biscuit layer, especially at the edges - mine is quite thick and hard to cut through with a spoon at the ends.
Monday, January 3, 2011
Cinnamon scrolls
Been wanting to attempt baking with yeast for a while now and when I came across this recipe I knew it was time.
Cinnamon rolls from The Pioneer Woman - I quartered the recipe and got about 12 rolls
Ingredients
Bun
1C whole milk
1/4C vegetable oil
1/4C caster sugar
1/2 tbsp active dry yeast (3.5g/half a packet)
2C plain flour
1/4C plain flour
1/4 heaping tsp baking powder
1/4 scant tsp baking soda
1/4 tbsp salt
Filling
1/2C butter, melted
3/4C sugar
1/4C cinnamon (or more depending on preference)
Frosting
115g powdered sugar
1/3C milk
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
1 tbsp butter, melted
Method
1. Mix the milk, vegetable oil and sugar in a pan. Scald the mixture (heat until just before the boiling point - about 65C). Turn off heat and leave to cool 45 minutes to 1 hour.
2. When the mixture is lukewarm to warm, but NOT hot, sprinkle in the yeast. Let this sit for a minute.
3. Then add 2C of flour. Stir mixture together. Cover and let rise for at least an hour.
4. After rising for at least an hour, add 1/4C of flour, the baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir mixture together. (At this point, you could cover the dough and put it in the fridge until you need it – overnight or even a day or two, if necessary. Just keep your eye on it and if it starts to overflow out of the pan, just punch it down).
5. When ready to prepare rolls: Sprinkle rolling surface generously with flour. Take the dough and form a rough rectangle. Then roll the dough thin, maintaining a general rectangular shape. Drizzle melted butter over the dough. Now sprinkle sugar over the butter followed by a generous sprinkling of cinnamon.
6. Now, starting at the opposite end, begin rolling the dough in a neat line toward you. Keep the roll relatively tight as you go. Next, pinch the seam of the roll to seal it.
7. Line and butter pans and preheat oven to 170C fan-forced.
8. Cut the rolls approximately ¾ to 1 inch thick and lay them in the pans.
9. Let the rolls rise for 20 to 30 minutes
10. Bake until light golden brown, about 15 to 18 minutes.
11. Meanwhile make the frosting: mix together all ingredients and stir well until smooth. I added a dash of maple syrup too. It should be thick but pourable. Taste and adjust as needed. Generously drizzle over the warm rolls.
Verdict
To my surprise the yeast was a success! My dough rose (although I'm not sure they rose much in the baking trays). These taste just beautiful. Divine fresh from the oven (or just heated up in the microwave). More cinnamon next time and I think I'll try the coffee maple frosting from the original recipe.
Next up: more yeast and polenta projects
Cinnamon rolls from The Pioneer Woman - I quartered the recipe and got about 12 rolls
Ingredients
Bun
1C whole milk
1/4C vegetable oil
1/4C caster sugar
1/2 tbsp active dry yeast (3.5g/half a packet)
2C plain flour
1/4C plain flour
1/4 heaping tsp baking powder
1/4 scant tsp baking soda
1/4 tbsp salt
Filling
1/2C butter, melted
3/4C sugar
1/4C cinnamon (or more depending on preference)
Frosting
115g powdered sugar
1/3C milk
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
1 tbsp butter, melted
Method
1. Mix the milk, vegetable oil and sugar in a pan. Scald the mixture (heat until just before the boiling point - about 65C). Turn off heat and leave to cool 45 minutes to 1 hour.
2. When the mixture is lukewarm to warm, but NOT hot, sprinkle in the yeast. Let this sit for a minute.
3. Then add 2C of flour. Stir mixture together. Cover and let rise for at least an hour.
4. After rising for at least an hour, add 1/4C of flour, the baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir mixture together. (At this point, you could cover the dough and put it in the fridge until you need it – overnight or even a day or two, if necessary. Just keep your eye on it and if it starts to overflow out of the pan, just punch it down).
5. When ready to prepare rolls: Sprinkle rolling surface generously with flour. Take the dough and form a rough rectangle. Then roll the dough thin, maintaining a general rectangular shape. Drizzle melted butter over the dough. Now sprinkle sugar over the butter followed by a generous sprinkling of cinnamon.
6. Now, starting at the opposite end, begin rolling the dough in a neat line toward you. Keep the roll relatively tight as you go. Next, pinch the seam of the roll to seal it.
7. Line and butter pans and preheat oven to 170C fan-forced.
8. Cut the rolls approximately ¾ to 1 inch thick and lay them in the pans.
9. Let the rolls rise for 20 to 30 minutes
10. Bake until light golden brown, about 15 to 18 minutes.
11. Meanwhile make the frosting: mix together all ingredients and stir well until smooth. I added a dash of maple syrup too. It should be thick but pourable. Taste and adjust as needed. Generously drizzle over the warm rolls.
Verdict
To my surprise the yeast was a success! My dough rose (although I'm not sure they rose much in the baking trays). These taste just beautiful. Divine fresh from the oven (or just heated up in the microwave). More cinnamon next time and I think I'll try the coffee maple frosting from the original recipe.
Next up: more yeast and polenta projects
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Chocolate, Coconut, Weetbix slice, Lemon Polenta cake and Choc chip cookies
Made these recipes a while ago now. Major lack of photo taking was involved and only remembered to take a pic of the final product when we got down to the last few pieces.
I've recently been watching a lot of cable tv, particularly the food channels, and recently heard mention of polenta and realised I'd never tried it. So went and bought some and googled polenta cake. I wanted to avoid the one with oil so this was it!
Also wanted to bring something in to work and decided to make the popular weetbix slice.
I also made some choc chip m&m cookies before xmas but unfortunately didn't take any pics of the beauties.
Nigella's Tangy Lemon Polenta Cake
Ingredients
Cake
250g butter, softened
Rind of 2 lemons, finely grated
1C caster sugar
3 eggs separated
1/4 C lemon juice
150g almond meal (1 1/2C)
1C fine polenta
Syrup
1/4C icing sugar
1/4C lemon juice
Method
1. Preheat oven to 140C fan-forced. Line a 20cm diameter round cake tin.
2. Beat butter, rind and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy.
3. Slowly add the egg yolks, beating well.
4. Stir in the juice, almonds and polenta.
5. Whip/beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Carefully fold this into the polenta mixture.
6. Spread into tin and bake for 1hr or until skewer inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean.
7. Meanwhile, boil the lemon juice and sugar (syrup ingredients), stirring until sugar dissolves.
8. Poke holes with skewer all over hot cake and spoon syrup all over the top.
Verdict
At first I ate this warm with a little honey but wasn't too keen on it. Later I had a cold slice from the fridge and liked it much better. This is truly quite tangy so you have to be a lemon-lover. Will probably try a different recipe next time. Next I'll make a chocolate polenta cake though.
Chocolate & coconut slice
Ingredients
3 weetbix or equivalent
1C desiccated coconut
1/2C caster sugar
1C SR flour
2 tbsp cocoa powder
150g butter
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 1/2C icing sugar
1 tbsp cocoa
2-3 tbsp hot water
Method
1. Preheat oven to 160C. Line a 16x26cm baking pan.
2. Break up biscuits finely. Place into a mixing bowl with coconut and sugar.
3. Sift flour and cocoa over the weetbix mix and stir.
4. Melt butter in a small saucepan over a low heat (or microwave) then pour over dry ingredients.
5. Add vanilla. Mix well.
6. Spoon mixture into pan and press down to level. Bake for 15 minutes or until cooked.
7. Meanwhile sift icing sugar and cocoa into a small bowl. Add water and stir well. Ice slice while still hot. Cut into squares to serve.
Verdict
Nice! A little crumbly so would probably add extra butter next time and make sure the weetbix was crushed quite finely. Had trouble with the icing too for some reason and had to add extra water. The slice had cooled a bit too before I iced it which may also have caused my issues with spreading it.
Jaay's Best Ever Choc Chip cookies
Ingredients - makes at least 30 large cookies
2 cups plain flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4C unsalted butter, melted
1C packed brown sugar
1/2C caster sugar
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2C semisweet chocolate chips (or any mix of nuts/choc/candies etc - I used 1C milk choc chips and 1C red and green m&ms for an xmas theme)
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 140C fan-forced. Line baking trays (at least two - there will be many batches).
2. Sift the flour, salt and baking soda and set aside.
3. Mix the sugars and butter just until thoroughly mixed, then add egg, yolk and vanilla and mix until creamy.
4. Add the sifted ingredients and mix until just blended.
5. Stir in the chocolate chips/chunks
6. Drop 1/4 cup of the dough (I'd recommend less as they spread MAJORLY) onto baking trays, at least 5cm apart, and bake for 15-17 minutes.
7. Leave them on the cookie sheet to cool a bit when removed from the oven (this is important… they fall apart if you move them too quickly). Once they cool a few minutes, remove the cookies to a cooling rack to finish cooling.
Verdict
A-freaking-mazing. That is all.
Next up - cinnamon buns
I've recently been watching a lot of cable tv, particularly the food channels, and recently heard mention of polenta and realised I'd never tried it. So went and bought some and googled polenta cake. I wanted to avoid the one with oil so this was it!
Also wanted to bring something in to work and decided to make the popular weetbix slice.
I also made some choc chip m&m cookies before xmas but unfortunately didn't take any pics of the beauties.
Nigella's Tangy Lemon Polenta Cake
 |
Cake
250g butter, softened
Rind of 2 lemons, finely grated
1C caster sugar
3 eggs separated
1/4 C lemon juice
150g almond meal (1 1/2C)
1C fine polenta
Syrup
1/4C icing sugar
1/4C lemon juice
Method
1. Preheat oven to 140C fan-forced. Line a 20cm diameter round cake tin.
2. Beat butter, rind and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy.
3. Slowly add the egg yolks, beating well.
4. Stir in the juice, almonds and polenta.
5. Whip/beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Carefully fold this into the polenta mixture.
6. Spread into tin and bake for 1hr or until skewer inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean.
7. Meanwhile, boil the lemon juice and sugar (syrup ingredients), stirring until sugar dissolves.
8. Poke holes with skewer all over hot cake and spoon syrup all over the top.
Verdict
At first I ate this warm with a little honey but wasn't too keen on it. Later I had a cold slice from the fridge and liked it much better. This is truly quite tangy so you have to be a lemon-lover. Will probably try a different recipe next time. Next I'll make a chocolate polenta cake though.
Chocolate & coconut slice
Ingredients
3 weetbix or equivalent
1C desiccated coconut
1/2C caster sugar
1C SR flour
2 tbsp cocoa powder
150g butter
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 1/2C icing sugar
1 tbsp cocoa
2-3 tbsp hot water
Method
1. Preheat oven to 160C. Line a 16x26cm baking pan.
2. Break up biscuits finely. Place into a mixing bowl with coconut and sugar.
3. Sift flour and cocoa over the weetbix mix and stir.
4. Melt butter in a small saucepan over a low heat (or microwave) then pour over dry ingredients.
5. Add vanilla. Mix well.
6. Spoon mixture into pan and press down to level. Bake for 15 minutes or until cooked.
7. Meanwhile sift icing sugar and cocoa into a small bowl. Add water and stir well. Ice slice while still hot. Cut into squares to serve.
Verdict
Nice! A little crumbly so would probably add extra butter next time and make sure the weetbix was crushed quite finely. Had trouble with the icing too for some reason and had to add extra water. The slice had cooled a bit too before I iced it which may also have caused my issues with spreading it.
Jaay's Best Ever Choc Chip cookies
Ingredients - makes at least 30 large cookies
2 cups plain flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4C unsalted butter, melted
1C packed brown sugar
1/2C caster sugar
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2C semisweet chocolate chips (or any mix of nuts/choc/candies etc - I used 1C milk choc chips and 1C red and green m&ms for an xmas theme)
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 140C fan-forced. Line baking trays (at least two - there will be many batches).
2. Sift the flour, salt and baking soda and set aside.
3. Mix the sugars and butter just until thoroughly mixed, then add egg, yolk and vanilla and mix until creamy.
4. Add the sifted ingredients and mix until just blended.
5. Stir in the chocolate chips/chunks
6. Drop 1/4 cup of the dough (I'd recommend less as they spread MAJORLY) onto baking trays, at least 5cm apart, and bake for 15-17 minutes.
7. Leave them on the cookie sheet to cool a bit when removed from the oven (this is important… they fall apart if you move them too quickly). Once they cool a few minutes, remove the cookies to a cooling rack to finish cooling.
Verdict
A-freaking-mazing. That is all.
Next up - cinnamon buns
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