venetians- possibly better than arnotts

Hello everyone it's been so long since i've posted, sorry if there is anyone out there who follows by blog- please be someone...

Anyways last night i decided i really wanted to try this recipe from the womens weekly called vanilla and current cookies with a frosting. I then realised they were my favourite biscuit in the world (well favourite packet biscuit which are arnotts venetians). The other reason i decided to make them was because they remind me of broken hill (especially of min who also has a love for venetians). So here is my recipe (actually stolen from the womens weekly and since it was so perfect- i didn't modify them). The only thing i would have done differently was to make then thinner so they are cruncher rather than a soft cookie (which is what happened to mine).

Christines (stolen from the womens weekly) venetians:

Ingredients:

Cookie:

125g butter softened

splash vanilla essence

165g castor sugar

1 egg

300g self raising flour

40g desiccated coconut

40g dried currents

Icing:

240g pure icing sugar

splash vanilla essence

1.5 teaspoons butter softened

splash of milk

Method:

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius fan forced, line a cookie tray with gladbake.

Cream butter, sugar, egg and vanilla essence till light and fluffy in a mixer.

Add flour and mix with a wooden spoon till incorporated- it will look like a cookie dough.

Add coconut and currents and mix to combine.

Roll into small balls (about a tablespoon) and flatten onto tray (make then quite thin if you want them crispy and thicker if you want a chewy cookie).

Bake for about 12 minutes or until lightly brown.

Prepare icing:

Add the butter and vanilla to the icing and mix with a fork till it looks crumbly. Add milk until a very thick paste forms.

Using a double boiler technique (like melting chocolate), melt the icing till its spreadable.

Spread over cookies and let the icing set and the cookie cool.

Enjoy them with a cup of tea or coffee or on its own as i did!

Anyways i plan on posting a lot more since i am making a baby shower cake this weekend for my cake buddy jenny (pressure's on since she is an amazing cake decorator also). So stay tuned for me baby shower cake which i am very excited about.

I also thought i'd post pics from christmas of the gingerbread house i made and the christmas cupcakes which were a red velvet cupcake with white chocolate ganache covered in thin fondant. It was so much fun making the gingerbread house but for next time i will remember to make it shorter (since it almost toppled over- the first thing i said on christmas morning was 'is it still standing'). The recipe for the gingerbread was perfect for the house since it was a firm cookie from bourke st bakery's cookbook. Oh how i loved christmas...

The aftermath- once kids see sweets...

The cupcakes-

The Lava Cake Challenge

Hello everyone, i'm back from holidays and already back at uni. So as you know i am very good at blogging when uni is back since blogging is a great form of procrastination. So instead of reading up on medical things i decided it would be my (and my friend lauren's) mission to perfect the lava cake (aka fondant cake, chocolate souffle etc). It all started not so long ago (last night) when lauren told me about the most delicious dessert ever called the Lava Cake. She has been trying to perfect this recipe also with the main problems being:

1) over or under cooking the cake

2) the cake being stuck to the ramekin

3) it being so delicious the baker would eat the batter raw hence there would be nothing to bake

So i warn you, bake this recipe a few time before presenting it at a dinner party since everyone's oven is different and the times can definitely vary. For example we tried this recipe last night in jacki's oven and after 10 mins it was too runny it oozed all over the board, so we ended up scrapping it up and rebaking it (which worked surprisingly). We baked it for another 10 mins to have it overcooked. The other reason i take this challenge is- even if the cake is under or over baked it is still delicious, therefore it is never a let down.

So tonight i tried again and after 2 attempts i think i am closer to the perfect lava cake.

Attempt number 1 was foiled because i bought milk instead of dark chocolate (really silly mistake), then to add salt to the wound i overbaked it (again). The second attempt was much better, my lovely boyfriend went to woolworths to buy me the right chocolate (dark) and so begins attempt number 2. Here is the recipe for attempt number 2...

Ingredients:

200g dark chocolate

120g butter (unsalted) at room temp and diced

3 eggs

70g castor sugar

60g plain flour

Method:

Preheat over to 190 degrees fan forced. Over a double boiler melt the chocolate. Add the butter to the chocolate and stir until it is mixed in and smooth.

Beat 3 eggs and the sugar in a mixer until the mixture is light in colour and texture. Add the plain flour to the egg and sugar mixture. Ensure the chocolate mix is cooled and add it to the egg mix.

Stir with a spatula to combine and pour into moulds. I used silicon molds and i found they were great (once you go silicon you can't go back), however lauren's dad and lauren both use ramekins and they swear by ramekins, so i guess it's personal preference. I baked 6 at a time for 10 minutes then i let it stand till it was cool, before removing from the moulds. Cut and watch the oozing lava flow then enjoy.

This is what they looked like when i took them out of the oven, they seem very undercooked but if you let them cool in the moulds they continue to cook to perfection (hopefully).

This was the one perfect lava cake (1 out of 6) (lauren this ones for you)

So this recipe is really easy the hardest part is the baking, you want the cake to be cooked on the outside but raw on the inside (to be the sauce). It's tricky since if it's overcooked it's just a cake (no lava) but if it's undercooked it won't come out of the moulds in one piece. It might be easier to make it a big cake (as in bake it in a cake tin) since it's harder to overbake it (kind of like a raw cake which we've all done). Anyways mine are still far from perfect, i only had one perfect one out of 6 so there is still plenty of work to be done!

Until next time xoxo

bourke st bakery sausage rolls

Hi everyone, hope everyone is well. Holidays have been great, my life has consisted of friends, gossip girl and baking. Having said that christmas shopping has sent me broke and a japan trip is fast approaching. So after trying the bourke st bakery in marrickville (i think it's quite new, it opened on mitchell st) i decided to attempt this recipe from the bourke st bakery baking bible. This cookbook has changed my life, i love everything about it from the delicious recipes to the handy hints, even the pics are mouthwatering. This recipe is for pork and fennel sausage rolls and the first time i ever had them was at danielle's kitchen tea (my partner in crime Tors made them). They were amazing so i then went to the actual bakery and the rest is history (ie i made them). Here is the recipe i used (i am ashamed to say i did not make the puff pastry- i know, i feel guilty but pampas is good and puff pastry is a nightmare).

Pork and fennel sausage rolls

Ingredients

6 garlic cloves through a garlic crusher

40g fennel seeds chopped

4 thyme sprigs

150g onion chopped finely

150g celery chopped finely (boiled till soft)

150g carrots chopped finely (boiled till soft)

1.2kg pork mince

40g bread crumbs

20g salt

15g white pepper

puff pastry

egg wash for brushing- 1 egg and milk

Method

Heat some oil in a frying pan and brown the garlic, onion, thyme and fennel seeds. Add the cooked celery and carrots to the frying pan. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.

In a large bowl add the mince, breadcrumbs, salt, pepper and cooled vegetables.

Cut the pastry in half and put the meat into a log in the middle, fold the pastry over and secure tightly (you can use some egg wash to secure it). Cut the log into smaller pieces and egg wash the top (this ensure it will turn a lovely brown colour). Line a baking tray with foil (or baking paper) and bake in a 190 degree oven for 20 mins (or until the tops are brown and "oozing with goodness")

The dress i am wearing is by Florent. I bought this dress in kyoto japan last year and i still love it. I know every dress i write about is "my favourite" and "i love it" but this one has been my favourite for the longest time and i really do love it! There is a Florent store in tokyo, we tried to go last time but they were closed over new years, so this trip will definitely involve a post about florent.

Other things that have happened this week include a wedding- my friend danielle's. It was the first time i was a bridesmaid and i had such a lovely day- tiring but lovely. Danielle looked amazing and Ian was so proud. Danielle's dress was by Steven Khalil in Paddington sydney. The dress was made of fine tulle with polka dots. The cake was made by sweet art and was amazing- i hope to be that good one day. The bridesmaid dresses were created by Leonie Grace. It was a perfect day for danielle and i think the wedding was completely her- elegant and contemporary.

Congratulations danielle and ian, xoxo

Halfway to an Alannah Hill catalogue

Hi everyone sorry it's been so long since my last post, silly exams took over my life but now they are over and i am ready for a summer of blogging, shopping and baking. To finish stage 2 there was a halfway dinner which i helped organise with my trusty friend Sam. The night was a complete success with 170 guests at the tea room QVB.

We celebrated the end of an era since we've all split up now into our allocated clinical schools. The best thing about stage 2 for me was my study group (which are the girls featured in these photo's). I really couldn't have passed osce (and hopefully barrier) without them. My biggest piece of advice to anyone starting med at sydney university is to find a good study group, they will become your best friends and remind you, you're not alone even when you feel like you're the only one who has given up life for med. So here are the pictures, i hope you enjoy them, all 3 girls are dressed in Alannah Hill and i am dressed in my 500 days of summer dress.

The 500 days of summer dress was in the wedding scene when summer attend's Millie's wedding. In the movie it was made by western costume, but i had it made by Ophelia Belle in Enmore. She did and amazing job i was so happy with it, it's my own perfect summer dress!

My 3 greatest friends are wearing Alannah Hill dresses, Bek and Jac also have on alannah hill shoes while Lauren is wearing mollini. We all got our hair done at elevation hair in Glebe, on Glebe point road.

Picture of the high ceiling in the tea room QVB. They are such a wonderful company, so professional and everything ran so smoothly. The food was also amazing, would be a great venue for a wedding.

So the plan for this summer is to bake and shop, bake and shop! I have the Bourke St bakery cookbook at hand and i will be attempting croissants next week, so make sure you stay turned to see how they turn out! Furthermore japan and china is coming up (we leave on the 1/1/10) so i will be sure to post all my purchases (modeled hopefully like liebemarlene).

I would also like to thanks Topshop and Incu since i won 2 tickets to london for shopping at Topshop about Incu on oxford st sydney. Topshop is a UK brand which has finally reached our shores thanks to Incu (my other favourite shop). So i'll have alot of fashion to talk about in the coming year!

Yay i feel so free, it's finally hit me that exams are over and i have just under 2 months to do other things i really enjoy- like blog, bake and shop.

merry christmas, i love it when they start putting up trees and christmas lights

xoxo

Me and Matty

Danielle's Kitchen Tea

Hi everyone, today was my friend's kitchen tea which i had been organising for the last 3 days. It's been a really nice break from study (or an excellent form of procrastination since i was very busy and didn't even think of my exams). Preparation started on the thursday and continued till today, i ended up making trifle, cake, cupcakes, scones, chocolate tarts, ice cream cake and iced tea! But i think the highlight was definitely the teapot cake. The cake was supplied by mondo and i turned 2 9"round cakes into a teapot cake with chocolate ganache. The night was a success, team Tors and Christine (me) worked so well since Tors made all the savory (sausage rolls, finger sandwiches, quiche and little tartlets) while i made all the sweet!

I must admit i had a lot of help from my trusty friends jenny, gen and emily! i really couldn't have done it without you guys.

There's so much to say since these 3 days have been so busy, so sorry if this post makes no sense since i jump from one thing to another.

Scones

These scones were made based on the recipe from joyofbaking.com, it's a really good recipe for moist scones which i served with whipped cream and Hanks triple berry jam.

Actually i forgot i had clotted cream also which is still in Danielle's fridge.

Here's the recipe

ingredients:

2 cups self raising flour

50 grams caster sugar

pinch of salt

80 grams cold butter (chopped)

1 egg

dash of vanilla extract

120 ml fresh cream

Method:

Combine the flour, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Add the cold butter and using your hands combine the butter through the flour so that it's a crumb consistency (like making pastry). In a separate bowl mix the egg with the cream and vanilla extract. Add the wet mixture to the dry and mix until just combined. On a floured surface kneed the dough until the dough is even (do not over kneed). Cut into circles with a cookie cutter (about 2-3cm thick). Bake in a 180 degree over for about 15 mins until they are browned and a skewer comes out clean.

Serve with whipped cream and jam

These scones can be reheated in a microwave before serving to make them super moist and warm, a must for high tea!

Chocolate tarts

These tarts are amazing, i think i ate about 10 (they are small). The finishing touch is definitely the raspberry, it cuts through the sweetness with some sourness and it's perfect. The cases were bought from southern cross suppliers in camperdown, however pampas shortcrust pastry makes a perfect tart also. The chocolate filling is so simple:

Heat 150ml cream and 150ml water is a saucepan till boiling. Add to 300g couverture chocolate (use nice chocolate, it does make a big difference) and whisk to combine, the hot cream/water will melt the chocolate and form a glossy ganache.

These tarts were definitely my favourite, if i was on ready steady cook i would make this as my quickie bag! (actually i was on ready steady cook but not as a cook so i didn't get a quickie bag but that's a whole nother story).

The teapot cake

This cake is to date my favourite cake! I love dark blue with brown. I couldn't have done it without emily and jenny, you guys are the best. Everytime i start a cake i always stress, so on thursday i was stressing, however jenny and emily were nearby to remind me it's just a cake. The best thing for me about this cake was the fact that i put a center pole down the middle. I have never done a center pole on my own and was very proud of myself for drilling and glueing! The brown snail trail is piped royal icing, the ribbon is from amazing paper in enmore. The inspiration for this cake came from the invite. I tried to make navy (which is quite difficult to make) since i ended up with teal (really stupidly, because i added all the navy blue colour to jade icing, even a 5 year old could tell you navy and green make teal!) Let me know what you guys think,

So that's enough about cakes, time to move onto clothes. This week's favourite item is my new ebay dress! I got mat to take a picture of me posing like liebemarlene, what do you think? did i get the pose right? I love the hearts on this dress!

My friend bek and i really love this girl's blog, check it out if you haven't read it, even the picture are amazing! Speaking of picture, i am a really bad photographer i can only shoot on auto (you can tell the pictures i took compared to the ones mat took)- he can shoot on manual. Anyways i look to liebemarlene and hope one day my pics will look that good, in the mean time all i can do is copy her poses.

Anyway better go to bed now, tomorrow is back to study day. The fun is over i am dead to the world until after the 1st of december, but then after that all i will be doing is baking, blogging and shopping!

xoxo

Cath's Tiffany box cake

Hello again, sorry it's been so long since i've posted anything but the jacaranda's are out and that can only mean one thing- exams!

However amongst all the stress of the big barrier, jack, em and i were able to find some time to make a cake for jack's sister Cath. We decided on a tiffany box, which has always been my favourite cake to make and eat! We used a carrot and walnut cake with white chocolate ganache and covered with fondant.

Studying is the perfect time to fill your brain with lots of useless knowledge since google is a great tool for procrastination. I learnt all about new TV shows i'd like to watch, what's new at modcloth, urban outfitters and of course i check liebemarlene's blog religiously. My friend bek and i decided after studying so hard, we should reward ourselves with a modcloth shipping, we love mail (especially from modcloth), i will post pictures when we receive it. So some of my recent purchases have been a lovely dress with velvet hearts against a shear navy, but my most exciting purchase which will soon be complete is my 500 days of summer dress which i'm getting made!

Ophelia Belle in enmore is amazing and she is going to replicate the 500 days of summer dress that Summer wears to Millie's wedding. I was so excited, since i fell in love with this dress at first sight! I have a calico fitting next saturday so i'll be sure to let you know how it goes. I have spent alot of time googling this dress (37 pages of google images on numerous occasions)! I love it!

So another way to procrastinate is to make invites for a kitchen tea! My friend danielle is getting married in december and together with Tors we are going to hold the perfect kitchen tea. Here are the invites i made, with a cute little key ring whisk! The idea actually started when i googled kitchen tea invites and found some really cute ones which were wrapped around a miniature rolling pin, however the crap shop i went to didn't have mini rolling pins so i opted for the whisk option. The paper is from amazing paper in newtown which is another one of my favourite shops which i can spend hours in. This place is truely amazing and a nightmare for indecisive people such as myself! woolworths is also an indecisive person's nightmare (maltersers of peanut m&m's????)

Anyways better run, damn you neuro, i wish i could bake, blog and shop all day, that would really be the perfect life, oh well it just means i get to enjoy it even more in december after the barrier!

xoxo (i also love gossip girl)