Practice makes perfect, right?

I decided to make a butter cake today which was quite a simple recipe I found -

3/4 cup butter softened
1 cup caster sugar
2 cups self-raising flour sifted
3 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla essence

Beat the butter and sugar until pale and creamy, then beat in the eggs one by one. Mix in the vanilla. Stir in the flour until mostly wet, then add the milk and beat for around 2 minutes.
Pop it into a lightly greased cake tin and into the oven at 140C for around 45 minutes or until it springs back when poked with a finger.

As with all cakes, allow it to cool before icing.. I watched MasterChef Australia lastnight and couldn't believe the stupidity of the dude trying to ice a cake that had just come out of the oven. That's like, a basic of cooking! Anywho..
Moving time forward and the cake is cool, in a large mixing bowl add 2 or 3 (ok I really didn't measure this part.. ) cups of pure icing sugar, sifted, and about 3/4 cup of butter, softened. Whip it together with an electric mixer until light and fluffy then add some vanilla essence.  Parge it on the cake, top and sides.
I got bored with the cake by this point, and found my packets of fondant in the pantry, way up the back. It's still good.. I had dreamed of making this really sweet-loving cake with pink love hearts over it, but I am limited to 2 items in the way of cookie cutters. Little "men" and a weird star-flower type shape. I chose the weird star-flower thing because I thought people might get the wrong impression if I present a cake (even if it's just photos on the internet!) covered in little blue and pink boys/girls....
Here's the result:

Not bad considering it's my 2nd attempt of playing with fondant/RegalIce.. I do enjoy it, I just.. clearly... need more practice :)

Winner winner Chicken Dinner!

Well my Creamy Chicken and Leek with Camembert Pie is such a big hit.. I am very happy :) I gave the recipe to a work friend, who loves it. He took the recipe to some friends in NSW where they love it, so much that there's a local pub there making it! They gave it to their friends and so forth. A huge chain reaction of chicken pie goodness. I love making other people happy through food :)

Pastry snacks

I love pastry. But I'm also lazy and so I only really ever make my own pastry when it comes to making a Chocolate Tart or similar. Bless the stores for having frozen pastry!
I've been making a few pastry snacks here and there lately, always good for a work-lunch treat - even handier if you make a tonne of them in bulk and freeze. Viola! Ready to heat 'n' eat any-time snackies.


Sausage rolls are a big favourite of mine:
2 sheets of puff pastry thawed
500g sausage mince (you can use the stuff that comes in a tube that looks like dog/luncheon meat, or just squeeze the innards out of your favorite snag)
1 onion finely diced
1 large carrot grated
Grated zucchini would go well too I guess, never tried it to be honest
Salt/pepper to taste, and any other herbs or spices
1 egg beaten lightly

In a large bowl mix the sausage mince and vegies and spices.
Slice the pastry sheet in half down the middle, and using one half at a time - wet your hands and place some of the mixture (don't use too much or it will spill out) longways on one side of the pastry, so it kinda forms a tubular shape. Roll the pastry up so the ends meet and seal the edge. Place on a lined baking tray and brush with the egg. Repeat until all mixture is used. You can cut the sausage rolls before they are cooked, or after. It probably makes it easier to do it beforehand.
Cook at around 170-180C until golden brown.

My brother was in hospital the other week, and I know all too well about the poor quality of hospital food.. and I know my dear big brother loves my cooking :D I wanted to make him something.. something small, light, easy on the stomach for when and if he were to bring it back up.. I had some leftover savoury mince from the night before - full of vegies and yummy goodness - Mini meat pies :D
My patty cake tin failed me (ok, the first batch stuck horribly!) So I wondered what else I could use.. I took a chance and risked it. Using a large drinking glass to cut circles of puff pastry out, I spooned about a tablespoon of savoury mince onto the flat discs, and topped them with another circle of pastry. Sealed the edges with a fork, threw them in the oven and hoped for the best!

Apart from the 2 up the back - which are a treat for Chef.. They turned out quite well! Puffed nicely :)

I also made him some ham and cheese "puffs" - kinda like a Danish I guess - Ham and cheese folded up in some puff pastry and baked - pretty tasty :)

I made Frosty a quick snack to take to lunch one day - Pizza Puffs:
Keep in mind this was to do him over a few days at least, but he had some for dinner lastnight, a midnight snack, and lunch for work..
4 sheets of puff pastry
1 large can of pineapple, drained
500g shredded ham
Mozzarella cheese
1 cup tomato passata
Chili flakes

Starting with one sheet of pastry.. for obvious reasons.. Spoon on some passata sauce, sprinkle over some chili flakes, top with ham (not too much filling here or it wont seal and will be a big mess) cheese and pineapple.

Roll up the pastry from one side to the other, like a giant sausage roll, seal the end and slice as thick or as thin as you'd prefer.

Pop them onto a lined baking tray and bake at around 180C until golden brown.. and piping hot so that you burn your lip when you take a bite :P

Clinker Icecream!

Yep... another icecream post, who wouldda thunked it :)

Basically it's just my basic Vanilla Bean icecream - and within the last 5-10 minutes of churning time in the machine, throw in a cup or 2 of crushed clinkers.

I wasn't too sure on how much clinker chunks I'd need at the beginning, so I bashed a whole bag. (note - put them into a zip lock bag first!)

Look at the preeety colours.. 

What to do with the remaining clinker chunks/dust? It's actually quite tasty and fun to just dig in with a spoon! :)
The Icecream itself turned out quite sweet, I'm surprised there's still some left.. I think Frosty has forgotten it's there. The candy bits don't stay hard/crunchy, they're melt-in-the-mouth.

Vanilla bean icecream

Am LOVING my ice cream machine! :D

2 cups thickened cream
1 cup whole milk
2 vanilla beans
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup sugar

In a saucepan gently warm the milk - slice open the vanilla beans and scrape out the seeds, add to the milk, and add the seed pods to the milk. Allow to chill completely then remove the pods. Whisk in the cream, sugar and vanilla extract and pour into your icecream churn. Freeze completely when done :)

Creamy chicken and leek pie with Camembert

Creamy chicken and leek pie with Camembert - Oh so tasty :)

600g chicken diced
1 large leek washed and sliced
100g Camembert cheese, cubed, rind removed if you so wish
1 cup thickened cream
1 cup milk
1/2 cup chicken stock
2 tablespoons plain flour

Salt and pepper to taste
2 sheets puff pastry

In a large saucepan lightly brown the chicken then add the leek. Stir in the flour, add the milk, cream and stock, stir. Add in the cheese, and simmer 20 minutes or thereabouts. Remove from heat, let cool, and cool in the fridge for a while.

Grease a pie dish, and line with the pastry - then fill with chicken mixture. Top with the other sheet of pastry, brush lightly with olive oil or a lightly beaten egg and bake at around 180C until the pastry is golden brown.

Ultra-rich flourless chocolate cake

This is a real indulgence - and best served with icecream or double cream :)

400g of GOOD quality dark chocolate (at least 50% cocoa) (Can use milk choccie I guess.. )
200g butter

5 egg yolks
5 egg whites (from when you separate the yolks.. duh) - don't do what I did and be lazy, DO separate them over a separate bowl, and add it to the bigger bowl one at a time sort of thing, rather than separate the whites into one dish - I wasted 4 whites because the 5th egg WAS ROTTEN!! And so it all went into the bowl of whites. YUCKKY.
Pinch of salt
Half a capful of white vinegar


In a double boiler gently melt the chocolate and butter together.
Lightly whisk the egg yolks until pale and thick while the chocolate is melting.
In a large mixing bowl, beat the egg whites, salt and vinegar together until stiff peaks form, you should be able to turn the bowl upside down and not have it slip out - I did it!! :D

The chocolate/butter should be blood temperature - remove it from the heat, add the egg yolks and whisk in quickly. (If the chocolate's too hot, you'll have chocolate scrambled eggs.)
Gently and carefully fold in half of the egg white meringue mix, then the other half. Fold to mix.
Pour into a lightly greased cake tin, bake at 160C for around 30-45 minutes. It will sink in the middle etc.
Cool in the tin then wrap in cling-wrap and keep it in the fridge for a day or at least a few hours. Turns out very fudgey :)