The Lazy Cook

Macaroon Perfection

2010-07-25T17:03:00.002+08:00

I did it. I finally did it. I finally got my macaroons to work - just as I wanted them to!

I was determined not to do another post until I had some macaroons worth posting - in the last month I've done salted chocolate, chocolate and peanut butter, choc-chai and cinnamon - and every time until today, I've ended up with those cracked little hemispheres. But these, the second shot at the salted caramel, were absolutely perfect - crispy shell, a melt in the mouth centre and that lovely little 'pop' on the sides.

There are a couple of secrets that I have discovered:

You MUST keep mixing even after it is combined if the mixture is too thick. This will loosen up the egg whites and give you that lovely crispy shell. Keep mixing until small peaks in the mixture relax and settle out.
Preheat your oven to 220 C. Then as soon as the macaroons go in, turn it down to 180 C.
When the macaroons come out of the oven, lift up the corner of the baking paper and pour some water underneath and tilt the tray to spread the water. This will let you lift off the macaroons easily.

The recipe is exactly the same as this post - the only difference is the baking technique - start the oven at 220 C, then turn it down to 180 C for 10 minutes.

Chilli Chocolate Macaroons

2010-06-20T17:11:00.002+08:00

I can't say I was too thrilled with how the last batch of chocolate macaroons turned out - the batter was just too thick and they didn't rise particularly effectively. So I decided to try another recipe - one my mother had cut out of an old magazine (I can't find the reference unfortunately!). The batter looked like it would be way too thick and gloopy to rise at all - in fact, it looked like dogs doings on the baking parchment - but it actually rose! The tops cracked a bit, so the side didn't 'pop' like the professional ones do - but it kinda worked!

Instead of doing a plain old ganache, I decided to mix things up a little by putting a cocoa SMBC to work - and, since it's winter, warming things up a little with some chilli. NOTE: do NOT overdo the chilli powder - it will turn things from delicious to deadly if you're not careful! The filling was absolutely awesome - my boy ended up eating it out of the bowl.

Will definitely be using this recipe for all future chocolate macaroons. And FYI- the water trick is brilliant. I've always ended up with half the macaroons losing their middles to the baking paper - this trick really works.

Chilli Chocolate Macaroons
For the macaroons:
250 g icing sugar
140 g almond meal
25 g cocoa powder
100 g egg whites

For the filling:
2 egg whites
1/2 C sugar
125 g butter
2 Tbsp cocoa powder
1/2 tsp chilli powder (hot)

For the macaroons:

Preheat the oven to 220 C.
Sift the sugar, almond meal and cocoa powder into a bowl. (The original recipe says to use a food processor to combine and get out the lumps but I don't have one!)
Whip the egg whites until just firm but still glossy - to the soft peak stage.
Fold the egg whites, 1/3 at a time, into the dry mixture. It will seem really stiff - but don't worry, it rises well!
Pipe the mix into 2.5 cm diameter circles onto a baking tray lined with baking paper.
Put the macaroons in the oven and immediately turn down to 180 C.
Bake for 10-12 minutes.
When the macaroons are done, lift up the baking paper and pour a little water (about 1/4 C) under the paper and tilt the tray to distribute. If you wait 20 seconds, the macaroons will lift off easily!
Place macaroons on a wire rack to cool.

For the filling:

Heat egg whites and sugar in a heat proof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water, whisking all the while. Allow the temperature to reach 76 C.
Once the mix is frothy and is at 76 C, remove from heat. Using an electric mixer, beat until firm peaks form.
Cut the butter up into 9 or so pieces. One piece at a time, beat in the butter (if it goes runny, just keep beating - it will eventually get to the consistancy of well whipped cream).
Once the mixture is firm, beat in the cocoa powder and half the chilli powder.
Taste - if you think it needs more chilli, add the rest - but it's supposed to be a tiny warming kick at the end - and some people are more sensitive than others!

Chocolate Macaroons with White Chocolate Ganache

2010-06-13T17:53:00.003+08:00

After last week's relatively successful Salted Caramel Macaroons, I decided to try making my all time favourites - chocolate macaroons.

I simply substituted 40 g of icing sugar for cocoa powder. However, I forgot that cocoa powder is less soluble in hydrophillic solutions than sugar - the result of which was that my mixture was WAY too thick and therefore couldn't rise as much as the last batch. (Next time, I'd up the egg whites by 10 g or decrease the almond meal by 20 g).

They had the right crunchy shell and chewy centre - so it's not all bad. Kinda like a soft, chewy oreo when the ganache is set.

Chocolate Macaroons

For the macaroons:

3 'aged' egg whites from 59 g eggs (90 g eggwhites - to age - leave them loosely covered overnight)
2 Tbsp caster sugar
160 g icing sugar
40 g cocoa powder
110 g almond meal

For the filling:
60 g white chocolate
10 g unsalted butter

Whisk egg whites until frothy and fluffy - allow it to form soft peaks.
Gradually add 2 tablespoons granulated sugar until you have a glossy meringue, whisking all the while. Don’t overbeat.
Sift almond meal, cocoa powder and icing sugar in a large bowl.
Add your whipped egg whites and fold. You don’t have to fold too gently, but you don’t want to over fold either.
Pipe the mixture onto greased baking paper. Make sure you space them well, or they will expand and stick together when they bake. Wet your finger and pat them into shape - they'll start to look like they should!
Allow to sit for 1 hour. This will stop them from cracking when they bake.
Bake for 20 minutes at 150 C.
Once cooked, allow to cool on a wire rack.
For the filling, heat the chocolate and butter in a double boiler and stir until melted and combined.
Sandwich the filling between the macaroons.

Salted Caramel Macaroons

2010-06-06T20:55:00.003+08:00

After 3 weeks, numerous visits from tradies, a great deal of stress and about $10,000 - I finally have my kitchen back!

To celebrate, I decided to attempt macaroons again. Not wanting to repeat the absolute rock-hard debacle of the lime macaroons, I decided to have another go at the recipe. But this time, I actually weighed my ingredients! (Turns out, this was a good idea - it's very hard to accurately measure almond meal by volume!) This time they really worked well - they had that lovely thin crispy shell with a very soft, chewy centre. (Look at the side - you can see they have the nice 'pop'!)

Salted Caramel Macaroons (Makes 15)

You will need:

For the macaroons:

3 'aged' egg whites from 59 g eggs (90 g eggwhites - to age - leave them loosely covered overnight)
2 Tbsp caster sugar
200 g icing sugar
110 g almond meal

For the filling:

125 g salted butter
2 egg whites
1/2 C brown sugar

Whisk egg whites until frothy and fluffy - allow it to form soft peaks.
Gradually add 2 tablespoons granulated sugar until you have a glossy meringue, whisking all the while. Don’t overbeat.
Sift almond meal and icing sugar in a large bowl.
Add your whipped egg whites and fold. You don’t have to fold too gently, but you don’t want to over fold either. Add in the food colouring when about half the egg whites have been added.
Pipe the mixture onto greased baking paper. Make sure you space them well, or they will expand and stick together when they bake (like mine did - see photo below!). Wet your finger and pat them into shape - they'll start to look like they should!
Allow to sit for 1 hour. This will stop them from cracking when they bake.
Bake for 20 minutes at 150 C.
Once cooked, allow to cool on a wire rack.
For the filling, heat the egg whites and brown sugar to 76 C by putting them in a bowl over a pot of simmering water, whisking continuously.
Beat with an electric mixer until soft peaks form.
Cut the room temperature butter into 1 Tbsp cubes. One cube at a time, add the butter to the meringue, beating continuously. If the mixture goes runny, keep beating until the mixture thickens up again.
Sandwich the filling between the macaroons.

Sad... No more Iron Cupcake...

2010-06-01T22:16:00.002+08:00

Iron Cupcake:Earth is closing its doors for good in June... Sad!

The competition that inspired my cupcakery madness is no more... but at least I heart cuppycakes is still bringing us the always fun Cupcake Hero!
I'll be back with more cupcakes and cupcakery soon - once I have my kitchen back *sigh*

oh and a new electric beater - mine got destroyed by electricians...

A not-so-Lazy hiatus...

2010-05-23T20:50:00.002+08:00

Unfortunately, as you may have gathered from my ranting in earlier posts, my house is not in a good state at the moment. Earlier this week, it went from bad to worse, and I am totally without power or hot water - and have had to move in with my sister. (The power surge also killed my much loved electric mixer!) So there will be no cupcakes for a while - however, I will be back with dessert-y goodness once my house is back in some semblance of working order.

Food as Fashion

2010-05-16T21:07:00.002+08:00

I'm not normally too fussed with the presentation of food - but I'm always blown away by those who can weave magic with a camera and food. Fulvio Bonavia really takes it to a whole new level. In case you haven't already seen their amazing work, you can check it out here.

Lime Macaroons

2010-05-15T16:36:00.002+08:00

My friend's just turned 30 - so, for her birthday, I decided to make (read: attempt) her favourite sweets in the world - macaroons. Since limes are in season, I decided to make them lime flavoured - but you could make them any flavour, really. I used Bakerella's recipe for the macaroons and the filling is my own (not particularly creative) recipe.

They turned out... OK, I guess. They didn't have that nice 'pop' on the side like really good ones do; but they did rise (a bit) and they had that nice hard, crackable, crunchy shell with a deliciously chewy centre.
You can see the air bubbles in there!

Lime Macaroons (Makes 20)

You will need:

For the macaroons:

3 'aged' egg whites from 59 g eggs (to age - leave them loosely covered overnight)
2 Tbsp caster sugar
200 g (200 ml, packed) icing sugar
110 g (1 C + 1 tsp, packed) almond meal
1/4 tsp green food coloring

For the filling:

125 g butter
4 Tbsp icing sugar
zest of 2 limes
juice of 1/2 a lime

Whisk egg whites until frothy and fluffy - allow it to form soft peaks.
Gradually add 2 tablespoons granulated sugar until you have a glossy meringue, whisking all the while. Don’t overbeat.
Sift almond meal and icing sugar in a large bowl.
Add your whipped egg whites and fold. You don’t have to fold too gently, but you don’t want to over fold either. Add in the food colouring when about half the egg whites have been added.
Draw small circles on a piece of non-stick baking paper (I used a 20 C piece to make sure they were all the same size). Note - don't draw the circles on the side you're going to put the macaroons on, or you'll get pen circles on the macaroons!
Pipe the mixture onto the paper, using the circles as a template. I found they looked like little green dog doings... if that's the case, wet your finger and pat them into shape - they'll start to look like they should!
Allow to sit for 1 hour. This will stop them from cracking when they bake.
Bake for 20 minutes at 150 C.
Once cooked, allow to cool on a wire rack.
Whip the butter until light and fluffy.
Gradually beat in the 4 Tbsp icing sugar.
Beat in the lime zest and lime juice.
Spread the filling on the flat side of a macaroon and sandwich with another to assemble.

Emergency Omelette

2010-05-10T23:32:00.002+08:00

It's cold. It's wet. The house is a pigstye. You've got almost no furniture or cookware - so what do you do when dinner time rolls around?

The thing I love about my emergency omelette is it's quick, easy and delicious, and can be prepared with nothing but a cutting board, a knife, a frypan, a bowl/mug and a working stove. And a spatula, of course.

This serves 2, or one very hungry person.

You will need:

1/2 Tbsp butter
1 onion, finely diced
1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar (ie 1 big glug)
1/2 capsicum, finely diced
4 field mushrooms, sliced
8 broccoli florettes
8 peeled and cooked prawns (if they are frozen, pour some cold water over them to thaw - most conneseurs will despair at the loss of flavour, but trust me, they wouldn't have had much to begin with)
2 eggs
1 Tbsp milk (a glug)
1 Tbsp sour cream (or however much you lever in with the knife)
2 handfuls grated cheese

On a medium heat, melt the butter. Add the onions and allow to brown.
Once onions are cooked through, add the balsamic vinegar. Allow to reduce, stirring all the while.
Add the mushrooms. They wil release some liquid into the pan; cook until the liquid is evaporated.
Add the capsicum and cook until it starts to soften.
Add the broccoli and cook until bright green (about 2 minutes).
Turn down the heat to low and add the prawns.
Beat the eggs in a separate bowl. Mix in the milk and sour cream until vaugely homogenous.
Pour the egg mixture over the prawn and vegetable mix.
Sprinkle cheese over the top.
Cook on a very low heat untilthere is only a tiny bit of runny egg left on top (don't stir it, or you'll end up with scrambled eggs!)
Using either your griller or your oven. put the frying pan under a grilling heat source to cook the top of the omelette. Cook until just firm.
Put a large plate over the top of the pan and invert to serve. Too easy!

Cupcake-less Monday

2010-05-09T20:39:00.002+08:00

So this week has not been what one would typically describe as special. In addition to losing not one, but two pairs of glasses, my house is in lockdown preparing for the workmen who are (finally) coming to repair the damage caused by a storm in March, resulting in all the furniture in the living, dining and store rooms being moved into a glorified walk in wardrobe. While the hole in the roof continues to shower me in asbestos. Oh, and my hot water heater has packed it in.

Like I said - this week has not been kind to me.

The upshot of all this is that I haven't had the time to make any cupcakes this week. Hopefully by Wednesday, the plastering will be at least semi-finished, and I'll have been able to get a tradesman out to the house to fix the hot water (so I can actually do my washing up - how novel!) - so cupcakes will materialise. Eventually. I hope.

I'm planning on a black forrest inspired chocolate-cherry combo, and a zingy lime. But not until my house has some semblance of order returned.

But do not despair - I will be posting a couple more Lazy recipes this week, starting tomorrow with my Emergency Omelette.

"Red Velvet" Cupcakes

2010-05-03T21:18:00.004+08:00

Red Velvet cupcakes seem to have a bit of a varied reputation. Some people absolutely love them; others simply don't see the point and find them bland and boring. So I decided to jazz them up a bit by adding some strawberry jam.

I also didn't have any cocoa powder, so I used hot chocolate mix *blushes* - so I don't think you can properly call these Red Velvet cupcakes - more like "Red Velvet".

Turns out that adding the jam was the best happy accident I've ever had. Not sure if it's the pectin in the jam or what, but replacing 1/4 C of milk with jam make an absolutely beautiful and fluffy cake with an incredible crumb. It honestly doesn't seem gluten free - but it is!

However, I made the mistake of trying out some new cupcake cases. They didn't quite fit my cupcake trays, with the end result being that most of my cupcakes had hemispherical bottoms, which, let's face it, is not the most practical shape! (Although they looked very pretty in their cases!)

125 g butter (room temperature)
1/2 C hot chocolate powder
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp red food coloring
2 eggs
1 1/4 C self raising gluten free flour
1/4 C milk
1/4 C strawberry preserve

Preheat the oven to 180 C. Line a 12 hole cupcake tin with cupcake cases.
Cream butter until light and fluffy.
Mix in hot chocolate powder with a wooden spoon until combined. (Trust me - or you'll end up with a face full of powder if you try and cream it straight away!) Cream until pale. Beat in vanilla.
Beat in 1 egg. Scrape down the sides. Beat in the second egg and scrape again.
Mix in the flour in 3 additions, alternating with the milk and jam in 2 additions, mixing continuously.
Stir through red food coloring.
Divide evenly into cupcake cases.
Bake for 25 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.

Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
62 g butter (or 1/2 a stick to Americans)
5 Tbsp hot chocolate powder
250g tub light cream cheese

Cream butter and hot chocolate powder together until light and fluffy (note: it's a good idea to mix it with a spoon until all the powder has been wetted with the butter or you'll end up with a face full of powder).
With the mixer on low speed, beat in the cream cheese until just combined (if you overmix, it will go weird and liquid...)
Spread or pipe onto cooled cupcakes.

Winter Apple Cupcakes

2010-04-29T20:16:00.004+08:00

We had a long weekend last weekend, so in the spirit of the lovely cool weather we've been having lately, I decided to make something wintery and delicious.

I just mucked around with my normal vanilla cupcake recipe (hey, I've found a gf cake recipe that doesn't go dry - I'm almost too afraid to try another one in case it goes all dry and horrible!) . I swear, next time I'll try a new recipe! Really!

125 g butter (room temperature)
2/3 C caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
1 1/4 C self raising gluten free flour
1 Tbsp milk
1/4 C Cream Cheese
1 1/2 granny smith apples, peeled, cored and diced into 1 cm pieces
juice of 1/2 a lemon
2 tsp cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 180 C. Line a 12 hole and a 6 hole cupcake tin with cupcake cases.
Squeeze the lemon over the chopped apples (this will stop them browning and adds a lovely zing)
Cream butter and sugar together until pale. Beat in vanilla.
Beat in 1 egg. Scrape down the sides. Beat in the second egg and scrape again.
Mix in the flour and cinnamon in 3 additions, alternating with the milk and cream cheese in 2 additions, mixing continuously.
Stir through the apples
Divide evenly into cupcake cases.
Bake for 30 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.

Note: the batter doesn't quite cook evenly through the cake - the batter around the apples stays a bit wet even when the rest of the cake is cooked. If I was going to do it again, I'd either bake the apple cubes first to dry them out a bit, or increase the milk to 1/4 C and use 1/2 C dried apple pieces instead.

I was feeling particularly lazy this week (as you can probably guess by the fact it took me 4 days to post!) so I didn't ice them. They were so moist and sweet,

Southern Pulled Pork

2010-04-20T21:44:00.006+08:00

OK so I have a confession. Cupcakes aside, my biggest weakness is southern US and central American cuisine. TexMex, soul food, Creole, Yucatan, Mexican, Cuban - I love them all. When I was a teenager, a group I performed with did some touring in that area and I just fell in love with the cuisine.

Pork is a huge part of the diet over there. It's much cheaper than it is in Australia, and pork can be slow cooked in a myriad of ways - and every time it seems to come out moist and sumptious. I was feeling terribly nostalgic last week, and was craving the pulled pork I had in Dallas. Sweet, meaty, sticky and covered in a unctiously smoky barbecue sauce, it was a dish I'll never forget. Problem is, you can't seem to find that type of food anywhere in Australia - so I decided that I was craving it enough to make it for myself.

Since I don't have a slow cooker, I used an oven baked recipe. I was pretty happy with how it turned out - the barbecue sauce was quite acidic and runny, so I only ended up using half - but a small amount make the pork simply perfect! I'd never acutally used a dry rub before - this one is delicious, but makes much more than you need! I'm using the leftovers to make chicken wings - yum!

Southern Pulled Pork

You will need:

Dry Rub:

3 tablespoons paprika I used smoked paprika - it made it that much better!
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon dry mustard
3 tablespoons coarse salt I used 1 Tbsp fine salt
1 (5 to 7 pound) pork roast, preferably shoulder or Boston butt I used a 1.8 kg deboned rolled shoulder

Cider Vinegar Barbecue Sauce:

1 1/2 cups cider vinegar
1 cup yellow or brown mustard I used seeded mustard
1/2 cup ketchup
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 garlic cloves, smashed
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Mix the paprika, garlic power, brown sugar, dry mustard, and salt together in a small bowl. Rub the spice blend all over the pork and marinate for as long as you have time for, as little as 1 hour or up to overnight, covered, in the refrigerator. This rub sma

Preheat the oven to 150 C.

Put the pork in a roasting pan and bake for about 6 hours. Basically, roast the pork until it's falling apart. Mine took 4 1/2 hours because it was a little smaller

To make the barbecue sauce: combine the vinegar, mustard, ketchup, brown sugar, garlic, salt, cayenne, and black pepper in a saucepan over medium heat. Simmer gently, stirring, for 10 minutes until the sugar dissolves.

Remove the pork roast from the oven and transfer to a large platter. Allow the meat to rest for about 10 minutes. While still warm, take 2 forks and "pull" the meat to form shreds. Using 2 forks, shred the pork by steadying the meat with 1 fork and pulling it away with the other. Put the shredded pork in a bowl. Pour 1/2 of the sauce on the shredded pork and mix well to coat. If you can stop licking your fingers when you do this, you have much more restraint than I do!

Serve on tacos or fresh bread with coleslaw or guacamole. This is finger-licking food - the best kind of food. Yummo!

Black and White Cupcakes

2010-04-19T22:45:00.002+08:00

A good friend of mine from work turned 26 last night. As her birthday present, she asked me to make some cupcakes.

I was feeling a little under the weather and stressed, so I simply combined the Vanilla Cupcakes and Hot Chocolate Cupcake recipes to make Black and White Cupcakes (or if you will, Michael Jackson Cupcakes). Awesome.

Just a tip - make the batters simultaneously so they don't dry out!

Black and White Cupcakes (Makes 24)

Vanilla cupcake batter:
125 g butter (room temperature)
2/3 C caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
1 1/4 C self raising gluten free flour
1/2 C milk

Preheat the oven to 180 C. Line a 12 hole cupcake tin with cupcake cases.
Cream butter and sugar together until pale. Beat in vanilla.
Beat in 1 egg. Scrape down the sides. Beat in the second egg and scrape again.
Mix in the flour in 3 additions, alternating with the milk in 2 additions, mixing continuously.
Divide evenly into cupcake cases.

Hot Chocolate Cupcake batter:

125 g butter (room temperature)
2/3 C hot chocolate powder (I used Cadbury's as it's gluten free)
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
1 1/4 C self raising gluten free flour
1/4 C milk
1/4 C Sour cream

Cream butter and hot chocolate powder together until pale. Beat in vanilla.
Beat in 1 egg. Scrape down the sides. Beat in the second egg and scrape again.
Mix in the flour in 3 additions, alternating with the milk and sour cream in 2 additions, mixing continuously.
Divide evenly into cupcake cases on top of the vanilla batter. Swirl the batters together with a toothpick.
Bake at 180 C for 20 minutes.

For the Fluff:
6 egg whites
1 C sugar
2 Tbsp vanilla

For the Fluff (this is just Swiss Meringue!):

Over a saucepan of simmering water, whisk together egg whites and sugar until the mixture is hot (72 C) and frothy. This usually takes quite a while - 8-10 minutes.
Using an electric beater, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form and mix is cool.
Beat in vanilla.
Pipe or spread mixture onto cupcakes.

I then piped some melted chocolate over the top. Delish!

Hot Chocolate Cupcakes

2010-04-11T15:27:00.006+08:00

Following the success of the Vanilla Cupcake recipe, I wanted to see if there were any adaptations that were possible. Turns out drinking chocolate powder makes an excellent substitute for sugar - especially when you replace some of the milk with sour cream! However, I made the mistake of trying to incorporate marshmallows into the batter - they bubbled up and ran down the sides, gluing the patty pans to the tin. Turns out baked marshmallow is approximately the consistancy of tar. Yummy. Apart from that though - delicious! I used a vanilla SMBC as homage to the whipped vanilla cream I love on top of hot chocolate.

You will need:

125 g butter (room temperature)
2/3 C hot chocolate powder (I used Cadbury's as it's gluten free)
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
1 1/4 C self raising gluten free flour
1/4 C milk
1/4 C Sour cream
12 marshmallows (I used neopolitan but you could use vanilla or strawberry)

Preheat the oven to 180 C. Line a 12 hole cupcake tin with cupcake cases. Place a marshmallow in each case.
Cream butter and hot chocolate powder together until pale. Beat in vanilla.
Beat in 1 egg. Scrape down the sides. Beat in the second egg and scrape again.
Mix in the flour in 3 additions, alternating with the milk and sour cream in 2 additions, mixing continuously.
Divide evenly into cupcake cases. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.
Cool on a wire rack.

Vanilla SMBC

You will need:

3 egg whites
1/2 C sugar
125 g butter
2 tsp vanilla extract

In a large, clean heatproof bowl, combine the egg whites and sugar. Set the bowl over (but not touching) simmering water in a saucepan and heat the mixture, whisking constantly, until the sugar has completely dissolved and the mixture is very warm to the touch. Remove the bowl from the saucepan.
Using an electric mixer on high speed, beat the egg white mixture until it is fluffy, cooled to room temperature, and holds stiff peaks (the mixture should not look dry), about 6 minutes.
With the mixer on medium-low speed, add the the butter, a few pieces at a time, beating well after each addition. If the icing appears to separate or is very liquid after all the butter is added, continue to beat on high speed until it is smooth and creamy, 3-5 minutes more. Add the vanilla extract scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.

White Chocolate Mud Cupcakes

2010-03-29T21:22:00.003+08:00

This week's cupcakes were quite a long time in the making - and very much required. You might have heard about the storms that battered Perth last Monday - it made it onto the CNN news, among other sources - which caused, via about thirty litres of water, my ceiling to end up on my floor in 3 rooms. So. My carpet has been ripped up, I have the (dry) contents of said rooms stacked up in my kitchen, and I have had builders around every day this week. That on top of working 75 hour weeks means that cupcakes are a) hard to find the time to make, but b) very much needed!

I originally intended to make a sour cream white chocolate SMBC, but I couldn't get the darn stuff to thicken. Turns out you can't use sour cream as a substitute for butter in SMBC! So I used the leftover swiss meringue to make a fluffy topping, and piped over the rest of the chocolate mixed with the sour cream. I was not impressed - but they still ended up tasting delicious. And they even stayed moist for 36 hours!

White Chocolate Mud Cupcakes - from Exclusively Food

You will need:

For the Cupcakes: (Makes 12)
225g white chocolate
150gbutter
3/4 C milk
1/2 C caster sugar
2 teaspoons (10ml) vanilla extract
2 smallish eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 C self-raising flour
3/4 C plain flour

For the Fluff:
2 egg whites
1/3 C brown sugar

For the White Chocolate Swirl:
2 Tbsp sour cream
100 g white chocolate

Preheat oven to 160 degrees Celsius (145 degrees Celsius fan-forced).
Line a 12 hole cupcake pan with patty pans.
Place chocolate, butter, milk and sugar in a large saucepan over low heat, stirring frequently. Remove from heat when chocolate and butter have melted, and stir mixture until completely smooth. Allow mixture to cool at room temperature for 15 minutes.
Add vanilla and eggs to chocolate mixture and stir until well combined.
Stir flours together in a large bowl. Add one cup of chocolate mixture to the flour and stir until a smooth paste forms.
Add remaining chocolate mixture and stir until mixture is smooth. This gradual method of combining the wet and dry ingredients helps prevent lumps.
Pour mixture into cupcake tin.
Bake for 30 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. Allow to cool before frosting.

For the Fluff (this is just Swiss Meringue!):

Over a saucepan of simmering water, whisk together egg whites and sugar until the mixture is hot (72 C) and frothy. This usually takes quite a while - 8-10 minutes.
Using an electric beater, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form and mix is cool.
Pipe or spread mixture onto cupcakes.

For the White Chocolate Swirl:

Stirring frequently, microwave the white chocolate and sour cream together in a bowl on medium in 30 second bursts until mixture is melted and homogenized.
Pipe the mixture over the top of the fluff on the cupcakes.

Gluten Free Hot Cross Buns

2010-03-28T22:13:00.002+08:00

In the spirit of Easter, I spent most of my Saturday out looking for gluten free hot cross buns - but to no avail. Perth really struggles when it comes to GF accessibility sometimes. So I tried to make some myself!

This was the first time I've ever worked with yeast. I *think* the yeast I used was gluten free - by law, gluten content now has to be disclosed - but you could kind of tell that I'd never made anything remotely bread-like before! I couldn't find gluten free bread flour, so I used normal plain flour. I also had some issues piping on the crosses - I had my piping bag inside out (whoops!) so it didn't pipe particularly well and oozed out the bump where the seam hit the nozzle... but still. They turned out less badly than I'd thought but were still quite dense. None the less, when toasted and slathered in butter, they are well worthwhile.

Gluten Free Hot Cross Buns - based on this recipe

You will need:

110g (1/2 cup) caster sugar
2 teaspoons dried yeast
250ml (1 cup) milk (at room temperature)
75g butter, melted
1 egg, lightly beaten
600g (4 cups) plain flour, plus extra, if necessary
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 1/2 C dried fruit (I used dried cranberries)
1 tsp salt

2 tsp milk, for glazing

for the crosses:
1/2 C plain flour
2 tsp sugar
1/3 C water

In a small bowl, combine a large pinch of the sugar with 125ml (1/2 cup) body temperature water, then sprinkle yeast over it. Stand mixture in a draught-free place for 7 minutes or until it becomes foamy.
Combine yeast mixture in a large bowl with the milk, butter and egg and stir to combine well.
Add flour, spices, dried fruits and 1 teaspoon salt, then stir until combined and a coarse dough forms (it may be necessary to use your hands).
Turn dough out onto a lightly-floured surface then, using your hands, knead dough for 10 minutes or until smooth and elastic, adding a little more flour if dough is sticky. Take care not to add too much extra fl our or buns will be heavy.
Place dough in a large, greased bowl, turning to coat, then cover with plastic wrap and leave in a draught-free place for 1-1 1/2 hours or until doubled in bulk.
Using your fist, gently punch dough down to deflate. Turn dough out onto a lightly-floured surface, pat into a rough round shape, then ask an adult to cut into 12 even-sized pieces with a large, sharp knife.
Roll each piece into a ball then place, 6cm or so apart, on a greased tray.
Cover loosely with a kitchen towel and stand in a draughtfree place for 1 hour or until doubled in size. Grease base and side of one 58x30cm (or base and sides of two 29x16cm) baking dish(es) and pre-heat oven to 200°C.
Using a metal spatula, and taking care not to deflate buns, place in dish(es), spacing them evenly apart. Brush surface of the roll with milk.
For crosses, combine flour and 80ml (1/3 cup) water in a small bowl and stir until smooth and combined. Place mixture in a piping bag fitted with a small, plain nozzle and pipe a cross shape over the top of each bun. Bake for 20 minutes (mine took 40), or until golden and risen, then turn out onto a wire rack and allow to cool.

Cupcake Hero - Caramel Strawberry Cupcakes - Update!

2010-03-27T18:13:00.002+08:00

So... I was checking out the latest update from I Heart Cuppycakes - and (god bless her) getting the latest on the Cupcake Hero throwdown. Turns out I was the lucky Baker's Choice Challenger for the Caramel throwdown!

*insert music from Rocky here*

C'mon little Strawberry Caramel Cupcake... work your magic baby!

The Search for the Perfect Gluten Free Vanilla Cupcake - Update!

2010-03-21T15:03:00.005+08:00

So, for quite some time now, I've been looking for the Perfect Gluten Free Vanilla Cupcake. I've had a few struggles along the way - such as last week's debacle - but I have finally moved in the right direction with Exclusively Food's Vanilla Cupcakes. Light, fluffy and subtly sweet, these cupcakes are moist - and ironically, are almost identical to my favourite cupcake recipe, Salted Caramel Cupcakes (but without the brown sugar) which manage to keep for a good 3 days!

In the words of Rex Harrison - By George, I think she's got it!

I just bought my very first piping bag, and have done an absolutely terrible job with the piping - please forgive the appalling piping job! These cupcakes look like something out of a Dr. Seuss book (you can eat them on a log; you can eat them with a dog) but taste amazing.

Exclusively Food's Vanilla Cupcakes

You will need:

125 g butter (room temperature)
2/3 C caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
1 1/4 C self raising gluten free flour
1/2 C milk

Preheat the oven to 180 C. Line a 12 hole cupcake tin with cupcake cases.
Cream butter and sugar together until pale. Beat in vanilla.
Beat in 1 egg. Scrape down the sides. Beat in the second egg and scrape again.
Mix in the flour in 3 additions, alternating with the milk in 2 additions, mixing continuously.
Divide evenly into cupcake cases. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.
Cool on a wire rack.

Vanilla SMBC

You will need:

3 egg whites
1/2 C sugar
125 g butter
2 tsp vanilla extract

In a large, clean heatproof bowl, combine the egg whites and sugar. Set the bowl over (but not touching) simmering water in a saucepan and heat the mixture, whisking constantly, until the sugar has completely dissolved and the mixture is very warm to the touch. Remove the bowl from the saucepan.
Using an electric mixer on high speed, beat the egg white mixture until it is fluffy, cooled to room temperature, and holds stiff peaks (the mixture should not look dry), about 6 minutes.
With the mixer on medium-low speed, add the the butter, a few pieces at a time, beating well after each addition. If the icing appears to separate or is very liquid after all the butter is added, continue to beat on high speed until it is smooth and creamy, 3-5 minutes more. Add the vanilla extract scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.

I've figured out that the big issue is the fat:flour ratio. I'm not sure why the additional fat helps prevent the cakes from going stale, but I've been having a bit of a think about what's going on...

Now this is just some guesswork based on how I know xantham gum and gluten behave chemically... [Beware - sciency bit coming up] In normal cupcakes, the gluten creates a lattice, helping trap the water molecules and preventing them evaporating, leaving them moister for longer. Over time, the water can migrate through the lattice, making the cakes eventually go stale. In gluten free cakes, there a) is no gluten lattice to help trap the cupcakes, and b) the xanthan gum is more soluble in water, meaning that a lattice isn't formed until a later stage during the baking. Adding additional fat a) simulates the moist mouthfeel, and b) helps retain the moisture by forming emulsions (the xantham gum also acts as an emulsifier - or at least, I think it would...). Or I could be completely wrong. Meh - either way - fixing the fat:flour ratio makes a huge difference.

Edit: The Next Day Verdict

As I predicted, these cakes were just lovely the next day. And even - believe it or not - the day after! These cakes were delicious right up until they were all gone - I was incredibly impressed.

Vanilla High Hat Cupcakes

2010-03-14T16:51:00.006+08:00

Woo! Finally back in the game. Have had a rather horrendous week - I've had a horrible bout with the flu (and then a sinus infection from hell) that has kept me in bed until, well, yesterday. And nobody wants to eat fluey cupcakes.

So today marks the first cupcakes in a fortnight - and in the pursuit of the perfect vanilla cupcake, I used the Women's Weekly Little Pies and Cakes Patty Cakes recipe I discussed in this post.

Vanilla High Hat Cupcakes

You will need:

For the cupcakes:
125 g softened butter
3/4 C caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 eggs
2 C self raising flour
1/4 C milk

For the swiss meringue:
3 egg whites
3/4 C sugar
boiling water

For the chocolate (aka the chocolate pit of death):
200 g milk chocolate
1 Tbsp oil (I used olive but you can use whatever you have - canola or vegetable is fine)

Preheat oven to 180 C and line a 12 hole cupcake tin with patty cases.
Mix together cupcake ingredients using an electric beater (I beat the butter and sugar together first, then added the vanilla, eggs, flour and milk in that order).
Bake for 25 minutes on 180 C or until a skewer comes out clean. Allow to cool for 5 minutes in the tray, then tip upside down onto a wire rack to cool.
Using a double boiler, (i.e. over a pot of boiling water) whisk meringue sugar and egg whites together until the mixture reaches 70C.
Using an electric beater, beat the egg whites and sugar until mixture is thick and firm and stiff peaks form (it should look nice and glossy).
Allow meringue to cool - if it softens, beat until it firms back up.
Pipe meringue onto cooled cupcakes.
In a deep glass wide enough to admit the cupcakes, melt the chocolate by microwaving on medium for 10-20 second bursts. Stir after each heating.
Add the olive oil into the chocolate mix and stir (really well!) until fully combined.
Lay down some paper towel where you will be working - this does get messy!
Dip the meringue on the cupcakes gently into the chocolate - holding the cupcakes by the base makes this easier. Try to shake off as many drips as you can without knocking any meringue into the mixture.

Horror stories abound about the entire top falling off the cupcakes while dipping into the chocolate pit of death - this is not something to attempt lightly. Or cleanly. Accept the fact that whatever you are wearing - plus your face and hands - will end up absolutely covered in chocolate. Then move on - because it's worth it! Chocolate high hats are so pretty and they really give your cupcakes that little bit of extra oomph.

The actual cupcake recipe was pretty disappointing though - less than 6 hours after baking, they were completely dry and stale. Ugh - what a waste of ingredients.

Edit - The Next Day Verdict
So I brought the cupcakes into work the next morning - while the high hat itself was still lovely and well received, the cupcake was described as 'Saddam's lost weapon of mass destruction' - and that was one of the more complimentary adjectives! So yeah - verdict for the high hat process is a big thumbs up - but don't even bother with the cake recipe.

The Search for the Perfect Gluten Free Vanilla Cupcake

2010-03-08T13:03:00.003+08:00

I know this is hardly groundbreaking stuff - the Perfect Vanilla Cupcake is pretty much the holy grail of cupcake making. It is somewhat complicated by the fact that it is gluten free, since the gluten free flour tends to absorb moisture at a different rate than normal flour; the result of which is that the cakes tend to have a 12 hour shelf life before they start to go stale. Not ideal.

Most people I know (who are so inclined to think of cupcakes in that way and have been to NY) swear by the Magnolia Bakery Vanilla Cupcake recipe. Not so when they're gluten free - they're lovely if you manage to eat them within 12 hours of taking them out of the oven; but leave it any longer than that and you may as well treat yourself to a lovely vanilla hockey puck. (Yum.)

So - I'm in search of recipes. Specifically, your favourite vanilla cupcake recipe. Please (pretty please with a cherry on top!) reply to this post with either a link to your favourite vanilla cupcake recipe, or a copy of the recipe itself.

Here are the ones I am planning on trying thus far:

Taste.com.au's Classic Vanilla Cupcakes
Women's Weekly Little Pies and Cakes Patty Cakes with Glace Icing
Exclusively Food's Vanilla Cupcake Recipe
HTEAC's White Velvet Cupcakes

Any other suggestions?

For when you're not at your best...

2010-03-05T18:53:00.003+08:00

The gods are clearly smiling on me at the moment - have come down with a few nasty ailments and am stuck in bed for at least the next 3 days. Fun times.

So. Some recipes that are soooo incredibly easy to whip up (even when you feel like death warmed up) and are delicious, nutritious and comforting.

Chicken and Veg Noodle Soup

1/4 C frozen peas (or fresh peas if you can get them)
1/4 C fresh mushrooms
1 chicken stock cube (or fresh chicken stock)
1 C boiling water
1/4 small packet rice noodles

Large mug
Microwave

Place peas and mushrooms in mug. Crumble stock cube over the top. Pour boiling water over the vegetables and stir until the stock cube is dissolved.
Microwave on high for 30 seconds.
Stir the stock with the noodles until they soften and can fit into the mug.
Microwave on high for 2 minutes.
Enjoy and get better!

The Sad Demise of My Laptop

2010-03-03T21:46:00.002+08:00

Unfortunately, on Monday my beloved laptop of 7 years had a bit of an accident and, to cut a long story short, is no more. It's too old to get fixed (sad) so I've had to go and buy a new one (which I'm still figuring out - I can't say Windows 7 has grown on me much yet, but I dare say I'll learn!).

Establishing the nuances of the computer, combined with working 12 hour days (as I have for every day this week) doesn't leave an awful lot of time for cooking or blogging, so please forgive me if posts are somewhat sparse in the next 48 hours or so.

But I promise I'll be back to full strength soon - with more recipes and photos, of both the lazy and cupcakery variety!

IC:E - Vote Now Open

2010-03-02T07:06:00.003+08:00

As you know, this month I steeled myself to submit 2 IC:E entries for the Passion themed contest - Fig & Honey and CranOrange Meringue. Voting is now open here - please click and vote for whichever was your favourite (or indeed, both if you are feeling generous and lovely!).

Fig & Honey Cupcakes - Entry 1
CranOrange Meringue Cupcakes - Entry 2

Cupcake Hero - Caramel Strawberry Cupcakes

2010-03-01T19:42:00.004+08:00

As a kid, one of my favourite caramel lollies was strawberry toffee. These cupcakes were inspired by that lolly - and are my first ever cupcake hero entry.

The cake recipe was borrowed from How to Eat a Cupcake (God bless her!); the buttercream and tuille recipes are my own creations.

Caramel Strawberry Cupcakes You will need:

1 1/4 cups all-purpose gf flour
3/4 tsp gf baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
125 g unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup whole milk

Strawberry Buttercream
2 large egg whites, at room temperature
1/2 cup brown sugar
Pinch salt
125 g unsalted butter, cut into cubes (at room temperature)
2 Tbsp strawberry jam

Toffee Tuille
1/2 cup sugar
1 Tbsp butter

3 bowls
electric beater
scraper
saucepan
measuring jug + spoons
wooden spoon
wire cooling rack
muffin tin and pattypans
baking paper
flat tray

For the cupcakes:
Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 180°C. Line a standard 12-cup muffin pan with paper or foil liners.

In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, using an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat the sugars and butter together until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat until combined. Add flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with the milk in 2 additions, beating on low speed until just combined; scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.

Divide the batter evenly among the prepared muffin cups, filling each about two-thirds full. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean, 20-22 minutes (Mine were done at 40 minutes). Let the cupcakes cool in the pan on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Transfer the cupcakes to the wire rack and let cool completely, about 1 hour.
Strawberry Buttercream

In a large, clean heatproof bowl, combine the egg whites and sugar. Set the bowl over (but not touching) simmering water in a saucepan and heat the mixture, whisking constantly, until the sugar has completely dissolved and the mixture is very warm to the touch. Remove the bowl from the saucepan. Using an electric mixer on high speed, beat the egg white mixture until it is fluffy, cooled to room temperature, and holds stiff peaks (the mixture should not look dry), about 6 minutes.

With the mixer on medium-low speed, add the salt and the butter, a few pieces at a time, beating well after each addition. If the icing appears to separate or is very liquid after all the butter is added, continue to beat on high speed until it is smooth and creamy, 3-5 minutes more. Add the strawberry jam, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
Toffee Tuille

Line large, flat tray with baking paper. Melt 1/2 cup sugar in a saucepan on medium heat. When it has turned golden brown, add 1 Tbsp butter - it will froth a bit so be careful! As soon as the butter is melted, spoon toffee onto baking paper and allow to set. Break into 12 even pieces.

Top the cooled cupcakes with the buttercream and tuille. Delish!

Summer Seafood Salad

2010-02-27T09:23:00.003+08:00

(Man, I'm going nuts with the post title alliterations!)

My mum, like me, has a serious soft side for good food. Unlike me, she has no particular love of cooking (35 years in a board room will do that to a person) but is prepared to spend big bucks on getting the quality of food she wants.

So we came to an arrangement - once a week, she buys the ingredients; I prepare the meal.

This salad is DELICIOUS - but not the cheapest meal you'll ever have. But it is yummy, healthy and perfect for hot weather.
Summer Seafood Salad (Serves 2)

You will need:

20 prawns (cooked, peeled and deveined)
1 lime
1 cup mixed baby green leaves, loosely packed
flesh of 1 mango, cut into cubes (cut the cheeks off, score and turn cheek inside out to get cubes - run a spoon along the base of the cubes against the inside of the skin and they just pop off)
flesh of 1 avocado, cut into cubes (treat it the same as the mango)
200 g snow peas, topped, tailed and chopped in half
1/2 red chilli, seeded and chopped finely (when you're seeding the chilli, be sure to remove the membrane - it's the hottest part)
1 lemon
1/4 C macadamia nuts
2 tsp macadamia oil

Squeeze the juice of half the lime over the prawns. Cover and allow to marinate for 30 minutes.
Tear the leaves into bite sized pieces.
Layer the vegetables into a salad bowl. Top with prawns, macadamia nuts and chilli.
Squeeze juice of remaining lime half and the lemon over the top. Drizzle macadamia oil over the dish.

Too easy. And delicious. And healthy.

Simple Salmon

2010-02-25T19:46:00.005+08:00

I'm still working a fairly ridiculous schedule at the moment, which has put a fairly large crimp in my cooking/blogging activities. Sad. But it at least reminds me why I started this blog - to share recipes that minimize input (time, money, effort) for maximum enjoyment.

In that vein, I bring you the miracle recipe- the dish with no washing up!

Simple Salmon

You will need:

1 frozen fillet of salmon
3 slices of lemon
Pepper
Spray oil

alfoil
oven tray

Preheat oven to 200 C. Line oven tray with foil.
Tear off large (approx 0.5 m) piece of foil. Fold in half lengthwise and spray with oil.
Put salmon in the middle of foil on oiled side. Top with lemon and pepper.
Fold the foil over the salmon and fold the edges up towards the centre. Crimp the edges of the foil so it forms a little parcel.
Place parcel on tray and bake for 30 minutes.
Serve with salad.

That is it! Add herbs (e.g. chives, bay) or spices (e.g. cinnamon, paprika) if you want extra flavour - but I think it's delicious with just lemon and pepper. Since the tray was lined with foil, it doesn't need washing. And if you use plastic cutlery and plates, the cleanup involves nothing more than throwing a couple of things in the bin. (Not the most environmentally friendly method, but hey, it gets the job done!)

Emergency Eggs

2010-02-23T20:26:00.002+08:00

At the moment, our office seems to have stepped up a gear. After being in there for over 12 hours, I got asked why I was leaving so early when I packed up at 8 pm (my official home time is 4 pm... ) so I'm not exactly flush with time to cook. That combined with the fact that my stove is currently chucking a tanty means that cooking time and resources are extremely limited. As such, I'm discovering a few low effort, low stress recipes I can pull out that take minimal time - and minimal cleaning up.

Today I just needed something comforting - so I pulled out the ol' emergency eggs.
Emergency Eggs
You will need:

2 eggs
2 tsp sour cream (or fresh cream if you prefer)
sprinkle of pepper

boiling water
small ramekin
deep oven tray

Turn on oven and set to 190 C.
Crack eggs into ramekin and top with sour cream.
Place ramekin in deep tray.
Pour boiling water into tray around ramekin and put in oven.
Bake for 15 minutes or until whites are just set.
Sprinkle on pepper to taste.

Serve with hot buttery toast and salad. Delish and comforting - and SO easy! And since the deep tray only held boiling water, the only washing up is a ramekin, your cutlery and your plate. Really, it's what you need when the going gets tough.

Lemon Lime Bitters Cupcakes - a healthier take

2010-02-21T20:00:00.007+08:00

This recipe marks the completion of my February cupcakes - the flavours have been taken from the classic Lemon Lime and Bitters cocktail. I used low GI sugar (yes it does exist! In Australia, it's sold under the brand name Logicane) and almond meal, which is full of protein, to make these low GI cupcakes. The best part was that they were moist, sweet and zesty - and tasted all together decadent.

Logicane looks a bit like raw sugar - the crystals are a bit tricky to dissolve (hence why I dissolved them in the hot lime juice rather than creaming with the eggs) - but its molassesey flavour and stickiness make it perfect for making SMBC - I actually thinks it makes a much better buttercream than caster sugar! The egg whites thicken up much more quickly than with other sugars.

These cupcakes have been (heavily!) adapted from this recipe.

Lemon Lime and Bitters Cupcakes with Lemon SMBC

You will need:

3 ripe limes
3 eggs
1 C Logicane sugar (or any low GI sugar)
3 C (300 g) almond meal
1 tsp gluten free baking powder.

1 lemon
1/2 C Logicane sugar
1/2 tsp aromatic bitters

2 egg whites
1/2 C Logicane sugar
125 g butter

Preheat oven to 170 C and line 12 cake cupcake tin with patty pans.
Zest and juice the limes (to ensure you've got every drop, microwave the limes for 10 seconds - it really frees up the juice!). Heat in the microwave (or over the stove) until body temperature. Dissolve 1/2 C Logicane in the juice (you may have to heat it a bit more! Just keep stirring and heating until its all dissolved).
Separate the eggs.
Whisk egg whites until stiff peaks form.
Using the electric beater, whisk the yolks and 1/2 C Logicane until pale and creamy. Dissolve as much of the sugar as possible.
Fold almond meal and baking powder into lime juice and zest.
Fold whipped sugared yolks into almond meal mixture.
Gently fold in whipped egg whites into almond meal mixture.
Spoon mix into cupcake tin.
Bake at 170 C for 20-30 minutes or until skewer inserted in centre of cakes comes out clean. Allow to cool for 15 minutes.
Zest and juice lemon. Combine zest, juice and 1/2 C Logicane in a small saucepan. Boil and stir until sugar is dissolved and syrup has thickened. Set half aside.
Add bitters to remaining syrup in the pan. You really just want to get the aroma of the bitters, not the horrible bitter taste! Cook for 30 seconds - this will boil off any alcohol.
Using a toothpick, prick holes in the tops of the cakes. Spoon bitters infused syrup over tops of the cakes. (Put a paper towel underneath when you do this - that way if you have accidentally pierced through the patty pan, you won't get syrup all over your benchtop!)
Put 2 egg whites and 1/2 C Logicane into the top of a double boiler over a pan of simmering water. Whisking constantly, cook until sugar has dissolved and mixture is warm (about 70 C).
Pour heated egg whites into the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat egg white mixture on high speed until it forms stiff (but not dry) peaks. Continue beating until fluffy and cooled, about 7 minutes.
With mixer on medium-low, add butter two tablespoons at a time, beating well after each addition. Increase speed to medium-high; continue beating until SMBC appears thick, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to low; add lemon syrup and continue beating 2 minutes to eliminate air bubbles. Top cupcakes with buttercream.

Done! Moist, fluffy and zingy. Absolutely delicious, and worth every second. And you can feel a bit less guilty about eating them, too!

The Cupcake List - February Update

2010-02-19T21:49:00.002+08:00

You might remember in this post I outlined my goal for the year - 1 batch of cupcakes per week. And a different flavour every time. I've actually managed to meet it thus far! Since I have been getting home from the office ridiculously late recently, I haven't had anything particularly interesting to post about over the last couple of days, so I thought I'd update you all on the status of the Cupcake List.

I'm also going to try making them *ahem* slightly healthier... yeah, yeah I know I'm betraying the cupcakery cause by doing so, but my poor mum hasn't been very healthy as of late and her doctor has forbidden unnecessary refined sugar or saturated fats (although one could argue cupcakes are always necessary, but still...). I'm going to try substituting honey for sugar (jarrah honey is much lower GI and full of minerals) and fruit puree for half the butter. *Fingers crossed!* I'll let you know how it goes!

Again, please let me know if there are any flavours of cupcakes you've always wanted to see made! I'd love to try and figure out the recipes.

Italicized = Recipes are my own creation

Green = Already Complete

Orange = Not yet complete but I know how I'll do it

Red = Will be made but I'm not sure how I'll do it

January
- Cinnamon Pancake with Maple Buttercream
- Salted Caramel with Caramel SMBC
- Cinnamon Caramel Fairy Cakes with Cinnamon SMBC

February
- Cosmopolitan Cupcakes (with Lime SMBC)
- Chocolate Mousse Cupcakes
- Lemon Lime Bitters Cupcakes (this is what I'm making Sunday - I'm adapting a flourless orange cake recipe and I'm going to make a lemon-bitters SMBC!)
- Orange Meringue Cupcakes
- Fig & Honey Cupcakes (with honey cream cheese frosting)

March
- Red Velvet cupcakes (well, everyone is always going on about them...!) - this recipe
- Quinoa Chocolate Cupcakes (low fat, low GI but high taste!) This Recipe
- Blueberry Polenta Cupcakes
- Some form of strawberry cupcake
- Some form of high-hat cupcake

April
- Carrot cake Cupcakes (for Easter! Yay!)
- Some kind of sweet potato cupcake
- Some kind of yeast based cupcake (eek!)

So people - cupcake suggestions please!

Easy Peasy Mac'n'Cheesey

2010-02-17T22:08:00.003+08:00

At the moment, I'm pretty busy. OK, maybe that's an understatement - perhaps insanely busy would be more accurate. For example, I left for work this morning at 7.30. I arrived home from work at 9.30. To my mind, that constitutes a long day - but I still gotta eat! Now, desperate times call for desperate measures. And this recipe is a pretty desperate measure - it's a) processed (which I'm normally not a big fan of!) and b) really carb-heavy (even by my standards). But it's filling, comforting, and it has quite a bit of protein. And above all, it's easy, even when you get home from a 14 hour day. And it makes you feel all comforted and warm inside.

Normally, packet mac'n'cheese is pretty bland (to say the least). But this trick elevates it into something that is actually quite yummy!

Easy Peasy Mac'n'Cheesey

You will need:

1 packet microwaveable mac'n'cheese (plus ingredients specified by the packet - usually milk, water and/or butter) - I use Basco's (cuz it's gluten free!)
3-4 Tbsp grated good quality Parmesan or Peccorino cheese - the stronger, the better
Tiny sprinkle cracked black pepper

Microwave safe bowl

Prepare mac'n'cheese in the microwave as per instructions on the packet.
As soon as the cooking is finished and the macaroni is tender and the sauce reduced, stir in the grated cheese. It will melt through and make the sauce all gooey and rich.
Sprinkle with cracked black pepper to serve.

That's it! Soooo incredibly easy but a huge improvement over what normally comes out of the packet. There are heaps of variations - you can add chopped ham or other cold meat, or fry up some bacon or mushrooms to stir in - but always start with the Parmesan or Peccorino.

Please - make your mother happy and serve it with salad.

IC:E - Passion - Fig & Honey Cupcakes

2010-02-15T20:43:00.004+08:00

Figs are apparently quite the aphrodisiac. To the ancient Greeks, they were a symbol of fecundity. Even today, figs (instead of rice) are thrown at newlyweds in some Southern European countries (although I imagine they must stain the wedding dress something terrible!).

IC:E is brought to you by the very generous and passionate sponsors:

The Demy™ by Key Ingredient
Hello, Cupcake by Karen Tack & Alan Richardson
Bella Cupcake Couture
Cupcake Stackers by Gourmac
The Cake Mix Doctor Returns! by Anne Byrne
Beautiful Baking Liners by Vestli House
Sweet Cuppin' Cakes Bakery & Cupcakey Supply

As such, in the spirit of passion, I give you:

Fig & Honey Cupcakes (Inspired by this recipe)

You will need:

1 1/2 cups gluten free plain flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg plus 2 egg whites
1/2 cup whole milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/3 C fig jam (such as from this recipe)
1 1/2 250 g packets low fat cream cheese
1/3 C honey

Preheat oven to 180 C. Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners.
Sift flour, salt, and baking powder into a bowl and set aside.
Beat butter and sugar in a stand mixer on medium speed until very light and fluffy, about 3 to 4 minutes.
Add in the egg and beat to combine. Add in the egg whites, one at a time, and beat to combine.
Combine milk and vanilla extract together in a cup.
Add the flour mixture and milk mixture to the batter in alternating additions, starting and ending with the flour. Once the last bit of flour has been added. beat just to combine - do not overbeat.
Divide batter among the muffin tins. Bake in the oven for about 15 to 20 minutes, until the tops are lightly golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool on wire rack.
Once cool, cut a 2 cm round in the top (retain tops!)
Spoon 1/2 tsp fig jam into the hole and replace top. Press in to seal.
On the lowest speed, beat the cream cheese until just whipped. Add honey and beat until just combined. DO NOT OVERBEAT!
Pipe cream cheese mixture onto cupcakes. Top with a dot of the remaining jam.

Saturday Morning Fig Jam

2010-02-13T14:48:00.006+08:00

The fig tree that resides in my backyard decided that it was going to ripen all of its figs yesterday. The result is that I had about 2 dozen figs with which I had to do something (and I was feeling a bit figged out after eating 5 or so) or else they would go bad and be eaten by *shudder* mice (and again, why grow something if you don't use it?)... so I decided to make fig jam. I looked everywhere but I couldn't find my grandmother's recipe, so this has been somewhat, erm, improvised.... but it still tasted awesome.

Saturday Morning Fig Jam (makes 1 medium jar + a little left over)

You will need

15 ripe figs, skin on, chopped into small pieces
1 apple, grated (I used a red apple and left the skin on - for the pectin)
zest+ juice 1 lemon (zap it in the microwave for 15 seconds to help get the juice out!)
1/2 C brown sugar
1/2 C boiling water

saucepan + wooden spoon
boiling water
clean jar
skewer
teaspoon

Preheat your oven to 120 C. Rinse the jar and lid in boiling water (use gloves - don't burn yourself!). Place jar + lid in oven to dry.
Add apple, figs, lemon, water and sugar to saucepan. Stir and bring to a simmer.
Simmer, stirring occasionally, until jam is reduced by about 1/2, has very little free liquid, and will 'set' when put on a saucer and left in the fridge. (This took me about 1.5 hours.) Try to squash any big lumps of fig against the side of the saucepan.
Notice how it has set on the spoon? That's the consistency you're after!
Remove the jar from the oven (use a mitt!). QUICKLY spoon in the jam (all the way to the top!) and use the skewer to get rid of any visible air pockets. Put the lid on as quickly as possible. The secret is to fill up the jar and leave minimal air - this is how to ensure it remains as sterile as possible. Cool on a cooling rack.

An absolutely delicious way to use up leftover figs! I had a little more than would go in my jar, so I filled (clean!) shotglasses to give to my family. These need to be eaten quickly though!

Restaurant Review - The Beaufort St Merchant

2010-02-10T22:48:00.007+08:00

As the name suggests, the Beaufort St Merchant is located on Beaufort St, Highgate (just before the Mt Lawley cafe strip). Half cafe and half specialty food and wine shop, it features cozy chairs, wooden tables, and a 20% markup. Seriously though - the food is awesome (and the coffee is better!) - but a little overpriced (even by Perth standards).

I went to the Merchant with a few friends for coffee on a lazy Sunday afternoon. My hot chocolate ($6) was delicious - and was clearly inspired by the Max Brenner equivalent (although MB sends it out in a custom designed cup with a tealight to keep it warm and a stirrer cum metal straw to make it easy to drink - and costs $5.50) - but seriously, $6 for a glass of steamed milk and a shotglass of choc buds? Yes, I agree the quality is superior to the crap you get in powder form - but worth double the price of a normal cafe hot chocolate?

The food tells the same story. A single date stuffed with blue cheese and wrapped in jambon was $4. Again, it was a complex, intense flavour but was completely overpriced. Paying $9 for 10 chips also felt like a serious ripoff. Once again, they were savory, salty and not quite worth $9.

The Merchant is also renowned for its creme brulee. When I tried to order it a) the staff didn't think they had it (but they actually did), and b) $10 worth of creme brulee apparently fits in a sake cup. Same old story - incredibly yummy - but still a bit of a ripoff.

My friends ordered the special of the day - the Sunday roast. Beef sirloin roasted to a perfect medium, served with a Gorgonzola-potato concoction and honeyed carrots. And a hearty serving at that. Now that I could see the value in. Apparently it was a) delicious, and b) quite good value for $22 (by Perth standards). Certainly not cheap - but you could at least see where your money was going.

All in all - it's a place to go to be seen. There is delicious food available - but not on the cheap. If you have a few bucks to spare, it's a lovely way to spend a lazy Sunday afternoon.

Service = 3.5/5. We had to wait for quite a while to get a table - but once we had one, the waiters were knowledgeable (and were prepared to admit when they didn't know something - and were willing to check!) and helpful. Not speedy (but it was a Sunday) but certainly good by Perth standards.

Ambiance = 4.5/5. It's the kind of place you don't want to leave. Absolutely lovely inside. Rustic wooden tables and a hodge podge of chairs, sofas and lounges.

Value = 1.5/5. Apart from their specials, it's monstrously expensive for what you're getting. They are trying to charge restaurant prices in something that seems like a cafe or deli. It all feels a bit much.

Taste = 4/5. What they do, they do well. Although my chips weren't properly cooked all the way through, and I wasn't given enough choc buds to make my hot chocolate properly chocolatey, my date was delicious, and the Sunday roasts were divine.

Overall = 13.5/5. Definitely worth a visit - after payday. The specials menu is your best bet.

Chocolate Mousse Cupcakes

2010-02-09T20:59:00.005+08:00

... also known as Chocolate Debacle Cupcakes.

Arg. Today was a day of debacles on a scale I haven't seen for a while... craziness in the office meant that I was several hours later leaving than I should have been (and that's just the tip of the iceberg - I figure I'll be lucky to do less than 14 hours in the office tomorrow...!). I'd promised to make my sister Chocolate Mousse Cupcakes. She was finishing work late, and was going to swing by my house to pick them up.

So. I was running late - and after realizing I had no eggs in the house, had to make a brief detour to the shops - but I thought I would just have time to make a half batch of Chocolate Mousse Cupcakes.

The only problem - I realized AFTER I had put them in the oven that I had halved all the ingredients except for the butter! Yeah... don't do that. But in true lazy cook form, I wasn't going to waste it - I just let them cook until they firmed up. Hey - they weren't going to blow up the oven at least. Small mercies, hey?

And to top it all off, after rushing around like a headless chook, my sister decided she couldn't be bothered picking up the cupcakes today after all!

Ironically, the cupcakes were absolutely delicious. Incredibly moist, chocolatey, and above all, moussey - just goes to show that, no matter how badly you stuff up, something good can still come of it!

So - here is the recipe as it should have been. I got it from my host family when I was staying in Houston on a choir trip. I can vouch for its deliciousness when it is made properly - as well as when you screw up the recipe like I did!

Chocolate Mousse Cupcakes

You will need

200 g dark chocolate (I used orange and almond, but plain is fine)
95 g butter, cut into cubes (I used 190 g... don't do that!)
4 eggs, separated
1 tsp vanilla
pinch salt
1/3 C brown sugar
icing sugar, for dusting

large, deep baking dish (big enough to take the cupcake tray
6 cupcake tray
deep patty pans
2 mixing bowls
boiling water
saucepan
electric beater
whisk
wooden spoon

Preheat oven to 170C. Boil kettle. Line cupcake tray with patty pans.
Put chocolate and butter in heatproof mixing bowl. Pour boiling water in saucepan. Place bowl over (but not touching) boiling water to create a double boiler. NOTE water should simmer, not boil. Mix until butter and chocolate are melted and smoothly combined.
Add egg yolks to vanilla and mix.
Once chocolate and butter are combined, allow to cool for a minute or two. Whisk in egg yolks and vanilla mixture.
Add the salt to the egg whites. Beat until frothy (about 1 minute on medium).
Add 1/2 the sugar and beat until combined.
Add the remaining sugar. Beat until stiff peaks form. Be careful not to overbeat.
1/3 of the egg whites at a time, fold in the egg whites into the chocolate mixture. Fold until just combined (don't lose the air!).
Spoon mixture into cupcake tray.
Place cupcake tray in deep baking dish and place dish in oven.
Pour boiling water into the deep baking dish down the side (not in the mix! but so it surrounds the cupcake tray), thus creating a bain marie.
Bake for 30-40 minutes or until fully set. Since this is a mousse cake, the traditional skewer test isn't so effective. Just make sure it's fully set in the middle.
Once cool, dust with icing sugar.

For those of you who think it might be a good idea to use a ramekin instead for that pudding effect - don't. Just don't. See the sad looking collapsed one in the front (below):

Voila! I suggest baking this on a debacle free day - but let me tell you, one or two of these after you've had a debacle will make you feel much, much better.

Cupcake Crumb Pudding

2010-02-07T16:51:00.002+08:00

Part of the lazy ethos is that I don't see the point of making something and then not using it. So when I cut the holes in the CranOrange Meringue cupcakes, I couldn't bear to discard the tops. But gluten free cakes go stale very quickly, so when I came to snack on them this arvo and found they had gone hard, I didn't know what to do - until I came across this recipe in one of my mum's old cookbooks, that is.

Cupcake Crumb Pudding (The cover fell off the book, so I'm not sure who to credit it to!) (Makes 3)

You will need:

leftover cupcake tops from this recipe
1 large egg, slightly beaten
1 cup hot milk
3 teaspoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup craisins (dried cranberries)

3 ramekins
large, deep baking tin
whisk
mixing bowl
measuring jug

Preheat oven to 180 C.
Tear up cupcake crumbs into small pieces. Divide equally between ramekins. Top with craisins.
Pour hot milk mixed with sugar, salt, and vanilla slowly into eggs whisking all the while.
Pour the milk and egg mixture over the crumbs into ramekins.
Place dish in a pan of hot water. (It's easiest to place ramekins in the pan, then put the pan in the oven, then pour in hot water!)
Bake at 180 C for 40 min (mine took 1.5 hours) or until knife inserted comes out clean.

Serve hot or cold with cream.

IC:E - Passion - CranOrange Meringue Cupcakes

2010-02-06T20:44:00.007+08:00

Passion should make you feel warm and toasty on the outside - but soft and gooey on the inside. It should be sweet, but with a bit of a tang. Just like these cupcakes!

These made a great addition to our Waitangi Day picnic - if nothing else, they were a fabulous homage to the dessert all Kiwis like to claim credit for, the Pavlova! Let me tell you, they did not last long - they were all gone before dinner was even finished (or even finished cooking for that matter) - and their gluten free-ness wasn't noticeable (except for the coeliac of course!). Highly recommended!

This is my first IC:E - Passion entry. As usual, a shout out to the wonderful prize sponsors:

The Demy™ by Key Ingredient
Hello, Cupcake by Karen Tack & Alan Richardson
Bella Cupcake Couture
Cupcake Stackers by Gourmac
The Cake Mix Doctor Returns! by Anne Byrne
Beautiful Baking Liners by Vestli House
Sweet Cuppin' Cakes Bakery & Cupcakey Supply

These were originally going to be Blood Orange Meringue Cupcakes - but when the shops didn't have any blood oranges and I ran out of orange juice, they morphed into...

CranOrange Meringue Cupcakes

For the Vanilla Custard Cupcakes:
You will need:
3/4 cup self-rising gluen free flour
5/8 cup all-purpose gluten free flour
250g unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
3 egg yolks
1 egg white
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

12 cup muffin tin
Electric beaters
mixing bowl
patty pans
wooden spoon + spatula
measuring jug + spoons

Preheat oven to 180 C.
Line 12-cup muffin tins with patty pans.
In a small bowl, combine the flours. Set aside.
In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter until smooth. Add the sugar gradually and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the dry ingredients in three parts, alternating with the milk and vanilla. With each addition, beat until the ingredients are incorporated but do not overbeat. Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the batter in the bowl to make sure the ingredients are well blended. Carefully spoon the batter into the cupcake liners, filling them about three-quarters full. Bake for 20–25 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center of the cupcake comes out clean.
Cool the cupcakes in the tins for 15 minutes. Remove from the tins and cool completely on a wire rack before adding filling and meringue.

For the CranOrange filling: (from p85 of AWW Little Pies and Cakes)

You will need:
1/2 C caster sugar
2 Tbsp cornflour (White Wings brand is gluten free!)
1/3 C Orange juice
1/3 C cranberry juice
2 Tbsp water
zest 1 orange
75 g butter, chopped
2 egg yolks

small saucepan
measuring cup + spoons
wooden spoon
whisk

Combine sugar and cornflour in a small saucepan. Gradually stir in juice and water until smooth.
Cook, stirring, until mixture boils and thickens. NOTE: if horrible looking lumps of cornflour start to form, don't panic - just use the whisk!
Reduce heat; simmer while stirring for 1 minute.
Remove from heat and stir in zest, butter and egg yolks in that order.
Allow to cool for 10-15 minutes.

For the meringue:

You will need:
2 egg whites
1/2 C sugar

clean mixing bowl
electric beaters

Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form.
Slowly add the sugar, beating all the while until dissolved.
Continue to beat until soft peaks form.

To assemble:

You will need:
Meringue mix
CranOrange filling
Cooled cupcakes

Sharp knife
piping bag
brulee gun (if you don't have one don't worry - you can use a blowtorch or just heat the oven up to the highest temperature and bake for 3 minutes to brown!)

Using a small sharp knife, cut a 2cm-deep x 3cm-wide round from the top of each cooked cake.
Fill the hole with CranOrange filling.
Allow to cool and set for 15 minutes.
Pipe on meringue mix.
Brulee the top of the meringue with brulee gun. NOTE: keep the brulee gun away from the edge of the patty cases or they may catch alight! The easiest way is to sit the cupcake on a level surface and aim the gun from the side with the flame parallel to the surface - things are less likely to burn that way. Remember, you want a toasty brown, not charcoal black meringue!

Thankyou Cakelaw!

2010-02-05T23:56:00.004+08:00

As part of Cakelaw's Laws of the Kitchen 100 blog post celebration, they randomly selected a poster to receive a copy of the Women's Weekly Little Cakes and Pies cookbook. I was lucky enough to win - and it arrived today! (Blog shoutout here - if you haven't checked out Cakelaw's blog you should - there are some seriously good lookin' recipes in there! And I say that not only because they sent me the book but because it is really worth checking out.)

I gotta say - this might sound cheesy but I felt really touched by how thoughtful Cakelaw was. Not only did they go to all that trouble to send it to the middle of nowhere, but they even took the time to wrap it and send a card...! It just made my day - thanks again, Cakelaw!

So - what to make first? One recipe that's high on my Cupcake List is lemon meringue cupcakes. I'm thinking I might adapt the Blood Orange Meringue Pies and make Blood Orange Meringue Cupcakes instead (using their patty cake recipe).

I'm going on a picnic for Waitangi Day tomorrow with some Kiwi friends. So I'll pretend that blood oranges are somehow related to New Zealand and make a batch to bring. Check back tomorrow for the recipe (and photos).

Something to aspire to...

2010-02-03T22:01:00.005+08:00

I didn't have any new year's resolutions this year. Don't get me wrong, there are hundreds - no, thousands - of things that I want to do before the year is out. But something is sticking with me at the moment - cupcakes. I'm thinking I want to do one batch of cupcakes per week. Every time, a different flavour. A different technique. And all gluten free (natch). No excuses - I want to be able to do this right. And preferably learn to take a decent photograph of them!

In the last 6 months, cupcakes seem to have made the antipodean jump in popularity. Cupcakeries have sprung up all over Melbourne. Yes, I know they have always been popular - but since S&TC turned Magnolia Bakery in NYC into the cooking version of Studio 64, cupcakes have been HUGE in the US. Australia is just a bit slow to catch on. Perth hasn't quite caught up yet - but cupcakes are starting to turn up in mainstream delis and city lunch outlets.

I know, I know, I'm just a bandwagon jumper, but there is something just so satisfying about making something... pretty. Oh god, I'm such a girl. Seriously though, everything in my life has purpose and is thoroughly practical - apart from cupcakes. Hell, I don't even have to eat them to enjoy them - it's how utterly useless but universally loved and always appreciated that gives them their appeal, I guess...

I've always lived a somewhat practical existence - finding ways to optimize efficiency, to do what needs to be done with the least amount of effort, to maximize return on investments. That kind of life doesn't have a lot of room for... frills. Cupcakes are frills. Frippery. But utterly fabulous.

I took this photo outside the Cupcake Bakery in Melbourne Central. That's what I'm aspiring to this year - to get to the point where my cupcakes are almost as good. And that is the point of this post!

So. Flavours thus far:

Italicized = Recipes are my own creation

Green = Already Complete

Orange = Not yet complete but I know how I'll do it

Red = Will be made but I'm not sure how I'll do it

January
- Cinnamon Pancake with Maple Buttercream
- Salted Caramel with Caramel SMBC
- Cinnamon Caramel Fairy Cakes with Cinnamon SMBC

February
- Cosmopolitan Cupcakes
- Chocolate Mousse Cupcakes
- Lemon Lime Bitters Cupcakes
- Orange Meringue Cupcakes
- Fig & Honey Cupcakes

March
- Red Velvet cupcakes (well, everyone is always going on about them...!) - this recipe
- Quinoa Chocolate Cupcakes (low fat, low GI but high taste!) This Recipe
- Blueberry Polenta Cupcakes
- Some form of high-hat cupcake

April
- Carrot cake Cupcakes (for Easter! Yay!)

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December
- Gingerbread cupcakes

What other flavours? Please post your faaaaaaaaaavourite cupcakes!

(Mine so far is definitely Salted Caramel!)

Carbonara - The (Almost) Traditional Way

2010-02-03T17:36:00.006+08:00

The Abstract Gourmet (who, by the way, is a FAR better writer than myself - check it out) has recently been espousing the joys of a proper carbonara. Now, I love carbonara - all forms of carbonara (even the boarding school carbonara he despised - 3 years in a boarding school and 5 years in a residential college couldn't put me off it!), including the ones in which I replace the fettucini/spaghetti with rice noodles. (Hey, they're thin and flat - totally counts!) I normally do a quiche-type thing with eggs, bacon, cream, cheese and spaghetti/rice noodles which I then bake in the oven. It's delicious and easy, but not exactly what you'd describe as traditional. However, this recipe from the Abstract Gourmet seems to be a) quick (even quicker than my usual one!), b) almost as easy, and c) slightly less bad for you (2 cups of cream doesn't exactly make the arteries sing...!)

I replaced the spaghetti with rice noodles (I didn't have any gluten free pasta in the house and I couldn't be arsed going to the shops) and bacon instead of guanciale or pancetta (again, the lazy factor came into play) so it's not *exactly* traditional... but it's still yummy and easy!

Since my mum came over for dinner, I served it with some salad - she's the kind of woman who firmly believes a meal is not complete unless there is green on the plate - but it's a meal in and of itself if you can't be bothered being healthy!

Lazy Cook's Take on Traditional Carbonara

4 rashers bacon, chopped into small pieces
olive oil
2 large cloves Garlic minced
3 Eggs
1/2 cup grated parmesan
handful finely chopped parsley
1/2 packet rice noodles
Freshly ground pepper
Extra parmesan, to top

frying pan + spatula
bowl
knife + cutting board

Slice the bacon up into small pieces.
Mince the garlic and fry it in a hot pan with olive oil until it’s soft, then add the bacon and fry them together.
Put your noodles into a pot with plenty of salt and boil it until al dente (about 1 1/2 minutes in the microwave if you're using rice noodles).
Once the noodles are done, drain it well and then add it to the pan with the bacon, tossing it well.
Crack the eggs and mix them together with the cheese, take the pan completely off the heat and then pour the eggs into the pasta, stirring constantly to combine it. What you’re making is a very simple sauce where the egg cooks just enough from the heat of the pasta to bind it all together with a lovely creamy texture. Add a little of the noodle water if you need to get some more movement happening.
Toss it all together well, add the handful of parsley and a sprinkling of fresh black pepper. Salt to taste.
Top with the extra parmesan and serve

Cosmopolitan Cupcakes

2010-02-01T20:07:00.005+08:00

Ugh. I was feeling absolutely miserable today - first day back at work after my Melbourne holiday. I was absolutely swamped, but I had also come down with a nasty bug. I ended up having to go home early. I tried sleeping for a while, but I was really craving a cocktail - but let's face it, alcohol isn't really the best cure for illness. So I decided to turn my misery into productivity, and made a cupcake version of one of my favourite cocktails - a Cosmopolitan.

The traditional cosmo flavours are lime, orange (through the cointreau) and, of course, cranberry. So I decided to make lime cupcakes with the orange and cranberry flavours incorporated into the icing. Since I didn't use any booze, I tried to make the citrussy flavours pack as much of a punch as possible - and I was rather pleased with the results! The cupcakes were light and fluffy with a big lime hit, and the frosting was creamy, fluffy and delicious. Topping cosmo cupcakes off with a virgin Cosmo - I reckon that's a better cure for a bug than chicken soup...

OK I'll be honest - even after cupcakes and cocktails I'm still pretty sick. But at least I get to be sick and happy!

Lime Cupcakes (based on this recipe for lemon cupcakes from HTEAC)

You will need:

250 g unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1.5 cups all-purpose gluten free flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
zest of 2 limes
juice of 1.5 limes
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 drop green food dye (optional)

cupcake tin (12 cupcakes)
patty pans
mix master/hand beater
3 bowls
knife + cutting board
measuring cups + spoons

Preheat the oven to 160°C. Insert patty pans into a medium cupcake pan.
In a large bowl cream together the butter and sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed until fluffy, 3-5 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time to creamed mixture, beating 1 minute after each addition.
In a separate bowl combine the flour, baking soda, and salt.
Add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture, alternating with the milk. Mix until completely integrated. Add the lime zest, juice, food dye and vanilla. Mix the batter for 30 seconds.
Fill the cupcake liners three-quarters full. Bake for about 20 minutes (mine took 29) or until a toothpick inserted in the center of cupcakes comes out clean. Cool cupcakes in the pan.

Cranberry - Orange SMBC (my own recipe)

1 C cranberry juice (preferably unsweetened but you can use sweetened if you can't get it)
zest + juice of 1 orange
250 g unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 C sugar
2 egg whites

hand beater/mixmaster
whisk
saucepan + wooden spoon
scraper
boiling water

Mix juices + orange zest in a small saucepan. Simmer (do NOT boil! All the lovely aromatic oils from the zest will evaporate) and allow to reduce by about 3/4. It will be slightly syrupy, but not viscous. Allow to cool.
Put egg whites and sugar into the top of a double boiler over a pan of simmering water. Whisking constantly, cook until sugar has dissolved and mixture is warm (about 70 C).
Pour heated egg whites into the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat egg white mixture on high speed until it forms stiff (but not dry) peaks. Continue beating until fluffy and cooled, about 7 minutes.
With mixer on medium-low, add butter two tablespoons at a time, beating well after each addition. Increase speed to medium-high; continue beating until frosting appears thick, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to low; add cranberry-orange reduction and continue beating 2 minutes to eliminate air bubbles.

Virgin Cosmo

juice 1/2 lime + 1 slice for garnish
juice 1/2 an orange
1 C cranberry juice

ice

Mix the juices together and shake over ice.
Serve in a tall glass and garnish with lime slice.

Sweet Potato and Pumpkin Salad

2010-01-31T11:56:00.004+08:00

My partner's father turned 60 yesterday - to celebrate, we had a big family lunch with salads, seafood and cold meats. Ah, gotta love an Aussie party on a plus-forty day. We had an absolute cornucopia of food. My contribution to the day was a few salads - asparagus (panfried in olive oil and butter, with a little grated parmesan), potato (in a cream and mustard dressing with parsley) and one of my favourites, sweet potato and pumpkin. The latter seemed to go down a treat - so I thought I'd share the recipe.

Sweet Potato and Pumpkin Salad

You will need

2 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

3 Tbsp vinegar (we used white wine - but you can use balsamic, red wine - or even lemon juice)

1 Tbsp honey

250 g cashew nuts

250g pumpkin

500 g sweet potato

nutmeg

cinnamon

sea salt

200 g green beans

250 g feta

100g thinly sliced prosciutto

roasting pan

boiling water

knife + cutting board

salad bowl

spray oil

Chop feta into 1 cm cubes.
Mix olive oil, vinegar, cashews, feta and honey in a small bowl. (This can be done the night before.) Seal and refrigerate - the marinade is best if allowed to sit overnight.
Preheat oven to 180 C.
Chop up pumpkin and sweet potato into 2 cm cubes. Spray with oil and sprinkle on salt, nutmeg and cinnamon to taste. Roast until tender. (This took 45 minutes for the sweet potato and 30 mins for the pumpkin). Allow to cool (again, this can be done the night before).
Top and tail the green beans and cut into bite sized pieces. Microwave in boiling water for 2 minutes or until cooked but still crunchy. Drain off boiling water and run under cold water until cool.
Tear up prosciutto.
In your salad bowl, layer the sweet potato, pumpkin, beans, feta, cashews and prosciutto. Top with the remaining marinade and serve!

A guaranteed crowd pleaser on the cheap and lazy - that's my kind of family meal!

Restaurant Review - Los Amates

2010-01-30T06:43:00.006+08:00

Only a couple of days late...

We went to Los Amates on a Thursday night. Normally, one needs to book weeks in advance to get a table, but we got one with (in retrospect) suspicious ease when we rang to book Wednesday morning. This Melbourne Mexican mecca is popular with both uni students and melbourne foodies alike - the cheap but satisfying and (relatively) authentic food (I'm not quite sure how popular chorizo is in Mexico...) has become somewhat of an institution on the Johnston St Mexican Strip. So when my partner and and his sister and her husband and myself headed down there at 7 pm on Thursday, it's fair to say we did have some high expectations.

When we arrived, a series of three (rather ominously) harried looking waitstaff tried to take our drinks orders in quick succession. While my margarita was not so quick off the mark as the beers and bloody tequila ordered by the rest of our party, it arrived and (one brain freeze later) was happily consumed. Margaritas at Los Amates are serious value at $12.50 for a very large lemony slushy full of tequila goodness, with the appropriate lime and salt accoutrements.

We shared an entree - guacamole with chicharróns. On hearing the description of chicharróns, you may think it is the most unappetizing dish in the world - it's deep fried pork fat - but I promise you, it's a) delicious, and b) thoroughly authentic. Don't get too attached to your arteries when you eat it, though. It's like a salty baconny prawn cracker - it fluffs up in the fryer and becomes all puffy and delicate. Delicious. You don't get many cracklings - but when you think about what they are (i.e. pure fat) you will realise that it is probably better all round that way.

We were so distracted by the deep fried goodness that we failed to notice that the presence of the waitstaff had gone from flustered but attentive to none whatsoever. After 20 minutes, we thought it was nice of the waitstaff to let us talk amongst ourselves. After an hour and no sight of our mains, we were starting to get a bit hungry, and the mollifying effects of the margarita was starting to wear off. The wait staff were very good and apologized - as did the owner - which made us appreciate what a worthwhile place this is to visit - but it didn't change the fact that we were hungry. Turns out there was a rather large table in the back, which turned out to be slightly more than the relatively small kitchen could cope with. So when we (finally) got our tacos around 8.15 pm, we were very much ready to eat.

I dove head first into my tacos al pastor, not realizing that the waitstaff knew how hungry we were, and had taken the meals out as soon as humanly possible - so quickly in fact that a) they hadn't made sure we were getting the appropriate amount of tacos, and b) that the fillings were rather hotter than anticipated. When I say hotter, I mean temperature wise (although I'll get to the salsa in a minute) - the result of which was a giant blister on the roof of my mouth (that still hasn't healed). Just goes to show it's fresh, I suppose!

One the steam had cleared and the meal cooled to palatable temperatures, we could really get going. I ordered the Tacos al Pastor (tender pork); my partner had tacos with beef and chorizo; and my partner's sister and her husband shared the value meal - tacos with beef and chorizo, lamb and shredded pork. As usual, once they had cooled, my tacos al pastor were tender and juicy, with the sharp, sweet pineapple contrasting well with the unctuous pork. Not being a raw onion or cilantro fan, I left those on the side. I braved a little of the salsa - apparently, this dish tends to be ordered by serious fans of Mexican food, not first time wimps, the result of which is it is served with a salsa that could probably dissolve your tongue. A drop or two is delicious, but any more pretty much sets your mouth on fire. The other dishes were served with salsa verde or pica de gallo - much more palatable for a chilli wimp like myself. The beef and chorizo tacos were lovely (provided you got enough chorizo - the beef was a bit bland on its own); the yucatan shredded pork tacos were popular; but the lamb was a bit grey and bland. We went a bit short on tacos, too - but that was because the freshly made, soft white corn tacos were so damn yummy that we couldn't help but want more. We also had some rather unmemorable frijoles (refried beans) - these were a bit bland and probably not worth getting again.

All in all, a very enjoyable night out. A bit slow to get our meals, but delicious.

Service = 3/5. Very slow to get our mains (but this was acknowledged) but otherwise friendly and efficient.

Ambience = 3/5. It's a bit crowded and the tables are very close together. It looks like a paint can or two exploded in there - crazy colours and patterns everywhere. I know that's the Mexican tradition, but still...

Value = 3.5/5. We spend $150 on a meal for 4, including booze. Although we felt a bit short changed in the taco department, overall you won't find better value Mexican in the city.

Taste = 4.5/5. The best Mexican I've found in Australia. Although one or two dishes fell a bit flat on the night, most of the food - and even the garnishes - were delicious (apart from being a bit hot!)

Overall = 14/20. If you can get a booking, go. A Fitzroy institution for a reason.

IC:E Winter Warmup - Vote Here!

2010-01-28T13:45:00.002+08:00

The Iron Cupcake : Earth Winter Warmup can be voted for here. Please vote!

You may remember I made Brown Sugar Cinnamon Pancake Cupcakes with Maple Buttercream - please vote for them!

There are also some amazing looking creations made by some incredible bloggers - I have to say that I was blown away by these - it's literally a cup cake (or at least a mug cake...!).

Cupcakes make me happy... and what better return on investment is there? Really?

I'll be back tonight with another restaurant review - I promise, new recipes next week.

By the way - what would you like to see lazified? Savories? Sweets? More cakes? Quick dinners? Breakfasts? Lunches?

Please comment and let me know!

Restaurant Review - Holgate's Bar and Restaurant

2010-01-26T19:03:00.005+08:00

My partner decided today that, since I have never been to a winery before, that he was going to show me around some of Victoria's finest. It is utterly appropriate therefore, that today's restaurant review be for a winery restaurant.

It isn't - it's for a brewery.

Holgate's Bar and Restaurant is a local brewery in Woodend, Victoria. While it isn't quite the same calibre of boutique brewery as, say, Little Creatures (Fremantle, WA), it does a very nice (albeit limited range) of boutique beers. Although I can't tell you for sure, since none of them are gluten free.

However, quite a lot of their food was (or could be adapted to be) - the knowledgeable and friendly staff were able to point me in the direction of the Chilli Lamb Salad. They also unfortunately suggested the Paramatta Farms Pinot Grigio, which was, frankly, unpalatable (to my, admittedly, very unsophisticated palette - the acidity was completely overwhelming). None the less, with the wine omitted, the salad itself was surprisingly delicious - for $19, one does not typically expect perfectly rare lamb with subtle hints of smokiness complementing the sweet and tangy glaze. Served on a bed of (slightly wilted) rocket with balsamic dressing, with red onion, feta and olives (that were admittedly from a jar, but no worse the wear for that), it made a lovely lunch to start a day of wine tasting.

Wine choice aside (and really, who can blame a pub that specializes in beer for that?), the only real dampener on the whole experience was the ambience. Although the pub was clean with a friendly buzz, the afternoon was spoiled by the addition of a screaming toddler. Normally, I don't hold that kind of thing against a restaurant - but this child had a voice that could shatter glass. Repeatedly. And the acoustics created by the large vaulted ceiling did not help. Although one can hardly blame the restaurant for the behaviour of the child of a guest, it completely ruined the atmosphere.

All in all, a lovely country lunch - just avoid it when there are families around. And please - don't bring your kids.

Service = 4/5. Speedy, efficient and friendly. Orders are placed at the bar where the (very knowledgeable) staff can help you out. Who can ask for more?

Ambience = 2/5. Although the room was clean, well decorated and showed a history of the pub and brewery out the back (normally things I appreciate), all was shattered by the screaming of a small child - I couldn't notice anything else!

Value = 3.5/5. Excellent value - only one meal (the mixed grill) over $20. Serving sizes are generous and quality is excellent.

Taste = 3.5/5. Absolutely delicious. Perfectly tender, juicy lamb backstraps in a delicately balanced glaze. Sides were less lovingly attended to, but still yummy.

Overall = 13/20. A lovely country lunch spot - worth the drive to Woodend. Preferably sans small children.

The Lazy Cook is in Melbourne!

2010-01-24T18:50:00.002+08:00

Well, no recipes today - and no Perth restaurant reviews. The Lazy Cook is in Melbourne for the week - I will try and post updates when I can get access to the Net. Melbourne restaurants will be reviewed as I go to them - but for now, the lazy cook is being spoiled by her Melbourne relatives and having most of her cooking done for her!

Have a fantastic Australia day (to all you Aussies out there!)

Cinnamon Fairy Cakes

2010-01-22T20:21:00.004+08:00

These brown sugar cinnamon fairy cakes, are (I must admit) very similar to the salted caramel cupcakes I made last week. Now there's a reason for that - I just added a couple of teaspoons of cinnamon to the batter and icing recipes and omitted the caramel drizzle... yeah, I'm lazy and I have no problem with that! In fact, the recipe is so similar it barely warrants reposting... but the cupcakes were really yummy. :)

The icing was a bit of a flop, too - literally - I tried reducing the butter in the Swiss Meringue Buttercream... still tasted lovely, but it was far too soft. It needs the correct ratio of butter to give the SMBC its texture. Still- that's how we learn!

Cinnamon Fairy Cakes

1 1/4 cups all-purpose gf flour
3/4 tsp gf baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
125 g unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup whole milk

Buttercream (What I should have done...!)
2 large egg whites, at room temperature
1/2 cup brown sugar
Pinch salt
125 g unsalted butter, cut into cubes (at room temperature)

3 bowls
electric beater
scraper
saucepan
measuring jug + spoons
wooden spoon
wire cooling rack
muffin tin and pattypans

For the cupcakes:
Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 180°C. Line a standard 12-cup muffin pan with paper or foil liners.

In a bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, using an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat the sugars and butter together until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat until combined. Add flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with the milk in 2 additions, beating on low speed until just combined; scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.

Divide the batter evenly among the prepared muffin cups, filling each about two-thirds full. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean, 20-22 minutes (Mine were done at 40 minutes). Let the cupcakes cool in the pan on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Transfer the cupcakes to the wire rack and let cool completely, about 1 hour.

Buttercream
In a large, clean heatproof bowl, combine the egg whites and sugar. Set the bowl over (but not touching) simmering water in a saucepan and heat the mixture, whisking constantly, until the sugar has completely dissolved and the mixture is very warm to the touch. Remove the bowl from the saucepan. Using an electric mixer on high speed, beat the egg white mixture until it is fluffy, cooled to room temperature, and holds stiff peaks (the mixture should not look dry), about 6 minutes.

With the mixer on medium-low speed, add the salt and the butter, a few pieces at a time, beating well after each addition. If the icing appears to separate or is very liquid after all the butter is added, continue to beat on high speed until it is smooth and creamy, 3-5 minutes more. Add the cinnamon, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.

Top the cooled cupcakes with the buttercream. Delish!

Bacon and Sweet Corn Risotto

2010-01-21T21:18:00.004+08:00

I arrived home from work today tired, hungry and late. As such, I was definitely in the mood for something quick, easy and at least in the same vicinity as healthy. I also knew that I needed to eat up the last of my beautiful piece of bacon and the veggies in the fridge. A somewhat spontaneous, albeit delicious risotto was thus created.

Bacon and Sweet Corn Risotto

Serves 2

You will need

200 g of bacon, cut into lardons
1 onion, finely diced
2 handfuls arborio rice
100 ml white wine
stock cube
boiling water
kernels from 1 cob sweet corn
handful snow peas
sliced shallots, to garnish

cutting board + knife
frying pan + spatula

Render the fat from bacon by gently heating it in the frying pan. Allow bacon to brown slightly.
Add onions and cook until translucent.
Add the rice. Allow it to absorb the juices for a few seconds, then add the wine to the mixture.
Crumble the stock cube over the top of the wet mixture and mix well.
Once liquid has been absorbed, add boiling water (50 ml at a time) and allow to absorb. Once the rice dries, add another 50 ml and allow to absorb.
When the rice has been cooking for approx 7 minutes, add the sweet corn.
Continue to add boiling water in 50 ml increments until rice is soft all the way through. Risotto should flow unctuously in the pan.
Mix through roughly chopped snow peas. Top with chopped shallots and serve.

Restaurant Review - The Flying Taco

2010-01-20T20:00:00.007+08:00

In true lazy cook form, I have been truly lazy over the last couple of days - I escaped the heat in my kitchen by heading over to my mother's house last night for steak and salad; and I got my favourite hot weather food (Mexican take away) for dinner tonight. It came from one of the best Mexican places in Perth - the Flying Taco, on Angove St in North Perth.The owner of Flying Taco works there every night. She's Californian, and it turns out she has the rather distinctive logo tattooed on her forearm (the tattoo came first - I asked...). They do pretty traditional Mexican food - lots of corn tortillas, proper soft tacos, real guacamole, lots of lime and pineapple. They aren't afraid to use proper spices either, but they let the customer decide how spicy they would like their meal by applying the heat themselves, via the salsa. And in true mexican style, there is a lot of food on offer for a very reasonable price. Sure, it's not what you'd get, strictly speaking, in the hills of Oaxoca - let's face it, Mexico isn't known for its steak - but it's much closer to the real thing than the Tex-Mex monstrosities that attempt to palm themselves off as Mexican.

The restaurant itself is a bit of a hole in the wall - a very simple, albeit colourful shopfront, with a few plastic chairs and tables available. Both dine-in and take away options are available - you can even BYO alcohol (for a relatively cheap - for Perth - corkage fee of $2 pp). Ordering is a simple 4 step process - choose your style, filling, salsa (ranging from mild to tongue-dissolvingly hot) and sides.

Tonight, I ordered takeaway. I had the Tacos Carnitas with Pica de Gallo salsa, with tortilla chips and guacamole; my dining companion shared the guacamole and chips, and had the mole poblano quesadilla. Between us, we spent less than $40 - no mean feat for the CUB capital of Australia. There was a bit of a wait to pick up my order - although the staff were very friendly and kind, only one person was serving, meaning that I could see my order sitting there, getting cold, while waiting for the register to become available. None the less, the food happily survived the trip home.

Although my tacos were very nice - the sweet, slightly acidic pineapple cut nicely through the meaty, albeit ever so slightly dry pork (although a spoonful of guacamole took care of that!), they had nothing on the cheesy goodness of the quesadilla. Although the cheese used isn't exactly the most traditional - cheddar - it is absolutely delicious - rich, creamy and heady. Unfortunately, a flour tortilla, rather than a corn one is used, so it's not gluten free - but if you can eat flour, it is well worth getting! If not, ask for the corn tortillas with sour cream - it costs $2 more, but it replicates the creamy meltingness - and elevates the tacos from 'good' to 'delicious'.

The absolute star of the show, though, is the corn chips. These are not your regular insipid supermarket corn chips. They are made to order, from freshly made corn tortillas cut up into wedges and deep fried - but strangely, not greasy or soggy, even after ten minutes sitting in a paper bag in the car. They are crisp, crunchy and perfectly cook. Thick without being heavy. Strong enough to hold a good dollop of the perfectly seasoned, zingy guacamole. The bags are deceptively small. The first time I saw them, I thought 'this can't be worth $6' - but oh was I wrong! 3 hungry eaters were not able to get through a tiny bag - the chips, though small, are so filling, being made from fresh tortillas.

All in all - recommended. If you're in the mood for quick, easy Mexican, you won't do better in Perth. One of the best value eateries this close to the city.

Service = 3/5 - Service was with a smile, but a bit slow to get there.
Ambiance = 3/5 - Unpretentious but friendly. You can see into the clean, bustling kitchen as you order. Busy but not crowded. There is something about plastic chairs though...
Value = 4.5/5 - You will struggle to find this kind of cooking in Perth for so little.
Taste = 4/5 - Absolutely delicious. Even the food that didn't shine was still yummy and satisfying.

Overall = 14.5/20. An excellent meal on the cheap and quick. Highly recommended any time you want a satisfying hit of easy Mexican.

Caramel Swirl Icecream

2010-01-18T21:24:00.002+08:00

Being as lazy as I am, there is nothing I hate more than wasting effort. Thus, after making the salted caramel cupcakes (awesome as they were) it somewhat irked me that I had some of the caramel drizzle left over. Since it had cream in it, I knew it wouldn't keep for long, so I had to do something fast unless I froze it. That gave me an idea.

Given that it has been disgustingly hot, there would be nothing better than cold, sweet caramel icecream. However, making caramel icecream traditionally involves making an egg based custard (it really doesn't work as a sorbet...!) - and who wants to heat up the kitchen using the stove unless they ABSOLUTELY have to??? Plus, I don't have an icecream maker... I then realised I could adapt the technique I picked up in boarding school - cooking eggs in the microwave - to make a microwave custard. Minimal mess, minimal fuss - and no hot kitchen!

This does take a while without an icecream maker. But the actual cooking only took half an hour - the rest of the time was taken trying to get the damn stuff to freeze... it was worth the wait though!

The only comment with this recipe is - when in doubt - WHISK! The more you whisk, the smoother it is!

So here it is - Caramel Swirl Icecream - Lazy Cook style!

You will need

leftover caramel drizzle from this recipe: I had about 1 1/3 cups (but however much you have will be fine!)
4 egg yolks (be sure to reserve the whites for your next batch of SMBC)
2 cups milk

(you can use more or less, depending on your quantity of caramel and how strong you like the icecream.... use 1/2 C milk per egg yolk and you're done!)

microwave +freezer
Glad resealable bags (or any sealable bag that can handle both heat and cold!)
measuring jug
microwavable bowl
freezable bowl
large heatproof glass
whisk
icecream container/plastic lidded container (1L)
frozen ice pack/ice brick (or similar)
wooden spoon
paper towels

Set aside about 1/3 of the caramel mixture in a separate bowl - this will be your caramel swirl. Leave this in the fridge.
Heat the milk to room temperature in the microwave.
Whisk the egg yolks in your microwavable bowl. In a very thin, slow stream, add about 1/3 of the warmed milk, whisking all the while.
Warm the remainder of the milk to just above body temperature (about the temperature you like your shower)
Whisking the egg/milk mixture continuously, slowly add the remainder of the milk
Heat the larger batch of caramel mixture until it is about as runny as water - I found this took about 2 minutes on medium high. Be sure to stir every 30 seconds! NOTE: clean the outside of the bowl before you do this, or your microwave will not look pretty afterwards! Cover with a paper towel while heating.
Transfer the runny mixture into your measuring jug and SLOWLY (a few drops at a time to begin with), whisk into egg mixture. The idea is not to end up with scrambled eggs, but to bring the mixture up to cooking temperature very gently!
IMMEDIATELY transfer to microwave. Microwave on medium high for 15 minutes (or longer if you need it), stirring (and this is important) every 30 seconds. Whenever it's out of the microwave, you should be whisking it!

It won't seem to do much at first, but slowly, the colour will start to darken and the mixture will start to thicken.

From this colour:
To this colour:
Notice how the custard has started to stick to the side of the bowl; that's how you can tell it's nearly ready! When it's done, the custard will stick to the side of the bowl like this:
Stand up your (open) ziploc bag inside a heat resistant glass - this will make it much easier to pour the custard mix into the bag.
Transfer the custard out of your bowl into a pyrex jug. Pour the custard into an upright ziploc bag - be sure to go no higher than the rim of the glass, or it will go EVERYWHERE! (I found I needed 2 for the whole mixture).
Seal the ziploc bags (try to squeeze out as much air as you can). Place the ziploc bags in a freezer safe bowl (that way if something does go wrong, you won't end up with a freezer full of caramel custard...) and put in freezer. Set the bowl on an ice-brick (or similar) - most of the heat conduction will be by the bottom. If you have ice cubes, pack them around the bags.(I clearly don't have any!)
Agitate every 45 minutes or so - pick up the bags and give them a (gentle) shake or squeeze, until semi-solid (this took me about 2.5 hours). Try not to keep the freezer door open for too long! As the mixture starts to solidify, make sure the solid bits get well mixed with the liquid - this will happen around the sides of the bags first, where the heat can be conducted most efficiently. Mixing this way will give it a nice creamy consistency and it means that the icecream will not end up as a solid lump. When semi-solid, scrape the mixture out of the bags into the sealable plastic container.
Warm up the reserved caramel in the microwave (JUST TO ROOM TEMPERATURE - you only want to be able to spread it! 15 seconds on medium high was all I needed) and pour over frozen custard mix. Swirl it gently into the mixture with a fork and return to freezer.
After 45 minutes, come back and give it a stir. Continue to gently stir every 45 minutes until it is quite stiff. If you want to stay true to the original cupcake recipe, sprinkle a pinch of salt over the finished product!
If you have any caramel SMBC left over, top the icecream with it to serve - delish!

Summer Stir Fry

2010-01-18T19:48:00.003+08:00

Today was hot. Damn hot. We hit 42 C before lunch... and it's the second day in a row we've gone that high... the last thing anyone feels like doing is cooking much (who wants to heat up the kitchen using the stove more than necessary??) or eating much. Hence the need for something cool and fresh and light for dinner. Therefore, I present:

Summer Stirfry (Serves 2)

You will need

150 g tofu, cut into strips
1 onion, sliced
1 tsp butter (note: the lactose in the butter helps the onion caramelise - it is a sugar! If you're vegan, this can be replaced with 1 tsp oil and 1/2 tsp sugar)
1 tsp crushed garlic
1/2 capsicum, cut into strips
Kernels from 1 cob corn
100 g sugar snap peas, strings removed and halved
1 Tbsp mirrin
1/2 Tbsp tamari (or soy sauce if you can eat gluten)
2 drops sesame oil
Handful diced spring onions, to serve

frying pan + spatula
knife + cutting board

Melt the butter in the frying pan and fry the onions until translucent.
Add the garlic and fry until it releases its aroma
Add the tofu and brown on both sides
Add the capsicum and stirfry for 1-2 minutes
Add the corn kernels and peas and stirfry for 1 minute
Season with tamari, mirrin and sesame oil
Sprinkle with chopped spring onions and serve!

Coq au Vin

2010-01-16T22:28:00.008+08:00

Well, the results of Thursday's poll were... a little inconclusive to say the least (please please please let me know what you would like to see on here!) so when I had my Mum over for dinner tonight, I decided to cook what I wanted to cook, which was Coq au Vin (chicken in red wine). It was inspired by this recipe.

I didn't have all the herbs that the recipe called for, but what I did have was proper lardons - big mumma hunks of bacon in all their baconny goodness... I found that my local butcher cures his own organic freerange bacon and it is just heaven! Normally, this would be more effort than I would go to, but oh.... the taste is just so worth it... smoky and sweet and creamy and rich... just amazing.

The bacon was expensive, but worth it! That being said, you can use normal bacon and it will still be good :).

I've managed to remove some of the extra effort, steps and ingredients from the recipe while (I hope) retaining the original flavour and intent of the recipe. It is seriously awesome. It did take a while though - all told, it took 90 minutes from go to woe. But it made lunch for the week - so it's worth it.

Coq au Vin
You will need:

4 potatoes
2 sweet potatoes
Olive oil
250 g bacon
1 large yellow onion, sliced
8 chicken drumsticks, excess fat trimmed, skin ON
3 tsp crushed garlic
Salt and pepper to taste
2 stock cubes
2 cups boiling water
2 cups red wine (I used cabernet savignon)
2 bay leaves
500 g button mushrooms, trimmed and roughly chopped
2 Tbsp butter

large saucepan
knife + cutting board
wooden spoon
measuring cup
paper towel
foil + roasting tray

Blanch the bacon to remove some of its saltiness. Drop the bacon into a saucepan of cold water, covered by a couple of inches. Bring to a boil, simmer for 5 minutes.
While the bacon is blanching, turn on the oven to 160 C.
Peel potatoes and sweet potatoes and chop into 3 cm cubes. Drizzle with olive oil and season. Place in oven. The time it takes to cook the dish will result in perfect tender potatoes! They should be fine for up to an hour and forty five minutes.
Drain bacon. Rinse in cold water, pat dry with paper towels. Cut the bacon into 2cm by 0.5 cm pieces.
Brown bacon on medium high heat in a dutch oven or saucepan with lid big enough to hold the chicken, for about 10 minutes. If bacon starts to stick, add a little olive oil.
Remove the cooked bacon, set aside. Keep the bacon fat in the pan. Working in batches if necessary, add onions and chicken, skin side down.
Brown the chicken well, on all sides, about 10 minutes. Halfway through the browning, add the garlic and sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper. (Note: it is best to add salt while cooking, not just at the very end. It brings out the flavor of the chicken.)
Spoon off any excess fat. Add the chicken stock cubes, boiling water, wine, and bay leaves. Add back the bacon.
Lower heat to a simmer. Cover and cook for 20 minutes, or until chicken is tender and cooked through. (This took me more like 30 minutes). Remove chicken and onions to a separate platter. Remove the bay leaves and discard.
Add mushrooms to the remaining liquid and turn the heat to high. Boil quickly and reduce the liquid by three fourths until it becomes thick and saucy. This took me about 15 minutes. Lower the heat, stir in the butter.
Remove potatoes from oven.
Return the chicken and onions to the pan to reheat and coat with sauce. Adjust seasoning. Garnish with parsley and serve over roasted potato medly.

It was so yummy I ate it before I could photograph it!

Serves 6-8. This can also be served with potatoes or over gluten free egg noodles. Peas make a good side for this dish.

Salted Caramel Cupcakes

2010-01-16T21:46:00.007+08:00

Oh. My. God. These cupcakes just gave me a pretty good insight into what heaven is like. (And I made it gluten free too!)

I fell in love with salted caramel when I was in the south of France. In Avignon, this little icecream shop in the Old Town centre sold Fleur de Sel Caramel icecream - I tried it as a dare, but from the moment I first tasted it, I knew it was true love - the little pops of saltiness that were then overwhelmed with a sweetness and creaminess.... *sigh* Unfortunately, that particular flavour profile is rather hard to come across where I live - until, that is, I discovered this recipe on How to Eat a Cupcake.

I made a pretty literal translation of it - I didn't adjust the volumes of flour - but I did adapt the icing ever so slightly. (Can I just say, if you haven't seen the HTEAC blog so far, do check it out - this girl can seriously make a cupcake!) I did, however, cook it for 20 minutes more than necessary, because (despite the fact that the cakes had shrunk and pulled away from the cupcake tin) the skewer just would not come out clean. I realised though, that for GF flour in a mud cake, this doesn't matter so much. That being said, they were actually really nice a little bit over cooked - the crunchy top contrasted beautifully with the Swiss Meringue Buttercream.

A quick comment on the recipe - you may not think it is typical lazy cook style. There are a lot of processes and bits of equipment involved - however, in terms of the rate of return on investment (i.e. enjoyment as compared to time and effort input) it definitely rates up there!

So: Salted Caramel Cupcakes - From HTEAC via this recipe

SALTED CARAMEL CUPCAKES
MAKES 12 CUPCAKES
1 1/4 cups all-purpose gf flour
3/4 tsp gf baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
125 g unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup whole milk

CARAMEL SWIRL BUTTERCREAM
MAKES ABOUT 2 CUPS
Caramel Drizzle
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
Pinch salt

Buttercream
3 large egg whites, at room temperature
1/4 cup caster sugar
1/4 cup icing sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
Pinch salt
180 g unsalted butter, cut into cubes (at room temperature)

3 bowls
electric beater
scraper
saucepan
measuring jug + spoons
wooden spoon
wire cooling rack
muffin tin and pattypans

For the cupcakes:
Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 180°C. Line a standard 12-cup muffin pan with paper or foil liners.

In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, using an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat the sugars and butter together until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat until combined. Add flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with the milk in 2 additions, beating on low speed until just combined; scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.

Divide the batter evenly among the prepared muffin cups, filling each about two-thirds full. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean, 20-22 minutes (Mine were done at 40 minutes). Let the cupcakes cool in the pan on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Transfer the cupcakes to the wire rack and let cool completely, about 1 hour.

For the toppings:
In a heavy-bottomed, high-sided saucepan, cook the sugar over medium-high heat until it begins to melt around the edges, about 5 minutes. Stirring with a clean wooden spoon, continue to cook until the sugar is melted and has turned golden amber, about 3 minutes longer.

Carefully pour the cream down the side of the pan in a slow, steady stream (it will bubble and spatter), stirring constantly until completely smooth. Stir in the salt. Pour the caramel into a small heatproof bowl and let cool completely before using. (The caramel can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week; bring to room temperature before using.)

In a large, clean heatproof bowl, combine the egg whites and sugar. Set the bowl over (but not touching) simmering water in a saucepan and heat the mixture, whisking constantly, until the sugar has completely dissolved and the mixture is very warm to the touch. Remove the bowl from the saucepan. Using an electric mixer on high speed, beat the egg white mixture until it is fluffy, cooled to room temperature, and holds stiff peaks (the mixture should not look dry), about 6 minutes.

With the mixer on medium-low speed, add the salt and the butter, a few pieces at a time, beating well after each addition. If the icing appears to separate or is very liquid after all the butter is added, continue to beat on high speed until it is smooth and creamy, 3-5 minutes more. Add the caramel drizzle (I only added about 1/2 cup) and beat until combined (or almost combined for a swirling effect), scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. My drizzle was a little too warm when I added it; the result of which was my buttercream went runny. Beating on high for 5 minutes fixed that problem! It meant it didn't swirl though...

Put a spoonful of the leftover drizzle in the centre of each cake. Ice the cupcakes with the buttercream and drizzle another spoonful of the caramel over the top. (The frosted cupcakes can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 3 days; bring to room temperature before finishing.) Top each cupcake with a pinch of sea salt, and serve.

Yeah, so they're not very pretty... but dammit they tasted AMAZING!

What lazy recipe do you want to see?

2010-01-14T21:07:00.004+08:00

OK, so I out-lazied myself for dinner tonight - Indian take-away with leftover cupcakes for dessert. Yum.

Saturday night, however, I will be cooking up a storm (in true lazy cook style) by adapting a recipe to make it more slacker friendly. The question is, which recipe would you like to see translated into lazy-ese?

I've been reading Escoffier's Larousse Gastronomique (inherited from my mother - it's ancient!) and there are a couple of recipes I reckon I could lazy right up. So which one do you want to see?

IC:E-WINTER WARM UP - Pancake Cupcakes

2010-01-13T21:19:00.008+08:00

Here goes nothing: my first Iron Cupcake entry(!) Wish me luck!

For those not in the know, (like me, until a few weeks ago) Iron Cupcake is a serious bake-off held once a month. Very professional bakers participate (go check out some of the photos - pure food porn!) and come up with incredible creations. And then people like me try and tag along for the ride - hey, if nothing else, at least it gives me an excuse to eat cupcakes!!! They also have some very generous prizes:

So, the theme of my first ever Iron Cupcake is Winter Warm Up. At first, I was thinking of adapting all kinds of flavours into cupcakes of crazy awesomeness (I was originally gonna go with English Breakfast tea cakes - literally cuppa-cakes!)... but I realised that a) I don't have that kind of time (I left the office at 7 tonight!) and b) I'm kinda out of practice in the cupcake arena...

But then it hit me. When we were growing up, the best winter warm up breakfast in the world was pancakes - specifically, brown sugar cinnamon pancakes with butter and maple syrup. Not being able to eat wheat has made me miss out on this treat as of late: but combining these flavours into a gluten free cupcake - now that is the very definition of awesome!

These have been adapted from this recipe.

Pancake Cupcakes - Cinnamon Brown Sugar Cupcakes with Maple Buttercream

Makes 12

You will need

3/4 cup gluten free self-rising flour

3/4 cup gluten free all-purpose flour*

125 g butter, softened

1 cup brown sugar

2 large eggs, at room temperature

1/2 cup milk

1 tsp powdered cinnamon

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

*if using non-gf flour, only 5/8 cup is required.

Maple buttercream
2 Tbsp maple syrup
2 Tbsp milk
2 cups icing sugar
125 g butter

Electric beater
2 bowls
scraper
cupcake tin plus patty pans
measuring cup + spoons

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C.
Line 12-cup muffin tin with cupcake papers.
In a small bowl, combine the flours and cinnamon. Set aside.
In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter until smooth. Add the sugar gradually and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the dry ingredients in three parts, alternating with the milk and vanilla. With each addition, beat until the ingredients are incorporated but do not overbeat. Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the batter in the bowl to make sure the ingredients are well blended. Carefully spoon the batter into the cupcake liners, filling them about three-quarters full. Bake for 20–25 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center of the cupcake comes out clean.

(There were 12 originally... but I ate one.... totally worth it though!)
Cool the cupcakes in the tins for 15 minutes. Remove from the tins and cool completely on a wire rack before icing.
To make icing:
Mix the maple syrup and milk together. Cream the butter and slowly add the sugar (half a cup at a time) while continuously mixing. Alternate adding the sugar with the milk mixture. Cream until the icing is thick enough to spread. (The recipe says you might need more - but this stuff is seriously sweet as it is!)

Note that the recipe originally called for unsalted butter - but I'm a big fan of the salty-sweet combination, particularly in the cupcakes! I only ended up using about 1/2 the icing - but you really can't make it in a smaller batch, which is a shame...

I found the icing to be a bit on the rich side - next time, I reckon I'll do a cream cheese/sour cream type icing - nice bit of contrast (especially when it's nice and warm out of the oven....mmmm). But I was incredibly pleased with how these turned out! Normally, gluten free stuff is all crumbly - but these are light and fluffy and delicious! (I was going to share them with some people at work... but I'm not so sure about that now lol!)

(You can even see the bubbles!!!)

Scallop and sugar snap risotto

2010-01-11T20:34:00.005+08:00

Picture this. You've just left the office. You realise you will have approximately twenty minutes between getting home and your dinner guest(s) arriving. What do you do?

This was the problem I faced today - one of my best friends was coming over to dinner - although she is a kind and understanding woman, she gets hungry. After starting at 7 this morning, I left the office at 6 tonight (relatively early by my standards!) and realised I had less than an hour before she would arrive.

Fortunately, though, I had this recipe up my sleeve - Scallop and Sugar Snap Risotto. This version serves 2.

Note that I have cooked them in the St Jacques style (gently poached in white wine) - if you prefer, sear them in olive oil with some salt, pepper and lemon zest. I prefer this way, since a) they are much more tender (without being sashimi!) and b) they shrink less.

You will need:
2 handfuls arborio rice
1 onion
tsp crushed garlic
2 tsp olive oil
1 lemon
1 glass white wine (200 ml)
400 ml boiling water
chicken stock cube
250 g sugar snap peas
10 scallops

frying pan + egg slice
cutting board + knife
lemon zester
small saucepan

Finely dice the onion in the frying pan. Saute in olive oil until brown.
Roughly chop the sugar snap peas.
Add the garlic to the onion and brown.
Add the arborio rice and allow to cook for a few minutes. If you let it get a tiny bit darker in colour, it will add a lot to the flavour.
Dissolve the stock cube in boiling water.
Add 1/4 of the chicken stock to the rice and allow it to absorb over a medium heat. As the rice dries out, keep adding small volumes of stock. Continue to do this for 6 minutes (or until the rice is only a couple of minutes away from being done)
Zest and juice lemon and add to saucepan along with wine. Heat over the lowest possible flame.
Add the scallops to the wine mixture in a single layer (this can be done in batches if necessary). The wine should not come more than halfway up the side of the scallops - if it does, tip the excess liquid off into the rice. Poach the scallops for about 2 minutes a side on the lowest heat.
Remove the scallops from the poaching liquid. Cover and leave in a warm place. Tip the remaining poaching liquid onto the rice and allow it to absorb.
When the rice has about 2 minutes left to cook, add the sugar snap peas.
Cook the rice until it is soft through - it should melt on the plate. If any extra liquid is required, add a little more wine.
Plate the risotto. Put the scallops back in the hot pan (no flame - just the residual heat is plenty) for ten seconds per side to ensure they are nice and warmed through. Top the risotto with the scallops and serve.

Voila! Dinner in under 15 minutes - and with perfectly tender, sweet scallops with a zingy risotto, who could ask for more?

(OK, I'm a foodie, not a photographer or a food stylist - but dammit, it tasted AWESOME)

Easy Lunches - Frittata style

2010-01-10T15:02:00.005+08:00

OK so I thought about making the cupcakes I described earlier... but then I realised that not only do I not have any patty pans (or cupcake trays for that matter), I don't actually have any flour. Slight problem! So will go on a cupcakery expedition soon - but in the interim, I have made my lunches for the week (in less than an hour) - do the maths and that's less than 12 minutes prep time per lunch - less time than you'd take to make a sandwich. And delicious! So I present to you - my first ever frittata! (Inspired by this recipe from For the Love of Cooking)

Bacon, Potato and Mushroom Frittata

You will need:

2 potatoes
boiling water
salt
4 rashers of bacon
1 onion
1/2 cup sliced mushrooms
1 cob corn
6 eggs
1 1/2 Tbsp milk
Spray cooking oil
1/2 cup grated cheese (I used a mix of freshly grated Parmesan and mozzarella)

30 cm tart tray/shallow ovenproof circular dish
oven glove
frying pan + spatula
knife + cutting board
small saucepan

Preheat oven to 180C/350F.
Cut the potato into bite sized cubes. (Leave the skin on if you like - less effort than taking it off!) Add to saucepan with boiling water and salt, and simmer for 5 minutes or until just cooked (think al dente). Drain and run under cold water until room temperature.
Dice the bacon and add to frying pan. Cook on a low heat and allow the fat to render.
Finely dice onion and add to frying pan. Cook until translucent.
Add the cooled potato to the frying pan and allow to cook for 5 minutes or until soft.
Slice the mushrooms and slice the corn kernels off the cob. Add both to pan and cook for 5 minutes (or until they are just golden). At this point, your pan will probably be very full - try not to spill too much! (If you manage this you have much more skill than I do...)
Spray a light layer of oil in your oven proof dish. Add a thin layer (2 Tbsp) of cheese to the bottom of the dish.
Transfer pan contents into oven proof dish.
Beat the milk into the eggs until just combined and pour over the bacon/potato mix.
Bake for 20 minutes or until eggs are just set in the centre.
Sprinkle remaining cheese over the top and bake for another 5 minutes.

And you're done! Serve either fresh from the oven or cold with a green salad - either way, it's delicious.

Iron Cupcake

2010-01-09T22:41:00.002+08:00

I love cupcakes. Freaking love 'em. (Can't eat too many of them, other than the ones I make myself...). Not being a particularly competitive soul, I haven't really been involved in the many cupcake contests to date, but I am a little intrigued by the latest Iron Cupcake: Earth contest. Now, admittedly, the theme is winter warm ups, and it's been sitting above 35C here for the last month (gotta love global warming) - but all I can think about is tea cakes. Specifically, how my favourite thing in the world to warm me up in winter is a hot cuppa - and how I usually (when eating cakes with tea) crumble them up into my tea anyway. It would be easy to substitute milk for milky tea when making cupcakes... at least in theory anyway... hmmm methinks I have a cunning plan...

Now if I could only find the time to actually do it!

How do you cook your steak?

2010-01-04T21:21:00.005+08:00

I love steak. LOVE steak. But, after god knows how many years of lazy cooking, I'm still not convinced I know the best way to cook steak. From what I understand, there seem to be two camps of steak - cooking: either

'Love' the steak - low heat and red wine (don't even let it simmer - just very gently cook); or
Let the steak know who's boss - sear hard on both sides

As such, this is my first bleg: please tell me how you cook your steak - and if you think it works well! My current method (based on that espoused by Jamie Oliver in his School Kitchen series) involves a derivation of the latter method (he suggests a harder sear, but I just can't bring myself to do it!).

Steak a la LC

Steak (well duh... I like a small but thick porterhouse - preferably grass fed)
1 1/2 Tbsp butter
1 tsp crushed garlic
pinch salt
pepper to taste (i.e. none at all, in my case)

frying pan
spatula/tongs
Aluminium foil
Oven glove

Heat 1 Tbsp butter in pan until melted (not browned!) - keep the heat low until immediately before you add the steak.
Season both sides of the steak (the salt draws the moisture to the surface and stops it burning - clever, no? The pepper just makes it taste funny - hence why I omit...)
Smear both sides of the steak with crushed garlic.
Turn up the heat in the pan until the butter starts to brown and sizzle, then add the steak.
Cook for equal time (on medium heat) on each side - for a medium rare steak, I find 2 minutes a side generally suffices. The timing starts as soon as the steak starts to sizzle.
Rub the remaining butter over the surface of the steak and rest (cover with aluminium foil and oven glove) for 8-10 minutes before serving.

This, served with salad, is one of the easiest meals I can think of to make! Minimal ingredients, minimal washing up - minimal effort - and YUMMY!

A tip (this time courtesy of Iron Chef!) - how to tell how well done your steak is (without having to cut into it):

Rare feels like your cheek
Medium rare feels like your earlobe
Medium feels like the side of your nose
Well done feels like the tip of your nose

You really do need to touch your steak to see if it's done to your liking (don't worry, it's thick and has a high heat transfer coefficient - you won't burn yourself!) - use the back of your (clean) fingers so that (a) if it is a little hot, you won't do yourself any damage (the back of your fingers are less sensitive to heat than the tips), and (b) you can then use your hands without getting greasy fingerprints all over everything.

So tell me: how do you do your steak?

Blog Shout - Out

2010-01-03T20:46:00.003+08:00

Have been doing a little soul (and internet) searching as of late, checking out some other foodie blogs.

Ones that I absolutely adore:

How To Eat a Cupcake - All kinds of baking wonderousness and joy. It makes me happy!

Gluten free girl - Amazing gluten free recipes. Plus, this girl can take a mean picture. Food porn meets health awareness (without too much vegetarian hippy consternation)

Engineer Baker - A woman after my own heart. Chemical engineers rock - are we clear? Particularly those with a foody bent!

In the spirit of these blogs, I'll do some experimenting to see if I can't adapt some of their recipes to make them (a) easy, (b) gluten free, while (c) retaining the inherent deliciousness!

Get-well-soon Chicken Soup

2010-01-03T20:06:00.003+08:00

So, once you have roasted your perfect chicken (as per the recipe here), you will more than likely be saddled with some leftovers. So far as I'm concerned, it's far too much effort not to take advantage of them (otherwise, what was the point in keeping the leftovers? Sheesh!) - but chicken, as I'm sure you know, can be fiddly to remove from the carcass and a pain in the bum to strip from the bone. Not so if you follow the lazy cook methodology! Sure, there is probably 20 minutes of actual effort required- but the rest is pretty easy (particularly if, like me, you have discovered the joys of crushed garlic in a tube!).

I came up with this recipe this arvo, after discovering my mother was in a grump due to a cold, and simultaneously reading this article in the NYT.

You will need:
leftovers from your roast chicken (plus leftover gravy/pan juices if you saved them)
3 Tbsp olive oil
750 ml boiling water
1 Tbsp crushed garlic
1 onion
1 large Nadine potato
1 large carrot
1 cup sliced mushrooms
2 cobs fresh sweet corn

Large saucepan
Large bowl
Chopping board
Knife
Wooden spoon
Colander/Sieve

Wash your hands with a good antibacterial soap.
Wash your hands again.
Strip as much meat from the carcass as you can (or can be bothered to get). Omit any skin and bones. Set the meat aside.
Heat 1 Tbsp olive oil in large saucepan on medium heat.
Put the rest of the carcass, skin and bones into saucepan and allow to brown slightly.
Add boiling water, cover and allow to simmer for 30 minutes.
While simmering, finely dice onion
Cut potato and carrots into cubes.
Remove corn kernels from cob.
Check flavour of simmering stock after 30 minutes. If it tastes like chicken, it's pretty much done. If not, allow to simmer for 10 more minutes.
Once stock flavour has developed, strain contents of saucepan over bowl. Discard bones, skin and gristle; retain liquid for later.
Add 1 Tbsp olive oil to (now empty) saucepan. Saute onion and garlic until onion is translucent.
Add cubed potatoes and celery; saute until potato starts to soften. If potato sticks, add remaining olive oil. (Keep stirring or else this will end very poorly!)
Add sliced mushrooms and saute until mushrooms start to brown and soften. Once the mushrooms start to release their liquid, add retained stock and chicken pieces.
Add corn kernels.
Simmer for 1 hour, or until potato is meltingly tender.

OK, so this is slightly more effort and higher in complexity than the recipes I usually favour. But I promise you, this soup is worth it (and much easier and cheaper than most chicken soups!)

How to Roast a Perfect Chicken

2010-01-03T19:49:00.004+08:00

Note: Roast chicken doesn't take a lot of effort - but it does take a lot of time. While it is baking, retire to a quiet, secluded spot with a good book and a glass of good white wine.

You will need:

1 medium sized chicken (preferably free range - they taste the best)
olive oil
butter
garlic
salt
1 lemon
white wine (a dry white works well)

potatoes
sweet potatoes
carrots
red capsicum (or red bell pepper to the yanks!)
nutmeg
cinnamon
salt

deep roasting pan
oven proof tray
oven glove/thick teatowel
lemon zester/cheese grater
aluminium foil

sour cream (to serve)

FOR THE CHICKEN:

Preheat oven to 150 C (if fan forced oven is used; 160C if gas oven is used)
Heat 1-2 Tbsp olive oil in your deep roasting pan over a low burner.
Rinse the chicken (make sure you rinse the inner cavity) with cold water; mince the garlic and rub (with some butter) all over chicken.
Sear chicken on both sides until the skin starts to colour.
Sprinkle lemon zest over the chicken as it is being seared.
Juice lemon and pour over seared chicken.
Pour enough white wine over chicken to come 1 cm up the side.
Place chicken breast down in pan.
Bake in oven for 2.5 hours. Chicken will be done when you can stick a knife into the joint at the thigh (the most insulated part of the bird) and the juices run clear.
Remove bird from pan when cooked, and allow to rest (breast down) for 10 minutes (cover with foil and teatowels to keep it hot!) prior to serving

FOR THE VEG: Make sure you start this as soon as the chook is in the oven!

Slice potato into desired size wedges, leaving skin on, and apply light coat of olive oil. Season with salt and place on (oiled and foiled) roasting tray. Ensure no pieces are touching.
Peel sweet potato and brush with olive oil. Place, long side down, on oiled and foiled roasting tray. Season with salt, cinnamon and nutmeg.
Cut carrots in half and brush with olive oil. Place, flat side down, on oiled and foiled roasting tray. Season with salt.
Cut capsicum into strips and brush with olive oil. Place, skin side up, on oiled and foiled roasting tray.
Put roasting tray in oven along with chook. Bake until the chook is ready to serve.

TO SERVE:

Heat the pan juices on a low heat in the roasting pan and allow to reduce while the chicken rests - this will create your gravy

Serve the roasted veg with some sour cream, sea salt and black pepper - delicious!

So it's been a while...!

2010-01-03T19:45:00.003+08:00

Howdy all

Apologies for the (extensive) wait between posts. A combination of a dodgy computer keyboard (you will likely notice some nonsensical grammar and spelling in this post - as said keyboard is not yet entirely fixed!) and holiday madness has resulted in little time to blog... OK I kinda let it slip my mind - but anyone reading this already knows I'm lazy! Given that I'm not 100% convinced anybody is actually reading this blog, I daresay that not too many hearts have been broken; none the less, as an apology of sorts, I bring you today a double whammy - roast chook - and what to do with the leftovers!

Stuck in the airport...

2009-11-22T05:26:00.003+08:00

I'm currently sitting in the domestic lounge in Melbourne airport (where I have spent more collectively bored hours than I care to admit...) after visiting my partner for the weekend. No cooking time unfortunately (no kitchen!) but, despite the jetlag and having to get up at 5.30 am, not a bad way to spend a weekend!

So while I'm stuck at the airport, thought I'd share a few of the more entertaining things I've come across today... not really food related - but funny!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/28554048@N04/2860889931/sizes/o//
Recruitment ad for a burger joint... not sure if it would fly at the equal opportunities commission!

http://dailyshite.com/2009/11/honeymoon-cake-sums-up-what-i-want/
Best wedding cake topper ever!

Expanding on the on the optimist/pessimist question...

The hardest part of being lazy...

2009-11-15T20:04:00.004+08:00

... is knowing when to accept defeat. Accepting the result of the mental cost-benefit analysis (is it worth cooking it?) that any lazy cook should do for every meal is one of the hardest things to do - especially when you love to cook. Today, for example, after losing a battle with a wardrobe (not the kind where you will find an enchanted world behind some fur coats - more the kind where the kind where the door has decided it does not, under any circumstances, be parted from the hinges, and is not afraid to put up a fight), sore muscles and a craving for Indian food meant that cooking just lost out. Unfortunately, the one food that loses out every time is Indian food. I love it - especially the vegetarian dishes - but it just falls into the category of too much effort, not enough reward. Creating the complicated spice blends, stewing meats overnight, making naan from scratch - who has the time? Or, for that matter, all the spices you need to do it really well?

Making Indian food is definitely something best left for the experts. That being said, eating Indian food is something everyone should do - just because it's so good! When I'm in Melbourne, the Classic Curry Company is a mainstay of mine - practically nothing is over $10, and everything has been made the day before in large vats - just like good Indian food should be! This place is especially good because it delivers to the CBD and surrounding suburbs, and if your meal totals over $25, it's free. When I'm in Perth, 2 Fat Indians in Cottesloe (not Leederville) is my favourite spot - mostly because of the way it treats the proteins. It respects the proteins - every mouthful of meat or dahl or Paneer is a melting morsel (although they're not afraid of the chilli, so don't be afraid to ask for it mild if that's what you want!). They also fry the paneer before cooking, so it can actually be distinguished from tofu (something not every Indian place achieves...).

If you are an Indian food virgin, make sure you try the Palak Paneer (cubes of Indian cheese in a really rich spinach sauce), butter chicken (chicken in a mild tomato sauce) or chicken korma. And make sure you have a lot of rice, a lot of raita (yoghurt with cucumber, tomatoes and spices) and some naan - all these will help take out the heat. If you try extra mild Indian food doused in raita (as I did with my first butter chicken...) in the presence of someone from India, they will likely laugh at you. But if you can live with that, it's very much worth it!

Drunken Goat (no I'm not Kidding...)

2009-11-14T15:54:00.002+08:00

One of the most delicious but underrated meats in the world is goat. It's kinda hard to come by (my theory is that any butcher serving anything labeled 'kid' would come under a fair amount of investigation), but if you can find it, try it - it's fantastic. Tastes a little like lamb, but richer, more savory. I get mine pre-marinated from the butcher in red wine and oregano - but the meat is fantastic plain as well.

I'm cooking some for dinner as we speak - I'll post some photos afterwards because words alone cannot express how wonderful it is.

So here is my recipe for Drunken Goat (aka my dinner tonight...)

3 x goat cutlets, marinated in red wine and oregano
1 glug olive oil
leftover red wine

oven safe casserole dish with lid
wine glass

Turn on the oven and set to 140 C (don't worry about preheating it - it won't take long to heat)
Put the olive oil in the casserole dish (enough to coat the bottom of the dish) and place the goat in on a single layer
Pour over enough red wine to come halfway up the sides
Cover with lid and put in the oven
Drink a glass of wine and read a book for 2 hours or until the meat is falling off the bone
Serve - it's really nice with polenta or mashed potatoes or mashed turnips

Yes, I realise this is a little similar to how I cook my lamb... but it's just so easy and yummy!

Lazy Lamb Forequater Chops

2009-11-11T17:39:00.002+08:00

I love lamb. OK, so I'm an Aussie, and the Sam Kekovich marketing campaign may have done a bit of a number on me, but it's one of my favourite foods. Not only is it yummy, full of iron and cheap (if you get the right cut), but it is ridiculously easy to cook - and cook it well. So here is the first Lazy recipe: Lazy Lamb Forequater Chops

You will need:

olive oil
4 lamb forequater chops (available from any good butcher - they cost about $2 each!)
bottle red wine (merlot works well)
clove garlic/precrushed garlic
salt and pepper (to taste)

casserole dish (with lid - the lamb spatters)
oven
sharp knife
chopping board
wine glass

Turn on oven and set to 140-150 C
Put a small glug of olive oil in the bottom of your casserole dish.
Swirl the lamb around in the oil to give it a good coating.
Season lamb to taste and put in casserole dish.
Pour red wine over lamb until it comes about halfway up the side of the chop.
Add garlic to dish (if it's crushed, fine - if not, it doesn't matter, so long as you've peeled the garlic) and put on lid.
Put in oven and close oven door.
Pour yourself a glass of red wine and read a book for 2 hours
Open oven door and serve. (If garlic has been left whole you don't have to serve it - but it will be really sweet and tender and make a good sauce!)

Works well with roasted veggies (put veggies into oven at same time as lamb after chopping into chunks the size of your fist) or salad in summer

Note: this recipe works well for as many chops as you can fit in a single layer in the casserole dish. You can add oregano, mustard or rosemary if you like.

The Unexamined Dish...

2009-11-11T17:30:00.004+08:00

They say that the unexamined life is not worth living. I maintain a corollary of that is an unexamined dish is not worth cooking. That is to say, if I'm going to get up off my butt and actually cook a meal, particularly if it is going to be a complex but delicious dish, I find it necessary to ask myself the following

Do I have everything I need to make it? (Sounds obvious, but when you're tired, cranky and hungry, there's nothing worse than having to turn off the stove and run down to the shops to get that damn bay leaf. Laziness requires forethought.)
By the time I finish making it, will I still be awake? (Again, sounds obvious - but try falling asleep with the oven on with a casserole in it - scrubbing blackened char off Corningware requires a lot of effort)
Can I make enough portions (and successfully store them) to save myself some time later? (Making a large stew then discovering you have no clean/empty tupperware, again, creates a situation that requires effort)
Is there an easier way of doing this? Google is generally very useful in that respect.
Could this be an excuse to see someone I haven't seen for a while? (Inviting someone over for a yummy dinner can not only be a great way to catch up with them, but is a good way to find the motivation to cook something you're craving but are yet to be arsed to make)

And finally
Is there a local takeaway joint that does this better than I can?

Lazily and pragmatically yours,

The lazy cook

On Washing Up

2009-11-09T21:40:00.004+08:00

So, I thought I'd start at the end - specifically, at the end of the meal, at the task I like the least - washing up. As one of the poor unfortunate backwards souls who does not have a dishwasher, washing up is generally a manual affair. All kinds of fun skin conditions make this a particularly joyous activity for me, generally leaving me with bleeding cracks between my fingers, so I tend to avoid it as much as possible. Traditionally, washing up is a fairly prescriptive affair - first glassware, then cutlery, then crockery, and finally pots and pans, then everything gets rinsed, dried and put away - but I feel that, for the time poor and/or slack among us, there are a few nuances in the washing up process that should be examined...

Not everything needs to be washed immediately, Sure, anything fat based or protein based is not going to improve upon sitting, but really, washing up does not need to be a daily activity. A quick rinse under the tap before leaving things on the side of the sink generally suffices for a day or two (so long as you don't eat off them until they have been properly washed! Nobody likes e.coli...). That said, if it starts to smell, or if anything with more legs than you has started to show interest, it's definitely time to do a load of washing up. If you're going to do this though, make sure you keep anything dirty well separate from anything clean, or you'll end up spending the night with your head over the toilet. Not a fun way to spend the evening.
Anything with dried on food should be separated from anything without dried on/baked on/generally stuck food. The largest (water holding) item with stuck-on food should be filled with hot water and detergent, and as many smaller items with dried on food as possible should be left to soak in it before you start the dishes. Leave washing these items til last.
Traditionally, cups should be washed early in the load. This rule, however, does not apply to anything that is structurally integral to the pile of washing up. Leave these til later.
If the washing up water is not crystal clear, do NOT put any sharp knives in to soak. Keep a hand on the handle at all times, and make sure you're aware which side is the sharp side. It's harder to be lazy with fewer fingers.
Drying up is generally optional for anything ceramic - very little harm will come to it from letting it drain on a draining board. Some of my dishes have never actually seen the inside of the cupboard - they just rotate from one side of the sink to the other. It's probably a good idea to dry anything steel (to prevent rust - even in stainless steel), bone or glass that you have any kind of attachment to, though.
Make sure you wipe down the joins between your sink and the wall once you've finished. It's a favourite mould hidey hole - and it's much easier to prevent than cure.

Yes, I am a slob. But you knew that.

An Introduction to Lazy Cooking

2009-11-09T21:24:00.000+08:00

The first, and pretty much the only thing you need to know about me is that I love food. I seriously love food. I love eating it, I love cooking it. The smells, the textures, the hissing of sealing meat, the first crack of a creme brulee... yeah - I could go on.

But the second, and slightly less important thing is that, like many of my generation who have skipped straight from school to uni to the work force with barely a second glace, is that I have very little time. Needing to be at work before 7.30 most mornings and generally not getting home before 7 at night (at which point I can barely do more than collapse on the bed with the newspaper) leaves me with very little time and energy to cook - or complete the jobs associated with cooking (like shopping, washing up, eating...). The result of all of this is that, in my year or so of living like this, is that I have developed a somewhat pragmatic approach to cooking - but in such a way that I can generally cook some pretty damn yummy meals.

So, inspired by Julie and Julia, I thought I'd jump on the egotistical bandwagon (yeah yeah, I'm a late adopter... so sue me!) and share a few of the tips, tricks and general thoughts I've picked up along the way on how to cook damn good food - and not kill yourself in the process.