Happy Birthday Dad-Am and Dylan!

Dad and Dylan 

Banana cake whipped up at the last minute

Todd and Dylan

Dons and Pup

Jake and Todd

Just a quick post to say Happy Birthday to Dad and Dylan. On Friday it was my lovely Dad's birthday which we celebrated by having a family dinner. I actually made Dad the amazing cheesecake I made for Reuben's birthday except this time I got the oven settings right so it looked much better on top. If you ever want to make a cheesecake, make this one. I mean lets be honest cheesecake is NOT a low fat option so why not the whole hog (pun intended) and make this one. It is so fluffy and creamy and totally divine so well worth the caloric indulgence. 


Anyway on the actual day of the dinner I found that it was Dylan's 9th birthday the next day. Dylan is my sister's partner Todd's little boy and he is a real darling. So at the last minute I whipped up a banana cake which is his favourite. I made a yummy chocolate buttercream icing and quickly decorated it in the last 5 minutes before they arrived. Dylan was really happy with it as he hadn't expected it all...and besides what kid doesn't like having a birthday cake and having people sing Happy Birthday to them.


Happy birthday Dylan and Dad xxxxxxx

Baking for Nightshift- Lemon Whoopie Pies

Just cooked and cooling

The small ice cream/dough scooper

So tonight is my last night shift before I have next week off on annual leave for the school holidays. Adelle at work is also on tonight and the other day ordered some whoopie pies for tonight after seeing my post on the last ones I made, for tonight. As I have hardly slept today (only 3 hours), I had plenty of time to whip these up. The added bonus is that it keeps me off the couch feeling dopey and sorry for myself because of my lack of sleep. 


Whoopie pies are so so so good! They are easy to make and really versatile in that you can change both the flavour of the pie itself and the filling. I was thinking a chocolate salted caramel one might be my next whoopie pie treat. They are easy to eat and you don't get the messiness you can get with a cupcake when you eat them. These ones are delicious. I was a little bit skeptical as the recipe has brown sugar in them which I thought might make them a bit caramelly. But it didn't. The lemon in the pie is subtle but with the lemon buttercream, they are really delicious. I put a photo on of my little scooper so if you want to buy one you can see what you are looking for. Just don't buy the big one or your pies will be massive as they do spread quite a bit.


Lemon Whoopie Pies


2 1/4 c flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
115g softened butter
1/2c white sugar
1/2c packed brown sugar
2 large eggs
1/2c buttermilk
zest of a big lemon
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp vanilla


Oven to 170C and line trays with baking paper.


Sift together the flour, baking powder, soda and salt.


Cream the butter and sugars until light and creamy. Add the eggs and buttermilk and beat until incorporated. Add the vanilla, lemon zest and juice and beat until combined (it will look curdled but don't worry because it all comes together).


Add half of the flour mixture and mix until just incorporated. Add the other half of the flour, mix on low until incorporated then increase the speed to medium and beat until well combined (about a minute).


Drop spoonfuls onto your trays but space them as they do spread. Bake about 12 minutes, cool on the trays for a couple of minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool.


Sandwich them with a yummy lemon buttercream (don't be stingy with the butter) and sprinkle the tops with icing sugar.

Baking for Nightshift- White Chocolate and Cranberry (and Dried Blueberry) Cookies

My little boy Harry really likes to watch cooking shows. In fact he will sit through one quite happily asking questions all the way through about what they are doing and why. So the other day we were watching Rachel Allen show on the Food Channel when she made these cookies. They looked really easy as well as pretty tasty so I thought they would be good to make for both the boys and for work. The recipe was an easy one but as I ran out of dried cranberreis I used some dried blueberries which I got from the food show in July. These dried blueberries are so delicious and I think they tasted better in these cookies than the cranberries. This is a soft cookie and while I did like them I don't know if I would make them again in this form. BUT the best thing about them is that you change the chocolate and the fruit to make them into whatever you want. If you want the recipe you can find it here.

Croissants

For ages now I have been wanting to make croissants. They are time-intensive so I set aside the first morning of the school holidays to make them for the boys lunch. There are loads of recipes out there but the one I ended up using was the Alison Holst one from "The New Zealand Bread Book". Alison Holst is really the Grand Dame of cooking in New Zealand...a bit like the Kiwi Delia Smith, Margaret Fulton or Julia Childs. Her recipes almost always work and her instructions fantastic. I knew I could have found a more traditional recipe for croissants in one of my many, many cookbooks but I liked the fact that this one had 150g butter in it as opposed to 300-500g which even though I know, is an important part of the flavour, it just seems a little too indulgent. The croissants tasted really good. I know I should have rolled the dough a bit thinner but I was surprised at how 'proper' they tasted especially once they cooled down. I won't be posting this recipe as the method is pretty long but I'm sure you can find one online, if not the Alison Holst one itself. If you want to try something a little different in the kitchen, give croissants a go.

Baking for Nightshift- Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Ready for baking after being rolled with my little scoop

Just out of the oven

Last night I decided to take these to work and leave the Whoopie Pies for tonight's shift. I don't know about anyone else but I am in a constant search for that perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie. It's a difficult one because I love the crispy ones but the chewy ones are also yummy too. I found this recipe on the Patent and Pantry blog and thought it looked worthy of a go. I really love the flavour of brown sugar in a cookie as it gives a really good slightly caramely flavour. In fact that reminds me of brown sugar shortbread....hmmmm....


Those of us who live in NZ will know the Cookie Time Cookie which is also a soft cookie with big bits of chocolate in them. While they are quite sweet they are also really yummy. I thought these ones looked a lot like those and had the same sort of texture but didn't have that overly sweet flavour of the Cookie Time Cookie. I loved this recipe. I once again used my little scooper so they were all the same size. You don't flatten them instead letting the oven do the job. The result is a really yummy, soft and chewy cookie with big hits of chocolate through them. I used 50% dark chocolate and white chocolate but you could use just one type or a mixture of any chocolates. Next time I'll try milk chocolate...and there will be a next time as these will become my go-to chocolate chip cookie.


Chocolate Chunk Cookies



175g butter, softened (I always use salted butter but if you use unsalted butter add 1/2tsp salt)

1 c brown sugar
1/4 c sugar
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 c flour
2 tsp cornflour (apparently it makes them chewy in the centre)
1 tsp baking soda
250g milk, white or dark chocolate, cut or broken into chunks (or use a mix of all or some)

Preheat oven to 170C. Live baking trays with baking paper.

Cream butter and both sugars until smooth. Add egg and vanilla and blend in.

In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, baking soda and salt. Add to butter mixture and mix until just blended. Fold in chunks of chocolate.

Drop cookie dough by spoonful (or use your handy scooper) onto the lined sheet and bake until just golden brown around the edges, between 8 and 10 minutes.

Remove from the tray and cool on a wire rack. Remember these are soft in the middle

Baking for Nightshift- Choco-Mint Whoopie Pies

I would say that the new cupcake is really the whoopie pie. I know these are nothing new in the USA but here in little old NZ they are finally starting to make an appearance. For those of us who follow a whole lot of cooking and baking blogs, (it's almost as much an addiction as getting new cookbooks...if not more), whoopie pies are nothing new. I have made them before but not for ages. The whoopie pie is like a cross between a cake and a cookie in texture which is really part of their appeal, as it sthe fact that you can make alsorts of flavour combinations. So last night I got out my "Whoopie Pie' book, which was one of the many books I bought when the UK Amazon site had free postage to NZ. Of course you had to spend 25 quid BUT all that did was give more reasons to buy more books. Luckily (or unluckily), that deal is finally over so I'll have to go back to the good old Book Depository to buy my books where the postage is always free. 


Anyway I digress. I wanted to make some baking treats to take to work and to drop into our Ward Clark who has just had a knee replacement. She loves my baking so I wanted to make something she could have with a cup of tea while she was holed up in a hospital bed. I made these and some biscuits which I will post about next. 


I decided to make plain chocolate whoopie pies but put in a minty-flavoured buttercream. I love chocolate and mint together so I knew this would be a winning combination. I coloured the buttercream a light green and I have to say the colours look really lovely together....and the flavours are also delicious too. I'm pretty sure they will go down a treat at work. If you live in NZ I would also watch out for the onslaught of the whoopie pie too in cafes and bakeries. One thing to buy is a small spring-loaded ice cream scoop so you can get uniform sizes. I also use this for cookies to get them all the same size too. I got mine form Living and Giving and I have also seen them at Stevens if you want to get one.


Choco-Mint Whoopie Pies


1 2/3c flour
2/3c cocoa
1 1/2tsp baking soda
115g butter
1 c firmly packed brown sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/4c milk


Preheat the oven to 180C and line baking trays with baking paper.


Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and beat for another couple of minutes.


Sift together the flour, soda and cocoa and add half of this mixture to the butter with half of the milk. Mix until incorporated then add the other half of the flour mixture and milk. Drop spoonfuls onto the tray but not too close together as they do spread a bit. Bake about 10 minutes until they spring back when pressed slightly.


Cool on a wire rack after cooling them on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes.


Sandwich together with a mint buttercream but make sure you add the mint extract bit by bit until you get the minty strength you want.

Baking for Nightshift- Berry, Polenta and Orange Cake

I'm posting this a day late as I didn't get a chance before work last night. So here I sit in a mid-night duty fog making sure I get this posted. One of the reasons I want to post this now is that I know you will want to make it. It is so delicious. It's moist, flavourful, desserty yet great to have as a treat with a cuppa. In other words make sure you give it a go because I seriously doubt you will regret it. I think it would be even better with mascarpone, whipped cream or a lovely thick yoghurt (like the delicious Piako, Kapiti or The Collective ones). This recipe comes from the August-September Dish magazine (issue 37), which had an article and 8 fabulous sounding cakes to make. My aim is to cook them all. So far I have made the Coffee and Walnut Cake and next on my list is Chocolate and Guinness Bundt Cake (especially good for me as I LOVE bundt cakes).

For this recipe I used some frozen mixed berries that I had in the freezer. I can't wait to try it with fresh berries as I think the frozen berries (while perfectly good to use), release a little too much juice which therefore means a longer cooking time and a slightly more soggy middle (on the top anyway where the berries congregated). I'm sure this could easily be made gluten free too by substituting the flour for a GF flour.


Berry, Polenta and Orange Cake (Dish Magazine Issue 37)


Cake
1/2c vegetable oil (I used grapeseed)
3 eggs
3/4c caster sugar
finely grated zest and juice of one orange
1 1/3c plain flour
2/3c ground almonds
2/3c instant polenta
2 tsp baking powder
pinch salt
2c mixed frozen berries


Topping
juice of one orange
1/3c caster sugar


Preheat the oven to 150C and grease and line and loaf tin with baking paper.


Beat the oil, eggs, zest, juice and sugar together for 5 minutes. Combine the flour, polenta, almonds, salt and baking powder.


Using a large metal spoon, fold in the dry ingredients making sure there are no pockets of flour in the batter. Pour half the mixture into the tin, scatter over half the berries. Top with the remaining batter and then the berries. Bake 65-75mins until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out with a few damp crumbs attached.


To make the topping, stir the orange juice and sugar together and spoon evenly over the hot cake. Leave to cool in the tin.