Golden Syrup Steamed Pudding

With custard and cream

I know I seem to post only sporadically but as I am so busy the last thing I think about is my blog. In fact I remember to take photos but because I leave it so long to post I forget where I got the recipe from! Believe you me it can get very very frustrating sometimes. This week I have been stuck in the house with a sick Harry. He has been so sick that he hasn't even done any ballet practice....and anyone who knows him would know that this is not usual for him. He has even had to miss ballet today much to his disappointment. Anyway because I have had this enforced time at home (it always feels way worse to be at home  when it isn't something you have planned), I have had time to do things I wouldn't normally have done...like sort out my messy and far too full spare room. This bedroom is my overflow kitchen as I have too much stuff to keep in my kitchen.....signs of being a hoarder for cookware maybe? 

Anyway I digress. Because it has been winter here, (even though you wouldn't think that lately), I always feel like making stodgy steamed puddings and warming casseroles etc so this night I really felt like an old fashioned steamed pudding. I had tried one earlier in the week from Simon Gault's new cookbook. That recipe was your 'if it doesnt' sound right it probably isn't' kind of recipe. I knew it couldn't work yet I went ahead and followed it to the letter. BIG MISTAKE! It was awful...dense, stodgy in a bad way and downright disastrous  This recipe I found in Linda Hallinan's column in the Sunday Star Times magazine. It was delicious and all things that a good old fashioned steamed pudd should be. Try it whatever you do. You could make it with jam as well I would think but I love the caramely flavour golden syrup so I stuck with that.

Golden Syrup Steamed Pudding

Grease a 1 L pudding basin (I use a ceramic one) and put about 1/2 c golden syrup in the bottom (you could use less if you like).

Cream 100 g butter and 1/2 c sugar until light and fluffy then beat in 2 eggs and stir in 1/4 c apricot jam. Fold in 2 c flour, 2 tsp baking powder and 1/2 tsp salt. Dissolve 1 tsp baking soda in 1 c warm milk and add to the mixture then spoon into the pudding basin. Cover with a couple of layers of greaseproof paper (put a pleat in the top), and tie string around the top. Steam about an hour but I found mine was a little undercooked so next time would go for a 1 1/4 hours. Make sure the pot doesn't run dry so add boiling water as you need it.

Baking for Nightshift- Chocolate Mud cake

In the last Canvas magazine was a selection of Chocolate cakes by Donna Hay. So far I have made two of them (the next one to be posted once I photograph it). I find her recipes a bit hit and miss sometimes. I love her photography and food styling however so still subscribe to her magazine on the ipad even though I rarely cook from them. Both of the cakes I have tried have been right off with the timing. In fact this one I baked for a full 20 mins less and I feel it was still a little overcooked. It was, however, rich and delicious and very easy to make. It's probably more suited to a dessert as it could have done with some cream on the side but the girls still managed to eat it all over the busy night shift we had. As you can see in the photos above the ganache was still pretty runny but who cares....chocolate is chocolate is chocolate!

Chocolate Mud Cake

250 g butter, chopped
200 g dark chocolate, chopped
1 1/3 c milk
1 1/2 c caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
1 1/2 c plain flour, sifted
1/4 c self raising flour, sifted
1/4 c cocoa, sifted

Preheat oven to 150C and lightly grease and line a 22 cm non stick pan.

Place butter, chocolate, milk, sugar and vanilla in a pot over a medium heat and stir until melted and smooth. Set aside to cool slightly.

Add eggs and whisk to combine. Pour into a large bowl and add the flours and cocoa and whisk until smooth. Bake about an hour but check after 50 mins or so until cooked when tested with a skewer. Allow to cool completely in the tin.

Either dust with extra cocoa powder or else ice with ganache for an over-the-top chocolate hit.

Ripe's Quinoa Fruit Cookies

I know you are looking at these photos and wondering what the hell I made these for. I know they look pretty ugly and unappetising but looks are deceiving as these biscuits are pretty bloody delicious. You can even justify eating them because the are reasonably healthy....except for the butter. Quinoa seems to be the next best thing and rightly so for it's health benefits. I only made half the recipe and got about 20 good sized biscuits out of it so the whole recipe would give a pretty good yield. The uncooked quinoa gives them a lovely crunch and the mix of dried fruits and flavours makes them taste like a zhooshed up Anzac biscuit. Yummy!

Quinoa Fruit Cookies (Ripe Recipes- A Fresh Batch)

1 c quick cook rolled oats
1 c wholemeal flour
1/2 c brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 c quinoa, uncooked
1/2 c desiccated coconut
1 c sultanas (I used raisins as I prefer them)
1/3 dried dates, finely chopped
1/4 c dried apricots, finely chopped
1 tsp baking soda
2 Tbsp hot water
180 gm butter, melted
3 Tbsp golden syrup
1 tsp vanilla

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

In a large bowl combine oats, flour, sugar, spices, quinoa, coconut and dried fruit.

In a medium bowl dissolve the soda in the hot water. Whisk in the melted butter, golden syrup and vanilla. Pour into the dry ingredients and mix well to combine.

Place heaped tablespoons onto trays leaving space for them to spread. Flatten lightly with a fork.

Bake 10-15 mins until golden. Remove from the tray and cool on a rack.

Baking for Nightshift- Chocolate and Banana Brownies

I haven't been baking much for night shift as I have been so busy with just living life and being a working mum. When I have baked it has been something I have made before so I haven't blogged about it or else I have taken photos and then waited so long I have forgotten where the recipe was from. I saw these on a blog I follow called Baking Makes Things Better which is  NZ run blog now attached to Food TV. The site is not too bad....mostly I find it's a bit basic, but I sometimes find a recipe I want to give a go and this one I saved a while ago for when I had motivation and some over ripe bananas. I'm not a huge fan of banana cake and I often have lots of ripe bananas due to the fact that in our household three out of the four of us will only eat a banana when it's almost green. As soon as it goes yellow we aren't interested. Thank goodness for the Yonanas!

Anyway this is yummy. It has a rich chocolate taste and a slight banana flavour. Delicious and easy to make and well worth making again. 

Chocolate and Banana Brownies

175g dark chocolate
175g butter
150g brown sugar
2 medium sized bananas
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
100g self raising flour
2 teaspoons cocoa
¼ cup chocolate chips (I used milk chocolate)

Preheat your oven to 180°C.  Grease and line a 20cm square tin with baking paper.

In a large saucepan over a medium heat, melt the chocolate, butter and sugar together, stirring until smooth.  Once melted and mixed together, remove from the heat.
In a bowl, mash up the bananas roughly with a fork (I like to have chunks of banana in the brownie).  Add the eggs, bananas and vanilla into the chocolate mixture and stir until well mixed.

Sift in the flour, cocoa and chocolate chips (if using) and mix well.

Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 30 – 35 minutes.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely in the tin before cutting into squares and serving.

Caramel, Apple and Raisin Scrolls

Yum yum yum yum yum! The actual name of this recipe started with the word 'Quick'. I have to say that while they weren't overly time consuming one thing they weren't was quick. There are a few components like cooking the apples, making the caramel/nut topping, the butter filling and the scones. Then the putting everything together. However if you like sweet you will like these. they were delicious on the day and are still delicious today. I found I need to melt the butter a bit for the filling to get it to a more spreadable consistency, and add a bit more buttermilk to the scone  mix as I find a pretty wet scone mixture makes them so much more tender. As well as that take my advice and use a tall tin (or a normal sized cake tin). Mine was shallowish and some of the caramel bubbled up and over in my oven making. I used a 20cm square tin as I don't have a 24 cm tin....that will have to be the next thing I purchase I think. I got the recipe from Dish Magazine on the Facebook page where they post a baking recipe every Friday and knew I would try it the very next day when I wasn't working so here it is for those of you who don't have Facebook.

Caramel, Apple and Raisin Scrolls

2 apples, peeled and sliced ½ cm thick

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon caster sugar

Base

¼ cup melted butter (60g)

½ cup brown sugar

2 tablespoons maple syrup

½ cup roughly chopped nuts, I used pecans (they used hazelnuts)

Filling

3 tablespoons butter, very soft but not melted

½ cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

¼ cup raisins, finely chopped

Dough

1 cup milk

1 tablespoon lemon juice (I used buttermilk as this is what I had and I used maybe 1/4 more)

3 cups plain flour

3 tablespoons caster sugar

1½ teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon sea salt

¼ cup melted butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Grease a 24 cm square cake tin and fully line with non-stick foil, bringing it right up the sides of the tin. Take care not to pierce the foil.

Preheat the oven to 200˚C.

Melt the butter in a sauté pan and add the sugar and apples. Cook for about 8 minutes until the apples are soft but not falling apart. Set aside to cool.

Base: Combine the butter, sugar and maple syrup in a bowl then spread evenly into the base of the tin. Scatter over the nuts. Set aside.

Filling: Place all the ingredients in a bowl and beat until combined. 

Dough: Stir the milk and lemon juice together and leave for 10 minutes. This makes a quick buttermilk.

Combine all the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Combine the milk, butter and vanilla and pour onto the dry ingredients. Combine with a fork to make a shaggy looking dough.

Tip onto a lightly floured bench and gently bring the dough together. Roll out to a 20 cm x 40 cm rectangle. Don’t over-work the dough or the buns will be tough. 

Spread the soft filling evenly over the dough and place the apples in a single layer over the top. Starting at the long side, roll the dough into a log. Cut into 12 even pieces and place cut side down in the tin.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until puffed and golden and the caramel is bubbling up around the edges. 

Place a piece of baking paper then a plate over the top and invert the buns, taking care not to get hot caramel on you. Remove the foil. Serve warm

Harry and His Second Ballet Competition

Getting his stage makeup on at home and his hair done

Ballet-mom 'pep-talk'

Me looking 'middle of night shift tired' at the venue

Mama and Pup

Waiting waiting waiting....nice pointed toe!

He works hard on getting more and more flexible....amazing as I can't even touch my toes!

Ready and waiting

About to go on stage...nervous but this ballet-mom needed a photo to 'Show Ms A" (his ballet teacher)

Last weekend was Harry's second ballet competition....the Manurewa Combined Dance Association. This is our second competition and it was with horror that I happened to find out that the date had been changed and it was that weekend and not the weekend after. Most horrifically I was in the middle of night shift so was totally unprepared for it. It meant that I had to race home and go to bed (about 930am) while Dons took him to his private lesson and film it for me. Then he went to his dads house and he brought him home to me at 3pm. I woke up at 2pm so was pretty tired especially knowing I had to race back for another nightshift. That's why I look so shattered and makeup-less....well that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!

We had a different costume which I hired while we wait for his proper one to be made. He next has a competition in July so he should have a lovely new costume for that one as well as one for his new Barefoot dance. I think he looks SO adorable!!! I think he was pretty pleased with the whole look too.

He got another Highly Commended and once again we almost burst with pride at our baby's achievement. He works so hard and he has so much passion for dance it's an amazing thing to be a part of. It made the sleep deprivation worth it! 

Creme Caramel

I have always wanted to try making Creme Caramel and even though it seemed simple I have read about many many disasters....mostly with getting the thing out and looking lovely. I saw this recipe in the Saturday Herald's Canvas magazine by Donna Hay. My natural instinct is to then go online and proceed to over-read more recipes to confuse myself and make me doubt the recipe I had originally seen. Although I did do that, I ended up biting the bullet and going with the first one I had seen. I figured it could be a bit of a costly mistake as it uses 6 eggs! But sometimes you just have to take the plunge and I'm glad I did because this dessert is delicious! We all loved it. 

The caramel was perfect and taken just to the right point where it was rich and dark but not burnt. The custard was delicious just like a good baked custard should be. They came out of the ramekins easy too. The only bummer is that not all the caramel comes out and because it's so good it seems like a waste. I dipped the bases of my ramekins into a small amount of boiling water so the caramel would melt and they would unmold easily. I also ran a sharp knife around the edge of the custard. So this dessert is easy, delicious and well worth making. I'm sure it will be in hot demand with my family. If you want to give this a go you can find the recipe here.