Catch up from last weekend

This is a mostly photograph postings from last weekend. After finishing night shift on Saturday morning, I spent the day milling around the house getting some energy up for the afternoon/night events. My friend Kym, who I have known since I was 18 years old, came home from Melbourne for his birthday. It's hard to believe he is 61 as he still has the good looks and amazing zest for life he always had. Kym is an incredibly creative person who is well known for all the photos he takes. He has an amazing eye and can make the everyday mundane things and turn them into something truly beautiful and interesting to see. Kym's parties were legendary for the homemade and meticulous themes, decorations, invitations and accompanying badges and show. Everything was perfect and those parties were something I really remember from that time of my life. This time the theme was hair extravaganza and although I couldn't do my hair as we were off to Bec's hens night, there were some fabulous get ups. We missed some acts but my friend Michele sang some amazing songs with her 2 friends and then did a repeat for her burlesque act she had done a few nights before. Anyway we had a fantastic time so here are some photos from that night...

the cupcakes I made

Michele looking fab

Mary still looking lovely

Vanessa

Michele, Me, Vanessa

Michele, Me and Kym

Michele doing her songs

Me and Suzy

Kym's amazing photo board of all the hairdos over the years

Me, Kym and Dons

Michele and I

2 of the 3 lovely ladies

Michele's dance

Baking for Nightshift- Coca-Cola Cupcakes with Chocolate-Cola Glaze

As I am gearing up for my big 3-tier wedding cake for next weekend as well as having to make birthday cupcakes for a friends party this weekend, I wanted to be able to whip something up quickly today to take to work tonight. I have often eyed this recipe up in Nigella Lawson's book 'How To Be A Domestic Goddess' but of course had long forgotten about it once all the new baking books and cooking magazines manage to find their way into the house...what can I say except "Hello everyone, my name is Megan and I am a cookbook addict!" 


Anyway I saw these on another blog I follow and was reminded of this recipe. In typical Nigella fashion they are simple with few steps involved in the making of them. I did wonder how the Coke would affect the flavour but I think all it does is make them moist and tender. There is Coke in the glaze as well but again I couldn't really taste it. I got 16 cupcakes out of the mix but I think I could have filled them a little more as some were a bit small. Regardless I think they should fit the bill for the middle of the night tonight.


Coca-Cola Cupcakes with Chocolate-Cola Glaze


200 g plain flour
250 g sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 large egg
125 ml buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla
125 g unsalted butter
2 Tbsp cocoa powder
175 ml Coca-cola


Preheat the oven to 350F.
In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt. Beat the egg, buttermilk and vanilla in in a measuring jug. In a heavy-based saucepan, melt the butter, cocoa and Coca-cola, heating it gently. Pour into the dry ingredients, stir well with a wooden spoon, and then add the liquid ingredients from the jug, beating until it is well blended.
Pour into a muffin tin that has been lined with papers and bake for 15 minutes until a tester comes out clean.


Glaze
225 g icing sugar
2 Tbsp butter
3 Tbsp Coca-cola
1 Tbsp cocoa powder
1/2 tsp vanilla


Sieve the icing sugar and set aside. In a heavy-based saucepan, combine the butter, Coca-Cola and cocoa and stir over a low heat until the butter has melted. Remove from the heat, add the vanilla, and spoon in the sieved icing sugar, beating as you do, until you’ve got a good, spreadable, but still runny, icing.
Pour over the cupcakes while they are still warm, and leave to cool.

Baking for Nightshift- Red Velvet Whoopie Pies

Tonight is my last night duty thank god! I often sleep terribly on my second sleep day and today was no exception. Within the next 2 weeks I am going onto WW to get rid of those pesky 6-7 kg that seem to have crept on over the last year or so and will obviously not be baking as much as I have had. Of course I will still take baking into work but for the first couple of weeks I'll have to try to refrain so I can get into the swing on the WW-way. As it is my birthday and a big family wedding in the next couple of weeks I may even have to wait until afterwards as once I start I don't want to fall off the wagon too soon into it. Anyway I digress but the point of that was, I'm trying to make the most of it now to bake things that I have really been wanting to try and this recipe is one of them.


Whoopie Pies are an American thing. They seem to be the 'new-cupcake' and are increasing in popularity outside of the USA- where they are already popular. They are a cross between a cake and a cookie with icing sandwiched in between. In American you can get something called Marshmallow Fluff and I have seen this used as a icing ingredient in quite a few recipes. Doesn't that sound fabulous!!! I really wish we could get it here along with those packets of Toffee Bits, Butterscotch bits, Cinnamon Chips and so on. I may have to see if I can bring some in from America through Amazon..... Anyway the whoopie pie is though to have been originated from the Amish times when the women would pack them into their husbands lunchboxes when they were working out in the field. Apparently the men upon seeing these treats would call out 'whoopie!' and so the name came about. I'm sure there are many other stories out there but I like this one.


If anyone has ever eaten a red velvet cake you will know that it has a slight chocolate flavour and is tender and made even more delicious with the obligatory cream cheese frosting. After looking through one of my favourite blogs the other night I came upon this recipe. It is easy and fast to whip up. I have a very cool little scooper thing that I got from Living and Giving bought for this purpose originally. It's like a little ice cream scoop with a spring thing on it to release the mix. It makes the pies all the same size as you can see in these photos...

Uncooked

Cooked

Of course you don't need one but I really like mine BUT I am a real kitchen gadget kind of girl (as you can see if you were to look through my kitchen cupboards). Anyway these whoopie pies aren't as tender as the Red Velvet cake but nor should they be given that they are a cross between a cake and a cookie. I think the girls will really like them tonight.


Red Velvet Whoopie Pies


2 c flour
2 Tbsp cocoa
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt (I omit as I use salted butter)
115 gm butter, softened
1 c packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 c buttermilk
2 Tbsp red food colouring (yes you read this right)


Oven to 170 C. Line baking trays with baking paper.


In a bowl combine the flour, cocoa, soda and salt.


Beat butter for 30 sec. Add sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla. Add in the flour mix and the buttermilk alternately, mixing until just combined after each addition. Add the food colouring.


Drop spoonfuls onto the tray and bake 9-11 mins until the tops are set. Cool on the trays for 5 mins then cool on a rack. Sandwich together with your favourite cream cheese icing.

Baking for Nightshift- Cinnamon Rolls

Tonight for my night shift baking I decided to try this recipe that I have been wanting to try for ages since I saw it on Patent and the Pantry's Blog. They sounded easy and looked delicious. Her post also moved me a lot and I especially loved how she wrote it and made these for her friend who died. It goes to show that baking really does equal love and caring for others. 


The recipe is very easy. Even if you are scared of yeast, you will find this a breeze to make and a recipe that you will use over and over again. There is no kneading required and you can really mix up the icing and the filling if you want to to make them taste different. Before I go on I must say that I did make a couple of errors. The first mistake I made was to completely forget to sprinkle the dough with sugar. I did the butter bit (although not as much as the recipe stated), then sprinkled on the cinnamon...and then totally forgot about the sugar which was meant to go on before the butter. DOH!!! I tried to redeem myself but unrolling each individual roll seemed endless and fruitless, so I instead sprinkled one pan with sugar on the bottom and the other with sugar on top. I thought I might as well give it a go and see if it made a difference since I had already screwed it up...! The second mistake I made was to put the rolls in the pan too close together which meant that they weren't able to rise as well. I thought they looked a bit snug at the time but hey there is no point in regrets...or is there?


So despite the mistakes they still taste really really good. Although they are a bit small, (as they weren't able to spread their wings in such a confined space), the dough is very light and tasty. I actually think that they are sweet enough and I used only about 1/3 of a cup of sugar instead of the 1 c in the recipe. The icing really sweetens it a lot and as the dough also has sugar in it, maybe the 1 c of sugar within the rolls would have made them too sweet. Next time, however, I'll make sure to follow the recipe properly... you know just to make absolutely sure!


Anyway here it goes...


Cinnamon Rolls


2 c milk
1/2 c vegetable oil
1/2 c sugar
1 sachet of yeast (or else 2 1/2 tsp yeast)


Put these into a pot and scald the milk (bring it just about a boil). Remove from the heat and let it cool until it is lukewarm, about 45 mins-1 hr. It looks a bit curdled but don't worry just give it a whisk and it will be fine. Sprinkle over the yeast and let it sit for a minute.

Add in 4 c of flour and stir it in. Let it rise in a warm place until it has at least doubled in size, about an hour or so.

Just mixed in

After the rising period...not a great photo sorry

Add in another 1/2 c flour, a heaped 1/2 tsp baking powder, a scant 1/2 tsp baking soda and 1 tsp salt. Stir it in together...you may need to knead them a little bit to get all the ingredients in. This is a soft and sticky dough so try not to be tempted to add more flour into the dough itself.

Sprinkle the bench with a generous amount of flour. Divide the dough in half and roll out to a rough rectangle. Drizzle over 1/4 c melted butter (I used a little less), then sprinkle with a 1/2 c sugar followed by a good amount of cinnamon. In fact for the second roll I made i just brushed it with the melted butter.

Nicely spread with butter and sprinkled with cinnamon...pity I forgot the sugar!

Rolled and ready to cut

Slice rolls into even pieces, about 1- 1/2 inches wide. Brush the pan (I used disposable ones form the supermarket but any low cake pan is good), with melted butter and lay in the rolls cut side up. As you can see I over-squashed mine so give them room to expand. Let them rise for 20-30 mins.

Too squashed but luckily they still taste lovely

Bake at 190 C until golden brown- about 15-18 mins.

These ones had the sugar on the bottom

And these ones had it on top

Glaze

about 300 gms icing sugar

1/4-1/2 c milk

2 Tbsp melted butter

Vanilla (or you can use lemon zest and juice, or any other drizzle icing you want)

Mix together making sure it isn't too thick or too runny. Pour over the slightly warm rolls. YUM!!! The photos (which I took just after pouring the icing on top) make the icing layer look really thick but once it settles into the grooves of the rolls it does look a lot prettier. I think if I had made them properly and not so snug in the pans, the icing would have looked even better.

***Before I go, most of you overseas will have heard of the terrible earthquake that happened in Christchurch on Tuesday at lunchtime. It has been devastating to the region and to the whole country. We are a small country and I know we will all pull together during this terrible time. It is so sad to see that so many people have died and that so much of the city's heritage and beauty has been destroyed. So kia kaha Christchurch, our thoughts are with you during this time and we will all try to do what we can to help you through it xxx***

Baking for Nightshift- Robert's Absolute Best Brownies

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This is a baking for...post from the other night so sorry if you are reading this and working tonight because I won't be there and nor will these. The other day my lovely friend/co worker/sister Ning brought me a takeaway package of my favourite Filipino food- Pansit and Chicken Adobo. Ning is an amazing cook and everything she makes tastes wonderful. By all accounts her husband is a great cook too and I have tasted his Tom Yum soup before and OMG it is GOOD! Anyway I knew Ning was working on Sunday night shift, as was I, so I thought I would bake something that I could give her to take home to her family, as well as provide some much needed sugar for the night shift. 


I chose this recipe from, you guessed it, David Lebovitz's book 'Ready for Dessert'. It seemed to be easy, rich and decadent. It only has 1/4 c of flour to hold it all together so that should give you an idea of it's richness. He talks in the bit before the recipe how it is imperative to "stir the batter vigorously" as he was instructed to do by this guy Robert. He said the first time he made them they were very underwhelming and when questioning the recipe was told in no uncertain terms that this part was the key to the success of the recipe. Anyway they are pretty good if you like a squidgey chocolatey brownie. I chose to use almonds and pecan nuts into mine and think that some extra added in chocolate drops would have taken it into the ridiculously sublime category.


Robert's Absolute Best Brownies


85 gm butter
225 gm chocolate (I used a mix of 70% and 50%)
3/4 c sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 large eggs at room temperature
1/4 c flour
1 c nuts toasted and coarsely chopped


Oven to 175 C and line a greased 23 cm square tin with foil or baking paper.


In a medium pot melt the butter over a low heat then add the chocolate, stirring until it is melted and smooth. Beat the eggs in one at a time, then stir in the vanilla and sugar until combined. Add the flour and stir energetically for a 1 full minute until the batter becomes smooth, glossy and pulls away from the sides of the pot. Stir in the nuts.


Bake 25-30 mins until the center feels almost set. Don't overbake. Cool in the tin completely.


Try to resist!!!...

Flo's Chocolate Snaps

On Friday as I was, again, looking through my David Lebovitz book 'Ready For Dessert', I came across this recipe. I had planned to make it previously but it had been sidelined quite a bit with all the other recipes I have been trying, and I hadn't yet got around to it. They are described as being easy to make, crispy, and having a deep, dark chocolate flavour. I thought they would be perfect for the boys to take to school and to have with a cup of tea. The recipe makes a lot of cookies and the best thing is that you can freeze the dough in it's rolls and therefore bake up a batch of fresh cookies when and as you need them. The mixture is very simple to whip up. I, however, thought they were a little boring with just the sugar sprinkled on top even though they had a nice rich chocolate taste. They also failed to have that crispiness he talked about in the book so maybe I made them too thick. I felt they needed a bit of 'zhoozhing' up somehow. I took a half recipe of the plain ones into work with me on Friday night along with the decadently rich quadruple chocolate loaf cake (give THAT recipe a go!) but remained underwhelmed by them.


As I was looking at the remaining two rolls of uncooked dough I had in the fridge, I thought I might bake them up, making them a little thinner, and either ice them or else melt some chocolate and sandwich them together. I ended up going with the second option and what a difference it made to the cookies themselves! I just melted some milk chocolate,  sandwiched some together and iced the others with the chocolate. NOW they taste great! I know the boys will like them a whole let better. 


Flo's Chocolate Snaps


3 c flour
3/4 c cocoa
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
225 gm butter
1 1/4 c sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 large egg at room temperature
1 large egg yolk


Sift flour, cocoa and baking powder together.


Beat the butter and sugar together until smooth. Add vanilla and then the egg and yolk.


Gradually add flour mixture until completely incorporated.


Divide dough into quarters and shape each into a log. Wrap in clingfilm and refrigerate about an hour.


Line 2 baking trays and bake cookies for 10-12 minutes. Once they are out of the oven immediately sprinkle with sugar. Cool on a wire rack.


The dough can be frozen or stored in the fridge for up to 5 days.

Baking for Nightshift- Quadruple Chocolate Loaf Cake

Hmmm I cut this while it was still warm and the chocolate still gooey

So tonight I start back on 3 night shifts. I usually try to take something to work for my first shift so as I had some spare time today, and I wanted to do something relaxing, thought it was a good chance to whip something up. I have made this recipe before but that was a long time ago. It comes from Nigella Lawson's book 'Feast'. I remembered it as being a bit of a dessert cake particularly nice with cream...hmmm that reminds me that I must buy some on my way to work tonight! It is called a quadruple chocolate loaf cake because it has cocoa in the basic mix, then it has chocolate stirred in to it, then is is drenched in a cocoa/sugar syrup and finally has some more chocolate grated over the top. Mine is there but because it is still warm, the grated chocolate melted. Oh well just a wee excuse to grate more over it before I leave for work...


Nigella says that this is easy to make and she is not wrong. All you need is a food processor and that is it. She recommends making the chocolate syrup really thick so that the sugar almost caramelises. I did this but I found that all the syrup-now-gone-like-fudge did, was to sit on top of the loaf and form a layer. So I quickly whipped up some more and poured this over the cake again so it would sink into it. I love syrupy, moist cakes so I think this will add to it even more. This is a rich, decadent tasting loaf/cake. The photos don't really do it any justice but then again I did cut it a bit early so I could photograph it before I forgot. As well as that Harry was looking forward to trying it and well it gave me a reason to sneak some too...well it has to pass the taste test! So I hope the girls like it tonight, I know it will at least give us all a bit of a sugar hit when we need it the most in the middle of the night.


Quadruple Chocolate Loaf Cake


200 gm flour
1/2 baking soda
50 gm cocoa
275 gm caster sugar
175 gm soft butter
2 eggs
1 Tbsp vanilla
1/3 c sour cream
125 ml boiling water
175 gm chocolate chips (I used a mix of dark and milk)


Syrup
1 tsp cocoa
125 ml water
100 gm caster sugar


Oven to 170 C. Line a large loaf tin with baking paper.


Put the flour, soda, cocoa, sugar, butter, sour cream, vanilla and eggs into a food processor and blitz until you get a smooth batter. Scrape down the sides and pour in the boiling water while it is processing again. Stir in the chocolate chips.


Bake about an hour. This is a damp cake so the skewer won't be totally clean. 


Make the syrup about 10 mins before the cake comes out of the oven. Pour over the cake and leave in the tin until it goes cold. Grate over more chocolate and enjoy.