Jamie's Epic Hot Chocolate - Make Your Own

There is something about the smell of hot chocolate that evokes the best memories of toasting marshmallows, wrapping yourself in a warm blanket and sitting by an open fire. With the cooler months upon us here in Australia this delish Jamie Oliver mix is sure to bring oodles of comfort this winter. 

FYI If it's warmer in your neighbourhood you can still enjoy this recipe as an iced drink by simply creating a smooth paste from your chocolate powder mix and adding chilled milk and ice cubes - yum!.

For the mix

2 Tbs Horlicks (or any malted milk)

2 Tbs Cornflour (this adds the best texture to the mix!!)

3 Tbs Icing Sugar (Powdered Sugar)

4 Tbs Cocoa (I use Dutch Cocoa)

100g Chocolate (70% cocoa solids) finely grated

1 Pinch sea salt

1 Pinch cinnamon

Place in a bowl and whisk to combine the dry mix. Then place in a jar.

To make your hot chocolate 

Place 1 litre of milk in a saucepan and heat till almost boiling point. 

Add 10 heaped tablespoons of the mix and whisk to combine. 

Allow the mix to bubble, heat and thicken slightly (this will take a few minutes).

Serve and enjoy!

(*you could also add a very small pinch of chilli powder for a kick or some orange zest once you have made your mugs of hot chocolate, simply stir through the hot mix and serve immediately).

xx

Cinnamon Sugar Donut Recipe

Remember the early 90's, when people on health kicks ate muffins for lunch before we realised they were simply over sized cupcakes with a few sneaky oats and berries thrown on top!!.

Well, today I have a simple Donut making method to share with you... it's not a health snack, its never going to be but it sure looks pretty and it's fun to make!. 

I stumbled across this recipe on Instructables here and will definitely be trying this out for the dough base next time. However for the images included I used a local recipe... long story short it was a bit doughey and it didn't have enough flavour... it would have possibly made a good jam filled Donut base but I like the look of this instructables recipe by Scoochmaroo.

Donuts makes about 40 (scoochmaroo)
3 (1/4 ounce / 7g) packages yeast (3/4 oz / 21g total) - I used "Rapid Rise" but traditional is fine too - it just affects the rising times
1/2 cup (120ml) water  (105-115F / 40-46C)2 
1/4 cups (530ml) milk, scalded, then cooled
3/4 cup (169g) sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3 eggs
1/2 cup (113g) shortening
7 1/2 cups (940g) all-purpose flour
Vegetable oil for frying

Proof your yeast, scald the milk then let it cool (to kill the enzymes that deter your dough from rising) then add together with the rest of the ingredients with half the flour and beat on low for 30 seconds and then on medium for 2 mins. Then gently add the rest of the flour until smooth and leave the dough to rise for 60 mins.

Place the dough on a floured surface and gently roll out to 1/2 inch thick. Gather two round cutters as shown below in the pics. Cut out your shapes (don't forget to keep the inside holes for frying too!). Place donuts and holes on a tray and let rise again for about 30 mins.  

Mix your cinnamon sugar by adding 1-2 teaspoons of group cinnamon to 1/2 a cup of raw caster sugar (you can also use white caster). Then leave aside. You will need more then 1 or two times this amount but you can mix as you go and you can add as much cinnamon as you like.

When your donuts have rested start to heat your oil. Use a deep pan and enough oil to allow the donuts to float while cooking... you could probably also use a deep fryer if on hand. You need to add the donuts to hot ready to fry oil approx (180 deg celsius). Please be very careful while handling the oil and frying the donuts. Fry each donut for about 1 min each side then place on paper towel. 

Then shake and gently shake each side of your donut in the bowl of pre mixed cinnamon sugar.  See images below. 

xx

Coffee Meringue Biscuits - Simple, Tasty, Gluten Free

I decided to create a little meringue biscuit inspired by Nigella Lawson's Cappuccino Pavlova with a Vintage Movement twist - which basically means using easy to find pantry ingredients... I'm not one of those people who loves grocery shopping at the best of times so it has to be easy and on hand!.

These little meringue cookies are a great dessert, afternoon tea or special occasion offering and require egg whites, sugar, instant coffee granules (Espresso powder is best but can be hard to find), pinch salt, cocoa, vanilla extract and a touch of warm water.

For this recipe I used 

3 egg whites at room temperature

1 & 1/4 cups sugar ( I used raw caster sugar)

Pinch salt

1.5 tsp approx instant coffee granules ( Espresso powder if available 1 tsp ish)

2 tsp dutch cocoa (I love the strong flavour.. you can use any kind of cocoa you have available)

Piping bag fitted with a round tipped nozzle (optional you can also spoon the mix onto the bakers paper)

1 tsp vanilla extract (essence is also fine and vanilla pods are great)

Preheat your oven to 110 deg. Celsius

1.Separate your egg whites and transfer to your clean and dry mixing bowl then beat till just frothy and add a pinch of salt and continue mixing. 

2. Once the mix hits the soft peak stage start adding your sugar 1 tablespoon at a time

3. While the meringue is still mixing make a thick but smooth liquid like paste with your coffee granules and a tiny bit of warm water... you are looking for dissolved granules with a shiny melted chocolate like consistency. The reason you don't want to add too much water is that it will collapse your meringue peaks.

4. Add 2 tsps cocoa and 1 tsp of the coffee paste and the vanilla. I added a bit more of the coffee paste to the mix for my batch so add a little more if you prefer a stronger flavour. Espresso power is perfect for this recipe if you have it available - no need to add the water with this powder you just add about half to one teaspoon. If you want to taste the mix before finishing you could heat a pan and pop a little in then once cooked through taste and adjust cocoa and coffee to taste. 

5. Fill your piping bag with the mixture and pipe rounds to your desired size on a lined baking sheet (I piped 2 inch rounds and got about 15-20 from this batch). They spread a bit so its best to leave space between. 

6. Place on the bottom shelf in the oven and cook for approx 30 mins depending on your oven. I took mine out when they no longer wiggled on the baking paper.

Using the yolks

A great way to use the left over egg yolks is to make custard to serve with the biscuits... I decided to add a bit of Kahlua and a bit of the left over coffee paste to my custard.

To make simply take a bowl and place the 3 yolks, 1/8 -1/4 cup sugar (depending on how sweet you like it), 1 tbsp custard powder and mix. Then in a separate pan heat 1 cup milk and 1 vanilla pod (or 2 tsp vanilla extract) till hot. When the milk is hot add it to the bowl housing the egg/sugar mixture (vanilla pod excluded) and whisk well then return it all to the pan and whisk continually over the stove till the mixture thickens. Add 1 tsp of Kahlua and half tsp of coffee paste to taste (feel free to add more if you like, from memory I did)... you can also add a few tablespoons of cream for a richer taste. Serve the custard with the meringue biscuits and a small dollop of cream... this is basically my play on the age old Eton Mess. This makes about 1-1.5 cups of custard.

 Yes there were air pockets and cracks but they tasted great just the same!. If you want avoid the cracks on top leave the piped mixture to form a skin before baking just like you do before baking macrons.

xx

Valentines Day Heart Healthy Sweet Treat - Three Ingredients!!

Here's a super healthy and simple sweet treat to kick start your Valentines Day menu. It takes about five minutes to assemble and only requires some watermelon, yogurt, chia seeds and a heart shaped cookie cutter.

To make simply cut a slice of watermelon about an inch thick, cut out your heart shapes, spoon some yogurt on top and sprinkle with chia seeds... for a super cute cupids-bow-touch you can pierce your heart

shaped watermelon bites diagonally with a toothpick and adorn the tips with micro mint leaves. Simple as that!

xx