Handbag brownie cake

I made this cake for my MIL (R) for Mothers day. It was my first attempt at decorating a cake with marshmallow fondant. 

It's supposed to be a Mimco bag, as R, in her own words, is turning into a bit of a "Mimco girl".

The cake is based on my brownie bite recipe. Basically it is brownie and chocolate ganache moulded into the shape of the bag. 

Marshmallow fondant

Marshmallow fondant can be used to decorate cakes, cupcakes and cookies. It can be rolled out to cover cakes, and made into decorations such as bows and flowers. 

If you require decorations to dry hard, you will need to leave them to dry over night. To aid in this, you can add tylo powder or something similar.

You may like the taste of marshmallow fondant more than regular fondant. A point to note is that it doesn't hold up as well as regular fondant when placed in the fridge if you decorate a cake then leave it for a few days.

It takes pretty good - Mr X says they taste like a big boss (whatever that is). It basically tastes like a marshmallow, but even sweeter.

Ingredients
4 cups marshmallows
4 cups icing sugar, sifted + extra
2 tbsp water
1 tbs vanilla extract

Method

Add the marshmallows and the water to a large microwave-safe jug or bowl. Note that the bowl needs to be larger than the marshmallows - they will expand in the microwave and you don't want to end up with a huge sticky mess caused by overflowing!

Microwave on high for 1 minute, or until the marshmallows have expanded and melted a little.

Using a spatula, stir the marshmallows until smooth. At this point you may notice that the marshmallows are not all melted - if so, return to microwave for 30 seconds, or until the marshmallow mixture is completely smooth and lump free.

Add vanilla extract and mix. If you want, you can add colour - I have successfully made dark pink, purple and blue from pink marshmallows. Of course, if you are using all white marshmallows, you can make any colour you like! Note though that if you add colour at this stage, all the fondant will be the same colour! If you want to make multiple colours, wait to add it until later!

Add the icing sugar to the marshmallows all in one go. Then start to mix with a spatula. Continue to stir until the icing sugar begins to incorporate and it starts to get hard to stir.

At this point, tip the marshmallow mixture onto a clean surface dusted with icing sugar. Then remove any jewellery from your hands and grease them well (use cooking spray for ease - or alternatively something like copra). Make sure you grease them really well - trust me!! Then get kneading, as you would with bread dough, adding icing sugar until it forms a ball.

Stop adding icing sugar once it is smooth and no longer sticky. If you add too much sugar you will find it hard to work with as it becomes stiff. 

From here, the possibilities are endless!

Original recipe from about.com, found here

Brownie bites

These would be my most requested dessert from people. My Mum goes crazy over them. They are very rich, fudgey and chocolatey.

As they are rich, a little goes a long way. Each bite should be approx 1 table spoon.


Note that this recipe will make A LOT of brownie bites. This is not a bad thing as they are really popular, however the other option is to save half the recipe to eat as regular brownies and use the remaining mixture for brownie bites. Both the brownie and brownie bites do freeze really well though.


To cover the brownie bites, the amount of chocolate needed will depend on various factors including how thickly you coat the bites and whether you are making the whole quantity of bites at once. If you are freezing some of the bites to use for another occasion, I freeze them uncoated.

Ingredients:
Brownies 
Chocolate ganache (1/2 recipe)


Chocolate, melted - the type you use is optional. I used a combination of milk and dark.
1 tbs oil for every cup of chocolate (optional - to make it smoother)


Decoration
Mini easter eggs - or anything you like, the possibilities are endless.

Method:

Make brownies according to the recipe and allow to cool before crumbling into a bowl and mixing in the ganache. Use your hands - it is much easier that using a spoon! Alternatively place all ingredients in a food processor and process until smooth.


You want to achieve a texture similar to the centre of a truffle. Put mixture in fridge to cool for 15 minutes.

Roll into small balls (e.g. about a tablespoon size). At this stage, because I was making nests, I pushed my thumb into the centre of them to make a well. 

Pop them in the freezer for 30 minutes or so...this makes them easier to handle for the following steps.

Melt chocolate in a microwave safe bowl. Dip balls into chocolate. This is the hardest part. After doing a few you will get into a rhythm though. I found it easiest to use a couple of spoons. Be sure to shake of the excess melted chocolate otherwise you will really just end up with messy brownie bites with chocolate drips.
Add your decorations. Leave to set, either at room temperature or in the fridge. 


Notes:
Add your decorations fast as they will rely on the melted chocolate to adhere to the brownie bite. 
You can make them into different shapes

For decoration, you are only limited by your imagination. See here for a Christmas version.

Banana oat cupcakes

In an effort to provide a healthier alternative to the banana cakes and cupcakes I have made in the past, I decided to give these a go. There is no butter in the recipe and it is packed with oats. 

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups plain flour
1 cup rolled oats

1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar (minus 2 tablespoons)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch of salt
1 egg

1 tablespoon of honey
3/4 cup low fat milk
1/3 cup rice bran oil
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup mashed bananas

Method

Grease and line a 12-cup cupcake pan with paper bake cups,
Place flour, oats, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl and stir to combine. Set aside.
In a large bowl, lightly beat the egg then add in the honey, milk, oil, and vanilla. Stir to combine. Add the mashed banana, and mix thoroughly until well blended. Stir the flour mixture into the banana mixture and mix until just combined. Don't over stir the batter! 

Divide the batter evenly between them.
Bake at 200 degrees C for 18 to 20 minutes.

Adapted from All Recipes

I iced them quickly with the always popular lemon cream cheese icing and sent them off with Mr X to work. Looking back, I should have put more effort in and actually piped the icing onto the cupcakes. I guess there is always next time...

Oat pancakes

These look like regular pancakes, don't they?

I found this recipe a few months ago. Since than, I have made these 2 or 3 times. That is saying something, because I have only offered to make them 2 or 3 times and Mr X has said yes every single time.  

There is an ingredient in here that made me a little nervous - cottage cheese. I have never used it before in cooking, but know that it is a good source of protein and low in fat. These pancakes help keep you fuller for longer than traditional pancakes made with white flour, making them a great healthy alternative.

I made the oat flour my grinding up oats in a coffee grinder.

Ingredients:
½ cup oats
½ cup cottage cheese (I use low fat)
1 teaspoon vanilla

1 tablespoon honey (optional)
2 eggs (or 4 egg whites)

Method:
Grind the oats in a coffee/spice grinder until they resembles a flour consistency. Add this, along with the rest of the ingredients to a food processor or blender and process until smooth.
Spray a frying pan with cooking spray (or use a little butter) and cook small amounts just like you would with regular pancakes. My only suggestion is to keep them small - large ones don't cook through very well.
Top with your preferred topping - we drizzle ours with honey.

I would have taken a photo of the finished product, but Mr X was too fast and ate them before I had a chance!

Lemon slice... and lemon slice cake bites

Do you like my new glass bird canister? My wonderful husband gave it to me as a surprise, along with a square cake platter and glass dome. I love them all, and love the thoughtfulness of the present. It came as a wonderful surprise after a particularly hard week at work. 

This easy no bake slice has a great zesty lemon flavour. This, combined with the crushed biscuits, coconut and sweetened condensed milk makes this classic slice hard to resist. 

The recipe uses 3/4 of a can of sweetened condensed milk and one package of biscuits. If you want to use a whole can, I have provided the recipe below. This will make enough for one 18cm by 28cm and one 20cm by 20cm slice, or one 18cm by 28cm slice and lots of tablespoon sized lemon bites.

If you cut the slice into 4x6 squares this will make around 18 pieces for the 18x28 pan recipe.

You will need approx two lemons for this recipe.

Ingredients:

Base

80g butter
3/4 cup/250g sweetened condensed milk
1 package/250g Scotch finger biscuits
1 cup/85g desiccated coconut

1 tsp finely grated lemon zest*
1 tablespoon/20ml fresh lemon juice (Note – if your tbs measures 15ml, you will need to also add a tsp of lemon juice)

Lemon Icing
1 3/4 cups/250g icing sugar
2 tablespoons/40ml fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 tablespoons desiccated coconut, for sprinkling on top of slice

* This combination of the zest and lemon juice in the base, along with the lemony zing of the icing works well. But you can always increase the zest for a more intense flavour.

Method:
Grease and line an 18cm by 28cm baking pan with baking paper. I like to have an overhang of baking paper to allow easy removal of the slice once set.

Over a med-low heat, place the chopped butter and condensed milk in a small saucepan until mixture is smooth and glossy. Remove from heat and set aside.

Roughly break up the biscuits and place in a food processor. Blend until the mixture resembles fine crumbs. Add the coconut and zest, and pulse for a few more seconds until distributed evenly. Remove from food processor and place in a large bowl.

Add the lemon juice into condensed milk mixture, then add this mixture to the dry ingredients.Stir with a spatular until well combined. 

The mixture will look quite wet, don't worry - this is normal. Pour mixture into the prepared pan and evenly spread the mixture. The bottom of a spoon or a spatula works well - but it is a bit sticky so it takes a bit of patience. Refrigerate for 30 minutes to harden.

Alternatively, if you want to make lemon balls, pop in the fridge for 10 minutes to harden slightly, then roll into tablespoon sized balls. Place on prepared pan and pop back in the refrigerator for 20-30 minutes to harden.

Only make your icing when you are ready to use it, as it sets relatively quickly! Make icing by combining sifted icing sugar and lemon juice in a small saucepan over low heat. Continue to stir mixture until completely smooth. Remove from heat and use immediately.

Ingredients for a whole can of condensed milk:

Base

126g butter
1 can sweetened condensed milk
250g packet scotch finger biscuits plus 150g scotch finger biscuits
1 1/2 cups plus 1 tablespoon/134g desiccated coconut

1 3/4 tsp finely grated lemon zest

1 1/2 tablespoons/30ml fresh lemon juice

Lemon Icing
2 3/4 cups/395 icing sugar
1/4 cup/63ml fresh lemon juice

Refrigerate slice until cold and firm then remove from the pan and cut into pieces. Store slice in an airtight container in the refrigerator or freezer.

Garlic bread

This is the first thing that I baked in our new house. The oven is older than the one in our little shoe box, so I must admit, I was worried. But after a slight hiccup (couldn't work out how to turn it on! Thanks Mum for working it out!) it is an oldy but a goody.
I bake it on a pre-heated pizza stone for best results, but a preheated oven tray works too.
I love the way the house smells when this is in the oven - the mixture of baking bread and buttery garlic is amazing.


Ingredients: 
1 baguette / french stick
1/2 cup butter, softened (but not melted)
2 cloves of garlic, minced or 2 tsp jarred crushed garlic
1 tsp (or more, to taste) of herbs (either fresh or dried, I used oregano but parsley is traditional of garlic bread)


Method:

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C. Mix together the butter,  garlic and herbs. Make thick slices in the top of the baguette, being careful not to cut all the way through. 
Cut a large rectangle of aluminium foil and place the baguette in the centre and using a spoon or knife, fill each slice with the garlic butter mixture. I use about 1/2 tbs in each.
Wrap and bake for 9 minutes. At this stage, I open the foil slightly and bake for another 2 minutes. I find this gives the bread a lovely slight browning on the top. Alternatively bake for a total of 13 minutes with the baguette fully enclosed in aluminium foil. 

Christmas pudding brownie bites

So... it is already February and I am doing a Christmas post? It is waaaaaay too late. But I have an excuse.... we have been very busy. We have bought sold a unit and bought a house. We have packed up 5  years worth of stuff and moved it. And that isn't even taking into account the usual things in life that keep us busy... such as our jobs.


Christmas pudding brownie bites
Ingredients:
1/2 quantity of brownies
1/4 quantity of chocolate ganache
Melted dark chocolate
Melted white chocolate
Red and green candy decorations


Method:
Make brownies according to the recipe and allow to cool before crumbling into a bowl and mixing in the ganache. Use your hands - it is much easier that using a spoon! You want to achieve a texture similar to the centre of a truffle. Put mixture in fridge to cool for an hour.
Roll into small balls (e.g. about a tablespoon size - they may look small, but they are rich). Pop them in the freezer for an hour or so...this makes them easier to handle for the following steps.
Melt dark chocolate in a microwave safe bowl. Dip balls into chocolate. This is the hardest part. After doing a few you will get into a rhythm though. I found it easiest to use a couple of spoons. Be sure to shake of the excess melted chocolate otherwise you will really just end up with messy brownie bites with chocolate drips.
Leave to set, either at room temperature or in the fridge. Melt white chocolate and use approx 1/2-3/4 tbs to drizzle over each of the brownie bites. Work quickly to add the "holly" garnish, by simply sticking them on while the white chocoloate is still soft. 

Happy birthday Mr X! Cookie monster cookies

As I mentioned in my last post, Mr X loves cookies. So I really wanted to incorporate cookies into his birthday cake. I came across some adorable cookie monster cupcakes using a google search. There are multiple sites featuring cookie monster cookies - by no means did I come up with something that cute and clever myself!


Ingredients:
Banana cupcakes, popular with Mr X (Recipe makes 16).
Cookies (Qty 8)
Cream cheese icing tinted with blue food dye.
White chocolate buttons (Qty of at least 32)
Dark chocolate, melted (Approx 6-8 squares)


Equipment:
Microwave safe bowl to melt the chocolate
Toothpicks


Method:

White chocolate button eyes 
Dip a toothpick in melted dark chocolate and add a small circles of dark chocolate to each white chocolate button. Try and make them all a similar size but don't be concerned if they all look a little different, I think it adds to the cookie monsters character. Leave to dry.

Icing
Slowly add blue food dye to the cream cheese icing until you achieve desired blue consistency. I made the icing the day before I needed it and left it in the fridge over night so it was nice and firm.


Bake cupcakes and cookies according to their instructions, and leave to cool to room temperature.

To assemble the cupcakes
Cover a cupcake with cream cheese frosting. You want it to be relatively smooth but not too smooth - you are creating a monster, after all. Add the eyes and the cookie - you may need to use a little more icing to hold the cookie in place. The icing will act as "glue". I popped them into the fridge to firm up. 

I know, there are a few steps involved if you make the cookies and cupcakes from scratch. I personally think it is worth baking them yourself, but that is entirely up to you. But once you get to the assembly stage, it all comes together quickly.