Creme Brulee

I received a blow torch last Christmas but it's taken me nearly a whole year to use it to make creme brulee.  It was the yummiest thing ever and everyone in my little family enjoyed eating it.  Using a blow torch is so much fun too :).

I got the recipe from http://www.taste.com.au/ and adapted it slightly.  I think caster sugar worked much better than brown sugar (which was suggested).

Christmas cupcakes and cookies

I've been doing a bit of fancy baking lately but I keep forgetting to take pictures before I send the goodies off  or before they get eaten!  I finally remembered to take some pics of this lot as I was walking out the door.

These are mini jam-filled vanilla cupcakes decorated with red fondant icing bases and white fondant icing snowflakes.

The sugar cookie snowflakes are decorated with royal icing and white cachous. 

They were delicious!

Double Chocolate Biscotti - super yummy

This is a great biscotti recipe and my students love it.  It tastes a lot like a brownie and retains a bit of chewy-ness in the middle.   Biscotti fits in well with International Food units.  If you are short on time, you can get away with not cooling it in between the first and second cooking.  Just cut it up, spread it out on the tray and get it back in the oven.

Double-Chocolate Biscotti

Ingredients

1 ½ c plain flour 1 c sugar ½ c unsweetened cocoa ½ c chocolate chips ½t baking powder ½ t baking soda ½ t salt

1 t vanilla extract 2 large eggs 1 large egg white

1. Preheat oven to 180ºC.

2. Measure flour, sugar, cocoa, chocolate chips, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl, stirring with a whisk.

3. Combine vanilla, eggs, and egg white in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk.

4. Add flour mixture to egg mixture; stir until well blended.

5. Divide dough in half.

6. Turn dough out onto an oven tray line with baking paper.

7. With floured hands, shape the dough halves into logs.

8. Bake at 180ºC for 22 minutes.

9. Remove rolls from baking sheet; cool 10 minutes on a wire rack.

10. Cut each roll diagonally into 18 (1.5 cm) slices. Carefully stand slices upright on baking sheet.

11. Bake biscotti an additional 15 minutes or until almost firm (biscotti will be slightly soft in centre but will harden as they cool).

12. Remove biscotti from baking sheet and cool completely on wire rack.

Sushi - easy and yummy

My Year 7 students are always asking if they can make sushi. I tell them it's a Year 8 recipe.  So the first thing they ask me when they become Year 8's is "Are we making sushi?"

I'm not that keen on it - the messy rice pots take a bit of cleaning and there is always sticky rice everywhere, but the students enjoy it so much I keep making it with them!

If they get the rice right and you demonstrate how to roll it, then they are fine. Lots of fussy eaters will eat sushi when they make it themselves :)

Here's the recipe I follow:


Sushi

3 sheets nori paper

1 c sushi rice
1 ½ c water
2 T Sushi vinegar
Soy sauce and wasabi (optional) to serve


• Place the rice in a sieve and rinse under cold running water until the water runs clear.


• Transfer the rice to a saucepan and add the water.


• Cover, bring to the boil and cook for 12 minutes.


• Remove from the heat, cover, and stand for 10 minutes.


Spread the cooked rice over the base of a large flat shallow non-metallic dish and sprinkle with the sushi vinegar


• Stir with a spatula for 5 minutes or until cool to touch.



To make the sushi

 1. Make two different fillings by mixing together your chosen ingredients in a bowl.


2. Place a sheet of nori on a bamboo mat.


3. Spread rice over the nori, leaving a 2 cm border at the top. Add your chosen filling(s)


4. Brush the 2 cm border with water (to make your sushi roll stick when you roll it.


5. Carefully roll up the sushi.


6. Cut into slices.


7. Serve with soy sauce and wasabi!




Filling options – Make two different fillings for your sushi from a combination of these ingredients.

90 g canned tuna, drained

3 T mayonnaise

1 soft boiled egg, peeled and chopped

2 t chopped chives

3 T mayonnaise

½ c shredded cooked chicken

2 t hoi sin sauce

2 t honey

2 t soy sauce

¼ c grated carrot

¼ c finely cut strips of cucumber

Afghan biscuits and Golden Cinnamon biscuits - quick and easy baking

Afghan Biscuits & Golden Cinnamon Biscuits

It's overcast and cloudy here today so I thought it would be a good day to do some baking.  I had a little helper too!

I used the Afghan recipe from the Edmonds Cook book.  The Golden Cinnamon recipe is from the Australian Womens Weekly "Biscuits, Brownies and Biscotti" book.

I hadn't made the Golden Cinnamon Biscuits before but it is a great little recipe and makes 30 cookies.  It's one of those recipes for which you would probably have all the ingredients in the cupboard already.

I made afghans to use up some cornflakes.  My daughter always has great intentions when she chooses a new cereal, but the shine goes off it pretty quickly and she always goes back to cheerios.  So I was glad to use up 2 cups of the cornflakes and put them into something everyone would want to eat.

Here are the recipes:

Golden Cinnamon Biscuits

60 g butter
1/3 c (115 g) golden syrup
2 T brown sugar
2 T caster sugar
1 1/4 c self raising flour
3 t ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 200 degrees celcius.

Combine butter, golden syrup and sugars in a saucepan.  Stir over a low heat until butter is melted.   Cool for 5 minutes.

Stir in flour and cinnamon.  Roll rounded teaspoons of mixture into balls and place about 2 cm apart on baking tray lined with baking paper.  Flatten with a floured fork until 1 cm thick.

Bake for about 10 minutes or until brown.  Stand biscuits 5 minsutes before lifting onto wire racks to cool.

Makes 30 cookies.


Afghans

200 g butter
1/2 c sugar
1 1/4 c plain flour
1/4 c cocoa
2 c cornflakes.

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Sift flour and cocoa.  Stir into creamed mixture.  Fold in cornflakes.  Spoon mounds of mixture onto a baking tray lined with baking paper, gently pressing together.  Bake at 180 degrees celcius for 15 minutes or until set.  When cold, ice with chocolate icing and decorate with a walnut if desired.


Cookies in a jar - a yummy and thoughtful gift

I love making gifts in a jar, so for my afterschool class, I decided the students would make 'cookies in a jar' to give to someone as a Christmas present.  It's a lot of fun layering all the ingredients in the jar and then decorating the jar to make it look Christmassy.

I got this recipe from http://www.taste.com.au/ and it was a bit more interesting than the standard chocolate chip cookies in a jar recipes.  Enjoy!

 Abby's Cookies in a Jar
 
Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 15 minutes

Makes 24 cookies

Equipment

You'll need a 1L glass jar with a lid

Ingredients

Jar ingredients

½ c plus ¼ c (110g) plain flour
1/4 t baking powder
1/4 t bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
1/4 t salt
1/3 c (75g) firmly packed brown sugar
1/3 c (75g) caster sugar
3/4 c (65g) rolled oats
½ c craisins (dried cranberries)
½ c white chocolate chips Extra ingredients for making cookies


125g butter, melted and cooled
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 t vanilla essence


Method

1. Sift flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt into a bowl. Whisk to mix.

2. Spoon the flour mixture into a 1L (4-cup) capacity glass jar.

3. Top with brown sugar, then caster sugar.

4. Add oats, then craisins, then chocolate chips. Seal jar. Give as gift.


To make cookies:

 Preheat oven to 190ºC.

 Line 2 baking trays with baking paper.

 Empty jar into a large bowl.

 Add butter, egg and vanilla. Stir until well combined.

 Shape tablespoons of mixture into balls and place on baking trays approximately 5cm apart.

 Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, swapping trays halfway during cooking, or until edges are lightly browned.

 Turn biscuits onto a wire rack to cool.

 Serve.

A place for teachers blogs

I was just checking out my blog traffic and found a link to Interface Magazine.

If you are a teacher with a blog, check out http://www.interfacemagazine.co.nz/teacherblogs/ and add your blog. 

It's a great way to increase your traffic and get your blog seen by other teachers :)