TipTipTip
Banana
Bread
The word "bread" is the wrong
word for this loaf, it is a divine moist loaf full of flavour.
Ingredients
1/2 cup sultanas
5 Tbsp bourbon or dark rum
3/4 cup plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
125g melted butter
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
4 mashed bananas
60g chopped walnuts optional
1 tsp vanilla essence
Bring the sultanas and rum to the boil and set aside for an hour if you can or until the sultanas have absorbed most of the liquid and then drain. Butter well a loaf tin. Preheat the oven to 170 C. Put the flour, baking powder, soda and salt in a bowl and combine well with a wooden spoon. Beat the melted butter and sugar well until blended. Beat in eggs one at a time, then bananas. With wooden spoon stir in walnuts, sultanas and vanilla. Add flour mixture a bit at a time and stir well to combine flour and liquid. Scrape into a loaf tin and bake 1 to 1 1/4 hours. Leave on a rack to cool before removing from the tin.
Meringues/Pavlova
Take the anxiety out of making meringues
and pavlovas
Ingredients
3 Large Eggs
175g Caster Sugar
1 teaspoon Corn Flour
1 teaspoon White Vinegar
Few drops Vanilla Essence
Place egg whites in a
glass bowl and allow standing for 15-20 minutes to get to room temperature,
and then beat using an electric mixer on a low speed. Increase mixer
speed as eggs begin to froth. Increase speed to maximum. The egg whites will
become thick and creamy. Continue beating until egg white forms stiff peaks.
Add a third of the sugar slowly while continually beating. Repeat until all
the sugar is added. Beat in corn flour, vinegar and vanilla essence.
* For a Pavlova, spoon mixture on baking tray lined with baking paper.
Spread out to form a 23cm round.
* For meringues, place mixture in a piping bag and pipe swirls using a
suitably-sized star nozzle to create large or small bite-sized meringues.
* Cook at 130ºC for 1 ¼-1 ½ hours, until meringue is firm and crisp on the
outside.
* For bite-sized meringues, pipe 30 swirls and bake at 130ºC for 35-40
minutes.
* Cool meringue thoroughly before removing from paper. Fill as desired, or
drizzle with a little melted chocolate as I have
* Refer to Dressings page for ideas on what to
do with the egg yolks
Brownies
Easy, quick and irresistible
Ingredients
1/2 cup chopped chocolate
1/2 cup chopped butter
2 Tablespoons cocoa powder
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 eggs
3/4 cup plain flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) and place the rack in the
center of the oven. Butter (or spray with cooking spray) an 8 inch (20 cm)
square pan, and line the bottom of the pan with parchment or wax paper.
Melt the chocolate and butter in a large stainless steel bowl placed over a
saucepan of simmering water. Remove from heat and stir in the cocoa powder
and sugar . Next, whisk in the vanilla extract and eggs, one at a time,
beating well after each addition. Finally, stir in the flour, salt and
chocolate chips (if using). Pour into the prepared pan and bake for about
25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a
little batter and a few moist clumps clinging to it. Do not over bake.
Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack. Serve at room temperature or
chilled. These freeze very well. Makes 16 brownies.
Chocolate
Cake
Quick and Easy and Moist
Ingredients
1 cup self rising flour
2-3 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 cup caster sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
90g melted butter
1 tsp vanilla essence
Preheat oven to 180 degrees C and grease tin. Sift flour and cocoa powder into a bowl. Add remaining ingredients and mix for 3 minutes. Pour mixture into tin and bake for 30 minutes or until cake springs back.
Chocolate Mousse
Serves 4
Quick and Easy - great for Valentines Day
Ingredients
170g package of semi-sweet chocolate morsels
3 eggs, separated
1/4 cup water
1/8 tsp salt
1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
Melt the semi-sweet chocolate morsels over hot (not boiling) water. Remove
from heat. Add the egg yolks, one at a time. Beat well after each addition.
Add water and beat until smooth. In a bowl, combine egg whites and salt.
Beat until soft peaks form. Gradually beat in brown sugar and continue
beating until stiff. peaks form. Gently fold in chocolate mixture. Chill in
the refrigerator a couple of hours or until ready to serve.
Chocolate Peppermint Biscuits
For the peppermint lover in your family
Ingredients
185g soft butter
1 cup caster sugar
1 egg
2 cup plain flour
½ tsp baking powder
1 cup icing sugar
1 tsp peppermint flavouring
2 Tbsp water
200 g dark chocolate
1 cup cream
Preheat oven to 180ºC. Beat butter and sugar until light and creamy, add
egg and beat well. Sift flour and baking powder into egg mixture and fold.
Gently knead dough. Roll dough between to sheets of baking paper to 2mm
thick. Refrigerate 30 minutes. Cut out 36 x 7 x 5cm rectangles. Place on
baking trays lined with baking paper and bake 5 minutes or until golden.
Cool on trays. Combine icing sugar, peppermint and water and mix until
smooth. Combine chocolate and cream in a saucepan over low heat and stir
until chocolate is melted and smooth. Sandwich three biscuits at a time
together with peppermint icing. Lightly grease a wire rack and place over a
baking tray. Place layered biscuits on a fork and dip each one into
chocolate mixture, place on rack and refrigerate for 2 hours or until set.
Makes 12. Chocolate Muffins
The kids favourite
Ingredients
1 1/3 cups plain flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup cocoa
1 cup chocolate bits or more
1/2 cup melted butter
1 cup milk
1 egg slightly beaten
1 tsp vanilla
Preheat oven to 190º
C.
Sift flour, baking powder, sugar and cocoa.
Add chocolate and make a well Pour in butter, milk, egg, vanilla and just
combine
Spoon into muffin tins and bake for about 20 minutes until springy.
Make a chocolate icing and cover with chocolate buttons, marshmallows and
whatever takes your fancy maybe a flake
Sharron's Gloop
Sharron's creation and
another kids favourite
Beat together 600ml milk, 500ml cream and 2
packets of your favourite instant pudding usually chocolate. Then add
marshmallows, chocolate chips and whatever other goodies you like. Mix
and set in the fridge for 1 hour.
Banana Cake
I've used this recipe since I
was a child, grab banana’s the more ripe the better and throw into the deep
freeze to ripen immediately, then pull out 2-3 banana’s to thaw any time of
year and make this light, moist delicious banana cake
Ingredients
120g butter
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 mashed bananas
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking power
2 cups flour
Preheat oven to 180º C.
Grease
cake tin.
Cream the butter and sugar well
Dissolve the soda in 1 Tbsp hot milk (microwave the milk to quickly heat it)
Add eggs, bananas and soda.
Add flour and baking powder.
Pour into cake tin and bake
for about
20 minutes
Chocolate Mud Cake
Rich, moist, dense, heavy, decadent and divine!!
Ingredients
1/4 c
strong brewed coffee
200g dark chocolate chopped
200g butter chopped
1 tsp vanilla essence
1/3 c cocoa powder
1 c caster sugar
3 eggs room temperature
3/4 c self rising flour (or 3/4c plain flour & 1 tsp baking powder)
Preheat the oven to 160ºC. Grease and line 20cm round cake pan well!
Place coffee, chocolate and butt in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of
simmering water. Cook, stirring constantly with a metal spoon until
melted and smooth, remove from heat and transfer to large bowl. While
warm, stir in vanilla and cocoa, mix well. Add sugar and eggs one at a
time, mixing well between additions. Sift self rising flour over
chocolate mixture, stir gently to combine, pour into pan and bake for 50-60
minutes. Allow to stand for 10 minutes and remove from pan and cover
with a thick chocolate butter icings, I like to add peppermint essence
instead of vanilla essence to the icing because my partner loves peppermint.
Cheese and
Chutney Muffins
These flavoursome savoury muffins taste as
yummy as they look, great way to use tomato chutney.
Ingredients
2 cups self-raising flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup olive oil
2 lightly beaten eggs
2/3 cup finely grated cheese
salt and cracked black pepper
2 tablespoons tomato chutney
Preheat oven to 190°C. Line small muffin tray with muffin cases. Sift
flour and baking powder into a large bowl. In a separate bowl, combine milk,
olive oil and eggs and add to the flour mixture. Add cheese and salt and
cracked black pepper, folding gently until just combined. Place a spoonful
of mixture in each muffin hole, coming about 3/4 of the way up the side of
each hole. Make a little well in the centre of each muffin hole and divide
tomato chutney between each hole. Using a skewer, gently swirl the chutney
into the muffin mixture. Bake for 15 minutes or until golden and cooked
through. Turn out onto a wire rack to cool.
Blackberry and White
Chocolate Muffins
Ingredients
1 3/4 cups plain flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 cup sugar
1 cup white chocolate bits or more
1 cup blackberries or any berries for that matter
1/2 cup melted butter
1 cup milk
1 egg slightly beaten
1 tsp vanilla
Preheat oven to 190º C. Sift flour, baking powder and sugar. Add chocolate
and make a well Pour in butter, milk, egg, vanilla, and berries and just
combine. Spoon into muffin tins and bake for about 20 minutes until
springy. Make a white icing and cover with white chocolate buttons,
marshmallows and whatever takes your fancy.
White
Chocolate and Cointreau Truffles
Ingredients
300 grams white chocolate
1/4 cup cream
2 Tbsp Cointreau
2 tsp grated orange zest
1/2 cup icing sugar
Melt the chocolate in bowl over a simmer saucepan of water. Warm the
cream in a saucepan or microwave. Add the warm cream to the chocolate
still over the saucepan and mix together until evenly combined. Add
1-2 Tbsp of Cointreau and the orange and beat the mixture until smooth.
Refrigerate the mixture until it has set, 4 hours or overnight. With a
small spoon roll into balls and dust with icing sugar and refrigerate again
until hard. Makes about 25.
