Lychee Rose Summer Cooler

The inspiration for this drink recipe came from a mocktail I tried at my birthday dinner late last year at The Glass Brasserie at the Hilton Sydney. It was a great night, with amazing food and the best company. My brother and his girlfriend travelled from interstate to surprise me on the night, which pretty much made it one of the best birthdays ever. 

Lychee Rose Mocktail at the Glass Brasserie

I chose the Lychee Rose mocktail, obviously because of the rosewater in it! I love rosewater, as I’m sure you have noticed, and can’t go past anything on a menu that contains it. And in this case, I’m very glad I tried it. Not only was it amazing, but it has inspired a Summer drink that can be made very easily at home. 

This recipe also showcases lychees while we have them in season, but canned ones (rinsed first) will work well too. I have been enjoying making this drink over the past couple of months, and I find it can last at least a week in the fridge (particularly if the lychees are freshly bought). I have also taken to buying more lychees than I need, pureeing and sieving them, and freezing the juice to use later. I also like making up some ice cubes with a few torn rose petals and a splash of rosewater to add to the jug or glass upon serving. This recipe is also really good frozen into ice block moulds, with a few chunks of lychee dropped into each - perfect for those super hot Summer days! 

On another note, this week marks the beginning of our kitchen renovation. It is a slightly daunting and exciting time, but does however mean I won’t be cooking almost anything but toast for quite a few weeks. I have however come prepared! These past couple of months I have been spending almost every weekend baking and shooting in order to have some recipes to share here during the kitchen renovation - this is the reason I have only posted one recipe on the blog this year! All my spare time has been taken up with the baking side of things! I look forward to sharing the end result with you when it’s all done, but until then I hope you enjoy the recipes to come over the next few weeks! 

Lychee Rose Summer Cooler

Ingredients: 

1L pineapple juice 

250ml cranberry juice

250ml water

5 tbsp rosewater 

12 fresh lychees, plus extra 

fresh rose petals, optional 

Method: 

You will need a jug of at least 2L capacity for this recipe. 

Puree the 12 lychees, and pass through a sieve to remove any lumps. Add all the ingredients, except the rose petals, to the jug and stir. Taste and top up with water if needed, add ice. 

Use rose petals and extra lychees to decorate when serving.

For more recipes showcasing the best of rose, check out my eBook Baking with Rose by clicking on the link below!

Simple Summer Celebration Cake & Two Years of Blogging

Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a lovely start to the new year. This is my first blog post for 2016, and I am quite excited about 2016 on the blog front. I have lots of new recipes to try and lots of ideas for my own, and I can’t wait to share them with you. The first of which, is this cake. This cake is my idea of using the best summer berries and edible flowers, and creating something very simple yet still spectacular. 

And for this post, I am using this simple yet spectacular cake to celebrate two years since I started this blog. It’s quite surreal to think about how that amount of time has gone by already. I love looking back at the recipes I have done in the past, and seeing how even now, some of them are still the most popular recipes on the blog. I am very much looking forward to working on this blog into the future, and I hope you will all continue to check back here every now and then and see where my kulinary adventures have led. 

The base recipe for this cake, has appeared in various forms on the blog a few times in the past two years. This is probably my favourite to date, although the passionfruit version would have to be a super close second. The idea for this particular cake came from my undying and rather obsessive need to use edible flowers. And once I (finally, oh finally!) found some, in the amazing fruit market near my work nonetheless, this cake was born. As a side note to explain how obsessive I have become on this, ever since I found that this fruit market sells edible flowers, I check back almost every lunch time to see if they have any and whether my obsessive need to use them will be fulfilled yet another time - I may require some kind of intervention at some point, just FYI, I’ll let you know when the situation becomes dire.

Obsessiveness aside, I think this cake would be fantastic for lots of occasions, but kitchen teas, afternoon teas and birthdays spring to mind first. Use whatever edible flowers you can find, otherwise a nice combination of berries will still look lovely. A regular loaf tin will work too, I found this long skinny one at Donna Hay’s pop up shop at Fox Studios in Sydney. 

Simple Summer Celebration Cake

Ingredients: 

125g margarine, or unsalted butter (softened)

165g caster sugar

1 tsp vanilla bean paste/vanilla extract

2 eggs 

250g self-raising flour

105ml milk (preferably skimmed)

100g raspberries

For the Icing: 

1 1/2 cups icing sugar 

1-2 tbsp rosewater

berries (raspberries, blackberries) and edible flowers (rose petals, violets, cornflowers), to decorate 

Method: 

Pre-heat oven to 160 degrees Celsius, and line a loaf tin with baking paper. 

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the margarine, sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy. 

Beat in the eggs one at a time, then add half the flour and half the milk and mix. Add the remaining flour and milk and mix on medium speed until well combined. Gently fold in the raspberries. 

Transfer the mixture into the loaf tin, smoothing the top. Bake for 50 minutes, or until the cake springs back when touched lightly and a skewer comes out clean. 

Cool in the tin for a few minutes then transfer to a cooling rack, leaving the baking paper underneath the cake (this will prevent the cake from sticking to the rack, and catch any runaway icing later). 

Once the loaf has cooled completely, sift the icing sugar into a bowl. Add one tablespoon of rosewater, and stir. Continue to add rosewater (or water for a more subtle flavour) and stir well, until the icing is a nice smooth consistency. Drizzle the icing over the cake, allowing it to fall down the sides. Decorate with the berries and edible flowers immediately. Allow the icing to set a little before serving. If there are any leftovers store in the fridge, as the decoration will not store well at room temperature. 

Original cake recipe adapted from The Australian Women’s Weekly Cakes & Slices Cookbook, p.89.

How to Make Mini Fruit Mince Tarts for Christmas

Merry Christmas! I hope everyone is enjoying the final lead up to the big day! 

Here is my final festive recipe - star topped mini fruit mince tarts. I first made these two years ago, and was very sceptical as to whether I would like them. I don’t usually like fruit mince pies, or anything else that has dried fruit in it to be honest. So I was extremely surprised when I liked these tarts. 

I made them so small as I think something like this needs to be small and dainty. The flavour is quite rich and I thought a little mouthful was all that was needed. You can make them bigger by using cupcake pans, or fruit mince pie pans if you have one. Use a larger cutter to cut out the pastry (about 7cm), and a larger star cutter for the tops. Making the mini version should get you about 60 tarts - which is good if you are feeding a crowd! Making them a bit larger should get you about 30 tarts. 

The pastry for this recipe has been spiked with some extra festive flavours, but it can be a little harder to work with than normal pastry. I found it to be much softer, and the day I made them was about 35 degrees Celsius, so I had to refrigerate the pastry quite often to keep it from melting! 

I hope everyone has a very happy holiday season, and a great new year! 

Mini Fruit Mince Tarts

Ingredients for the Fruit Mince: 

1 Granny Smith apple, peeled and grated

110g currants

120g sultanas

70g slivered almonds

85g mixed peel

80ml maple syrup

90g brown sugar

60g unsalted butter, chopped

80ml butterscotch liqueur/schnapps

1 egg, lightly beaten

white sugar, for sprinkling

icing sugar, for dusting

Extra butter or canola oil spray, for greasing

Ingredients for the Pastry: 

400g plain flour, plus extra for dusting

300g cold unsalted butter, chopped

90g brown sugar

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon 

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract 

Method: 

Begin by placing the apple, currants, sultanas, almonds, mixed peel, maple syrup, brown sugar, butter and butterscotch liqueur in a medium saucepan over low heat. Mix to combine and leave on a low/medium heat until all the liquid as been absorbed. Stir occasionally. 

While the fruit is cooking, prepare the pastry. In the bowl of a food processor place the flour, butter, ginger and cinnamon. Process in short bursts until the mixture looks like coarse breadcrumbs. Add the eggs and vanilla and process until the pastry forms a ball. 

Turn out on to a well floured work surface and bring the dough together. Divide the dough in half, and roll each to about 5mm thick in between sheets baking paper. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. 

Once the fruit has absorbed all the liquid, allow the mixture to cool completely before using. 

Pre heat the oven to 160 degrees Celsius, and prepare at least four or five 12 hole mini muffin trays by lightly spraying them with canola oil or greasing with butter.  

Using a 4.5-5cm fluted biscuit or scone cutter, cut rounds out of the halves of dough (re-roll (and chill if necessary) to use up the scraps). Tease each round out a little with your fingers, gently place into the muffin trays (they should only fill each muffin hole about halfway). Place the trays in the fridge for about 15 minutes to chill (longer if you are working in hot/humid conditions). 

Once the pastry is ready, fill each case with a teaspoon of the fruit mince. Then using a (very) small star cutter, cut stars out of the remainder of the pastry (re-roll (and chill if necessary) to use up the scraps), and gently place on top of each tart. 

Brush each tart with egg wash, and sprinkle with white sugar. Cook for 15-20 minutes, or until the tarts are lightly golden in colour. 

Once cooked, allow to cool for 5 minutes in their tins before removing the tarts to cooling racks. Sprinkle with icing sugar to serve. 

Reference: Donna Hay Magazine Issue 74 December 2013/January 2014, p.135.

Festive Gingerbread Cake

This cake is guaranteed to bring lots of Christmas cheer to your Christmas Day feast, with minimal effort. If you are going all out with your main course for lunch or dinner on the big day, an easy and festive cake like this one could be just what you need to make the Christmas preparation a little easier. 

I have been using this recipe for a few years now, after a good friend of mine showed me the original recipe about three years ago. The original recipe is for gingerbread cupcakes with a maple cream cheese icing. I go back to it again and again, as it is easy and just a little different from other cupcakes I tend to make. And at this time of year, it makes a great festive addition to any occasion.  

This year I decided to adapt the recipe a little, and make it into a larger cake. I love how the cake has turned out, as with the addition of red currants, it looks a little like a Christmas pudding and very festive! I know red currants can be hard to find (I was just lucky to come across them), so you could substitute them for smaller cherries or cranberries. I also used maple extract in the icing (which I found a few months ago at Salt Meat Cheese), but maple syrup (the pure kind) would work too, you might just have to up the amount of icing sugar you use. 

I hope everyone enjoys the holiday season! Let me know what you bake, I’d love to see photos of what you create to celebrate the holidays! 

And if you are still looking for some Christmas baking inspiration, here are some links to a few older posts, including my Epic Pavlova from last year, that might help you decide what to bake this holiday season!

Epic Christmas Pavlova

Gingerbread Biscuits

White Cherry Frangipane Tart

Festive Gingerbread Cake

Ingredients: 

250g softened unsalted butter

200g brown sugar 

2 eggs

310g molasses 

230ml water

410g plain flour 

1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon 

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp bicarb soda

1 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp ground all spice 

canola oil spray, for greasing

Ingredients for Icing: 

160g (approx.) icing sugar

1-2 tsp maple extract

red currants, to decorate 

Method: 

Grease a large bundt tin (around 2 litre capacity, approx. 24-26cm diameter) with the canola oil spray and pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.

In a large bowl, cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs. Then beat in the water and molasses. 

Sift flour, baking powder, bicarb and the spices and add to the mixture. Beat on a low speed until the flour begins to combine, then beat on a medium speed for 2 minutes or until mixed well. 

Pour the batter into the prepared tin and bake for 20-30 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius, then turn the oven down to 160 degrees Celsius for a further 20-25 minutes (this should prevent the cake forming a ‘peak’ on what will be the base of the cake), or until a skewer inserted in the centre of the cakes comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes in the tin, before turning onto a cooling rack. 

For the icing, sift the icing sugar into a bowl, then add the maple essence one teaspoon at a time, stirring well. The icing should have a nice smooth consistency. If the mixture needs more liquid add a little water and mix well. Drizzle the icing over the cooled cake, allowing it to fall over the sides. Decorate with red currants. 

Reference: http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/gingerbread-cupcakes

Homemade Marshmallows (Gluten + Dairy Free)

I have always loved marshmallows. I would eat them by the bowlful as a kid, much to my Mum’s dismay. I’d often melt them in the microwave, add Rice Bubbles, and eat them like a massive LCM (or rice crispy treat), but with much more marshmallow! 

Then while I was at uni, a friend introduced me to Sweetness the Patisserie in Sydney, who make their own marshmallows, known as Sweet Mallows. They are made with natural flavours, and come in an amazing variety of flavour combinations. These homemade, (much) more natural versions of the marshmallows you buy in the lolly isle at the supermarket, make you never ever want to eat the supermarket variety again.

I then stumbled across the below recipe in the recipe book from the Parisian confectioners,  À La Mère de Famille (check out this post for more on the Parisian confectioners). Its not an overly complicated recipe, you just need to be organised, work quickly and have a sugar thermometer. So once I bought a sugar thermometer, there was nothing stopping me finally making marshmallows for myself! 

The flavour combinations are really quite endless, and I think they make cute gifts (cue impending holiday season!). The flavour of the marshmallows develops a lot after a day or so, so I would recommend making them a day or two in advance before giving them as gifts. They also require tossing in the icing sugar and potato flour mix more than once over the first couple of days, particularly in humid conditions. They will otherwise absorb the first lot of icing sugar and potato flour quite quickly and become wet and sticky. And let’s face it, its always handy when you are making gifts, or just cooking generally, to have things that can be prepared in advance! 

Homemade Marshmallows

Ingredients for Raspberry Marshmallows: 

15g gelatine sheets

100g raspberry pulp

20g water

50g mild honey

240g sugar

100g egg whites

1 tsp freeze dried raspberry powder, sifted, optional

75g icing sugar

75g potato flour/starch 

Ingredients for Passionfruit Marshmallows:

15g gelatine sheets 

70g strained passionfruit pulp

40g water

50g mild honey

240g sugar

100g egg whites

1 tsp freeze dried passionfruit powder, optional

75g icing sugar

75g potato flour/starch 

Method: 

Place the gelatine in bowl of cold water, and leave to soak for 5 minutes. Then drain and set aside. 

Place the egg whites in a bowl, and have everything ready to whip them once the sugar syrup starts to heat up (see following step).

In a large saucepan heat, the raspberry pulp or passionfruit pulp, water, honey and sugar until it reaches 114 degrees Celsius on a sugar thermometer. The sugar syrup will start rapidly boiling and increase in size, so make sure you use a large enough saucepan. This shouldn’t take too long, so once the mixture starts to increase in temperature, start whipping the egg whites on a low/medium speed.

Once the sugar mixture has reached 114 degrees Celsius, and the egg whites are whipped to stiff peaks, gently fold the sugar mixture and gelatine in to the egg whites. 

Increase the speed of the mixer (medium to high speed), and allow the marshmallow to thicken and cool. This will take a few minutes. Add the freeze dried raspberry powder or passionfruit powder, if using, and continue to whip the marshmallow until it has cooled to at least 40 degrees Celsius. Whilst the marshmallow is thickening and cooling, lay a sheet of baking paper on a clean dry surface and generously dust with combination of the icing sugar and potato flour. 

Once the marshmallow has thickened and cooled, pour it onto the prepared surface and spread into a rectangular shape, about 1.5-2cm in thickness. Dust with more icing sugar and potato flour, and leave to set. 

I found it didn’t take very long for the marshmallow to set, but leave it about 30 mins to be sure - it will be set when it bounces back when pressed and the outside area dusted with the icing sugar and potato flour is no longer sticky. You may need to dust the marshmallow more than once depending on the humidity. 

Once the marshmallow has set, cut into cubes, and toss cut marshmallows in a bowl filled with icing sugar and potato flour. Cut cubes of marshmallow may need dusting a couple more times as the first lot tends to be absorbed after a few hours (particularly in humid conditions). Keep a bowl or container of the icing sugar and potato flour handy so the marshmallows can be re-dusted if needed. 

Reference: ‘À La Mère de Famille: Artisanal Recipes’ by Julien Merceron (2013, Hardie Grant Books), pp.108-112. 

Parmesan & Thyme Scones

These scones seem to be a massive crowd pleaser every time I make them. I have heard the odd passing comment about never having heard of savoury scones before, but those scone doubters appear well at ease with the concept once they taste them! 

The recipe came about, around this time last year, when I put together an afternoon tea and shared some of the how to's on the website Liveability and in this post. I had decided on savoury scones because as I was baking everything for the afternoon tea, I felt that making mini quiches or similar would just take up far too much of my time. The weather was also quite hot, so baking things that not only had relatively short cook times seemed necessary and serving hot food on a hot day seemed a little ridiculous. 

Despite this, I still needed a couple of savoury elements to balance the sweet things I had planned to make. I decided on these scones, as they fit my short cook time criteria and I knew that if all the scones weren't eaten on the day, the leftovers would freeze well. 

The flavour combination ended up being a little bit of a fluke. I had always planned on using thyme, having tried a couple of savoury scones at The Tea Salon in Sydney with thyme, I then really wanted to make some myself. The original recipe I used called for cheddar, so I bought some. 

Unfortunately once I opened the cheddar it was mouldy, and had to be thrown out. Luckily we always have Parmesan in the fridge, so I used that instead and the flavour combination turned out really well. I have since stated using Grana Padano instead of Parmesan, as I prefer the slightly stronger flavour. 

So finally after a year, these scones make an appearance here on the blog. I hope they become an crowd pleaser for you too! 

Parmesan & Thyme Scones

Ingredients: 

450g self-raising flour

2 tsp baking powder

75g grated Parmesan or Grana Padano cheese, plus extra

2 tbsp fresh thyme leaves, plus extra 

200ml cream

125ml sparkling water

2 tbsp lemon juice

full cream milk, for brushing 

unsalted butter, to serve

Method: 

Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Line a large baking tray with baking paper, and dust a little flour over the top. 

Place the flour, cheese and thyme in a large bowl, and sift over the baking powder. Mix the dry ingredients together, adding more thyme if it is looking a little sparse. 

In a jug, quickly and briefly whisk the cream, water and lemon juice together, then add to the dry ingredients. Mix together with a flat bladed knife, then turn out on to a lightly floured bench. Lightly knead the dough to bring it together, then press to dough out until it is 2-3cm thick. 

Using a 4.5/5cm cutter cut out rounds from the dough, dusting the cutter with flour if the dough sticks too much. Place the rounds on the prepared tray, leaving no gaps in between each round. Bring the dough back together and continue cutting until it is all used up (you should get about 20 rounds). 

Brush the tops of the cut scones with the milk, and sprinkle with the extra cheese and thyme. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until golden and puffed. Turn the tray in the oven about halfway through so they cook and colour more evenly. 

Serve warm with the butter and extra fresh thyme leaves if desired. 

Reference: ‘Bill’s Basics’ by Bill Granger (HarperCollins Publishers, 2010), p.50.