Black bottom pecan praline bars

If a pecan pie and a brownie had a baby - actually, let's not go there. This brownie variation is ugly but sweet and very easy to make.

When I was just starting to bake, a few years ago, the hard part was having the right equipment. Right now, I'm in a good spot because I've managed to accumulate most of the things I need, and to have access to my housemate's stuff too.

If I had to start over, or if anyone asked me how to begin (lol not likely), then these would be the top of the list:

A silicone spatula. SO much better than a wooden spoon.

Kitchen scales. Cups are nice but scales take all the uncertainty out of measurement.

At least one large glass bowl and at least one large stainless steel bowl.

And an apron. Because they are cute.



Black bottom pecan praline bars

Brownie layer
56g (2oz) unsweetened chocolate – I used 70% Black & Green
4 tablespoons (56g) unsalted butter
½ cup + 1 tablespoon (112g) caster sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cold large egg
1/4 cup (35g) all purpose flour

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Butter a 22cm (9in) square pan (I just used my standard brownie tin) and line the bottom and sides with foil, leaving an overhang on two opposite sides. Butter foil as well.

Start with the brownie layer: place the chocolate and butter in a medium heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering water. Stir frequently until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth.

Remove the bowl from the heat. Stir in the sugar, vanilla, and salt with a wooden spoon or silicone spatula.

Add the egg. Stir in the flour and beat with a wooden spoon until the batter is smooth, glossy, and beginning to come away from the sides of the bowl, 1-2 minutes.

Spread the brownie batter in a thin even layer in the bottom of the lined pan. Set aside.


Praline layer
1/4 cup (35g) all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
4 tablespoons (56g) unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons (70g) packed brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 large egg yolk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups (140g) pecans, coarsely chopped


For the praline layer, mix the flour and baking soda together thoroughly and set aside.

Combine the melted butter, sugar, and salt in a medium bowl.

Stir in the egg yolk and vanilla, then the flour mixture, and finally the nuts.

Drop spoonfuls all over the top of the brownie batter - they will spread and cover the brownies entirely during baking. (Although, I actually had enough to spread quite evenly over the whole tray.)

Bake until the edges of the topping are well browned and cracked, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool completely in pan on a rack.

Lift up the ends of the parchment or foil liner, and transfer the brownies to a cutting board. Cut into 25 bars.


From Technicolor Kitchen

Chocolate Meringues

Despite the Zuger Kirschtorte, I STILL had some egg whites to dispose of - hence, meringues. With only three ingredients, this was the quickest and easiest way to get rid of the remaining whites.

This recipe uses the 'Swiss method' and is taken from the Bourke Street Bakery cookbook.



Chocolate meringues

The proportion is 1 part eggs to 2 parts sugar. I actually used 170g egg white to a whopping 340g sugar, but the purposes of this recipe I've kept BSB's measurements.

105g egg whites (about 3)
210g caster sugar
70g unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted into a bowl


Preheat oven to 130C.

Stir egg white and sugar in a very clean stainless steel bowl. Place the bowl over a saucepan of boiling water and stir continually, scraping down the sides with a rubber spatula.

When the liquid is smooth and clear, remove from heat. Wipe the bottom of the bowl to prevent water from contacting the mix.

Whisk the warm liquid in a stand mixer or with a hand mixer until it's cool and firm peaks form. This will take about 10 minutes. My mix looked very white and very sticky.

Using a large spoon, scoop up a meringue and drop it into the cocoa powder. BSB suggests swirling the bowl so it's completely coated. This sounds so easy! Needless to say I made a mess.

Place meringues on a tray lined with baking paper. Using the tips of your fingers, 'drag' the meringue upwards a little to streak the chocolate and create a peak. Or try, anyway.

Turn the oven to 100C and bake meringues for approximately 90 minutes or until they're crisp outside and soft in the centre. (BSB suggests if you want them crispy all the way through, you can bake them for up to 6 hours!)

BSB's proportions make 12-18 small meringues or 4-6 large ones. Starting with more mixture, I made 20 medium sized ones, just to be different.

Uniformity not being one of my strong points, my meringues all turned out so different-looking!

This one reminded me of a poached egg:



This one was a bit like larvae from Alien:



And I don't know, some kind of cloud formation? Or something.




Adapted from 'Bourke Street Bakery' by Paul Allam and David McGuinness

Nanaimo Bars aka Caramel Slice

Last Thursday was Canada Day - one of my friends organised a surprise party on the Saturday for her Canadian husband, and we all celebrated by bringing along and then consuming vast quantities of food. There was a moose-mousse cake, maple bacon cookies, Canadian Dry ginger ale, turkey sandwiches, salmon bagels, pumpkin pie, and so much more.

My contribution was the Nanaimo Bar. Allegedly a Canadian specialty, I suspect it is nothing more or less than a good old Ausssie caramel slice!



The traditional recipe calls for Graham Wafers which are not sold in Australia or most places outside North America. The original recipe has instructions on making these from scratch. Being too lazy to do the same, I followed the lead of cooks around the world and used a local substitute, which I crushed to crumbs in a sealed plastic bag with a rolling pin.

Digestive biscuits of any kind are fine; I used Arnotts Granita, which has a marginally lower sugar content and a rougher texture than similar biscuits like the Milk Arrowroot. Some blogs have also suggested it's possible to use half tea sweet biscuit or digestive, and half a salty biscuit or even pretzels - given how strong and sweet the caramel layer is, I think a half salty mix would work really well.


Base:
115gram unsalted butter
50gram granulated sugar
75ml unsweetened cocoa
1 large egg, beaten
200gram Graham Wafer crumbs (see above)
1/2 cup almonds (any type, finely chopped)
1 cup dessicated coconut

Caramel:
2 cans condensed milk (about 800 ml)
30 gram unsalted butter
3 tbsp golden syrup

Topping:
150 gram semi-sweet chocolate (I used 85% Lindt and it was awesome)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter


BASE: Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius (160 degrees Celsius fan-forced). Melt unsalted butter, sugar and cocoa in top of a double boiler. Add egg and stir to cook and thicken. Remove from heat. Stir in crumbs, nuts and coconut. Press firmly into an ungreased 8 by 8 inch pan. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned and slightly risen. Remove it from oven and let it cool.


CARAMEL: Place butter and golden syrup in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally. When butter has melted, add condensed milk. Stir constantly over medium heat for about 9-12 minutes, until caramel thickens. Gently spread caramel evenly over base. Return to oven for a further 10-12 minutes (a 1/2cm border of lightly browned caramel should form around the edges of the slice).

This was the absolute messiest step by far - condensed milk is NOT a nice texture to work with and the whole kitchen was just sticky and sickly-sweet smelling, ugh. Also, I tried to be smart and used maple syrup instead of golden syrup. This turned out to be a fail because the maple crystallised instead of blending! I had to sieve the hard bits out before I could pour the caramel on to the base, which of course didn't help with the messiness...


TOPPING: Melt chocolate and unsalted butter over low heat. Cool. Once cool, pour over middle layer and chill.

Consider scoring the chocolate when it's semi-solid to enable easier cutting later. I didn't, and mine cracked all over the place!

Use a hot, dry knife to cut the slice - fill a tall glass with hot water, dip knife in water for a few seconds, and wipe dry with a clean tea towel.


From A table for two

Coconut Chocolate Chip Cake

More gluten-free! Overall, I'm pleasantly surprised by my two-cake foray into gluten-free baking. The sad faces of my coeliac acquaintances as they ate their store-bought riceflour muffins had convinced me that gluten-free = not tasty. This is completely untrue.

This cake is awesome - the dark chocolate and the coconut go so well together. Like the carrot cake from the previous post, this too was deliciously moist and tasty.

Ideally, this is how you should eat it:

Start with a leisurely breakfast at Bangbang and then wander through Surry Hills markets. Walking at a gentle pace, swing by Frames for some takeaway coffees (their coffee is so underrated! they are much better than the more-hyped Sideplate) and then go back to your house. Have a slice in the kitchen while chatting to Jess and Tina.

Easy, right?

No photos this time because a) I'm lazy and b) it looks like a brown cake.


Coconut Chocolate Chip Cake

3 large free-range organic eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup coconut milk
1-2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups organic light brown sugar
2 cups gluten free flour
A pinch of baking powder
1 1/4 cups sweetened flaked coconut
1 cup dark chocolate chips


Preheat oven to 180 C. Line a 9-inch cake pan.

In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs till pale yellow. Add in the oil and beat to combine. Add the coconut milk and flavor extracts. Beat in the sugar till smooth. Add the flour mix a little at a time and beat until the batter is smooth.

Stir in the coconut and chocolate chips by hand.

Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and bake in the center of a pre-heated oven, until the cake is set in the center. The cake should spring back to light touch.

The recipe suggested 30 to 35 minutes. Mine took closer to 45 minutes, but I have a temperamental oven so use your own judgement. The end result was evenly brown on top.

Cool the cake on a wire rack. Delicious slightly warm, almost as good the next day too.


Adapted from Gluten Free Goddess


*

Elsewhere:

Chengy baked an amazing Croquembouche for May's Daring Baker Challenge. It was impressive AND delicious! P.S. Those are my fingers in the photo.

Judith has a brilliant review post on 'Howl' and 'Exit Through The Gift Shop', both screening at the Sydney Film Festival. I think she's pretty much spot on - though my immediate reaction to Exit was less thoughtful and more of a straight-up "I HATE THIS STUPID MOVIE AND BANKSY'S STUPID FACE."

And Robbie has another ridiculous blog. OK I admit it - I lol'd.

Chocolate and Peanut Butter Pillows

Yes, you are quite right - my ones look NOWHERE NEAR as attractive the ones in the original post. Um, I tried, what can I say...

This was not the most fun of recipes to make, as the oil makes the dough very greasy, and it's probably not very good for you either. We're talking heart-attack levels of sugar.

They tasted okay! And lord knows they should have, given the amount of sugar I stirred into the damn things.



The original recipe is vegan but as noted below, I used dairy milk instead of non-dairy milk in my version.

Chocolate dough:
1/2 cup canola oil
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
3 tablespoons milk (non-dairy milk in original recipe)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup unsweetened dutch processed cocoa powder
2 tablespoons black unsweetened cocoa or more dutch processed unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

Combine oil, sugar, maple syrup, milk and vanilla extract and mix until smooth. Sift in flour, cocoa powder, black cocoa if using, baking soda and salt and mix to form a moist dough.


Filling:
3/4 cup natural salted peanut butter, crunchy or creamy style
2/3 cup icing sugar
2 to 3 tablespoons milk (non-dairy milk in original recipe)
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

In another mixing bowl beat together peanut butter, icing sugar, 2 tablespoons of milk and vanilla extract to form a moist but firm dough. If peanut butter dough is too dry (as different natural peanut butters have different moisture content), stir in remaining tablespoon of milk. If dough is too wet, knead in a little extra powdered sugar.


Preheat oven to 190 C.

Roll peanut butter dough into 24 balls. Scoop a generous tablespoon of chocolate dough, flatten into a disc and place a peanut butter ball in the centre.

Fold the sides of the chocolate dough up and around the peanut butter center and roll the chocolate ball into an smooth ball between your palms. Repeat with the remaining dough.

Place cookies on lined baking sheets and bake for 10 minutes. Remove sheet from oven and let cookies cool for 5 minutes before moving to a wire rack.


Adapted from Post Punk Kitchen

Bitter Chocolate Tart With Bailey's

I baked this for a dinner party with friends. They made polite impressed sounds, and then we eated it all up. Om nom.



Pastry

75g butter
75g caster sugar
75g ground almonds
125g plain flour
A pinch of salt
2 tbsp iced water, or more as needed

Start by sifting the flour and salt into a large bowl. I used wholemeal flour which is ridiculous to sift because you end up with beautifully sifted flour but a sieve full of hard bits - just tip the hard bits back into the bowl and stir it all around. No one will notice.

Take your room temperature butter (because you totally remembered to take it out of the fridge an hour ago, right?) and chop it up into little blocks. Add it to the bowl. Using your fingertips, massage the butter into the flour until the mix resembles breadcrumbs. The aim is to avoid melting the butter so don't use the palms of your hands, as they will be too hot.

Stir in the sugar and the ground almonds, then dig a little well in the centre of the mix and pour in some of the ice water. Take a knife and mix the whole thing together by cutting the mixture back and forth, rather than stirring it round and round. If it's not coming together, add a little more water, but don't over-mix or add too much water. It should look crumbly rather than being a smooth dough.

Gently knead the dough into a ball and cover it with plastic wrap. Put your dough into the fridge and leave it for 20 to 30 minutes. You can use this time to check your email or make a sandwich.

Take your dough and put it into the centre of your favourite tart tin. Gently push the dough down and outwards from the centre so it covers the entire tin base and up the sides. Using a 23 cm non-stick tart tin, this recipe made juuuust enough to cover the base and make a small (like, 1.5 cm high) edge. If you use a 20 cm tin, you could probably get more of an edge. Try and make it tidy and pretty-looking, and then put the tin and dough back in the fridge for another 20 to 30 minutes. Make another sandwich.

Pre-heat oven to 180 C and get your tart out of the fridge. Line the base of the tart case with baking paper and baking weights (for example, rice grains or dried beans – though you can also purchase fancy ceramic weights from home ware stores) and put it in the oven for 15 minutes. This is to make sure the tart keeps its shape and has a nice texture. Then remove the weights and baking paper before baking the tart for a further 5 to 10 minutes or until it looks golden and delicious. There. You have a tart case. Leave it in the tin and let it cool.


Filling

300ml thickened or whipping cream
200g dark chocolate (70 per cent cocoa), finely chopped
50g butter, chopped
2 or 3 tbsp Bailey's Irish Cream

When the tart case is almost or completely cool, you can start on the filling. Don't do this too early because you don't want to pour this into a hot tart case or to have it sitting around for ages either.

Start by pouring the cream into a saucepan and heat it until just before boiling point – so it 'trembles' but doesn't bubble.

Put the chopped chocolate into a heatproof bowl and pour in the heated cream. Let it sit for 1 minute and then mix with a spatula, working from the centre outwards.

Add the butter, and stir until the mixture is smooth. Last of all, add the Bailey's and stir again - you're almost done!

Pour the chocolate mixture into the tart case and leave in a level place to cool. Put it back into the fridge for at least 3 hours before serving.

This tart is rich enough to be eaten on its own but you might like to put some berries or cream on the side, or perhaps a few leaves of fresh mint.


Adapted from a recipe by Jill Dupleix

Raspberry-spiked chocolate brownies

I made these for an afternoon tea. It was a very good spread: egg nog and rum, cucumber sandwiches, beetroot sandwiches, celery and carrot sticks, dips, bread, and several delicious varieties of tea.

This was a very easy and relatively quick recipe with very pleasing results. One of the best brownie recipes I've tried to date. Not too attractive in this picture but believe me, they looked GOOD.




200g dark chocolate, chopped
250g butter
1 3/4 cups brown sugar
4 eggs
1 1/3 cups plain flour, sifted
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/3 cup cocoa powder, sifted
1 1/2 cups raspberries, frozen or fresh (you can also sub in blueberries)

Preheat oven to 180 C.

Melt the chocolate and butter. I use the metal bowl over boiling water method, stirring until smooth.

Pour chocolate in a large bowl with eggs and sugar. Stir to combine.

Sift flour, cocoa powder and baking powder into the bowl. Stir to combine.

Pour the batter into a baking tin lined with baking paper. Top with berries.

Bake for 45 minutes or until set. The centre of the brownie will have a very fudgey texture.


From a Donna Hay recipe

Double Chocolate Chip Cookies

Another easy one - but when the latest batch came out of the oven, I was sure I'd gone wrong.

They were all flattened out, not round as I'd expected from previous batches, and they were so soft some crumbled as they were lifted to the cooling rack. However, after cooling, they turned out beautifully chewy.

For this batch, I used wholemeal flour. This gave the cookies a texture almost like shredded coconut and made a nice change.


125g butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup castor sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1 1/2 cups self-raising flour
1/3 cup cocoa
3/4 cup dark choc chips


Preheat oven to 160C

Cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy

Mix in the vanilla essence and egg

Stir in flour and cocoa

Add dark choc chips

Place teaspoons on baking tray and bake for 10-15 min

From Cadbury's Chocolate Chips