Anzac Biscuits

Anzac Biscuit’s are characteristically Australian.

These biscuits, originally made from oats, water and powdered milk were sent to Australian and New Zealand soldiers - the Anzacs – during the First World War. Loving mothers, wives, sisters and daughters sent these biscuits as a source of nutrition.

Tomorrow, the 25th April marks the anniversary of our first major military action fought. The word Anzac is an anagram of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. Although these soldiers suffered heavy losses during this war, their pride and bravery marked a turning point in Australia’s sense of identity, patriotism and Australian Spirit. The Anzac’s became legends in Australia’s eyes.

Luckily for us today the original recipe for the Anzac biscuit has changed. They still to this day do not contain eggs, but incorporate golden syrup as their binding agent, as well adding a unique caramel sweetness and their crunchy chewiness.

These biscuits are delicious and simple to make, while holding an important place in both Australia’s heritage and homes.

Ingredients

1 cup plain flour, sifted
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup brown sugar
125g unsalted butter
2 tablespoons golden syrup
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 tablespoon boiling water

Method

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Combine the flour, oats and sugar in a bowl. Melt the butter and golden syrup in a saucepan over low heat.


When the butter mixture has melted, mix the bicarbonate of soda and water together and add. The golden syrup will start to foam and bubble.

Pour this mix into the dry ingredients and mix well. Spoon dollops of the mixture, about the size of a walnut, onto a greased baking sheet. Make sure to allow equal space between each biscuit to allow for spreading.

Bake for 15-20 minutes. Allow to cool for 1 minute and transfer to a wire rack.

Makes 25-30 biscuits.

Bon Appetite

Going Nutty

Eat Me Drink Me... Part 1

It is time for your cocktail party inspiration to start to stir… or shake
(depending on how you like you martini).


Spiced Almonds

There is something so moreish about roasted, spiced nuts. Even better are home made spiced nuts.

This recipe, with its tasty mix of spices matched with the sweetness of almonds, are great to serve with cocktails. Plus they are easy to make and store.

Ingredients

1 egg white
1 tablespoon water
2 cups of almonds
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon garlic minced



Method

Preheat oven to 135 degrees Celsius and line an oven proof tray with baking paper. Whisk the egg white with water until light and foamy. Toss the nuts in the eggy foam and transfer to a sieve to remove excess.

Mix together the spices, salt and sugar, and add the nuts. Spread in a single layer on the baking tray and sprinkle with Worcestershire sauce. Place in oven and cook for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes stir the nuts and turn down oven to 100 degrees Celsius. Continue to cook for another 30 minutes until the nuts are toasted and dry.

Serve immediatly or store in an airtight container for up to one week.

Makes 2 cups


A Goodnight Kiss

This cocktail is really just a twist on the classic champagne cocktail. What I love about it though is its name -who can refuse a goodnight kiss - and the mixture of Campari and Angostura bitters. These two bitters add a unique depth matched with the sweetness of the sugar cube as it dissolves, and the bubbly make for a perfect after work cocktail.

Ingredients

300ml Champagne
5 splashes Campari
5 sugar cubes
5 drops Angostura bitters

Method

Place a drop of the bitters on a sugar cube and drop into a champagne flute. Add the champagne and finish with a splash of Campari.

Serves 5


Bon Appetie

Eat Me Drink Me…

My fixation for cocktail parties is either an obsessive interest in creating bite size marvels, an excuse to create fabulous cocktails or better yet a reason to get friends around to drink and eat for no particular occasion. So for the next couple of weeks I will post recipes for different cocktails and some delicious cocktail food.

The Cocktail Hour

Why don’t we simply enjoy the ‘cocktail hour’ anymore? To me it should not strike in mind half priced drinks, but should more enjoyably signal the end of the working day. The notion of drinking and socializing at a relaxed pace and the fact that you are simply spending time catching up with friends seems some how lost today.

The Italians however, do seem to know what they are doing. Stuzzichini literally ‘taste-teasers’, for example are bite size nibbles that automatically come, free of charge, with your drink in different parts of Italy. These bite size teasers are perfect. For me food and drink should go hand in hand, especially after a hard days work what better way to start to relax. This culinary tradition just shows how little effort needs to be done to contribute to good living.

So while eating and drinking can be a relaxed effortless way to enjoy the end of the day with friends, the cocktail party can bring people together in a more fun atmosphere - Even if for no reason except good conversation. Not to mention, it gives every girl the reason to pull out that little black dress.

Think Breakfast at Tiffanies… Okay so maybe Holly Golightly (Audrey Hepburn’s’ character) is a little more extravagant than most, but the incentive is still there.

With the colder, wetter months ahead of us, heading out to catch up with friends somehow doesn’t seem to entice me as much. Instead I feel this winter I will be bringing back the vogue of the cocktail party, or just simply relaxing with friends over a simple drink and delicious nibbles of food.

Recipe of the Week : Hot Cross Buns

Why Hot Cross Buns?

It is Easter, so I decided I should come up with a recipe relating to this theme. After thinking of what recipe to use I came up with either the traditional carrot cake or the Hot Cross Bun. Carrot cake because I was thinking along the lines of: bunnies being linked to Easter, bunnies liking carrots and thus carrot cake being something you could to serve at Easter.

I decided evidently to go with the Hot Cross Bun. Although carrot cake is a classic favourite, as much as I tried I could do no justice to making it ‘recipe of the week’; especially considering it made top five fad foods of the 1970’s.

So Hot Cross Buns it is.

Traditionally, these little spiced buns are meant to be eaten on Good Friday, however feel free to make them whenever you feel, as they are definitely too yummy to be kept to just one day.

Although these days’ Hot Cross Buns are widely available from stores, I still find something comforting and rewarding about baking breads at home. It may have something to do with the patience involved in proving and proving again, not to mention the aromas that surround the house.

The recipe below is based on one by Nigella Lawson. I agree with her that you do need to use bread flour in this recipe as plain flour will not do you the same justice, and if you have committed to baking at home then you should at least end up with a gorgeous result.

However, I have changed her recipe for the dough slightly by including a tablespoon of sugar. Her dough recipe asks for yeast, however saying that, she has not included any sugar. Sugar is important to yeast activation. Simply put, sugar helps yeast create carbon dioxide (the air pockets that make bread rise), while fats and salt slow down yeast growth. With this inclusion of sugar the dough should rise efficiently.

Enjoy these little buns warm from the oven, or as I have always had them with melted cheese.

Also another idea, if you are feeling decadent replace the dried fruit with choc chips.

So hop to it and start baking.

Ingredients

For the Dough
150ml milk
50g butter
Zest of 1 orange
1 clove
2 cardamom pods
400g bread flour
1 or 7g packet dried instant yeast
125g mixed dried fruit or mixed peel
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 ground ginger
1 egg
1 tablespoon caster sugar

For the Egg Wash
1 egg, beaten
1 tablespoon milk

For the Crosses on the Buns
2 tablespoons plain flour
1/2 tablespoon caster sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons water

For the Sugar Glaze
1 tablespoon caster sugar
1 tablespoon boiling water

Method

First the dough. Heat the milk, butter, clove, cardamom pods and orange zest in a saucepan until the butter melts. After the butter has melted turn off the heat but leave the saucepan on the stove for the milk to infuse.

Place the flour, yeast, dried fruit and spices in a bowl. Strain the milk to remove the cardamom and other spices. When the milk is at blood temperature. You can check this by placing a finger in the milk. If you feel nothing, as in no change in temperature from your finger to the milk it is at blood temperature. Pour the milk into the dry ingredients.

Knead the dough either by hand or with a machine with a dough hook. Although I have a Kitchen Aid at home with a great dough hook attatchment, I always prefer to finish my dough by hand. I think you get a better result, and also it is more rewarding. If the dough is a little dry add a tablespoon or 2 of milk. Continue to knead the dough until it becomes elastic and silky. This can take up to 20 minutes, but preserver.

Form the dough into a ball and place in a lightly greased a bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and leave to prove overnight in the refrigerator. If however you do not have that long, leave the dough in a warm place covered with a damp tea towel for 1-1 1/2 hours. Letting it prove longer however will give you a better texture and overall taste.

Take the dough out of the refrigerator and let it come to room temperature. Preheat your oven to 220∞C.

Once the dough has come to temperature punch it down and knead it again till smooth. Divide this dough into 12, and roll into bun shapes. Don’t worry how neat they are; home baking can always look rustic!

Line a tray with baking paper and place the buns 1 cm apart from each other. With the back of a knife mark each bun with a cross. Cover with a damp tea towel and leave to prove for a further 45 minutes.

After 45 minutes or so the buns should have risen and joined together. Whisk the egg and milk for the egg wash and lightly brush each one.

Mix together the flour, water and sugar for the crosses. You may need to add a little more water until a thick paste is formed. Drizzle this paste with a spoon over the indented crosses.

Place in oven and bake for 10-15 minutes till the tops are golden.While the buns are baking boil your water and add to the sugar to make the sugar glaze. Stir until all the sugar has dissolved. If the sugar doesn’t seem to want to dissolve, pour the liquid into a saucepan and continue to boil until it has.

When the buns come out brush them with the glaze until glossy. This is best done when they come straight out of the oven because the glaze will slightly absorb into the buns, making them even more delicious.

Makes 12

Enjoy toasted with butter, or just warm from the oven.


Bon Appetite