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Monthly Archives: July 2014

Maamool

Posted on July 28, 2014 Posted in Arabic, Traditional .

 Maamool

Maamool recipe

In my constant exploring and investigating for amazing worldly sweet treats I came across the Maamool biscuit (or Ma’amoul). These biscuits are Arabic traditional small shortbread pastries filled with dates or nuts.

As they are popular in so many courtiers (etc Lebanon, the Middle East and North Arica) you can imagine there are many varying recipes, particularly when it comes to the actually biscuit (cookie) dough. So I started comparing and researching recipes until I identified a few that seems to be quite consistent in ingredients and methods.

These biscuits are not my usual sweet treat fix as they are not very sweet but the fact they are predominately used for religious festivals was very interesting to me. Muslims eat these treats during holidays, and Arabic-speaking Christians eat them at Easter. So to have this much importance to cultures made me really keen to make them myself.

In my option below is the easiest and tastiest biscuit recipe (which I’ve adapted) and 2 filling options (also adapted), though the date one is by far the tastier.

Maamool recipe

Ingredients:

Biscuit dough:

  • 4.5 cups fine semolina
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 2 cups butter, melted
  •  4 tsp orange blossom water
  •  4 tsp rose water
  • 1/4 water

Date Filling:

  • 2 cup chopped pitted dates
  • 1 tbsp butter
  • 2 tsn orange blossom water
  • 2 tsn rose water

Nut Filling

  • 2 cups almond (or walnuts / pistachios)
  • 100g sugar
  • 2 tsn orange blossom water
  • 2 tsn rose water

 

Method:

  1. Mix all the dough ingredients together in a bowl, massaging with slightly wet hands until the mix is combined well.
  2. Knead for 5 minutes to form a soft ball.
  3. Leave mixture in a bowl covered overnight (or at least 5 hours) to rest. This will allow the semolina to swell and soften up.
  4. After the mix has been left overnight line 2 large baking trays with baking paper and pre-heat the oven to 175c.
  5. If your making the date mix:
    1. Prepare the date filling by placing all the ingredients into a saucepan and stir on low until the dates are softened and the ingredients are combining.
    2. Place in a food processor and process until the mix is smooth then form into small balls (the size or a 5 cent piece or 15g).
  6. If your making the nut mix:
    1. Place all the ingredients in a food processor and pulse to semi-coarse consistency.
    2. Using your hands massage the ingredients together until well combined.
  7. Roll dough into 30g sized balls the size of golf balls.
  8. Stuff the cookies by place your finger in the middle to form a hole in the ball and place the date balls inside / or spoon 15g of the nut mixture inside.
  9. Gently close up dough ball and seal and roll to be a ball again.
    1. If you are using the traditional Maamool mold place the ball into the mold and gently pat down to mold. Tap the mold onto a bench to remove the biscuit.
  10. Place Maamool onto a baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes or until just about to get a little brown.
  11. Once cooled sift icing sugar onto the Maamool.

 

Notes:

  • Maamoul’s can be stored in an airtight container at room temp for up to a week, in an airtight container in the fridge for 3 weeks or can be frozen for up to 3 months. The airtight container is important as without it they will go dry.
  • You can also use a metal cookie cutter instead of the mold.
  • You can flour the mold and tap out excess flour if you are worried about the dough sticking.
  • You can place a design on the top with a folk if you are not using a mold.
  • These biscuits don’t rise so 1cm apart if perfectly fine.
  • If the dough is crumbly you have used too much butter.
  • If you have used too little butter or you over-bake they will be crunchy and crack.

Maamool recipe

Ingredients

Maamool recipe

Step 2

Maamool recipe

Step 5

Maamool recipe

Step 6

Maamool recipe

Step 8

Maamool recipe

Step 8

Maamool recipe

Step 10

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Tags: arabic, dates, ma'amoul, Maamool, nuts, orange blossom water, rosewater, Semolina .

Chocolate Bar Cake

Posted on July 23, 2014 Posted in Cakes .

 

Chocolate Bar Cake recipe

Chocolate Bar Cake

Based on my standards this recipe is actually quite mundane as ‘chocolate’ bars and cake go together. However don’t stress there is an experimental part to this recipe, in fact 2 parts.

One of the main reasons for this recipe came from the desire to make a really moist cake that wouldn’t scare people off like my usual baking. My red wine chocolate cake, chocolate zucchini cake and coca-cola chocolate cake are amazingly moist but let’s face it they do make some people hesitant. I had a thought that a chocolate bar in a cake (hello nougat, caramel, honeycomb) would provide a moistness.

Secondly, using a chocolate bar means YOU can be the experimenter and incorporate your favorite flavors (your favorite chocolate bar).

I have used Milky May in this recipe but you can substituted this with Mars Bars, Snickers, Cherry Ripe, Turkish Delight, Crunchie… any chocolate bar you like.

This cake is super easy, moist and will impress!

 

Ingredients:

  • 200g Milky Way (4 bars or 18 snack size bars)
  • 1 cup buttermilk
  • 1 + ½ cup sugar
  • 1 cup butter
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 tsn vanilla extract
  • 1 + ½ cup plain flour
  • 1 tsn baking soda
  • ½ tsn salt

 

Method:

  1. Pre heat the oven to 175c and line a 25cm cake tin with baking paper.
  2. Dice up the Milky Way bars and place into a pan with ¼ cup buttermilk on the stove on low stirring the mix until the chocolate is melted and smooth.
  3. With electric beaters beat the sugar and butter for 5 minutes until light and creamy.
  4. Add eggs one at a time,and then add the vanilla essence.
  5. Fold in the flour, baking soda and salt until combine.
  6. Add the buttermilk and fold until just combined.
  7. Spoon the mix into the tin and bake for 60 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle come out clean.
  8. Allow the cake to cool in tin for 15 minutes than transfer onto a cooling rack until cooled.

 

Notes:

  • To decorate I diced up an additional bar and sprinkled on top. Following this I melted chocolate with a little milk to create a thick syrup consistency that I drizzled over the top of the cake and diced bar.

Chocolate Bar Cake recipe

Ingredients

Chocolate Bar Cake recipe

Following step 8 I flattered the top

Chocolate Bar Cake recipe

Then decorated with diced chocolate bar and melted chocolate

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Tags: cherry ripe, chocolate bar, chocolate bar cake, crunchie, mars bar, milky way, turkish delight .

Popcorn Biscuits

Posted on July 16, 2014 Posted in Biscuits .

So before I go into the next recipe post I wanted to take the time to acknowledge all the amazing people out there that have communicated to me via commenting on my blog.

There have been moments where the beautiful feedback has really been refreshing for me to continue experimenting further to new levels and puts a massive smile on my face.

Therefore as you encourage me I encourage you to continue the beautiful feedback as well as ideas on ingredients you would like me to experiment with.

Generally I focus on an ingredient or 2 that I go crazy coming up with recipes around until I finally construct a gem that is blog-worthy. It’s generally an ingredient that I have not incorporated in cooking before. At the moment is lavender and pomegranate (stay tuned on this – my lavender recipe will wow your socks off). So without futher ado…

 

Popcorn Biscuits

Popcorn Biscuits recipe

 

I have been noticing that the supermarket has started to stock salty and sweet popcorn. This got me thinking back to the salty and sweet trend again and how I trial with this again.

Now I have cooked with popcorn before (see my popcorn slice recipe), but not in the sense of highlighting salt and sweet so I decided to use this ingredient and produce a tasty treat. I contemplated a cake but figured the popcorn would disintegrate while in a moist long cooking period (maybe something I can revisit and experiment with at a later date)…

Therefore below is my recipe for the ever so simple and quick Popcorn Biscuits.

 

  • 250g butter
  • 130g sugar
  • 80g condensed milk
  • 300g plain flour
  • 1 + ½ tsn baking powder
  • 5 cups popped butter flavor popcorn

Method:

  1. Pre-heat oven to 160c and line 3 big baking trays with baking paper.
  2. With electric beaters beat the butter and sugar for 5 minutes until light and creamy.
  3. Add the milk and beat for another few minutes until smooth.
  4. Add the flour and baking powder to the mix and stir.
  5. Add the popcorn to the mix, crumbling into small popcorn pieces as you add.
  6. Using hands mix until well combine.
  7. Roll mix into balls with hands to small golf ball sizes (30g in size).
  8. Place balls on the trays and slightly flatten with hands.
  9. Bake for 18 minutes or until golden.
  10. Once cooked place on a rake to cool.

Notes:

  • If your not a fan of the sweet and salty you can use plain popcorn but you will loose a layer of the biscuit flavor.

 

Popcorn Biscuits recipe

Popcorn Biscuits recipe

Step 2

Popcorn Biscuits

Step 5

Popcorn Biscuits

Step 8
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26 Comments .
Tags: biscuits, popcorn, popcorn biscuits, salty and sweet .

Lychee and Coconut Custard Cake

Posted on July 13, 2014 Posted in Cakes .

Lychee and Coconut Custard Cake

Lychee and Coconut Custard Cake recipe

So I’m a big consumer of Asian cuisines but even with all my investigating I’m yet to find a dessert that is moreish and appealing to our western taste buds.

At the same time I have been meaning to make a cake with custard (I am a massive custard fan). Outside of trifle and fruit flans I have never used this tasty household ingredient in bake-goods.

So I decided to take 2 popular Asian flavors (coconut and lychee) and make a sweet treat with a difference – by turning these into a cake with custard as the twist.

Cherry and Custard Cake recipe

Introducing my Lychee and Coconut Custard Cake:

 

Ingredients:

Batter:

  • 250g butter, softened
  • 1 + ½ cups of sugar
  • 4 eggs
  • 1 + ½ cups self raising flour
  • ½ cup plain flour
  • 2 tbsn coconut milk
  • 80g desiccated coconut
  • 2 tsn lime juice
  • 250g lychees (480g can)

Custard:

  • 3 tbsn custard powder
  • 80g sugar
  • 1 + ½ cup coconut milk
  • 20g butter
  • 1 tsn vanilla essence

Method:

  1. Pre-heat the oven to 175c and grease a 22cm spring form cake tin.
  2. To make the custard combine all the ingredients together in a bowl, whisk.
  3. Microwave for 1 minute and whisk, then microwave for 20 sec at a time until the custard is thick and smooth. Leave aside to cool.
  4. Beat butter and sugar together with electric mixers until light, fluffy and pale.
  5. Beat in eggs, one at a time.
  6. Sift the flours into the bowl, add the milk, coconut and juice and fold until just combined.
  7. Spread 65% of mix into the cake tin
  8. Spoon in the custard and spread out with a spoon leaving 2 cm around the edges.
  9. Cut all the lychees into 4 pieces each and place 75% of them on top of the custard.
  10. Spoon the remaining cake batter over the lychees to cover completely.
  11. Place the remaining lychees on the top scattered.
  12. Bake in the oven for 1 hour and 30 minutes or until cooked.
  13. Let the cake cool completely in the tin, then transfer onto a plate
  14. Dust with icing sugar and extra desiccated coconut.

Notes:

  • Place a piece of plastic wrap over the custard once made to stop a skin forming,
  • You can make this recipe as a cherry or raspberry version for a more traditional cake by replacing the coconut milk with normal milk, desiccated coconut with almond meal, coconut essence with vanilla and berries/cherries instead of lychees.
  • Serving with ice-cream makes this even more amazing.
  • As we have used custard in this recipe the mix will not be completely dry when tested with a skewer as the custard makes the middle moist.

 

Lychee and Coconut Custard Cake recipe

Step 6

Lychee and Coconut Custard Cake recipe

Step 8

Lychee and Coconut Custard Cake recipe

Step 9

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24 Comments .
Tags: coconut, custard, lime, lychee, Lychee and Coconut Custard Cake .

Cocopop Biscuits

Posted on July 9, 2014 Posted in Biscuits .


Cocopop Biscuits recipe

Cocopop Biscuits

We see oats in traditional Australian Anzac biscuits, rice bubbles in Mars Bar slice and cornflakes in Florentine cookies that use popular everyday standard cereals that would appear in every families pantry.

So why can’t we go outside of standard cereals and bake with the more exciting and less mainstream breakfast favorites?

Me, I’m a massive chocolate fan and can’t seem to go past Cocopops to be a great cereal to experiment with. Therefore, if you’re a fan of Cocopops and feel like a unique biscuit you can’t go past my Cocopops biscuits.

Kids will loovve this!

 

Ingredients:

  • 250g butter
  • 130g sugar
  • 80g condensed milk
  • 300g plain flour
  • 1 + ½ tsn baking powder
  • 5 cups popped cocopops

 

Method:

  1. Pre-heat oven to 160c and line 3 big baking trays with baking paper.
  2. With electric beaters beat the butter and sugar for 5 minutes until light and creamy.
  3. Add the milk and beat for another few minutes until smooth.
  4. Add the flour and baking powder to the mix and stir.
  5. Add the cocopops to the mix.
  6. Using hands mix until well combine.
  7. Roll mix into balls with hands to small golf ball sizes (30g in size).
  8. Place balls on the trays and flatten well with hands.
  9. Bake for 18 minutes or until golden.
  10. Once cooked place on a rack to cool.

 

Notes:

  • Don’t be scared to use a little force to make the biscuit ball shapes. You won’t squash the cocopops as you may think.

 

Cocopop Biscuits recipe

Ingredients

Jelly Biscuits recipe

Step 4

Cocopop Biscuit recipe

Step 5

Cocopop Biscuits recipe

Step 7

 

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2 Comments .
Tags: cereal, cereal biscuits, chocolate biscuits, cocopop biscuits, cocopops .

Avocado Chocolate and Orange Mousse Tart

Posted on July 6, 2014 Posted in Tarts .

Avocado, Chocolate and Orange Mousse Tart

Avocado Chocolate and Orange Mousse Tart recipe

Creamy and rich chocolate mousse that is scrumptious, made of fruit and is free from sugar, cream and butter…you have to be kidding right? Wait don’t click off this post, its true I promise!

Not only that, this recipe is actually healthy for you, seriously!

To be able to serve this mousse I have also created a pastry tart shell recipe that is also sugar free to keep with the no sugar theme. This is also detailed below:

 

Ingredients:

Pastry

  • 2 cups flour
  • ½ tsn salt
  • 50g honey
  • 2 tsn cocoa powder
  • 110g butter
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tbsn milk

Mousse

  • 100g pitted dates
  • 2 avocadoes
  • 1 orange
  • 150g honey
  • 55g cocoa powder
  • ½ tsn cinnamon
  • ½ tsn ground cardamom
  • 1/2 ground mixed cloves

 

Method:

  1. Pre-heat the oven to 175c and spray a tart tin with oil.
  2. Place the flour, salt and cocoa powder into a food processor and pulse a few times to mix.
  3. Dice the butter into small pieces and process until combined.
  4. Add the egg, honey and milk and process until combined.
  5. Wash hands and turn dough out onto the bench and kneed into a ball onto baking paper.
  6. Using a rolling pin roll the dough into a circle shape and place into the tart tin.
  7. Place the tin into the fridge for 20 mins.
  8. Place the dates into boiling hot water in a bowl and let sit for 10 minutes.
  9. Blind bake the tart shell (place baking paper and rice on top of the tart shell to stop the pastry rising).
  10. Place the tart shell in the oven and cook for 20 mins. remove the rice and bakng paper and bake for further 5 mins or until the pastry sides have browned.
  11. Once the tart is cooled place on a cooling rack until cooled.
  12. To make the mousse place the drained dates, avocado, orange zest, juice, cocoa powder, honey, cinnamon, cardamom and mixed cloves into a food processor and process until smooth and combine.
  13. Spoon the mousse into the cooled tart shell and flatten the top.
  14. Place in the fridge to set for 1 hour minimum.

 

Notes:

  • For best results make the day prior and leave overnight in the fridge, letting the mousse really set. This will thicken the texture of the mousse making it hold its shape for much longer, especially when slicing and platting up.
  • You can decorate with some additional grated orange zest or sift some extra cocoa powder.

 

Avocado Chocolate and Orange Mousse Tart recipe

Ingredients

Avocado Chocolate and Orange Mousse Tart recipe

Step 12

Avocado Chocolate and Orange Mousse Tart recipe

Step 5

Avocado Chocolate and Orange Mousse Tart recipe

Step 6

Avocado Chocolate and Orange Mousse Tart recipe

Step 11
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2 Comments .
Tags: avocado, Avocado Chocolate and Orange Mousse Tart, dates, healthy chocolate mousse, jaffa, orange, spices, sugar free .

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