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White Chocolate Golden Syrup Cranberry Florentines

Posted on Posted in Biscuits .

White Chocolate Golden Syrup Cranberry Florentines

White Chocolate Cherry Florentines recipe
There are many many many versions of Florentine recipes that exist in magazines, recipe books, online etc so it’s quite rare for me to post a recipe that has so many variations and is so well known. Though most florentine recipes use the same standard base ingredients of cornflakes, condensed milk, milk chocolate and glaze cherries the secondary ingredients can span wide.

 

So when I came across a florentine in a café that had no cornflakes and was completely addictive I decided to create my own version, though deliberately without the 4 base ingredients for a good challenge.
I made a thin biscuit batter instead of the cornflakes, golden syrup instead of the condensed milk, dried cranberries instead of the glaze fruit, 4 different nuts instead of just focusing on 1 and lastly white chocolate instead of the traditional milk.

 

I identified that the golden syrup provides a malty caramel flavour which with the nuts tastes absolutely delicious. The white chocolate allows the nuts, golden syrup and cranberries to shine as it’s not as overwhelming in flavour as milk chocolate.A warning, this biscuit is moreish-ly addictive!
White Chocolate Cherry Florentines recipe

 

Ingredients:

  • 50g brown sugar
  • 50g butter
  • 30ml golden syrup
  • 45g plain flour
  • 75g mixed roasted nuts (I used cashews, pecans, walnuts and almonds)
  • 40g cranberries
  • 90g white chocolate

 

Method:

  1. Preheat the oven to 180c degrees and line 2 baking trays with baking paper.
  2. Place the sugar, butter and golden syrup into a bowl and heat in the microwave until the mix bubbles.
  3. Using a hand whisk beat until the mix is well combine.
  4. Sieve the flour over the butter mix and beat until combine.
  5. Chop the nuts into small pieces and add to the sugar butter mix.
  6. Slightly dice up the cranberries and add to the butter mix.
  7. Stir the mix until all ingredients are combined.
  8. Roll the mix into balls, 15g each and place them onto the baking paper ensuring at least 5cm between each ball.
  9. Place the trays in the oven and bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown.
  10. Allow the biscuits to cool and harden on the trays.
  11. Place the while chocolate into a bowl and on a low/medium level heat in the microwave in 1 minute intervals until the chocolate is melted.
  12. Use a bread knife or spatula spread the chocolate over the bottom of each cooled biscuits placing the biscuits chocolate side up onto a plate.
  13. Place the plate into the fridge until the chocolate has set hard.

 

Boozy Mocha Yoghurt Ice-Cream recipe

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Baklava Cake

Posted on Posted in Cakes .

Baklava Cake

Baklava Cake Recipe

I’m quite the fan of baklava so it’s no surprise that one day I decided to ‘steal’ the flavors and some of the baking techniques to reproduce the treat into a cake version. The crunch of the filo works in perfect harmony with the velvet mascarpone cheese texture, while the syrup connects and amplifies the cake layers to a new level. When combined, the crunch, smoothness, sticky and fluffiness of textures all complement each other for a seriously satisfying dessert.

Thus here is my Baklava Cake recipe.

 

Ingredients:

Cake:

  • 250g butter
  • ½ tsn almond essence
  • 220g sugar
  • 4 eggs
  • 80ml cup milk
  • 225g self-raising flour
  • 60g ground almonds
  • 120g slivered almonds
  • 200g shelled pistachios

Syrup:

  • 290g sugar
  • 340ml water
  • 4 tsn honey
  • Lemon rind strip
  • 3 tbsn lemon juice
  • 3/4 tsn rosewater essence

Filling:

  • 450g mascarpone cheese
  • 1 tbsn honey
  • 1 tsn ground cinnamon
  • ½ ground cardomom

Filo Layers:

  • 70g pistachios
  • 2 tbsn sugar
  • 1 tsn cinnamon
  • ½ ground cardomom
  • 7 sheets filo
  • 80g butter

 

Method:

  1. Pre-heat the oven to 180c degrees and line 2 x 25cm cake tins with baking paper.
  2. With electric beaters beat the butter and sugar for 5 minutes or until light and fluffy.
  3. Add the eggs, one at a time beating in between each addition until well combined.
  4. Add the milk, sift in the flour and ground almonds. Fold together until combine.
  5. Spread the batter into the 2 prepared cake tins. 1 with 1/3rd of the mix and the 2nd tin with the remaining mix, flatten the tops with the back of a spoon.
  6. Roughly chop up the nuts together and then sprinkle ontop of the cakes. Push the nuts softly with your hand to ensure they stick into the cake.
  7. Bake cakes for 35 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. The larger cake will take longer (around 50 minutes).
  8. Leave the cooked cakes in the tins and reduce the oven temperature down to 160c degrees.
  9. To make the syrup place the sugar, water, honey and lemon strip into a saucepan and stir on medium heat until the mix boils.
  10. Continue boiling until the mix becomes thicker and syrupy.
  11. Take the syrup off the heat, remove the rind and add in the rosewater and lemon juice, stir to combine. Place 4 tbsn aside in a small bowl for the filling.
  12. With the cakes still in their tins use a skewer to poke holes in the top of the cakes.
  13. Pour the syrup over the cakes evenly, leaving them in the tins to cool completely.
  14. Meanwhile make the filling by beating the cheese, honey, cinnamon and cardamom with the 4 tbsn of the left-over syrup with electric beaters until combine. Set aside.
  15. To make the filo layer place the pistachios, sugar and spices into a food processor and blitz until finely chopped.
  16. Line a large baking tray with baking paper.
  17. Melt the butter and using a pastry brush brush some of the butter to cover 1 filo sheet.
  18. Using the cake tin as a guide place the tin on the buttered filo and cut around the tin, repeat with the leftover filo from your buttered sheets so you now have 2 circles from the 1 piece of filo.
  19. Place the 2 filo pieces onto the lined baking tray.
  20. Sprinkle 1 tsn of the nut mix over the buttered filo circles.
  21. Brush the butter onto a 2nd piece of filo and repeat the cutting of 2 circles.
  22. Add the 2 newly cut circle layers ontop of the filo circles on the tray and top with 1 tsn of nut mix.
  23. Repeat the butter, nut, filo process until 7 sheets have been used and you have 2 filo stacks of 7 layers each.
  24. Bake the stacks in the oven for 15 minutes or until golden in colour, leave the tray aside to cool the stacks completely.
  25. Once the cakes have cooled place the smaller cake onto a plate (nut side up).
  26. Spread with ½ the cheese filling then place a filo stack on top.
  27. Cut the larger cake in half horizontally.
  28. Add a 2nd cake layer (the layer with no nuts) ontop of the filo, spread with the remaining filling and the remaining filo stack.
  29. Add the last (3rd) cake layer nut side up and enjoy.

 

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Snickers Babka

Posted on Posted in Bread .

Snickers Babka

Snickers Babka recipe

This recipe has actually come from a snickers rice bubble slice and a peanut and bacon babka fail.

I was determine to make something with the snickers flavors but in a really untraditional way. After experimenting I actually realised that melted caramel, chocolate and peanuts work very well in the bread format.

The flavors really come though in this recipe and as the base of the recipe is bread and not cake the sweetness is not too overpowering. This recipe is a really moreish bread to eat!

Ingredients:

Bread

  • 210g flour
  • 25g sugar
  • 4g yeast
  • 1 egg
  • 85g warm water
  • 35g butter, at room temperature

Filling

  • 40g butter
  • 70g chocolate
  • 30g icing sugar
  • 50g chopped peanuts
  • 70g caramel (soft caramel chews)

 

Method:

  1. Place the flour, sugar and yeast in a bowl and mix until combine.
  2. Whisk the egg and add to the mix with luke warm water.
  3. Using a wooden spoon stir until the mix is combining and resembles a dough.
  4. Flour the bench and place the dough on the flour. Kneed for 3 minutes of until the dough is elastic and smooth.
  5. Place the mix in an oiled bowl and using your hands massage the butter into the dough until well combine and glossy.
  6. Place plastic wrap over the bowl and leave in a warm place for 2 hours or until the dough triples in size.
  7. Dice up the cranberries.
  8. To make the filling place the butter in a bowl and heat until boiling in the microware.
  9. Add the chocolate and allow to sit for 1 minute. Stir the chocolate until the mix is smooth.
  10. Add the icing sugar to the chocolate mix as well as the peanuts.
  11. Meanwhile, punch down the dough and knead until smooth.
  12. Roll the dough out to 40cm x 20cm with a rolling pin.
  13. Spread the filling over the dough evenly.
  14. Place the caramel in the microwave and heat until the caramel is smooth. Drizzle over the filling.
  15. On one of the short ends of the dough brush with water with a pastry brush.
  16. Roll up the dough from the small end with no water and finish at the water end (the water will seal the roll).
  17. Place the dough onto the baking tray, cut a slit down the middle almost to the top of the roll.
  18. Plat the 2 halves by crossing them over each other, place the plastic wrap back on the bread and leave for 30 minutes.
  19. Pre-heat the oven to 190c degrees and place the bread in the oven for 25 minutes or until the bread is golden brown.
  20. Cut the slightly cooled bread into slices and enjoy!

 

Lemon Cranberry and White Chocolate Babka recipe

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Maamool

Posted on 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

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Nut Caramel and Chocolate Slice

Posted on Posted in Slice .

 

Nut Caramel and Chocolate Slice

 Nut Caramel and Chocolate Slice

Caramel slice has been a favorite slice for many for years. Nut caramel bars of late are also quite popular. As both of these sweet treats involve caramel with either biscuit, nuts and chocolate layers I figured combining them together would work quite well. I have made similar recipes to this in the past, however this is by far the most tastiest caramel slice, where the nuts actually bring in a great neutralizer to the sweetness of the caramel.

Nut Caramel and Chocolate Slice

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup desiccated coconut
  • 1 cup SR flour
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 125g melted butter
  • 395g can condensed milk
  • 2 tbs golden syrup
  • ½ cup cream
  • 15g butter, extra
  • 2/3 cup chopped mixed nuts
  • ¾ cup milk chocolate
  • 15g cream, extra

 

Method:

  1. Pre-heat oven to 180c. Grease and line a 28cm x 20cm cake tin with baking paper.
  2. Combine the coconut, flour, sugar and butter in a bowl. Mix together then press into the tray until flat and smooth.
  3. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes, cool in tin.
  4. Combine the milk, syrup, cream and butter in a saucepan. Bring to the boil and then simmer for 8 minutes stirring constantly until darker and thick.
  5. Pour the caramel over the base, sprinkle with the chopped nuts and place back in the oven for 10 minutes or until golden. Allow the slice to cool in the tin.
  6. Place the cream and the chocolate in a microwave on low stirring every 20 seconds with a metal spoon until chocolate is smooth and creamy.
  7. Drizzle the chocolate over the slice, let it set and slice away.

 

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Nut Caramel and Chocolate Slice

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Nut Caramel and Chocolate Slice

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Baklava

Posted on Posted in Traditional, Turkey .

baqklava

Baklava

Similar to the other international traditional dishes I have blogged about this one as well has many different variations, which I have explored and found my favorite.

 

Ingredients:

  • 160g blanched almonds
  • 140 shelled pistachios
  • 2 tsn ground cinnamon
  • 1 tsn ground cloves
  • 1 tsn ground nutmeg
  • 18 filo pastry sheets
  • 75g butter

Syrup

  • 1 cup water
  • 220g white sugar
  • 90g cup honey
  • 1 + ½ tsn rosewater

 

Method:

  1. Preheat the oven to 180c and grease a 22cm square cake tin.
  2. Process the nuts and spices until finely chopped.
  3. Spread the nut mix onto a tray and bake in the oven for 10 minutes or until lightly browned.
  4. Increase the oven temprature to 200c.
  5. Cut the pastry sheets to fit the base on the tin. Layer 3 pastry sheets brushing each layer with butter. Place this in the tin and sprinkle with 1/3 cup of the nut mix.
  6. Repeat pervious step ending with 3 sheets of pastry.
  7. Using a knife, cut the baklava into quarters, then each square diagonally, then the triangles in half.
  8. Bake for 25 minutes, reduce the oven temperature to 150c and bake for another 10 minutes.
  9. Now make the syrup by stirring all the ingredients in a saucepan on medium until the sugar dissolves.
  10. Bring to the boil then reduce the heat to a simmer and leave without stirring for 5 minutes or until slightly thickened.
  11. Once the Baklava is cooked pour the syrup over the pastry. Once the Baklava is cooled serve.

baklava2

 

 

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